32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Year Of The Avalanche

Episode Date: June 27, 2022

Colorado wins the Stanley Cup! Jeff and Elliotte recap game 6 (00:10) and discuss some of the post-final on-ice interviews, Cale Makar winning the Conn Smythe Trophy, and talk about what made the Avalanche such a special team.They also take a look at Tampa Bay and what they might do this off-season (27:50), if any Lightning coaches are being interviewed for coaching positions around the league (27:15), what they are looking ahead to this week (33:50) and a hat tip to the Hockey Night crew for an amazing two months (30:45).Check out the limited edition 32 Thoughts merchandise line HEREMusic Outro: Brothers From Another - Blame It On My YouthListen to our 32 Tracks playlist on Amazon Music. All the tracks you hear on this podcast during the playoffs are featured there.This podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman. Production support by Mike Rogerson.Audio Credits: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM 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.

Hey, guys. Thanks, guys. I'm just doing it now. What's your name? So, Rob, just come here for a quick sec. Rob's walking by me. We're outside our hotel. What do you want to say to Jeff and Amit?

You got to start doing this by yourself. Not enough Jeff. Okay, Elliot, to start the podcast, I want you to work with me on something here, okay? Okay. We've seen Bill Daly hand the Stanley Cup to Gabriel Landeskog. We've seen Kale McCar win the Conspice Trophy. We've seen each player, coach, manager, all of them with the Stanley Cup. We've seen hugs from the families. We've seen tears. We've seen some great on ice interviews, the boys in the room with the booze and all of that. But you know what,

Elliot? What's that? I still think Tampa can come back and make this a series. That's excellent. That was well set up. I have to say, but in all seriousness, congratulations, the Colorado avalanche. And also, you know what, Elliot, congratulations to both organizations for giving us a really incredible Stanley Cup final. You were there, saw you and Dee on the ice doing some fantastic interviews.

We're going to get to Kadri in a couple of seconds here. But take us to the building. Like, what are your takeaways going to be from this one? You know, I have to say that that's actually the Kadbury family walking by me. Oh, that's great. As they leave the building to go back to their hotel. You know, I have to say that overall, this is one of the best playoff years I remember.

Yeah. Like one of the things I look forward to every year is whatever travel I get to do for the Stanley Cup playoffs. And obviously, two years ago, there was nothing. every year is whatever travel I get to do for the Stanley cup playoffs. And obviously two years ago, there was nothing last year. We got to go to three games in the final, which felt fantastic. But this year we got a phenomenal playoff. I don't think it goes down as the best ever. I think it just misses, but it was a phenomenal playoff. And we got a great final and the better team won.

Three seconds, two seconds, one second. It's over. They did it. They did it. The job is done. The Colorado Avalanche are Stanley Cup champions, and they will lift Lord Stanley a mile high. And Tampa Bay is still barking at their referee. It's over, pal.

They're pouring off the bench. Colorado has defeated Tampa in six games to claim their third cup. Ladies and gentlemen, the cup is coming back to Colorado. Colorado deserved it. They earned it. And I really think, and I watched it tonight, Jeff, and it really hit me. When Sorelli got hurt and Point was out,

they just didn't have enough offense beyond the one line. If it wasn't Palat, Stamkos, and Kucherov, they just couldn't get there against the Avalanche, and the Avalanche just locked them down. They couldn't get there, and they couldn't get out. Once again, and we saw this early in the series, the Tampa Bay Lightning had a really hard time exiting their zone. Tampa does so much good work traditionally through the neutral zone that sets up what

they do in the offensive zone. That wasn't there tonight. That wasn't there. And I'm with you. The right team won the Stanley Cup here. And, you know, I always like it when the defending Stanley Cup champion is in the final, because either you're going to get a repeat of the Stanley Cup or you're going to get a sort of symbolic passing of the torch.

And as I'm watching this whole thing unfold on Sunday night, I'm thinking to myself, the dynasty for Tampa leading into the Colorado Avalanche, and I think we can all be on the same page here, we can see them ripping off a couple of Stanley Cups here. I know there's going to be some painful decisions ahead. That's how good this team is, Freed. They have the ability to do it. And I don't think they're a group that's going to be satisfied easily. I think it's really hard to win twice. And Tampa came within two wins of winning it a third time. And I'll be honest, Jeff, when they scored right early in this game, I turned to Amber and said, I'm going to pack for Denver.

But Colorado took control of the game. And, you know, I mean, there's a lot of guys on this roster to be happy for. There's Nathan McKinnon. There's Gabriel Landeskog, the guys who have been there for a long time. Then you look at the guys who've been around even longer. Eric Johnson, he's been there. Jack Johnson, everything that guy's been through in his career. You think of Andrew Cogliano. I mean, there's a lot of people to root for. Jared Bednar, a lot of people that you saw get the Stanley Cup and lift it. And you said, I'm really happy for that person. And obviously, Kadri is one of them too. I want to get to all the players, but I want to start with Jared Bednar and I want to make this point. I put out a tweet about Jared Bednar,

one in the ECHL, one in the AHL, one in the NHL. Ryan Worsofsky wins with Chicago. He coached in the ECHL as well. Jared Bednar becomes the second ECHL coach to win a Stanley Cup. Peter LaViolette was the first. He won Stanley Cup obviously in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes. Here's the one point that I want to make about Jared Bednar.

We talk a lot, Elliot, about hockey lifers and hockey being in the blood and hockey being in your DNA and never quitting no matter where you are, always having a belief that you can get to a better spot. Jared Bednar, Elliot, spent nine years as a player in the ECHL. Yeah. And then seven years as a coach in the ECHL. Jared Bednar-Elliott spent 16 years in the ECHL. And look at him now.

Why does he look so much better than I do? I thought that league was supposed to age you. He spent 16 years in the ECHL, and Sunday night he became a Stanley Cup champion. I just think it's a remarkable story, and watching you and David interview him, I'm glad you brought up that first season with him as well. You know, joined late, Patrick Waugh quit,

Bednar came in very much last minute, and they had a miserable, miserable season. I thought a lot about Jared Bednar. I thought a lot about the miserable season. I thought a lot about Jared Bednar. I thought a lot about the players, but I thought a lot about him when the clock started winding down on this one. Why did our interview with him end? Because the players brought the cup over to him. Trophy, yeah.

I don't want to say that that's never happened before, but I don't recall seeing that before. The players ended our interview by bringing the trophy over. That's meaningful you know the hardest thing i think is for a coach to balance that proper line between the players want to play for you but you've also got to grind them and make them better sometimes you know obviously in a moment like this whatever grievances there are probably forgiven but the fact that they made sure he got the cup while he was being interviewed and they cut it off, I think that says a lot about the relationship that he's created with

the Avalanche players. One other moment in the game tonight, at the end of the game, Rantanen jumps over the bench with about three or four seconds left. When they have the puck pinned deep in the Tampa zone, Rantanen knows they're not going to score and he jumps on the ice. It's pretty hilarious. Like guys are grabbing him. Like, what are you doing? Happy for all those players. Really happy for Nathan McKinnon.

Happy for Cale. What a week for Cale McCarr. Yeah. The Norris, the Stanley Cup, the Conn Smythe Trophy. That's a nice week there, Cale McCarr. But I want to jump right in with the Nazem Qadri story. And your Nazem Qadri interview, you and David with Nazem Qadri. And what is going to be a line for the ages as well, courtesy of Nazem Qadri.

Naz, you have a lot of fans down in Southern Ontario, London, of course, Toronto, etc. What do you want to say to all those fans out there that have stuck with you and wanted to see you have this moment? I love you guys. I love you guys. That's all there is to be said. I mean, I've had supporters in my corner from day one, never wavered. And for everyone that thought I was a liability to the playoffs, you can kiss my ass. Congratulations.

When you first pulled him aside and he skated over to you in DA, what was going through your mind? What did you think he was going to say? I had no idea. This has been such an emotional up and down ride for him. He wanted to be a Leaf. He was happy to be a Leaf. You know, they made the trade when they did.

Now people look back at it with 20, 20 hindsight and they say, what a terrible decision or this is really bad. There were a lot of people at the time who agreed with that trade. Yeah, I think he knew that. And the thing about Cadre is as successful as he is and by any measure in life, he is a successful human being. He's never going to see himself as anything but the underdog because he had to beat so much to do it. He gets

suspended again last year. He has a phenomenal year as an unrestricted free agent to be. He comes into the playoffs. He's playing really well. Then there's more controversy against St. Louis. He gets the BS racial slurs at him. So he's going through that

and then he gets in and he's not supposed to play. You know, as you heard him say, geez. Oh, it's such a rollercoaster ride in terms of emotions. You know,

obviously I break my hand. I think I'm done. I came back. I couldn't even tie my own skates. Couldn't even tie my own skates. So I shout out to the trainer

tying my skates before every game. And he scores the goal that puts them on the precipice of the Stanley Cup in game number four. I just had a feeling it wasn't going to take him a lot for him to say what was on his mind. And I wouldn't expect anything else. That's who he is. That is raw. That is why he's as successful as he is. To me, what he said tonight that fits his

personality and i wouldn't have expected it any other way i want to fly through some of the players here and get your thoughts on them some of these players you and david talk to but i want to get your thoughts when i say these players names what goes through your mind and i want to start with some of the older guys i want to start with darren the older guys. I want to start with Darren Helm. Now, Darren Helm went 14 seasons between Stanley Cup victories, from the Detroit Red Wings to the Colorado Avalanche, from 2008 to 2022. Now, Chris Chelios went through a 16-year run from 86 to 2002, from the Montreal Canadiens to the Detroit Red Wings.

But at times like this, I always think about the guys that think that either A, they'll never get a shot at it, B, they'll never get it, or C, they'll never get it again. I was happy for Darren Helm because he got it again.

I love the hockey life for guys. I'm with you on that. I will confess, I'm a little less happy for Helm than I am for some of those other guys because he's won it before. That makes me sound like such a jackass, really. But I'm very happy for Helm than I am for some of those other guys because he's won it before. That makes me sound like such a jackass, really. But I'm very happy for Helm.

Before the series, I talked to him about when he scored the big goal against the Blues, how many of his teammates from 2008 reached out to him to congratulate him. And he was really good talking about that. He was pleasantly surprised. He was very happy to talk about the players from the Red Wings and that championship team that were sending him notes after he scored that goal. What's Bernie Perron's famous speech

about Fred Shiro? Win today and we walk together forever. That reminded me about that. So Darren Helm now has two sets of Forever Brothers. The 08 Red Wings and the 22 Avalanche. And now Nathan McKinnon has a whole bunch of Forever Brothers as well, and

I can't help but thinking about the Players Tour where he stopped us and said, I haven't done anything yet. And then went down to talk about all the things that Sidney Crosby has done. Well, Nathan McKinnon, Elliot now has a Stanley Cup. What do you think of that? Great interview with Kyle, where he was the drunkest guy at Crosby's party,

so Crosby has to be the drunkest guy at his. I've been the drunkest guy at two of his, so he better be drunk at mine. But it's cool. I have my name engraved on the cup with 87, my idol, and along with all the best players to ever play this game. So we all do get engraved with these 26 warriors. It's just a dream come true. I thought that was a great line. We all do. Get it engraved with these 26 Warriors. It's just a dream come true.

I thought that was a great line. I think there's some players who, if they never win a championship, they can eventually say, you know what? I had a whole career, and sometimes the circumstances just don't work out for me. And I don't think they're ever happy with that, but they learned to accept it. And they realized that it's not their fault. They didn't win. I think if Nathan McKinnon had never won a Stanley cup, he would be one of those guys who could never come to grips with that. I believe that. I just don't think he's wired that way. He has changed a lot of things to win. We all joke about how much he cares about his body. He's still a hell of a player

driven to succeed, but he bent a little bit to Bednar's wishes about how he had to handle things. And he learned he was struggling in this series. He had shots, but he didn't have points. And he had a goal in the system, the biggest game of the year for Colorado. And that's what I think about when I think of McKinnon, Jeff, I think that the commitment he has and how much he cares, I'm glad to see it get rewarded because I don't think he's a guy who would ever have been able to come to grips with not winning. I agree with that. And he beat Andre Vasilevsky clean.

And what were we saying about the last game? The only way it seems you're going to beat Andre Vasilevsky right now, who's really dialed in, is with a fluky goal. And Nathan McKinnon beat him clean short side. And the second one was a bit of a fluke. It took a weird bounce to Lekanen that fooled Vasilevsky. But you're right. That was a clean goal.

And it was a perfect shot, too. You know, he was in a spot where he had to hit that right. That was a supreme clutch goal scorer's goal. Short side as well. That's a tough one against Andre Vasilevsky. That was aners goal. Short side as well. That's a tough one against Andre Vasilevsky. That was an excellent goal. Kael McCarr, Norris, Stanley Cup, Conn Smythe, nice five days,

Kael McCarr, and a unanimous choice for the Conn Smythe. When you look at a lot of the younger players, we interviewed McCarr, Newhook, guys like that, they talked about how much they love to see other players win. Newhook talked about Cogliano, for example.

Yeah, you know what? Cogs has been a big mentor for me since he got here. I've known him for a little bit before and stuff. So he was a guy I wanted to see win it. Jack Johnson, another guy that's been around forever. And I think he was really excited to be in this position, to even play for it. So to get it for those guys, all the older guys, everyone here, it's huge.

Makar kind of referred to everybody. Look, I'm calling it right now. If he's healthy next year, he wins the Hart Trophy. And that may be, we go back and look at that prediction a year and said, Elliot, you said a lot of stupid things in your career, and that's right at the top of it. But we are seeing a guy who's going to repeatedly challenge, I think, McDavid and Matthews as the best player in the NHL. You know, he didn't let down his guard too much, but I just thought that interview was really fitting of him in the sense that he talked about bringing a championship to a lot of other people who deserved it.

He had a phenomenal playoff. I guess I saw someone told me I had a vote that he was the unanimous winner of the Conn Smythe. I know I voted for him first. My ballot, by the way, was him, McKinnon, and Vasilevsky. And he's a great player, and he's going to join, if he hasn't already, that McDavid-Matthews tier of best players in the NHL.

He's going to win a heart and he could do it as soon as next season. You know, one of the things that really became obvious is how much, even though he came in at trade deadline and hasn't been there for years, wasn't there through the lean years, was playing on a different team, most notably the Anaheim Ducks, a lot of guys have a ton of respect for Andrew Cogliano and went out of their way to mention Andrew Cogliano. The way the Ironman streak ended, how much players didn't like that, didn't like the way that that ended. When they start saying that they really feel happy for this guy or that,

everybody's mentioning Andrew Cogliano. Do you have a thought on him? Well, first of all, I did get some funny DMs about us trying to get his brother off of school into the game tonight. I don't know exactly what happened, but Matthew was stuck on a plane. I think he watched the game on a plane tonight because his flight got delayed. Now I'm assuming that was going home and not coming here. I don't know the full details, but he got stuck on a plane during the final. I mean, it was so funny.

He didn't interview from the bench. Him and BX are tight. Yeah. And he didn't interview from the bench with BX like a couple games ago, and he gave BX nothing. I said, I thought you guys were best friends he totally clammed up with bx a laugh and he goes i guess for andrew now is not the time and we saw cogliano on the ice after it was over and he said okay now i'm ready to talk to kevin i thought that was pretty funny

there's going to be a ton of people who are thrilled for cogliano tonight like there's some guys here how many text messages you think think Jack Johnson's going to have? Oh, a ton. How many text messages do you think Cogliano's going to have? These guys are going to have a ton of messages because they've been around for a long time. I saw his dad on the ice after the game. His dad, by the way, if I'm not mistaken,

I think he has a copy of all of Andrew's playoff games. I know he did at one point. I'm not sure where it stands right now, but I did see him after the game and said, I got to get these ones. And I said, don't worry, we'll take care of it somehow. It's phenomenal. Like Sackick's won before. I was really happy for him. I'm actually really curious to see what's going to happen here now. Bumped up. I do wonder, you know, Chris McFarlane, assistant GM. Yeah. They didn't let Anaheim talk to him. They didn't let San Jose talk to him. And that means you're taking care of them.

So we'll see how they do it. The reason I wanted Sackett to win was because I think he's been a really good executive and a really patient executive. You know, Cogliano, you're right. You talk about the loss of the streak. Remember we interviewed George Peros and how tough that was for him to do and how it really dented their friendship. The other thing, too, is Josh Manson.

We brought up his dad, and he teared up talking about his dad. What's it going to be like when you see him? Can't even put it into words. I watched him come close, and I understood from a young age how hard it is to win this thing. It was emotional. I can't wait to see them, and I can't wait to share this with my whole family. They've been by my side through everything, through the trade,

and it's going to be amazing to celebrate it with them. Congrats, Josh. Thank you, guys. I appreciate it. Thank you. In a perfect world, all these guys would win once. They were kidding about Cogliano. With his injury, he could come back sooner than Kadri and Burakovsky because he doesn't really need a stick. But, you know, he throws his body in front of things.

I got to tell you, there's a lot of guys I talked to tonight. Jack Johnson, you think of everything he's been through. And I asked him, like, is there any chance this is it? And he goes, I'm not going to quit now. Eric Johnson, really popular guy, really popular teammate, number one draft pick and all the pressure that goes with. I mean, boy, there's a lot of guys you can go through and just think about how happy you are for them.

I do want to talk about the Lightning too when you're ready. I do want to get there. I want to ask you about two more players, maybe three get there. I want to ask you about two more players, maybe three, but really I want to ask you about two. You know what, I want to mention Nachushkin. Is one of them Nachushkin? That was going to be my third.

Okay, so I'll just mention this. So I went up to him on the ice and he goes, no interview, no interview. He didn't want to talk in English. I said, that's fine. But I want to know what the injury is because we all saw you walk in with a flip-flop. And he pointed to the top of his foot and he goes,

I think I sprained everything on the top of my foot. Played his heart out tonight. He really did. I'm always amazed at how players limp into the arena occasionally. And we saw this with the Houston get out there on the ice. And then it looks like there's no problem. That's because skating is easier than walking. No, but they're just sucking up all the pain.

Yeah. Like you mentioned Cogliano a second ago. Did you see him burning behind the Tampa Bay Lightning net in that third period? This is after he's blocked how many shots off of his feet? And he's gone off and he's come back on. He was skating as fast as I've ever seen Cogliano skate in that third period. It's remarkable to me. I want to ask you about a couple more players.

The captain, he got the cup from Bill Daly, Gabriel Landeskog. Well, a year ago, you remember, was it close or was it not close? Yeah. They said they always knew he was coming back. But Jeff, there were a couple of days there where it didn't look like it. I'll be blunt. I thought he was going to St. Louis.

Like there was a time, like more than just a day where I thought, wow, Gabriel Landeskog is not going back to the avalanche and he's going to the St. Louis blues. And you knew that it was emotional because he saw a day like this in the future.

Right. Yeah. And I bet that was going through his mind a bit, how close he came to leaving and And he could have missed all this. But he played great, as you talked about him. He's the guy who fits in everywhere. The Swiss Army knife. Who do you play with on Sunday night?

Two injured guys. Yeah. Nazem Khadri, Valeriy Nachushkin. Great captain, great player. Not that it really needed a lot of validation, but proves he was right to do what he did. Darcy Kemper. I want to ask your thoughts about Darcy Kemper.

It was nice to see him interviewed after the game as well. Nice to see Darcy Kemper win a Stanley Cup. I always go back and I rewatch the last game of the Stanley Cup final. You watch that first intermission, and we talk about McKinnon struggling, and we talk about Kemper struggling. And you know Kelly. He always gives the

benefit of the doubt to goalies he was one he knows everything that can happen but even he was like that first goal you got to be better than that and you're looking at the other end of the ice at the best goalie in the world the total eliminator and he didn't get beaten again and he credited his D which we talked about earlier they They played great team defense. But there were a couple of glorious chances. And he made the big saves. At the end of the day, after that period, it was the greatest goalie in the world, and he is the greatest goalie in the world,

gave up two, and Kemper held the fourth. And one quote I really do believe, Bill Parcells, you are what your record says you are. And tonight, the record says that Darcy Kemper, playing goal for a team that did not want to risk a game seven, held the line against the best goalie in the world. And nobody can ever take that away from him. And yes, I know their defense was great,

but he made a couple of huge saves. The big one off Kucherov. You know, Palad scored a goal, defense was great, but he made a couple of huge saves. The big one off Kucherov. You know, Pallad scored a goal. It was closer, but it was that kind of a shot. It got through him in game five. Not tonight in game six. That's all he had to do was make one more save in Vasilevsky. That's all he had to do.

It sounds so easy. That's what he had to do, and he did it. He was so excited, too. Oh, I can imagine. Can you think of what he's been through in And he did it. He was so excited too. Oh, I can imagine. Can you think of what he's been through in his career and some of the teams that he's played on? Like this is a hallelujah time. Let's talk about the Tampa Bay Lightning before we wrap up the podcast for today. Who are you thinking of the most on that team? Are you thinking of a coach, a manager, some players, maybe some assistant coaches?

Wink, wink. Well, you know, I have to say I was thinking about this yesterday as we were flying from Denver here to Tampa. If I was a player, I would love to spend a year as a member of the Lightning just to see what makes them tick, how it all works. You know, Point, he was done. They tried. It didn't work. Point couldn't get to where he needed to go. Things tightened up for them with him not there. And that was a huge, huge loss. I think when Sorelli got hurt, that was the one they couldn't overcome because there were two of them. Relly got hurt. That was the one they couldn't overcome because there were two of them.

It just got to a point where it was obvious to watch that if Colorado could smother that Palat, Stamkos, Kucharov line, easier said than done, Tampa just wasn't going to be able to score. I mean, they were still there right to the end. They fought right to the end. I mean, what a phenomenal team. They're such a great champion they almost willed themselves to another stanley cup they almost did it i think it's incredible and i thought they became a little bit unglued at some points in this game with all due respect sir

i think it was more than just a little bit like it was almost like in the in the second no i get it i i was thinking almost like in the in the second intermission no i get it i i was thinking like in that room in the second intermission if i'm the coach i'm like okay i know we all got carried away but we have to park all of that and just try to win a game here i'm sure they did it would have been easy for them to say okay we won two and we just came up short it was as if they'd never won before the way they played tonight and the last couple of games, like when it was 3-1, they could have gone into Denver and let the Avalanche have a coronation.

Nope. No way. When the Avalanche took the lead tonight, they could have said, okay, we don't have it. Nope. They're a two-time champion that plays like they've never won before. I mean, everybody who listens to this podcast knows I have such an incredible amount of respect for them,

and I know that they're going to be burning to be there again next year. Like, this isn't over. I'm very curious if they find a way to keep Platt. The one thing they've always done is they've shed people if they know they really want to keep someone, and they put value on people.

I just look at Platt. Number one, he's theirs. And number two, he was a first liner at the end. That says to me, who's more valuable than Platt? The goalie, number one. Hedman, two. Kucherov, Stamko's point. I think you could argue Sorelli

because he's a center. I put him right after Sorelli for each. On defense, are there any of those three defensemen? McDonough, Sergeyev? I think Chernak, he might be my new favorite player in the league. That guy's body,

when he took off his uniform tonight, his body was probably as blue as the uniform. You can't break Chernak. And I wonder if the Lightning are starting to see him as an irreplaceable player. I could be wrong. They might not be able to make the price point work, but the way the Lightning think, I just can't see them not looking at it and saying, do we have to move out player X to keep Palat? And how do we feel about that?

I'm with you. And if I'm Julian Breeze, what I'm trying to figure out any way that I can to keep Andre Palat in the mix, boy, I've never had to manage a cap before, but I don't see how you do it. Like last year it hurt.

Cause you lost all three members of that line, right? You lost the line. Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes you can't do it, but sometimes you make other decisions that hurt to keep someone else. This is where the flat cap for three years really hurts you. Yes. Big time. Andre Palat with Tampa. A couple of more things on the bolts. How quickly do we think Derek Lalonde and Jeff Halperin will get interviews? Montgomery, Arneal, and Vincent. I also wonder now about Andrew Burnett, and I would be curious to see, does Winnipeg involve anybody here as part of their search? Detroit, I mean, we all know they're in there, and I can't prove it. I don't know that it's 100% true, but I wouldn't be surprised if there have been some conversations already with Tampa's permission, of course. Boston, I think they're beginning their second round of interviews this week. I don't know that they're going to talk to any of these guys, but it wouldn't surprise me. But you're right. Tampa's going to maybe have at least one vacancy on their coaching staff.

You know, it was a really tough visual to see on Sunday night? What was that? Corey Perry's wife. Just sobbing. Do you have a thought on Corey Perry? Look, the guy wants to win. He's like Helm, right? You talked about it.

Yeah. Perry won 15 years ago. He still burns to win again. And he was a good player for them. I laughed when I saw that water bottle thing, when he knocked Kemper's water bottle out. Like that's so greasy. Well, it's water bottle off. That's so greasy. Well, it's so Corey Perry. That's so Corey Perry, yes.

It's petty and beautiful. I love it. I love everything about it. It's like, why? Why are you doing that? But don't you think that fits who the Lightning are, what we talked about before? You've won two Stanley Cups. Well, Perry wasn't part of those teams, obviously, but he has won one. But it's like they've won zero.

Listen, this was an impressive team, and still will be an impressive team. I'm not writing the obit for the Tampa Bay Lightning. That's still a really, really good team. And that was a really fun ride. And I thought they could do it. I thought they could get there. And they came super close for each. Quick thought on

John Cooper? I mean, one thing I'm really curious about to see with the Lightning next year is how do they start next season? You know, they've always said, just get in and we'll sort it out. Do they start with that next year? Or is it like we lost, we're coming out to kill people? It's like Bednar too. That coach and that team, they've really grown together. Going back to the American Hockey League in Norfolk. Like Stamkos and Cooper, they didn't always have a great relationship for a couple of years, but they found a way and now you couldn't imagine one without the other. I think they have such a good handle on how to run that team. Leave it to the players,

leave it to the players, leave it to the players. Okay okay i don't like what i'm seeing now i'm getting in there cooper pushed the right button after game four i don't think the league was crazy about it but it worked for his group you know like you said it's not over but i'm really curious to see if next year is let's just get in the playoffs we'll sort it out or we lost so we're coming back to kick ass and take names. We're coming back angry. Hey, listen, you know, I was a very, very small part of hockey night this year, but you guys did a great job. That was a really, really impressive run by a really good crew. So anyone from that crew listening from my little corner, take a bow and you're a big

part of it for each. That was an exceptional season and an exceptional playoffs. I know it's a grind. I know you're looking forward to seeing your family again because I know it's tough being away, but well done, Fridge. I have a standard line I sent to staff, and it's kick your boyfriend out, I'm coming home. You know, Jeff, this is an emotional year for a lot of reasons.

It's our first normal Stanley Cup in three years. As I said at the top of the podcast, I love traveling for the Stanley Cup. And we have great people we work with. You know that. This was our first normal one in three years. And I really loved it. I know sometimes you get to the end of the playoffs and the people who work it, they're like, Oh my God, this has been going on for two months.

I want to go home. You know, there's one thing that happened tonight that just shows you how fleeting life is right now. You know, the commissioner wasn't there to present the Stanley Cup because he's under COVID protocol. That's the second time this year that's happened to a commissioner.

Adam Silver did not present the NBA title a couple of weeks ago. It's just a reminder of how fleeting life is right now. There's so many things that are out of our control. There was something very special about this and being with this group of people, we're very lucky, Jeff. You and Amal are great teammates and this is a very emotional one for a lot of different reasons that we're not going to get into right now. But, you know, I think this will go down as one of the years i i remember the most because it was a great playoff and that we were surrounded by great people we're going to go back

to our probably our regular schedule we'll figure it out there'll be emergency pods whenever we need them but i just wanted to say to the audience we got a lot of feedback about some of the pods we did during the playoffs the car cast the petty, whatever you want to talk to them. I know that Amal really hates these, but the audience has really embraced them. And you know, we, we appreciate that. You know, if nobody's watching or listening or reading what you're doing, it doesn't feel like you're doing it for any good reason. You know very lucky, as you guys know. We have a very loyal audience, and we are incredibly appreciative. We've said it before.

The one thing that we value and treasure on this podcast are people that listen and give us their time. You have a lot of choices to make when it comes to podcasts. We understand that. The fact that you're parking as much time with us is very flattering, and we don't take it for granted. Every time we have a conversation about what to do on this podcast, the first question is, do people want to hear this? We just want you to know that that's how much we respect you.

So further to Elliot's point, thank you for listening to all these pods. I could have said it that well, except I'm not smart enough, so I'm glad you did that. I went to Guelph, not Western. That's right. Things to look ahead to quickly. Talked about coaching searches, Winnipeg, Detroit, Boston.

I think Boston's going to start doing their second interviews this week. I think we'll get some clarity on Mike Smith and Duncan Keith and potentially the Edmonton front office. I'm really curious to see how Toronto approaches the next couple weeks in goal. For all the decisions they have to make, they've obviously identified the number one priority is what's happening in net. And I think all other decisions are going to be secondary to that in terms of fixing what their goaltending is going to be next year.

I think some teams are going to want to know from their big potential free agents, like a Johnny Goudreau in Calgary. I think they're going to start asking for some clarity soon. Just can you tell us what you're thinking? I don't think that's necessarily Goudreau is the first. I just think he's one of them. I think the one that could come down in the last week, I think could be Forsberg.

I really do think that's going to be a little bit different. It reminds me a lot of Landis Gog last year. I know the Predators fans are hoping that it ends the same way. I do think some teams are going to be asking this week, like, can we get an idea here? I'm also very curious if there's any chance that Kadri stays in Colorado. I don't think it's an easy thing to do. You know, some people said to me this week when I was in Denver that he knows what a good thing he's got going there. I don't

know if it's possible. And it may be, it's just one of those wistful things when you're about to win a Stanley cup. But I do wonder if there's any chance it can be worked out. Wow. I'm sure they'd love Kadri and Chushkin and Josh Manson all to stay flat cap. I know, I know the reality of it. Like I'm, I'm with you.

I'm sure you're Joe Sackick. You want all these guys to come back, but I'm like the sugarplum fairy, Jeff, like everything goes through. Everything becomes true. There's one other thing that I'm curious about toplum fairy, Jeff. Like everything goes through, everything becomes true. There's one other thing that I'm curious about too,

considering the draft is coming up July 7th and 8th. Who's San Jose's general manager going to be here? I don't know yet. That's something I'm obviously going to have to turn my attention to, but the other thing too is

what about their coach? There's a lot, and we'll be here to document all of it on 32 Thoughts to Podcast. Once again, thanks as always for listening. These pods, as much as they may have been a headache as elliot mentions for amal to put together listen man shoot that guy a tweet shoot that guy a thumbs up because he does all the heavy lifting here like elliot and i tuck in when we're done he stays up has a quick two-hour nap

and finishes it off early in the morning two thumbs thumbs up for our man Amal Delage, the best in the business. I just got a text from Amal. It said if you could add on that my Venmo is and have them all send me one dollar. That's his business model. If you like this podcast, just send me a dollar. That's all I'm asking for. Taking us out a trio from Seattle. They've been making music going back to 2013. Brothers From Another are very creative lyricists that make feel good music. From their 2015 album, This Summer,

here's Brothers From Another with Blame It On My Youth on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Congratulations to the Colorado Avalanche. If I ever need excuse, you can blame that on my troops. I be breaking all the rules, you can blame that on my youth More than 92 and shit to tell the truth You tell me what to do, then I'll probably justify it Like, know what you mean, know what it means, you're the ends

Justify it, girlfriend, you the flyer, say life is like a bitch Well, shit, we're kicking on an island Sitting down in Cabo eating chips and avocados Yeah, we got problems, but that's why we got tomorrow Other rappers banging, me, I got bangs Like, you know, the homie Nacho, reppin' for the gang But I swear BFA the only chick I'll ever play Made hot shit, mixed tapes in basements

He's black and I'm not, guess it's tape mixed Hire a couple chicks to kick it and take pics To show my grandkids that I really was the shit Yo, I swear that we the shit Outro Music