32 Thoughts: The Podcast - We’ve Got A Series

Episode Date: June 9, 2023

The rats are back! Jeff and Elliotte recap a wild finish to game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final (5:50) and they chat with Brandon Montour (41:10) as well as Vegas captain, Mark Stone (49:10).They kick the podcast off with some breaking news as the Columbus Blue Jackets pull off a sign and trade for Damon Severson (00:00) and then get into some more news from around the league including — the coaching search in Calgary (16:40) and New York (17:50), Shane Doan joins Toronto front office (19:30), the latest on Alex DeBrincat (24:00) and Pierre-Luc Dubois (30:40), Kings re-sign Vladislav Gavrikov (28:00), Islanders add to their front office (33:30), and an interesting story arises in Canada that could hurt teams north of the border (36:30).Watch the entire Vegas Golden Knights OGs piece HEREEmail the podcast at [e-mail] or call The Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailMusic Outro: David James Allen - By The SummertimeListen to the full album HERE (out today!)This podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.Audio Credits: KKGK, Sportsnet and WQAM-AM.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Elliot, before we get to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for a third-round draft pick. Columbus is shoring up their D, Elliot. Yes, they are. And I'm always happy when I can ruin almost day. But Columbus made it very clear that this is what they were going to do. Provorov trade earlier this week.

And, you know, we'd heard that they'd been talking about the possibility of Severson. And in a rare moment, something that's said on this podcast actually comes true. So Severson, the devils get the pick. They weren't going to be able to match that for Severson. You know,us was aggressive i think initially severson was thinking about maybe western canada something like that but you know columbus wouldn't take no for an answer they were taking this date to the prom an analogy i've been using way too much lately but it is june so it is prom time that's between you and

your therapist elliot don't don't work your personal things out here on the podcast. That's right. But you know, the blue jackets, uh, I heard they had some zoom calls with them and they just were not giving up on this. They targeted the player and they were not taking no for an answer.

Okay. So a couple of things here. I want to get to the New Jersey part of this, but first, uh, here's the question about the Columbus Blue Jackets. We know they want to take the next step. We know that all eyes are on Yarmulke Kekulainen, the general manager.

Now they're not done. Are they? I'd like to hear a bit more from Kekulainen. There's a few more things I'd like to talk about with him. I still think they're going to look into a center. I mean, you and me and half the league out here has been expecting like a Kevin Hayes deal with Columbus and see that will work out.

I'm trying to determine if the hiring of Babcock has changed that plan at all. Maybe Hayes feels differently or maybe the Blue Jackets and Babcock feel differently. You know, we'll see how that plays out, but I do think they are looking for a center. But Jeff. Those conversations, quickly, those conversations go back to the trade deadline and probably before the trade deadline as well. The Kevin Hayes, Columbus, just so we're on the same page. Yes, that is definitely true.

The other thing here is this defense, it's very much something that Babcock would like. A deep, heavier defense. You know, if you look at it right now, your top four is Wierenski, Provorov, Severson. I'm curious if Juracek, you know, how quickly he gets into the top four here. They've also got Gabranson. They've also got Boakvist. They've also got Peek. They've also got Bean. They've also got Blankenberg, who I really like. So they have a lot of defensemen. And that's the kind of thing that Babcock would really like on his blue line

is multiple options, some heavier players, a tough group to get through i could see him being very happy with what kekaline is putting in front of him now for the new jersey devils one would have to assume what this satisfies is an open roster spot for a young defenseman to jump in and secondly freeing up cap space for either a timo meyer or a jesper brat contract or both you're talking about Nemec, right? Nemec would be the obvious one, yes. As you just mentioned, David Juracek, we imagine he'd join the NHL next season. I'm guessing Nemec as well.

Yes, Nemec is probably ready for this. You're also wondering about Ryan Graves. He's another UFA to be that we'll see if they can sign. He played a very nice role for them. But there's no question that Meyer and Bratt are atop the list. The Bratt-Devils negotiations, I've just heard they've been a grind. The Devils, I think, want to get this done. I think Bratt's reps are kind of slow playing it a little bit. So the Meyer situation, you know,

someone just told me based on what they'd heard about Meyer is it would be a hard one to do because it's a big number and he has another year so he can wait if he really wants to. He can be qualified at 10. He can go to cut rate arbitration at eight and a half. So I don't want devil's fans to be like doing any self-harm after listening to this i don't think it means that it's impossible i just think that it's a grind and the devils are trying their best to get through it oh and jeff one other thing there have been lots of rumors about columbus maybe dealing the third overall pick for immediate help. I think they're kind of media or public created.

Now, as we speak, that's not what I'm hearing. I'm hearing the third overall pick is not available and Columbus will take it. Look, things can always change. I hesitate to write down anything as the gospel, but that's what I'm hearing today on Friday, June 9th. And that's the same'm hearing today on friday june 9th and that's the same thing i would do get the pick whether it's carlson or fantilli have that kid for a billion years and get yourself a big center in the draft that's what i would do and that's what it sounds like

columbus is planning to do that is the very latest that is the very freshest amal hit publish and with that we return you to your regularly scheduled podcast Christopher Hagee! And the Panthers have won their first ever Stanley Cup Final Game! Elliot, the cats are alive. Elliot, the rats are alive. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC Canyon AT4X.

Friedman, Merrick, and Delage with you one more time. We had a lot of news to get to. We're going to bracket that for a second because you're on your way back from the rink, heading to the hotel after game three, another thrilling overtime victory by the Florida Panthers, who are 7-0 in overtime. And once again, playing the role of Justin Williams,

Carter Verhage with you. I know I'll drop the 2012 Kings thing eventually, Elliot. Carter Verhage, the hero. I know I'll drop the 2012 Kings thing eventually, Elliot. Carter Verhage, the hero. Nice screen by Matthew Kachuk, I should mention, on that goal as well. The Panthers win, and we have a series. A great finish. I think I would be lying to the audience if I called it a great full game,

but a great finish. And the legend of Matthew Kachuk rose. He got hit cleanly by Colasar. I don't think anyone has any argument with the quality of the hit. And I thought he was out. Like when I saw him stumble, I thought that was, you know, what's called like a fencing motion is what they call it. And that is an obvious sign of a concussion.

After the game, in his media availability, Paul Murray said that the concussion spotter pulled a kachuk. Was it league protocol that took Matthew away for a while? It was. Okay, so concussion protocol. Correct. And when that is going on, how informed are you when you're in the middle of the action?

Oh, no, you're not informed at all. It's a complete shutdown. The room gets, goes into a quiet room. There's no checking when you're coming out. So you are completely, completely in the dark on those. You don't know when the player's coming back. There's not an update. And I understood that because of, you know, the way that he looked after he first got hit.

But I also think there's an arm injury there. Just the way Kachok was on the bench, the trainer fiddling around with his shoulder, I think it's possible both things can be true. And the other thing too is I was going to meet some people in the crowd so I was walking amongst the crowd when he came out for his first shift of the second period and it was a big ovation those of us who are from Canada were kind of like the hockey snobs and we poke fun at the fans of Florida I wish you could have seen the fans of Florida in that moment because Kachuk comes out for his first shift to the second period and there's an ovation in the building yeah and I think if everybody had seen that they would have tipped their caps in respect to the crowd that was there and you know of course Kachuk

scores the tying goal and save made by Hill the turnaround follow-up from Bennett. Blocked Eckblad near point. Looks across. Big drive for Hagee. Three-bound. They score. And it's Matthew Kachuk on the doorstep. And this game is tied at two with 2.13 to play in regulation time. He plays a role in the winner to the point where he actually thought for a couple of seconds it hit him.

But it was a great finish. And you know what, Jeff? I want a good series. As a hockey fan, i want a good series like as a hockey fan i want a good series and now at least we have a series and uh that's what we want entirely we have a series and we had a much different game we had a much different game stylistically and there's one stat that kind of tells a story here. Hits. Game one, Florida Panthers, 36 hits. Vegas 29.

Game two, Florida Panthers, 44 hits. Vegas 24. Game three, Florida Panthers, 14 hits. That's it. Vegas Golden Knights, 18 hits. You know, Paul Maurice Thursday morning. 32 hits? It seemed like there were more than that. Some of those were really punishing. 18 hits for the Golden Knights. 14 hits

for the Florida Panthers. Paul Maurice talked about not wasting physicality because it has a toll. because it has a toll. This was a stylistically a much different game mainly i think elliot because florida didn't run around looking for it early often or otherwise no they didn't but they took a punishment in this game jeff you know kachuk i loved his answer to kyle it's the stanley cup finals stanley cup final you take the hit early in the first period tonight.

Tell us what it took to kind of stay in the game and the night. Stanley Cup Final. All right. Sorry, John Shannon. Stanley Cup Final. Not Stanley Cup Finals. Kachuk and Montour. Yeah.

Those guys are going to be feeling it on the off day. You could tell they were really battling to play so again maybe not a lot of hits yeah but a punishing game if i'm vegas i still feel good about where i am they controlled a lot of that game sure and they exacted a physical toll you know the panthers i looked this up, Jeff, and I will talk about it more on Saturday night, but the Panthers in seven games against Boston took 134 penalty minutes. I think they had 40 something against Toronto. They had 30 something against Carolina.

They're already almost at 150 through three games of this series yeah they have to get a grip on themselves although i didn't like the penalty at the end of regulation if you're gonna put someone season on the line it has to be more blatant than that has to be there were a couple that i didn't like i don't want to nitpick over penalties on the podcast, but there were a couple in that game that really raised the eyebrows for me. One other thing, too. There's a really nice in-series feud developing here. What did you think of Barbashev and Gudis renewing acquaintances as Gudis took a healthy run at Barbashev?

First of all, I got no problem with tough hockey. You know that. Rough hockey, you know that rough hockey, you know that, you know, what's the rule. You take a number and you deal with it in the regular season. I think Goudas was very lucky. He didn't put Florida shorthanded there. I can understand he wants a piece of Barbashev. I can understand he doesn't like him right now, but this is not the time to go for revenge. And I think Gutis was fortunate with that healthy run, as you mentioned,

that they ended up even and not with another Vegas power play. I can understand it because there's the break with the extra day in between games two and three. And all Gutis heard was how Ivan Barbashev fed it to him. Get your revenge in the regular season. And truck, listen, I'm not saying it's right, but I do get it. And Gudis looked at that moment and said, I got a chance to get a lick in here on this guy that I've been hearing about

for a couple of days. Again, I'm with you. Don't think it's the right move, but I understand it. I understand it. You understand it because you are not a team player. I don't understand it because I am a team player. What's the old line? There's no I in team, but there's two I's in invoice? We all live by that one.

We all live by that one. Okay, so there will be a game five. There will be another game in Vegas. So if you're an NHL player and you're listening to this, your escrow will go down a little bit more because there'll be one more game at least. There will be a game five here. There will not be a sweep. We'll watch for that one on Saturday.

As part of Game 3's pre-show festivities, David Amber sat down with three of Vegas' original OGs, Riley Smith, Jonathan Marcheseau, and William Carlson. Here is a snippet. Who's the most recognizable, the biggest celebrity of you three when you're walking the strip? I'd have to say it's William. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, maybe when I had my long hair, it was more. Yeah, maybe. But he's short too, so. What? Yeah. Sometimes I get called Jonathan March, so it's definitely not me What about you Jonathan? I think it's Carly because of his flawless flow.

Any of you three who would be the biggest fashion guy of you three as far as the in arena walk-ins? I'd say Marshy. Yeah, that short suit he has is pretty good Yeah, that's a good one. It's not well viewed from the management But I mean I like to wear it. It's a lucky suit that I have. Sometimes on a must-win, I wear it, but I know that they're not really trilled about it. What do they tell you? Well, they're like more of a classy-looking suit with a tie kind of thing.

And when a guy comes in with sneakers and a short suit, then it's not necessarily the look they're looking for, but I do it for the boys. It's 100 degrees outside, so, you know, it's a little give and take. Sometimes guys are pranksters and they cut the legs out of a guy's suit. I've seen that before. Not to me, though, but.

Who's the biggest prankster of you three? Probably me. Yeah, it's gotta be you. Definitely John. Yeah, but I don't do too much pranks. I just make like somebody jump or something like that. I'm kind of loud. It's a great piece. And if you want to watch more of it, you can see it on Sportsnet's YouTube page.

There is also a link in our show notes. Listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast ad free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Okay, to some news, and you mentioned this with David Amber on Thursday night during one of the intermissions, the Calgary Flames coaching hunt and advantage Ryan Huska. Anything can happen here. Nothing is done until it's done. But the indication I got on Thursday night is that Ryan Husker, who was the head coach of the Western Hockey League champion Kelowna Rockets in 2009 and spent the last five seasons as an assistant coach of the Calgary Flames, is the leading contender. Look, I always say this, and I said it on the show,

nothing is done until it's done, but it is trending in that direction. Other candidates there have included Mitch Love, Travis Green as well, Elliot. Yes, Todd Reardon. You have mentioned Mark Savard. I believe Alex Tanguay was interviewed as well. I am curious to see. So if you think about this, there are now two individuals off the bench, at least from last year, Daryl Sutter and, well,

Huskers moved into a different role. So I'm wondering what they're going to do to bring in with him. We'll see what happens there. We've talked about how Mitch Love has pretty much done everything he needs to accomplish at the AHL level. I do wonder what happens there. We've talked about how Mitch Love has pretty much done everything he needs to accomplish at the AHL level. I do wonder what happens there. Yes. The Rangers coaching search.

What do you hear? What do you know there? I talked about it on your show on Thursday that at the combine, a lot of people were telling you they were hearing more and more Hines, who I believe met with in person with Drury this week. Like, as I said, I wanted everyone to be careful. The Rangers have me a little bit confused here in the sense that, Jeff, there's something we're not seeing here. If they wanted it to be Laviolette overwhelmingly, it could be done.

If they wanted it to be Hines overwhelmingly, it could be done. So either there's another candidate here that we are not seeing or there's someone they're waiting for that we're not seeing. Now, Larry Brooks has been adamant that it's not Joel Quenville, and I will concede that he is closer to that situation than I am, so I'm going to take his word in this one. I have wondered if there's any chance that they are waiting to see what happens with Sheldon Keefe.

I wonder if there's any chance they're waiting for clarity on that. And if they find it and get it, then they just go with either Hines or Laviolette. But if not, they're waiting. But I admit, I don't have a great handle on it. And that's just my speculation. And then who knows? Certainly people at the Combine were thinking La Violette. But I have wondered if they're waiting on someone like Keefe.

Right. So you mentioned the Maple Leafs there. So they were part of some pretty big news on someone like Keith. Right. So you mentioned the Maple Leafs there. So they were part of some pretty big news on Thursday as well. Shane Doan comes in as a special assistant to the general manager, Brad Treleving. Now, a couple of things here, and I want to get to what this means

for Arizona, who lose a franchise icon, but what does this mean for Toronto? What does this mean for Brandon Pridham, specifically, if anything? Pittsburgh has made it very clear that they're going to wait until July to do the GM. So I think this will take some time to unfold. The one thing I also think is that I don't think Doan has anything to do with Frito.

I think when Brad Tree Living made his pitch to become the GM of the Maple Leafs, he included the idea of Doan potentially joining them. So I'm not surprised about that at all. And Nick Kiprios deserves credit. He was the first person who mentioned it I think he absolutely wanted Doan there because of the whole Arizona connection the Maple Leafs now have a true Arizona mafia Toronto has a Toronto mafia they have a Thornhill mafia they have a Mississauga mafia they have a Vaughn mafia and now they've got an arizona mafia i think he wanted him here yeah um i do think the matthews and nice thing played a

role in it and i don't think it affects him at all britain i mean how then does this affect the arizona coyotes like when shane doan a player, he had opportunities and offers to go elsewhere and always chose to stay. As he transitioned to a management role, I'm of the belief that he's had conversations and other organizations have at least inquired, if not offered positions to Shane Doan and he's always turned down. He's been fiercely loyal to the Coyotes, fiercely loyal to the organization, fiercely loyal to the marketplace, fiercely loyal to helping out the Coyotes in any way that he possibly can. And now he's leaving.

What, if anything, should we read into this, Elliot? You'll remember I wrote a story last year that Doan was leaving the Arizona organization. And even though he tended to be around them a bit this year, he wanted more of a role in the hockey he wasn't as interested in the other stuff he loves hockey he wants to be around hockey he wants to be around the coaching staff he likes that kind of thing he's not as interested in the other stuff the one thing i remember last year is he was very sensitive to the whole thing about his deciding to leave the organization as being a blow to the coyotes keeping their team he was very very sensitive about that

and look i think he wants to be around hockey and he's got an opportunity to be around hockey with the Maple Leafs. But if I know him and I do a little bit, he will be very sensitive not to do anything to harm the Coyotes on the way out. I'm sure some Coyotes fans won't like to see it. I'm sure there'll be people talking about this isn't a good day for them. But I think he will bend over backwards not to say anything bad about the organization. And he won't want it being perceived as a painful blow for the organization. It's an interesting situation.

And, you know, the Brandon Pridham thing to me is fascinating as well. And I know the Pittsburgh Penguins and, you know, Kyle Dubas mentioned this at his press conference have kicked this thing into July. I don't know that many people would be surprised if that ends up being the end game here, but that's one of those. We'll see what happens, much like we'll wait and see what happens with Jason Spezza and where he ends up and if that is with Pittsburgh. I think with Pridham, Pittsburgh will reach out to talk to him. And then, and the Leafs want to keep him.

So, you know, we'll see where this goes. Like at some point in time, he may have a decision to make, but I do think the Penguins will wait until July to do it because they know it's not happening right now. Ottawa Senators and Alex DeBrinket-Elliott, you've written about this, we've spoken about

this. Is there anything new developing? One of the things that has happened here now is we know there's a list of teams that Debrinket or his agent Jeff Jackson submitted. I think that list includes Detroit. I think that list includes the two Stanley Cup finalists, Vegas and Florida. And there's been some reporting also about Dallas and Nashville. One of the interesting things about this is there's always this big debate. Do you let the teams talk to players, the player picks his team, and then the team says, okay, now we'll make the deal. Or does the team say, nobody can talk to Debrinkit. You got to make a deal with us that we like, and then you can talk to Debrinkit.

Now, I know some people who say, oh, you let the team talk to Debrinkit first because then you know you can make a deal with that team and they'll be inclined to make a deal with them. I can tell you this. Most clubs feel the opposite. They say you do not want to cede control over the process. You force someone to make a deal that you like, and then you say, okay, now you can talk to them.

And I believe that's what Ottawa's doing right now. I believe Ottawa's position is you cannot talk to Debrinket until you give us a deal we like. And to be honest, if I was running the process, that's the way I'd start it too. Then you kind of hamstring yourself. Now, sometimes you feel backed into a corner like okay let's just make the best deal we can make i think there's enough competition for to bring it that i would start this way now my guess here this is purely a guess like i was sitting down today i was going over some of these teams and i was saying where's the deal can be made? I'm watching Detroit.

I'm not saying that he's going to end up in Detroit but that's the team I'm watching. Because I think Debrinket, who's from there, would love to play there. I see a need. You know, Debrinket Larkin, Jeff, I mean, I may be an idiot but that seems pretty sensible to me. He'd walk in

making more than Dylan Larkin though. I don't know about that. Is that a factor? He doesn't have a contract yet for next year. You can say look, if you're coming here, you're not making anything more than Larkin. And then Debrinket has a choice to make. Maybe he doesn't get $9 million a year. Maybe he gets $8.5 million or something or

$8.75 million, which is what Larkin's getting. And you make the same. To go home, is that a problem for Debrinket? I'm guessing probably not. Detroit can make the same. To go home, is that a problem for Debrinket? I'm guessing probably not. Detroit can make this deal. Even if it's more, I don't know, future-y or some of the other things Detroit has,

it still allows Ottawa to do other things. It creates space for Ottawa to do things. So I'm watching Detroit until I'm convinced otherwise. Do you not think though that if you're dealing with the Ottawa Senators here that considering where they are on their

win cycle and they've spent a lot of time accruing assets that they don't have as much of a need or desire for picks and young prospects as much as they do for players. I mean, make no mistake about it. The goal next year is the playoffs for Ottawa, no? Absolutely it is.

I look at it this way, though. If you're Dorian, you're looking at this from a couple of different directions. He made a big trade this year for Chikrin where he gave up futures. I think you're either making this deal to get pieces or you're making this deal to put yourself in position to get pieces. That's the way I look at it. Speaking of deals, Los Angeles Kings, Vladislav Gavrikov was part of a huge three-way trade this past week. And I want to get to Carter Hart in a couple of seconds. But Gavrikov signs a two-year deal.

5.875 is the AAV. Carries a full no-move clause as well. I think a few people were looking at this one and saying, why only two years? So, Elliot, why only two years? He wanted it that way. I want to get Kaverkov on the pod one day. Everything I've heard about this guy this year has been fascinating. He turned down an extension in Columbus. He was mad about the Boston thing. He was mad about how much he had to sit out. LA tried to extend them. I think they were offering, I think I said four or five years at just under $5 million a year.

He turned that down. He wanted two years only. I'm pretty sure his agent told him that doesn't make any sense. But he's like, I don't care. I want two years. You know, like this guy, he's his own man. He basically just says, this is the way I'm doing it. And he walked himself into a two-year deal an excellent aav and most of it in signing bonus i mean it's a good reminder

that sometimes if you stick to what you believe in you can put yourself in really good situations plus he played pretty well like everything i've heard about him in the last year he's a he's a pretty fascinating guy. You can do that when you have options, right? Like I look at Gavrikov and I say, to your point, Columbus really wanted to sign him. You know, there were other teams that around deadline were really interested and there'll be teams that if he didn't sign would be interested come July 1st. So maybe we shouldn't be so surprised that Gavrikov said, look, this is what I want. And I want to go for another deal. Maybe I want to go for a longer deal when there's more salary cap space and I can hit

another home run. I get it. I get it. And I know few guys do it, but I totally get it. Now, one of the sidebars to that three-way trade that we saw the other day between Columbus, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia was the future of Carter Hart with the Philadelphia Flyers since Daniel Breer brought in Cal Peterson from Los Angeles. The internet ran wild with where's Carter Hart going? Is there a latest on Carter Hart and the Philadelphia Flyers?

I was just told, Jeff, it's premature and it's not happening right now. Someone just told me, step off the gas pedal with Hart. That one's not happening right now. Pump the brakes on the Carter Hart trade talk for now. What about the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade talk? Look, he told them last year he wasn't staying long term. I guess he wants to go now. I think Winnipeg's biggest challenge here will be creating a market. Like, you're going to have to convince people

that there's someone, there's somewhere else he'd like to go besides Montreal. And you have a theory on this one. My theory is, like yours and like many people, Montreal is number one. So much number one that I'm even shy of saying there's a number two.

There's Montreal, and then there's a third, fourth, fifth, and sixth team that he's interested in. There's not even a number two. Like, the main desire, I believe, and I think we all are on the same page here, are the Montreal Canadiens. But there's some other teams that I've wondered about as well.

I mentioned on the radio show on Thursday, I wonder about the New York Rangers with Pierre-Luc Dubois. I wonder about the Minnesota Wild with Pierre-Luc Dubois. And there's a couple of other teams as well. I wonder about Tampa with Pierre-Luc Dubois and there's a couple of other teams as well like I wonder about Tampa with Pierre-Luc Dubois I wonder about Dallas with Pierre-Luc Dubois well now you're going to like half the league no hang on I got one more and considering you know what just happened to them in the playoffs maybe this does fit a need I wonder about Carolina those are the teams. I wonder about Carolina. Those are the teams that I wonder about.

People have tied Carolina to Debrinket, right? It would be like Carolina to do Debrinket for a year or Dubois for a year, but it would not be like them to sign him to a long-term contract. So if you're going to tell me that some team is going to do it for a year, that's right up Carolina's alley. I'll throw one other team out there for you that someone said to me tonight, how long do you think Anja Kopitar wants to play?

I don't know. LA is kind of close, man. I know, but the contract is expiring. I do get that. But listen, it's not as if he can't play. He's coming off another good year. Exactly. He's coming off another good year, Elliot. Someone just threw LA out there for him. But it depends on Kopitar. It really does.

He's got next year and then he's a UFA. But he does look to me and seem to me to be one of those guys who spends his entire career at the Los Angeles Kings. Yes. But again, Jeff, you have to convince me that there's someone really other than Montreal. Because it goes against everything we've heard for a long time. And that's why I said there's not even a number two. It goes from number one.

It jumps to number three. You know how like in hotels, there's no 13th floor. It goes from 12 to 14 uh that's kind of like what it's like here with dubois and montreal and the rest it goes from one to three there's not even a number two um a couple of more things here um some interesting news coming out of the new york islanders and that is uh a former employee of the of the nhl someone that we look at and we say, you know, this is one of the driving forces behind the Winter Classic and the Stadium Series.

And I think we can throw safely the World Cup of Hockey into that mix as well. A very forward-thinking, visionary, creative person. And that is John Collins, who joins the New York Islanders as an investor as an as an operating partner and will handle business operations for the Islanders you talked about this or sort of wondered about this a couple of weeks ago and now it's come to fruition what gives John Collins New York Islanders I thought it's interesting that he's going to have

an ownership piece of the Islanders. I thought that was kind of fascinating. John Collins, you said everything about him. Glenn Healy negotiated with things when he was working at the Players Association. And Glenn always spoke really highly of John and his vision and the things he thought about and tried to do. It didn't always go smoothly with him in the NHL. I think sometimes him and Bettman butted heads on things. And to be honest, I wish everybody there had found a way because I think that should be okay. Jeff, people might find this hard to believe,

but you and me and Amal don't always agree with everything on this pod. But we find a way to make it work. I think you should have differing ideas. and Amal don't always abbreviate everything on this pod, but we find a way to make it work. I think you should have differing ideas. And, you know, it just didn't unfortunately work, and I know Amal got frustrated, but I think he's got very good ideas. I don't think this is going to affect the hockey operations of the team.

You know, John Collins is not going to tell Lou Lamorello to run the hockey team, but you're going to see the Islanders as an organization try some new things because that's what Collins likes to do. Do you see, though, a potential clash on the horizon here? As much as they want to keep both Lou Lamorello and John Collins both happy,

but also at the same time allow them to do what they do, John Collins is very much the, allow them to do what they do. John Collins is very much the forward thinker, the trying new things type executive. And Lou Lamorello, as I mentioned to you earlier on radio on Thursday, is not from the old school, but he's from the school they burned down to build, the old school, Elliot. Is there a potential clash on the horizon here? Look, we know this. What does Lamorello hate? Marketing individual players.

So I guess we'll find out our answer, Jeff, if John Collins tries to market an individual player. One more thing here before we get to the interviews on the podcast this week. And today you'll hear from both Brandon Montour of the Florida Panthers and Mark Stone of the Vegas Golden Knights. That's coming up here in a moment. Something showed up in the National Post, a piece by Christopher Nardi. Yes. About the CRA, Canadian Revenue Agency, going after athletes, most notably some very notable former Toronto Blue Jays, Russell Martin, Jose Bautista as well. Toronto Blue Jays, Russell Martin, Jose Bautista as well.

This is in the retirement compensation agreement space, not necessarily the RCA, but the level of compensation being the issue. This could have some dire consequences for Canadian NHL teams. Your thoughts on this one, Elliot? NHL teams. Your thoughts on this one, Elliot? Well, when I sent this to someone today, their reaction to me was, are you trying to ruin my life? That's what someone in the league said to me. Another person I thought had a really good take on it because he's dealt with this thing for a long time. Basically, what he said is that for canada revenue to take that task what they think is that they think the salaries in sports have gotten so high that they don't think players should be able to hide this much money i don't even know if hide is

is the right word like to put away this kind of money he said that when this first started and the team started first using it, there were players putting like $2 million in there. He said Canada Revenue was willing to deal with that and you could put that kind of money away and they weren't going to have a problem with it.

But now they're making so much money, Canada Revenue was like, nope, we want our piece of this. I don't know where this is going to go. I don't know enough about whether or not they're going to win this case or not. But the fact now that this is even a question, it's an aggravation that Canadian teams don't need. Because now, like Huberto was one of the guys,

he got traded to Calgary last year, he signed that big deal. His agent, Alan Walsh, is someone who really talks about this a lot. You can get around the problem with this. If there's even a question that you can't do this now, it's a major, major

headache for the Canadian teams. It's major. It's just another thing that you have to deal with that you don't want to deal with. It's a baseball tax story, but if you're a Canadian hockey fan, you might want to pay attention to what happens here.

Before we wrap this up, the news part of this, I wanted to thank our great producer, Kathy Broderick, because when we left the rink tonight, I was going to go by myself in an Uber because I didn't want to subject the rest of the crew to listening to me babble

on the podcast. And they couldn't talk in their cars. Yes. And plus they have to listen to me, which is a fate even worse than not talking. But Kathy Broderick, she offered to drive me by herself. So she had to listen to me the whole ride back talk.

And for that, she is deserving of the Congressional Medal of Honor and a thank you on this podcast. Kathy's told me numerous times. First of all, this is a great sacrifice by Kathy Elliott, just so you know. She's told me numerous times she only likes the part of the podcast where I'm talking, so she had to listen to the bad part of the podcast. Didn't even get to hear my parts on the way to the hotel. So quick break.

When we come back, Mark Stone, Brandon Montour, 32 Thoughts to Podcast continues. My name is Jay, and this message is for Elliot. My name is Jay, and this message is for Elliot. I am a new fan of 32 Thoughts, and I'm a new fan of Seinfeld. And I'm just letting you know that I love the Seinfeld references that Elliot uses, and it puts me in a good mood. So keep it up. Thanks. Okay, Elliot, let's hear from our two guests this week. Now, both of these interviews were recorded last Friday in Vegas at NHL Stanley Cup Media Day. You will hear from Mark Stone,

the leader of the Vegas Golden Knights, one of the best two-way players in the game, bar none, full stop, period. But first, let's hear from Brandon Montour. And not only was this interview recorded pre-game one, it was also recorded pre-fatherhood. Congrats to Brandon, his wife, and their new son. Here's Brandon Montour of the Florida Panthers.

Here on the near boards, it's Kachuk. Back in, Montour, some room, a shot. He scores! Top shelf, Brandon Montour from the top of the left circle. And the Panthers strike first. Four minutes, eight seconds into the action. Brandon Montour. Brandon, thanks so much for doing this today.

And best of luck in the Stanley Cup final. Thank you. You know, a lot of players get to this spot and they've been on a couple of teams previous. Not everyone is drafted and developed and plays on the team and then makes it to the Stanley Cup final. You've been on a couple of different teams in the NHL.

In the back of your mind, is this vindication? Is this, I'll show you, you quit on me, and here I am in the Stanley Cup final? What does it feel to be you right now? To be honest, I don't even think that way. I think it's obviously, you know, once you're, you know, you either traded or things of that nature,

you don't want to prove the team wrong and things like that. But, you know, whatever team, you know, I was on, I think I just was kind of trying to prove them right for picking me or being an interest or trading. So I think that's one thing, obviously, Florida picks me up, Billy picks me up, and there's nothing else that I want to do than prove him right and make them think that that obviously was the right decision. People talk about you much differently right now. 70-point season, phenomenal playoffs, just all the great things you've done. Do you feel any differently?

Do you, is your confidence any greater? No, and I've told a lot of people, obviously this is a year that you could say breakthrough or I take each summer the same mentally, physically, you know, I try to train and enjoy trying to get better. But obviously the opportunity and playing a bigger role I think that came from right from the start and good

conversation with Mo and the rest of the staff you know you just get that excitement and you know situation that I'm in now and going into this year I just kind of wanted to stick with what I was doing right and trust myself and my confidence and kind of just run with what they gave me and like I said once you have trust in your coaches and you have trust in your teammates, that's all you want as an athlete. And I just wanted to prove everyone that I was capable of doing that.

Dallas Aikens always talked about you physically, that you are a competitive guy physically. Where are you on the fitness scores? Are you one? You'd have to look at it, but Forsling one, we got a couple of pretty big. Legit guys. Legit guys where, you know, obviously I take

pride in that and he's another guy. Like I don't mind having a cookie or two, you know, this guy strictly staying away from that. Really? He doesn't touch anything? You know, he might beat me by a little bit and I think that might be the factor, but you know, it's obviously started at a young age, but I um, I, obviously I had Dally early on and, um, we'd have a lot of, uh,

you know, sessions or bike sessions, you know, we wouldn't skate and he'd do the bikes and he'd split the groups and you see your coach on the bike, every single group session doing the, like probably, I wouldn't even know, hour or two straight while guys came in and he'd ride the whole time. And, you know, you see stuff like that. And that's something I remember from Dally is I just wanted to kind of either beat him or try to stay on a bike as long as he could.

Could you beat him? I know he, you know what, I don't know. This guy can, he's a freak in that nature too. So ever since I've known him, he's enjoyed fitness as well. And, you know, it's something that I, I take pride in as well. That forestling answer is great.

I've never heard he beat me by a cookie before, but I'm going to, I'm going to do it. I'm going to remember that one for a long, long time. He's, uh, you know,

he's ripped and he takes his training, you know, pretty serious as well. I'm curious how your game and your mind has developed. Cause I can remember calling San Diego, just doing the check-ins. Hey, how's everyone,

you know, who should we be watching for? And the conversation would always turn to you. And it'd be, he's our best defenseman. He's all over the ice. He joins every rush, but he's such a great skater. He's the first guy back. So I guess it's okay. We don't know where he's going to end up.

We don't know what kind of defenseman he's going to end up being. And here he ends up as a defenseman who's going to compete for the Stanley cup, going back to San Diego to now, how is your game different? You know, obviously you take the strengths. I think you still see,

I like to, to roam a little bit free. And I think that's a strength of mine and just kind of trying to read plays, pick plays where I see. And I try to use my skating to a strength of mine, but Paul, especially, you know, the patience is a huge thing.

And little things like, you know, I try to skate, you know, and make plays and be all over the ice. But, you know, stopping here and there where I'm kind of gliding and kind of out of position, but I still kind of make up. Just kind of that energy and keeping that energy is a huge thing. And another thing, I don't know if that's just this year and playing more, but I'm trying to make the perfect plays or a great play every shift. You know, it's obviously not going to happen every shift.

And the league's so good. Everyone, you guys know that. But being patient, trusting my game and trusting, you know, the spots and trusting my teammates that they're going to find me in open lanes or things like that. But, you know, Roman, I enjoy doing that. Obviously, I pick my spots and be in the right areas and, you know, the right time of games.

You know, so much that can go into that. But skating is a huge thing that, you know, I still like gaps and D zone. And there's a lot of things that can go into it. But I thought, you know, skating and being in the right spots is something that I've definitely, you know, improved. Does Paul or Sylvain, they have any rules for you? Like you can't do this or you can't do that?

Like is there anything you're not allowed to do? No, I mean, obviously maybe try to rush the puck, you know, end to end or things of that nature. But, you know, they're good. Obviously they want me to play free. They see my strengths and see, you know, how well it either helps the team or helps myself play. And I think it's working. I think, like I said, being patient, they both taught me to be

a little bit more patient. Obviously sometimes I'm a little antsy or, um, maybe a couple of shifts, I'm a little quiet. The next shift I'm trying to, you know, get something going when it doesn't need to happen like that. So, and that goes with being out there more, um, being involved in the games, crucial times, you know, it all comes with confidence and believing myself that, you know, I'm capable of doing that. Last one for me, Brandon, just in all of this great fun that you guys have had in the playoffs,

what's the best behind the scenes moment for you? Like something you saw or witnessed that you said, wow, like this is special. You know, you could talk about the run, but it goes back from like, even just, you know, after the break when we started turning it on, it was, I think the thing that I think I'm thinking about is, you know, we're having success and

winning a bunch of games, but it was so still tight, you know, and all these other teams were winning and we only got in by a point, but like guys would look at their, you know, phones after and be like, oh, Pittsburgh tight, you know, and all these other teams were winning, and we only got in by a point, but, like, guys would look at their, you know, phones after and be like, oh, Pittsburgh won, you know, Buffalo, you know, like, we're still not in, you know, it's one of those, but guys still enjoyed trying to, you know, that challenge, you know, that challenge is huge, and I think at one point we were 11-9 out. I don't know, you guys would know, but we just kept going, you know,

game by game and, you know, big overtime wins and big comeback wins or whatever it may be. And now we're here, you know, and guys still are enjoying that challenge and, you know, trying to make that next big play. And, you know, that's why I think our group's so good. Do you remember watching or following or hearing about that Chicago-Pittsburgh game that opened the door? I don't even know where we were, but yeah, it was, well, they lost twice. I don't even have to look, didn't they? Who else did they lose to? Columbus.

Columbus too, yeah. But there was a game in Toronto I think we needed. I think, right? And I think we lost overtime at home. And I remember guys were all mad in the locker room, but even I spoke up and just said, hey, we needed that point. That point, that one point is huge that we came back. They won, but like, and sure enough, we needed that point. That point, that one point is huge that we came back. They won, but sure enough, we won by one.

So, I mean, win or lose, guys were giving it their all just to get that one point. Luckily enough, we did that. That's awesome. Brandon, thanks so much. Best of luck in the final. Perfect. Good luck.

Thanks, guys. Good luck. That's Brandon Montour of the Florida Panthers. From there, we go to the Vegas Golden Knights. And here is the leader, the captain, the man for the Vegas Golden Knights, Mark Stone on 32 Thoughts to Podcast. for Vegas, Mark Stone with 357 to go in the first period. Marcia So, not as part of a shot as you'd normally see, well-placed, knowing that Mark

Stone was in the crease and that he could do something with a puck in front, and that's exactly what happened. Mark Stone's eighth goal of the playoffs, and in terms of power play goals, he's got four to lead the Golden Knights in the postseason. Mark, I'm just going to be blunt. I just assume that there's always part of your body that is sore, that aches. That's part of being Mark Stone. On a scale of 1 to 10, heading into the Stanley Cup final, how do you feel? I feel great.

I think it's easier when the end goal is in sight, right? So you've just got to put the body on the line to try and help your team win one more series. And I don't think anybody would say that they're a 10 right now. I feel as good as I could have expected. I've learned over the years never to guess because you felt that some of us have guessed and I don't guess anymore. But this year, how serious was it and how worried were you? Pretty similar, honestly. I had the exact same injury, but I knew that

if I did the same thing, it would probably happen again. So I got a different surgery. Obviously worried, but never thought of retirement or anything like that. Knew I'd always be coming back. Didn't know if it'd be this season or next, but spoke to a lot of different people, found the surgeon that I was most comfortable with. And I'm really happy with the decision I made. I'm just curious, anyone interesting you spoke to? I always wonder about this because I've heard over the years, people reach out to some pretty interesting individuals.

So I was wondering if you spoke to anyone in particular. Honestly, the Jack situation helped me a lot. The success that he's had with the surgeon had with our surgeon, I can say now. Just seeing the success that he's had with the, you know, it was about around a year, you know, since he had had his. Seeing that the, you know, how well he felt, the level he was playing at, that's kind of one of the main reasons why I made the decision to use Dr. Pressmeck.

You know, in the Edmonton series, certainly in the Dallas series as well, it seemed as if, you know, the game plan from those teams was to go hard at you. Did it feel that way? Because it certainly looked that way. I mean, you saw a lot would happen, right? Outside of the band, yeah. But if it's just,

I think it can almost be a distraction, right? Like I feel good out there. I feel comfortable. So if I take shots that, you know, that are put us in a power play, I guess I can use the bend as an example. I kind of almost kind of ended the series.

Right. So no, I feel great. You know, in the, in the 2007 Stanley cup final, Daniel Alfredson and frustration took a slap shot at Scott Niedermeyer. And Scott Niedermeyer in the intermission told the guys on the Anaheim Ducks,

guys, don't react. We have them right where we want them. Did you feel the same way after the Ben incident? I don't know. I mean, it's different. I think it's like right in the middle of the game, right? That was the start of the game. I think the other one was at the end, right?

So it's a little different. But I think you, especially as a captain, leader of the team, if you react poorly, you know, show too much emotion, then everybody gets going. And you can kind of see that in their game, right? Dallas, they started taking penalties. They're usually a very disciplined team. And then I look at game four and five, maybe I did get a little bit frustrated and, you know, whether it was Domi, you know, jabbing, getting frustrated with him or getting frustrated with other players. If you can keep that calm composure, it just kind of feeds throughout the lineup. And I told myself going into game six, not going to react to anything, and boys played pretty good.

Were you ever worried that that Dallas series was going to get away from you guys? I mean, it's hard not to think that, you know, you could lose, right? But you could lose any series. But I was pretty confident, still pretty confident that there wasn't going to be too, I don't know if there's a team on this planet that can, you know, knock on wood, right, can beat us four straight. So I was pretty happy with the way, with the situation that we were in, right? They still had to beat us two more times.

I thought that was going to be hard for them to do. You know, you've played three different teams. Obviously, to get here, teams have played a different style. What is unique about playing the Panthers from what you've seen? Probably the aggression. I don't mean just physicality. Yeah, they've got some physical players, but

they are aggressive all over the ice. Forchek is aggressive. They're D or aggressive pinching. They jump into the rush. You know, they try to kill plays in the D zone. Just a lot of aggression from them. So we're going to have to have good execution if we want to be able to hang on to pucks here.

Would you ever call your brother and ask him for a Matthew Kachuk scouting report? How can we undo this guy? I've watched enough, right? I think I know. Like I said to other people, like you're not going to completely take him out of the series. You just try to limit him.

If you try to take those kinds of guys out of the series, that's when they have all the success when you're focusing, just trying to shut them down. You just got to try and limit them. If you try to take those kind of guys out of the series, that's when they have all the success, when you're focusing just trying to shut them down. You just got to try and limit them. Don't get frustrated with them. What's it like to be here? Yeah, it's been a wild ride. You know, we've had a lot of success here in Vegas,

you know, even since I've gotten here. Obviously, they had great success the first year. Won a lot of playoff series, but this is the most important one, right? This is the one we want to win. So obviously, you got those kind of those good nerves, right? The little tingle in your stomach, the exciting nerves. And we talked to Bruce Cassidy and asked him, you know,

which areas of the ice will be most important. We focused on the zones and he said, of course, the neutral zone is always crucial. But he talked about the slot a lot. He talked about the battles in both slots. Which areas of the ice in this series against the Panthers do you think will be the most important? Oh yeah, for sure. I think he's, he's bang on with that. And they got some guys that are real good around the net. They go there

and they're not afraid to go there, but we're pretty comfortable with the big D man that we have and our big goalie, the way that we're playing to keep them out of there. But that being said, they got some big D men that don't like us getting there. So it's going to be a battle. But, yeah, I mean, they're playing great. They're playing the best hockey of their season. Nobody said that they were going to be here. And they've really all just jumped on board and played the best hockey of their season.

So we've got to be ready. Here's my last question, completely irrelevant to the Stanley Cup final. When does Michael sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs? I don't think that's coming. Maple Leafs? I don't think that's coming. You don't? I don't think so. He's not following

Brad for a living? I don't know him and Brad. I've had some good relationships and bad relationships in the past, but I don't think

he'll be going to Toronto. He's not retiring or anything like that. No, but I don't think he'll be going to Toronto. All right.

Best of luck against the Panthers. Thanks so much for doing this. Awesome. Thank you. All right, Elliot of luck against the Panthers. Thanks so much for doing this. Awesome. Thank you. All right, Elliot, taking us out today is a folk artist from Prince Edward County who we featured on the podcast in season four.

David James Allen is back with his fourth record, By the Summertime. This album showcases David's ability to control tempo while taking us on a lyrical journey. David's ability to control tempo while taking us on a lyrical journey. With the title track, By the Summertime, here's David James Allen on 32 Thoughts the Podcast. Shaped in the sun, halfway undone. By the summertime, we were cannonballs, loaded and fun,asted by one Still in my dreams I'd be all your friends But I've got you here I've got you here

I've got you here, I've got you here, I've got you with me, my love. I'm in love with it all, the only sunny day I know. Stars with your name. Sunny day.