32 Thoughts: The Podcast - We Just Want Clarity

Episode Date: March 23, 2026

In this episode of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman react to AJ Greer’s three-game suspension for boarding Connor Zary, while continued confusion around goaltender interference sparks calls for clearer definition from the NHL (17:00). Kyle shares takeaways from Toronto vs. Ottawa, including concerns about Senators fans selling tickets to opposing supporters (30:30), while the Islanders hang on in a key playoff race (45:00) and the Ducks outlast the Sabres (48:00). The guys also dive into questions surrounding James Hagens and the Bruins (49:30), Anton Lundell’s visa situation (53:39), and Craig Berube’s mindset compared to Easton Cowan’s comments (54:40). They discuss San Jose’s surprising push toward the playoffs and the growing MVP case for Macklin Celebrini (59:30), Connor McDavid calling out his coach (1:01:50), Nashville’s big weekend (1:06:50), and potential changes to CHL/AHL eligibility rules for top prospects (1:08:07). The Final Thought circles back to Elliotte addressing his recent travel issues (1:13:24). Kyle and Elliotte answer listener questions in the Thoughtline (1:20:28). Listen to all the 32 Thoughts music here. Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail. This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates

Today's 32 Thoughts podcast is dedicated to the memory of Jesse Pierce and her children, Hudson, Caden, and Avery. I didn't know Jesse that well. I appeared on her podcast once, but I believe the most important characteristic that sets people apart is passion. If you follow Jesse's work and saw her social posts especially, you know she defined the word passion. She loved hockey and she loved being around it. There is no surprise from anyone who worked on this podcast that the memories of Jesse were entirely, absolutely, and completely positive.

You could tell from just what she posted online that she was a person you wanted to be around. We send our best to her husband, their friends, and their families. And our support is with those who are grieving this awful loss. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast, presented by your Canadian Toyota dealers and the 100% Electric BZ, available now during Red Tag days. Dom, Elliot, and Kyle back with you,

and do not adjust your podcast playlist. This is not a repeat of last Monday's pod, but as Ron said on headlines over the weekend for the second straight week, everyone is talking about goalie interference and about player safety. Elliot, the news coming down on Sunday, A.J. Greer boarding on Conner Zerry, Friday in Calgary, worthy of a three-game suspension. Grere is someone who has one suspension on his file. That was back in 2023. He received a fine back in October and one of those Florida-Tampa punch-ups. You did the work again over the weekend in looking at precedent and history with these types of incidents. So when you heard three games, for Greer, your reaction was what?

Exactly what I expected. Exactly what I expected. Now, the one thing is, and I should have been on top of this, is that I looked at interference, and one thing I forgot is even though the penalty was for interference and the ejection was for interference, player safety can move to a different penalty when it looks at suspensions. They have that freedom. So they suspended him for boarding as opposed to suspending him for interference.

They do have that flexibility. They can do that. If you go back a few years and you look at Kevin Fiala's suspension, he got three games for boarding Matt Roy, and Fiala was still a member of Minnesota at the time, I think that is, the comparable or close to the comparable. So I wasn't surprised at all. I know that this is another suspension that leaves people with a very empty feeling, that they feel that Greer should have gotten more,

but this is exactly where I thought they were going to come in. All right. So I've got some thoughts on this and talk to a couple of people after this came down. and even beforehand in anticipation in trying to just and thought about this a lot myself. So I go back to one of the lines that Peros gave and you and I were both there

back at the GM meetings. We feel very confident in this process. This is his quote. We've been doing it for a long time. That doesn't mean that we're not willing to evolve if we need to. And like I said, we're always looking to improve things

if possible, end quote. Okay. You can criticize player safety, certainly if you're feeling upset about this one, about the five games to Radco Gudis. All of it's fair. I really think, Elliot, I think the Players Association deserves part of the blame here as well, at least how this is all set up. So it's just, it's strange, isn't it, a situation like this, right? You've got, with the AJ Greer play, you have an offending play. you have an offending player

and you've got a player that is injured. Both of them are card-carrying members of the same union. Both pay their yearly dues. But it sure seems like there is way more mechanisms in place to defend and protect the offender, not the guy that is hurt. So I don't know if it can be someone from the league. I don't know what the right answer is.

is here. And maybe it's not even going so far as to stand up for the injured player. Okay, you can't do that if you're, maybe it doesn't work if you're a member of the NHL as opposed to the Players Association. But can you not at least stand up for the team that's now going to be without said player for however long? And another thing, too, this whole conversation about appeals, right? And when Perra said, we don't consider the possibility or threat of an appeal when we make our decision on the suspension length. Okay. But when so much of the conversation is around, like, what did you just talk about?

What's the precedent? What's the prior history when it comes to suspensions for similar acts? Somewhere, somebody is thinking about an appeal, the threat of it. So if the league is serious about establishing. boundaries on certain things, certain incidents that are a no-fly zone. Why not, if you are serious about that, hand out a big number, even if it's unprecedented. And if the players union wants to appeal, go for it. No problem. We'll go through the process. So something's 10 games. Maybe it gets reduced to 7. Well, that's more than 5. And it's not going to happen overnight.

but if you have that mindset over time that when it's warranted, eventually when we have that talk of, okay, what's the precedent? Well, now you've got a track record of punishments being a greater number of games. And over time, it then allows player safety a little more leeway, a little more power, to hand out more serious suspensions for certain acts that do not belong. in the game. And that Greer shove on Zeri in a vulnerable spot, and you do not have to have a hockey IQ of Nikita Kutjavs. You do not have to be an NHL player to know when you've got an opponent in a vulnerable position on the ice. Understanding the context of all of it, that is one of

those acts that don't belong in the game. So I don't know what's possible going forward, Elliot. I don't know what the appetite is, but if they're serious about, okay, we've got to protect the players, that was one where more has got to be done here. Man, this brings back deja vu. I have had this conversation so many times over the last 30 years about, and, you know, I'll just say this. The league has no desire to consistently get turned over on appeal. Maybe on some of the biggest ones they do. You know, Tom Wilson had a big one reduced slightly.

Dennis Widman had a big one reduced slightly where he just got money back. Basically couldn't get the games back. They'll do that. But for these smaller ones, they've shown no inclination that they want to get either deal with appeals or... be overturned. They really don't like it. And I've had this conversation before many times, and unless their opinion has changed, that has always been their feeling. They're lawyers. They don't like to get turned over on appeal. This whole thing about the players, this goes back to Steve Moore, Todd Bertuzzi, right? And even beyond that,

it's about who do we represent? Who's more important to us? The players, the players, who commits the damage or the player who gets injured. And it has always been this way. And it, you know, we talked about how for a time there under Gil Stein, you know, people say the fines for players are a joke. And the reason the fines for players are a joke is because Bob Goodenow, when he came in, Gilstein, who preceded Gary Bettman, he was just fining players and suspending them for practice days. And the team paid no penalty, but the player got fined and the player shared

between the team and the player. And he fought to have the fines really limited because he felt if the fines were higher, then that's what the league would do. They would just fine players. They wouldn't suspend them games. And that's why that's the way it is. You know, ever since Good No took over, the players association was really hard. wired this way. And it was interesting, Kyle. The Players Association was upset a couple weeks ago when I, or not this past Saturday, but two Saturdays ago when I said that they presented the, the previous kneeing suspensions in the hearing with Goudis, right? And, you know, I was actually surprised a little bit at the level

of how upset they were. Like, I made a mistake. I missposed. and I corrected it. And at the end of the day, I made the mistake. And if you make a mistake, you have to own up to it. But I was a little bit surprised by how upset they were. And then last weekend, someone told me, well, the reason they were so upset is because players were mad about it. So I think, again, we've talked about this a lot the last couple of weeks.

I don't like to repeat myself over and over and over again. But the only way this is going to change is if the players demand it. And then they'll have to negotiate it with the league, and the league will be like, hmm, okay, you want to change this? What do you want for us to change this? So there's a lot of challenges here to get change made. And, you know, one of the things the league might say to them, well, if you want us to change this, are you still going to be as aggressive with your appeals? Or are you going to give us something else that we want? And I have a sneaking suspicion that the player, you're going to be as aggressive.

won't want to do that in exchange for a change in the way supplemental discipline is done. So I don't know if we really will go anywhere here. We'll find out this summer, but everything you've said there is stuff I have dealt with over years past. I think we just have to figure out, is this group of players going to be any different? And this summer, they've got a chance to prove that maybe they are if this is that important to them. Yeah, because that's what I think it's important to make sure we get across is that there's ownership on both sides of this, right? Like on the player side and the league Department of Player Safety all under that umbrella, to your point. But I just think, like, if it's constantly the league doesn't like having.

having an appeal go against them and games reduce, I mean, what's more important to you? Establishing a different standard. Again, not every time, but you mentioned,

okay, some of the smaller ones. Like, I don't believe, I think we're fortunate that Connor's area wasn't more seriously injured than he was.

A higher percent. I don't think that should be looked at as a smaller one. Like, that was so dangerous. Such a tough spot. We shouldn't be hitting people in the numbers.

I think we all. agree with that. You should not be hitting people in the numbers. Right. So I think so long as the stance is constantly, well, we don't like the idea of appeals going against us. Like, to me, if you're saying that at a one side of your mouth, maybe quietly and loudly, you're talking about how important player safety is. Like, it's the same thing when you're on hold with a hotel and they're telling you, your call is very important to us. And you go, well, We know it's not. Are you sure?

We know it's not. They're telling us that. But it's not. Yeah. I don't know, Elliot. I was kind of not Zen, but I was like, I understand there's an empty feeling. There's dissatisfaction with the Gouda suspension last week and why it was so willing to hear Barros,

Betman, everybody out down in Florida. But this past weekend, again, with the nature of that play and the result of it, it's just, it's not sitting as easy with me.

I understand. It's, you know, look, I like a mean game. You can't hit people in the numbers. You just can't. Yeah, like there's, exactly, exactly. That goes beyond that.

So, we haven't solved player safety. Do we have any chance? I just think this summer, this summer, if the players are this, are really this unhappy about it, they can try to see if they can move the needle this summer.

They have their meetings. They're usually in June. They're usually right around the draft. We're going to find out if they want to make this an issue. For real. And I know there's going to people who say, I don't want to wait that long. I want it to happen now.

there's what's realistic. And what's realistic is, in June, they decide they want to make it an issue. Yeah, yeah, you're right. I just think, you know, for all the talk of, yes, they're lawyers. And when you think about the whole circle of due process, so much focus is on the offender, whether to punish or in defense of. I just think sometimes we lose sight of the players. that is on the receiving end in some cases.

That has always been the argument. Yeah. Kyle, I know you are younger and you are relatively new to all of this, but that has always been the argument going back 20, 30 years. What about the player who got hurt? What about his rights? That's always been the conversation. Tell me about the original six now, Elliot.

I want to learn more. So, yes, the Toronto arenas. Oh, I remember those days. Frank one-eyed McGee, 14 goals in the game. Yeah. There was a great caller on Kipper and Board on Friday, talking about how he was just a very young kid the last time he saw, you know,

the Leafs win the cup in 67. And he just, he had this great kind of monologue where he's going through all these, major life events over the course of his life. You know, he's like teenage years, no cup, graduating high school, no cup, start a career, no cup, just on and on and on. It was quite humorous. Okay.

I like the doctor they had on Friday who did the interview with the hairnet on. I heard it. I didn't see it. He had a hairnet on? It was so funny. When it was over, I was like, can you make me a meatball sub with cheese and some black pepper? Okay, so Sunday night, I was playing cards.

And I had a run on Sunday night of four hands in a row where everything was coming my way. Sometimes God just favors you. He says, you're about to have a good 25 minutes. And I did. And while that was happening, so I wasn't watching a lot, my phone blew up. I thought somebody had been traded. I was like, my phone never does this unless somebody big gets traded. And I looked at it.

And do you want to take one guess what all these people were texting me about? Well, as you talk about, you're on an incredible run for 25 minutes. It feels like the exact opposite of the poor Penguins video coaches all season when it comes to coaches challenges. But this one, is this Islanders Columbus? 100%. You nailed it. Like, good job. You went right to it.

People were like, are you watching this? Did you just see what happened here? How is this different than yesterday? I'll let you say what you want to say in a second. You know me, Kyle. I like to solve all problems. I am pleading and I am begging the NHL's Hockey Operations Department

to put together a series of videos before the playoffs. Show the Winnipeg play, Pittsburgh, show the Columbus Islanders play, tell us what's different, and do this before the playoffs, so we all know what we're looking at. Like, Dave put out the release saying they felt Lee took himself into the crease.

Okay, all right, let's go with that. show us on the video so we all know and we can see it. Like, I am pleading with them before the playoffs, do a series of videos over some of these calls with specific understanding of why they were done. I am, like, I think it's the best for the players, the coaches, the teams, the fans, and selfishly the broadcasters. As I said, on the last pod, it is my job to,

explain this on the air. What was, they know I'm going to call them during games. And you know what I'll say this? They're always good when I call them. They answer the phone. They explain it to me. They're always there. I'm just before the playoffs, give us all a reset.

Please. Give us a reset. Show us the Winnipeg goal. Show us that Islander's non-goal. Explain what's the difference. Because I will tell you, I will say this. I thought that Winnipeg goal was no goal.

And I was surprised how many people reached out to me and said, that's a goal. I'm like, really? And they said, yep, it's a goal. Even after Pittsburgh hilariously printed out the rule, they said to me, that was a very nicely done. By the way, I did hear someone said to me on Saturday afternoon that, apparently the genesis of that is that apparently the Penguins and the League have had one legendary phone call this year. That was going around at the GM meetings, I was told.

So apparently there was one, I don't know who was involved. I don't know who was on what end. But apparently there was one legendary phone call between the Penguins and the league this year. Anyway. I believe that. Well, especially now that poor team is. Oh for eight on goalie interference challenges this year. And they printed the rule, right?

Like, that's almost hard to do. Even if you're like going, I don't even know what the call's going to be. If you're throwing darts, you figure, like the odds are not that you're going to miss eight times, especially if you're a moderately skilled darts person. Yes. Anyway. So I was surprised at the amount of people who said to me, that's a goal. I'm like, really? They're like, yep, that's a goal.

I said, why? and they said because that's a puck battle. Barron's going for the puck and he simply overpowers Carlson. I'm like, where does it say that in the rule? Look at the rule the penguins just printed out and distributed it to everybody. It doesn't say anything about puck battle.

They're like, that's a puck battle. I'm like, okay, all right. Then one night, like barely 24 hours later. And to me, like that's almost the exact same thing. That's a puck battle too. You know, Olivier and Lee are both going for the puck. And again, it was felt that he was, you know, he went in there on his own. Again, I am trying.

I am trying to make everything better. My goal here is world peace. Everybody lives in harmony, sings kumbaya next to each other for the next 10,000 years. Please. put out a video series, explain it to all of us right before the playoffs. Yeah, I'm all for it. Because I think what happens is, like, I don't think the people who are in the situation room, like I've been in there, they do not have negative motivations.

They do not. Like, I'm just, like the same thing. I don't think Peros has any negative motivations. But I do think that what happens is, this is what I think happens. I think that you see so many plays, you begin to, like, nobody watches more hockey than these guys, nobody. And you begin to develop nuance that the rest of us can't see. Okay? You're sitting in the room and you're watching all of those plays and you begin to see differences that the rest of us don't.

Like, I watch a lot of hockey. I don't watch as much as those guys do. so they see things that I don't see. Also, they played most of them at a very high level, a lot of games. Okay. So it's what they've experienced. It's what they see on a day and day out basis. And you start to look for things that the rest of us don't see.

I understand how this all happens, okay? Experts in their field are like this. They see things that we don't see. Okay? Put it out there. Explain it to us. and then let's stick to it. I think you, I would just say we're opening up our eyes, ears, and minds to all of you.

And then we just go with that. Yeah, I mean, it's also there's the whole idea of, and it's been discussed before, snowflakes, right? Like no two are exactly the same. I know, but give us the question. I always going to be there. I understand that. But like you like I'm just saying I feel like I'm repeating myself. I don't like repeating myself.

I like every podcast to be new and fresh. You love to repeat yourself. No, I know. It sounds like I do, but I really don't. It's just the way I was taught to argue. You know what, Kyle? It's like no podcast is exactly the same. They're all snowflakes.

But honestly, honestly, you have to explain to us what's the difference between those two plays? Like, what did you see when you saw that play? I was, I was a little more stunned, honestly, of the New York Columbus one than Pittsburgh, Winnipeg. A little more because... But you thought it was a goal? Columbus one Sunday? Yes, yes, I did.

Especially because, so at the beginning, and I don't mean the muddy of the waters here further, the beginning of the explanation that the NHL put. it out that they reiterate under Coaches Challenge Rule 38.1 states in all coaches challenge situations the original call on the ice

will be overturned if and only if a conclusive and irrefutable determination can be made on the basis of video evidence that the original call on the ice was clearly not correct.

So when watching that back, how can you say irrefutably that Matthew Olivier doing his job on the defensive side, trying to tie up Anders Lee as he's going to the net, how can you irrefutably say that that does in, that that does not in some way impact Lee's ability to stop in time in front of the crease and avoid Jet Greaves the goaltender? That was what got me. Because of that sheet, that one page of the rulebook that the Penguins printed out on Saturday and highlighted the one paragraph, the one above it states if an attacking player has been pushed, shoved, or fouled by a defending player. So as to cause him to come into contact with the goalkeeper, such contact will not be deemed contact initiated by the attacking player for purposes of this rule. provided the attacking players,

made a reasonable effort to avoid such contact. All of that suggests to me that should have been a goal. Okay, so we're in agreement. Yes, I don't think, yes, I think we're both in agreement on this situation here and all of the goal interference headaches that have come across, but we keep coming back to it, not repeating, as you like to say, but it's unavoidable hilariously.

Like the two, the New York one, the Ottawa, Anaheim one in quick succession and then on back-to-back nights here, off the heels of the GM meetings, it's like,

I don't know, somebody up there is just toying with us all. The funniest thing about it, too, was like that Ottawa-Anaheim one is we talked about. but Stutzler does the skate of shame.

He's like, oh, damn, I cost us a goal. He thinks there's no way that that goal is going to count. And in this Columbus Islander's one, again, Olivier is doing the skate of shame. He's like, well, first of all, he knocked the puck in his own net by accident. But secondly, he's also saying there's no way that's not going to count. I knocked Lee into the net, into the goalie. He thinks he's guilty. He's doing the same skate of shame that Stutzler is.

And yet. And yet it didn't count. No need to feel shameful in the end. Now that we've solved this problem, actually, you know, before we get to some other stuff, and we've got a doozy of a final thought here today, I have to say. I got a question for you. Okay.

Hit me. How do you pronounce the word, M-I-S-H-A-P? You're going back to this now? This was like over a week ago. Joel Darling was bothering me about it Saturday night. He asked me about it like twice. Really? How do you pronounce that word?

I say mishap. I just want to say, I don't care what anybody says. That is worse than the way I say Detroit. It is not mishap. Yes, it is. It's not mishap. It's mishap. That sounds weird to me.

I honestly don't even know where it came from. I think someone in my life said it once that way, and I was like, that's how you say it. Even Dom is blown away by this. Yeah, but given what Dom's been up to over the weekend, I take nothing what he's saying right now at face value. He was on a stag. I also wanted to mention John Bartlett reached out

We were talking about Rick Bonas in 37 games last time. Bartlett votes for the coach of the year, the Jack Adams. He has a vote, and he's a member of the broadcasting group. And he's sent a note that there's no rule about a minimum. So nothing prevents bonus from getting votes or winning it, even though the maximum he can do is 37. And so we know who's number one on his ballot. Well, no, no, but you know, he could be on his ballot.

He just wanted to clarify for us. I can't believe you pronounce it Mishap. That is so wrong. It sounds so much better. Mishap found it feels empty. It's like you're missing something. There's a lot of it. There's a lot of things that feel empty on today's pod, I have to say.

You're mishing something. That is brutal. Okay, you were Toronto, Ottawa. Anything you saw there you want to talk about from that game? So a few things. I would say looking around the colors of the crowd Saturday, it wasn't totally full, anyway, but good crowd. It looked to be around 50-50, say.

It certainly didn't sound like it. I think about the last few years in particular, particularly on Saturdays in Ottawa when it's Toronto. You know, there were some that we, of course, recall that was a total takeover. And not only that were the numbers, Leaf fans walked around, chefs pumped up, walking a little bit taller in the Canadian Tire Center. Not the case. This Saturday for all the reasons that you would expect.

It's amazing, though. I don't know if you saw the article. Cole. Callum Fraser wrote about it for post-media that like there's further and great lengths still to come within the organization going forward about trying to ensure particularly when it's the Leafs in town or the Canadians in town that tickets end up in more Senators fans' hands than the opponent's fan base. Like I think they felt that it was kind of passed them after they did a pretty good job in defending their house, if you want to call it that, in the playoffs against Toronto, certainly as that series went on.

But then that game in January, when Montreal came through on a Saturday, and it was, like, unbelievably one-sided. I think the organization feels like, we got- I don't know how I feel about this. I have to think about this. You can feel however you want. But it's clear internally, it is a touchy thing, Elliot. Well, like, I get that. I understand that.

And I remember, for example, when there was a Pittsburgh Capital series years ago, and one of the teams, you know, blocked the zip code or the other team so that you couldn't buy tickets from the other zip code. I think it's going deeper than that. Like, what do you mean? Like, I think they're like trying. They're going to threaten season ticket holders? No. No, I think it's like they are trying to, like, vet and suss out, like, legitimate senators fans.

and give them certain access to tickets for those games that otherwise wouldn't be available right away to the public. Well, okay, I mean, that's fine. I don't have a problem with that. You're a private business. You can do what you want, as long as it's not illegal. But, Kyle, we've talked about this with the Sabres fans. Even Lindy Ruff would joke.

You know, you did that game a couple weeks ago with Toronto Buffalo and Ruff made a joke that maybe the Sabres fans are holding on to their tickets for it. change for this one. Yeah, buying the back for Leaf fans. Like, what are you going to do? If your season ticket holders can make money selling those tickets, what are you going to do, ban them?

Can you not control where those tickets go beyond once they reach your season ticket holders? This is a good conversation. I've had this conversation with people before. So I have a friend. who bought tickets to, I want to say it was an NFL game. And he bought tickets from a fan. And he was going to see the visiting team. And he found out that the person he bought them from got in trouble

because they saw that a visiting fan was in C.T. that were sold to a home season ticket holder. This was a few years ago. And I remember having this conversation with someone. And this is someone who worked in ticketing of an NHL team. And what he told me was that you can only pick that fight if you're like the Green Bay Packers. Right? You're a Packers fan.

the Packers have a waiting list that's gigantic. So they can afford if someone is going to break, if they say, look, if we catch you selling your tickets to visiting fans, we're taking your tickets away from you, you can do that if you have a waiting list that's 100 years long. You know where you can't do that?

You can't do that in a place where, your market is maybe a little bit smaller or your demand is a little bit lighter or when things aren't going well people aren't buying your tickets as much so let me ask you and I'm not taking a shot at the Sanders here or their fan base I am simply dealing in facts

Kyle I deal in fact do you think thank you for clarifying do you think the Ottawa Sanders can pick a fight with their fan base over that. In that regard, no, because you're right. Like, they don't have the same season ticket base. And that's an unknown.

I mean, there's some unique factors about this market. They're just not the biggest market, right? They're just not the biggest market. And they don't have the season ticket base. Like, they've got to move a lot of single game inventory much more than a lot of other teams in this league. And nobody's making fun of them. And I'm not trying to pick a fight with them because God knows, I've said a lot of things over

the years. I walk myself into fights that I don't mean, okay? I'm not trying to pick a fight with anybody here. I'm just saying, I recognize that that makes you crazy. If I own the senators, it would make me nuts. But do you really think you can pick that fight with your fans? If your fans say, hey, I want to sell my tickets to the highest bidder, and that means you get leave fans or that means you get Habs fans or whoever you get, how are you going to stop that in Ottawa? How? They're trying to get to the bottom of this. I think that's, that's, uh, they're trying to find creative ways to, you can't totally

eliminate it, but at least curb it so it's not so. But okay. But okay. Now, what you can say is, can you please offer your tickets to a senator fan first? Okay. or what you could also say is if you're going to like the one thing like I've own I've never had seasons tickets anymore before but I've had partials okay and or you know like half seasons I've had half seasons packages to the blue jays before and there's a lot of times if I can't go I will

donate them I'll you know and I think that you know if you want to donate your tickets or you want to give them in the senators and say hey find a senators fan who can't normally go and they can go cheer for the team. I love that and I wish people would do more than that. And that stuff does exist. But tickets are expensive. They're very expensive. And again, we go back to the Sabres.

There were Sabers fans who would come out even, if not ahead, selling their two or three leaf home games a year. How do you beat that? I know. I know. Especially now the economy's a bit tougher. Yes. If you can do, the tickets are still very expensive.

If you can do that, I think it's a really, like, you know, again, I root for the Sanders to find a way to do it. If you can find a way to do it, I say more power to you. But you, I wonder how you do it without picking a fight with some of your season ticket holders who clearly are getting paid extremely well for this. privilege. Okay. So a couple more observations from Saturday nights. So just before our reporter hits at 7 o'clock, where you touch in on each of the rinkside host of the early games, and there were three this weekend. So Ron's wrapping up his on-camera open. And just as I'm getting ready to go, as Ron's talking, so our on-camera position is kind of at the top the 100 level in the one corner of the arena. I hear from somewhere in the 200s,

often, you know, darkness I can't see, was, uh, I hear someone yell, hey, Kyle. Let's see though it sends underwear you got on. Yes. How I got through that hit, I have no idea. I, because my mind was, uh, my mind was in shambles. No, I was not wearing them. What did they look like?

Like, what, what is your preferred? of Senator's underwear. Hold on. Does it say GoSends Go on it, or does it have the logo? It, yeah, the logo and it says hard over hype. That was a slogan that went over very well in this market. So they put it on underwear. Nice.

I was happy to sign up for it. Did you buy like a three pack or just a single? Yeah, no, of course. I went for the value buy. Okay, good, very good. So that was one. And at the end of the night, I mean, first off, I still can't believe the kneelander cut stole ours up by the way he did. Do you know that's the third time he's done that at least?

Really? So in 2023, against Ottawa, he hit Matt Murray in warm up. And Murray couldn't start the game. And someone told me there's more. There's another one I thought I found two, but I thought it was Steylock, but I can't find it right now. So I thought there were, I have two, and I thought there was a third, but for some reason I can't find it, so I'll go with two. But it's not the first time he's done it. That's crazy.

And especially when you consider, you remember back in October, like when Stolar is out, after that overtime loss to Seattle, kind of called him out without saying his name directly in the post game. That was almost in hindsight, maybe the first red flag that like this may not be a very good season for Toronto. And though I don't believe for a second the two are related, as Nielander catching Stolars up high. And it's good to know that, you know,

I think you obviously went to hospital for precautionary reasons. He was hopefully okay and in the end was able to join the team on the plane back got to Toronto after the game. But so I'm leaving the rink at the end of the night. The Leafs have already packed up and left. Most of the Sends packed up and left. And I'm walking down the hallway just outside the dressing rooms and leaned up against the corner along the wall was Anthony Stollars goalie stick,

disintegrated into pieces after, well, we can only assume, as he left the ice after taking that shot up high and took his frustration out on his poor stick. It, well, it's summed up where things are at for Toronto right now. It's been a broken year. Did Ottawa talk much about the Kachuk meeting? It looked like he wasn't too eager to discuss it. No, I think, like, as Travis said in the pregame show,

they have an open He was, I mean, he's You should play cards against Green, he's good. I heard that you're trying to get something set up. Yeah, I, I, we have to sort that out if we can actually do it.

Okay. That would be fun. I think he would take me for all my money. He's a shark. I would only hope so. I'm an okay player. He's a shark. Yeah.

I mean, they've got clearly a relationship where they talk a lot. I think he knows it's been a demanding year on Kachuk. There's times where I think the push is on. There's times where he's got to let him be. I just think everyone understood, you know, there was the injury for a while, there was wanting to get to a point where he could get to the Olympics

and then get through it. There's the fatigue of trying to get back into things. And Kachukk and I talked about that on Saturday morning of you come off the high of all those games that mean everything in the moment in Milan. And now to get back on the treadmill here with your club team. And as he said, manipulating the mind to go, every game matters here again, like to snap back into that zone. I think he knew full well he needed to have a game Thursday. He did.

I wouldn't say he was as big of a factor. I think he was around it, certainly on Saturday, but like he didn't need to be. That's a pretty good four-line team that's going right now. That's got some good momentum. Tough to see Dennis Gilbert leave. He'd be good for them.

Yeah. And you know, of course, who they're missing already on the back end as is. But now they've got the Rangers tonight and then in Detroit. Huge game. Tuesday. Back-to-back huge games for Ottawa.

You know, somebody said to me, do you think Travis Green would be in trouble if Ottawa misses the playoffs? I was like, how? Are you kidding? Like how?

Look at all the underlying numbers that support. I know the penalty kill. Even that's like it's getting better. But I mean, if that's your one big source spot, of course, we all know the discourse on goaltending. but there's so much to like in terms of what they give up,

how connected they look for long stretches. Clearly they, I mean, they're a team that dumps the puck in a lot. The players have bought into that idea. I think that's crazy talk. Yeah, I thought that was nuts. I was like, are you serious? Like, that's on another planet. Yeah, that's because Detroit now is the team that's out, right?

as we work. Yes. As we do this podcast Sunday night, Detroit's the team below the cut line, three points up on Ottawa. And boy, did the way, we mentioned Columbus Islanders.

Did you see that Schaefer played the last three minutes of that game for the Islanders? Yes. Credit to him. Also credit C. Seroquin went back to back. Yep. And got his seventh shot out of the season,

tying a franchise record for most in one season. The first time this year. I could see Wai just saying like, I knew, like after they got bombarded in Montreal, I could just see Wad just looking at them and saying, hey, if it was me, I'd want that game. What about you? What's Sorokan going to do, say no?

That's awesome. It's the first time this year he's running back to back. But the thing, and I, but the thing is, now there's no time to screw around. Like, I get it. But I would, like, I bet you was looking at him like, I would want this game. Yes, especially because as we talked about,

You have a tough week and it changes everything. Like the Islanders blinked last week. Yep. And Sunday night, they had to decide again, we got to get this back on the rails. And goalie interference challenge be damned. They were able to hang on against a Columbus team that hasn't been losing. It, uh, yeah, that was impressive.

That was very impressive. Calfield, man, he could get 50. he's two back of McKinnon for the league lead. McKinnon's got 45. He's got 43. Cofield could get 50 goals this year. He might win the rocket Richard. Absolutely.

He's, you know, for a guy that says every day is... What they have to do is they have to, in his calendar, they have to rip out every day of the week and say it's only Saturday. Well, I was going to say it, but remember his line? He goes, every day is Saturday in my life right now. 100%. He still is on a different level on the real Saturday each and every week. Yeah.

It's been unreal. Like nearly goal per game, just electrifying stuff. I mean, you kind of- I thought that was a great performance by the Canadians. They were challenged in that one. And you know what? I don't know if, like, we talked about this a couple of pods ago, Fowler, he's not going back.

to LaValle. Did you see that shot of him getting ready on the bench beforehand, the self-talk? I am worthy. Beautiful. He's not going to LaValle. He's staying there. You give him that game.

You're basically telling him, we need you. Yes. By the way, somebody sent me a note. I know the Sabres lost in overtime to the cardiac kids this year. Ducks did it again. They did it again. But they said, You know, everyone's talking about, because that's one of the things I'm going to ask them when I see them on Tuesday is that all of a sudden you guys just went from bad to good.

Like there was no in between. What happened? And someone said to me, do you know what happened? And I said, what's that? So apparently it's a Sabres fan named Aaron of someone sent me this tweet. When they launched the Beer Sabre, you know what the Sabres record is? that? I'm assuming best in the NHL. 37, 11, and 2.

Oh, my gosh. They went from 29th to fourth. Oh, man. So imagine the the Sabres marketing team? It's not Thompson. It's not Dalene. It's not Alex Lion. It's the beer saver. Can you imagine the marketing team sitting there going like,

why didn't we come up with this eight years ago? We'd have solved so much headache. That was a big win by the Bruins over the Red Wings, too. Like just a massive victory. You know, I've gotten a few notes from people asking, you know, what's going on with James Hagen's. Bruins' first rounder, their season ended. He can join the NHL team. They have his draft rights for a few more years.

I think Monday will get a clear indication of what's, where this is going to go. You know, the one thing, like, first of all, I don't think the Bruins have any doubt about his ability long term. And I don't think that anybody doubts that James Higgins is anything but a great fit for them and a great player to have as part of their prospect pool and the future of the Bruins. I just know that some teams get really nervous about this in the middle of a playoff race.

You know, they're two points into the playoffs, one up on the Allenders for the first wild card, two up on the Red Wings for the playoffs, five up on Ottawa. They've got a good tiebreaker number. It's 29. It's better than the Allenders. It's better than the wings.

It's not as good as the Sanders. They're one back, but it's a really good number. They're tied with the Canadians in points, although the Canadians have a game in hand, but the Bruins have a great tiebreaker number on them, too. They're three ahead. I just know some NHL teams. They do get goofy about that.

Like, bringing somebody in at this point in time, if you're not 100% sure that they can help you. I think we'll get, I have no doubt that long term the Bruins believe that this is the right player for them and they're ecstatic to have them. I just know how teams sometimes feel about doing this right now when you're in the middle of a race. I think we'll have a clear idea Monday where this goes. Well, remember, they threw a young Charlie McAvoy right into the fire in the, the playoffs. Now, they had gotten to the playoffs by that time. And also, McAvoy was a bit different. Yeah. Also, yeah, another year older.

Yeah. Like, just, I don't think that's comparable. You know, Higgins is 19. He's not the biggest guy. I've just seen this act before. Again, it's like, but you know, the one thing is, it's like, you know, it's actually good that we're talking about this now because there's been a lot about Cutter Goce this week and you know there's Bruins fans like oh no this is going to happen to us you know some people brought up some of my old videos about Goce and I was like uh oh just because I think things develop over time and I think the one thing that really happened with Goce was that he felt there was a promise made. And in all those videos I did that people have been recirculating this week, the one thing that I learned later was that,

you know, that was a really hard year in Philly. They were not in the same kind of more positive spot that the Bruins are now. And the Flyers were really worried about bringing Goce into that. And they, you know, they were like, this isn't going well here.

Our dressing rooms had a lot of problems this year. We don't necessarily think this is the right environment to bring you in. And even though their intentions on that were pure, it worked out badly for them long term. So I just wanted to clarify the record on some of that. We'll see where it goes with Higgins today. All right. Also too, Anton Frundel on his way to Chicago. Blashe was putting them right into things, as he said.

I think Sasha Bovaver should be on his way to Chicago as well. It's, I got to say this is, all this visa stuff is very interesting. We got a question about it before. Yes. I got a note from someone saying that it was pretty interesting. Like there's, like, there's, like, there's some teams that have reputations at being really good at this. And we kind of talked about it on the pod. And as someone said to me, do you know why they have the reputations of being good at this?

And I'm like, no. And they go, that's where you have to do your work. And I'm like, are you telling me that like they're paying off officials or stuff like that? He goes, no, I'm not telling you that. But there is a skill to it, he said. By the way, was there, did you notice anything around the Maple Leafs on Saturday? Like, what was the mood around them? Well, you know what's funny, Elliot?

And it, obviously, they, it played the night before, so they're not going to do a full skate at the rink Saturday morning. What kind of surprised me is that usually even despite that, there is a scratch or two or some sign of life of the team at the rink in the morning. There was nothing there Saturday at the Canadian Tire Center. Now, I know as this year has gone on, I think they've canceled a lot of practices. certainly once they've gotten to the point where you knew they were not going to be playoff bound this spring. But that was a bit of a surprise.

I thought the whole stuff on, you know, Cowan in the post game, giving up that first goal deflated us, and Baroube is saying, I don't understand the deflating thing. It's a cop-out. It's more a continuation of what the last month has been. very heavy and just a certain element of darkness hovering over it all.

That's what I'd say. Yeah. That's what I'd say. You know, I think the thing is, like, I understand why Baroube doesn't want to hear that. You know, at the end of the day, like, the worst sport to cover when your team is no good is baseball. because it's every day and it's 162 games. And if your season is over like a game 70, that is 90 days of a nightmare.

And you're with them every day, right? At least in the NHL, you get days off, you don't have to cover everything. You don't need to see everybody every day. In baseball, it's endless and it's relentless. So I understand how players are like, I can't wait until this is over. Like I can't wait until this is done. I remember when I first broke into the business, there was one leaf team.

The first leaf team that was really bad when I got into the business, I ran into a player at a restaurant and we just said hi. And I said, how are you doing? He goes, I can't wait until this season's over. So like I understand it happens. But I think when you're a coach, especially a guy like Barubei who's scratch. and clawed for everything he got, that whole idea and attitude is foreign to you. It's like playing hockey, right? You know, you're playing hockey.

You're not saving lives or anything like that. And so I get that. The one thing is, like, Cowan's a kid and he's talking to media after the game. You remember last year when Kovicevik said that the devils have to, have to be a little bit better and Sheldon Keev blew up at him. Like the reporter thought he was throwing a softball and Keith just buried Kovicevic.

Yes. Remember that? Of course. Like it kind of reminded me of that. Like Cowan thinks like he's a 19, 20 year old kid. He's new here. And he thinks he's just giving a safe answer. And, you know, Baruba is like, I don't want to hear it.

Like, I think Callan deserves a longer runway than some of the other guys, right? Yeah. Like, if you hear Eastern Cowan said that, you know, it's like, ah, he's a kid. You know, he's just, you know him, like, he's just not trying to, he doesn't want to trip over himself. He doesn't want to say anything wrong. Of course, yeah. Yeah. Nothing wrong with that.

Yeah. Even though I understand where Brub was coming from, this is a 20-year-old rookie. Like, just. Let it go. And also, I guess as players at a certain point, you're just trying to find different ways to explain another loss as they continue to mount.

Because in reality, why should a 1-0 goal in the first period be deflating it anyway? But it's just been that kind of year. I think it was more of a build-up, a culmination of what this has all been for Bruby to finally. say, that's a cop out.

But we talked about Coffield, maybe being a 50 goal guy, maybe taking over Nathan McKinn. We do have a new points leader, and his name is Nikita Kuturov, taking over Connor McDavid on a night. I was just going to get there.

I was just going to get there. You read my mind. Good. Good. Good. So San Jose is five points out. I'm telling everybody right now, if San Jose makes the playoffs, you're going to have to make me really think or work not to put Celebrini number one on my hard ballot. But they're starting to-

Which is not really making you think and work hard about that. No, no, no, no. Like if sharks pull this off and come back, you're going to have to convince me it's not Celebrini. But San Jose's five points out now. And so it's trouble. But if it's not him, it's got to be. Kucharov.

It's incredible. And what's, I saw a stand of, I don't know what the bulk of the workload is, but it's like over several years now, there's a greater likelihood that Kuchrab has a three point game than he does having a zero point game. He's got more three point games than zero point games. Oh, it's ridiculous. The guy's been ridiculous. It's not even video game mode. It's video game mode on rookie level. Yeah.

that's what he is doing right now. And to overtake McDavid on a Saturday night in Edmonton of all places, that's a heck of a statement. By the way, by the way, he's also got three more, he's got more three-point games and he has smiles this year too. Yes.

Like apparently. This looks so grouchy. And apparently he's more miserable after they win than after a lot. because he's one of those guys that, like, he could have a four-point game, but if there's one play that didn't go the way he had hoped at any point in the game, he could be coming off the ice fuming about one little thing. Yeah, but that's the best of the best. I know, but it's still a lot of that is so fascinating how that all works.

He was incredible. Now, McDavid, first of all, I loved him calling the person. division a pillow fight. Yes. But, you know, Anaheim won Sunday. Vegas won Sunday. So did Calgary. Calgary won Sunday.

So they finally got some wins. But that was hilarious. But, you know, the, I got to say the knoblock stuff, it read worse than it sounded. They had a great system. They're perfectly coached. They all know what they're doing. All over the ice, it's impressive. And when you do break them down,

they got a heck of a goalie to backstop them. Is that just a bunch of time doing the same things over and over again? Like, how do you guys get to that, to be that rehearsed, to have that system you can rely on and all those things? Where does that come from? How do you guys get that? Yeah, well, that's a coaching question. We can ask Knobber that question.

You know, obviously we've been playing together a long time, and we feel like we're somewhat rehearsed and organized, but not to their level. That was one of those clips. Like I watched the clip, and I'm like, hmm. And then when I read the clips on social, I was like, I can see why people think this sounds worse than maybe it did listening to it.

But it's notable. I mean, dry-siddle called everybody out right before the Olympics. McDavid kind of does it here. I know what I would do if I ran the Oilers. I would, and I'd wait until Dry Selle gets back because he's supposed to get back from Germany this week, I would say, guys, we're meeting. And either it's in the room,

and they go to Utah this week, so they're going to be on the road. It's either in the dressing room, or it's at a hotel conference room, or they rent a room at dinner, and they do it there, and you have all the players, and you have the coaches, and you can even have the executives.

And you say, guys, we're airing it all out here. You got a problem? Get it out. Everybody face-to-face, get it out. And after this meeting,

this is it. No more public stuff, and it's bad because I'm a reporter. You like the public stuff. No more public stuff. No more of this. We've got a job to do. We've got to, A, make the playoffs, which they should do, but it's been a little more interesting than it needed to be.

We've got to make the playoffs, and we got some games to win, and it's not helping what we're saying. We're airing it all out here, and then we're pulling together. That's what I would do. And I would say, too, when I mean we're airing it out, we're airing it out. Go out there, be on sparing, tell the truth, even if it hurts. I'm saving this story for my book, but I was in one of those at hockey night. Oh. I was in a meeting like that.

Could you give us ballpark of what era? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, before you got there. Actually, I have to say two of those. Two. I am fairly new to this, so it makes sense that it was before I came. Both before you got there, both before you got there, and there were things that needed to be dealt with. And I had, I was criticized and I was critical.

Sometimes you need to do that. You give and you take. That's a good plan. That's what I would do. I like he picked out the vanters. And I would say in these cases, one of them worked and one of them didn't. But whether it works or it doesn't, you need to get it out there because then you make your decisions. Yes.

Edmonton, it's the likelihood of a goaly interference challenge. It could make all the difference in the world and springboard you towards a third Stanley Cup final. or it could cause everything to come down crashing in a heap. Also, so John Cooper, he kind of quietly signed an extension last summer, right? Yeah. So he's good for it. So whenever the next negotiation is, whether it's him or his representation, they got to walk in, just like that trend on social where it flipped the laptop around to face the camera

and they've got the video loaded up, and they press play, and the person in the video is like limpsinking along to what's going on in the video, and it's just that clip of McDavid, where he's going, they got a great system, they're perfectly coached,

they all know what they're doing all over the ice, let that do the talking for you. Next time he's do a new contract in Tampa. That's what I would do. How long were you sitting on that one? Well, I don't know. McDavid just said that Saturday night, So sometime on Sunday.

That's what I was to. That was a big game, Utah Kings. Did you see Panarin at the end of regulation? No. He had a great chance. He tied the game. He did tie the game. And then he had a great chance, like, right at the buzzer.

And Vamelka had to be very good. Very good. Good redemption for him. So it was a tough tying goal to give up. YouTube and Aaron. Huge save at the end of regulation. And the Kings almost won it in overtime. They pulled off a great play Laferrier had a great chance.

And he and Vamelica stopped him. And they went down the ice and scored and basically won it. But what a weekend for Nashville. Man. They're in great shape. Two up on the Kings, four up on the Cracken, five up on the Sharkin. five up on the sharks and jets and the tiebreaker advantage over everybody

except the Cracken. 24 wins, regulation. Cracken have one more, but they're one up on the jets, they're four up on the sharks, and they're six up on the Kings. Nashville's in a good spot. Really good spot.

One four in a row, and through all of this, they may very well, end up proving everybody wrong for a third straight years. Barry Trotz was hoping going into the season to begin with. You want to mention here quickly before we get to the final thought about the 19-year-old Canadian hockey league players being HL eligible. It sounds like we've got an idea of what that's going to look like.

Yes. So after the GM meetings finished, the league had some other meetings. and one of them was with the CHL. And I heard out of that that basically the league and the HL and the CHL are working on something that says that 19-year-olds drafted in the first round will be eligible to play in the HL as soon as next year. And the Players Association has to sign off on this. Now, initially, when they talked about it, the new CBA, it was supposed to be one 19-year-old per NHL team. But there were some teams who fought it because they said that we're going to have multiple players who might be capable of this. And why should we have to pick between them?

You know, why make a prospect mad or their agent mad? And so it looks like you're going to get unlimited per team as long. long as they're 19 and were taken in the first round. Now, I still don't believe there's a lot of them here. I think there's only going to be a few. It's not like there's going to be 50 who show up, but they wanted the open-ended option per NHL team, and it looks like they're going to get it. The other thing I heard after I got off the air on Saturday is there's going to be a date

where teams are going to have to decide, does the player stay in the age, or does he return to the CHL team? Like in case it's not working as well, or if you have a player who you want to return and maybe have a Memorial Cup run, you're going to have that option. Now, I believe the CHL trade deadline is January 10th. I think it's going to be just before that.

Like someone said to me, they think it might end up being like January 6th. if a player is not returned to the CHL by that date, they can't go back. But I think it's interesting that's the timeline because then you'll get a decision. Does a player stay in the HL or do they get traded back to the CHL for a Memcup run? So that's going to be an interesting tie into this. I don't know if the other thing I don't know if someone asked me, like you said that's for next year, could it change in the future? And the honest answer is, I don't know.

I just know that's what they're working on for next year. Yeah. I'm glad to hear that there isn't a hard and fast set number that goes across the board because, as you say, like, there's different teams in different situations. It's also important to note that, I mean, not every 19-year-old from the Canadian hockey league that was drafted in the first round is going to be physically ready, mature-wise, ready to go play in the American League. So it's not a sure thing.

I think that will make it more unique and there will only be a select number that I think will be hallmarked for going that route. And also too, because if you're wondering, well, geez, like Canadian Hockey League already took enough of a hit last year with the NCAA rules changing. Now another one here of 19 year olds being able to go to the American League. I think, and wouldn't you agree, Elliot, in most cases, if a player now is ready to play in the American. League at 19 under what the current setup is today, they would be going to college hockey anyways. So I don't think it changes much in terms of which players are going to be in the CHL going forward. Look, I think the CHL, it's been a hard year for a lot of reasons, but I think the CHL is still in a really good place. I think the best 18 and under players

are going to play there. And that's still a great place to be. Is it perfect? No. Would you like it the way it used to be? Sure, if you're the CHL. But things change and they're out of your control and you better adapt to it. I would wonder, too, if the CHL would be okay with this because their 19-year-olds, would they rather than be in the NCAA or the AHL? Probably the AHL. Even though I don't think a lot of them are going to be there, they'd probably say if we had a choice, we'd rather have them be in the AHL. Hmm. That's a good point, too. Thank you. Thank you very much. Okay. Time now for the final thought presented by the Toyota BZ go all electric and a winter ready Toyota BZ at your local dealer today. It has been well documented, Elliot. Your travels last week, the long flights, the early flights, the late nights.

Let me set this up, okay? I have to do this. Wait, can I just say one thing? Sure. I had a number of people at the rink on Saturday beside themselves at the idea of you putting your laptop charge cable in a checked bag, not in your carry-on with your laptop. And perhaps the conversation you had with somebody on Saturday about that helps, yes, set up everything we're going to get into here. I had a few people that reached out about that too. Like, so, okay, okay, let me just address that first, okay? I figure if I'm taking a short flight that I don't need a laptop charger. So I just throw it, I carry like a cord bag that the only thing I carry, if I'm, if I'm checking a bag,

the only thing I take with me is a phone charger. I have one. I keep one. Okay. And that's it. other than that, I have this small pouch that I use for my spare batteries and cords and electronics and stuff like that. And I throw it in there. Okay. So that's that. Okay. I have to confess, Brian Speer, the producer, was the first person to call me on Friday and say,

you don't pack your laptop cord. And I had no recollection of what he was talking about. I was like, what? And so I'm going to come clean, okay? I'm going to come clean right here. If you listen to the pod, you know, at a terrible travel day, and we did the last pod Thursday night after the Canucks telethon, I was tired. I felt, I told Kyle and Dom, they can both vote for this, that I felt the podcast on Friday was horrible because I was too tired and I wasn't. very good. As a matter of fact, I didn't even link to it on my social pages because I was so unhappy with the podcast on Friday, even with the urinal debate, which I had a lot of feedback on. I had people setting me videos about proper urinal etiquette, which I will send to Renault.

But I was really unhappy with the podcast. I was like, I was too tired. I wasn't focused. It wasn't a very good podcast. And so there's something that happened and Dom asked to play the audio. And I said, no, you're not doing it because not that I'm embarrassed about or anything like that, that's not it, and you'll hear it in a second, but because I don't want people to think I don't take the podcast seriously. I take the podcast very seriously. I want it to be good. And the reason I didn't allow this audio to be played was because I didn't want people to think I wasn't taking it seriously. So basically, what happened? You're about to hear.

But then I told a couple of people that happened, like, you have to play this. You have to. People know how seriously you take it. You have to play this. So it's like, okay, I have a good sense of humor. I can laugh at myself. Kyle, why don't you set the scene and then Dom can run the. the audio. So, well, there's really nothing much else to set up here. We were going through

our topics. I believe we eventually got to discussing Nashville's search for a new general manager to succeed Barry Trots. Anyway, yeah, I think that's enough said, Tom. Why don't we listen to it now? Are you starting to get more of a sense of timeline there and how Nashville would like to approach things in determining who will succeed Barry Trots? Elliot, you awake? You there? Oh yeah, sorry, I'm not at all for a minute. Am I that boring?

Holy cow. No, I'm just tired. It's been a long couple days. Sorry, what was the last thing he said? I was... Oh, man. Oh. Yeah, so when that happened,

the soon as we were finished recording, Dom's like, can I play it? And I'm like, no. I'm not making a mockery of the podcast. But I don't remember the core. I have no recollection of the chord conversation. None. Zero.

But, man, I was tired. I was really tired. You were. I mean, we've had some late nights. We've had some recordings where we've been on fumes. But that was a new, that was a new level. Last Thursday or early Friday morning. But amazingly, there you were.

On set in Toronto Friday night, there you were on Saturday. I got to tell you, I thought I was, I'll say this, I was, I thought I was horrible on that show. Like I, Carol and Nick and Justin, they carried me through that show. I was horrible. I thought I was better Saturday. People can decide if I'm right or not. But I, I thought I was good in the pregame. And once the game started for that Toronto Carolina game, I thought I was useless.

Yeah. I'm sure they've felt that throughout the. season at different times. It was not exclusive to last Friday. No, it wasn't, eh? No. But hey, energy levels are up here on this edition. Much better tonight.

Much better tonight. I'm glad you got to the point of comfort rolling that. Well, you know what? You know me. I can laugh at myself. I just, I don't, I never want the audience to think, like, we are lucky. people give us their time. I never want people to think we're either wasting their time

or taking their time for granted. Great. I hope they don't think that way. But it's a good reminder that we should probably take our first break. Because that was the final thought presented by the Toyota BZ. And we will take our first break. When we come back, another edition of the Thought Line, 32 Thoughts, the podcast continues after this.

All right, welcome back. Brand new edition of The Thought Line coming your way. right here, Elliot, normally this is the time reserve for shoutouts or anything we want to get off our chest before getting into the heart of the matter. This time, however, we want to tap into Dom's side a little bit

here. Yes. And a side hustle, a side hobby that he's got going on. So why don't you set it up? Go ahead, Dom. Well, I collect sports cards, mainly sports cards. I have a few Pokemon here and there, but I have hockey cards, football cards, basketball cards,

baseball cards. And last week, I went to the Vancouver flea market. They were hosting a sports card show. And I went with a friend of mine and I did some trading, did some selling, tried to find some new stock for my collection and came away with a little bit of a find. And so what was the find? So I was trying to get off of a Patrick Line A PSA 10 rookie card, something I've had. in my collection for a while. I thought

highly of Patrick Linae when he first came into the league, as many people did, I thought this card would be valuable. And unfortunately for Patrick, and for me, his career didn't pan out the way I hoped it would. So I went to try and get off this card. And while I was there, I was offered, I would say, $40 for it. And I saw a Zeev Bouyam rookie card on the table. And I asked the gentleman if he would be interested. in a trade. He had Z. Buyam listed at $30. So I offered him my card for Z. Booiam in $10 and he took the trade.

Now I'm the happy owner of a Z. Buoyam rookie card. Nice. Wow. So what are your other, I don't want to get your house robbed or anything like that, but what are your other valuable cards that you're really proud of? My favorite cards are my favorite cards rather are my two Luca Donchich rookie cards. I have two Luca Donchich PSA 10 rookie cards. And I have a Joe Burrow as well. Those are my, those are the ones I look at most fondly.

And so like what's the value of those right now? Let's not talk about the value of those podcast. Why not? I don't want to share that information. No, seriously, no, there worth a lot of money. I don't want to, I don't want to talk about it on the podcast. Oh, okay. Honestly, I don't know.

Like, I used to collect cards and I was a kid. I don't know now. Yeah, a lot of people would be coming after Dom for their half of a dinner bill. If the number got out. Do you keep them in a safety deposit box? No, so I have actually, I have a display in my, apartment where I just have them out and I like to look at them from time to time, but nope, they're out in the open. I live alone. So it's not like anyone will take them from me.

And what was your address again? No. I was just, I was just thinking the exact same thing. It's so funny. I was so, so you said PSA 2? Like, what's the significance of that? PSA 10. Oh, is that the highest grade? So 10 is a perfect grade. So explain that. Like for those of us who don't collect cards anymore, explain what that means. So when you have a card, it can be any sort of collectible. It doesn't even have to be cards. You can set it off to, there are many graders, but the one that is most well known is PSA. And you mail this off to PSA. They will look at your card or your collectible under a microscope and they will determine the condition of your card and the better condition. of your card, the more valuable it is. And the most sought after cards are tens because they are in perfect condition. And I just so happen to have a few of those in my collection.

Now, is there a holy grail card for you that you would love to get your hands on? Yes, but I'll never get it. Okay, but what is it? It's a PSA 10 Michael Jordan rookie card. And again, one of those running right now. Yeah, what is that work? Currently, there are 33 of them in population, and PSA 10s are worth $217,000 U.S. dollars each. So if you were to add up your two Luca Donch's cards and your Joe Burrow card, how close would you get to the Michael Jordan card?

Not close. Why are you trying to get this out of me? I'm just curious. I'm asking, you know, I'm interested in the barter system, like how close is it? And maybe we'll add your Zev Bouillon card to that, too. Is that, does that get you closer? Yeah, minimally. We're hoping Zev Boullium turns into the next Quinn Hughes.

Let's just put it that way. Well, I think there's, I would love to see that for a lot of different reasons. Excellent stuff, talk. Did you see Jake DeBrasse there? Isn't he a card collector guy? No, so I was, I was kind of hoping he would show up, but unfortunately he wasn't there this time. He is a big Pokemon card collector, yeah. Right.

Very notably so, yeah. All I know about Pokemon is that I read this week that Pokemon Go game was the biggest scam ever because it became like a human tracking device. Yeah, we didn't, got so excited about the opportunity to play that game. Didn't realize it gave all of your data to the CIA. Okay. Last question for you, Dom. What is like your favorite non-vales? valuable card.

Like we all had cards we got that really weren't worth anything, but we just love the card. What, what's that? I have a Reese Hoskins PSA 10 rookie card. Reese is my favorite Philadelphia, Philly ever. Phillies, yeah. And it doesn't matter to me that it's worth 10 bucks. To me, it's priceless. I love that.

You know what? We all, everybody who collects cards or anything has something like that that really isn't worth anything. but you just love it because it appeals to you. So I respect that. I like that. Excellent. Good stuff, Tom.

Nice, Tom. Congratulations on your bouillon purchase and I hope it turns out great for you. All right. Here we go. Henry from Finland. Hi, Elliot and boys. I've been wondering after the Nick Schmaltz signing, what is the point of front heavy contracts?

I understand that it is nice for the players to get the money up front, but what's in it for the team? Since the AAV is the same through the contract, it's hard to imagine that teams would just do it to be nice to the players. P.S. Let's go Red Wings. You know, there's a couple of things there. Number one, you know, first of all, some teams don't do that.

There are some teams that make it a priority saying that we don't do bonuses or we don't front load like that. You know, Winnipeg has been one, although Kyle Connor was different. Nashville has been like that before. You know, sometimes when you have a player who's got so much leverage, there's not much you can really do about it and you have to change. But there are some teams that fight that, you know, more than others.

You know, the other thing it does is you can say, all right, we'll front load the contract. Maybe the player gives up on something else like AAV potentially. will give you the money so you have it sooner, but maybe you'll get less of it overall. That has definitely happened in some cases. And the other thing that can happen is on the back end, if you do a buyout,

sometimes with the money that's been left over, the buyout is not quite as onerous as it would be if, say, a player had signing bonuses all the way through that made their contract basically buyout proof. Those are some reasons. All right. Very good. Thank you for that.

Richard from Birmingham and Calgary. Hey, Dom, Kyle and the Raccoon guy. I'm Richard. I'm from Birmingham in the UK, but currently living in Calgary. I've been involved with hockey since I was a kid, despite routinely being asked if we play hockey in the UK while wearing my Team Great Britain jersey and Team Great Britain being in the top pool of the world's on and off for years now. I don't think a best-on-best tournament would grow the game,

but rather ring fences around a few stronghold nations. I know nobody wants a team Europe at one of these events, but would it be worth having a team at the next World Cup made up of the best of the Tier 2 nations like Great Britain, Japan, France, Italy, Kazakhstan, Poland, etc. Last year, I was in Denmark for the Olympic qualifiers, and Japan took Denmark to overtime on home ice, and then we beat Japan the next day. We also beat Italy at the Tier 2 worlds, despite how manfully Italy dealt with Sweden at the Olympics.

I think the best of the minor nations could hold their own. I mean, I'm just here looking out for my boys, Liam Kirk and Ben Bounds. I think it would be great to get them on NHL ice because the Olympics have shown lesser-known lads based in Europe can hold their own. And having that exposure in Britain, Japan, and Poland, off the back of the Olympics would do wonders. our programs and be a huge platform for the guys selected. Right now, the MLB, the NFL, the NBA are playing games in the UK and eating the NHL's lunch in minor hockey nations. Anyhow, thanks for hearing me out.

Keep up the great work. Love your pod and go Team Great Britain. Go Islanders on what I thought was going to be a bad year. And go Cardiff Devils. I have to say this, Richard. I think this is a great, great, great, great. submission. And I was actually thinking about it this morning because I saw a post on X today about the demand for ice rinks in the UK. And just that the fact there needs to be

more talking about waiting lists, big indoor sport in Great Britain, like just doesn't get as much attention as it should considering how much interest it's grown. And the phrase is, the sport, it's by Henry Stalen's this tweet, the sport has grown quietly, well past the current infrastructure available. This is not just a supply and demand issue that will go away. And I thought that was interesting, and I meant to look at it a bit farther, somewhere down the road. And you know what, Kyle, we talked about the world baseball championship and we were watching the game and our disagreement with the last strike of USA Dominican. But I think that part of the success of that WBC is just some of the other teams that get to play in it. Like Italy went all the way to the semifinals. And I know they're all, a lot of them are Americans, but still it's great visibility.

Netherlands plays, Israel plays. You know, I think it's, I think that's really important. And it reminds me it's a, it's a good question to ask. Like, is there a way that we can get more focus on Great Britain, Bulgaria, other countries that are starting to pick up hockey, Thailand, Japan? is there a way to do this? And, you know, I know when Don Fear was running the NHLPA, he brought up something about qualifying tournaments,

which would help do this. And they just didn't have the ability to do it at the time. But I hope as they regrow it and as they try to make it bigger, like I don't know if you'll ever be able to get more than eight teams during the regular season. If you're going to play this in February, I'm not sure it's going to be possible. But I do think it would be a good thing

to have an NHL-supported qualifying tournament somewhere down the road where the games could be televised and something could be done to boost up the visibility. I think Richard is 100% onto something here. And best on best is great, but I think he's totally, right that we have to build it in some of the non in some of the countries that you wouldn't

necessarily think of first. Richard, I think you're totally right. And this is something for me to look back into somewhere in the future. Great, great, great, great submission. Yeah. And my only concern was like because, you know, this is an NHL, NHLPA run event. And now we're looking at, you know, all these players that, of course, aren't part of that. Yeah.

Just the extra hoops. Like, you know, we were just down at the gym. GM meetings and one of the conversation points being around for players like say for a team Czechia, like not that we saw at the Olympics, not every player on that team is from the NHL. They play professionally elsewhere in Europe. So figuring out clearance of allowing those players in theory to be able to leave their club teams to come play in an event like the World Cup during what would still be their regular season going on in February.

I would love to see a path to allow for something like that or just something. something, as you say, for more exposure. But with all the different nations and players that play in many different places, and to get the necessary stamps of approval and green light to allow all of it to happen, imagine that would be a big job. But, you know, the way it's laid out here, and to your point about what's going on in the UK and the DeVanber for more ice, clearly, I think there, in a lot of ways, would be very much worth it. So great job. Yeah, I'm all for that. I am all for that. Okay. Phil. from Lower Sackville, but really Cape Breton.

Gidey Dom the Dawn, Bruiser Bukascus, and Elliot who gets bullied by raccoons. Just kidding. Don the don, geez. Just kidding, Elliot, those critters. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That dawn spelled like, not dawn like the Sopranos, but Dawn like the dawn of the morning.

Yes. You're dish soap, Dom. Oh, gosh. I'm a massive hockey fan, a hockey nerd, as we are so lovingly called, much like you fellas are. Have only been to a few NHL games in my life, live, but recently had the good fortune of being able to attend a game in Ottawa with two of my best good buddies, as we call one another. The game wasn't great in general. It was a game against Carolina. They took it to the Sands pretty good, so the atmosphere felt a tad flat.

One positive takeaway, however, was the play of two unheralded defensemen, Jalen Chatfield of the Canes and Tyler Cleven of the Sends. Both were engaged physically. They made smart, calculated plays breaking out of their own end and joined the rush offensively when the opportunity presented itself. Just wanted to shout out all of the depth players who don't necessarily get the appreciation they deserve, but are integral parts of their teams in their own ways.

And on any given night, a five can play like a one. That's pretty impressive to me. Who are some of your favorite deep cut players that you appreciated in this way? Thanks for the entertainment and appreciate your knowledge and hard work. Oh, boy, that is a great question, Phil. Are we talking about current or are we talking about... I think it at any time. I do love, you've seen that there's those accounts online.

It's like the Hall of Very Good. Yes. Like those are excellent. You're rifle through some of the guys. I'm guessing that he's probably going even deeper, Phil is here, than the hall of very good. Because those would still probably be a lot of second line guys or second pair guys. Yeah, but in some cases, it's like there's a name I haven't heard in forever. That's true.

You know, one of the things that jumped to my head was the Red Wings, they had the Russian Five at one point, right? And it was at one particular point, Doug Brown was the winger. and it was four Russians and it was Doug Brown. And Doug Brown's nickname was Brownov. Oh, nice. One of their Stanley Cup teams, I think you might have been on both Stanley Cup teams in 97 and 98. And, but I always remembered that one because 98 was the first Stanley Cup I ever covered

between the Red Wings and the Washington Capitals. And, you know, I just remembered Brownov. And I always kind of thought that was a good tribute. and a nice nickname at the time. But, you know, one of the, I'm trying to think, like I grew up in Toronto in a time where they didn't really have all the TV they do now. Like you got two games a week and you felt pretty lucky to be able to do that. You know, one player that I would say, and you scored a really huge,

huge goal in the 70s was Yvonne LaMere of the Montreal Canadiens. And I always loved the guys. Back at that time, guys didn't wear helmets. And Gila Fleur had the great hair. Like he would skate down the wing with the hair flowing and everybody loved Gila Fleur. And back then, you always liked guys who had the great means with no helmet. And Yvonne Lombert was another guy like that. He scored a massive goal against the Bruins.

But, you know, he was a very good player. He wasn't a great player. But Yvonne Lombert would be one of the first names that I would remember from my childhood who I liked like that. Great, great call. And I don't know if you would put this guy as a deep cut because, I mean, he had, we had one 20-goal year. But, I mean, before, like, when I would have started watching hockey a lot more closely, he was in more of the twilight of his career. But, you know, I was thinking of like Trent Clatt with the game. Canucks, you know, towards the end.

I think that qualifies. Like, Trent Clark qualifies. He scored an overtime goal against St. Louis in the playoffs one year and did the big fist pump down on one knee. It was, like, that's still like ingrained in my mind. You know, I remember vividly, like when the flames went to the final in 2004, you know, just some of the. Martangeloana scored every big goal.

Scored every big goal. I mean, he was kind of more of a score and, of course, more well known. We even go into like the Chuck Kobossoos of the world. Yeah. Christoph Oliwa, you know, like it's like those days. A lot of the guys who really fought when I was a kid that were a lot of those guys. And, and a lot of them were also great charity guys. Like there was, there's a long line between guys who did a lot of fighting and also were

the ones who were the best people in the community. Like, oh, there was a lot of that. So I think that's also a good tie-in. Very good. All right. One final one here. Good question, Phil. Yeah.

One final one here, Elliot. Clayton from Manitoba. With Macklin-Celebrini's MVP case, a large part of the talk being the points gap from him to the second highest point score on his team, what is the highest point gap from a team's leading scorer and their second leading score, where that team also made the playoffs in that season. Now, Clayton's a Vancouver fan, and he ended his note with a hashtag tank for McKenna. Manitoba and a Canuck fan?

What happened there? Well, Kutcherov, like, there have been a couple big ones recently. Kutcherov and McKinnon, right? Are those the answers? No, there are, I'm looking at one, two, three, three, but I also got to think, like, was Gretzky, like the, or, or Lemieux, like the years that they were putting up video game numbers, they could do it too.

Yeah. So I was saying, of the top seven biggest gaps, there are two names that appear on the list. And one of them six times. Coffee had 150 points, but Gretzky had 215. Yes. Yeah, he had, yeah, the year of two 15, yeah, coffee had 138 and Gretzky had 215. Yeah. And so the biggest gap was 107 points.

Gretzky 212, Glenn Anderson, 105. Oh, God. Yeah. You imagine putting up over 100 points. I'm second on the team with scoring by 100. Yeah. That's hilarious. Yeah.

And so the one year that in this top seven that wasn't Gretzky, it was Lemieux in 88, 89. He had 199 and Rob Brown had 115, 84. point gap. That's crazy. I have to double check that, but I wonder what the biggest non-Gretzky or Lemieux answer is. Because remember, Kucherov and McKinnon had pretty big ones in the last few years. Mm-hmm. Right.

Don't remind the lightning fans. Feel even more slighted. Disrespect. Yeah. Yeah. I don't blame them. I don't blame them. So there we go.

I'm not sure Celebrini will get there this year. but it's been a season for the ages. There's no question, Clayton. So we appreciate you sending that one in. All right, we'll leave it there. 32 thoughts at sportsnet.com. If you would like to send us an email or you can drop a voicemail at 1833-3-3-1-3-21-32. One final break.

We'll wrap up this edition of 32 Thoughts, the podcast, after this. All right, before we go, I thought this would be a good time to update all of our listeners on the ongoing, in-season cup competition between myself and Elliott and Randi Bjanda and Emily Agar. We are coming into the final stretch. So after I think over 90 days, I went without holding the title, Colorado Avalanche wrestled it back for me on Sunday with the overtime win over Washington.

That puts me at 42 days total. Elliot's at 29. Randeep's at 31. I am two back of Emily at 44, and it just so happens that my avalanche play her penguins on Tuesday night, the title on the line again. So a big game Tuesday between Emily and I, a lot at stake. And it feels fitting that as we've got some crazy playoff races, particularly in the East and some good ones in the West as well, that the in-season cup for the total days looks to be. headed towards a frenetic finish. And of course, there's the other winner that will have the title on the final day of the regular season.

So good drama yet to unfold not only in the NHL standings, but the in-season Cup race as well. Okay, a couple of things to keep an eye on. Network-wise this week, Tuesday night on Sportsnet 1, the Edmonton Oilers, are in Utah. Another big game for the oil. That's at 9 Eastern 7 o'clock mountain time. Again on Sportsnet 1, the Oilers and the Mammoth. Scotia Bank Wednesday night hockey this week. The Rangers in Toronto to face the Maple Leafs.

Hockey Central underway at 7 o'clock ET. Puck drop a little after 7.30 Eastern 430 Pacific time. We understand with how many of us have busy schedules, time never seeming to stand still. Through all of that, we appreciate you spending some of your day here with us. We do not take it for granted. Have yourselves a great week. We will talk to you again on Friday.