32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Will Kuzmenko Feel the Brotherly Love?

Episode Date: January 31, 2025

This episode of the podcast is dedicated to Shawn Simpson.In this edition of 32 Thoughts Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman breakdown the blockbuster trade between the Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers that sent Kuzmenko, Pelletier, & draft picks from Flames for Farabee, and Frost. Afterwards, the guys talk about what will happen to Brandon Saad after he and the Blues agreed to part ways (14:00). Kyle and Elliotte talk about the Boston Bruins and their continued struggles and what it means for Brad Marchand's future there (24:00). Elliotte drops that one executive would like to see the Avs trade for Trevor Zegras (28:40) before the pair talk about Drew Doughty's return to play and  the swirling Brandt Clarke rumours (29:43). The fellas delve into the latest surround Elias Pettersson and JT Miller in Vancouver, including possible suitors and the aftermath from Jim Rutherford's public comments (37:47) and Kyle takes a moment to call out the Canucks' roster for being oblivious to Linus Karlsson's first NHL goal (44:08). They talk about Marc-Andre Fleury's final NHL appearance in Montreal (46:50) and The Final Thought focuses on Utah HC's journey to finding an official team nickname and logo (56:50). Kyle and Elliotte answer your questions and respond to your voicemails in the Thought Line (1:04:57).In the final segment the fellas look ahead to a fantastic weekend of hockey (1:20:57).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates

This episode of 32 Thoughts is dedicated to the life of Sean Sipsit. Sean, among other things, loved hockey. From playing goal to working and scouting and management or talking about the game on the air, he had a passion for all of it. Sean faced a number of challenges in his life, and maybe his greatest triumph was being open about his own struggles because of the impact his vulnerability had on others. Our colleague Scott Oakson-Darcy has a line, grief is like a 10 pound brick in your pocket. Some days it's heavier than others

and it's heavy today. To Sean's sons, Shane and Sloan, the Simpson family, and everyone who was close to him, we send our love. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra AT4X, Dom Sharmati, Elliot Friedman, Kyle Bukoskas with you once again. Elliot, a 10-game slate in the NHL on Thursday night. There is a lot to get to with news around the entire league. We had the Four Nations captains named on Thursday as well.

But we ought to begin with the trade that came down on Thursday evening involving the Philadelphia Flyers and the Calgary Flames, two teams that were in action on Thursday as well. So the deal, if you missed it, Andre Kuzmenko, Jacob Pelche, a second-rounder and a seventh are going to Philadelphia for Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee. Now I go back to when we were in Canmore for Hockey Day in Canada a few weeks ago, we talked to him. Mm-hmm.

Then you said that day that the Flames may look for a right shot center if they stay in the race They got a center and frost. He's a lefty fair. He's a lefty, too I just wonder like from Craig Conroy's perspective. Why don't we start there Elliot? What was the motive for him and making this deal? I think the biggest motive he had as you said Was to improve himself down the middle even though he didn't get the right hand shot guy, he does improve himself down the middle. And number two, it's an interesting shot to take with therapy.

Like this is a guy last year who had 50 points. I think only seven of them were on the power play. There's a player there. And I think the flames want to see if they can unlock it. You know, Kuzmenko, he was falling out of favor there. It looked like he was going to get waved a couple of weeks ago and he's got hot, stayed in the lineup, but obviously he was not long for Calgary. You know, Pelche once surprised me a little bit.

This was a guy who was on waivers earlier this year, but he did a great job coming back, carving out a role. I thought, you know, he was kissing people all over Calgary, Hubert O'Brien, Leslie. I thought maybe that would really help his value in the city, allow him to stay. Um, and you know, he was carving out a role as a, as a penalty killer too. And it'll be interesting to see because. You know, Philly is a situation where he's going to get a chance to show, Hey, what can I do here? Can you carve out a role there? It's the city of brotherly love.

It's perfect for him. Carve out a role here. I think the biggest motivation in this trade was probably Philadelphia clearing room. I think Philly wanted to clear Farabee's contract because as they bring in more younger players and they start to turn over their roster a bit, you could see where Farabee and Frost were going to have trouble fitting in. And now you know Frost is a restricted free agent at the end of the year It was interesting. I was I was talking to someone tonight and saying what's the number there?

Like when you look at Frost next year, he's a restricted free agent and then he'll eventually be a UFA You know, he's probably a four million dollar player and I just don't think Philadelphia wanted to go there. Frost by the way, terrific guy. One of the thing about these two guys from Philly, Frost and Farabee, was at different times they were both kind of unhappy and squeezed out of their roles but they wouldn't complain about it. They just said you know what I'm not gonna be a problem I'm gonna try to play through it and they're gonna get a fresh start and a chance to try to play through it and they're going to get a fresh start and a chance to do it in Calgary. I think Philly just simply said, we want to clear some space, we want to have flexibility

to do a couple of things and they accomplished that in particular by moving on from the Farabee contract. I think he's the biggest X factor here. I really do He's you know, everybody knows kind of now what kuzmenko is, you know pelche has got a chance to grab a role but fair be is the guy here who has shown the highest offensive ceiling and The thing about John tortorella is you know, he wants you to be hard You know, he's you to be hard.

You know, he's he's very much that flyer mentality of we want you to be skilled and we want you to be hard. Joel Farabee is skilled, but he wasn't hard enough for Tortorella. I'm curious now with a guy like Ryan Huska, can be tough but also can bring the velvet glove a little bit more, can he find that higher level? To me, he's the biggest X factor in the trade. If he becomes a consistent 50-point guy, that's a big, big win for the Calgary Flames. Especially because he's still got some term left.

Three more years after this one at $5 million per. I was looking looking at reminding myself I couldn't believe he's only 24 years old. Like for me I'm going it's like he's been in the league 10 years already but it's just it's amazing that obviously he came into the league quite early on in Philadelphia. The Kuzmenko factor you know for Philly Elliott no question even as things were going good for Calgary he was going to be a piece that was likely to move on. He was not going to last there. Of course, and he was falling out of favor. But with him knowing that he played with Matvey Mitchkov in Russia once upon a time, like

is there a part of that incentive for Fili too to maybe bring in a familiar face for him? I mean, I'm sure you saw the fire with Mitchkov and Tortorella on the bench Thursday night, too. Oh, boy. I got I have to think that that is a big factor there. Obviously, the Flyers know that. Like the other thing here is that Kuzmenko was a late scratch. He was supposed to play like it's funny. The the flames even put him in their social media like playing tonight. And he got scratched at the absolute last minute and one of

the things that was going on was earlier in the night there were some rumors that Philly was up to something and you know I reached out to a couple of people and basically one of them said to me can't tell you those guys are playing and so you're like okay and then someone else said, you know, just keep an eye on lineups around the league. And then when Kuzmenko laughed at the absolute last minute,

when he was supposed to play, like Kevin Rooney who played, you know, did the extra skate in the morning so he wasn't supposed to go. So we kind of figured out who it was, but it was like drip, drip, drip. And then someone told me that Kuzmenko had a no trade to Philly. And they're like, after all the challenges he had with Rick Tauke in Vancouver, is he really going to wave to go to Philadelphia? And I think Mishkov was one reason. But I heard that the Flyers, I assume it was Daniel Breyer and Keith Jones

or some combination of the two talked to I heard they spoke to him during the day and they convinced him that there would be something there would be a good reason for him to come to Philadelphia and they needed him. So he did wave. He went to go. And then it was just a matter of, you know, figuring out what the exact return route was. And adding to the level of confusion was that Morgan Frost left the game, but it turned out he

was banged up. Like he was in the trade, but he also got kind of hurt during the game or banged up or whatever you want to say. So the whole thing was was really really confusing but I heard they've been talking on and off and it really picked up during the day and I think it's obvious by the fact that you know Kuzmenko was supposed to play and then all of a sudden he didn't. So it was just a bit of a wild evening just trying to figure out what was going on and then you know rumors start oh maybe it's a three-teamer or involves some other teams or other players who were still playing it was just kind of a fun fun crazy night so when you first

get that note like hey the flyers are up to something like at this stage of your life Elliot this is like a shot of adrenaline go through your body or you just like clockwork it's like okay now I gotta this person, got to send a note here and on and on and on. And you know, your night's been thrown for a loop. Yeah. Cause you know, I'm still trying to write this week and it's just gotten completely, I don't know if I would say there's a surge of adrenaline or something like that. It's just more like, Hey, you got a job to do and try to do it properly. Like the,

the thing that was really confusing in this one was Frost because initially I'd heard he was going to be in the deal and everybody quite rightly was pointing out that he hadn't played the last eight minutes of the second period and then someone said to me, wait a sec, I saw the trainer with him. So one of two things is happening, you know, the trainer is saying you're traded Come off the bench or he's legitimately injured. So you're like, you don't want to make a mistake, right? That's what really comes out to it. And you know, like I think everybody's competitive you you want to get the details first but the bigger thing is you don't want to make a mistake and the frost thing in particular and You know, I think too is that

um you know I think the Flyers were really protective of the guys who were playing in the game like Pelche left the Calgary game and it became pretty obvious why he was being taken out but the Flyers guys still played all the way through. And, you know, that's always a weird situation because as we said, Frost got hurt. And thankfully it didn't appear to be serious. But if it was serious, you know, what would have happened? It was just an overall strange, strange night. And the other thing too is the Flyers, like, when you hear they're doing something, okay, is it Rista Linen? Is it Lawton?

Who's out of the lineup? And you see that Eric Johnson's not playing. Is it him? You're basically going through and trying to figure out who the person is and who makes sense. Yeah. I just think if you're a Flames fan, you should be excited about this move on on Thursday night Shouldn't you because I know it hasn't been a great year for Joel Farabee to this point for example

But the hope is is that you've got guys that have the ability to not only help your team a little bit later But also help right now for a team that's been Continually a real pleasant surprise in the Western Conference, another win on Thursday night. I think for the Flames the X factor in this. Faraby, Calgary in goals per game, they're fifth worst in the league. They're tied, actually they're tied with Nashville at 2.65. Like I think it says a lot about where Calgary is, that they're still in the race. lot about where Calgary is, that they're still in the race.

Um, they won again, they passed Vancouver and they're ahead of them in both points, percentage and points, same amount of games, and they have one of the worst offenses in the NHL. And what you want to hear is that your general manager, like the one thing about Craig Conroy is he said, he's trying to do all this stuff with a long-term view, right? Well, as you said, he went out and he got a 24-year-old player who had 50 points last season, and that's the kind of gamble

that Calgary should be taking. Now they've got to see if they can get them back to that level, maybe go even further. But Craig Conroy has said, look, you guys have earned help and I'm trying to bring you help. I have to say this, there's a lot of people in this trade who are worth rooting for. Pelche, Farabee, Frost, all former first round picks,

all have had ups and downs, all of them have had big moments, all of them have had low moments, and they really didn't complain. As I said earlier, Farabee and Frost kept quiet. Pelche could have been miserable at the beginning of the year. I mean, he cleared through waivers in the league and instead he went down like him and Coronado this year and Coronado had another huge night against the Ducks. They went down to the miners and what they did was they played their hearts out.

They showed they deserve to come back. And like I said, there's a lot of people in this trade who are worth rooting for. But Farabee to me is the key. He's got the highest offensive ceiling. And if Ryan Huska and the Flames can get him back to that, could get him to the playoffs. You're in a spot as of Friday morning. So that was one transaction. Another thing that I think a lot of the hockey world is keeping an eye on is what's going to happen with Brendan Saad Elliott. So on Friday, his contract mutually will be terminated between player and team.

And so Saad agreeing to that is leaving, I believe, just over $5 million on the table for what is the end of his contract to become a UFA because he wants to continue to play in the NHL and have a chance to play for a team that could be a threat come the springtime. So how many teams do you see being in the mix and be very interested in taking on Brandon Saad services for the remainder of this year? A lot. As a matter of fact, you said something very interesting there. The remainder of this year, there was some talk on Thursday that maybe one or two of these teams offer him a second year. Really? Yes. Wow. Maybe not at a huge number. Like I had one team tell me if you

were to offer him a pro rated say 2 million this year and a 2 million like sign him to 2 years 2 million. So you get the pro rated 2 million this year and maybe 2 million next year. Do you get them? I think there were some teams weighing, do we go for the second year to get them? And I think that's the other question for sod. And this is the whole fascinating thing about all of this. So as you mentioned, cap hit was four or five. St. Louis had been trying to deal him for a while.

And because of that second year cap hit next year for five They couldn't do it. It was just nobody was doing it And you know, I'll tell you something too I know a team that went to watch him play recently and they said that They the Brandon saw they remember at his best was an animal on the forecheck and He didn't see that player that night. And I think that's one of the things he said is if Sod's going to be effective, he has to be an animal on the forecheck. And I think the hope is, you know, it just didn't work for him in St. Louis

this year. The hope is he'll go somewhere else and he'll rediscover that side of himself. go somewhere else and he'll rediscover that side of himself. The question I think he's asking is, does he go somewhere this year, bank on a bet on himself, have a big year and then maybe play it into something a little bit better next year? Or does a team say, we'll take you, we'll take the leap, we'll take you this year and next year and he says you know what that's a little bit closer to what I gave up and I'll take that. Like all of these things are being considered. Now you know I think some of the teams that are looking at him and I think there were a lot you know Vegas has been looking for wingers Edmonton, Stan Bowman knows them

really well. Yep. Craig Barube knows them really well in Toronto. You know, I've heard teams like New Jersey. I've heard teams like Tampa. You know, I just think that any, like, I think almost everybody here is willing to take a gamble on him, A, depending on what the number is and B, does he want next year or does he just want this year to maybe reestablish his market? I think he's going to go to a good team. I think everybody understands that. And I think the question is going to be, is does he rediscover that passion?

It's pretty obvious to me he didn't want to go to the AHL. Like if you're St. Louis and the player walks up to you and says I'll walk away from $5 million, you're like how quickly can I sign? Because you're almost wondering if Saad's saying, look I really don't want to go to the American Hockey League and if he doesn't go, he gets suspended without pay anyway. So it's a big decision for him.

The only one I can remember similar is Philip Zadina and you know the thing about Philip Zadina Kyle is he walked away from four and a half million dollars and at the time he played less than 200 games and it was his first big contract. Like Brandon Sod he's played 900 games, he's made 50 million in his career and I still think walking away from five million dollars is an unbelievable thing. I don't know too many people who would do it but at least unlike Zadina, he's built up a nest egg. Like as shocking as this is for a lot of people, I still think the Zadina one was even more shocking to me. But he'll have no problem, no problem finding a team.

It's just what does he want and does he want the one year? Does he want the two? Yeah. You know what this reminds me of actually, Elliot? This Zadina is a very good one, but it made me think of Zach Bogosian. Yeah, that's a good one. I can't remember off the top of my head how much money he was leaving on the table when him and Buffalo decided it was time to cut bait, but similar scenario where they terminated the contract, he became a free agent, signed with Tampa. Now COVID hit, weren't sure where everything was going to go, but

ends up with the lightning in the bubble and wins the Stanley Cup a few months later, and he's still playing in the league now. Yes. Yes. I remember that. And you know what? I looked it up, but Goshen was in the last year of a seven-year, $36 million dollar contract and so it was with four months left. So again it wasn't as big a financial penalty but it was still a thing. It was about a player saying I'll walk away from this amount of money to get to a better situation. Right, especially because again he was playing on a Buffalo team that was not very good.

He wasn't playing all that often and you wondered, okay, geez, are things coming to an end here for his playing career? Here we are in 2025 and he's still going. Very good Minnesota team. We'll get to them a little bit later. So that's going to be interesting to watch with Saad. Yeah, another one that I mean you had talked about, as you say, earlier this year about were they gonna put him on waivers, what was gonna happen. You knew there was a lot of discussion around his future and the uncertainty

of it all. Now we'll see who the suitors emerge and how quickly it all comes together. You know, it's been an interesting week, by the way, for Blues that were kind of on their way out. There's Sod and we'll see where he goes but I also wanted to shout out Scott Perunovic. Scott Perunovic was a guy who you know he was you know a really talented player he won the Hobie Baker right and you know he there's so many defensemen on the St. Louis blue line and he, you know, he's not a big guy and he just kind of fell out of favor there. You know, he'd only played 24 games this year and then, you know, the Islanders get all the... I had heard, and I've never gotten

this confirmed, but I had heard like he and his representatives had permission to talk to other teams. And it's kind of the same thing that Zach Jones is going through right now, like really talented guys. But if you already have one kind of smallish defenseman on your team, you don't want two. That's just not the way the NHL is going right now. And St. Louis had a really hard time finding a landing spot for Perunovich. And then the Islanders get all these injuries.

And so Perunovich gets traded there. And, you know, lo and behold, the guy's played two games for the Islanders and he's got two assists and he's plus three. And you know, who knows how long this ride is going to last for him, but I always like to see somebody take an opportunity and run with it. You know, sometimes you find yourself in a bad place and it's not because of anything you've done, it's just that circumstances just line up against you. And with all those defensemen that the Blues have, and you know the Blues are a team, they like, you know, they philosophically, they generally believe in big, long, lanky, lean defensemen,

it was a tough spot for him. And I hope it continues, because it's just a reminder that whenever you get an opportunity, sometimes they come out of nowhere, and you better take it and good for Perunovitch, he's taking it early right now. And there is no hotter team in the NHL right now than the New York Islanders. And wins in a row.

And back in the mix in the Eastern Conference wild card race in the thick of it, along with teams to name a few, the Boston Bruins, who kind of had, I was just going back and looking, Elliot, like they've had some, some teaser wins this month, mixed in with a bunch of disheartening losses. Right. So a couple of- Another one. Coming off. Yeah. A handful of losses.

They go down. There was that crazy game in Florida They win with the mother's trip, right? And you're like, okay and they followed up big win against Tampa at home And then that one they lost against Ottawa on hockey day in Canada Win losts win They beat Colorado at home Another big result and then two bad losses this week. 7-2 in Buffalo, and then they got crushed by the Jets after tying the game early in the third period.

It immediately unravels for them on Thursday night. Cam Neely a few weeks back, he was saying, there's two paths for them to go. Did they add a little bit, or did they start to go the retool road? The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Vegas Golden Knights in overtime on Thursday to temporarily knock Boston out of the wild card spot. One of the great stories in the league this year. But how about the Bruins? What's your read on them right now?

I've just been, you know, like I said, I think Fudo Shinzawa is a guy who really has his pulse on the team there. And I've been looking at that Marchand story that he put up last week. And, you know, I kind of asked around, what does everybody think? And I think that only becomes a thing this year. If Boston kind of falls out of the race. Well, as you said, right now, they're out of the playoffs. And the thing that like their math isn't great either. They've played more games than anybody else in the race. Now there's still lots of time.

They still got 29 games left in the season. But if Boston takes on water, I'm really going to be curious to see where this goes. Because there was a time in this year where I didn't think there was a chance that Marshan was going to be out. And now I think it's not as certain. Depending on what happens here. Wow. Really? Yeah. Which is hard. I just, yeah, I don't know. Like that story last week has had me thinking. Like

there's a lot of stuff that gets thrown out there and sometimes I'm guilty of being more careless than I should be. That one, it's just had me thinking. Very careful reporter. Yes. No, no question. I wonder, for Boston and for other teams, what are the deadlines? Just with Four Nations coming up in terms of making decisions about what direction they're going. Is there the Four Nations deadline and then the trade deadline a few weeks after that? Like,

how are teams kind of approaching, all right, what do we really feel about our team? And we kind of have to have an answer by this date. I think that it depends on, like we had a huge trade last week, Rantanen, and what was the issue there? It was that Carolina was being forced to make a decision, Vancouver or Colorado, that's number one. Colorado wasn't sure they could get a better player for Rantanen, who at this time is a rental, and we'll see. And also, you know, Colorado didn't want, like the closer you get to unrestricted free agency, the more the pendulum of power goes to the player, right? And the avalanche were really worried about that. And what happens if he goes and he gets hurt, either at the Four Nations or somewhere else. I think that really

worried them. So I think some of it comes like, are you considering trading a player who's playing in the Four Nations? If no, I don't know if it matters as much. If yes, it really matters. If yes, it really matters because because, you know, some of those games are going to be really emotional. Like I was talking with someone the other night. They have players on Team USA and Team Canada, and they're like. That game in Montreal on the Saturday night, that's going to be like a Stanley Cup final

game. You know, those guys are going to be going at each other hard, hard. So I think there's a little bit of nerves, right? So I do think it could potentially be a factor. Yes. Yeah. Well, it doesn't surprise me that that's the sentiment. I remember those pre-tournament games before the 2016 World Cup that Canada and the US played.

I think there was one in Ottawa, there was one maybe in Columbus. And I just remember those being very nasty games. Like the tournament hadn't even started yet. Remember Ryan Kessler was running around like there was, he ran. Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Like all hell was breaking loose. The real games haven't even started yet. was running around like there was he ran oh yeah I forgot about that the real games haven't even started yet there's a teaser of anyway then of course it

wasn't a great tournament for the the US once things finally got going but I should feel much different about things going into to this event as we've discussed by the way I had someone who said to me this is an executive in the league. You know who he wants to see Colorado trade for JT Miller That would be the obvious answer, but no No, it was it was a good. It was a good answer. It's like it's a really good answer No, that wasn't the answer either Trevor Zegris, he said.

Really? Yeah. Just said that he would love to see Trevor Zegris learn from Nathan McKinnon. I have no idea if it's even a thing. Just he threw it at me because we're all talking about what's Colorado going to do now. He threw it at me because we're all talking about what's Colorado going to do now. His idea was go get Zegras, put him with McKinnon, see what happens. There's a big deal between winging it and seeing what happens, so let's see what happens. All right, Los Angeles.

So Drew Doughty makes his return to the lineup. And if he's going to play like this, he's going to be on Team Canada. All right, Los Angeles. So Drew Doughty makes his return to the lineup. And if he's gonna play like this, he's gonna be on Team Canada. I know he was dash two both games, but wasn't exactly eased back into his minutes. No. 23-51. And Jim Hiller, he said he looked tired,

he looked a bit tired after the second game. Like, no kidding. Yes, yeah. But I can totally see him being like, don't you dare even consider limiting my minutes because I haven't played yet this season. Oh yeah, well we're not sure we're gonna play him back to back, okay, try. Try not to put him in there.

I can see them saying, I can see them hiding his equipment and him going and putting on someone else's and just saying, okay, I'm ready to play. Right. Right. He skips the pregame nap, he's back at the rink at like 1.30 in someone else's gear. I don't know which one made you guys. But the interesting one was, so they scratched. Tyler dressed as Goldberg in D2, The Mighty Ducks.

Oh, very good. Yes. Yes, very good, very clever, good reference. So, Brant Clark got scratched two games in a row here. And like, I don't think the kings are rushing to trade this guy or anything like that. But I think the one thing that that does in those situations is it starts getting other people asking, you know, what are you up to? And so it's not even anything that you're doing in terms of saying anything to anyone, but the way that he sits starts getting other people calling you and saying,

does this mean anything? Is there anything we have to know here? And the thing about Clark is, you know, he's there top scoring defenseman, even strength and power play. And I think he has the fifth most ice time on the team. The other thing I noticed, I was just flipping through the numbers, like he's top 50 in the NHL in block shots with the tie. So I think that, like I think he's like tied for 48th. So I give the kid credit.

It's obvious to me that he's like, okay, I have to do this because my coach will demand it and you have to play like that in the NHL. And he's trying to throw his body in front of Pucks. He's trying to eat Pucks. So I give the kid credit for that. But you know, the one thing you see, and we even kind of saw it, Kyle, when we were out there and we went to that great interstate game between Anaheim and the Kings in

the preseason is that he's a really talented kid, but you can see that the way he plays is a little bit at odds with the way the Kings want to play, right? And that's the thing I kind of look at there. Now Anderson, he might have got a broken bone, unfortunately, in his hand. He got hurt and he left the game. So that might have happened on Thursday night. And I really hope not because you don't want to see anybody injured and he's a really good player for them. That might open up a space for Clark again. But that's the one thing when I watch him play, I see a guy who like is a little bit constrained by the way they want him to play. It may not necessarily be a stylistic match. And that doesn't mean again that they're looking to give up on him or anything like that.

I would think not. But what it does do is it starts getting teams saying, all right, anything going on here? So I'm sure the Kings will get people reaching out to them about it. Hmm. Yeah, it's just interesting because I mean, I mean, that's how we played in junior. Like that's what would have attracted the Kings and taking them when they did in the first place. I only say that just because I had this conversation with somebody

just a few months back now, but just that whole idea of like you draft someone high, you take your first round pick and they've got skill, there's offensive upside, and then certainly there's other parts of the game. Said player, regardless of position, is going to have to learn over the course of time as they adjust to playing professionally and certainly at the top level in the NHL. But just wonder if there's times where, you know, you're so focused on that,

you lose sight a little bit of all the brilliance of what got you so excited about the player in the first place to draft him where you did. And I'm just not saying that that's where things are getting right now between- It can happen. And Brad Clark, but I just, that's on on my mind too because there's a reason why he was selected where he was and this way he's played his whole life and that's drawn

the attraction and the allure just would hate to that to be completely taken out of his game but again I'm suggesting that that's what they're on the path to here. Well the thing is there's always the happy marriage right? And you have great skill and you can't be successful without skill and willing to work at it. But you know there is a way that you do have to play in this league to be successful. Like one of the things I'm kind of watching is Columbus is back in the playoffs right now as you mentioned they beat Vegas that's a huge win for them and they leapfrog Boston they're back in the playoffs and you know one of those things the players talked about this year and they have a lot of really

talented young players and they talk about Evison as like straight lines, straight lines, and move quick, straight lines. And they still use their skill. Like you can see, like, you know, Fantilly was kind of lower down in the lineup. And then some of the injuries came, like particularly the one to Monahan, and he's back up there and he's really starting to score and really starting to be productive. I think there's always that happy marriage. Like so many of these players, they're so skilled right now,

but this is a league of skill and will. And especially the veterans, the ones who really know how to play and understand, they'll pick you apart if you Have those flaws in your game that you're not willing to correct It's all like I think the best coaches now they recognized how skilled these players are and they give them offensive creativity But they also say like you've got to defend.

You've got to be able to check. I think a lot of them are like you give me the defensive end of the ice and I'll try to give you a bit more of the offensive end of the ice. Now, there's some teams that are a little bit different. Like some teams like to dump it in a bit more. As I said, Columbus tries to be a straight line team. But I think there's always that balance that you can find

to let people be skilled and teach them how hard they've got to play. Like I look at Columbus this year, a lot of their players are taking big strides, the young players, but they all check too. Like they, like that game against Vegas on, um, I, you know, I was up late, I was waiting for this Philadelphia trade to finally become official, and like you watch that, that Vegas game, and like they play everybody hard.

So like for those, for those Columbus guys to go in there and win that game and You know you take a look at the shots. They're 26 24. It's pretty even That's a hell of a win for those guys That's a bunch of players learning what it takes to be successful at both ends of the ice You know the other thing too about that this Columbus situation is you know I mentioned last weekend I think Buffalo is still working its way on what it wants to do with Pettersson from Vancouver. I still think they're in it, I still think they're weighing what they want to do and

whether it'll happen or not but you know Columbus another team. If they want to make that deal, they can. And it's very difficult to turn away from super talented players. But I could see them looking at what they're building this year and what they've kind of got and saying, you know, how much do we want to tamper with this? And again, Pedersen is at his best. He's a higher level. And I think there's going to be some teams betting here that it is next stop. If it comes, he'll be better off.

But I look at teams like Columbus, and I say, you've got something that could be magical this year. How much do you want to tamper with that? Yes. Yeah. Very good point. So, all right then, well, you bring up Pedersen, so why don't we get to Vancouver?

So earlier this week there was the article. Should we call this segment You Don't Talk Enough About? Because I don't think we talk enough about Vancouver on this podcast. All right. Yes. It's time now for you don't talk about our team enough and then I'm gonna take a swing at the Vancouver Canucks who we've never spoken about on this podcast before. Yes yeah so the Globe and Mail article that had the interview with Jim Rutherford that came out earlier this week. Now you and I are both very much a team. We cannot be critical of people when

they are honest on the record. We're going to be critical of those for not saying anything and Rutherford in this piece certainly said more than just something. He laid it all out. And you it all out. And in a lot of ways, it confirmed what, of course, had been out there for a lot of months and what had been going on quietly, as we have learned, for even years before that. But with the article, it all came up into the forefront once again.

You saw the exchange with the reporter in Nashville in J.T. Miller prior to the game against the Predators on Wednesday when he was asked about what Rutherford had said. So I ask you, Elliott, because I know like Rutherford's no dummy. Like he's been doing this gig, he's been around the game for a long, long time. I don't see him as someone who's just going to spout off and go, oh, geez, I really didn't consider the ramifications if I, if I, you know, I really didn't consider the ramifications if I, if I, you know, I didn't really consider the ramifications of saying this all on the record.

So when you read through that on Tuesday, what did you think? Well I don't think like exactly. First of all, he knows what he's doing, right? Like he's, this is not his first rodeo. He knows exactly what he's doing. So whenever I see something like that, I see that to me is a message to the market, get ready, this is what we're doing.

Okay? And that is what that is. He's warning everybody, this is what, be prepared for the possibility of this. And he's also laying out why. And he's also saying that it might not be as good a return as you would like or think. To me, that was the, that was when like HR calls a meeting and says we hate to tell you this but layoffs are about to happen. Like that's what that is like, okay?

Eugene Melnick, Mark Borovetsky between two firms. Right now we're kind of in a dumpster. What a reference, yes. What a reference that is. But that's what it is Yes, what are traded like I don't was the next day but two days later What a reference that is but that's what it is it's it's it's warning people you know Both those players have nearly been traded once each Miller to the Rangers Patterson to the the hurricanes I do think in Miller's case, I think for a long time it was Eastern United

States. I think that's opened up a bit. I think that's more like now give me a good situation or a contender. Like there's been some rumors about Miller in Colorado. I think if that was real, I think even though last I checked on a map, Colorado was not Eastern United States, I don't think he would- You'd use the sparkles. That's right. I don't think he would reject it for geographical reasons.

So I think it's opened up a bit. I think in Miller's case, you know, the Canucks have something there that they could do if they wanted to right now. That is my feeling. And you know, obviously, as we record this podcast, it's late night Thursday slash Friday morning. They haven't done it. You know, Petterson, you know, I think, I think in Petterson's case, they were close

once. I, you know, I think, I think Buffalo was still there. I'm sure there's others. You know, I think there's, I think there's a lot going on in Buffalo. I really do. I think that they, I think they've got some big decisions to make. Some really big decisions to make about their makeup and who they are and who they're gonna fly with

and who they aren't gonna fly with. I think they have some big choices to make there. So I think that this is all part of that. But, you know, I think that this is all part of that. But I think with the with the Canucks and Rutherford that was the warning. And you know we really haven't talked a lot about Besser whose contract is up too and it didn't sound optimistic. Nothing is done until it's done but it didn't sound optimistic. Nothing is done until it's done, but it didn't sound optimistic. Did you see what happened in the aftermath of Linus Carlsen scoring his first career

goal there Wednesday night in Nashville? I know it really bothered you. Yeah, it did. Because you see the videos being posted and you're like, oh, isn't that funny? The Lionsman had the puck. And if you didn't see it, yeah, I mean, normally, player scores his first goal in the NHL, someone's grabbing the puck for the milestone,

and so the linesman grabs it. He knew, John Shorthouse knew right away that it was his first goal. He called it on the broadcast, and nobody on the Canucks, on the ice, picked up the puck from the ice or from the linesman, and so he brought it over to the scorekeeper's box. Hopefully and eventually got to Linus Carlsen by the

end of the night. Yeah as I watched that more and more like that that really that really bothered me because we talked about this early on in the season. Remember Madve Mishkov's first point it was in Calgary he assisted on Konecny's goal and as soon as Konekny's goal and as soon as Konekny scored, he didn't go running off to the corner to have his moment, the big fist pump, jump into the glass or nothing, no, he looked right at Mishkov, pointed at him and said congratulations, you could read his lips, the congrats butt, like it was like that's your moment, that's your first

point in the NHL, it wasn't even a goal, it's your first point in the NHL, like that's pretty cool. Lane Hudson. All of that just didn't sit well with me. Like I know there's- Remember Lane Hudson, his first goal? Yeah. And all the Canadians went chasing after the puck? Right. Right. Like they were jumping on each other. So I know it's been a heavy year there.

I know there's a lot that's going on and the fact that they're still stringing together some wins and staying in the hunt is impressive in its own right but I sent a note like to a former player tonight and I'm like am I overreacting by this or like what do you think and they're going no like that that should not happen on a team it can't happen and so I guess it just speaks to just how disconnected things have been of late with Vancouver. It was just really hard to see. It didn't sit well with me. Hmm. I understand. I don't think anything you're saying is wrong. I completely understand. Yeah. You know, I was never going to be close to playing in the NHL, you or I both, but we both worked in team environments and looking after your teammates.

That's all. I remember, you know, as Matt Sundin, when he played, a lot of the things that people would say about him was he was always more excited when a teammate scored as opposed to he scored. Yeah. I remember that a lot. Okay, well on a happier note, Elliot, Thursday night another example of what sets the Montreal Canadiens home game experience apart. Marc-Andre Fleury, who you sat down with along with Marcus Foligno, there's a bit of a Friedman bump this week. So Fellino has the incredible solo effort on the empty netter to seal the game in Toronto Wednesday.

And then Thursday, so back that up for a sec. Wednesday during warm-ups on Scotiabank Wednesday and Hoggy, Fleury gives an incredible interview to our Sean McKenzie. He was backing up that night. Sean asked him about what it would be like going to Montreal for one final time to play in front of family, over 100 people in attendance,

and he had the signature smile going. He's going, ah, it's gonna be stressful. You wanna play well. And play well he did. And the team played incredible in front of him. He only faced 19 shots all night, stopped all of them. The first goalie in NHL history to record a shutout as a teenager and record one into his 40s.

And he's top 10 all time for shutouts. What a moment, multiple standing ovations and a really neat scene, named the first star and all the Canadians that lined up after the final of 2-0 to shake his hand. Which fairy tale do you want to call that? Because that was a fairy tale game. Was it Cinderella?

Was it Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs? Was it Sleeping Beauty? I don't know. Name your fairy tale. It was that. You couldn't write a better story. You know, you, you really couldn't and you could see how emotional he was. And you know, like one of the things we talked about the interview with Folino and Flurry

and Folino admitted it is that the wild players were kind of honored that Fleury wanted to spend his last year with them. Like they get to see all this stuff, right? And so Kaprizov is out right now. Like they're going to Toronto, I know Toronto's got a lot of injuries, but they're missing Kaprizov, who's the best player to be out of the lineup, and they lock it down on the Maple Leafs. Lock, lock, lock it down.

Don't give them anything. Win the game. Then they go into Montreal and back to back, not terrible travel, but it's still a back to back. And you know how jacked up they were to play this game for Flurry. 19 saves, all he had to make, gets the shout out. Like there was, you realized early in that game, Kyle, there was no way, no way that they were losing that game. None.

And you know, Minnesota, they remind me a little bit of Dallas in the sense that Dallas had the older core, the Jamie Ben, the Tyler Sagan, Joe Pavelski till last year. And now their younger group is starting to take it over. Haskinen, Hintz, Robertson, Johnston, some of the kids that are coming, right? You look at Minnesota, they've got their older corps, Spurgeon, you know, I would put Foligno in that group, you know, some of their older players, they had Suter and Parise, they don't have them anymore, but you know, they had Brodin, I wouldn't call him old, but he's a veteran player and he's a hell of a player.

He does not get enough credit for how good he is. But now they've got Boldy and they've got Faber and they've got the next group of players kind of coming through and beginning to take control. Rossi, you know, Rossi is an interesting one because You know he made a great play to set up the second goal And I think a lot of people are really curious to see how the wild really view Rossi Like what kind of contract do they? Does he have as his next one, but you can see that that next group of wild players

starting to burst through. Ogren scored in the game on Thursday night and you know, Wollstad is coming next year in goal, ostensibly for Flurry. Like, they're a little bit behind Dallas, but I see them starting to do what Dallas did, which is build the secondary younger core. We'll see how this goes with Kaprizov, but they play really hard. That game in Toronto, the two goals they scored, the first goal, Lauco wins the battle against Riley and it's in Toronto's net. The second goal is right off a face off and Rossi runs that little pick and they score.

That's right. Well, Luke, I got to give Luke Gass the credit too. He helped out because he, you know, Luke played for John Heinz and that was John Heinz was big into that thing. If he didn't do that properly, Heinz would get really upset at you. So he knew and that really helped pick it out. But, you know, that's the thing I look at with those guys is that they, they grind, they really grind. And I don't know, this whole thing with, I don't know if there's a player in the NHL who needs a bit more downtime than Morgan Riley does over the four nations. He has really struggled this year. It's one of those things where,

you know, you can't seem to get out of it, like that first goal against Minnesota on Wednesday night when he got pinned by Loco and lost the battle, you're like, that's the kind of thing in the playoffs that'll kill you. And I just think Riley, he needs a break. He just needs a break and needs a reset. Yeah. It's amazing. Probably the first time in his career you're thinking that about him, right?

Like when you're not talking health related stuff like you're just yeah He just needs a breather a breath a break 100% 100% your sense one Yes, they are That was a great game. You're the one that had the cue card. Sens playoffs.

Yeah, but you live there. Yeah, but I don't say they're your Leafs. It's okay, everyone else does. Yes, that's right. A big win for the Red Wings, who we'll see on Saturday night. I thought that game was two nothing. Yes. Ten minutes in, it was like a couple of bad breaks, you could make the case, but it was, you're thinking, oh boy, you know, Leon was feeling it, Connor was moving really well,

it's like they're going to run them out of the gym here, and then next thing you know, it's 2-2 in the second period, and they hung on. Alex Lyon had a heck of a night. Mm-hmm. The Savior, Alex Lyon. Mikko Rand in his first goal. Yeah. EvacuScore his first goal in a while. Yes. He got it.

I mean, there was those two quickie shorties by Otto on that game. Yes. Also, Ryan Suzuki made his NHL debut and Nick Suzuki's younger brother. Yes. As they beat Chicago. The only tough part is I think it happened, so came together so quickly that the parents, Rob and Amanda, weren't able to get to the game in time. Oh, that's too bad. Yeah, I saw you, I saw you found out in the afternoon you had to race there, right? Correct. Yeah, I think it just, because there was some illness with Carolina, right? Yeah, you had to race there, right? Correct, yeah. I think it just, because there were some illnesses

with Carolina, right? Yeah, they had to go a man short. They prompted the quick call-ups there. So too bad they weren't able to be there in person, of course. You love when mom and dad are in the crowd for the first one. But neat moment for the Suzuki family, nonetheless. Oh, by the way, Edmunds in Toronto on the weekend? Yep.

I'm wondering about if there's going to be some hard feelings between Nurse and Reeves. Because after it first happened, you're of course referencing the hit that Reeves caught with Nurse when they played in Toronto back in November. Yep. And do remember when Nurse was making his way back? I mean, Reece of course was apologetic and we heard right that they had chatted in the hallway at Scotiabank Arena that night after that. Marshall S. Lindenberg Apologize. Yep.

Sean O'Rourke Yes. But even after all of that, nurse wasn't exactly feeling that, well yes, bygones are bygones and we've all moved on here you can tell that or you could tell then that it's still very much bothered him the hit that he took that night yes so we'll see if there's any any carryover both teams will practice here in Edmonton I'm in Edmonton already by the way both teams will practice here on best hotel gym I won't say the hotel because you're not supposed to do that, but best hotel gym On the circuit right? Yes, it is

Yes, it is smoothies Normatex free weights Turf Yes it is. Smoothies, Normatex, free weights, turf. Steam room. Steam room? Amongst others. All your favorites. All my favorites. I didn't realize there was a steam room there. I love the steam room.

Really opens your pores. Alright. We ought to get the vinyl bod, I think. You ready for that? Yes. All right. Final thought, which is brought to you by GMC. The Utah name search down to three. Now if you've already- Twice.

... done the 2026 Stanley Cup champion Utah Wasatch tattoo, I've got bad news for you The people did not like it Well, whatever whatever the opposite of the people's choices. It was that Yes, well, they chose to not have it They voted it off the island Right. Well, unfortunately, yeah when your first reaction is what is that? That's not a great starting off point Yeah, but you know what? Here's the thing like here's the thing I feel about that It doesn't matter what we think on the outside

That's unique to Utah and Salt Lake City, that's the mountain range, right? So if the people there like it, who cares what everyone else thinks? The problem is the people there didn't even like it. That's right. Which of these three, if you were there, by the way, so I gotta tell you, so it was so funny, they had the, I was one of the number of reporters who did an interview with Mike Mon Who was an executive at Smith entertainment group and who was kind of walking us through the process To pick the final three and they said okay. Here's the three names the initial names of course being hockey club mammoth and

Wasatch and They said there's two logos But we can't show them to you because we don't have the trademarks on them yet and we don't want to lose it. So someone I can't remember which reporter was it was they picked on it pretty quick why only two logos and he explained because hockey club and Wasatch would have this similar logo, right? So only to pick from two.

And basically they set up iPads and voting stations in the rink and you went in there and you, you know, you voted. So someone else asked, are you worried that someone's going to leak out or take a picture of one of these logos and leak it out. And he kind of smiled and he said, well, we've done the same thing with some of our Utah jazz redesigns and it never happened. So we're basically going to trust everyone and say that we believe people here will do this respectfully. And what do I see on Thursday? Someone like online drew it from memory. Like they put it all, they said this is what it looks like and they drew

it. Yes. Hockey Twitter or whatever you call the variation of it now, it is a unique space. It is a unique space. It you know, it looked good, but they drew it. So I'm sure the people from Utah were like, Oh my God. They're probably like, wait a sec, the basketball fans, they didn't do this. The hockey fans, they are uncontrollable. You know what they say? Become ungovernable. The hockey fans, they are ungovernable. Which one would you vote for? I was just going to ask you that question, so. I'll ask you first. Mammoth or now Outlaws as they replace it.

Outlaws, yep. I think I'm still, I'm hockey clubbing. I'm with you. That's where I'm at, like Mammoth or Outlaws, like neither of them is tugging on my heartstrings. Hockey club is the unique one to me. I will say this and I shout out to all of you who don't like hockey club The people who don't like hockey club

Really don't like it Yes, they have visceral reactions to that name And still do when I wrote about it this week There are some people who are like tweeting at me, which would you stop with this? It's horrible There were some people who were like tweeting at me, would you stop with this? It's horrible. But you know what, it's Utah's team, their team, their vote, whatever they pick, they get.

So with this whole Yeti thing, and the trademark issue with the cooler company, is the Stanley Cup trademarked? Does the NHL have that trademarked? The answer is yes. And looking it up quickly, the reason that it's not an issue is that the Stanley Cup, the hockey one is trademarked as the Stanley Cup. And the Stanley Cup, like the Tumbler, I think it's actually trademarked as the Stanley Tumblr.

So it's technically different. It's not the same product. And it's also, yes. And the other thing too is, is that, and one of the articles I read makes a really good point, is that the difference between the situation between Yeti and Utah and the Stanley Tumbler and the Stanley Cup is that the NHL could have sued to block this, but hasn't. And you may have heard the NHL is run by very good lawyers. I would think if they felt they could block it, they would. Like this situation with the hockey team and the cooler company, Mike Maughan admitted that they went into negotiations with them

and couldn't reach a deal. So it said to me that they felt they couldn't win a court case on it. Okay, so you're right. Technically, these Stanley products, you know, the Quenture, FlipStraw Tumbler, the Quenture, Pro Tour, right? But society, they have coined at the Stanley Cup. Right? Do we agree on that? Yes. So what is stopping Utah from officially going with the name Utah Hockey Club? Their logo, however, looks like some mythical snow creature. That's what they said they said runs with the name Yeti you don't see it on the logo anywhere nothing official that the team puts out

says that their name is Yeti they are the hockey club the fan base refers to themselves why not it's the same thing like the one like the one thing I think you're because the thing is like if you look at a Yeti logo, like the cooler, it's the word, right? It quite literally is, yes. Yes. So if you want to, and basically the way they explain the logo, if the hockey club wins, it's not going to be the word Yeti. So I don't think there's anything stopping the hockey club, and there's certainly nothing stopping the fans There you go

By the way, I asked on this conference call. So the rumor is That they're gonna unveil because they're gonna unveil the logo and the jersey with their first-round draft pick this year They didn't deny They didn't deny. They didn't deny. Great place to do it. Yep. Very good. Okay. Utah Hockey Club. Yeti in parentheses. Coming to a draft near you. That was a final thought brought to you by GMC. We'll take our first break when we come back. The Thought Line and lots more. You're listening to 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Okay, welcome back. Time now for the Thoughtline. Elliot, could you hazard a guess at what we got the most submissions about this week in the

Thoughtline? According to the Grim Reporter. Was it movies? Paul Newman movies? No, but you're on the right track with movies. I don't remember. What was it? It was your Star Wars reference. Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. I got the movie wrong.

Hold on. Before we say it, I'm sure you know where this is going. Yes, yes, yes. Because on the plot, you reference that it was from the original Star Wars movie, the line about, don't tell me the odds. But in your defense, I believe it was on Monday, you were on the fan hockey show with Marquesi and Yuta, and you reference that line again. But there, you you said Empire Strikes

Back. You know, I'd actually made a note to mention that here. I'm glad you reminded me because I knew by like, the pod wasn't even out 10 minutes before the angry tweets and DMs started coming. Yes, that was the most heavily submitted topic. It makes me think that people listen to the podcast at four times speed because that's how quickly people let me have it for getting the movie wrong. Right, right. Or they just sift through the transcript to find errors.

What did Elliot screw up this podcast? Yeah, well, it could have been either one of us. All right, how about this one? Sean and Halifax. Hi, Elliot, Kyle and Dom. Sean, a Red Wings fan holding on for dear life in Halifax here. Okay. Fan of the pod.

In anticipation for the upcoming Four Nations event, I was recently watching old game footage from the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. During one of Canada's games, the camera pans to a young Elliott Friedman interviewing then Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin during a sandwich and play I couldn't help but notice that Elliott seemed to have frosted tips in his hair Something that I believe was already out of style by this point Elliott can you explain your hairstyle choice at this point of your career? And is there any chance we can see you bring it back for the upcoming four nations face-off? Keep up the great work I went and looked this up. I see a video you had the frosted tips rocking and again in your defense

Yeah at that time in my world Blonde hair was totally okay in 2004. So you were not out of style yet. Otherwise we both were that's also possible Did you have them at the same time? Oh, yeah Oh, I and there was times full bleach blonde as a you did full beat bleach bond. Yes. Yes. Yes Wow, do you have photos of this? Of course? Yeah school photo You have to you have to put those on the pod notes You have to send those to Dom you have to put those on the pod notes You have to send those to Dom so he can put those on the pod notes. I will wait it out What's your price? We'll make it episode art

What's your price? Million dollar dinner after the latte art fiasco. That's right. That was well worth it Hmm dinner after the latte art fiasco. That's right. That was well worth it. Hmm. We'll have to discuss this. We'll meet in Montreal in the coming weeks and we can have a deal. And we will discuss this. I will get my hands on one of these pictures. Audience, I will not let you down. It is true, I did have frosted tips and it wouldn't be, although Kyle says that they

were in style and not a personal foul at that time, it wouldn't be the first time that I got to something after it was already out of style. Like that's not unusual for me. You know what? I've always been kind of let's try something. I also got to a point where I was in my mid to late 30s where I think people who knew me when I was younger, I used to take myself really seriously, too seriously and I reached points where I was like you've got to loosen yourself up a bit and that was one of the things I tried. You know, when I look back, I laugh,

I think it looks ridiculous. But at the time, I was like, you know what, I'll give it a shot and see what happens. So yeah, I went back and found it was the Canada-US game in Montreal, coincidentally enough. And so, I went back and watched the interview and I loved at the end, you know, you thank Prime Minister Martin for his time and he says, yeah, thank you, it's a great game. And then you throw back to Bob and Bob goes, it is a great game, Prime Minister. That was his line after the throw, which was so good, so, so good. I remember too, it was after a really disappointing Athens Olympics.

And I asked him about that, about Canadian athletes and and, you know, he said it would change. I think that if I remember correctly, he said we will address it and it will change or something along those lines. And now Canada is winning medals in sports it never had a chance in before. So on one level, he predicted the future. Very good. Sean, thank you for that walk down memory lane. All right, Doug. Doug, reminds you for that walk down memory lane. Alright, Doug. Doug. Reminds me of that Liberty Mutual commercial in the States.

And Doug. Know what I'm talking about? No, I don't. Okay, great. Great. All right, up next a voicemail. Joe from Connecticut. In light of the Utah team not being able to be called the Yetis, I was wondering, would they be able to use a defunct team's team name or would that have to be cleared with the current holder of the rights or if it's a defunct team where nobody holds the rights could they just use it like similar to like say they wanted to use the Wailers would they have to go from Carolina's perspective or does the city of Hartford have a say or anything like that just wondering what's going on with that thank you love the shelves it's a great question, and the answer is this, it depends on who holds the trademark on the name. You'll remember that last year when the Arizona Coyotes were moved to Salt Lake City, initially

Alex Morello, who owned the Coyotes and sold them, kept the brand rights. And then when he gave up the pursuit of the arena and gave up the team, he returned the trademarks, the logo, the rights, the name, all of that to the NHL. So, if someone wanted to put a team now in Arizona and called the Coyotes, they would be the NHL. As long as the NHL approved it, they could do it. Before Alex Morello had to approve it. If you're a CFL fan, you also know that with Ottawa, which has been the Rough Riders and the Renegades and now the Red Blacks, that there have been some trademark issues over the years, too, over who own the names. So,

if someone has the rights to it, you can't do it without buying it from them or approving it. And it's obvious in this case, the hockey club and Yeti coolers tried to make a deal and they couldn't do it. So So that's why it didn't happen. Interesting stuff. Good question. Very good question. All right. Lofty from Red Deer. Hey guys, I'm a Leafs and Canucks fan somehow surviving in the city of Red Deer. What? How can you be both? Why'd you end up there? No kidding. Last week, well Red Deer is lovely, but they'd be both a Leafs and a Canucks fan. Incredible while living in Alberta. What a setup.

Last week we had the hilarious moment where Austin Matthews picked up Elvis Mersleekens' stick and attempt to continue playing. It got me thinking. Let's say a goalie stick breaks during play. Is there a rule against one of his teammates going to the bench and getting another stick for him? I've tried researching the answer and have had no luck. Love the pod, keep it up." So, you know what's actually in the rule book? Like goalies different from players, if their stick breaks, they can keep playing with it. That's right. And of course, they can be handed a player's stick if they need it, if their stick's broken to the point where they're going,

this is unusable or they lose it and it's in the corner. Kelly Rudy's line, right? The stick is the rudder. I love that line. The stick is the rudder. All right, up next, Kal and PA somehow went down a rabbit hole online and was reading into Ray Bork. Saw a stat he is one of nine players to have his number retired by two or more teams. Assuming Gretzky is another player to accomplish that feat, what are the other seven? I'm guessing Messier, Phil Esposito, Patrick Wa. How many can Elliot name?

And will Mark L Flurry be next? That's a great question actually. Well, obviously there's not, well, Gretzky. Yes. Bork. Yes. Bobby Hull. Yep.

Gordie Howe. Correct. Marc Massier. Patrick Wa. Yep. Marc Massier. Patrick Wa. Yep. Phyllis Bezito. No. Oh, no, he's not retired by the Rangers, never mind, excuse me.

So I got Gretzky Bork, Hal Howe, Massier Wa, I've got six. Yep. Okay, I'm just gonna go through my uh, I, what I use is I use the standings to go through this. Is Dave Keon, 14, retired by the Whalers? Nope. Okay. But you're on the right path for the other team Dave Keon played for.

Well, he's retired by the Maple Leafs. Yes. So, two of the three remaining names have ties to that organization or have their numbers retired by the Maple Leafs. Okay, I see. Hold on, I was actually thinking of something and now you completely ruined my train of thought. You threw me off. By attempting to help you, I've learned to do the opposite.

You have, like I'm completely screwed up right now. Mark Howe? No. Hold on. He already is the lone Howe. Okay, I was wondering if Mark Howe had his number retired. Good guess. Yeah, he does by one team. I was wondering if by two. And the answer obviously is no.

Red Kelly? Yes. Nice. That's seven. Was Sarah Savard's number retired in Winnipeg or no? Nope. Okay. Well, you said Toronto.

There's one more Toronto guy, right? Yep, I did. Is Frank Mahoblitch retired somewhere else? Nope. Terry Sawchuck? Nope. Give me a hint. Always fresh, always blank.

Oh, Tim Horton. Geez. Nicely done. Yes, Toronto and Buffalo. And one more. That was a good hint, by the way. Hold on, one more. Defenseman.

Scott Niedermeyer. Bingo. Nice. Way to get there. Way to get there. Those are the nine. So Gretzky, Bork, Hall, Howe, Messier, Wah, Kelly, Horton and Niedermeyer. Correct. That was a great hint on Tim Horton by the way. Thank you. Great hint. And to lay it up there for you. That was not just a layup like that was that was a John Stockton Jason Kidd level assist like not even I could blow that shot. Very good. Cal thanks for sending that one in. Our last one Tyler

from Renfrew County the home of Renfrew Pro Tape. Good evening, Kyle, Elliot and Dom. Big fan of the pod. We finished a big day of hockey with three kids on the ice through Renfrew County and just sat down to watch the Battle of Ontario. So this was last weekend when they sent this in. My son Liam had a question I hope you can answer. How many jerseys do NHL players go through in a season? These are the ones I love getting to the bottom of here. So, typically, Elliott, at minimum, teams will go through two sets of jerseys over the course of a season for both home and road.

Now, there are some- That's it, eh? I thought it would be more for sure. So some markets where there's a higher demand for game worn outfits or game worn jerseys, they go through more than just the two. Some teams, as you know, have alternate jerseys, so that enters the equation. And then when playoffs roll around, it's usually a fresh set for everybody at the start of the playoffs.

And then when you get to the Stanley Cup final, if're fortunate to do so that's a brand new set of course this cup final patch is added to the jerseys and they can go through like multiple over the course of that series because there's a number of different initiatives that may want one of them. Akihara fame I think each player gets one of their jerseys to take home from playing in the cup final. So, as the season goes on, the amount of sets increase. But over 82 games, I think that the industry standard is typically two sets, except for those where there's a demand to cycle through them a little more frequently. I thought some of it would be wear and tear too.

I just figured that there would be so much wear and tear that it would be more than two jerseys a year. Yeah, I think they just, the equipment folks stay on top of having to restitch rips. That's true. Things like that or frayed thread. I just saw the one day in Ottawa, the equipment guys, they had all the jerseys on the rack

and just all the little frayed threads for the numbers and they just had like a little lighter just to burn off the edges of it, just to clean it up, going through all the jerseys. So, the little details like that to keep them looking as fresh as possible over the course of the year. It's kind of neat. I'm just glad that you remembered the equipment people because they do an unbelievable job and they don't get enough credit.

No, that would be, I know we see a little bit of it, you know, there's the behind the scenes shows like the 24 sevens of the world, you get a glimpse of what that world is like. Yes. But it's honestly like, don't you find like back when you did ringside hosting a little more regularly, like when you were in the visiting team hallway to do a walk-up interview after the game and like the process was starting of getting all the equipment onto the trucks, out of the dressing rooms and prepared to be sent off to wherever the team was headed next.

It is unbelievable how much stuff they move in a rather short period of time. Come postgame, it is nonstop. You are 100 percent right. And they will run you over if you don't get out of the way. Yes, that's right. They're a path. Those hallways are like your craziest freeway at 11 at night when people are just racing everywhere.

Yes, exactly. And there's no time for congestion. They just keep going, which is great. All right, that'll do it for the Thoughtline. We'll take our last break and come back to wrap up the pot. You're listening to 32 Pots. ["Rap of the Pot"] ["Rap of the Pot"]

Okay, welcome back. Elliot, I know you may have been feeling a little short-changed on the entertainment value front after Scotiabank, Winston & Hockey this week. I mean, an important win for Minnesota, but it was a struggle perhaps for the good people in the highlight zone at Sportsnet in putting together 90 seconds recap of what that night was. But this Saturday should be no issue because we've got like a murderer's row of games coming up here. Three early games, the headliner,

the Leafs in Edmonton as we mentioned. Should all of us be played on a Saturday. Toronto Edmonton whether in Toronto or in Edmonton should be the early game on Saturday night. Never ever anything else. And this season both games have been and are. So they got it right this year, Elliot. That should be the 11th commandment. Toronto Edmonton, those shall not kill, thou shall not steal. Toronto and Edmonton, seven o'clock on a Saturday night.

So that's one of them. We've got the Wild in Ottawa, big games for both teams there. And then a heavyweight tilt, the Jets and the Capitals in Washington. Those are the three early games. And then Detroit's in Calgary for the nightcap at 10 Eastern, eight o'clock Mountain Time.

I don't know where you want to start here, but there's a number of games here for everybody to keep their eye on and keep themselves entertained on a perfectly good Saturday night. Well, Star Power obviously is Toronto, Edmonton. Toronto's not going very well right now, but that's the Star Power game, Matthews, McDavid, but the best game is probably Winnipeg and Washington and don't forget like those two used to be big rivals They were in the same division for a while in the southeast. We once did a game in Winnipeg

Where the Capitals and the Jets played back-to-back, I think on a Thursday and a Friday night. And one of the Jets players told me years later, like the Jets had a lead on the Capitals for the division, and they lost both games at home. And one of the Jets players told me years later, like, remember that podcast we talked about where Blake Wheeler and Andrew Ladd went on to talk about their time in Winnipeg. Yeah. Like that was a weekend where after they lost

both those games that things went very badly behind the scenes they admitted later. That allowed the Capitals to get off the mat and get back in the race and it was a it was a tough time internally for some of those Jets players but I didn't find that out until much later. But it's a great game. I mean both those teams are going really well. They're two of the best teams in their conferences and all of these games are big. You know obviously Minnesota, Ottawa, every game now is big for Ottawa and Detroit, Calgary. I'm looking forward to watching a bit of Detroit.

They've been coming on and it's a huge game for those two teams. Like Calgary opened up a lead last Saturday night when they beat the wild. Now it's evaporated and Detroit looked like they were gone and they're back in it now. So none of these games is a dog in terms of meaningless for everyone. And the word is Calder front runner, Dustin Wolf and Justin Kirkland are this week's guests on After Hours with Scott after that one.

Nice, Costco. Very good. So two guests for Scott to torment after the game on Saturday. Double the pain. Yes, yes. So all of that to look forward to. And then Calgary's right back at it on Sunday. You can catch that one on Sportsnet One there in Seattle.

Nine o'clock Eastern, seven o'clock Mountain Time there. So lots of hockey to keep everybody busy. Look forward to watching, Elliot. Have yourself a good weekend, alright? You too my man. Speak to you on Sunday. Okay everybody, only so many hours in a day but we appreciate you spending a few of them with us. We'll talk to you Monday. you