32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Watching Bieber While Getting Monahan Notes

Episode Date: February 5, 2024

Jeff and Elliotte look back at a successful NHL All-Star Weekend for almost everyone involved. Elliotte outlines how the NHL did the work to make sure the event was a reputational bounce back after studying last year's struggles in Florida (5:13). They get into Nikita Kucherov's controversial performance and how some believe he should lose the Hart over it (16:58) and Elliotte delves into the exposure that Justin Bieber and Tate McRae brought to the league over the weekend (24:38). Following the All-Star weekend discussions, Jeff and Elliotte expand on the NHL's new international schedule that will include best-on-best tournaments up to 2032 (40:39) and focus in on the discussion around the Arizona Coyotes future (44:24). They finish the A block by talking about Gary Bettman's comments on the 2018 World Junior investigation (50:35). Later in the podcast, Jeff and Elliotte talk about a potential partnership between the CHL and NCAA (1:04:41) and the Sean Monahan trade to the Winnipeg Jets (1:12:42). They also discuss Todd McLellan being let go by the LA Kings (1:15:52). The guys answer your questions in the Montana’s Thought Line (56:45.764). Then, they sit down with Connor McDavid alongside Leon Draisaitl (1:22:59) and Rick Tocchet alongside Rick Bowness (1:34:37).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This 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.

Dom's asking me if I have Bieber fever. Yes. Yes, I do. Take two aspirin and call me in the morning. Lots to get into today on 32 Thoughts to Podcast, presented as always by the GMC Sierra, Merrick Friedman, Dom Tremati as well. All-Star Weekend has come and gone,

and I want to start with something maybe a little bit frivolous, but it was one of many geek-out moments that I had over the weekend, Elliot. And that was you and Ron McLean talking to Conor Bedard about his hockey stick in the conversation that he clearly had with Nathan McKinnon

when he started mentioning P92 patterns. That was geek out moment for the weekend for your buddy, Jeffy here. I would like to say, first of all, none of this surprises me you know this is your brand it's very loved it loved it well i think too um you you remember that one of the things that players really do like talking about is the tools of their trade right there they're the craft of their trade like any other like any other profession

absolutely absolutely yes and sometimes me in particular i forget that but you know i the one thing i'd like to say is i thought it was great that bedard was there and they found a role for him because conor bedard is going to be at all-star games for the next 15 years and he's going to be a face of the league if he isn't already he's going to be a big face of the league and I thought it was a really important thing that he was included and he was around doing interviews and because he's going to be one of the he's going to be one of the cornerstones of the NHL so I liked all that and And you know what? It's an easy, easy icebreaker. At the end, though, I thought it was interesting for him to say if it was up to him, he would be playing already. He didn't give an exact date of his return.

Last week. Last week when he got on the ice. He kind of made it very clear that he had said, I'm ready, and the Blackhawks were like hold on here little connor you may be ready but this is not a great idea yet it says to me though it's going to be soon we it's not too long until we happily see him again on the ice the p92 by the way is the joe sakic pattern which for all of you people that collect these types, this little bit of information, Joe Sackick never actually used. He used a variation of the P92,

but the actual one that everybody else used, he never really used that one. Okay, so All-Star Weekend. Oh, I want to mention as well, have a couple of really special interviews coming up. One, the interview that you and I did with Conor McDavid and Leon Dreisaitl. Very much look forward to that.

And also- By the way, McDavid really liked your conspiracy theory oh no he was really no no no the way he answered the question he was at least intrigued by it he gave you a good answer if he it was if he didn't like it he would have totally blown it off like most of your questions should be blown off but mcdavid he gave a good answer so that says to me he kind of was interested in it uh being the subject of a hockey jersey conspiracy theory i i guess that that's one that hockey players don't necessarily think they will ever be part of so maybe that tickled them under the chin i don't know um but both connor and leon were great in the interview uh you'll hear a little bit later on. And also, we sat down with the two Ricks.

And this was really interesting. Rick Bonas and Rick Tockett and Elliott. I mean, you can tell this one. This was at a very, very specific time where Bonas and Tockett sat down to talk to us. Yes. So Rick Tockett and Rick Bonas sat down with us literally three minutes after the LA Kings announced that Todd McClellan had been fired and we told them and they looked at each other and most of this interview it really set a tone for the interview because the interview wasn't so much about the Winnipeg

Jets and the Vancouver Canucks it was a lot on philosophies about coaching and and that we asked them about the coaching fraternity it's a really good general interview about coaches. Normally, I wouldn't be so quick to put Rick Bonas back on the pod after he was just there a week and a half ago, but because of the duo and the things they were talking about and they really played off each other well, it's a good interview. And that timing timing while unfortunate for todd mcclellan it was good to hear how other coaches react to one of their brethren

losing their job absolutely so those are the two interviews we have for you coming up a little bit later on there'll be other interviews that we did last Friday that we'll sprinkle into the podcast in subsequent shows. Okay. In the meantime, All-Star Weekend, whether it is Gretzky Basement pop-ups, whether it's Justin Bieber concerts or Justin Bieber taking warm-ups or Justin Bieber's jackets

or Tate McRae or wild spit and chiclet shows or Michael Bublé on mushrooms. And then I guess there was everything on the ice as well. Skills competition, PWHL three on three, et cetera, the draft, the games themselves on Saturday. What stood out to you? Jeff, let's go back 12 months. After we left All-Star Weekend in Florida,

what was great about it? The weather, the climate. I'll take Florida in February over Toronto in February, a hundred times out of a hundred. The hospitality was great. You can't blame the Panthers for putting on a bad show in terms of how they hosted their guests, but the players' performance was not very good. There was a firestorm of criticism after the skills competition. there was a lot of angst over they just didn't care and they didn't put on a good show so what have we seen in 12 months since then we saw the

NHL in conjunction with the players association Connor McDavid asked how can we make it better he thought a lot about some of the things other players were talked to about some of the things and it was impressed upon them that the players had to care more they had to put on a better show you know Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment there was a directive that came I think from Brendan Shanahan where he talked about we have to make sure we do everything we can so the NHL and the Players Association could put on a better show. The All-Star Game had to be given a fresh coat of paint. And even though we won't get one next year, I think there's a feeling now after this weekend that the All-Star Game and the skills competition is in a much better place than we felt a year ago.

Like I know how a lot of people feel about all-star games. They're stupid. We shouldn't have them. Like Josh Yeo, who does a really good job covering the Penguins, he's one of those guys on Twitter. He makes it very clear he cannot stand the all-star game and basically thinks they should be wiped out of existence. And there's a lot of people who think

like that but tv well this is the thing tv networks love it sponsors love it you're missing the big one young fans yes love it i was getting there i was getting there all right so for example my nephews um one is uh 10 and the other are eight they went on thursday night for the draft the 67 leaves and the pwhl three on three game and they had a great time they loved it they loved the draft they they really enjoyed seeing all just seeing all the players. And then when I walked out of the building that night, because I was going to head out, but I walked out of the building that night,

there were like four young girls there, and they were like, where can we see Tate McRae? Because she was part, and we're going to talk about Tate McRae a bit more in a couple minutes. And they're like, where can i find tate mccray and i told them where they had the best chance of seeing her leave the building which i think i could get in trouble for admitting on this podcast but well done elliot there's there's four young women here who want to see tate mccray i was like what am i gonna do i remember i was young once what am i gonna do i remember i was young once

what am i gonna do so tell her what hotel she's staying at too no i don't i don't do that i just gave the exit of the building that made the most sense but all right i i did see a lot of you and and then there were like other young fans they were like what door will this player come out what door will and like honestly i you know hey there was a lot of i could see in the crowd because our set was just in the suite level you could see the crowd everybody um the kids seem to be having a great time so it matters and sponsors love the all-star game because they get rewarded they take people to them them. The NHL takes people to them. So even if you don't like the games, the event matters to your fans and your corporate community.

Never forget that. It really matters to them. My life, Elliot, got a lot better when I realized something. Probably too late in life, but nonetheless. What's that? Not everything is for me. That's right. A thousand percent that not everything is for me that's right a thousand percent you know like the all-star game okay it doesn't have to be for me although I really enjoyed it this year but this isn't intended for me not every musician is intended for me not

every book is intended for not every sport is intended for me the arrogance of assuming that everything has to amuse you in life is a weird form of slavery it ties you to something that ultimately will let you down again i encourage everybody to come to this realization not everything is for you and in our industry we see it always around all-star and i say the same thing it's not for you it's not for you why complain about it why do you know i'll for you. It's not for you. Why complain about it? Why? You know what? I'll tell you what.

And this is very unscientific, but I'm a hockey dad, right? So both my kids both had practice on Friday night. And they both, like when I was driving them home, all they wanted to talk about was getting home to watch skills. That's it. And other parents as well, all the kids want to do is get home and watch skills some of the kids uh you know split practice didn't go to practice on friday because they went to the skills competition and that's one of those like the coach will say like well you know what you know your triple a you shouldn't miss practice you know focus it's elite level all that kind of stuff but it's like well how many

chances are they going to get to go to something like this i totally get that and i totally get that like that's all the kids wanted to do i took my boys to the to the game on saturday and they loved it like absolutely loved it the whole event the way it was played like all of it like when marner got robbed on that save i think it was by by by it was an incredible save like you heard the pop in the place and this is like i always say about the all-star games this is the best beer league game in the world this is like okay if it's a breakaway everyone agrees no one's going to back check give them the give them the breakaway make the crowd excited and the kids loved it the kids had so much fun all i can do again unscientific the kids that are in my orbit and that is all

hockey kids they all they cared about was skills competition the games itself themselves bieber was huge uh for a lot of them and the pwhl three on three and i thought sarah nurse said something really really that i haven't heard a lot of pw athletes say she talked about all all the boys and men who came up asking for autographs talking about the the PWHL as well. People just like hockey. Thank you. It is hockey. People just like hockey. That's all of it.

This is capital H Hockey Weekend. And there's a lot of tentacles to it. And one of the things that I took away from this weekend is no matter what part of hockey you liked, there was something for you. There was new. There was old. There was was new there was old there was wild there was conservative like there was a whole bunch of different things for a whole bunch of different

people all crammed in to one weekend and if there wasn't something for you this whole thing wasn't for you in the first place and jeff the key thing here is, after all of that epic good rant you just had, is that the players bought in. That was the key. Almost all of them. All of them, yeah. Almost all of them. I want to talk to you about something someone brought up with me with Kucherov.

So the players bought in, and they, led by the best player, the most important player, he really bought in like to me one of the big moments is and this said a lot about what happened at skills in the last skill the obstacle course all he had to do was finish second and he was going to win he could have lollygagged like bull durham he could have lollygagged to first base, but he did not. He went out there and he didn't just finish second. He clobbered everybody. And that was the tone that had to be set. And the game itself, um, you know, look, the first game, it was three, one with a minute and a half left. McDavid's team could have just said, eh, we're done.

And they came back and they tied it and they won it in a shootout. And I heard in the championship game between Matthew's team and McDavid's team, and clearly Matthew's team with all the Leafs wanted the victory badly at home. I heard there was some mild complaining I heard there was some mild complaining about how the Matthews team was being aggressive in face-offs. Like there's always that line about, okay, it's an all-star game.

We need to compete, but where's the limit so that nobody gets hurt? where's the limit so that nobody gets hurt i heard there was some mild complaining about some of the the matthews team's face-off tactics and apparently they just said we're we're here to win you know where you saw the all-star code there's one place specifically where you see the all-star code and that is on breakaways the code is when someone's on a breakaway just and if you're a back checker just sort of wave at the parade you just let them have the breakaway no one's overly too aggressive trying to defend two-on-ones either um like there's a few moments where you see like okay guys are just adhering to this all-star code of let them play but to grouse about face-offs seriously like i get that it's three on three and you know possession is a huge thing

but seriously fridge i have to find out which one it was but i heard there was one specific face-off where a tactic was used that someone said was whoa was it was it was it the old cheat with the feet was it that one i'm not no it wasn't cheating with the feet it was like something physical happened oh okay like it wasn't like it's not that it was like something physical occurred that someone said hey it's an all-star game and whoever did it was like whatever like we're here to win kind of thing now the other thing i noticed too is go back and watch it, Jeff. But did you see the kinds of shots that were being taken? Look at the beginning of the games and then the end of the championship game,

the gold medal game, whatever you want to call it. The guys were starting to wind up. Well, Matthews had that. Matthews, yes. Ripped the one-timer. Yes, Matthews had that. Matthews, yes. Ripped the one-timer. Yes. Matthews ripped that one-timer.

Like, whoosh. Well, if you go back and you look at when the game started, like the two early games, nobody was shooting like that. And then we got down to the final game, and guys were really starting to hammer it. There was definitely something that happened. As they got closer, the competitive juices really got going and then poster knock is starting to make jokes in the post game about toronto finally winning two rounds like that showed you that you know hey if people were in competitive mode it was i you know i like i

said i i thought the players the players have to take the lead. And I really did think, look, from where we were about the event a year ago to where we are now, I think everybody feels a lot better. Now, before we move on to some of the other issues, there's two things I want to talk about from the specific all-star event weekend before we get to Bettman and the news that comes out of his press conference. Number one, let's talk about Kucherov for a second. So I know what someone said to me on Saturday morning. I said, what's that?

They said, that should cost Kucherov the Hart Trophy. And the answer was, God, I hope you're not serious. Dom Schrammatti and I were just having that conversation off air before we started the podcast. I think a lot of people thought that. Listen, first of all, it shouldn't. If you believe, as a voter, that Nikita Kucherov is the MVP, vote him for MVP.

No matter what he does at the skills competition, licks the envelope, mails it in. And by the way, just as an aside, the most amusing headline of any story I read from the NHL this weekend was this. Kucherov embraces role as crowd rival at NHL All-Star Game. I can think of a couple alternative headlines for that one, but

nonetheless, you know, but you know what I thought of? The one thing I thought of when Dom and I were having that conversation, I'm glad you brought it up. And this is a full stick tap cap nod to the late great Jim Kelly, who when he had his physical altercation with Dominic Hashek, still voted him for MVP. Didn't let that get in the way of his voting at all. There was that issue,

and then there was the issue of who he was going to vote for, and he didn't let anything cloud his judgment when it came to voting for MVP. But I'm with you. I really hope that that doesn't tip the scales in favor of someone else just because he, you know, mailed it in at the skills competition. You know, the thing is, Jeff, like I agree with that. I've had people who I don't like, or I don't get along with that. I voted for, for awards. I think if you're the awards process

should not be tainted by that. I'm with you and I'm with Jim Kelly on that 100%. Look, like I laughed when he started waving at the crowd. I actually thought that was a really key part of the entertainment. Lean into it. Yes, lean into it 100%. Like this is what clearly happened. It didn't go well for him and he was like, eh. If I wouldn't have known differently,

I would have thought kucherov was auditioning for curb your enthusiasm on the weekend like like i should have asked him if he was a big fan of the show because if you invited larry david to the all-star game nikita kucherov on friday was exactly what you would have seen you know you can say to him in the future look if you're gonna do that we'll just take someone else um but it was kind of interesting how there was a lot of celebrate kucherov the week before basically said you know he like nobody's talking about me for the heart trophy and you know and then a week later people were like he shouldn't win the heart trophy based on that.

Like, there has to be a game that you kind of have to play here. I don't think that should be the case. But I also think that, you know, what do Hart Trophy winners do? They go to the All-Star game and they put on a show, right? Or at least try to put on a show. And I don't think that should cost them votes, but I think it could. I think it's entirely possible it does.

And maybe they shouldn't invite him again in the future. It was funny. I've tried to convince him to come on the podcast, and I walked right up to him on media day, and I said, and I think he knows this now, and I said, you know, I'd love to have you come on the pod he looks at me and he goes you can talk to me right here and i go no i want i got a lot of questions for you i want to talk to you on the pod you know he said to me he goes i actually think kucherov's really funny i've enjoyed my brief conversations with him

i i said i said i want you to come on the pod he looks at me he goes i'm really not that big on podcasts so i think we got our answer there jeff i don't think he's coming on the pod but that's okay you know like they they're gonna have to say to him hey if if that's the show you're gonna put on then we can't have you here. And I don't think that's good. Kucherov should be at the All-Star game every year, but you can't bring him if it's going to be like that all the time. The thing is, he's just flat out one of the most skilled players in the game. And as McKinnon said, they all love watching him. He's got the respect of his peers.

You know what the interesting thing, there's another layer to this and i'm not excusing like you know going in there and you know showing up the event like if you don't want to do it don't do it like you always hate the person that like grudgingly shows up to something and then half-asses it you just say to yourself like if you don't want to be here like just just don't like just don't be here like take the one game suspension after the all-star game and just be on with it but you know what's you know what's interesting about and again this is a whole other layer to it but what's interesting about him you know mailing it in at the skills competition the way that he did i've always felt that and i think the players will tell you this as well one of the great things about kucherov's game

is the way he can manipulate how other players react around him while he plays and here's what i want to get to one of the great things that kucherov does is he hides like nobody hides on the ice like kucherov does like he will have everybody convinced he's either not into a play or not in a position for a play it's like oh kucherov doesn. Like he will have everybody convinced he's either not into a play or not in a position for a play. It's like, oh, Kucherov doesn't have it. And then suddenly, bam. Yes. He pulls something out of the blue

and you're like, holy smokes. Like where did the, like this guy was like loafing around in the offensive zone, just clueless going through the motions. And then all of a sudden it's that fake slap shot, you know, pass to either point in the high slot

or Stamkos on the other side. And Tampa's, you know, pass to either point in the high slot or Stamkos on the other side. And Tampa's, you know, doing the train down the bench. The interesting thing about that is that's kind of part of his game. Lulling people into believing he really doesn't care at that moment and then snap. Like his stick control, the way he rolls his, first of all, the way he rolls his wrists almost makes it look like he's not even rolling his wrists. Like the way the puck comes off his blade, Elliot, like it's outstanding. So part of me, again, part of me looked at that and said, that's actually part of his game,

convincing people that he's something that he is not. I think he's the ultimate magician on the ice. I think that he is one of the smartest players on the ice. We always hear about, Oh, he's playing chess. Everyone else is playing checkers. That's true. Part of me looked,

honestly, Elliot, part of me looked at that and said, that is so part of Kucherov's game. Again, it's a small part and it doesn't excuse it. But part of me said, that's Kucherov.

That's how he plays. You think I'm going to do this? No do this no i'm gonna do that you expect me to do this no i'm gonna do something else that's kucherov that's not bad that's not bad at all uh and you're and you're not wrong like i would never say that you're wrong uh oh yes you would no no i would never say that you're wrong about that oh but again but again like there was uh it is true that sometimes when you see kucherov out there you think he's not interested and then he just does something that blows you off your feet no hang on no one sets traps better than kucherov how about that's true no one sets traps out there like kucherov ask anyone that's coached or played against them i just think that on a weekend where the players said we care about this i know you you have to get better than that but i just think the idea that it should cost them the

heart trophy i don't i don't support that yeah the other thing i i wanted to mention was the celebrities and look the nhl all-star game is never going to be the Super Bowl obviously but the one thing the Super Bowl has done is it's convinced musicians and celebrities that you have to be there you want to be a part of it the NFL has a lot of power over who it gets to pick because if you don't have this belief that the NFL is almost doing you a favor or is doing you a favor by allowing you to be featured there they won't pick you and this was one of the first weekends where it seemed like the celebrities involved, it mattered to them that they were part of this. Justin Bieber taking the warmup, I thought that was fantastic.

I was at the Bieber event on Thursday night, or was it Wednesday night? Wednesday night. Thursday, Thursday. It was Thursday, trust me. I went to the Bieber event on Thursday night, and I'm not a huge bieber uh fan but my son is and i recorded him singing peaches for my son and my son was ecstatic

but the thing that really stood out to me about bieber was he like the true bie-holics, they pointed out that he hadn't sang. Dom's asking me if I have Bieber fever. Yes. Yes, I do. Take two aspirin and call me in the morning. You know, Jeff, this was a big weekend for musical comebacks. We had Justin Bieber on Thursday night in Toronto and Tracy Chapman along with Luke Combs on the Grammys on Sunday night that was a beautiful collaboration so good weekend for the music business and comebacks the fact that he's saying for the first time in two years that was a mega deal like the people who were at that event

they were raptured like they really were it was it was it was a powerful emotional night and bieber left a huge impression on the people who were there i happened to be down in the pit where a lot of the pwhl players were and they were like it was a huge highlight for them you could really see it and the people i saw like it was a big big moment justin bieber sang and then he went on the ice and he did warm-ups and you could tell the players loved it and he loved it will arnett was obviously really into it michael buble was obviously really into it really well part of part of his brain was into it you know what what? It was funny. No, no, no. Elliot, it was awesome. You know me, Elliot.

That was fantastic. Nobody owes anyone any apologies. It was great. No. But I want to talk about Tate McRae for a second. Sure. Tate McRae, her show, I don't know a lot. I confess.

I mean, I've learned a lot about tate mccray this year because she's showing up at flames games um she obviously has a big hockey motif in her her videos and her songs um i asked my nephews about tate mccray and they perked up she's like oh she's really cool my nieces too she's really cool um but i was told on sunday night after it was over like her her routine i thought was spectacular her show it's really good but what really i was impressed with was the our staff that was at the rink early on sunday morning they told me that one one person said 7 30 one person said nine o'clock so But she was there really early rehearsing. And they watched her rehearsal.

And they said it was like a hard practice. Like it was like a coach really grinding his guys after a bad game or ahead of a big game. Like today, we're having a great practice. And we're taking this very seriously. And we're not getting off the ice until we've practiced the way we're going to play. And they said that you could tell she was nervous. And they said you could tell she wanted the show to be great. And she was driving her staff hard.

But it was not in a mean way. It was in a, this is a huge opportunity way, and we're going to smash it out of the park. And I had a couple of the staff tell me that they were really glued to her practice because of the intensity of it and the demand that she clearly had that this be a great show.

And if you want to have a successful all-star game and you are banking on entertainers to do that for you you need them to have that attitude so for people who saw tate mcrae's show and thought it was great which i was one of them i i really enjoyed hearing from our crew who saw her practice who said that you could tell when she walked in there what like six hours before everything began she said we're practicing like we're performing and this and i demand this is going to be a great show they were like you have to understand like these are the technical crew that works with the best of the best in entertainment. And they said her rehearsal was as good and as demanding as anything that they had seen. And they were super impressed by it.

I really like hearing that because, you know, when you're when you're paying people or you're asking people to perform for you, you are hoping that they take it seriously. And she took it really seriously. I, like you, admittedly, didn't know a lot about Tate McRae before this weekend, other than the cutaways at Calgary Flames home games and casually hearing things here and there online with her music. But I thought that performance, just from what you're talking about, here we are, you know, you're coming off Nikita Kucherov and here's the exact opposite. This 20 year old from Calgary who's knocking it out of the park and working real hard to understanding the moment here. I thought the performance was great. And I don't know how many players came out to watch. I know that Mitch Marner did. I know that Marner came out to watch one more player it was marner and someone else i can't remember who it was okay but i will tell us who it was yes of course like i was i was glad to see that but i thought i thought she

was awesome like really that that that to me has got to be a pretty again she's a professional and played in front of large crowds etc but i always wonder about musicians in that environment as well because that's not what you're used to right especially and watching her go from the stage to the ice back to the stage like i know you may look at that and go like well what did what did you do so she's now she's singing in front of a microphone that's that's on the ice she's got someone helping her anytime when you're i always think like at the elite elite level of anything small things mean large things yeah what do we talk what do we start this podcast by talking about conor bedard's p92 like you change anything on his blade his profile of his skates

or anything that means that is large for people that are top of their field and i just want to say that i was impressed that there are a lot of elements i'm sure that tate mccray is not used to performing on a rink like that away from her band there's two separate stages all of it there's a lot of different variables that go into that and when you're at top of your field tiny things are actually huge that people like you and me may just shrug off and go like oh whoop-dee-doo so you know the blade's a little bit flatter with the toe or oh she's got to walk out onto the ice and sing instead these things are enormous listen all i want to say is i thought the performance was great and good for her and i was really happy that I got to be there to watch all of it.

Elliot. You know, I have to say someone, if she listens to this, she's going to be horrified that two 50 year old geezers might destroy her audience. We know you're, we're not your demo tape.

We know you're, we're not your demo. She's going to be like, can you take this podcast down? This is not good for me. Other things, too. At the after party on Saturday night, Nelly Furtado sang, and she was excellent. She put on a great show.

Big fan. My son loves the song Promiscuous. I don't need to know what this tells us, but I should think about this as a parent. But I recorded it for him. It's a great song. Yeah, it is a great song. She was excellent. She put on a great show, and there were a lot of good parties.

And I also wanted to thank Spittin' Chicklets for including us. That was fun. So, like, you know, first of all, like, I have no problem admitting this. It's the number one podcast in hockey. It's a great podcast. podcast in hockey it's a great it's it's a great podcast um and uh you know when they told us what they wanted to do um you know you were on the call with them i couldn't be but you remember what i first told you i said this is gonna do anything you said you will do anything i'm just gonna show up and whatever they want me to do i'll do yeah that's that's kind of the way i am but i say it's

gonna be like that xfl party when I came out of the limo and they were hoping for The Rock or Kurt Angle and those people booed the hell out of me. And you know what? Like I said, it was funny. And someone's like, you're crazy that they're going to boo. I said, I am going to guarantee you that the fans are going to boo. And that's what happened.

And I loved it. I had a great time. It was a pleasure to go on stage with those guys. The raw energy between them and their fans is fantastic. And I really enjoyed it. I loved it. They put out the video of me taking a Pink Whitney shot before I left. And some people said to me, do you have a problem with them doing that? And I was like, no, like what's the big deal? You know, like I really enjoyed it.

There was a missing curfew party I walked into on Friday night after the skills. That was also a great time. It was just a fun weekend. And the thing for me was, you know, I'm from Toronto. I know a lot of people hate toronto i love toronto it's been my home for 49 of my 53 years um you know some people who were downtown they just said to me the downtown had not been alive since the raptors won the nba title in 2019

and this was not as big as that but it really put some energy into the downtown core. And that was awesome to see. Just a great, great weekend. There won't be an All-Star next year. We'll be in Montreal and Boston for the Four Nation, whatever we're calling it. Four Nation Face-Off, Elliot. Four Nation Face-Off. Right.

I forgot. I forgot. The Four Nation Face-Off. I had a temporary mind warp. and I'm looking forward to that. But this was a great weekend. There was a lot. Was it perfect? No.

But was it a huge step back to respectability? Absolutely, it was. A couple more things I want to quickly shout out here, or at least mention. Justin Bieber wasn't the only musician from Stratford, Ontario, that was performing this past week. Shout out to Small Town Strip Club, a great musician from Stratford Ontario that was performing this past week shout out to Small Town Strip Club a great band from Stratford they wrapped up the Chicklet Show on Thursday they are awesome

great music Cheap Shot is a great song but for my money Sunday Blue might be their favorite anyway find those guys check them out awesome band as well and there was some cool stuff in and around the event oh i also wanted to mention uh no no i also wanted to mention go you're talking about that talk oh yeah okay talk was on stage during the skills competition

and i didn't know a lot about him and he was excellent like i was i i thought he was really good like another person who clearly was happy to be there representing the ottawa sanders in a jersey and he was he was fantastic this was not someone i knew a lot about and i was going online and finding his music after I was like, wow, this and, and that, and he has a presence. The camera loves him.

That is always one of the underrated keys. Does the camera love you? I have overcome that. The camera does not like me, Jeff, but I am still here. The camera loved talk. Uh,

run away to Mars, uh, is probably a good on-ramp for talk. Great song there. You know, Elliot, one of the things that I really liked, and we saw plenty of this on social media, a lot of events, whether it was at Nathan Phillips Square, there's a lot of stuff that was being done, I believe at the Mattamy Athletics Center as well. I believe that was the venue for it where you had, you know, trick shot artists and specialists.

The great Pavel Barber, who outside of being a magician with a stick is a super guy and really kind of like I've never seen him like big time anybody or like for autographs and kids like huge lineups, you know, stand there and sign everything and talk to everybody. Pete Lennis, Swaggy P was around and like that guy's elite and a top dude, not just in ice hockey, but in roller hockey as well. But I just want to shout out two people that I really like. And to me, they are the funniest people

in hockey period. And that is Tom Stewart and Austin Alexander. You need to follow these two on social media. To me, there is nothing funnier than the minor hockey coach skits that they do. I watched them over and over and over again. And each time they are as funny as they were. Oh man.

Over. Am I like that? No, I don't. I mean, I don't coach so but i can i can like honestly these guys have all gone through it so you can tell like they hit the exact right notes on all of it like tom works with us at sports that and he's great red carpet he was fantastic like honestly like some of his interviews they're really funny oh so funny like the guy's gonna be super weapon in this industry. Some of his interviews, the awkward interviews, they're really funny. Oh, so funny. Like, the guy's going to be so huge in this industry. He's such a weapon. And Austin Alexander is just one of the funniest guys and great comedians and great actors.

Like, I've always felt that it's harder to make people laugh than make people cry, which is, you know, when I cared about things like the Oscars, I was always pissed off that comedies were never nominated for picture of the year. I always felt it's easier to, to elicit emotion, like, like, like sorrow out of someone than it is to make them laugh. I think it's the hardest thing in the world to do. And these guys, there's no one better in hockey at doing it. I understand it might be a low bar. Hockey doesn't exactly have a comedic past that we should brag about necessarily, but these two guys nail it. So just shout out Tom Stewart and Austin Alexander. Those guys are mint.

Great stuff, Jeff. And apparently we did our team Canada teams for next year. And apparently BXO was yelling at the screen at some of our teams and how horrible they were. So next week he wants to do his team. So I can't wait to hear this. So tune in next week when you can hear BXO say how much all of our teams stink.

Okay. Now, listen, a couple of things here. So you mentioned the four nations face off next year, February 25. We'll see that canada united states finland sweden as previously reported and speculated on also the olympic announcement made official the nhl going in 26 and 30 this is the first time since 2014 in sochi we're going to park some time here to talk about what we saw and heard on Friday from Gary Bettman, from Marty Walsh as well. Let's begin here with the international calendar.

And Elliot, do you think this is the beginning of something that was originally talked about coming out of the 0405 lockout? And that is a distinctive, deliberate, consistent NHL calendar for the NHL? Well, I sure hope so. I think everybody wants it. You know, Bettman, even when we came out of the Board of Governors meeting and Bettman talked about how construction on the hockey rink in Milan was behind schedule and it was going to be problematic, he pooh-poohed that that was going to prevent them from going to the Olympics. And when he did that, that said to me that this was going to happen because he said, look, if we're not there, we'll play in Turin where we played in 2006. Like they're going to be going.

So that said to me that this was going to happen. They got two done. And if Salt Lake happens in 2034, as everybody seems to expect, you know, there's no way they're not going there. So I think we're going to see the next three of them. me it's always an issue the issue is not players going to the olympics the issue is who's paying the costs that got sorted out the issue is can the nhl use a bit more video that's a big one a very big one to the nhl and it sounds like that's getting worked out um you know basically the NHL wants to say is there a way we can make money from this or even if we can't make a ton of money we get rewarded for the fact that these are their athletes or we don't lose money and it sounds like they're in that position here so plus the know, they're talking about three world cups now,

the smaller one next year and two more look like they need this. And one of the reasons they need it is because you need best on best to grow your sport. No, Matt Sundin has talked about this before about how, uh, overseas you need that best on best play to sell your sport. And so it's not only North America. It's about hockey worldwide. Everybody sees this. He knows it matters to the players. And also, you know, the World Cup, it's another revenue source.

You know, you get, I believe, I want to say that the TV rights were like $30 to $32 million in 2016, which was the last time we had it. You know, you're hoping it's going to eventually be more than that. But again, it's another revenue source. You need that to be consistent to make it work. Now, Pasternak said what had been publicly what I heard a lot of privately, which is that players like him and Dreisaitl and others were very upset about next year. And I heard that the League and the Players Association had met and spoken to some of these players and had said that we recognize how upset you are

that you're not going to be included next year, but we've got to get this going. And while I don't think they're a hundred percent satisfied with that i believe they understand it so i do think there were some players from the non-competing teams who registered their disapproval i do believe they were they had conversations with the league and the players association but they were just told simply we have to start and we recognize you're upset but we have to get this started right um okay uh also during the gary betman press conference and we're going to get to the 2018 story here um but i do want to mention before we get there the arizona

coyotes and i think when uh betman says that he was reasonably confident that Alex Moella was going to be able to do what he says I think we looked at and rightfully so reasonably confident maybe intimating the opposite but first of all before we get to Marty Walsh the executive director of the Players Association uh how did you feel about how the commissioner spoke about arizona i think that it's hard for not for me to look at this and say it was anything but good cop bad cop like there's no way betman didn't know what walsh was gonna say no way look we all know betman's stance on arizona We all roll our eyes at it. We know he's fought for Arizona.

Like, no commissioner would fight for a market. You know, that's just what he does. And I'm going to say this again for the 30th time. If they leave Arizona, he's going back there. Eventually, he will go back there. Whether it's with Matt Ishby and the Phoenix Suns or whatever it'll be, he will go back there. I's with matt ishby and the phoenix suns or whatever it'll be he will go back there i i really do believe that if they leave um you look like walsh like walsh admits there's nothing he can really do and and i'll tell you this walsh talking about the players not the players Association not getting to meet with the organization.

What he's saying and what he's trying to pressure the Coyotes with is, if you won't meet with us, you don't care about your players. That's the message he is trying to send. And what he's trying to put everybody out there to think is if the coyotes leave arizona it's because the owner doesn't care about the players that's the message he is trying to put out there um and you know uh i think it was two years ago there were some meetings with the players that didn't go very well and the coyotes were unhappy about the way i reported some of them and so was the league i believe me i heard from everybody there they said the players did not say what you reported they felt and my response

to that was well of course they're not going to say that but i'm telling you they feel it like i it was it was a fair debate they they said to me that's not what they told us and i said well of course i'm not going to tell you that but that doesn't mean i'm wrong so and the players aren't going to fight with like the coyotes are playing well they're a better team than a lot of us thought they've got a brighter future i think than a lot of us potentially thought they did from a hockey point of view they are going in the right direction um but they're not going to fight with their organization about what's happening with the building that's the players association's job

and what walsh is doing by coming out there is he's trying to create a narrative that the ownership doesn't care about their players. And if you won't meet with the PA. But the whole thing that I wonder about here, and nobody has an answer, is if this team is going to leave Arizona after this season, and I repeat if, what's the process for A, transferring the team, and B, potentially transferring ownership? And that, to me, is the one story that none of us have really dug into yet

because a lot of it's legal. story that none of us have really dug into yet because a lot of it's legal but every i is but i assume betman has considered that and i definitely believe bill daly has considered that so everything that they say and do publicly is about if we have to have a process to do something here we better make sure we do it by the book let me pause on that for a second because i've thought a lot about this because i'm of the belief that the nhl obviously isn't thrilled about how this has played out with this ownership group i would also think that there are a lot of other owners in the NHL that don't like how this has played out with this ownership group. But at the same time, as much as those other owners may not like this situation and how it's played itself out,

I would also have to think that they would be very concerned about the idea of revoking ownership and how that process plays out because naturally you think yourself well could this happen to me is that a dynamic here that we should keep front of our mind i i think so but this is just such a unique situation i understand that but this could have ramifications for other owners somewhere down the road because we haven't seen this since the cleveland barons elliot yeah it would i just don't think a lot of them think it's relevant to their their own situations i that's the way i look at this i i think this is such a unique situation yeah i mean you're probably not wrong at a base level, but I don't think a lot of people are overly concerned about that. One of the things that Gary Bettman mentioned as far as expressions of interest for NHL franchises,

Utah, Atlanta, we've heard a lot there. Houston, Ditto, Kansas city, and then mentioned Cincinnati. Yes.

To which I thought, Ooh, the return of the stingingers and Rick Dudley in the headband and all that. Wasn't that Mark Messier's first pro team too, the Cincinnati Stingers? You know it. Yeah. Mike Gartner was there too. The Stingers were a thing. Mike Lute, one of our favorite netminders turned agents. Oh, yeah.

Cincinnati Stingers, baby. The black and the yellow. I'll tell you another one that someone said to me they they wonder is is connecticut they can call themselves the connecticut espns um the connecticut whale could they do it could they do it elliot could they do but i i is that and my question about all this is i have heard rumors that there could be presentations at some point now i will say that people have thrown cold water on that to me but i have heard rumors there could be presentations at some point okay elliot let's finish up a block here by talking about the biggest issue that commissioner gary bettman talked about on friday and that is the 2018 world junior, the NHL investigation, the situation with the London Police, the future of these players, not just in the legal system, but also in the NHL as well.

You know, Gary Bettman talked about, you know, their investigation taking 12 months and they want to wait till the conclusion of the judicial proceedings before there was a response from the NHL. He also said he would be surprised if the five players were playing while all of this is pending as well. What were some of your takeaways from what the commissioner said as he addressed the situation for the first time since this latest chapter of the story broke? Well, first of all, Jeff, Monday today is going to be a very heavy day because the london police are going to have their media conference and you know we're gonna i assume we're going to hear some things that are going to be very very tough to hear and uh you know it's it's going to be a hard day and i would just say to, please respect the people who this is going to be a very hard day for.

But we'll see what exactly comes out of that. I think the biggest news from everything that Bettman talked about there is that the NHL will not do anything but consider the players on leave with pay for the duration of their contracts, which all end this season. There isn't one of these players that has a contract beyond this year until the legal process concludes. And judging from what Bettman said, should this go past the end of this season and it does look like this is going to be a lengthy process, I don't think you should expect that any team is going to sign these players um their careers are on hold until this is over and then when it's over we'll see how the nhl weighs in i don't think anyone expected any differently um one of the rumors going around about the NHL report and the Hockey Canada report, which is still under appeal, is that the NHL and Hockey Canada were both worried that if they released their reports prior to the conclusion of the legal process, that they were worried about significant lawsuits. process that they were worried about significant lawsuits and everything that Bettman said in that media conference made me believe that is a hundred percent true that there is no way

they could bring anything out until they knew what the legal process said and I know that's not going to make a lot of people happy or satisfy them but i'm not surprised in the least bit you're not going to expose yourself to any legal damage and that's why i think these reports are still quiet and um you know i know that there were some quotes from some canadian politicians saying we want to see this report. I know the people at Hockey Canada are just worried that it'll still get out. So that's why these reports, I believe, are still under lock and key. The second thing that Bettman said that confirmed a lot of things I believed was that the teams had no idea what was going on

like there were times over the past couple of years i would ask teams about this and they would say we honestly don't know and i didn't know whether or not to believe it i came to believe it but in the beginning like i think like a lot of people i didn't believe it but betman did confirm that which is that they kept the teams in the dark about what they learned and i know that bothered teams uh it bothered some of the teams a great deal it frustrated them like look at calgary a week ago um they allowed dubay a mental leave. And then two days later, Carter Hart goes on mental leave and we start to realize what's happening. And the Flames took a lot of criticism for it. how close this was getting or how serious this situation had how how even more serious i would say this situation had become and i know the teams were really bothered by it but betman clearly felt that this was the best way to do it but it confirmed that a lot of these teams were in the dark so you know this is a

really really sad story and this is a really hard process and it's going to go on for a long time and we have to be sensitive to the people who are really going to be affected by that but at least we have some clarity into some of the things we wondered and believed and uh and it's going to be a long time before we see any nhl punishment because they're going to wait until this process is going to be completed like you just mentioned monday is going to be a um a tough day for a lot of people it's going to be an ugly day for a lot of people. We're going to hear a lot of things that are probably very disturbing, especially on a day like today. When you're listening to this podcast, please try to be sensitive to everybody around this story who needs you to be sensitive for them. We'll take a break. More of the podcast in a moment.

More of the podcast in a moment. Listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Okay, Elliot, time now for the Montana's Thought Line. Montana's Barbecue and Bar, Canada's home for barbecue, even though you've had a very, very rough and long and sleep-deprived weekend. Let's see if you can still do the line. Try the ribs. Eh, not too raspy.

Not bad. Pretty good. Stuck the landing. 8 out of 10. 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca. 1-833-311-3232. pretty good stuck the landing eight out of ten 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca 1833 311 32 32 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca 1833 311 32 32 okay elliott here's an interesting one for you justin from beaumont submits this love the pod when a player has their no trade team lists in their contract what happens if an

expansion franchise happens do they have to reinstate that into the contract also try the ribs justin is on board with you elliot's uh your thoughts on expansion and players with no trade clauses well the thing is about that is it's a good question like i understand why you why you ask it the no trade clause is the teams they change every year right so if an expansion team is coming in you will have the opportunity before that season to put them on your list but what i don't know and i will ask somewhere down the road for example if you've got a 16 team no trade list which is half the league can you change it to say the nhl becomes 34 teams can you change it to 17 teams that i don't know because technically once you sign a contract you

can't change it i think it depends on the wording if it says 16 team or if it says half the league yes i would imagine it says 16 team so that would be to be pacific as we say in the atlantic that would have to come right down to the wording uh exactly but you change your list every year or there's some players who the list can be submitted upon request like if a team says look we want your list now then you can do it right then so that's that's not as big an issue as you would think because they are changed every year okay elliot our next one comes to us from jeremy from quadra island going to bc here uh hey guys i had a thought while watching a highlight clip of a player being hit in the opponent's bench after ending up in the opponent's bench could the player stay inside that bench

and perform a line change by having the player go on the ice from their own bench the visual of that player on the opponent's bench waiting for a whistle to exit would be interesting to see it would be interesting wouldn't it elliot but is it allowed i don't know i think once you go in there you've got to get out pretty quickly yes yes you can't do line changes with the other team's bench otherwise we would see on like breakaways if the changes with the other team's bench. Otherwise, we would see on like breakaways, if the other team's bench is closest to you, one player exiting on an opposition's team bench and from their own bench,

jumping out at the far end where the defensemen are and being able to defend. So yeah, the answer is no, you can't do that. I can see why you picked that one. That's very Merrick-esque. I love the thinking. I just love that. Well, we've seen it

before where you know you change at one end and the player comes out the other end you see that on three on three all the time it's just that's just smart coaching but i like that jeremy took it one step further and said well why don't you just change on the other team's bench when you get knocked in there okay here's an intriguing one uh that comes to us from Colorado. Peter from Colorado. Hey, rib eaters. Okay, Elliot, he's talking to you. Yes. There are plenty of examples of hockey families

with two generations of NHL players. But can any family claim three generations, not just father, son, grandfather, but including uncles, cousins, and skip generations, keep up the good work and try to mix in a pecan salad from time to time at a boy peter uh two jump to my mind right away um the jeffrey ons and the bordelos so boom boom jeffrey on who was a legend with a bunch of all canadians his son dan played for the quebec nordiques his son blake jeffrey on played for

nashville and although it doesn't make it four generations, if you squint really hard, you could say it's four generations. His father-in-law was Howie Morenz. So you could say that the Geoffrey Onn's are four generations. The other Bordeleaux's, Paul-Anne

Bordeleaux, who played for Vancouver, Sebastian Bordeleaux, who played for Montreal, Nashville, and Thomas Bordeleaux were the San Jose Sharks. Those would be the ones that I would throw at you as far as three generations, or in Boom Boom's case, maybe four. I'll give you a bit of a different three-generation one. How about the Apps family? Sil Apps, the Hall of Famer from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Sil Apps Jr. played in the NHL, Pittsburgh Penguins, among other teams. And Jillian Apps won a gold medal with Team Canada at the Olympic Games in Turin in 2006. So that's another three-generation one I could come with. You left out one thing about, you left out one very important thing

about Jillian Apps, considering I see her picture every time I go to Stouffville Arena and Clippers Arena in Stouffville as as well also known as keith acton arena and that is she played in stovall jillian hapstead that's the most important part elliot oh of course yes i'm sorry i left that out okay very good so that's another one i think of off the top of my head that's a really good one okay um finish up with this this one. Kristen Saskatoon, hey Jeff, Elliot, and Dom, with the recent talk of expansion in Utah,

it got me thinking, would it be possible for a franchise to essentially be loaned to another city for a temporary period? For example, Arizona, as we all know, has been having arena problems recently. Have they? How have I missed that one?

Okay. What if the NHL decided to create a deal where the Coyotes were sent to a market like houston for two years giving the nhl a chance to gauge interest in a potential market while ensuring that the coyotes have an nhl arena to play under until their new building is completed is this something that would even be possible or would there be too many hoops to jump through appreciate you guys and all that you do chris and saskatoon elliot it's not impossible but i've asked this question before and i've been told that it would not happen and i said why and it's because they say once you take a team out of the market you break the

connection you cannot re-establish it you have to bring back a completely new team now maybe you use the same name like the one remember initially the winnipeg jets weren't so sure if they were going to use the name jets but david thompson the owner at the initial media conference says well i kind of like the name jets and that was the end of that the jets came back but so you can maybe come back with the same name but you're not bringing back. You're not going for two years and coming back. You're starting again. You're starting a new,

they really feel you break the chain and you have to start something fresh. Thanks for not saying break the seal. All right. We will wrap up the thought line. Welcome. The Montana's thought line, Montana's barbecue and bar Canada's home for barbecue. Again, the ways to get in 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca 1 8 3 3 3 1 1 32. You're welcome. The Montana's Thought Line. Montana's Barbecue and Bar. Canada's home for barbecue.

Again, the ways to get in. 32thoss.sportsnet.ca. 1-833-311-3232. Still to come, Connor and Leon and the Ricks. Bonus and talk it. That's next. oh yeah before we get to leon dry sidle and conor mcdavid um something we should probably park a little bit of time here to talk about maybe we should have done this early in the podcast but i'm a really bad host uh and we were doing a lot of talking there was a lot to get to forgive us um this probably deserves a higher ranking in the you know the ladder of topics here but nonetheless here's where we find ourselves

the chl and the ncaa is there a warming going on between the two will we see chl players allowed to think of the children the gaps clutch my pearls play clutch my pearls. Play in the NCAA one day. I think we're getting there. I really do. So you'll remember the weekend of Hockey Day in Canada, there was that story. So last summer, the BCHL left the Hockey Canada umbrella. They wanted to be able to decide who can play in their league. And Hockey Canada has rules on where players can be from and where they play

and the bchl basically said no we want to recruit recruit players from wherever we want and so they left the umbrella and uh right before hockey day in canada the day before five teams from the alberta junior league decided they were going to break off and join the BCHL. Now, Jeff, you're closer to this than me. It had been rumored this was going to happen, but the Alberta League said the official announcement came without warning, and they were furious. And so they banned these five teams, basically. They called off their games.

And what I don't like is 16- and 17 year olds paying for the decisions the political decisions of adults and they've solved this problem they announced it last week that those teams are now joining the bchl and they'll be able to play good because the kids should be able to play however all of that said um you know there's obviously a seismic change here going on in junior hockey in Canada. And I think it's about to get more seismic. Now, obviously, the CHL and the NCAA had a fierce rivalry. See, if you played even one minute of one exhibition game in the CHL, you could not play in the NCAA. Well, there's a new it's a new era now.

It's the NIL era in U.S. college sports, name, image, likeness. You get paid for if you can cut a deal like the Cavender twins who played basketball at the University of Miami, who played basketball at the University of Miami, like Livvy Dunn, the gymnast from LSU, or a ton of football, basketball, baseball players, you can make a lot of money on your likeness. And so those hurdles are now gone. And from what I understand,

the CHL and the NCAA are talking very seriously about if you are eligible to go to school in the United States after your CHL career is done you can go play for an NCAA team like this merger is going to happen at some point and you'll remember years ago when the NHL considered changing its draft there was a story that went out making the first round a 19-year-old draft. Pat LaFontaine was the key guy behind it of you play in the CHL, you can go play in the NCAA, maybe USHL teams can compete for the Memorial Cup.

They were talking about this a few years ago. Well, now they're talking about an understanding of CHL toa and how it can happen i i heard from a couple of chl teams that were represented on the weekend and they're like yeah we got no problem with this now i think it's going to be interesting because i think the ncaa coaches are going to vote on it whether it's going to be this spring this summer they're going to vote on it, whether it's going to be this spring, this summer, they're going to vote on it and it's going to see where this goes. Sorry, as a quick aside, I was told expect that in early summer this year.

Okay. Someone said to me, spring, summer. Now, some guys told me there are some NCAA coaches who are like, we're building momentum. Do we really need this there's a little bit of you know patriotism around it but it sounds to me like a lot like a few of them were like this could make our game even better let's make it work but we'll see where the vote goes you know what someone said to me also too was be careful because the ncaa does not move fast so even if the coaches go for it there's the question of how quickly will the ncaa allow it to happen so there's that but we

are headed towards a future of where chl players are going to be able to play ncaa hockey the question is when so a couple of things here so one I think people would wonder what does this look like then um and this would be as Elliot mentioned the situation where a player could play junior hockey in Canada and then also go and play NCAA um what would happen to those junior a loops uh around uh around Canada and essentially as it's been described to me because all the top players will now if you're a let me take maclin celebrini for example because i think a lot of this you know every conversation i have about it his name comes up now maclin celebrini did not go and play in the western hockey league maclin celebrini went to the ushl and played

chicago steel before going to boston university um The feeling is that that's one that the Western Hockey League lost. Like you lose out on Macklin Celebrini, that's huge. But the only way to get to Boston University was to go through the USHL for Celebrini. He couldn't go to junior. That hurdle gets removed. So what happens is players that want to go to college now don't have to make that step of playing in junior A, they can still go play major junior hockey. So what becomes of the junior A teams and the junior A leagues? What I am told is that those leagues will essentially become, for lack of a better term, Elliott feeder leagues for division three in the United States, of a better term, Elliot, feeder leagues for Division III in the United States. The elite level hockey players and the high end, top end guys are all going to go play major junior, even if they ultimately want to go up and end up at a Division I school in the United States. Now, the other thing that comes out of this one, just to get way ahead of ourselves on the conversation, but just, Elliot, I think it's important that we put this on the radar.

If this goes through, and I was told by one person, don't be surprised if it's as early as 2025. Again, that's just one conversation. I'm not reporting it. I'm just saying that that's one conversation that I had, and it does make sense. One thing to keep in mind, too, is how will this change how teams draft players and there's one very specific area as you know when you draft a player out of major junior hockey you have two years to sign that players when they get drafted out of college you have four does that then allow players to be team property for four years if they play major junior instead of two

all this will need to be worked out the nhl chl agreement will need to be worked out and i think one thing that you know a lot of people around the nhl who may be hearing this for the first time although i find that hard to believe will probably have in their minds okay how does this affect our drafting that's me emptying my notebook on it so we'll see what's good i hadn't even thought about that yeah we'll see where that we'll see where that one heads okay elliot before we get to these interviews here a couple more bits of news uh there are two new centers on canadian teams elias lindholm goes to the vancouver canucks last week it feels like it's a million years old already but nonetheless we haven't had a chance to talk about it.

And also, Sean Monaghan is a member of the Winnipeg Jets. Your thoughts on these two deals? Well, we talked about Lindholm last week, so I think we've covered a lot of that. Although, I got to tell you, a tough, tough welcome to your new team where the only Canuck, Quinn Hughes, doesn't draft. Yeah, too bad.

Well, you're here, you're one of us us but you're not really one of us yet um okay and the the second thing is that um there's no question after lynn holm team started saying oh there's a center run here it's like a closer run in your fantasy baseball draft one guy drafts a closer and then everybody starts drafting closers um but there was definitely a FOMO fear of missing out and Winnipeg stepped up um it was interesting I was at the Bieber concert on Thursday night and I got a note saying while Bieber was on stage watch Monaghan to the jets and then i checked it and i immediately sent out some notes like this is my life like monaghan i'm watching bieber and i'm getting monaghan notes and i actually was told on friday morning it's not guaranteed it's jets yet and i

think there was another team that wanted them and i it sounds like monaghan had to speak to the jets too to make sure that he was comfortable with that but eventually whoever that other team was that made the run got beat out and the jets got their their player um you know he's going to be a second liner there it's going to be interesting like we talked about this about the respect monaghan has and how far he's come but the question is is on like a stanley cup contender can he handle that 2c role and there's some people who thought i was crazy for even suggesting that or anyone who's saying that is crazy for even suggesting that well now we're find out. And I do have to shout out Eric Engels because he called me right after and said,

I told you he was going to get a first pick. So Eric, still wearing his red, white, and blue pajamas, he was right about this one. And now if you're Colorado and you're looking for a center or you're Boston and you're looking for a center, potentially, like a lot of the Bruins fans said they don't believe it because Charlie Coyle is having a great year, and he is, but I still do believe Boston is looking into it.

If you're a Colorado or you're Boston or you're New Jersey or you're one of these teams that's looking for a center, what that said to me was winnipeg saw the right saw lindholm goes and said we better get who we want number one it's going to cost you a first rounder and number two you better get out there so you know who loved that pat verbeek loved that because he's got one of the few centers who's left yeah i'll tell you this you know what someone said to me on the weekend you know boone jenner scored a couple of really nice goals and they said if columbus

ever wanted to do that and i and what he said to me was there's no way columbus wants to do that but they're at a real crossroads in their existence he said to me if if Columbus ever said Boone Jenner was available, you watch what that would get them. But I am not convinced Columbus wants to do that. There would be a lot of teams lining up there. Because he signed. Yes, you have them locked. One more bit of news as well.

Again, this one feels like it's a million years old because a lot of things have happened since this happened but todd mcclellan dismissed as the head coach of the los angeles kings uh the kings who won their last road game before the break uh ultimately didn't mean much for the future of todd mcclellan he is dismissed jim hiller takes on in an interim capacity you know jeff we had talked about this. This is one of those changes that's kind of like, we don't want to do it, but we're in a position where we have to do something. Ottawa. It's the Ottawa move. Even Edmonton, I think, would kind of be convinced about that too with Jay Woodcroft. you get backed into a corner sometimes and um you know i i had a note

from someone who said this was not easy for rob blake to do there there's no way he wanted to do this and you sometimes you just get backed into the corner and you say we have no choice we we have got to do this and someone said well, well, they won their last game. I think that's irrelevant. One game shouldn't change your decision. You're either headed in a direction or you're not. One thing I thought was really interesting. First of all, Jim Hiller is a guy who's kind of been in the mix. I wondered if he would get his break. Former player, if he would get his break former player um you know very analytically inclined ran an analytics company for a while so he knows both worlds right he understands the player world and he understands the analytic world um he had been interviewed for head coaching jobs before new york islanders had

interviewed him i believe nashville interviewed him last year last year. He was a guy who was kind of on the cusp. And in their announcement, they said he'll be the one for the rest of the year, interim coach for the rest of the season, and then we'll see. Now, I think one of the toughest things to do in sports is to go from being an assistant coach to head coach on the same team. It's very hard to go from good cop to bad cop because players kind of see that as phony sometimes. But that's the position he's been given, and he has to run with it. What this says to me is that the Kings will see how this year plays out, and then we're going to see where this direction is going. You know, Rob Blake has one more year after this this um like i think rob blake is a really

competitive guy um you know he's a very friendly guy publicly but you remember how hard he played the game i think he's a really competitive guy i do think other people have wondered how long he'd want to do this and you know like i haven't spoken to him or anything like that but there's definitely a a feeling around the organization now of we're going to take stock of where everything stands after this season and see where we're all going because they're not bringing in another head coach this year they say which says to me that this is going to be a a huge summer for the kings based on uh you know the way the rest of this year finishes but look like todd mcclellan took them from a team that was kind of directionless to a playoff team and now we see where this goes

the rest of the season and you know like they know, Dubois is taking a lot of heat. Let's see what this does for him. They've got a Kaliev situation there, and I don't think the Kings are happy that got out. Do they say to Jim Hiller, okay, find a role for this guy that works, or do they move him? You know, they've had them out there. You always wonder when a new coach gets in whose role changes.

Yes. One other thing I just wanted to touch on, Jeff, was the Calgary Flames and defense. On Sunday, they claimed Braden Pahal on waivers from the Vegas Golden Knights. Ryan Pike, who does a great job covering the Flames, pointed out that Pahal was at Calgary's prospects camp five years ago. So he's someone they know. And I like Pahal, the limited I've seen of him.

I think there's a player there. But what it says to me is it's a reminder that Calgary has some decisions to make on their blue line first of all Noah Hannafin you'll remember eight times seven and a half was the offer he was close to taking it they lost a couple of games earlier in the season he got cold feet things were in limbo they started talking to him again, but they want an answer. It's been all-star break. They've asked Hannafin to think about it. Their first game back is in Boston, which is where Hannafin's family lives. I'm assuming they're going to get an answer one way or the other. So that could lead to a decision. The other one is Chris Tanev. The Flames, we know they're willing to deal.

Dealt Zdorov a bit ago. Now they dealt Lindholm last week. I think teams have been on them about Tanev. Ottawa, we know about. I don't expect that to happen now. I believe Toronto was re-engaged, especially as recently as this weekend. There are teams that suspect Tampa is in there. recently as this weekend there are teams that suspect Tampa is in there I've been wondering about Jersey but for a rental does Tanev make any sense because they simply don't know if they're a playoff team right now does a rental make sense for them the other team I kind of wonder about a little bit and this is just my opinion on how they feel about their defense is potentially a team like Winnipeg. They've been very good this year, but they went out and they got a rental Monaghan,

and to me that would be a team that would be at least looking around and considering some things. I just wonder if that would make any sense with them. That's my own personal opinion. But I do think there's been some increased engagement on Tanev. We'll see where we go on Hannafin. And it's not a surprise that Calgary would pick up a defenseman on waivers like Pahal because they might need some extra defensemen soon.

And Jeff, before we wrap this up, we're going to start with McDavid and Dreisaitl here, I think. But we should mention that Tuesday night, they're going to start with mcdavid and dry sidle here i think but we should mention that tuesday night they're going for 17 in a row in vegas nationally televised game in canada so good and also what someone reminded me was the super bowl media is going to be there so i think there's a big credential number for this game so that is that i think that's fantastic for the nhl that this is going to be a nationally televised game a big game between two teams that don't like each other and you're going to have a bigger media contingent than normal i think that's a great thing and front center will be these two gentlemen who we sat down with on friday to talk to saw them all weekend

long at nhl all-star weekend we'll see them against Vegas in what is legit, like this is the candidate for the game of the week against the Vegas Golden Knights. Edmonton's Connor McDavid and Leon Dreisaitl. Enjoy this one. Okay, Connor, I want to start with you and either put something to bed or throw a log on the fire for it.

We've talked a lot about this jersey tuck conspiracy with coming after heritage classic and the jersey is untucked and is connor hiding an injury was there a jersey tuck conspiracy indeed or was it just a coincidence there was no jersey tuck conspiracy um it was just a coincidence uh truthfully i'm not i don't tuck my jersey in on purpose. I don't, you know, it just kind of happens naturally. I don't wear my fight strap all that much. So sometimes it can ride up, get stuck in my pants. But no fight, no, sorry, no tuck conspiracy.

Not hiding nothing? Nothing? Nothing. Nothing there? Nothing there, no. Back to the drawing board, Elliot. What do you think of this line of questioning? I don't really know what they're talking about.

I haven't heard about this. The theory, the theory was that, um, when Connery came back, that he, uh, he had gone from tucking the Jersey to untucking it.

And the belief was that he had an extra piece of equipment that he was hiding to protect himself coming back from his injury. Yeah. That was a conspiracy theory. Maybe propagated by this podcast and by extension me. I'm assuming that's probably not the worst conspiracy theory you've heard about Connor McDavid or the Edmonton Oilers over the years. Oh no,

I've heard, I've heard lots. But that's a good one. First time, no, I've heard lots, but that's a good one. That's the first time I've heard that one. But I'm just thinking about he doesn't tuck his jersey in general. So, yeah, I don't think there's anything to it. When did you guys know the Oilers were right? Like when did you sense that everything was straightened out?

That's a good question I think I think we could feel it a little bit before that our game was coming I think when we went on that um we won three games at home with Chris coming in and it still felt a little weird and then we went on the road and we actually lost a couple of games, but we felt our game was better. And then we went into Washington and played a great game, our best game maybe all season long. And you could feel then that the momentum was starting to go. Same. Yeah, yeah, I agree. You know, obviously you build that,

and it was a little bit up and down. But I would say the same. I would say that Washington game was kind of where everyone kind of just dropped everything that they had on their shoulders and just started to play a little bit and started to play to their potential. And that was kind of the starting point. You know, everybody watching your team that was kind of the starting point. You know, everybody watching your team at the beginning of the year, like there was a sense of, at least from our side, panic.

Like, what's going on here? Like, these are not the Oilers that we expected. Was there panic in that room at all? Or was it like, how did you like relate to each other? How did you feel? Like, was there a sense of like like, anxiety about how the season started? Yeah. I mean, I wish we could say that, you know, we always knew, we always knew.

But, you know, obviously it was a bad start. There was a lot of things that went wrong. You bring in a new coach. Of course, there was a sense of anxiety in the room. But I think with our group, there was always an underlying belief that was always there that was never shaken um at least in my mind um and talking to other guys I think they felt the same way that eventually we were going to get out of it we just you know didn't want to dig ourselves too big of a hole you know it felt like we were on some uh

some free fall and we couldn't catch ourselves. And we just hope we caught ourselves in time to be able to save the season. And, you know, obviously we've had a great stretch here. Got ourselves kind of back into the mix of things. But we still got a long ways to go. It's a tight Western Conference with a lot of really good teams. And we got a long way to go coming down the stretch. Was there ever a game, like after, I don't know if there's one

you would pinpoint in specific, where you guys kind of looked at each other and said, what on earth is going on here? Like, just how has this happened to us? Early on? Yeah. Right now? To me, it was the Carolina game a little bit in Carolina where... That first period.

Yeah. That first period of the Carolina game. Yeah, because when you're in a situation like that, you go into every game, you're like, okay, this is the game where we're going to turn it around. This is the one. And we go out and just lay an absolute egg. I was just like, what is going on?

We can't, like, it felt like we couldn't play hockey anymore. It was crazy. But obviously, you know, worked extremely hard to put ourselves in a good spot again. What's been the biggest difference with the coaching change? Yeah, it's a tough one I mean he tweaked a couple things I think he's very he sticks to it for a long time you know even where like there's games where we're still like you, you know, there's a period where we don't play great, but just he sticks with it and he gives everyone a role on the team that they take big, big pride in,

whether that's killers, power play guys. Sorry. And then I think just the most important thing is just the confidence in our group, honestly. Like I said, early on it felt like we couldn't win a game. It was impossible to win a game. No confidence. No one was playing anywhere near to their potential.

And now everyone's feeling good about themselves. And then the games, it just feels so much easier, right? Does he say anything on the bench? I watch him and he looks like he's comatose. He leans against the glass. He never looks like he says a word. Sometimes I wonder, because some coaches are famous for, okay, the play stopped.

I know the camera's on me. Don't do anything. Pac-Win. Ken Hitchcock. And when the game starts, he's all over you. Like, what's Knobloch like on the bench? He's really calm. That's his demeanor, though, every day.

It's not a bench act or anything like that. That's just who he is. He's super calm. But to his credit, when you need to hear his voice um you do hear it you know he uh either pointing out something that you've done really good or you know vice versa obviously so um something you've done bad so what what makes what makes him mad like what like what what makes him mad i mean does he get mad like yeah? Yeah, he's gotten mad a couple of times. You can hear him on the bench screaming at guys.

What was he mad at? He doesn't like bad line changes, turnovers, typical coach stuff. You know, one of the things that, I mean, this is historical too, like one of the things that great teams can do is win games that they're, quote, unquote, not supposed to. Like, when you look at this streak where there are a couple of great teams that can surf on skill, like your skill can just sort of carry you through a game to get the two points and you take it and leave. Any games stand out that at the end of it, you said, it's hard to play like so many great games in a row. Were there any games you said, OK okay let's just take the two points here guys that wasn't our best effort yeah definitely i mean for sure yeah like we won 16 in a row like we weren't

the better team in all 16 you know there's lots of lots of games where i think we deserve to win we were the better team but i think dave was was saying it in an interview a couple days ago. It's just been our whole group, you know. One night it's goalie, Stewie, or Picks, you know, having an unbelievable performance. The next night it's our third line chipping in. Our kill has been, I don't know, I can't remember the last time we gave up a goal on the power play.

They've been lights out on the kill. So, like he said, it's just been like the whole team doing it together. So, yeah. I wanted to ask, like, I know you guys talk with Ken Holland a bit. Like, you're not changing anything when you've won 16 in a row. But do you guys look at it and say, if there's one thing we could add I'd love it to be this do you do you do much of that um yeah of course we're always talking to Kenny um he's great that way always including us including other guys and um obviously we appreciate that

and give our input where we see fit but obviously the team's rolling pretty good right now. We feel good about our goaltending trio, if you will. We still have soup, and I think one of those three guys can get it done, or a combination of all three. We feel good about all six D-men. I think that they've been playing really, really well. about all six D men. I think that they've been playing really, really well. And up front, like Leo said,

we've been getting contributions all over, and the penalty kill's been great, and those guys have really owned that, which is great to see. They love it. They love taking ownership of the kill, and it's great for our group. And if there's one thing I could add, I don't know. taking ownership of the kill and it's great for our group. There's one thing I could add. I don't know.

I'm thankful that I don't have to make that decision. That's why they paid Kenny the big bucks. Okay. Did one of you want to rip the Leaf hat off of Will Arnett last night? Kind of. We were saying somebody should have said something on air it was just too easy couldn't hear anything on the ice like we were standing on the ice with the mics and all that like we couldn't hear anything so it's kind of hard to like interact and banter like we would like we would like to you know talk with the other group a little bit other groups and teams and stuff but i couldn't hear i couldn't hear a thing so we were it was we were kind of just trying to get through it um

you know but i thought it was fun event yeah it's good um when you're as good as you guys are uh rivalries are pretty easy to get going um i am curious finish this sentence the team I most like to beat is blank good question probably for me it's it's it's Calgary and and LA right now I would say those two yeah LA um Vancouver because they slapped us around a little bit a couple times this year so yeah I'd like to get some redemption there. What do you think of the latest move? Good. Really good player. Obviously, you know, they're all in.

They're going for it. So, good pickup. You guys are impressive. Thanks for putting the rumors to rest. We'll have to start a new conspiracy theory, Connor. Sounds good. Thanks, boys. I really loved Connor McDavid playing along with the Jersey Tuck conspiracy theory,

as Elliot mentioned off the top of the show today. That was a lot of fun, and I hope you enjoyed that interview. And again, they're playing on Tuesday, and I can't wait for that game. In the meantime, we very much look forward to any mixing of the Winnipeg Jets and the Vancouver Canucks, two top teams in the NHL. We sat down with the two Ricks

on Friday morning as well. About three minutes after the news broke that Todd McClellan was no longer the coach of the Los Angeles Kings. Here are the Ricks, Bonus and Talkit on 32. Rick Bonus and Rick Talkett, two coaches who have new centers to drive.

First of all, thanks so much for joining us here. This is unique, Elliot, talking to two coaches, two rival coaches in the Western Conference. So why don't we...

No, we're friends. We're rivals, but we're friends. Until the playoffs start, right? Until the playoffs. And it's banging the glass at each other. You know what might be fun?

Rick, I want to get your thoughts on the Winnipeg Jets. Which Rick? I was going to say Rick Talkin. Your thoughts on the Winnipeg Jets. Rick Bonus, your thoughts on the Vancouver Canucks. Mr. Bonus, we'll start with you. Okay. Listen, I love what he's done going in there.

Ever since he took over, you see more structure. You see more compete, and you see them playing more as a team, and they're playing for each other out there and it's very obvious. They play a high tempo game, they're putting pressure on you all over the ice, obviously they can score goals and they're doing a much better job defensively because of the structure that Rick and his staff have put in there but since he's taken over it's a remarkable turnaround and it's a credit to Rick and his staff. But, man, they're a really good team. They're legitimate. They can score.

They can defend. And you don't go anywhere in our league without great goaltending, and they get that as well. So it's a well-balanced team, very well-coached team, and it's going to be a tough opponent for us. Rick Tockett, the Jets. First of all, the guys coached more games. Like, what I'm impressed about, because I'm a stress ball,

this guy coach more games and they look as good as Bonesy. Listen, it's ditto for me. I watch the back-to-back games against the Leafs. I've watched a bunch of games lately with the Jets. We're going to be playing a bunch coming up. Really hard team to play against. Really hard team to play against. I love their third line size like what

Bonesy's done with his defense you know obviously both teams have really good goal tending which is great I know Bonesy preaches the same thing I do let the goalies play half the net I just love the fact that when you play a team you know you're in for a battle

you play the Winnipeg Jets if you're going to leave there with two points, there's going to be some bumps and bruises if you come out of there with two points. So I think it's just Bonesy's attitude, play without the puck. I've learned a lot from Bonesy with that. He's obviously ran great defense in his day, coached some really good defensive teams. In a sense, we're not talking about – I'm like him.

I love to play without the puck. and then you create your offense from there but when you watch their team uh the player of the puck really impresses me the similarities would be that they both take great pride in being hard to play against i know our players do and everything i read about their team they do that and that's an important part of coaching these guys they take pride in that so when they walk out of the rink they know the opposition had to work for those two points as he just mentions oh I know the way they play I know the way we play and I know our players particularly take great pride in being played very hard against and when we're not they know it bothers them and that's what that's what we didn't have last year this year we haven't and

we're not playing on top of our game. They know why. And it bothers them that we're too easy to play against. And that's a great fact for us. It's pretty interesting to see. I really enjoy listening to that. I also wanted to ask, so both of you guys, your organizations made a trade this week. Sean Monaghan to Winnipeg just as we were sitting down. Elias Lindholm to Vancouver the other day.

How much involved are you guys in the process? Monahan to Winnipeg just as we were sitting down Elias Lindholm to Vancouver the other day how much uh did how much involved are you guys in the process like how much does your manager tell you how much influence like do you have have you guys ever like I don't know vetoed is the right word but ever your manager comes to you and said don't do that no matter what please don't do that does that ever happen I haven't had that i think uh when it comes to the point where the the team is actually close to making a trade that's when the coaches get involved and then they get your thought we don't need to hear every potential trade we don't need to hear that we need to know when it's getting close and then they're coming to i know chevy

comes to us and says okay what do you guys think if we do this and probably the same with Jimmy and talk so yeah and Peter the yeah that's I think again when we were getting close they let us know that we were close we can do this do you want it you know so obviously we're going to support something like that we're getting a very versatile player in my hand where we hear nothing but great things about his character and we've got a great culture in Winnipeg now we've got a a really good chemistry. So one of the concerns, okay, we're going to put somebody into that room. How's it going to fit? And we hear nothing great things about his character, and the room we have, we know Sean's going to fit right in with us.

Yeah, the process, and I know Bones is the same way, is we coach. Whatever play, that's the attitude we have to have. Whoever's in our room, that's who we coach. We don't play general manager. But I'm very lucky, and I know B attitude we have to have. Whoever's in our room, that's who we coach. You know, we don't play general manager. But I'm very lucky, and I know Bonesy's got a great manager group with Patrick and Jim. They communicate all the time. They always ask me, you know, actually sometimes, what do you need? And you've got to be careful because, you know, I want everything.

But you've got to have certain things that you need. But for me, it's the communication with your general manager, which is outstanding. And I know we talked a couple, two, three weeks ago, Patrick said, here's a target, what do you think? So you start to watch a few games, you get Gaunch and Footy, and Yosey to start looking at them. You know, the odd time, you know, you were on your team.

Hey, let's take a look at this guy. What do you think? Where can you fit him? So that's where it kind of gets some legs but at the end of the day um you know those guys are they're making the deals and uh they're just going off kind of our opinion but uh they use us uh use us as a resource for sure i know i know better than to ask who but i will because i know you won't tell me but have you ever said to a general manager, please don't do that, or I don't think that's a good idea? I haven't. Never, eh?

I have. Okay, there you go. You don't have to say who, but can you kind of talk about why you said no? Well, but I've been a part of a roundtable where they'll ask you, hey, we're going to get this guy, what's your opinion? And I would say whatever even as a sister had i i don't think it would be a good foot because of here you know these these reasons but obviously the general manager makes the decision yeah but i i do give my opinion

on that for sure when they get to that point they're okay if we make this trade where do you see them fitting in right and then you got to go through that whole process. Like that's happened. But, yeah, I've never gone, oh, geez, don't even touch that guy. No, that hasn't happened. One thing coaches will do, and I'm sure it talks to the same thing we hear, okay, we're getting close, make some calls. Find out a little bit more about the character of the guy. Is he a good teammate?

Does he have good practice habits? Is he a good pro? We'll make our calls on those things. Yeah, just get a little bit more information on the player so with the uh with the two new centers coming in i'm sure you have an idea in your mind you know where they're going to fit in who they're going to play with i'm curious always you know who gets impacted when a new player comes in um the sort of cascading effect like who's in a different spot now who gets reduced ice time? Starting with Monaghan coming in, how does this cascade through the team? Well, we'll slide him right into our

second line with Cole Perfetti and Nick Ehlers. And so some of you, Vladdy's been there all year, he's done a wonderful job for us. So probably his ice time gets affected right away. And it does go, it does slide down. And that's the conversation you have with the general manager. Okay, you're going to bring this guy in. How's he going to fit? Where are you going to put him? Who's going to be affected by this, and are they going to be offended by that? But I think when our players see this trade, this guy's going to help our team.

He gives us a better chance to win the Stanley Cup, so maybe it's going to affect some ice time and the rolls and everything else, but if you're there to win the Stanley Cup, then you get over it, and you do the best job you can with the ice time you're given. Yeah, sometimes I know over the trades over the years, sometimes you got to be careful because the team loses a little bit of whatever their chemistry. I don't think there's going to be a problem for us because it's obviously going to increase our penalty kill deployment. Obviously, Lindholm's a really good penalty killer. The right-handed shot for the face-off.

These are needs that the players know that we need this. Like Bozy said, there'll be a couple guys who get a little less couple minutes here and there. But if you want to be a Stanley Cup team, you've got to fit the puzzle. Sometimes some guys have to learn to play 10 minutes one night, and they might play 13.

It's all about the team. I think that's really what it comes down to and the timing like both these two trades are at the perfect time you're in the first of February coming out of the all-star break you're not doing it right at the else at the trade deadline hoping this works now we've done time to make this work right we've got time to work with them both of our the sentiment and see where they fit best and how they're gonna help us the best.

We know we got good players, but now it's that it's fitting them in now and not right at the very deadline where you're running out of time in a hurry. And there's very little practice time in March once they get deadline. That's important. I was going to say, does it feel like a scramble when you get up, when you get a player or players at deadline? Like, oh geez. Okay. All of a sudden now my manager's dumped, you know, two new defensemen and a right winger on me. Let's try to – and it's almost like, you know, house on fire, house on fire. Does it feel that way for a coach? Well, for me, it's – I don't want to give this guy too much.

Like, I think sometimes when you trade for a guy, sometimes you give the guy too – this is what we do here, this system. This is what we do. Like, you want the kid to play. And I think it's important that we got him with Monahan 30 games. So we have a lot of time in the sense of whether it's video

one-on-one time with a coach. We're not cramming right now. I think when you get the guy at the trade deadline, sometimes you've got to cram. You've got to really get this guy in the lineup and you try to get your system system so we're gonna have some time here uh and you know even like living like where is he gonna live get him comfortable like you know i've been traded before like you know you're at the trade deadline you know you're where am i going what hotel

the first two three weeks is tough i'm gonna tell you so getting his family acclimated with vancouver and all that stuff is huge to make this guy feel comfortable for the next 30 games. Does he like rain? You know, that kind of thing. Yeah, yeah. Just their daily routine. Does he have to go there?

Their daily routine of what time they go to the rink and how long does it take them to get to the rink and all those things. They all come into the park, right, and you're leaving your family behind for a little bit until you get it all settled. So it's very upsetting for a player, and it's good that we've made these trades as early as we have

to give them time to get all those pieces together. And that's why, sorry, and Bozy will tell you too, it's important that your team brings this guy in like he's part of the family. I've been on some teams where you've got a transition where it's just seamless, and then you get some other teams maybe not as close, and the guy feels he's on an island. So, you know, our organization is, and I know Winnipeg, the same thing, great resource staff. Even the people outside the hockey part are incredible. So I think it's going to really help make him feel comfortable in the city.

And both those players that come from teams that probably might not make the playoffs, but they're both coming to good teams that should be challenging for the playoff spot. So that's a big uplift for them. I joke, before I retire, get kicked out of this job, I want to cover a Canadian team, win

the Stanley Cup. I left university in 93, which is the last time a Canadian team won it. You guys have both have really good teams in Canada. Do you guys think about that? Bringing the Stanley Cup back to this country? I mean, I'd lie if I say I was a Canadian kid. I mean, it's a dream. But I try not to go there because I'm a day-to-day guy. And, you know, there's going to be a lot of pressure that hits our team and Volji's team as this gets going. But I'd be lying if I'm not, you know, daydreaming of, you know,

holding a Stanley Cup in Vancouver. I mean, that would be the ultimate. And being Canadian, too. And there's a lot of good Canadian teams that have a shot. You know, there's a lot of good Canadian teams, which I think is great for the AHL, but it's also great for the country. But you go back to 2011 when in Vancouver we went to Game 7 with the Bruins.

So we got all that hype for that whole thing with the Canadian market. So we were hoping to bring it back in 2011. We lost in Game 7 back in Vancouver. But, yeah, so I know the pride the Canadians take in bringing that cup back to the the uh to the country but again we're a big you always have a big picture but we are day-to-day we have to take care of things day-to-day and the back of our minds yeah there's a bigger picture but we our job is to take care of the details every day and not miss anything. The last one for me Jeff is as we sat down here the the news broke that the Kings made a coaching change. I'm wondering about the coaching fraternity. You guys sit here. It's fascinating to listen to you

guys and how you play off each other. But I know when the Jets and the Canucks face each other, even if it's game 56 of the season, you guys are going to be fierce rivals. So I wonder about the coaching fraternity when the news comes like it did today with L.A. Just what do you guys are going to be fierce rivals. So I wonder about the coaching fraternity. When the news comes like it did today with L.A., just what do you guys think about? Do you reach out? Like, how do the coaching fraternity handle news like this? Well, I've been fired more than he has. And I know how to.

No, he gives more. No, you know what? It's upsetting because we've been through it. And I always reach out to the coaches that have been replaced, and I'll reach out to Todd at some point. But, yeah, when you go through it, people don't understand how hard it hits you. And it hits you hard. It hits your family.

It hits your friends. It hits a lot more people than just how the coach is fired. It hits a lot of people, and it upsets a lot of lives. And I always feel terrible when a coach gets fired. I really do. And I hate to see it. I know we all sign up for it. It's all part of the business.

And you've got to have tough skin. You've got to be able to handle it because eventually it's going to happen. But when it does happen, I get upset for the coaches that are fired because I've had to live it. I've had to go home and tell my kids I got fired today. Like, that's tough. That's a tough thing to do. And you're pulling them out of school and you're making them go to. Like, that's tough. That's a tough thing to do. And you're pulling them out of school,

and you're making them go to different cities and moving them around. That's a tough thing to do. So it's media, Tom McClellan fired. Well, there's a lot of people that are affected by that, and it's upsetting to a lot of lives. The way I look at it, like, you know, I've had some good buddies get fired. I've got fired. You know, my good buddy Craig Berube gets fired.

I want to say they got three, four years ago four years ago tom collins a hell of a coach like just because you get fired doesn't mean you're a bad coach these are great coaches um and whether it's right or wrong uh that's that's that's for every debate um but i do feel for guys but i i marvel at guys like bonesy and stuff that have been fired before, and they just dust themselves off, and they get right back in it. You know what I mean? I marvel at that. I think there's a lot of stress, but I think for me, you swing the bat. You're going to coach your way.

You're going to swing. Obviously, you have your select people that you listen to, but you can't listen to the outside noise because if you do, you're probably going to get fired a lot more and probably not going to get back in the game so i like to swing the bat at it and you know you take your shot right yeah craig berube todd mccullan we've all you know there's gonna be some other great coaches get fired you know i'm gonna get fired i think you just gotta swing the bat and go for it that's the way i look at it but when i got fired and the kids were all in school, we always had a family discussion.

Okay, if this is upsetting you too much, does Dad do something else? Do you want me to get into hockey? And not once did the kids ever say, no, Dad, maybe it's time. We're tired of moving. Every time I got fired, we had that discussion, and they said, Dad, we're a hockey family, and we're going to stay in it. So stay with it. We've got to move.

We've got to move. And that's a credit to Judy because she's gonna have to run right she's got to take her to the schools and get everything packed up or we're moving again we're going to a new city and the one thing with Judy and excuse me she always said doesn't we're a family no matter where we live yeah we're gonna move to a different house we're gonna move to a different city but we're still a family and that's the most important thing so yeah we always had those discussions and they all said no dad you're different city, but we're still a family. And that's the most important thing. So, yeah, we always had those discussions. And they all said, no, Dad, you're a hockey coach and we're a hockey family.

Keep moving. I love that answer. That's awesome. Rick, talking final one to you. I'm really curious. We were with one of your former broadcast colleagues last night, Paul Bissonette, at the Chicklets Live event. I'm curious. I know you guys like the juice of a win and a loss and needing to feel both.

But do you miss it at all? Do you miss doing TV? Because that show was like, that was really good. By the way, Berube's taking your spot. Yeah, I got on that job. Do you get 10%? Yeah. Find your feet.

How does that work? Does St. Louis take that? Be quiet, man. They might take some of that money. Like our side. No, I loved it. That setting there, the way they treated me, the TNT, the whole experience, I do miss it. I miss the camaraderie with AC and Liam and Biz.

And when Wayne's there, we had a blast. And the way they prepare you and the way you do things, I enjoy it. I miss it. Who knows? I'd like to go back eventually someday. Maybe or not. They fill that seat. But I've had a blast there, 100%.

You did a great job. And you're both doing a great job behind the benches. Rick's, thank you. Thank you. How was it? Thanks, guys. Okay, that's Rick Talkett and Rick Bonas, head coach of the Vancouver Canucks and

Winnipeg jets respectively. Listen, folks, that was a long one. Everything was long this weekend. All-star was long. You could argue the skills competition was long and certainly this podcast was long.

If you're hearing my voice at this point, bless you. There's a special place in heaven reserved just for you. The podcast returns Friday morning. Enjoy your week.