32 Thoughts: The Podcast - What’s Up With …

Episode Date: January 9, 2023

Elliotte’s pipes are getting better. The guys kick things off by talking about Patrick Kane and what might be happening with him and the Blackhawks (2:20), Philadelphia and Ivan Provorov (6:45), the latest on the All-Star Skills Competitions (13:00) and All-Star fan voting (21:00, the exciting game between the Wild and Sabres (22:20), Buffalo’s goaltending dilemma (27:10), Oilers looking to strengthen their defensive core (35:30), crazy junior hockey trades (39:30) and the gents take your questions (47:15).Plus, the podcast is hitting the road again (32:20)! This time for Hockey Day in Canada in Owen Sound, Ontario on Jan. 19th (Thursday) at 3 pm EST at Heartwood Concert Hall. We have some tickets to give away! Email and leave us a voicemail answering the following question — Which NHL team has drafted the most Owen Sound Attack players? Winners will be picked on Monday, Jan. 16th.Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call The Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailMusic Outro: The Redwalls - Colorful RevolutionListen to the full track HEREThis podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.Get your 32 Thoughts Merchandise HEREAudio Credits: MSG, NBC Sports Chicago and Sportsnet.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.

what's up with what's up with that what's up with that what's up with that what's up with that always play hurt never play injured welcome to 32 thoughts the podcast presented by gmc and the new sierra at4x playing hurt today as he did saturday night on hockey night in canada as elliot friedman how is the voice How is the lovely voce there, Elliot? I think it sounds fantastic. Oh my God. I got a text from PJ. Stock?

Late in the show. Count Stockula? Oh yeah. Okay. I think this deserves to be shared with the public. Okay. You sound like Demi Moore, but way hotter. Oh, geez, PJ.

The one thing that I do like about, the only thing that I like about being sick is my voice drops an octave. Yeah, mine too. My voice is too trebly to begin with. I mean, eh, don't really dig it. But then when I get sick, it sounds like I've been, you know, drinking scotch and eating cigars for two weeks.

That's about the only thing I like about being sick. That's the only bonus is being a broadcaster and being sick. That sounds like my idea of heaven. Scotch and cigars. Scotch and cigars, yeah. For two weeks. Now, I have to say this.

I know we're going way, way, way, way, way off the track we're supposed to be on here. Okay. But this reminds me of a story. A friend of mine once told me he and his girlfriend were out to lunch once, one day, and she was getting over a bit of a cold and her voice

was really deep and at one point she went to the bathroom and the guy sitting at the table next to her tapped him and said i'm sorry i don't mean to pry or interrupt i hope you won't take this wrong way but i find your girlfriend's voice really sexy and attractive. Oh. And he told us later he didn't know whether to be offended or giddy. And we all told him giddy. You have to be giddy. Yeah, that's uncomfortable, but okay, I suppose. I don't know how I'd react. I'd probably just shrug it off and say thanks and go about my way

and not want to cause any drama or dilemma for that matter. But that's an interesting one. I always say this. If somebody tells you the person you're with, your partner is attractive for whatever reason, take it as the compliment. That's the way I look at it. All right, let's get to hockey. What's happening with Pat Kane? what's happening with pat kane so pat kane didn't play on friday in the two nothing uh win over arizona and he didn't play on sunday as we were recording this they're going to play calgary tonight yep and luke richardson said look we don't play again until thursday so it makes sense to give him more rest and he's going to have a treatment so we mentioned this briefly on saturday night in our segment there has been a rumor that pat kane has been dealing with something some kind of injury some sort of nagging injury for some period of time and at some point

he's going to need a cleanup like i don't know exactly what the procedure would be so i don't want to go too much farther into this but the rumor is he would potentially need a cleanup so i've been thinking about this and this is my opinion i am spitballing this i wonder is if what happens here this really affects him and he either can't play or noticeably impacts him. I wonder if the solution is Kane and the Blackhawks agree to a one-year extension. He shuts himself down. He goes and gets whatever procedure he needs and he comes back next year healthy and refreshed and we go through this again. Again, that's my opinion. I'm looking at ways that this can work because to be perfectly honest,

if he noticeably struggles because he's hurting, it's bad for everyone. It's bad for him. It's bad for the Blackhawks and trying to move them. And it's bad for another team that might be interested in him. So I was thinking about this today when I heard he wasn't going to play, and again, he could get totally healthy and this could not be a problem,

but if this is going to be an issue, I do wonder if the outcome is going to be a one-year extension for Kane in Chicago and they go through this again next year. That's my opinion. Let me sort of wheel around that thought. That would be Pat Kane doing a real solid for the Chicago Blackhawks. I think it would also be the Blackhawks doing something that they probably weren't planning on doing, but it benefits them too.

It really benefits them because ultimately, I mean, listen, if Pat Kane, and again, we are spitballing here but if pat kane gets shut down for the season they can't move him then pat kane can walk in the offseason for nothing this way you sign him to the one year deal with the knowledge you're going to move him we've seen this before most recently with john klingberg in anaheim we all know why he was signed and then all of a sudden you're doing something for that blackhawks team that's patrick kane doing a solid for the chicago blackhawks well i think the other thing too is that i'm still not 100 convinced that kane and taves ever envisioned themselves in another uniform i always saw them retiring as hawks well i think we all did right again it all depends on how

healthy he is or isn't and how he looks but this might be something that it punts the ball down the line but it could solve everybody's problems it's uh it would explain some of the play that we've seen out of patrick kane so far this season right like still like most teams will have well like listen i'll take you know patrick kane is 75 percent over a lot of other people at 100 but yeah this hasn't been a quote unquote Patrick Kane type season, Elliot, has it? No, it has not. And it would make sense. Like, again, this is something I've heard has been lingering for quite some time.

And, you know, sometimes these things get better with rehab. And sometimes you say, we're going to go that path first. But eventually you get to a point where you say, okay, we've got to deal with it. And I think everybody's wondering here if we're going to get to that point. By the way, Jeff, apropos of nothing, those Blackhawks jerseys they wore against the Flames on Sunday night, those are beautiful.

Well, you on this podcast, Elliot, are the arbiter of good taste and style and fashion, so we will take your lead. Now, I've decided I'm going to make this really easy on myself for the remainder of the podcast here and just ask questions that revolve around what's up with. So here I go again. What's up with that, Kenan Thompson?

What's up with that? What's up with that? What's up with that? Now I'm going to go with this next one. What's up with that? What's up with that? Now I'm going to go with this next one. What's up with Ivan Provorov? Oh, it's a good question. It's a good question. There's something going on here.

And I think it could be something as simple as the Flyers just realized that everything has to be on the table over the next six to 18 months to maybe it's just time with this particular player. Like there's a wide spectrum. Get that, Philadelphia? Spectrum? Oh, geez. I know. Of answers we could give here.

I think it's just safe just to play it safe, Jeff. What you should have said, by the way, is there is a broad spectrum, but that's safe. It's just a play. It's safe, Jeff. What you should have said, by the way, is there is a broad spectrum, but that's okay. Yes, you're right. Broad spectrum. Damn. I wish I would've thought of that. Really good. This kind of came to my attention early Sunday morning and I was kind of working on it and it's a difficult thing to pin down, but to say that there is something going on here. I think you're going to hear Provorov's name out there. He's got two more years under contract.

The cap hit is six times 6.75, which is very reasonable for him. It's actually higher in cash. It goes up to about 17 million in cash for the next two seasons. You know, this is a guy who had 41 points a few years ago, and he looked like he was going to be one of the best young defensemen in the National Hockey League. I still think the talent's there, but it hasn't worked as well as it could have

and should have in Philadelphia. Now, I look at this, I think probably some of it is on the player and some of it is on the team. Look, the team hasn't been what everybody thought they were going to be. And everybody suffers with that. But I've heard that there has been a conversation about, is it time? Is it just time for him to go somewhere else and the Flyers to look to send him somewhere else? I don't think this is anything imminent.

I think this is something that might develop over a little while, but I think you're going to hear his name, and I think he has frustration with what's going on there, and I think there's some frustration directed towards him too. But this guy is a really talented guy, and I can't help but look at him and wonder, Jeff, if he goes somewhere else and flourishes. I wonder if one of the problems here is they just haven't been able

to find the right partner for Ivan Provorov. Coming out of the bubble, Matt Niskanen said, I'm done, I don't want to go through that, that's it, I'm checked out on hockey. He retired and it really affected Provorov. I'm done. I don't want to go through that. That's it. I'm checked out on hockey. He retired and it really affected Provorov. I just wonder because he was kind of like the, and here comes dated reference,

you know, 7,423 for me on this podcast. He was sort of the Ken Klee to Provorov's gonchar. There's a dated Washington Capitals reference there for you. And I guess Ryan Ellis was supposed to be the new Matt Niskanen for Ivan Proveroff. And then because of all the injuries, that never really happened. I just wonder if this is a situation where they just weren't able to find the right partner for Ivan Proveroff. I think there's a lot under the surface here. The word I got a lot from the person who kind of indicated that he'd heard this to me

was frustration. I think the player is frustrated. I think the organization is frustrated. I think the teammates are frustrated. I think everybody's just frustrated at how everything has gone in the last few years in Philadelphia. And like I said,

I think the Flyers are going to consider a lot of things. You know, you've asked me before, what direction is this team going in? I think a move like this one could tell us whenever it happens. You know, what do they get in return? What do they do with the space that would be created salary cap-wise to move a player with this number?

But, you know, I have to say, I think on some level, it's got to be disappointing for everybody with this. Because, you know, like I said, after his second season, this guy looked like a stud. And it just hasn't worked. And sometimes you have to change coaches because the voice doesn't work with the group anymore.

And sometimes you have to change jobs or locations for your job because it's not working for you in that place anymore. And I've just wondered if based on everything I've heard on Sunday, if that's kind of where we are with Proveroff. You know what he needs, Elliot? It just dawned on me. What's that? He needs the defense whisperer.

He helped make Victor Hedman. He helped make Miro Haskinen. He's recreating Josh Morrissey in front of our eyes. Ivan Proveroff means Rick bonus. You know, I have to say, look, I don't want anybody radioing us we do that plenty to ourselves but when i first heard about this that was actually the first team that hopped into my mind see the first that always hops in my mind with proveroff is vegas and that's because of kelly

mccrimmon how excellent he was with the brandon weak kings when kelly was the owner gm and coach of the weak kings got him into the top 10 in the NHL draft, but that's just because I've got so much junior hockey on my brain this past weekend. But the more that I think about it, man, he needs the Rick Bonas magic wand waved over his head. Yeah, I'm not sure that Vegas could even make that work

if they wanted to. You know, Winnipeg, for one thing, obviously he knows the terrain, playing in the Western Hockey League and playing in Brandon. Playing in Manitoba, yeah. The other thing, too, is the Jets like turn. Now, this isn't a ton of turn. This is two years.

But the Jets really like to trade for players who have turn. So I don't know how they would feel about this. But I have to say that Winnipeg was, and again, please don't radio us. We're not saying the jets are trading for this guy. I just, that was one of the first teams I thought about because of the connection.

And you make a great point about bonus. All right. Shifting gears. When I say alligators, golf and dunk tanks, what do you think about? I about you on saturday night my timeline was wild after that report on hockey nights it was quite funny and by the way it was really split it was a i think half was like this is awesome this is fantastic it sounds really cool and the other half was, this is completely ridiculous, to which I always say, well, dogs don't bark at parked cars.

First of all, it was nice of Steve Meyer to confirm it on the podcast last week, and it was great work by you to track down more information that the dunk tank was coming. And by the way, the golf that he's referring to, if you're a golfer, you know about the famous hole in florida 17th hole at the tpc at sawgrass it's a par three it's known as the island green and that's the hole i think they're going to be basing this off of i don't know if they're actually going to sawgrass or they're just going to do it like that but i think that's what they're basing it off of. Here's the thing with the dunk tank.

I'm with you. I think it's awesome. As someone said to me, would you do it? And I said, not a chance. They said, well, why should a player do it? And I get that. Like everybody's different. Some people are going to have no problem doing it.

Some people will. And I have to say, I put myself out there quite a bit i don't think i would do that hang on whoa whoa wait like i said before to you this stuns me first of all i would do it in a flash second of all you've jumped out of a plane and you won't do the dunk tank jumping out of a plane was to conquer my fears i'm not afraid of going in the water it sounds like a promo from jaws exactly i watched that movie over christmas with my son i love that well the uss indianapolis scene is the best in all of cinema yeah i i jumped out of a plane because i was afraid of heights and i wanted to conquer my fears by the way if you were sitting on a dunk tank, I wouldn't shoot at it. I would just

walk up and knock you into it. And pound it. Yeah, I know. Here's the thing though. I got the same reaction. Some people, it was great. Some people that's terrible. It's vaudeville. One person said to me, it's vaudeville. Here's what I think though. We have to get out of the old school hockey stiffness. We have to move the line. Like at the beginning of the year, when everybody ripped those referees for welcoming everybody to the season, I loved it. I thought it was great that they tried something different. Like I love the fact that those officials did that.

Great players and our great fans. Welcome to opening night of the 2022-23 NHL season. What's better than this? Good luck to all players. Let's have a great season. I know some people mocked it and thought it was stupid, but they tried something, and I really like that. And that's the way I look at this.

I just like the fact that we're trying to move the line. We're trying to show the player personalities a bit more. You know, one of the things I really believe as the NHLPA is searching for a new executive director, I think that one of the things that's coming up in these conversations is we, the NHLPA, have to do a better job of marketing our players and their personalities. And I think that message is resonating with the players because now I think we still have to get over a lot of stiffness,

and this might be one example, but we have great players who have great personalities. Like, you know, that little Eberle song that he played last week, Jeff? Yeah, it was very good. Yeah. So this is it. We're the boys on the aisle. We don't play a pretty style.

And it ain't that much fun, but it gets the job done. We're going to win the cup this year. Then we're going to drink a ton of beer. And when it's all said and done you know what that's fantastic that 30 second snippet or whatever it is there's a lot of that out there and i just think as a sport we need to push that line but here's the problem like i don't disagree with you but all these players like once upon a time when they first started playing hockey however many years ago and maybe all through minor slash youth hockey they still have a shred of their own personality but by and large and this

is changing and there are the obvious you know zegras and and hughes that you know are the exception and not the rule by the time they get to the NHL, there's a certain hockey zombiness that takes over and they get there. To me, the issue isn't just what can the NHL do to market these personalities? It's how do you create an environment underneath the NHL so the personality doesn't get sucked out of them by the time they get to the NHL? I think that's just happening organically. If you look at the way the world has changed, everything's out there now. I don't like it all the time.

I don't think all of it's good, but I just think that this generation is going to grow up with, we don't believe in privacy. That's true. We believe in everything being thrown out all over the internet. And we better come to grips with it. So, for example, Jeff, we're talking about young players

doing different things, and we better get used to it. Lucas Reichel tonight for Chicago scored his first-ever NHL goal. It was between the legs. Here's Lucas Reichel in his third game of the season with the Big League Club, and Seth Jones down low. Rebound score! And an NHL first for lucas reichel now it wasn't a hot dog play he was battling zadorov and it was the only play he could make and then he gets his own rebound out battles the big six foot six 250 pound akita zadorov to find this one into the back of the net.

But to this generation of players, that's going to be normal. It already is. All that stuff. It's totally normal. That's part of their hockey vocabulary. Yes, I agree with you. But nobody better be complaining about it.

No, but those complaints are getting less and less. Once upon a time, do you remember when Pat Quinn lost it on Kyle Wellwood? Yes. For trying that between the legs and like, oh, if he ever tries that again, etc., etc., etc. And Wellwood sort of sheepishly, okay, I understand. Those days are gone. We just saw Matthew Kachuk not too long ago with the between the legs against Nashville.

Great play, great goal. And it was the right play. It wasn't a hot dog play. It was just the easiest way to get his stick in position to take that shot or deflect that pass rick nash used to do this beside the net not because he was hot dogging but it was the right play and the smart play and that's the way he got his stick in position i just think this is all part of young hockey players vocabularies now and it's been normalized not unlike you know slap shots were once considered oh slapped this is a wrist shot game sir what is these

back scratching slap shots now it's just normal like the michigan is normal like my kid tried the michigan saturday afternoon in a game against york simcoe expresses st andrews college didn't get it but he tried it by the way mike murphy was there he says hi and he says that he's he's already enjoying retirement the week that he's been off i'm jealous but like all of this is like this these are all normal things that kids do now and we're seeing it in the in the nhl there's nothing hot doggy about it this is just the way you play hockey elliot and maybe once upon a time, we'd look at Reichel and say, wow, hot dogging for your first goal.

Okay, kid, you better keep your head up out there. Now it's just, Hey, nice goal. And I think the NHL is better for it. Speaking of all-star with the fan voting,

you and I talked about this on radio. I want to put this on the podcast and make sure that I can try to call together as much support as possible this time. And I know I got the John Scott tweets right away, including one from John himself. I was very, very good. One from John himself, which put a smile on my face. This time around, I want Ryan Pulak to go of the New York Islanders

because I want to see him in the hardest shot. There's no Chara anymore. I want to see Ryanyan pulak who i believe will dust the field i want to see him at the all-star weekend because i want to see him in the hardest shot that's the if i'm stuffing boxes here if i'm you know uh you know hashtagging for for a player to get to the all-star game i'm going ryan pulak because that guy can hammer the puck as i told you on your radio show i asked him about it once a few years ago and he said he would love to go to compete in there.

So I'm all for that. Like the one thing I don't like is I don't like it when it becomes making fun of someone or like when people say, we're going to take, we're going to vote for this guy who doesn't deserve there. Cause I want to be there. Cause I want people to laugh at it. That's the stuff that makes me crazy. I don't like that.

I remember when the whole thing was going on with Rory Fitzpatrick. Vote for Rory. And Don Cherry got really mad at it. He's like, they're making fun of this guy. And I remember that. Okay, Minnesota Buffalo. I want to get to this game and specifically this overtime,

which I thought was... It was incredible. I thought the pace of it was outstanding. Again, I don't want to get too artsy on this one, but the flow of that overtime was like... Here I go. It was like symphonic. It was like a melody rising and falling

and rising again and falling again. Like it was sudden and then it was slow. And then it was, you know, there's all this, there's normally I always complain about all the regroups, but it didn't feel like it was a whole overtime full of regroups because there was excitement with it. There were breakaways and two on ones and Fleury made a great save on Tuck

and made the save on Skinner on the breakaway and Lukonen stopped Addison and then stopped Brodine. Olofsson wins it on a one-timer with a scant few seconds left. Eric Sinek, a lot of space up top of the far point with 38 seconds. Kaprizov, right side, sends it across. Hartman snaps one on stopped by Lukan and in stick goes into the net Hartman knocks Lukan in down to get the stick

back the other way comes Dolin he'll drop it back grabs across scores Victor Golosin in overtime and the Sabres win it 6-5 with 18.3 seconds left in the extra period. I just thought that was, just from an aesthetic point of view, watching that overtime, I thought it was gorgeous.

It was a beautiful overtime to watch, Elliot. I know we all love the go, go, go, go, go, go, go for five minutes, the roller coaster. But this one was like it was slow, and then it was sudden, and then it was medium tempo, and then it was super fast, and then it was cautious, and then it was barn doors blown open wide. It was phenomenal. It was like the coolest overtime I've seen in I don't know how long.

I thought that was just a beautiful OT. Well, first of all, I wanted to give credit to Marc-Andre Fleury because even though they lost the game, we've learned now that he's dealing with a personal matter and he left the team after the game and he went home until Tuesday. First of all, I want to wish him the best. Obviously, he had a lot in his mind, but I agree with you. That was an

incredible overtime to watch i want i want the east to be a little bit closer i i was a little worried a couple weeks ago that we were going to have a year like last year where like the east and the west were going to shut off and like all these playoff spots were going to be decided early well now at least nashville's making a run of it in the West. And St. Louis, at least, is pretty close. And in the East, all of a sudden, Buffalo was four points out of the playoffs on Sunday night with four games in hand on the Islanders.

And, you know, Pittsburgh's still there too. I want to see Buffalo make this a race. And I think those fans deserve it. And I think some of those players in particular deserve it and i kind of feel bad for thompson because you know we should probably have another trophy this year we should have the mcdavid trophy and the heart two trophy because mcdavid's going to win this thing going away but you can make the argument that tage thompson deserves it the race is over yeah i know like we're sitting here, we're recording this

podcast on January 8th and the heart is over. You know, there's always this debate, like if the Oilers miss the playoffs, you know, you're going to vote him for the heart. Like I don't care at all. Like he's, he's winning this, but we almost need like a separate award if Thompson keeps this up for him this year.

Maybe we won't call it the heart trophy award. Maybe we call it the heart too. Heart light. Heart light. The heart valve trophy. I like that. The heart valve trophy. I got a 31st goal in that game against the Minnesota wild.

Rasmus Dallin, five point game. Like I'm with you. Well, first of all, he is really going to, Oh, I know Dallin's going so good. Like, I'm with you. Well, first of all. He is really going too. Oh, I know. Darlene's going so good.

Here's the thing. You know of my going back to when I was a kid and how much I loved the Buffalo Sabres. Oh, the odd. Don't cheer for teams, but I mean, the odd and the French connection and all of it and Playfair and Korab and like Schoenfeld and all those guys.

Like, I loved all. Danny Gere. Like, I loved all those guys. Ted I loved all Dan, Danny gear. Like I loved all those guys, Ted Darling. So that love exists there. And I really want the Buffalo Sabres to be something for the fans, for the team, for all of it.

I mean, everybody's cheering for Buffalo everywhere right now, whether it's the bills. And I would imagine the Sabres as well. I just want something good to happen to Buffalo right now. I agree. Those kickoff returns on Sunday. Oh, two of them.

Unbelievable. Incredible. Fantastic. Unbelievable. Just cheering for that city big time. How do you see this goalie situation shaking out? Because normally it's the path of least resistance and you send Lukanen down.

He's been real good. And, you know, Comrie is ready to go. Craig Anderson and Lukanen, when they were the pair, Lukanen was getting the lion's share of the better games. And although he wasn't great to start, he's finishing here really strong. And he's suddenly turned into that goaltender they thought they were going to get

when they drafted him from the Sudbury Wolves of the OHL. Normally the path of least resistance is, well, he doesn't need waivers. Just send them down to Rochester. But how do you do that when he's playing this well? And to your point, they they're making this interesting and they got a shot at it.

You have to keep them. Okay. But then do you have, but then you have to like wave or trade someone or something like it's, it's a spot. It's a spot. Like they are definitely in a spot but i'd rather be in this spot because i'm in the race than be in this spot because i'm garbage again i get it if you're the sabers and again i was okay if i was in their shoes what would i be thinking i only judge others i judge myself you have to send a message to your

players that we're seeing what you're doing and we're giving you the best chance to win you have to send a message to the fans that you've seen a lot and we're giving we're showing you we're giving us the best chance to win like maybe you have to put someone on waivers maybe you have to make a move the other thing and i i hate saying this but but it's true. Like somebody else could get hurt. It was funny. I was talking to a governor last week and he says, you know what? I think this is one of the biggest problems with the league. And I said, what's that?

And he goes, all the injuries. We have too many injuries. Too many games. That's why. Yeah. Well, I mean, maybe that's what it is. But he said, we have too many injuries and some of them are legitimate but we have to find if some of these are more uh were available to overcome or defend before they happen i think

there's some teams who do it already but it sounds like there's going to be even more and more deep data dives into injuries by some of these teams. Anyway. Listen, to that point, I understand the frustration. I get it. You're spending millions and millions and millions of dollars on all these players. These are your investments and it's frustrating and every team goes through it. But if you want the game played at this pace,

82 times a year, this is baked into the pie. I understand that. I think they're talking about more like soft tissue stuff and stuff like that, to be perfectly honest. Like, is there a better way that they could handle rest in those kinds of injuries? Anyway, I've totally, as usual, I've taken myself off on a terrible, terrible divergent path

that makes absolutely no sense. You're playing hurt. You're playing hurt. You're playing hurt. It's okay. That's right. But anyway, let me get back to the Sabres. Lukanen is your best hope right now.

Comrie's coming off an injury, and you still want to make sure that not ease him back in, but you don't want to overwork him back in. Anderson, from what I'm hearing, playing now takes more out of a toll of him than in the past, which is perfectly normal. The guy is 40 years old. I mean, nobody's going to blame him for that.

You have to keep the three because you have to show everybody that you're serious about winning. Right. One final note on Buffalo Sabres net mining. It sounds as if Eric Portillo, who is a third round draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres, it doesn't sound like Buffalo is going to be able to sign him. It sounds very much like he's going to explore free agency at the end of the

season. He plays with the university of Michigan for those that, that don't know. It looks like that he's seriously considering that option. Do you think he gets traded maybe at the deadline? I wondered, listen, I wondered,

I've been wondering about that for a while. And here why because lukinans consider the goaltender of the future they go out and they grab eric homery and they already have and they also have devin levi like there's all these goaltenders in front of eric portillo so i know that you know a lot of athletes would just say well i don't care who's in front of me i'm the better goaltender i'm going to prove it. But if you're a Portillo right now, you're looking at this and you're saying, okay, how far down the depth chart am I? And you've just signed Comrie for two years and Lukanen's really close.

And you've got Devin Levi as well. So I think all of that in concert might lead to this decision. So it's one of those things to watch. Will the Buffalo Sabres take a shot at trying to sign him? I mean, he kind of holds the cards here. Like if he doesn't want to sign, he's a free agent at the end of the season. I would imagine that they've at least investigated or called around to see what the market is like. I would have to think so.

Yeah, I would have to think so. Listen, I would have to think so. Listen to 32 Thoughts, the podcast, ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Okay, Elliot, we're going back on the road again. We are going to Owen Sound for Hockey Day in Canada. We will be there. This podcast will, anyway.

On January 19th, 3.30 Eastern at Hartwood Hall, which is a really cool venue. And Jack DeKaiser is playing later on this month, too. Wow. And, man, did I ever see Jack DeKaiser a ton back in the day. Anyway. Flashbacks. Right? It's pretty cool.

So, live podcast, January 19th in Owen Sound, home of thebacks. Right? It's pretty cool. So live podcast, January 19th in Owen Sound, home of the attack. Shout out Dale DeGray. The event is sold out, but we're giving away five pairs of tickets that Elliot used to be

six pairs of tickets. See, we call this the Joel Darling tax. Joel Darling, who's an executive producer of Hockey Night in Canada, he initially told us there were six tickets, but now there's only five.

So we call that the Darling Tax. The Darling Tax. So the Darling Tax has been paid. It's like the Carbon Tax, but different. The Darling Tax has been paid and we have five pairs to give away because as I mentioned, the event is already sold out. So, and by the way, Bedini Band is going to be the in-house entertainment.

So that's Dave Bedini. God, I've seen Bedini and Real Static so much. Look forward to seeing Dave and hearing some great tunes. We have a tentative guest list as well, which is pretty sweet. Lanny McDonald and Blair Turnbull, Joey Hisham, Bobby Ryan, Mike Futa, and, and I'm really looking forward to this one, Les Binkley is going to be joining us. Les Binkley, really?

The great goal, and you know what? One of my, I'm dying to talk to him about one specific event in the WHA when he stood in front of shots from, as a stunt in the intermission, kenevil no way i'll tell you the story at the show and so will les binkley yeah it's when he back when he played with the toronto toros anyhow we're giving away five pairs here's how you do it here's how you get your tickets answer this question this was sleuth by the way by am. Trivia, hockey trivia master, as it turns out. Okay, so name me the NHL team

who has drafted the most players from the Owen Sound attack. Name me the NHL team that has drafted the most players from the Owen Sound attack of the OHL. Email your answer to 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca or you can leave a voicemail with your answer at 1-833-311-3232. Again, 1-833-311-3232. We will randomly select five winners this time next week.

So get your answers in now. We're taking this back on the road, Frej. Awesome. Can't wait to go. And Elliot, we should also mention we're not the only show in town that week. Certainly Hockey Day in Canada is always a major occurrence in this country. But go to owensound.ca to find the other events that are taking place in and around Hockey Day in Canada. Owensound.ca, the event runs from Wednesday to Saturday and there are no shortage of things to do

in Owensound or the attack play where they are rumored to have the best fries in the OHL. Anyway, enjoy, and we look forward to seeing you in Owen Sound. Yes, can't wait. Edmonton defense. Yeah, there have been a few people asking about this, and I tried to ask around.

Jake McCabe, Edmontonmonton I believe is on his no trade list so I don't think that's going to be happening unless he changes his mind I think the Oilers do want to give Broberg a decent look but I think they're going to do something like I do think it's going to happen I just don't know if it's going to happen as fast as everybody wants it to happen. And that's one of the things about the last couple of years in Edmonton. There always seems to be this time when there's a maelstrom. And what does Holland try to do?

He tries to get through it until things calm down and do what he needs to do. And I think that's what he's trying to do here. Now, as I mentioned on Saturday, I think they're trying to give Broberg a bit of a window to really see what they've got there. Didn't play a ton on Saturday night, and they're going 11-7, but that loss, like you're up on 2-0 in Colorado, you got to hold it down.

And Skinner played great, and they were dominated at 5-on-5, but when you watch that game on Saturday night, that's a game good teams shut down, and they didn't, and they lost in overtime. I think one of the issues there actually is I think there's a bit of a debate about do they go with a heavier defenseman, or do they want a defenseman who can make plays? And it seemed counterintuitive to me

because they already have D who can make plays, like Bouchard can make plays, although he struggled this year. Barry can make plays, Nurse can make plays. But I still think that there's a conversation about, we got to make sure that whoever we get is somebody who can make plays and passes and i think it's a lot of the similar names that we've kind of heard edmondson gavrikov gavrikov but i think they will do something i think it's a matter of targeting the right guy and figuring out cap wise when they can really do it and when the other team is going to be ready to do it the whole thing with bedard everyone's talking about oh we got a tank even more for bedard figuring out cap wise when they can really do it and when the other team is going to be ready to do it. The whole thing with Bedard,

everyone's talking about, Oh, we got to tank even more for Bedard. Yeah. But you can say, my team wants to trade six guys. Who's taking those six guys. We've talked about that before with so many teams in LTIR and capped out,

et cetera. Like who, who can, who can bring them in? You know, the other thing too, Jeff, I wanted to mention is, on Saturday night after we'd done our segment,

I got a really interesting text from someone who said, you guys talk about all the big guys. What about all the third liners or the second pair Ds that teams trade for that win you cups? And I thought it was a really fair point. I mean, you can't get to everybody in an honors segment, but I think there's going to be some interesting guys that maybe aren't the headliners.

The guy I really wonder about is Barbashev in St. Louis. I just remember how good he was in that playoff run in 2019, and he hasn't been great this year, but that's a guy I'd be looking at. I think that's the other

thing here, too, is maybe not who are the headliners, but who are the headliners but who are the next level guys teams are going to be chasing after so you're thinking like the arterie leckanen deal that colorado made last year that really put them over or it's like a an andrew cogliano or something like that these types of of smaller deals bringing in players that aren't your necessary headline players that end up well we, we've talked about that before. Sometimes it's the tweaks that you make at deadline that put you over the top, right? It's, you know, Anaheim at their deadline in 07

adding Brad May that all the guys will tell you. I remember Scott Niedermeyer telling me once that that changed that room. Like, what's the one thing that Burke did when, you know, when you guys won the cup that put it over the top and he said it was Brad May. It's Brad May coming in, that final piece for them. Now, Brad at that point is not a headline guy,

but we've seen it before, right? Yeah. Not trade deadline, tweak deadline. That can sometimes put you over the top. Yeah. So, Elliot, it's been a busy weekend around junior hockey. Well, it was a busy week around junior hockey with the World Juniors in Halifax and Moncton.

What do you make of, because we've been talking a lot about, you know, NHL trade deadline and teams warming up and all. It's been an insane amount of trades and the prices that teams are paying, and this is certainly all headlined by what Kamloops gave up to get Olin Zellweger, who's a prospect for the Anaheim Ducks.

We just most recently saw Wynn Gold with Team Canada, the World Juniors. Like There's some huge prices that are being paid here. Some big names that are moving. Owen Beck, Montreal Canadiens prospect, goes to Peterborough. Ethan Del Mastro, Hawks prospect and Blue Jackets prospect, Luca Del Belbuluz, goes to the Sarnia Sting. Shane Wright you know as we record this he's still talking to teams i'm told that don't expect necessarily something to happen as we record this or later on this evening but we do know that shane right is getting traded and i mentioned zellweger like i'll be blunt it's been crazy this weekend around the chl it. I mean, some of these deals, I'm reading them about all the draft picks and it sounds bananas.

And first of all, we should say, it doesn't sound like Bedard's getting moved here, right? No. And that is, if you saw his interview on the ice in Halifax, I don't want to talk about myself. It's all about team. And that's consistent with everything that

we've heard about Bedard, which should probably make bottom feeding teams in the NHL love and want this guy even more. Yes. When you talk about loyalty, bless them and bless the Regina Pats, but they're not one of the Seattles or Saskatoons

or Portlands or Kamloops in the Western Hockey League. Those are the teams that have loaded up here and Regina ain't one of them. But Bedard, who's the best player in the CHL, he's staying. He's a Regina Pat and he's getting drafted as a Pat. I wonder if he ends up at the World Championships.

I wonder about the exact same thing. Maybe win a round or at least get to the playoffs and then you're off to the World Championships and then draft and then you're a pro. Well, we're writing off Regina really early, but that does leave open the possibility of it. Anyway, I wanted to ask you, do you have a problem with all this?

With the trades? Yes. Basically, no. I know there are some people that don't like them. Like there are some high-ranking people around the three leagues, the Western League, the Ontario League, and the Quebec League that don't like trades or don't like this volume of trades.

Like you look at a team like the Niagara Ice Dogs and the OHL, and I've kind of lost count to be quite blunt with you, the amount of moves. Like it's in the 20s and probably flirting with the 30s now of how many moves this new ownership group has made. And I know there are a lot of people around the Ontario League specifically that don't like that, that think it's a bad look for junior hockey, the idea of trading teenagers from one market to the other. The one thing that I will say is you still do need both player and parent approval.

I know the pressure can be exerted to not so gently nudge players into accepting deals, but there are a lot of people that think that the volume of trades isn't necessarily a good look for junior hockey. And it's not great for recruiting. And the idea that you're drafted and you go somewhere and then can be traded after six months here and drafted by Kingston, next thing you know, drafted by Kingston. Next thing you know, you end up in Sudbury across the province can be unsettling, certainly for parents and to say nothing about the players themselves at a

very tender age. So I understand it. The one thing that I always do say is everybody goes into this or should go into this eyes open wide that this is how this league operates and the last thing you can do is feign surprise because this is how these three leagues operate yeah i don't disagree with you on that jeff i think you have to know what you're getting into but you know the one thing is if if a player and his family are okay with it that's one thing i just worry about people getting pressured into accepting things they don't like.

I understand that. Especially at that age. I understand that. So I had someone who reached out to me and said, this makes me uncomfortable. I get it. I think this is too much. I get it. So I'm not around it as much as you are, so I wanted to ask you what you thought.

If it was my son, I would say, I better be okay with this. But I understand the pressures that come with that too it's um and yet at the other side of it there i was funny i was talking to one father today who has a kid who plays junior hockey and he's like look i just want my kid to play and right now my team is loading up so there goes my kid's ice time i don't necessarily care where he plays i just want him to. And he wants to play as well. The coach knows that, you know, come next season, this player is going to be a key piece of their team. But right now, because they're loading up, he's not getting ice time.

So for that player and those parents, it would be preferable if that player was moved to a situation where he would be playing and could enjoy the last few months of the of the season even though his team isn't necessarily although you know playoffs are a wild card you can go on a run with a hot goaltender you know the team isn't necessarily going to go deep into the playoffs so sometimes it's beneficial for the kid if the player finds himself in a situation where all of the sudden they've just brought in two right shot D that are now playing ahead of your kid. And for the next two years, he's going to be buried in that situation. It is probably better if he goes somewhere else. So I don't, I don't think that there's one sort of cookie cutter answer to all of it. Actually, Elliot, a really interesting Olin Zellweger story.

So we all know that a lot of athletes now, specifically younger kids, are just like workout fanatics and fitness fanatics. Olin Zellweger takes it like next level with like, you know, the fitness watch, the tracks, everything, you know, the heart rate monitor on all, like all of that. Like that is Zellweger. It has his routine, his workout, everything.

He is totally dialed in. And there's a story out there about the Anaheim Ducks interviewing their prospects, talking to their kids, right? And when they ask kids, like, how many calories do you put into your body every day? Most will give a range. It'll be like, ah, between like 2,500 to 4,500 calories. Olin Zellweger responds to the Ducks when they asked him that. He said between 5700 to 5800.

He is like that dialed in to how much he puts in his body. More exact, please. I'm sorry. That's not an acceptable range. He knows his body that well. Between 5700 to 5800 a day. That's his range for how many calories he puts in his body. Tell me, is that guy not perfect for Dallas Aikens?

Who's like, that's music to Dallas Aikens ears. Anyway, crazy trades. I can't remember one. I know the Braden Shen deal was huge. Ray Ferraro's deal from Portland to Brandon once upon a time was huge, but this may be this Olin Zellweger one, I think. And again,

there are much bigger authorities on the history of the Western hockey league than me, but this has got to be one of, if maybe not the biggest deal in the history of the Western hockey league for each. I think they traded unborn children. I remember talking to one general manager who's laughing to me.

He said, I got in crap from my wife when I came home from trade deadline. She's like, you realize you just traded a nine-year-old. I'm like, oh, geez, I never thought about it like that. But I guess with all those picks, I kind of did. Elliot, we'll wrap up the program here with a couple of emails and a couple of phone calls as well.

And once again, to get your voice heard on the podcast, you can email us at 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca. Leave a voicemail at 1-833-311-3232. Let's get to a couple of these now. And there are a couple of junior hockey ones. This one is from Nick. Can you explain the CHL to me and to some fellow Americans? From Nick, can you explain the CHL to me and to some fellow Americans?

Is the CHL a big umbrella name and then the OHL, the WHL, and the QMJHL all underneath that meet up and compete for the Memorial Cup? Do they only play within their league until Memorial Cup? Love hearing you guys talk about prospects. This would help straighten a few things out for me. Nick, you are exactly right. The CHL is the umbrella organization. There are three leagues underneath it. They all play within the league,

although there has been some crossover before. And they do meet up and play at the Memorial Cup. The host team gets an automatic buy. You know what's interesting here, Elliot? Now with both Gilles Courteau and Ron Robison, who are the commissioners of the QMJHL and the Western League, stepping down at the end of next season,

I wonder if this is a moment where the CHL, I think we've talked about this previous, rebrands itself and the CHL itself gets a stronger foothold and more of an identity. I don't know that they go as far as rebranding it CHL West or CHL Ontario, etc. But I wonder if at the end of all of this, the CHL brand comes out stronger because that brand doesn't have as much gravity as the Q, the dub, and the O does. Anyway. You think or you know?

I think. I suspect. How about I strongly suspect? I like that. Nate from Nashville. At the end of the Phil Bork interview, Phil was talking about living with different families in junior. What does he mean by that?

As always, great show. Keep going, Elliot. I got your back. Oh, thank you, Nate. This is why I love Nashville. Living with different families. You want to address that one, Freach? Well, it's billets.

And in juniors, you live with families. So you don't live in a hotel. You live around people. But there are rules. Like you can't just come and go as you please, Jeff. Oh, there are rules. And sometimes, you know, situations don't work out and you end up having a couple of different billet families.

And billet families, by the way, they get a stipend that pays for food for the players uh they also get free tickets to games usually you know billet families are you know longtime fans and have billeted a number of different players all throughout the years which is why you know whenever you see kids at the draft and they do their interview one of the first people they always thank are the billet families plenty of nhlers they'll still keep in touch with their billets and you know plenty i know plenty that still keep in touch still talk with whenever they're close by they jordan bennington yeah when he played in toronto last week his billets from owen sound the barfoots were there watching him play no surprise no surprise

okay you like nate in? I like Patrick in Germany. Hey guys, great podcast. By the way, I hate the Glassbangers also. Patrick, with you, buddy. Good point, Jeff. I have a question about the counting of shots in the NHL. Why don't they count a shot that hits the post as a shot on goal? Because it's not going in.

It's wide. Yes, it's not going in. It's wide. Yes, it's not going in. Goalies always say that. Oh, man, yeah, but the guy hit two crossbars. Oh, you want me to stop the shots that go wide? Well, that actually happened to my face once. Oh, really? Tom Barrasso.

Oh, yeah. Really? 1999 playoffs with the Leafs. Oh, shocking. Game one. Game one. He has shut out against Toronto. Yeah.

And Brasso, who could be different, no question about that, to say the least, he went out the back door, and a bunch of us in the media chased him down the hallway at what is now Scotiabank Arena, and we caught him, and he stopped. And I'll never forget this. It was so funny. funny okay ask me your questions and one of the reporters just like threw out a statement because you know he this was a crazy

scene yeah and barrasa looked at him and goes is that a question so the guy had to rephrase it i felt so bad for him i was like, he just threw something out there because of the unique situations. And then he criticized the question. And so he rephrased it and he said, oh, great start for you. Shout out a couple of posts. And he goes, oh, so you want me to stop the ones that weren't going to go in too? Unbelievable. It was a crazy scene.

That's a standard goalie line. Oh, you want me to stop the shots that go wide too? Oh, okay. It's the ones that were going to go in. That's not enough for you. From Ryan in Dallas. We'll finish up with this one. From Ryan in Dallas, but go Sabres.

I'm wondering if, this is a slippery slope argument here. I'm wondering if in a close or tie game late, can the defensive team challenge that their opponent was offside before an upcoming defensive zone draw? Can they argue the opponent was offside so the faceoff has to be outside the zone or

can an offside challenge only occur on a scoring play? Creative. Creative. I like the way you think. I really love the way you think. Coaches love the way that you think right now, Ryan.'s b it's only on a goal only on a goal uh and there we go and again want to remind everybody uh get your answers in if you want to join us in owen sound for the sold out 32 thoughts at hartwood hall january 19th 3 30 eastern here's the question which nhl team has drafted the most members of the Owen Sound attack?

Get your answers in. Not the Playters. Not the Playters. The Owen Sound attack. Very good caveat there, Elliot. I'm very proud of you. 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca or leave a voicemail. 1-833-311-3232.

Before we wrap up and get to the music, I want to mention Pete Weber. Pete Weber is one of the great people of the game. Pete Weber has called hockey games going back to the 70s, whether it's the Buffalo Sabres, whether it's the Los Angeles Kings, whether it's the Nashville Predators, baseball with the Bisons as well. I always love it when a Buffalo Bisons highlight pops up on my Twitter feed from years ago and it's Pete Weber calling the game. I just love it. He is someone that we all love and respect and adore. He's the only person I know in the world who has a copy of the movie Slapshot in every room in his house. I've had many wonderful conversations with the great Pete Weber.

He's been part of some wonderful calls and some wonderful memories. And he's going through a number of health complications right now. He's going in for a procedure on Monday, January 9th. That's probably when you're listening to this podcast. And just on behalf of all of us here, Pete, we're wishing you, Claudia, your entire family, all the best.

The entire hockey world is thinking about you, Pete. One, two, three, four. Taking Us Out is a quartet from Deerfield, Illinois, whose sound was initially inspired by the British invasion. The Red Walls formed in 2001 playing covers, but would soon be discovered signing to a major label. From their debut record, here's The Red Walls with Colorful Revolution on 32 Thoughts to Party. Giving words for free To all the people there And though this song is the same Doesn't matter who plays It's alright Yeah, the papers say

We'll win this war Oh, now We will sing and set right up for a colorful revolution now bring just a word for the war

get it on the way