32 Thoughts: The Podcast - U-Tah Tah Arizona

Episode Date: April 12, 2024

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman delve into the Arizona Coyotes potential relocation to Salt Lake City. Why the players aren't speaking, the emotions in the aftermath, and the dealings behind the scenes. That bleeds into a conversation about how people around the league felt snookered and played by Coyotes ownership and how NHL hockey will potentially return to Arizona down the line (17:00). Jeff and Elliotte also discuss the league's interest in having Ryan Smith as an owner in the league (21:30) and banter about how they expect the Utah franchise to be aggressive in adding players (25:45). The fellas then delve into an exciting night of hockey in the Eastern Conference playoff race (29:48). They talk about the tight Hart Trophy race (32:35) and dive into the Noah Hanifin extension in Vegas (39:25). Jeff and Elliotte talk about Jakob Silfverberg announcing his retirement from the NHL, and Elliotte has a note on the Ducks who got into some hot water (46:14).The guys answer your questions in the Montana’s Thought Line (52:52). Jeff wraps the podcast with an anecdote on Anaheim Ducks prospect Sam Colangelo (1:08:31). Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailThis podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

I just did a Google image search on garbage plates. Yeah. Would you really eat that? Oh, yeah. No question. Come on, really? Yeah. Like, you just found out what a garbage plate was two minutes ago.

Yeah, I'd still eat it. You'd eat it. I'd still eat it. Oh, yeah. Oh, man. Look at that. Does it come with paddles? with paddles alex morello ryan smith gary betman uh jerry moyes uh judge redfield t-bomb we'll bring you back to memories 32 thoughts the podcast presented as always by the gmc

sierra elevation elliot friedman dom schramatti and what is left of my voice elliot it might be up to you and dom to land the plane by the end of this podcast i'm just saying i don't know what's with me right now but my voice sounds like this when i wake up and it sounds like this late at night and that's when we're recording this podcast lots to get to today frege let's talk about the headline story of the week uh you've written about it you've spoken about it. Now we'll put it to podcast. The Arizona Coyotes, Salt Lake City, the discussions to move, the relocation, the reimbursements, the right of first refusal, the financing, all of it. What's the latest with

Ryan Smith, Alex Morello, and the broker, Gary Bettman. First of all, when did I start co-hosting this podcast with a Bonnie Raitt? I thought you were going to say Kermit the Frog. Thanks. Kermit the Frog, I associate him more with like a, oh, as opposed to a raspy voice. He could have said like something cool, like Kathleen Turner. Man, he kind of like a husky voice. Are you telling me that Bonnie Raitt is not cool? No, I do dig Bonnie Raitt. I do dig Bonnie Raitt. Okay.

Anyone that's done that much great blues music and hung out with that many great blues musicians in the past has to be cool. It's at Jeff Merrick on social media. Yeah, very good. Have at him. Okay, so I was in Vancouver on Wednesday, Canucks, Coyotes, hours after this all broke.

And after the telethon was over, I went by the Coyotes room because I wanted to see them and just hear what they had to say. Now the Coyotes shut it down. They didn't open their dressing room. They said the players wouldn't take questions about it and they've said the same thing going into their game in edmonton on friday and i think look i'm a media member i don't like to see questions cut off my overwhelming feeling is i don't support this although i think after just being around them, I think it's not only there's a fear of the questions, it might actually be more about a fear of some of the answers because you can feel there's a lot of different emotions. And I'll say

this, Jeff, there were a lot of people i didn't really want to be seen talking to or standing beside i have this thing i don't know if i've ever told this story on the podcast before but i think i've written it before a few years ago i was talking to a player in a dressing room for about 10 to 15 minutes and then i wrote something in my notes. I think it was before the podcast existed and he got called into the office by the manager and the manager pulled out the column and said, is this you? Are you the anonymous source? And he's like, no. Why? And he goes, well, we know we were talking to Elliot for another 10 to 15 minutes in our room. So we thought it was you. So ever since then, I've been super paranoid about these things.

And I really didn't want to be near anyone for a long period of time, except to just say hello and wish people good luck. But you could tell the various emotions. Some people were disappointed. Some people were crushed. Some people were disappointed. Some people were crushed. Some people were resigned. There was one person who said, in some way, it's actually a good thing because at least now we know what our future could be. But I'll tell you, there were some people who were furious and they thought that the ownership of the coyotes and the executive level of the

the high executive level of the coyotes were cowards because they convinced everybody here that it was all about the auction when at the same time they were working on a deal to send the team to Salt Lake City and still are doing so. Now, from what I understand now, I think it's possible that the players knew last weekend, last Saturday, that Salt Lake City was a possibility, but I don't know if it really sunk in. What someone told me is that they were told about the possibility,

but even in the days after that, I think there were still players and people around the team who were like, yeah, but there's still the auction. And then when the news broke out and that it looked like the move could happen as early as Thursday, next Thursday, there was definitely a huge feeling of betrayal. And I heard that on Wednesday, after the stories broke, there wasn't any reach out.

Like nobody who would be in a position to know whether it be Murillo or Gutierrez reached out to say, hey, this is what's going on. And it was very clear in a lot of the eyes there, players, staff, it was a betrayal, an absolute betrayal to talk the way they did about the auction while all the time knowing that this could very well happen. And this has been on and off. There were times I really thought since the calendar flipped to 2024, it was going to happen. And there were times I thought it was off and they were going to be

allowed to do this, but it really ramped up over the last week or two and it came to a point where it looks like with a lot of work to do that they're preparing for this and you know they're furious at them and look I you know some of the players are unhappy because they signed in Arizona and they want to live in Arizona. They don't want to live anywhere else. They signed to play in Arizona. They really love living there. But to be honest, I don't even think that's the thing

that they're angriest about. They're worried about people that don't have their contract security that really depend on the jobs for the livelihoods both with the team and in the office yeah and also people whose family situations doesn't make it easy for them to pick up and move to another city and those are the people they're really furious about. You know, whenever they do have their meeting, it's going to be interesting because in the past,

like a couple of years ago, Jeff, the Coyotes complained about one of my reports about Arizona and they complained to the league and the league called me and we had a conversation about it i remember that and they were like well the coyotes say the players didn't say any of this to them and i said look like the players aren't going to say anything to them why do you think it's getting to me because they need a media member to say it for them. This one might be different. They're really furious. Again, there's heartbreak.

There's disappointment. There's some of how could I be so stupid? But, and look, business is business. Business can be brutal. But this group feels betrayed. And they think the way it all came down was cowardly. Alex Borello is going to have the option to bring the team back, and we'll talk about that in a couple of minutes.

Yeah, that's coming up. I don't know how a player, or really anyone else else is going to be able to trust him again after what I saw in Vancouver. And again, I tried to not spend a lot of time with people because it was an emotional night, but there's no way that group of people is going to trust that ownership group and that leadership group again. You know, one of the things that we'll all do, I've already started. I'm sure you have as well. People have been following the story, people on the ground in Arizona.

You know, when something like this happens, you start to look backwards and you say, okay, so what were the clues that I should have picked up on? What were the moments where I should have paid more attention to something and not just shrugged it off and said, well, it's a blip on the radar, or it's just a course of business. Were there anything like now that you've had, you know, a little bit of time to look back, Now that you've had a little bit of time to look back, is there anything that you look at and say, that was a tell? Or this was a bigger moment than we thought at first blush. Was there anything like that or make any of those like sort of Hansel and Gretel crumbs along the way that we should have paid more attention to. You know, the one thing that stands out, and I think I understood it for what it was at the time, was after the trade deadline and we had the GM meetings a week and

a half after the trade deadline in Florida, Bedman said that he knew when, or he had a good idea when the auction was going to be, and it was going to be inune at some point mid june and we asked that would that be too late to move the team and i think it was bill daily who said it probably would be yes that like there were some people who took it to mean that means they're not moving for next year. I took it at the time to mean they're not going to let it get that far if they're worried they won't win this. So I always felt that this outcome was possible. However, I admit, like a lot of other people, possible. However, I admit, like a lot of other people, I was fooled a bit by when Javier Gutierrez went on television with Todd Walsh and said, we're going to win this and we're going for it.

We could be as early or potentially February or fall 2027. I think I got lulled to sleep by that one and then I started to hear it again like I said it was on and off but there's no question to me judging by the reaction of the people I saw on Wednesday and online that he successfully snookered and played everybody here. I was going to say, this sort of leads to the conversation of, you know, maybe not just the players and people in the organization, but did everybody get duped by this and by these guys? You know what? I think everybody can decide that for themselves. I think the Players Association for the last few months has been, this is never going to work. And I think there was a lot of skepticism about Morello getting this done around the NHL.

Like one thing I've absolutely noticed is that I think there are people around the league who think Morello's getting too good a deal and they don't like it. But if you want to make as clean a break as you possibly can, he's got the hammer. Does he really want to go to court? I don't know. But he can tie this up and they want as clean and quick a break as they possibly could go. But there's definitely a lot of people who do feel they were snookered and played and fell for it. Let me pick up on something you mentioned there,

and that is Morello and his deal that he cuts here. Yeah. So believed to be $1 billion, the price tag to go to Salt Lake City, 1.2, 200 split up amongst the nhl owners and 1b going to alex morello yeah so it's two things so i talked to someone this morning who's very much in the know on a lot of these things who strongly suspects that this was a situation where morello looked at the sale of the ottawa senators and said if they're worth that much i'm worth a billion and i'm not budging off of that and

even though maybe the valuation of the arizona coyotes might have been something in the maybe 600 million dollar range the one billion dollar price tag keeps everything out of court that is making him more than whole yes making sure that none of this ends up with lawyers involved do you believe that yes well it's sort of like you know the thing about ottawa ottawa was sold for 950 you're never going to create a situation jeff where a team gets sold for less. I remember when I first started thinking about the possibility of Arizona getting sold, I was thinking, what's the number going to be? 650, seven, all of that. And people set me straight fast. They were saying, no way. First of all, Arizona as a market is more valuable than that.

Secondly, you're devaluing all your franchises if you do that after selling Ottawa. And thirdly, you've got a guy here in Utah who you badly want to be a member of the club, and he wants to be a member of the club, and he wants to be a member of the club, you have the ability here to get a number that looks very good for your league, as 1.2 will be. So that's the way I see it. I'm not surprised at all the number is where it is,

because you're never going less than ottawa and secondly you have to do something that incentivizes morello to make the deal now i don't think one of the reasons i think the nhl is warning there's nothing guaranteed here and we never know what exactly could happen is because Morello is so unpredictable and because he is determined to use his leverage as best he can and that's why you know they're trying to get to the finish line here the NHL is motivated for this to happen Salt Lake City or Utah is motivated for this to happen Morello's going to try to squeeze as much juice as he can. That's one of the issues. The other issues are that, hey, these are complicated. There's a lot of egos involved. Lawyers want to get paid. It takes time. But I do think Morello's

unpredictability is one of the major reasons that no one's really sure of the timeline here. I think there is a deal there. I think there's a willingness on everyone's part to get it done. But if you've ever been part of these high stakes negotiations, people do things like insert something or try to change something at the last minute. Everybody out here who's listening to this knows someone who does that. And that's one of the things they're trying to navigate here. I used to know one person

who whenever he did a new contract and it got down to the end, he would sign his first name and then put his pen down and then go back and negotiate some more before writing his last name, which I always thought was an interesting trick. I walked away from a negotiation like that once.

We were about to sign something and someone tried to change something at the end and I walked away. I said, if you're going to do that to me, I'm never going to be able to trust you. Now, neither one of us really had the hammer there. Sometimes you have to eat it. But I said, I will never trust you. I can't do a deal with you. Let's talk about the other part of the deal for Alex Morello. Right of first refusal on an expansion team going back to Arizona.

Now, there would have to be a number of contingencies, obviously. I would imagine something like, oh, I don't know. Our rank would be part of that contingency. But how do you see that one settling in? So obviously I haven't seen at this point the agreement that steps out what needs to happen. But I'm under the impression that Morello is going to get a five-year window to bring back the coyotes but it's not like he's going to be able to sit there on his back porch with a glass of scotch and a cigar counting say okay i've got a five years to make this happen from what i understand there are benchmarks there are things that need to be

done again i haven't seen it specifically, the way it was described to me was, he's got the window, but he's got work to do. There are things he's going to have to accomplish. There are things he's going to have to do, or else there's the possibility the window goes away. So that's kind of where it all stands. Because now, the thing is, that and jeff i should say there are people who don't believe he'll be able to do it like i don't know how to handicap this one way or another i haven't seen the agreement but there are people who say they don't think it it's gonna happen for him we'll see but the NHL is going back there. They are going back there. There's no question about it. And I'm also curious about how this is all going to work because someone said to

me what might happen after they play their last home game on Wednesday against Edmonton. They think one of the paths here is that the franchise could be declared inactive. is that the franchise could be declared inactive. And what Ryan Smith will do is he'll buy the contracts of the players and whatever staff he wants to take. He's not buying the team name. He's not buying the trademarks. He's not buying that stuff. That this is going to be made an inactive franchise, potentially.

That's one of the terms that was being thrown around to use. And it'll be back at some point. It'll be curious to see who does it. It'll be curious to see who the owner is here, how they put it together. I would imagine that a situation like this, any type of expansion back to Arizona would have to, of course, include the contingency that they build an arena, um, there. Um, so it's one of those, we'll give you the franchise, but you have to build the rink first.

Like this isn't like, this isn't going to happen anytime soon. Exactly. anytime soon. Exactly. This is a longer play here to get hockey back in Arizona, not to continue to hammer down on Arizona hockey fans, but don't expect this quickly.

But I think we're on the same page that they do intend to go back there, that this isn't going to be a market that they completely abandoned. Okay, so that's from mainly the Arizona point of view. I want to ask you about Ryan Smith and Utah and Salt Lake City. And I went back and I I listened to our

conversation that we had with him about a year ago and again I'm looking at all this through a historical lens and knowing what we know now and looking for clues and you know like he was pretty upfront about everything and what he wanted and I kept coming back to the idea that he was given the blessing to talk to us last year on the podcast, much like he was given the blessing to write the open letter, asking the NHL to start the expansion, not relocation process for all of this. When you look back at how Ryan Smith has played this, both entering the good graces of the NHL,

the relationship with the commissioner, various media appearances, bigging up Utah, bigging up Salt Lake City. How do you see Ryan Smith as he's worked his way from popping up on our podcast last year to now being this close to owning an NHL team? Look, this is all everybody needs to know. He wants to be in the league. The league wants him in the league.

And there's a lot of people around the league who want him in the league. He's got a lot of big fans out there. The way he thinks, the way he runs his businesses, his enthusiasm for hockey, people want him there. He preferred an expansion team, but this is the situation that came up and he's going to bail them out of a really tough spot. Is it perfect? No. Is it ideal? No. But the team is going to be better off

and they're going to have someone in the league they really want to have in the league. And the other thing I can tell you, Jeff, is that one of the reasons I really believe that the Hib and the NHL want to get this wrapped up quick is Smith wants a chance. They play last game Wednesday. Most players, some of them live in Arizona, no question.

But others will stick around. Usually there's an end-of-season team party before you leave. stick around usually there's an end of season team party before you leave so what i believe is that smith doesn't want to have to chase them all down over zoom he's he's got a real charm to him he's the kind of person who can sell you something that you don't need. He's, you know, he's just an enthusiastic, energetic guy who really believes in what he can do. And I definitely think there are players who are unhappy. Now, are they unhappy with the idea of going to Salt Lake City or are they just unhappy with everything that happened here and their disappointment and their anger? Because I'll tell you one thing.

The word has been out on the coyotes that they're going to spend money this summer. And people are like, spend money this summer? They're the Coyotes. Well, now everybody knows what they're talking about. You know, Ryan Smith is not going to bring a team to Salt Lake City, although they're going to call the team Utah. He's not going to bring a team to Utah that's going to be underfunded and playing with one hand tied behind its back. He's got a team that's growing. He's got a team that's got a lot of good young players and picks and prospects,

and he's going to sell them on, you know what? Everything that you went through for the last few years, you're not going to be going through that anymore. You're going to be taken care of. And he wants the opportunity to sell those players on it face to face because he believes that he can convince them that it's going to be a lot better. Now, I don't know how that's going to go. Like I said, it's a very emotional time for the players right now, but he wants the ability to make that pitch. I'll tell you what, the offseason did just get that much more interesting. I absolutely believe that they will be players in free agency or for trades. Like, look at their cap situation, Jeff.

Oh, yeah. Oh yeah. Oh, I know. I know. Like, listen, I think we're all starting to wonder about, okay. Stephen Stamkos is an unrestricted free agent. Sam Reinhardt is an unrestricted free agent. Jake Gensel is an unrestricted free agent. Brady Shea is an unrestricted free agent. Brady Shea is an unrestricted free agent.

And there's more and more and more. And there's a new team with cap space and aggressive owner. So you're saying that next year's power play is Marcia So, Stamkos, Reinhardt, and Brady Shea? It's pretty good, eh? All of a sudden, welcome to Utah, guys. All I'm saying is I can see him being very aggressive yeah like i said the word has been out for some time now that arizona has been indicating it's going

to be aggressive and people and now everybody starts to see why like that is one thing that i had a couple managers say to me there's there's one more team than you think. Because in the past, you're saying, okay, not only necessarily free agents, Jeff, but they're going to have the cap room to make trades. Yep. They've got a lot of picks. They've got a lot of prospects. They've got a lot of flexibility.

They're going to be able to do things and you know that's that's one of the things that someone said to me was you know in the past couple years you're looking at free agents i don't have to compete with those guys they're not at our level well now they're like oh if this guy gets this team that's going to be one more person that we're all going to be competing against this summer he's not coming in here to let it go the way it's been going um question about timing uh one of the things i've wondered about is like look the coyotes aren't going to the playoffs and right now the season's winding down and you can do this i do wonder if the arizona coyotes had been in a playoff position and maybe even

miraculously on the backs of conor ingram gone on a run would this have happened at the same time well that's a great question i i would have to say yes because would the arena situation have been solved the answer is still no so i would have to say yes um another thing i wonder about even though they weren't able to you know affect change directly i mean marty walsh the executive director of the nhl players association has been very outspoken about the situation with the arizona coyotes he has made it one of his top priorities to address at numerous times did the players association the pa have have any effect in this did they they move a needle anywhere

you know i think they made their feelings quite clear as you said i think the players appreciated the advocacy yeah it made their players association look like it was making noise sometimes in the past i think there's been a feeling that they just weren't doing enough to make noise like there's nothing they could do in the cba there's really nothing they could do to force change but you can be a pest about it you can be annoying about it and at the end of the day it it changed because, you know, Bettman realized he couldn't allow this to continue the same way any longer. It couldn't continue. But I think the players noticed that Walsh wasn't a pussycat about it.

He was a bit of a jaguaruar if that's not a horrible analogy he was he was out there he was he was growling he wasn't oh okay licking his legs or anything like that i'm gonna save you now elliot okay so there's gonna be more on a terrible podcast yeah that's okay i was waiting for a dating analogy that's always my favorites with you um uh we'll do more on this in an upcoming podcast the story is uh nowhere close to being done but no that's the that's the bare bones of it as we understand uh right now elsewhere around the nhl elsewhere elliot on the ice the pittsburgh Penguins have wild card two in the Eastern Conference.

Holy smokes, after defeating the Detroit Red Wings in overtime on a blast by Eric Carlson, which netted Sidney Crosby his 1,000th assist in his career. It's been a wonderful season for Crosby. He scored in the game as well. Heart trophy warming up, all that stuff. Elliot, the Pittsburgh Penguins are in WC2

as everyone wakes up with this podcast Friday morning. What a great night of hockey. Now, in the West, there wasn't as crazy a night, not as many meaningful games, but in the East, there was about a 25-minute span there where a lot happened. A lot happened. First of all, that Detroit-Pittsburgh game was phenomenal.

What a great game. Lucas Raymond. Back and forth. Can we pause on Lucas Raymond with the hat trick? He's been fantastic. You know what, Jeff? He's been great for the Red Wings. You know what, Jeff?

You can't talk about personal goals when the team loses. Sorry, you're out. No, can't talk about them. Not a team guy. Bad team player. Just talks about hat tricks and personal achievements. Trying to pick up Lucas Raymond. How dare you? No, but you're right. He was fantastic. not a team guy bad team player just talks about hat tricks and personal achievements trying to pick up lucas raymond how dare you no but you're right he was he was fantastic um he was he was

excellent in that game he brought i'll bring them back um you know i'll the thing that was stood stood out to me about that game was you have two goalies who at the beginning of the season you did not think would be playing like in a game as meaningful as that barring massive injuries you never would have predicted it would have been nadeljkovic against alex lyon you never would have thought that at the beginning of the year nobody would have predicted that and they've both been so great for their teams. Nedeljkovic needs a rest. Like he looked exhausted in that game. Lyon looked exhausted in that game. You can't rest them. You're right.

You can't rest them. I know it's 10 starts in a row, but you can't rest them. You're not wrong. You're not wrong. I think what they should start doing with these two guys is they should put the IV into the net so they have it while they're playing. But both of those guys look exhausted and they're playing their hearts out. What a great game.

Crosby, 10th all-time in points, 1,000 assists. That was a great, great back-and-forth hockey game. Then Charlie Lindgren, who's had a fantastic season. Buffalo gets to him. That's a bad regulation loss. Philly ends their eight-game losing streak. You know, you'd think after all the teams they lost to, they'd have no chance against the Rangers.

Of course, that's the way it goes. They beat them. And the Islanders with Noah Dobson-Herr, you know, they go out and they beat Montreal in overtime. It's great entertainment. You can't write it better. I know it's the Doodle Bug Derby, and some of these teams are backing into it, but just because sports are sloppy sometimes doesn't mean they're not fun

to watch. That was a great, great three-hour window of hockey. Everything's so meaningful, and now we're going on the weekend we do it all again it's fantastic it's going to be awesome bob a couple more things to mention for thursday night as well austin matthews with goals number 67 and 68 oops i'm not allowed to mention that around elliott because the maple leafs lost that's right to five to the new jersey devil so we won't mention that austin matthews is two goals shy of So we won't mention that Austin Matthews is two goals shy of 70. We won't mention that Ty Domi had to go at Simon Nemes

for trying to rough up Austin Matthews along the boards. We won't mention any of that. All we'll say is the Jersey 6, Toronto 5. I have to say, I was surprised McDermott didn't maul somebody after that. That was my first thought. I thought he was going to grab one of the kids. I thought he was going to grab one of the kids and the next day, and they showed them clips of all the Tampa guys, including Stamkos, standing up for Vasilevsky. That's what they wanted. You touch our guy, and we're going to take care of you. So nobody in Toronto

is going to have a problem with what Max Domi did there. Now, you mentioned why McDermott was mad. Toronto can say, good job, Domi, just as New Jersey can say, we don't like that. I was surprised McDermott didn't do something a bit more. You know what's funny? Actually, somebody said to me, when Rantanen got hit twice by Eckhold, somebody said to me,

they wondered if that would happen in Colorado if McDermott was still there. That's interesting. They wondered if having him not there has made teams a little more fearless against the Avalanche. But, you know, he was quieter than I thought. No Reeves. Yeah.

So maybe that – but I was surprised. I was a bit surprised that mcdermott didn't didn't do a bit more but anyway matthews now the most even strength goals in a season 51 my mind yeah mine too pause on that that stunned me most even strength goals in the history of the maple leafs organization austin matthews that to me is one of the Maple Leafs organization. Austin Matthews. That to me is one of the wilder Austin Matthews stats. Yes. And you'd think with all the great goal scorers we have that somebody would

have done it, but no. So it's the most, he's got 51 now. It's the most in 30 years and it's tied for eighth most all time in a season. He's one back of Steve Schutt and Taimou Salani, who had 52. They're tied for sixth. He's not catching number one. That's Gretzky, who's 68. You know, probably the highest he's going to go here is at 51.

Gretzky and Curry are tied for fourth at 54. Gretzky's third at 55. Yeah, I don't know. But, you know, he's the first guy in 30 years to do it. And he's also first all-time in Maple Leafs history, 274. It's ridiculous. This heart race, when these ballots come out at the end of the year, because we all publish our ballots, right?

That's actually one of the things i really like there's no hiding everybody has to publish their ballot the tribalism on us where we vote we're all going to get murdered there is no winning this hard vote none there is no winning this hard vote everyone's gonna see who's from where oh who gave panarin that first place vote. Everyone's going to see who's from where. Oh, who gave Panarin that first place vote? Oh, it's someone from New York. Imagine that. Look at the votes in Edmonton for McDavid.

All the Denver votes seem to be going to Nathan McKinnon. Look at that from Florida. Nikita Kucherov. Now, Jeff, goals are sexier than assists. We know that. But two are approaching 100. It'll be interesting to see what McDavid's schedule is going to be. Mm-hmm.

How often he's going to play is a little bit banged up. But he's at 99, and now Kucharer's at 98. Yeah. They're both going to get there, I think. But who gets there first? Listen, 100 assists is one of the most incredible things you can do in the NHL. Full stop. You know, I know we're going crazy about

Auston Matthews and approaching 70. There's only just over a handful of players that have recorded 100 assists at a season, Elliot. It's a remarkable stat. They'll both get there, I'm sure, and it's going to be great. We should mention a couple things from the Western Conference. Number one, the Jets played one of their best games of the year tonight.

They went into Dallas, and they shut out my number one team in the NHL. That was as impressive a victory as Winnipeg has had all season. And number two, when they handed out the lines tonight in L.A., fourth line center, Dubois. Dubois. This is going to be a story right into the playoffs. Right into the playoffs.

See, I believe very strongly that no matter what happens to you in the regular season you can change the narrative in the playoffs you can come you the the entire story can be written up torn into the paper shredder eaten by your dog and a new story can be written um that's very true although there are a lot of people in Columbus and a lot of people in Winnipeg right now saying, I told you so. Yes, I understand that. But I agree.

The great eraser. The great eraser is the playoffs, is the postseason. And congratulations to the Winnipeg Jets for that shutout. And did you see who got the shutout, Elliot? Laurent Bressois. That's right. Or as we like to say, not Conor Hellebuck. Great job from Laurent Bressois.

And by the way, I know I might be like sounding like the hipster on this one, but whenever I hear hard conversations, I always, somewhere in the back just imagine me saying don't forget about conor hellebuck i know the vesna is his to lose i also think he should be in the hard conversation just how valuable he's been to that winnipeg jets team that have been incredible i don't disagree with you i don't disagree with you there okay sticking with the west um Noah Hannafin.

Yeah. You know, when the deal was made, when the trade was made to Vegas, like we all, first of all, we wondered about, you know, could Boston be a destination? That would make some sense. Tampa was a preferred destination. Tampa was the preferred destination. I mean, you just take a family with Boston,

you think preferred destination than Tampa to your point. No, it was Tampa. And not only that, but I do believe that they were pretty far along on a contract extension. And nothing illegal here, I'm going to say. But I do think they were pretty far along on a contract extension. So then we wonder- Hanifin thought he was going to be a lightning not a lightning the lightning no he thought he was going to be a lightning and he thought he was going to be there for eight years right uh well he's going to be somewhere for eight more years and it's vegas uh it is a 58.8 million dollar deal the aav is 7.35 per season. What changed? Because, I mean, I remember when the deal was made,

what was the conversation that you and I had? Watch Vegas go to work here. Go to work on Hannafin. And once he gets to Vegas and sees everything that Vegas can offer, not just the team, which is always competitive, but the building is insane. The fans are great. It's an incredible atmosphere to play, to say nothing of places to live, places to go eat, places to raise a family, places to go have fun.

All of it. You just know that the whole organization went into the charm offensive. Get Noah Hannafin signed here. And they did. Good on the Vegas Golden Knights. The eight-year deal for Hannafin. What do you they did. Good on the Vegas Golden Knights. The eight-year deal for Hannafin. What do you think? I think it came together pretty quick.

As you said, there was no extension when he got traded there. I think there was a little bit of surprise. It hadn't worked out in Tampa. So he had to adjust, not in a bad way, but as you know, if you have in your head something's gonna happen you plan god laughs and you have to wrap your head around your new situation but it was a

good situation obviously i i think another person who was playing a role of sales here first prize cadillac second prize steak knives third prize you're fired jack eichel i was told do not underestimate the role that jack eichel played in all of this so eichel his old under 18 teammate national development team so so don't underestimate the role he played there and and you know what again you know you look at the picture that the golden knights tweeted out and you know it's a he's sitting there in shorts it's a beautiful day outside Vegas is a good place to play and live and I think that's the other thing I think a lot of people have learned since Vegas came into the NHL is that it's not just the strip man I love the strip I can spend a lot of time on the strip,

but Vegas is a lot more than the strip. It's a great place to live, and they convinced Hannafin. I know Tampa was very disappointed they didn't get him in the first place. What I don't know is if they ever gave up hope. Did they ever think Hannafin was going to get to the summer and they were going to have another chance. I don't know the answer to that, but I just heard things really accelerated in the last few days and that Hannafin was comfortable and was welcome to do it. Now, there's a lot of people looking and saying, all right,

what are they going to do here? They've still got, even without Stevenson signed and Carrier signed and Martinez signed and... Marcheseau. Marcheseau signed. They still have a lot of caps tied up here. I think we should know by now that Vegas will let the cards play out.

They will let the season finishes and finishes. Whatever happens, happens. And then they will make their decisions. The cards play out. They will let the season finishes and finishes. Whatever happens, happens. And then they will make their decisions. They will see what they need to do and decide who they're going to keep and who they're not. But, you know, the thing that what Hannafin shows me, and it's a reminder because they did the same thing with Mark Stone. Eichel was already under contract.

If they have a guy that they want to get under contract and they think it makes sense, they get that deal done. Here's another perfect example. So what it says to me is they're not comfortable with wherever they are with Stevenson. They're not comfortable wherever they are with Marcius O and their other situations. That's why those guys aren't signed.

Now, maybe they'll feel differently in a couple of months. I just think we understand now the way Vegas does business. They get done who they want to get done. And they always say, we'll find a way to make it all piece together when we absolutely have to. find a way to make it all piece together when we absolutely have to. So if they wait until July 1st, they're going to wait until July 1st. And if they have to make tough decisions, they're going to make tough decisions. Here's how I look at it. Here's how I look at Vegas.

Because like you, I share a fascination with this team and how they operate and how they do business. Here's what I've learned about Vegas. this team and how they operate and how they do business. Here's what I've learned about Vegas. They do whatever it takes to win every year during the regular season. They'll make a mess. Doesn't matter. To get the players they want, they'll mess up their room. They'll mess up their driveway. It doesn't matter. They'll mess up their front lawn. It doesn't matter. And then they'll take the summer and they'll clean up their cap situation. Yep.

That's what they do. It's all win, win, win, win, win, win, win, whatever it takes, however messy it is, how many eggs we break. And then in the summer, okay, time to clean up the cap now. Yep. That's what they do. Clean up an aisle 12. Yep.

That's what they do. That's what they do in the summer. It's so smart. It's so smart. Really impressive organization. A couple of more things here, summer. It's so smart. It's so smart. Really impressive organization. A couple of more things here, Elliot, before we get to the Montana's thought line. Jacob Sulferberg and the Anaheim Ducks announcing that he will retire at the end of the season.

He's always been one of my favorite players going back to the Ottawa days as well. Well, first of all, I just remember him on penalty shots and shootouts and how he was money. And I always felt that, and it's really rare to have three Selke trophy candidates on one line, but I just remember loving watching Silverberg with Ryan Kessler and Andrew Cogliano. It's very rare to have two players who you look at and say, you know what, Selke consideration, that line had three.

Like you could have made a case for Cogliano obviously you can make a case for Ryan Kessler and you could always make a case for Jacob Silverberg they were low-key one of my favorite lines in the NHL when they were together never thought on Jacob Silverberg I just loved the story BX had told him that when people whined Silverberg would go wah wah wah wah I like people like that. I love it. You have a note on the Ducks. Remember a couple years ago, Jeff, the Vancouver Canucks were fined

for holding on-ice training sessions with players after the conclusion of last year's regular season. They were fined $50,000. It was on-ice sessions with players in mid-April after the season ended in Vancouver. Well, there's another one, and it was the Ducks. They were fined $50,000,

and there's a guy that Pat Verbeek really believes in, a trainer who's based in Florida. His name is Mike Barwiss. He also works for the Red Wings, director of sports science and human performance. So obviously, Verbeek would have known him from his time there in Detroit. And he wanted a number of the Ducks prospects to go down to Florida and spend time there. And I heard a couple weeks ago that there were some complaints about this. And what did they go off the path of what they were actually allowed to do?

Well, the NHL investigated it and they fined the Ducks $50,000. And the players paid themselves. The teams are not allowed to pay. But one of the reasons was facilitating player housing. You can't help them find a location. And the other thing too was I did hear that some of the players, and this is the challenging one because I don't want to say anything forceful happened, but I also heard there was an issue with were the players, did asking, hey, can you come to somewhere? But there is a line that sometimes is difficult to figure out.

What's the difference between asking and pressuring? And I think some of the players felt there was a bit of pressure, and that's the issue. That's the other issue in addition to the housing that was brought up here. And, you know, one of the reasons it came up, I think, is because, again, we're coming to the offseason and they want teams to know this is what you can do and this is what you can't. I'm beginning to think, though, when Pat Verbeek asks you to do something nicely, you feel pressured by him just because he was such a killer.

Yes, he certainly was. What was that nickname again, Elliot? Oh, it seems to skip through my memory. Oh, there we go. That's what it is. Quickly, Lane Hudson, BU loses to Denver. What's happening with the Montreal Prospects? It was a great hockey game, by the way.

Overtime. Yeah. So Lane Hudson, they lost in overtime to Denver. Tell you something, the two coaches in that game, David Carl from the Pioneers, Matt Carl's brother, and Jay Pandolfo, the former NHLer, both of those guys are going to be coaching in the NHL if they want to. If they want to, both of those guys will coach in the NHL, Carl and Pandolfo.

But Lane Hudson, you know, Montreal still has a few games left. Nothing is done until it's done, but it sure sounded on Thursday night like he was going to be joining the Canadians. is done until it's done but it sure sounded on Thursday night like he was going to be joining the Canadians and you know one of the things I think everybody's really careful of is when you lose that way in such a heartbreaking way and it could be the end of your college career everybody wants to give you space and you always worry in the emotion of asking someone to make a decision, even if they've kind of made the decision before the game is played. So you wait, but there was definitely the feeling that he would be joining the Canadians. We'll see what happens. And in the other game, congratulations to BC. They've made it through. It'll be BC and Denver in the final. They beat Michigan. And now

the question becomes Rutger, McCruddy and winnipeg yes now there was a there was word this week that gavin brindley who's a columbus prospect was probably going to stay for another year but there's a couple there there's you know there's frank nazar there's mcgruddy there's there's a couple of players that everybody's going to be watching for but definitely i think a lot of the talk in the aftermath that the player who seemed most likely to come out right now was going to be Hudson. I'll say this, though.

I mentioned on a pod a couple weeks ago that there was a lot of talk about Ryan Leonard going back for another year. I could see the Washington Capitals wanting that guy in their clutches immediately. Big, strong, tough, skilled player. Holy smokes. Get him to your team as fast as you can.

There's your final. Boston College facing off against Denver. Elliot, before we get to the Montana's Thought Line, last thing I want to mention. Elliot, congratulations on helping to raise $800,000 as part of the Canucks for Kids Telethon on Wednesday. You have a thought to wrap us up this block? Well, first of all, great job by Randy,

all the people who joined us, and the technical and production staff. You know, this is challenging times for a lot of people. I don't like to make light of that. I believe it's the second highest total in 2010, which is right around the time the Canucks were approaching their apex. They raised over a million dollars. But to come up with $800,000 this year, again,

when people are really challenged, incredible generosity by Canucks Nation. And I'm very appreciative. And I thank the Canucks for continually inviting me out to ruin it. Great job by everybody. Randy, great job carrying Elliot. Montana's Thought Line is next. Listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast

ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Elliot's back from Vancouver, and he's excited to be part of the Montana's Thought Line. Montana's barbecue and bar, Canada's home, Elliot, for barbecue. Try the ribs. Try the ribs. Canada's home Elliot for barbecue Thank you to Rick Turner for that one As always 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca Is the way to get in 1-833-311-3232 Have a couple of voicemails to get to

But first we get to Riley in Columbus, Ohio. So this email came in after last weekend freeze. So hello, Riley here with a history question with Jet Greaves starting against the Flyers today and Malcolm Subban backing him up. It got me wondering, is this the first all-black goalie tandem in NHL history? Thanks for the answer, gentlemen. And as always, try the rib salad or something along those lines. Riley kind of mixing those two things together.

But thank you, Riley. Much appreciated. So the heavy lifting on this one, it's interesting. I was going back and forth pretty much later on that night and through the week with Aaron Portsline, the great Aaron Portsline from The Athletic, who covers the Columbus Blue Jackets. And we had both wondered the same thing. And he did the heavy lifting on this one.

And he put it in his notes, on his Sunday notes, that April 8th in the year 2000 was the last time it happened. The Calgary Flames dressing Grant Fuhrer and Fred Brathwaite in a game against the Edmonton Oilers. So that is the last time it happened. But there was one other one that the NHL confirmed that Aaron found, which was... What year? 1999.

Hold on. Let me think about it. If you get this one, holy smokes. Let me think about it. Because the one goal turn only played three games in the NHL. Okay, hold on, let me think about it. Now you've got, this is a challenge. Okay.

Well, I would think, like the first, when you said 2000, the first guy I thought of was Kevin Weeks. Okay. So he's one of the goalies? No. Kevin is not. 1999. 1999.

1999. Florida, this is a game against Florida. January the 10th, 1999. Okay, hold on. Let me think about this lean into the silence on the podcast i i am i i i'm determined to i'm determined to get this i can hear the hamster going in your head there let's see the hamster in the hamster's going very slowly okay very good okay can we can we pause on this and let me think about it while we do another one i want to come back to it okay we'll come back by the way are you giving like a chunk

of your paycheck to aaron port's line this week for doing your work for you well here so we're just going back and forth aaron and i and then he put the one in his sunday column and uh then i was going through the um going through the through the thought line questions that we always should point out. These are all curated by the great Griffin Porter. Right. And I saw this one and I said, you know what? Okay, I can throw this in there because I had this exchange with Aaron all week long. And there's a home for it finally.

So that's why i put it in but yes checks in the mail porty you got it uh vittoria okay hold on hold on hold on hold on hold on one second one second was it the flames too yes oh okay so it's got to be fewer or breath weight has to be one of the goalies, right? Correct. Okay, so my goal is to figure out, okay, which one played? Which one of fewer and Brathwaite was in the lineup? Fred Brathwaite was in the lineup, so that's one. Okay, so I've got to think of a goalie who played three games in the NHL.

Okay, I'm going to try. Do'm yeah i'm gonna try no not yet let's let's do another one and see if i come up with it all right vittoria from a small town outside buffalo okay hello jeff dom and elliot my name is vittoria i live in a small town outside buffalo but i'm a diehard habs fan eclipse excitement is at full peak here in Western New York, as it is tomorrow at the time I'm writing this. Several local non-Eclipse events are being delayed in the area due to the crowds coming, including local sports matches. This had me wondering, what is the weirdest reason

an NHL game has been delayed? Thanks, boys. Keep up the good work. And if you ever find yourselves in western new york try the garbage plates they're much better than they sound you know what a garbage plate is no what is that i looked it up and it's fascinating it's something that i would never eat but people do it is and the garbage i believe was invented or created or popularized at a place called nick tahu hots in rochester and it is a plate it's essentially it's a mash-up of foods it's a mash-up of various meats, fries, salads, and sauces all together.

Yes. Something I would never eat, but people do. I've never heard of garbage plates before, but apparently they're popular. Certainly at Nick's in Rochester, but Vittoria throws that in for a little bit of spice. I don't know that I have a good answer for the NHL, but my go-to for delaying games was always the WHA and the Philadelphia Blazers. Now, it was their home opener. Interestingly enough, it was on Friday the 13th.

And the Zamboni came out out and something happened. I think the blade might've dropped and it dropped right in the crease and it damaged both the ice and the Zamboni and made it unplayable. Now, since it was Philadelphia's home opener, they gave away like 10,000 orange pucks. And they told Derek Sanderson, who was the star of the team, their prize signing from the Boston Bruins, to go out to center ice with the microphone and explain to everybody how they wouldn't be playing hockey that day

because there was this accident and the ice, you just couldn't skate on it anymore. So Sanderson goes out there and does it. Now, when I say fans armed with pucks who've just been told there won't be a game, Elliot, what goes through your mind? They started chucking the pucks at Derek Sanderson, who I believe had to make a beeline for the penalty box to protect himself. So that's the only one that I have off the top of my mind

when it comes to delaying or pausing or postponing games. That's always my favorite one. That's a good story. I mean, that's typical you. You pull that out of nowhere from the 70s. That's very Merrick. You know, the ones I can remember are

I worked an outdoor game, Edmonton-Winnipeg, where the game got delayed because of sunlight. Yeah. Remember during COVID when they played those two games in Lake Tahoe, they had to delay because of sunlight. That's the closest I can think of. So those outdoor games have been affected before

because of- Lake Tahoe. Well, I mentioned Lake Tahoe. Thanks for listening i'm sorry no i just cut that out that was actually that is me doing my elliot impression that's you doing your other press yeah so that kind of happens now you you know an actual game itself that was indoors that got delayed we talked last last week about the Stanley Cup final in 1988 between Boston and Edmondson.

That's the first one that jumps into my head. I remember a Leaf game that was delayed once because the TV lights wouldn't turn on for the start of a period. And the TV lights, if you're not familiar, those are lights that make the game look better for the TV audience and brighten the ice, but you turn them off, for example, during the intermissions. So just to cut down the glare or turn down the heat,

whatever you want to say. I've been at a game or two before where those haven't turned on right away and they got delayed. I remember when I was covering university football, Western York, I did one game where a player was seriously injured, happily turned out to be okay on a touchdown return by Western. And he was injured at the middle of the field. They called out an ambulance and they were putting them on a stretcher to take him off, and while they were waiting, they made Western kick the extra point. And they're like, ah, the guy's at the 50-yard line. Nothing's going to happen.

It's just an extra point. I remember, oh, God, don't let this be the one extra point that gets returned down midfield. But he was okay, thankfully. So we can laugh about it a bit now were you tagged on that video that someone sent me this week and said he tagged a couple of other people as well it was 1982 was playoffs chicago blackhawks and Minnesota North Stars and the 15-minute brawl in the stands where all the players stopped the game and watched the brawl. And unlike what they do now, where they will just go to commercial break and not show it, the camera stayed on it the entire time. No, I didn't see that.

And it became part of the broadcast. Were you tagged on that tweet? No. I'm going to find it and send it to you. Yeah, back in 1982 so that would have been a pause of the game for brawls in the stands which every now and then are a thing but it was just weird watching the blackhawks and north stars who were you know at that time really used to brawling with each other both standing there on the ice and watching fans brawl instead of themselves okay oh by the way let's go back to

the goalie you know okay i'm not convinced i know who it is the only name i could think of but he played more than three games and he wasn't in calgary at the time is one of our co-workers and on the oilers broadcast joaquin Gage. It was not. Well, he's Haitian, but I was thinking of a player of color who was a goalie, but I know it's not him, but that was the closest I could think of. The answer is this. Fred Brathwaite and Tyrone Gardner. Tyrone Gardner. Oh,ner oh my goodness three games for the

he played with the calgary never remembered that yeah this game stony creek stone see you do oshawa generals goalie i just googled them i just googled okay okay well that's okay there's okay so yeah calgary flames against the florida panthers january 10th, 1999. Again, Aaron Port's line with the heavy lifting on all of this. Nice. Let's get to a couple of voicemails here to wrap up the Montana's Thought Line. First one, let's go to Shelby in Vancouver. Hey, boys. How's it going?

This is Shelby from Vancouver. Go Despos. I've been using a tactic on face-offs recently that I haven't been getting called on, so I wanted to check with you guys to see if there is a rule indicating that all players on the face-off have to plant their feet and cannot be in motion in order to attack the other team with an advantage position like you would in football on a blitz. Anyways, hope that was short enough for you fellas. Great podcast.

Hope to hear an answer. Bye. Shelby, you are getting an answer. Elliot, do you know the answer? Shelby was in a wind tunnel. Yeah, or maybe like in the back of an Uber with the window down. What's the answer, Jeff? Rule 76.6.

Players other than the centers, all players must stand on side on all face-offs. The players taking the draw are the only ones that are allowed to move. You have to be standing still. You got to do statue practice. You got to do elevator practice. You got to stand there. That's rule 76.6. One more voicemail to wrap things up here. Ryan Singh. Hi, Jelly Dog. This is Ryan Singh calling from the LTIR capital of the world. And we just finished up our season here with the RHA Kelowna U18 prep. Now that our season's over, we have time to discuss about some dumb stuff with one another, but we really got into a heated argument about neck guards. My question regards to what happened with the neck guard

conversation at the GM meetings in Florida. Where did that talk go? Because I couldn't find anything about it. Thanks, guys. I love the show from Kelowna, BC. First of all, let me say that I understand the idea of sitting around with your friends and getting into dumb, stupid arguments where you need outside parties to settle. That every male understands that. That was called my my 20s that's called my 50s okay very good uh ryan thanks for that and colonna is beautiful oh man if you've ever been or if you haven't been make sure um that you get a chance to get to colonna it's gorgeous um gm's meetings and neck guards anything more on listen i know it's always a tricky issue trying to, you know, force people to wear things or put on different pieces of equipment. But was there anything talked about with neck guards at the GM's?

I don't think they presented the cut resistant equipment this time. I did ask actually about this, if they talked about the cut resistant equipment this time. And I was told the answer is no um but there's no question there's a huge push to make people aware of it um you know look there's been how many situations this year where players got cut and some of them even still turned out to be serious but others were mitigated because they were wearing the cut resistant equipment. So I just think it's one of those things that you can't force any player to wear it, but you can discuss it and you can say to them, here's the benefit. And most importantly, they keep it around. Yes. Okay. Thanks so much for the phone calls. Thanks so much for the emails.

Um, okay. Uh, thanks so much for the phone calls. Thanks so much for the emails. 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca. 1-833-311-3232. It's the Montana's Thought Line. Montana's Barbecue and Bar. Canada's home for barbecue. We're back in the podcast.

32 Thoughts presented as always by our friends at the GMC Sierra Elevation. How long would it have taken you to get to Tyrone Garner's name? So our rights are up in two years. I don't know if I would have gotten it done by the time the next contract was signed. Oh, my goodness. Oshawa Generals. I just wouldn't have remembered him.

I really wouldn't. I hope he's not insulted, but I don't think I would have remembered. Three games in the NHL, nice little career in junior hockey played in the uchl all over the place ended up getting coached by jeff bess you ever heard me go on and on about jeff bess one of my favorite players for jeff bess oh man and i went on to be a coach still coaching in the sphl the good old oh man i watched so many Guelph games with Jeff Bass. Anyhow, a couple of things I want to wrap up with here.

So Sam Colangelo will make his NHL debut for the Anaheim Ducks against the Calgary Flames. That's what we all expect. Sam Colangelo, I'm curious how you feel about this. And it sounds like you'll play with Lindestrom and Sulferberg. We talked about Sulferberg earlier. So the first number he was given to wear was number 66 and as i've been told uh it was both i think ridicule is too

strong or chiding but just some comments from players uh a lot of comments online about wearing number. It's Mario's number, right? Well, it's a tribute, right? That's what I think. That's what I think. Now, he's changed it or the team has changed it. He's not going to wear 66. He's going to wear 64.

I want to get to why I think that's important in all this in a second. But there's a lot of iconic numbers in hockey. 99 is the most iconic number. Going away, full stop, it's Gretzky's league-wide retirement. You're not allowed to wear it anymore. But if you just look around the NHL, when you see the number or think of the number four in hockey, who do you think of, Elliot? Bobby Orr. Of course. Yet, Miro Haskinen wears four, Bo Byram wears four, Cam Fowler wears four, Seth Jones wears four, Rasmus Anderson wears four, and not a peep. Number nine. Now, you can think

about Gordie Howe. You can think about Rocket Richard. Jack Eichel wears nine. Clayton Keller wears nine. Philip Forsberg wears nine. JT Miller wears nine. Not a peep. Number 19. Iserman, Sackick, Legends. Matthew Kachuk wears 19.

No problem. Troy Terry, Riley Smith. No problem whatsoever. not a peep and to the point about number four i always go back and forth i love jean beliveau so to me it's or and bello but these are iconic numbers right and no one says a thing when you see them why is 66 different josh hosang heard it when he wore 66 as well i like it like you this is a tribute this is a tribute to it's not band league wide you know uh i see 88 you know older guy i think eric lindros younger guys will think you know pat kane and William Nylander. But again, not a peep about any of it.

Why is 66 so different, do you think? And do you think we'll get there with 87 too? Well, look, if the numbers retired league-wide... Don't wear it. You can't. I get it. Yeah. But to me, if it's a tribute, I'm no Mario Lemieux, but if I was, and I not a mario lemieux in anything and my number was not retired and somebody wanted to wear it i would think

what a great tribute now you know i maybe it's one of those things where they feel that they feel he has to establish himself before getting the iconic number see i looked up his previous numbers okay so when sam colangelo was at northeastern two years ago he wore 16 when he was at western michigan this year, he wore 12. When he was down with the San Diego Gulls, where he played four games, he wore 25. So maybe if you want to say that he hasn't worn 66 and now he's wearing it now, and to be honest, I haven't looked through all the ducks numbers if you're gonna say well he hasn't worn 66 before so he can't wear it now and okay i can see it but generally if you're gonna wear a great player's number as a tribute i don't have a huge problem with it unless there's a reason you're not allowed to wear it. Yeah, I would view.

To me, I can't get worked up over this. No. Now, he's going to wear a 64, it looks like. So, this may sound wacky and this may sound a little bit goofy. Is that better? Just because it's not Lemieux? No, this is so esoteric.

I know this is just like party of one Jeff Merrick, and this is why I kind of giggled the whole thing. There's only one player that I've ever seen, and he is not Mario Lemieux. He's nowhere close to Mario Lemieux, so stop with the Twitter machine already. But there was one player. This is going to go very badly for you.

I'm just starting. I'm revving up now. I'm like, this is going to crash right into the wall in like two seconds. But there was a player who used to drive from Toronto to Newmarket as a teenager to go watch. Because he looked like Mario. He skated like Mario. He had hands in junior like Mario. He was the same size, six foot four, like 215 pounds, like same as Mario. Like everything about him screamed Mario.

He was an American player. I believe it was from Rochester who played in the OHL for Newmarket when I was going to watch him. He was a fourth overall draft pick of the Edmonton Oilers, was Jason Bonsignor. Remember Jason Bonsignor? He was the only player that I ever looked at and said, he moves like Mario. And again, everybody, he's not Mario. He's nowhere close to Mario Lemieux.

But Jason Bonsignor wore number 64. And that's why I kind of laughed to myself. They didn't want him to wear 66, maybe because of the Mario ribbing. So they gave him number 64, which is kind of like Jeff Merrick's, I don't know, nickel and dime poor man's Mario Lemieux, number 64.

Mario minus two. Maybe. All I'm saying is, Sam Colangelo, no matter what number you're wearing, good luck in your first game in the NHL with the Anaheim Ducks. Are you going to be Mario? Are you going to be Jason Bontenor? Are you going to be somewhere in between? Good luck with all of it um hockey night on saturday the trite red wings elliot facing off against the toronto maple leafs

montreal big game huge game for the red they're all huge for the rest of the way yes and the vancouver canucks and the edmonton oilers wrap things up do you have a thought on any of the games on saturday That game in Arizona Edmonton on Friday probably determines how big that one is for Saturday. I'm interested in the fact that Demko's not going to play. He's aiming for next week against

Calgary. I thought we might see him against the Oilers on Saturday night, but that's not the case. I was out in Vancouver. Colby taped some stuff. He did one piece with JT Miller and Brock Besser. He taped another one with Quinn Hughes and Rick Tockett. I did Pedersen, and I'm looking forward to seeing all these pieces

during the playoffs. Did you go for a boat ride with Elias Pedersen, or is he staying off the canals with you? You know what I have to tell you is I didn't have time. I wanted to buy a toy boat and present it to Pedersen, but I didn't have time to do it. Would have been so good. The things we wish we did.

Alas, I'm sure you get a chance to interview him again. Okay, on behalf of everybody here on this side of the podcast, thanks so much for sticking with us right to the very end. Bless you. Podcast returns as usual, Monday morning drop. Enjoy your weekend. Enjoy the hockey. Playoffs are coming up soon.