32 Thoughts: The Podcast - "What Is Anyone Going to Do?"

Episode Date: October 30, 2023

Elliotte joins Jeff live from Edmonton at the NHL's Heritage Classic between the Oilers and Flames. They dive into the game, talk about Elliotte's interview with Oilers' legend Paul Coffey and what Paul had to say to the Oilers' roster (3:00). Also discussed is what the start of the season could mean for the future of the Calgary Flames (6:30). Jeff and Elliotte get into the fallout of the Shane Pinto suspension and the latest out of Ottawa (15:00) and talk about Joe Thornton's retirement announcement and look back on his career (26:30). Jeff and Elliotte also touch on the tragedy in Europe that saw ex-NHL player Adam Johnson pass away from an accidental skate cut during an EIHL game (37:30).  Jeff and Elliotte answer your questions in the Montana’s Thought Line (48:00).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and Jordan McRae and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Did you not think that camera was going to pan down and you were thinking, wondering what was actually going to be there? That was the biggest surprise to me. Not that he retired, but that the camera didn't pan down to whatever he was wearing or not wearing. Okay. I think this is going to be a quick podcast because Elliot's in Edmonton and I believe he's going to party with Nickelback as soon as this podcast is done so Elliot we'll hustle things along for you welcome to 32 thoughts the podcast presented by the new GMC Sierra HD Merrick alongside the did I mention soon to be partying with Nickelback Elliot Friedman how was those guys those guys are not hanging around with me

to be honest you know what I'm doing right now? What are you doing? I am sitting in my hotel room doing this podcast post-game, and I am in nothing but my long underwear. Picture that. The sexiest image in all of your minds today and this week. How do you take a brain shower? How is that possible?

Let's just think about that for a second. As one of my buddies would say after something that he didn't like, he would say, excuse me, I have to go drink some Clorox. That would be his line. I've got to go bleach my brain now so I can not think about that. Okay, Heritage Classic has come and gone.

Conor McDavid returns. The Oilers win 5- to two we'll drill down on some of these specifics involved in it but here's my overarching big picture question for all of it elliot was it a bigger win for edmonton or a bigger loss for calgary what was that oh boy you know that's a great question jeff it really is i think when things are going poorly, you know, we're negative. Like, that's what the media is. We're just negative. What do you do? I think in a situation like this, you tend to look at the team,

especially considering the way these two teams came in. I think you tend to look at the team that got defeated. And I think that the big concern to me in this one was it just took Calgary a long time to get going. Shots were 22 to seven at one point. The fact that I asked the Sportsnet stats people, what's the biggest shot differential in outdoor game? Because at that point Edmonton was on pace to out shoot them by 25. The answer, by the way, is 17 in Calgary,

kind of even the scales a bit, so we didn't get there. But did you see our interview with Paul Coffey before the game? I did. I thought he was excellent. I really liked that. He was excellent. And he basically admitted that yesterday there was a big meeting among the Oilers, and Ken Holland spoke, and he spoke.

Listen, I said to the players yesterday, Kenny talked to them, I got a chance to talk to them as well, and coaches were in the room, which was great, and I said, the one thing the coaches control is your ice time. The one thing you guys control is how hard you work. I mean, that's on you. I mean, it's not an easy button to push. It's a great game.

It's not for everybody, and not everybody can play it. These kids are lucky. I mean, where do you want to start? There's a lot of stuff, but they'll be great this afternoon. You know, the one thing about Paul Coffey is, I don't know if everybody's really aware of this, because it's not like his name is on the Oiler masthead, but Paul Coffey has a pretty big voice inside the organization, and he's not afraid to say what's on his mind.

It's actually one of the things I really like in dealing with him. If you ask him a question, you're going to get an answer. And so Holland spoke, and he spoke, and I'm sure others spoke. But it was basically Edmonton's, okay, it's been three weeks, enough of this bleep, let's go, let's get ourselves going, and let's play better. And they came out and they did it. And I'm sure there was a lot of talk about internally among the Flames too about they have to play better.

But if they would have come out and they would have lost, say, a 4-3 game where it was even, it was back and forth, I think you'd say, all right, they just got beat and that can happen. You know, the way that Edmonton came out, owned this game for about the first 30 minutes, if you're a Flame and you're their fans, you just don't like that. It was a big game against your most hated rival, and it took you a long time to get going. And I'll say the other thing, Jeff. Like that one line, the sound up with Evander Kane, where he's basically saying, What's anybody going to do?

What's anybody going to do it? What are you going to do? What is anybody here going to do? You know, that's him basically challenging, not basically, that's him basically challenging, not basically, that's him challenging your manhood. Everybody. Everybody.

What is anybody going to do? What is anybody going to do? That's that old clip of John Winston going to the Minnesota North Stars bench and doing a T-stop and saying, okay, does anybody want some of this? Anybody. Send anybody over the boards. And the thing is, is that there's two ways I think you can respond to that. You can fight someone like Evander Kane, or you can say, that's it, we're taking over this game.

To me, either one of those things is a proper reaction. And, you know, Jeff, I think there's just an overall feeling around the Flames right now that we've got to think about some big decisions here. Like, you know, one of the things that's happened a couple of weeks ago, I reported that, you know, Hannafin, the talks were getting closer. And then I talked on the pod last Monday, a week ago today, how people would be surprised that it wouldn't happen. a week ago today, how people would be surprised that it wouldn't happen. Well, I can tell you coming into this weekend, now we're starting to get a little bit of a hang on here a second feeling. And those were pretty far along.

I just think that everybody right now is taking a deep breath and a long look at what the start of this season could mean for the Calgary Flames. Well, what did we talk about? Was it one podcast ago, two podcasts ago? They all run together at this point. How many of these Calgary Flames players who are on expiring contracts? You could throw Tanev into that, Chris Tanev into that equation as well. Nikita Zdorov.

Lindholm is the biggie, right? We're all waiting on Lindholm too. What's his decision going to be? Is, you know, what's the Michael Backlund contract going to act as a magnet for a lot of these other guys? And what did we talk about?

Is this now a wait and see group of unrestricted free agents? I thought it would be Hannafin signs and then wait and see. Now I'm not even sure about that like again like it still could happen you know i just had some people say to me around this i just think that the way this season has started i just think there's a little bit of uncertainty there now

i always hate asking about mood uh when you're not there on a consistent day in and day out basis so maybe kelly rudy uh is better to answer this question but in the couple of days you've been to edmonton i'll ask you about the oilers in a second but been around the calgary flames what's the mood even though it's only been a couple of days for you around them well i think the thing is is that on sat, everybody was in a great mood. It was excellent. I think people really wanted to enjoy the weekend. You know, a lot of families were there, obviously.

The one thing I think about this, especially when you're losing, I think everybody really enjoyed the outdoor skate on Saturday. And I think they enjoyed skating with their families on saturday what this game is supposed to do is break up the drudgery of the season now normally you don't see this game come this early but i think in a lot of ways you know we taped our last podcast thursday night as both of these teams were getting booed off the ice by their home fans of these teams were getting booed off the ice by their home fans that's how bad it was that's how negative the vibes were and suddenly you come in here on Saturday and you get an outdoor skate you get to skate with your family that should be a tension breaker that should be something that makes you feel ah now I feel I feel good about myself well Well, you know, here we are now,

and Edmonton feels really good about themselves after that game. McDavid was back. It was great to see. It immediately added another level of just enjoyment for everybody who was at the game. The Oilers looked much, much better. You know, the Flames, again, like they scored a couple. Like the guy I really feel for is Markstrom.

That's the guy I really feel for because he is battling. He is holding up his end of the bargain. But, you know, around him, it's just not there. And, you know, Ryan Huska was asked about his big line after the game, that Huberto Cadre Coronado line. Basically, he said, we didn't get much from it. And I just think this Calgary team, you know, their second last in the West.

We're coming up to November 1st. I think you have a chance to refresh yourself a bit here. It's not easy. You don't want to move on from good players. But if it's not working, it's not working. And, you know, the way this is going might make the decisions for Calgary instead of Calgary making the decisions for itself. Okay, meanwhile, on the other end of the rink,

the victorious end of the rink, the team that scored the five goals, not the two, the Oilers, Connor McDavid returns. It was nice watching him and Leon Dreisaitl find lanes and find each other. It's just remarkable watching those two play amongst one another. You've already referenced Evander Kane,

who had a really strong game physically, verbally, on the game sheet, almost had the goal that went to Vincent Darnay and then got the goal that made it 5-2 in the empty net. Your thoughts on the Bush bomb started trending on Twitter after Evan Bouchard made it 3-1 after Kadri cut the lead in half to 2-1. Who would you like to pull out of this fray? Elliot, who on Edmonton stood out for you? Well, obviously, McDavid always does.

I thought Dreisaitl was great. I thought Kane was great. I thought Skinner was very good. Ekholm got walked on one play by Wieger. That one kind of threw me for a while. That was a heck of a rush. That was a heck of a rush. That was a great, great move. I just think, you know, to me, Edmonton took their deep breath.

And we'll see now. They've stopped the bleeding. And we're going to find out if this is a one-game blip or it's for real. And that's what we're all waiting to see you know i have to tell you i was talking to one guy on the weekend and he was like at the beginning of the year you guys were slobbering all over edmonton just slobbering all over them and he joked with me he says i can't even believe they didn't go 82-0 listening to you guys. It was kind of funny.

I was getting a really good laugh out of it. And, you know, they've had a bad streak to start the year. This is their chance to flush and refresh. And, you know, Hyman said on Saturday, we know we're a good team. We just have to do it. Let's see. Let's see if this is the first game of the rest of their season was there any talk because when it comes to outdoor games we always wonder about this

was there any talk about the quality of the ice craig simpson mentioned after the game that the ice was good how much talk was there around the ice not a lot put it this way it was a lot better than the first game 20 years ago here. I was going to say you're a little bit warmer this time around too, Elliot. The one thing you have to remember is that if this game doesn't work 20 years ago here, then we don't have any more of these. When I step into Commonwealth Stadium, that's what I think of. But it wasn't as cold.

They've learned so much about life since that first game it was a really really fun experience and to be honest i know they were worried about the sun a little bit but to me the game is better in the later afternoon than it is at night later afternoon for me is the best time i was surprised at how many flames jerseys were there but it was a fun fun day i loved it and this is the 18th one i've been to jeff and every time the game starts the fans get let into the building whatever negative feelings i have or whatever cynical feelings i have they go away the fans have a great time and they drag you with them do you think that

the um the original one the commonwealth montreal edmonton game was more important than the buffalo pittsburgh game i think that was more important because it gave everybody the template. The Buffalo-Pittsburgh one gave you the idea that it could work somewhere other than Canada. Although Buffalo is practically Canada. They're honorary Canadians. Sabres fans love hearing that. Well, you know, I want them to bring the chicken wings in with them.

Oh, very good. Oh, very good. From there, let's get to a couple of other issues around the NHL this weekend. The fallout from the Shane Pinto situation with the Ottawa Senators. We do have some emails, voicemails coming up where we'll cover a little bit more in detail some of the questions around Shane Pinto. But what is the latest in Ottawa now? Because the Dodonov situation has entered some of the questions around shane pinto but what is the latest in ottawa now because the donov situation has entered the chat yeah so like i i have to say this there is something that's going to happen here and i don't know what it is apparently and to be honest i haven't seen it

someone told me about it i haven't seen it. Someone told me about it. I haven't seen it. But someone told me that there was something flying around the internet that Ottawa was going to get penalized a first-round pick. So for people who don't remember, at the 2022 deadline, the Vegas Golden Knights tried to trade Evgeny Dodonov to Anaheim. And Dodonov and his agent argued that he had Anaheim on his no trade and they couldn't trade him there. And Vegas said, there's no no trade.

We can do whatever we want. And it turned out that when he was traded from Ottawa to the Golden Knights, Vegas asked, is there any no trade list that we have to be aware of and they were told no there's no no trade list and the agent fought it and said yes there is and it turned out that the agent Rick Comero he was right that he had proof that he had sent in his list of teams and that a mistake was made when he was traded from the senators to the golden knights well so you know they didn't end up trading him to anaheim and dodonov played really well after the deadline for them actually before he ended up getting traded later to montreal but the golden knights and i

blame you for this merrick this is your fault me yes i have been told that this is your fault because how is this my fault oh i'm going to explain just so you know i'm going to explain because you're the one who always goes on this podcast and calls them ruthless and that's a compliment by the way i don't know i think of that as a compliment by the way i'm the one who accuses them of tampering with exercise bikes you're the one who calls them ruthless anyway, Vegas was upset about this. And, you know, at the time, I think we got it right, which is rare, but I think we got it right, said that it was a mistake on Ottawa's part, and this one was not on the Golden Knights.

But the Golden Knights were, you know, very, they wanted it made very clear that this one was not their fault because of some of the challenging and difficult decisions that they've made in the past which teams do have to make they kind of had this reputation and it bothered them and they said you know what we feel that we make difficult decisions but we also do good things by our players and you know there's a group of them that are pretty happy there. They won the Stanley Cup there. Whatever the case is, Vegas pushed it. You know, they said, we want it made very clear that this one was not on us.

And at some point this week, I believe, there's going to come out a ruling on this that is going to exonerate Vegas and have some kind of penalty on the senators. And I will say this, I've had multiple people tell me that this is all going to happen. And I had some people say to me, they're surprised it hasn't happened already. And I personally wondered if this this was gonna happen it should happen right away at the same time as Pinto because why don't you just rip off the

band-aid you know if you're gonna get whatever just do it all at the same time rip off the band-aid but I'll be honest with you Jeff I have no idea what this penalty is going to be no one will tell me i don't know it's a draft pick i don't know it's a fine i don't know what it is but the one thing i am sure of is there's something that's going to be announced and it's going to be made very clear that vegas was not responsible for what happened. My gut tells me, and I may be way off, and this is what the internet was made for, telling people like me that I was way off.

My thought on this one is, whatever comes out, punishment-wise, will be light. And you know why I say that? Because of Josh Harris and David Bl blitzer when they bought the new jersey devils there was the ilia kovachuk cap circumvention penalty still in place yes i agree with jersey devils and when they bought the team the first round pick did not need to be forfeited. The $3 million fine, I believe, was knocked in half. I could be wrong on that.

And I think what did remain, though, is they had to forfeit a third. So it went from a first, a third, and $3 million, I think, to $1.5 million and the third round pick. That's because there was new ownership, much like there is now in Ottawa. That's why if I'm guessing, and isn't that fun to do here on a Monday morning podcast, if I'm guessing what type of punishment it's going to be, my instinct says it'll be light because of new ownership. Well, look, man.

First of all, there's this thing called the internet that you can check these things. And number one, yes, the fine was dropped to a million and a half. And secondly, they were given the 30th pick in the draft and also not eligible for the lottery if they didn't make the playoffs. They were also told they couldn't make the trade. So, yes, you are right. And I tend to agree with you the thing i look at for this is this is a new owner that the league is very happy to have moving from a minority

partner in montreal to a majority owner in ottawa i don't get the idea of giving up a first round pick like to me that's i mean i that's harsh could it be true yeah but to me i would be shocked if that happened because it didn't happen to this owner like he was not in charge of the team at the time and so yeah like i i look at it as do you want to make it clear that this is what happened yes do you want to put guardrails in place that this shouldn't happen again yes a huge penalty to a new owner of the team jeff i i am with you 100 i don't agree with that but you know what i don't blame vegas one bit for saying we want it clear that this one was not on us i get that i get that okay i uh let's bounce around a couple of things here sure around the nhl uh one i have a stat for you. Okay. 21, 11, and 5 is the regular season record

the New York Islanders since the Bo Horvat trade. Okay. And every time we want to write off the Islanders, much like in a monster movie when you kill the monster, but his hand still follows you because he refuses

to die the new york islanders continue to win now you can say it's all in the backs of the goaltending and i think we all agree that elia sorokin is maybe the most underpaid player in the entire nhl for what he's doing with the islanders well he just got a big extension still considering this new hundred don't you think? Discuss amongst yourselves. Simeon Varlamov as well on the weekend has shut out against the Columbus Blue Jackets. He now has four shutouts against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Noah Dobson's playing 25 minutes a night

and looks fantastic. And don't look now, but should we once again start to have that soap and warm water feeling for the New York Islanders? Jeff, we are seven games into the season. I guess it's better than the altar. You're talking about blowing up the flames.

You're talking about bodies out the door and stop contract negotiations, but that's, but that's different. I think it's, it's different when you're losing as opposed to you're winning. I mean, I like it. I like it a lot. To me, the big one is Dobson because he kind of had a bit of a weird season last year.

And if he's back to being the guy he showed a couple years ago, it's a great, great sign for them. But, you know, to me, it's still really early. I take a look at that division though that metro that's going to be a beast that metro is going to be a beast i mean we all know we think of jersey they're off to a really good start islanders are off to a really good start the hurricanes i just refuse to believe is they're as bad as they showed, especially defensively in their first couple games of the season. You know, the Rangers, I thought, had a really great week. It was interesting.

They went in there and they beat teams that were really struggling. Calgary beat them. Edmonton beat them. And then a great game against Vancouver, they beat them in overtime too. I'm not sure what to make of the rest of that division. You know, Philly, I give them a lot of credit, even though they got wiped out by Anaheim the other day. I give Philly a lot of credit.

You know, Washington is now above 500, which I wouldn't have believed earlier in the week. I think Columbus is still trying to find their footing. And Pittsburgh, I don't even know what to think about them. But you know, the one thing I look at is you, if you look around the New York triangle and Carolina, all those teams early on, I think they're going to be just fine. I just don't know what's going to happen after them. I don't know about you, Elliot, but I always wondered how Joe Thornton would announce

his retirement. And Joe Thornton announced his retirement in a very Joe Thornton way. Can I ask you a question? Yeah, sure. Did you not think that camera was going to pan down and you were thinking, wondering what was actually going to be there? That was the biggest surprise to me. Not that he retired, but that the camera didn't pan down to whatever he was wearing or not wearing. A peek inside the brain of Elliott Friedman. No, I didn't consider that for a second. I was marveling too much at his hat in the video and his Voltairian smile, which I really enjoyed. But Joe Thornton announces that he is

officially retiring. So the clock starts for the Hockey Hall of Fame, which now awaits Joe Thornton. Just one of the most sublime players we've ever seen, Elliot. Just one of the best passers we've ever seen. One of the best playmakers we've ever seen. Someone who unfortunately resides in a club that includes elite-level players like Marcel Dion and Gilbert Perrault and Henrik Lundqvist and Jerome McGinley as the best player to never win the Stanley Cup. He was just amongst the elite in the NHL,

and it was just such a delight watching this guy, both on and off the ice. Like, just the joy to be around made every dressing room better, made every dressing room more fun, and just kind of, he was that guy that reminded you that, hey, at the end of all this, everybody, hockey is fun. Hockey is a sport here, as you are as well. Just a huge Joe Thornton fan.

And don't forget forget didn't play last year so he only needs one more year after this one to be eligible for the hockey hall of fame that will be an epic speech yeah there's just some people that you just can't wait to get into the hockey hall of fame that will be an epic speech i'm sure we we'll talk more about Joe Thornton in the weeks and months to come. Sixth all-time in NHL games played. There's a few things I think about with Joe Thornton. First of all, great player. Just a great, great player. Demanding of himself and others.

Inclusive, fun. A guy who other players love to be around. We've had Mario Ferraro on this pod a couple times he waxed poetic about what a great guy Thornton was but I like the fact that for all of his fun people talked about especially as he got older how demanding he was and that he could play as long as he did was a testament to that he didn't demand anything out of anyone else that he wouldn't demand himself also hilarious guy i heard one story today that i'm gonna have to ask him i don't even know if i can tell it even after i ask him

but i heard one story that was so crazy and so ridiculous. I said, when I have the opportunity, I'm going to have to tell him about this. Okay. One business story about him. One fun story about him. Okay. The business story was his contract. His contract, his rookie contract became the template for a lot of basically all of the contracts as they are right now for all the rookies in the NHL.

Before he was drafted, it was kind of a different thing where after you got over a certain number of goals for every goal you got, you got another bonus and another bonus and another bonus. And Harry Sinden, when he got drafted by the Bruins, Joe Thornton, he didn't like that. And basically his contract was, it was the first one of basically the way the rookie salary scale is done now, with a group of bonuses as opposed to you know one at a time and so Thornton was a real trendsetter in that particular way

the other one the story I heard was during the Canadian division season. Do you remember when Frederick Anderson went roller skating shirtless in Vancouver? Yeah. Well, the Leafs got investigated for that because it was kind of like a breach of COVID rules. And Thornton was the guy who told Anderson to do it. So basically, he said, why don't you go out and roller skate shirtless in Vancouver? And Anderson said, okay. And it triggered an NHL investigation

because it wasn't supposed to happen. And apparently Thornton was the guy who was behind it, and he laughed his head off at the whole thing. That's one of the most Joe Thornton stories I've ever heard. Yes. Except this other one I heard, which I can't share yet. But his whole life was about crazy stuff like that. The other lesson of Joe Thornton as well,

don't write off rookies that have bad first seasons or bad first two seasons. I mean, you'll remember, Elliot, when he was drafted from the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. First overall, 1997, they had two picks. They also took Sergei Samsonov in that draft as well. And right away, it was, we're getting this guy into the NHL. We're the Boston Bruins. We just took him first overall we're going to show

him to all of our fans and he had a miserable first season yeah he really really did and even the second season started to show a little bit what was going to come with joe thornton but to me he's he's the example of don't write rookies off especially first overall picks and you know there's a certain player in Montreal that people have been really harsh on as a first overall pick as well who's still finding his way in the NHL. Joe Thornton's

going to the Hockey Hall of Fame and I don't think anybody would have said that if they saw his first season in the NHL. Don't judge young players by their first season. Just don't. NH't judge young players by their first season. Just don't. NHL is a hard league. It's a really tough league.

Not a development league. It's just a tough league. It sure is. And he had a tough coach. That was Pat Burns. And that wasn't easy. And it was never 100% right between Boston and Thornton. My first year at Hockey Night was 0-3-0-4,

and Boston had a 3-1 lead over Montreal and lost that series in seven games. It was the first time that the Canadians ever won a series coming back down for 3-1. I worked that one with the late Don Whitman and Glenn Healy. And Thornton had no points in seven games, and he had just come back from, I think, broken ribs. And you could tell he was not 100%.

And he got traded. It was the next season after the lockout where he got traded after 33 points in 23 games. And at that point in his career, he'd played, I think, 35 playoff games, and he had 18 points. So he was basically half a point a guy in the playoffs. And then the next season, which was the year after the lockout,

they traded him after 33 points in the first 23 games. Now, the Bruins recovered. They eventually won a Stanley Cup, and Thornton would go on to have a great career in San Jose. But I've always wondered, you know, what would have happened if the Bruins had showed more patience there? Did Thornton need to go somewhere that was a little quieter to get himself going?

And, of course, he won the Hart Trophy that year because he had 92 points in 58 games in San Jose. Did he really need that? Or could he have thrived still in Boston? I guess we'll never find the answer. It worked out for them and it worked out for him. But I have always wondered, if Thornton doesn't get traded, does he become just as dominant

if the Bruins give him time? And then, imagine it, Jeff. Down the middle, they could have had, I mean, Krejci is phenomenal, but Thornton and Bergeron won two, and maybe Krejci is your number three center.

I don't know, but imagine what the Bruins would have had if he stayed. Pile up the cups. Just pile up the cups. Do they win more than one? Well, yes. Yes, I would imagine so. Here's the other alternative universe of Joe Thornton. How is the NHL world different if...

I remember one of the nights that I was working Hockey Central with Mike Keenan we're gonna have for a drink after and one of the things he told me when he was managing the Florida Panthers was they tried to get Joe Thornton from Boston and the deal that Mike had in place was Thornton for Roberto Luongo, one for one. But Florida's owner... When would that have been? 2-0-5-0-6.

When Keenan was managing the Florida Panthers. But the Panthers owner didn't want to take money back. Hmm. How different is it if Roberto Luongo is the net minder for the Boston Bruins and Joe Thornton is playing with the Florida Panthers? Berkey always said that he got wind of the deal with the Sharks not long before it happened,

and he called the Bruins, Michael Connell, and said, you can have almost anyone from this list. Just tell us. I think he mentioned to me, there was like five or six players that you couldn't touch but anybody else you could from that from that roster something like that yeah berkey's story is going to change over time so the truth is somewhere in the middle but he definitely did do that but the bruins told him it was too far along it's done wild uh congratulations Congratulations to Joe Thornton

on an absolutely wonderful NHL career. Listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Okay, Elliot, tragedy in the hockey world over the weekend um first of all we offer our condolences to the family and the friends of Adam Johnson our condolences to the Nottingham Panthers um the EIHL as well hockey fans in England hockey fans all over the world, whether it's Pittsburgh Penguins, Ontario Reign, wherever Adam Johnson played hockey,

passed away after getting slashed in the neck in a game Saturday against Sheffield Elliott. First of all, it's awful. And I saw the video once and it's horrible. I wouldn't recommend anybody do that. All the best to Adam's friends and relatives, family. It's terrible. And there's not much else you can really say.

I also wanted to mention Matt Petgrave, too. The other player was involved in the collision. I hope he's getting the help he needs, because I can only imagine, even though he did nothing wrong and he's not at fault, I can only imagine the guilt that you must feel. I know if that was me, how I would feel. So I hope he's getting the proper care that he's going to need too. Providence, which is the American Hockey League team of the Boston Bruins, had a number of players apparently who were wearing neck protection on Sunday when they played their American Hockey League game.

And I understand why too, because earlier this week, a player they would all know very well jacob lauco was also cut by a skate blade near his eye and was thankfully okay i mean jeff you're around hockey players a lot more than me your kids play my son doesn't the sharpening and the changing of the blades and just the edges that are put on these things are more honed than ever before. Basically, people are skating with knives out there. And one of the things that's been talked about is making the neck guards mandatory. In the last couple of years, we've had some skate cuts on the wrist. Or Vander Koehn had one. And the league has worked hard. Rod Pasma in the league office is one of the people who's worked hardest at it is getting players to be more comfortable with the idea of wearing the wrist guards. And now there's going to be a lot of talk about neck guards. The number one thing you have to do is you have to make it mandatory at the youth levels. The best way to change the sport is to have the kids do it so as they go up in hockey,

it will become normal for them. It won't be weird. It won't feel weird. It won't be something they're asked to do later. It's just something that they get used to from the moment they start playing or it's when they're young in their lives and it just becomes another piece of your skin or your uniform on the ice. The NHL cannot mandate equipment. The players have to agree to it. And at this point in time, the players have not agreed to mandating cut-resistant equipment on the wrist or around the neck or anywhere else. You know, years ago, there have been teams that wanted to mandate, the Calgary Flames were one, they wanted to mandate shot blockers on players' skates. And they were told, you cannot do that.

The players have a say on the equipment they wear. Now, one of the things I heard today, because I was asking around, is it wasn't until a couple of years ago that the players were even comfortable with the quality of the kind of thicker or cut-resistant protection that has been available. There is definitely a feeling among the players that they're more comfortable wearing this stuff than they used to be. But still, at the end of the day, it's a player's choice, and the NHL cannot just mandate the players have to wear that. Everything, helmets, visors, helmets and warm-ups everything equipment

has to be negotiated with the players there's a couple of things one um neck guards at my kids level of a 2012 and 2010 as well um they are mandated you have you do have to wear neck protection um there are some that wear very tiny neck guards and I kind of look at them and say, geez, I'm not really sure what that is ultimately protecting. My kids use cut resistant technology. I don't mind plugging the group. I'm not paid by them. We buy these compression shirts, cut resistance, a company by the name of Duster. And they do great compression shirts, cut resistant compression shirts, extra padding around the wrists. And it's really well protected around the neck as well.

And I think we've all thought about, okay, what about the National Hockey League? Because that's the lead. That's what everybody watches. And that's what everybody follows. And we've seen horrible scenes. We've all seen the Clint Malarchuk, Steve Tuttle situation. And thankfully, Jim Pizzatelli, bless that man, was able to save Clint Malarchuk's life. Richard Zednik was another one as well. And I just can't help but thinking to myself that i know players will want to push back on this and this is our choice and we want to feel

as comfortable as possible and i understand that but what i kept thinking about elliot and like you i watched the video once and i'm I don't encourage anybody to watch it. Don't do it. Don't do it. But what I thought of was, and I had some DMs and some tweets from people that were there. And a lot of these people are going to need help themselves to deal with what they just saw. Yes. And all I could think about, Elliot, I thought about a lot of things.

I thought about, you know, Adam Johnson and his family and friends and his team and, you know, the entire league. And I did think a lot about Matt Petgrave as well. He said, go down the street and watch him play for the Oshawa Generals. And what he's now carrying and what he's going to carry for a long time is not fair. And I really hope that Matt Petgrave can find a lot of support and can find peace. And one thing that I kept thinking about, Elliot, was do fans want to see this? And the answer is no. Even though it's a freak accident, it's something that can be mitigated. It's something that can be protected.

No one comes to see this. There have been injuries from body checks. There's been a death from Bill Masterton hitting his head on the ice. But I look at this from a fan perspective as well. I don't know that the league wants this. Not that it's deliberate because it's not, but doesn't want in any way, shape, or form even the chance that this might happen

in one of their games. And I hope that players seriously give that a think as well. From the fans' point of view, because I think a lot about those fans that are at that Sheffield-Nottingham game that watch this in absolute horror and that's going to haunt them for the rest of their lives.

And I don't think any league wants that. I don't think any fan wants that. And I hope that somewhere in all of this conversation, we can put those people who had to see this live and what they're going to go through in their life right now as part of this conversation. It may feel to the players like it's just their decision that you can't tell me what to wear, and I understand that.

But people had to watch what happened to Adam Johnson and those people are going to need a lot of help All right, welcome back to the podcast. We're going to get to the thought line here in a couple of moments, the Montana's thought line. But first, the Vancouver Canucks. Close but no cigar. Almost beat the New York Rangers. But, Elliot, no one beats the New York Rangers these days.

But really exciting game Saturday night nonetheless. Your thoughts on the Canucks before we get to the thought line first of all I'd recommend people watch Rick Talkett and Scott Oak from After Hours it was excellent I watched a chunk of it and then I watched all of it it was a fantastic television I don't often put fantastic television and Scott Oak in the same sentence, except when I say Scott Oak is not fantastic television, but it was on this particular night. It was really good. I have to say this.

If Vancouver can get some depth scoring here, because their star players have been excellent. Their goaltending has been very good. Demko, obviously, and DeSmith, too. But if they can get some depth scoring, I am really curious to see where this is going to go here. They have a division where Vegas is really good, and we'll see if Edmonton is really off the mat here.

But if this is the way their best players are going to play this year, Vancouver has a chance to be a real surprise team. It's very clear they've bought into what Chalkett wants them to do. I still think they are trying to add defensemen. There's been so much weird stuff that's been happening in the league this year that it's kind of tough to keep an eye at times on what's happening in the trade market. But I don't think Vancouver has given up at all

on trying to move an excess forward for a D. But if the Canars can just get some depth scoring, I think they've got a shot to do some interesting things. So they need like a Conor Garland type, one of these types. Yeah, it's kind of these types of players. Yeah, it's kind of funny you say that. I was thinking the same thing, actually. Talk about late bloomers.

This is some of the best hockey we've seen JT Miller play, by the way. We don't talk a lot about great games when it comes to Vancouver, but JT Miller's been excellent. Okay, time now for the Montana's Thought Line, Montana's Barbecue and Bar, Canada's home for barbecue elliot tagline please try the ribs and those deep fried pickles 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca 1-833-311-3232 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca 1-833-311-3232. This comes to us from Eddie in Ottawa. I have a quick question regarding the league and its action on players gambling inside the facility. We've heard multiple stories of players putting money on the board for specific games or playing poker and other card games on team planes.

And a lot of the mentioned money is involved in those games. What? of the mentioned money is involved in those games what what's the difference between gambling with teammates on the plane or placing a non-hockey related parlay in the practice facility for example and why is one frowned upon but not the other and thank you try the deep fried pickles jeff is right they're good oh thank you very much eddie it's a man of taste right there look i think that one thing i would just say to eddie is i don't know that in the nhl placing a parlay is illegal it can be in the nfl like in the nfl you cannot bet legally from a team facility you can't do it it's in the rules and a player got suspended six games this year

for it although it was later reduced to four in the nhl like first of all jeff i gotta tell you someone i know heard your thing about does this mean money on the board can't happen and they they said to me is he insane and my answer was yes he is insane he couldn't how long is this person suggested that. How long has this person listened to the podcast? Are they new? This podcast has been around for longer than five minutes. This is me, bud.

You come up with some crazy stuff, and this was the latest one. Look, money on the board. Basically, what it comes down to is in hockey, it was don't bet on hockey. Okay? Now, this Pinto thing here, here's the challenge with the whole Pinto thing, and we talked a lot about it the other day. There's what I believe to be true and what I can prove to be true.

What you believe and what you prove are two completely different things. Are there people out there who believe shane pinto gave access to his account to people who bet on hockey yes there are people who believe that but can we prove it's true as i sit here in my hotel room in my long underwear i cannot prove that i cannot prove that to be true okay so basically what's happened is as we said on friday players have been calling their agents the players association people in their organization their general managers league what can we do and what can we not do and as we talked about on saturday, they're telling the players this. And one thing that's supposed to be set up are Zoom calls Monday to Wednesday where players can get on and basically be told, don't do this.

And, you know, they've basically said there's, I'm sure there's more, but I found out six things that they basically told them. Number one, don't share your account with anyone. Don't place bets with third parties. Don't give money to anybody else or tell someone else, put this bet for me. Prop bets will be treated as betting on games. So you say, oh, I'm not betting on a game, but I'm going to bet on, say, Austin Matthews over three and a half shots that's not good either that's gonna get you in trouble this is a big

one don't joke about odds with friends one of the things I've heard is that there have been players in the league who they'll get a buddy text to them saying hey Jeff there's an over-under you tonight two goals you're plus a thousand to score two goals. Ha, ha, ha, ha. You're not supposed, like if someone does that to you, you're supposed to tell them to get the freak out of there and don't do that.

Because one of the things I've heard is if the league investigates you for this stuff, they can demand your phone. And if you say no, you can't say no. As part of the investigation, things like your phone, because of some of the text no you can't say no you as part of the investigation things like your phone because of some of the text messages you can send you have to show it so don't joke about stuff with friends this is another big one don't share inside information or injury information and don't bet illegally with like say a bookmaker or anything like that.

Now, again, I'm going to stress, just because these things are being told to players doesn't mean that's what Pinto did. But these are all the kinds of things that players are being told about. Don't do this stuff. There is a confidential agreement around what happened with Pinto. So it's difficult to tell exactly, but I don't think it was one thing. I think there were a couple of things. That's what I believe right now as of Sunday night, Jeff. I don't think it was one thing that pissed off the league. I think it was a couple of things, and that's why it ended up being 41 games.

Oh, and one other thing i wanted to mention here you know i ran into doug wait this weekend uh doug wait obviously was going into the others hall of fame on thursday night and he was here for the game legendary number 39 yes doug wait and doug wait obviously spent a lot of time on Long Island, and Shane Pinto is from Long Island. And one thing about Wade is he went into a really passionate, we had a really passionate conversation about it, and he said, I hope that kid gets a clean slate. He's taking a big price, and I hope he gets a clean slate.

And I said, you know, I think as long as he's remorseful about it, which he has been and doesn't do it again, then, you know, I think he will. But Waite was very, very passionate in feeling that. And some of that is part of the whole conversation that some things have said. There's so much gambling around that he's been made an example of, and he hopes he gets a chance to show that he deserves a fresh shot. We did know that the first person who did anything untowards or crossed the line was going to be the example, though. Did you not feel that all along, like there needed to be a hammer established early? But I'm with you.

I think if there's remorse shown and you don't do it again, we all understand the score and we know that he's being made an example of. I'll tell you this, and I want to get to a voicemail here in a couple of seconds, Elliot, but this email made my weekend. Hi, Jeff and Elliot.

Thanks for crediting my grandmother, Elizabeth Graham, correctly as the first recorded person to wear a hockey mask in a game. The story has become a bit twisted over the years. See, here's what I love. She had not had any dental work. She was concerned about the amount of money that her father had spent on sending her to university, and she wanted to ensure that he wouldn't have any further expenses should she take a puck to the mouth. Now pause on that for a second.

The story has always been that Elizabeth Graham put the mask on because she had dental work done and she didn't want to get her teeth mangled anymore. So Elizabeth McWilliam, the granddaughter of Elizabeth Graham, goes on the record to correct it here on the podcast. This is now a hockey history podcast, Elliot. Did you know that? Well, first of all, I have to say I'm not surprised that in telling that story, you completely butchered it and got it wrong. I would like to say that for the record. Yes. There is more because now that this continues, this is gone. Well, I mean, what you do is journalism. There's a saying that journalism is fast history and history is slow journalism.

So right now we're doing slow journalism, i.e. history. So it was not dental work. She just didn't want her dad to fork out any more money. So there's a correction. She was a strong woman with an amazing sense of humor and a loud laugh. She would be amazed that her actions back then were being discussed on a podcast in 2023. God, I love that. Thanks for the mention.

Always a thrill for our family to hear her discussed and referenced in this way. Sincerely, Elizabeth McWilliam. Elliot, my weekend made with that one. Yeah, that's a nice message. And, you know, our pleasure, Elizabeth. I'm glad that it brings your family some fun because that's what this podcast is supposed to be is fun. So I'm happy you guys got a kick out of it,

and I'm really happy for you that, you know, 100 years later, your grandmother is still getting mentioned for being a trailblazer. Pretty awesome. I love it. Okay, let's finish up with a voicemail here. This is Gerard. Hey, I'm watching a wild game right now, and the local commentator noted that the great defender Jonas Brodine has been playing the last eight years or so with Matt Dumba almost exclusively. I'm curious if you guys know of any other defensive pairs that have had a long history with one another,

guys that really played a big portion of their careers with one another. Thanks. What are you thinking? This usually is more up your alley. So the obvious one for historians will be Doug Harvey and Tom Johnson, who were together for eight years. And seven of those years, Doug Harvey won the Norris. And one of those years, Tom Johnson won the Norris. Find me a pair, Elliot, that can boast that.

Now, that takes us back to the 50s and 60s. But for historians, that's going to be the obvious one but i mean listen you and i grew up in the 70s and was there a better pair and here come the bob your fans screaming but was there a better pair than larry robinson and serge savard they were yes that would be another one both hall of fam, great players. Didn't win the Norris like Johnson and Harvey did, but phenomenal, phenomenal players. You know, other ones I would think of, Suter and Weber. Oh, yeah.

Nashville. Yeah. It is kind of weird that neither one of them ever won a Norris. You know what? I always wondered, one, about vote splitting splitting and two, that they were in Nashville. And if that act were in New York or Philadelphia or Los Angeles or Chicago or Toronto or Calgary or wherever, that it would have been a different story. Phil, that that's the case. Yes, I know. I heard that from time to time.

Vote splitting could be a good answer, too. I mean, Pronger, Niedermeyer, that didn't last a ton of time. You know, in New Jersey, Niedermeyer played a lot with Danico, and Stevens would play a lot with Rafalski, and those were both dynamite pairs. But Niedermeyer, Pronger, remember when the Ducks won the Stanley Cup, they basically did it with those two and francis boshman playing a ton yeah and a bunch of other really good depth players rotating around them but they were fantastic pairs i remember but the joe de penta kent huskins

rick jackman like yes ricky went deep into his blue line for that cup but they were all players who accepted their roles right yeah yeah and they understood that that was the way it was going to be and it was not a problem i mean doughty muzzin was a good pair but i don't think it would be as long and you know the other one i always used to laugh at was there was a joke in Detroit. Who was the Red Wings' second best player? Oh, whoever was playing with Lidstrom. Yes, whoever played with Lidstrom. And he played with Rafalski for a little bit, and they were great together, but it didn't last that long.

Yeah. But those would be some of the great pairs that I would think of. Let me throw one at you. Who did you just see this weekend which famous defenseman one of the best of all time paul coffee huddy that's a great one that is a great one and the great thing about that is that when paul coffee got his number retired they put charlie huddy on the ice to throw one more pass to him and then coffee skated down the ice and scored so good so many great memories um okay thanks for all the down the ice and scored. So good. So many great memories.

Okay. Thanks for all the emails and the voicemails as well. The Montana's Thought Line, always open at 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca, 1-833-311-3232. Elliot's going to party with Chad Kruger right now. No. He has long johns.

Do you think that guy is is gonna want to hang around with me yeah i think he looks at you and says look at that elliot friedman every friday he has two saturdays let's go no no am i wrong on that one as a matter of fact i gotta tell you something there are probably i don't know how many people there what's the population of edmonton i'm gonna check this right now I'm gonna google this this is good podcasting I'm gonna check the population okay the population of Edmonton as of 2017 was just under a million people I bet you there are a million people that they would rather get to than me to go out with them tonight. I bet you if I was the last person in Edmonton, they would say

we're going to leave the city before we hang out with you. Let's hit a break so you can get to the city. Finish up the podcast today, I'm going to roll out a couple of things at you. I'm just going to throw a couple of things at you and see which one resonates the most with you. Uka Pekka Lukkanen, the Buffalo Sabres find their man in net.

Frank Vetrano now has nine goals, and against the Philadelphia Flyers, he scored three goals three different ways. Power play, even strength, and short-handed. Also, want to throw your way, the San Jose Sharks have only nine goals in nine games, Elliot Friedman, and I don't think that's very good. And Wes McCauley had a very unique way of announcing too many men on the ice. He said,

six players on the ice. We're just making stuff up now at this point in the NHL. Any of these things resonate with you, or is there something you'd like to freeze? Maybe you want to mention Thomas Placanitz calling it a career. I don't i don't know go for it well i would say this when it comes to wes mccauley freestyling like that he'll make a great podcaster yes how many boston university games with macklin celebrini do you think the san jose sharks are going to be scouting? Or if you're Macklin Celebrini, how many times have you asked yourself how you look in teal? I mean, look, I don't know that San Jose expected this. I can't imagine from what I heard that this is really what they wanted, but this is where

they are now. And if this gets them a player like Celebrini or a player like Cole Iserman, maybe it's worth it. But it's hard. You can't tell me a guy as competitive as Mike Greer or a guy as competitive as David Quinn is going to enjoy going through this this year. Because it's hard.

Losing like this, it sucks. It's really hard. I was really happy for Lukanen. He's the third guy in Buffalo that got a chance to start. And now it's going to be him and Levi now with Comrie out. And what this says to me is that Lukanen's saying, bring it on. 100%.

I want this competition. You remember what he said after the first win? It's not exactly the most ideal situation. Here's a guy that hasn't played in how long and he goes in there and even though they probably would have liked him to shut the door a little tighter in the third period against the Ottawa

Senators, still played a really good game and then does it again against the Avalanche. I'm happy for Lukanen. Oh, speaking of net minors, you have a quick thought on Marc-Andre Fleury stopping Evgeny Kuznetsov in the slow-moving shootout. Not really. I think this is all entertainment

because Kuznetsov's trying to score. I love it. You know, I was happy. I was really happy Kael McCarr was okay. Of course. That was the thing I was thinking about. And, you know, look, Kyle Kupo pose is not dirty

not a dirty player nope just got to remind people i think it's kind of your responsibility if a guy's going in even though mccarr said he wasn't going in as well as he could have it's still kale mccarr just got to remember keep your hands and stick off guys who are going in like that good advice for hockey players everywhere as we wrap up the podcast. We will join you once again on Friday morning. In the meantime, enjoy the action. If you went to the Heritage Classic, hope you enjoyed yourself. If you're an Oilers fan, if you're a Calgary Flames fan, the questions continue.

Go party with your buddy Chad. Bye, everybody.