Puck Soup - John Cullen / What Am I Thinking?

Episode Date: October 23, 2020

Ryan and Sean talk about local broadcasters, discuss news and theories on trades and drafts, talk old guys who haven't won the Cup, play a game of What Am I Thinking and Ryan chats with comedian John Cullen

Sticks and hits and goals and saves and slap shots and goons. We've got sportly commentary to what if you commute. We also cover movies, TV shows, it's in tunes. It's your weekly bowl of hockey and nonsense. Oh, too. Hey, gang. It's me, Ryan Lambert, from this podcast. Sean McAdoo from The Athletic.

Okay, and yeah, as you can probably tell, no Greg this week, he went into one of those things where they blow money around, you know, the big phone booth things, and they had it on backward, so it sucked all the air out, and he suffocated and died. And also, they took $300 from him, so bad news. Yeah, it's just rough day all around. Yeah, so it's really... rough for us because we have to talk about Doc Emmerich retiring. Sean, as a Canadian, not familiar really, and me as a person who doesn't like a lot of stuff, not really a Doc Emmerich fan. So this is a tough one. This is a tough way to start out, but we're going to plow through it. I feel like he probably has an impression that he's been waiting to break out, and now it's

like it's not going to happen. If not an impression, certainly plenty of memories since he was the devil's guy for so long. Yeah, that's true. I, of course, really only know him as the NBC guy, where he formed a very not entertaining for me, trio with Eddie Olick and Pierre Maguire. And like, the thing I guess you would say about Doc Emmerich is the number of people who were like, what you have to understand is he is insanely nice. Yeah.

That, you know, that makes it tough to really, like, bag on him. Just, you know, it wasn't my style. I like a more relaxed way to talk about the game, you know, maybe not as frantic. And I think, you know, in terms of just doing that, in terms of describing the action on the ice second by second by second, yeah, there's probably none better. Nobody better to ever do it, right?

But, yeah, I mean, this is tough because Sean just has nothing to say about what he brings to the table. I mean, I've got, here's the thing. Like, we, up here in Canada, we would, we'd seem sometimes, because there are times where we get the NBC broadcast on, like, a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Oh, okay. Flyers are playing the Rangers and whatever. you know, we might see them then. But, yeah, certainly for us up here, 90 plus percent of the hockey we watch and our hockey

memories are going to be hockey night in Canada guys or TSN or Sportsnet or whatever. We don't get a lot of the American. But we do, you know, we're familiar with them and we see the clips and that. And just personally, as somebody who spends way too much time digging through old clips, it always amazed me how far back you could go and he would still show up. Like to me, like, he was always like, I was surprised that he retired. I was surprised to find out he was as old as he was. But I guess, yeah, the math lines up because like he was the guy in half the clips in the 80s.

You know, go back and like my favorite clip, I tweeted it out is the one of him and Bill Clement doing the Easter epic, the quadruple overtime game seven between the islanders of the capitals. And it's like the third overtime intermission and they've got nothing prepared. And it's just like, they just throw it to them and they're just like, just wing it. And they're both like completely loopy with fatigue and exhaustion. And Bill Clement is doing these impressions. And Doc Amric is just having the time of his life. Like he just, these are the greatest impressions he's ever heard.

And it's, uh, it's just. fun and weird and one of those things. And there's all these, like, all these weird voiceovers that they would get him to do in the 80s where he'd, like, read a poem or something. And, like, that would be, like, and it would be like, happy Christmas from the, from the NHL. And you're like, what was that? Yeah, it's like, apparently NBC's going to let him do that kind of thing every once in a while, like the video essay kind of a thing. And that's fun. I think, I think that's maybe what he does best. Like he just really can nail down

the language and that kind of stuff when he's got a little bit more runway to write. And to that point, I don't know if you saw it. Somebody posted on Twitter one of those that he did from the 80s about all the different last names in the NHL and how they all tied

together. First of all, I'd never really heard his his stuff when he was a younger man. And boy, what a pleasant voice he had. As he got older, he got kind of like the old man voice, you know what I mean? I've been there. And as, you know, it's now in everybody's impression of Doc, where he talks like this. And back then, he didn't.

And it was jarring to me to be like, I can definitely tell that this is the same guy. but also what a difference, I guess, four decades makes. Yeah. Well, I mean, and I guess it's a credit to him that he did it for four decades. And, you know, yeah, it changed. And yes, his style wasn't for everyone. But, like, he still, you know, it felt different enough that you felt like the guy was at least evolving, but not, like, turning into a caricature of himself. Like, he didn't seem like an old guy doing a bad impression of the young guy.

and I guess my favorite thing with him and I never the whole thing with like using the different words for things and that you know that that that's fine some people were some people like that I was kind of not

not super partial to it but that's fine. The thing that worked for me with Doc Amrick always was he had that it felt like there was the right level of enthusiasm for the moment it didn't feel like like when he would get excited about something, it didn't necessarily feel like it was forced or like this was just a broadcaster's instinct kicking in that, oh, okay, something's happening. I got to get loud here. I got to, you know, start playing up to the moment. Like, yeah, he's one of those guys. The classic thing of the puck just being eight feet from the net and you start screaming. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Or like, oh, I have to manufacture a moment to meet this. Like with him, I guess what I would say with him is he's one of those guys and this should be something you say.

about everybody who's on a hockey broadcast probably, but you can't, and certainly up here, he seemed like he really liked hockey. Like, he just, he liked that he was like, he was going to sit in a booth and watch a hockey game for three hours and talk about it. And that seemed like fun to him. He thought that was sick. Yeah. Yeah. It wasn't like this, this.

One of the classic guys of, I never did a day of work, you know, because he was just always so happy to be at the rink and all that kind of thing. Right. And how many guys, you know, either don't give you that impression or guys that have been in the media business for 30 or 40 years like he has where it's like, yeah, at first they seem to like it. And then now they just think everything should be like it was before. And it was all so much better back then. And yeah, I mean, with him at least, like there was, he didn't seem like he took it too serious. He wasn't trying to, he wasn't trying to win an Emmy every single time out there like by creating this big dramatic moment. He was just kind of going with it, having some fun, getting a little.

bit silly sometimes. Yes, which wouldn't wouldn't work for everybody, but it didn't feel fake with him. Like it felt like, yeah, like this is, the enthusiasm is coming from the right place. He seems to like what he's doing, and he's pretty good at calling these games. And then from there, like any broadcaster, once he's been around for one, two, three, four decades, he just becomes the soundtrack of a certain segment of the fan base's memories. Yeah, absolutely. It's going to be weird to not have that. Yeah, and then the other thing I wanted to say about him is I personally really liked when you could tell he was not interested in something that was set on the broadcast where he'd just go like, all right, and go right back to the play.

Uh-huh. Like Pierre's just going off about, oh, I'd come from Saxe, Mary, blah, blah, blah, blah. And Doc will be like, and there you have it. pass on a long round to whatever. I thought that was always great. Like a little better than the complete no-sell that Eddie Olcchek would give, Pierre, certainly. But with all that having been said, Sean, like let's say you are building a three-person broadcast team, someone between the benches, two guys in the booth. What are you looking for in that?

Like, you don't have to get into specifics of, I want this guy and this guy and this guy. But, like, what are you looking for in that kind of a dynamic? See, it's, it's kind of interesting because he's, you know, three, three man booth. And that's kind of what we're talking about these days with the guy between the benches. Because if, if you had asked me five years ago, we'd probably be talking about a two-man booth and then like a host or someone like that. And I would have said, I want the play-by-play guy to have the, the, the, the knowledge and the enthusiasm and the sense of the moment. And then I want the color guy to be the smart one who can explain and break down and all of that.

Whereas now, like, the guy between the benches can kind of do that. And the color guy can kind of have a little bit more fun and get it. So, you know, the guy, to me, the ideal behind the bench guy right now is Ray Ferraro. Like, he's fantastic. And he's a guy that, you know, Canadians and Americans are. familiar with now. He's just, he's a guy that, and, you know, I don't, I don't dump on Pierre too much. I don't see a ton of Pierre McGuire, but I always feel like whenever I do watch Pierre

McGuire from between the benches, even when he's saying something interesting, I kind of feel like, yeah, but he could have also said that from anywhere. Like, they could have him in a studio somewhere and he could do, whereas with Ray, it's like, the fact that he is down there, I feel like he is learning stuff and. seeing stuff and passing stuff along and and you know the fact that he was a player for so long he was down there he knows what to look for he knows where to look and when and what to listen to and and uh and it he's he's just so good for a guy who's relatively new to the role uh he's fantastic uh and then yeah my my my my dream booth is i want like i said i want the the play by play

guy to have a good voice, good sense of the moment. I don't want the fake stuff. I don't want you to be playing a character. I don't want the Jack Edwards, like, you know, this sort of thing. And to be honest, I don't even want the kind of homer guy that almost every local team has. Yeah. I don't need that. You know, I'm enough of a homer. Like, I'm biased enough for all of us. I want somebody who's, but, you know, has that, that excitement in the moment. knows when to shut up, knows when, you know, how to use five words instead of 50, if that's what it calls for. And then I want the, you know, I want the color guy to be somebody who's smart and knows what they're talking about, but is also funny, has some stories, can think on their

feet, all of that stuff. To me, the best I've ever seen, and this is no surprise to anyone who's listened to Red Me over the years, the Bob Cole, Harry Neal combo that we used to have in Hockey Night in Canada. It was the best ever. I mean, Bob Cole, to me, is the best who's ever done the job. Part of that is because, like a lot of Americans with Doc Emmerich, he, Bob Cole is my soundtrack to so many. Yeah, absolutely.

I understand. I'm surprised given your, given your, you know, like how much you're a hockey history guy, you don't, your favorite guy isn't the guy from, ladies and gentlemen, and all the ships at sea. It's Hockey Night and Canada at the beginning. Foster Hewitt. Yeah.

Foster Hewitt. It's probably the biggest legend ever, but I mean, I didn't hear a lot of him. You know, his time was kind of past. Like Bob Cole was my foster hewitt. And I acknowledge, please do not, if you're one of those people who doesn't like Bob Cole, don't tweet me. I don't want to hear about how in 2014 he mispronounced a name or something when he was 80 years old. Or how he called Magnus Arvinson Alfredson one time and you can't get over it. Yeah, he's the classic guy who he just, they let him.

do it too long. They probably did. But even then, like, one of my all-time favorite Bob Cole moments, and, you know, again, the guy was like doing this well into his 70s, into his 80s, yeah, like you lose a step mentally. Your eyes aren't as good. Like, this is all, of course, going to happen. But I remember the, um, him calling, was it 2014 or 2015? The year that the Blackhawks and the Kings played in the playoffs. and they had that insane overtime, not the game 7 overtime, but I think it was the game 5, where they did an entire overtime period in like 24 minutes of real time. Like there was no whistles.

Yeah, and it was a track meet. Yeah, I remember that. It was just the best period of hockey of the entire decade, because it was two really good teams, obviously. At the time, they both had two cups. And it was like, it was almost like, you know, it was like watching two amazing teams that were like, yeah, you know what? I know this is the NHL and it's defense first.

and defense wins championships. But you know what? I got a lot of skill. You got a lot of skill. You want to go? Let's go. Yeah, let's air this one out. Yeah, absolutely.

And they just did. And I remember watching it and seeing it develop and actually having like a momentary feeling of like, man, this is so good. I hope Bob Cole can keep up because this is, this is hockey on fast forward. And for whatever reason, he just like found another gear and he was perfect for that whole period. it was like the last great Bob Cole highlight and he was just phenomenal and Harry Neil who was a very you know he had been a coach for years and years very funny guy very educated very smart about hockey he was a very good color guy yeah he did he did

the local Leafs broadcast so he would work with Joe Bowen he did the stuff I think with the sabers and that as well but him and Cole had just had that perfect chemistry that you can't teach you can't design it they just found it and you know they knew when to, you know, one would talk, the other one knew when to back off. It was, it was just perfect. You put those two guys, you know, from, from the 80s, 90s, 2000s in their peak with modern day Ray Ferraro teaching me about the game, perfect. I'm, I'm a, I'm a happy viewer. Yeah, I would say you want, I think you want just like a smart person, uh, everywhere, obviously, you know, like you don't want, like I think to your point about homers and stuff like that, like I think there is a little bit of that that you kind of, if you're a fan of the local team, you might kind of want that.

Maybe, maybe not to the level of like the Avs broadcast or something like that, obviously. But the thing is they're all so bad. Like, it amazes me when I see like, uh, yes, that's certainly true. For, for, like, and for a lot of teams, like, I mean, I can understand, man, if you, if I don't, I don't even know what. the local broadcast sound like in like Vegas or Arizona. But I could under, if you need like a hype man for that, Vegas is good one.

You've got new fans. Sure. But like Montreal, like their radio guys are just ridiculous homers. The Leaves. I love Joe Bullock. I think everybody's radio guy though, right? Like I think every time they play the clip of the radio guy,

um, over the, you know, oh, oh, here's the goal Pat Maroon scored. And the guy's just like, oh my God,

it's Pam. Like, relax, dude, you're a grown-up. You get to not, like, absolutely lose your mind over it. Don't have to sell me, man. I've been... Exactly. Well, it's the thing you said earlier. It's the thing you said earlier about, like, manufacturing the moment, you know?

Yeah. And that, to me, just feels like, I know this is going to get played on, like... Well, I was going to say dead spin, but it's not dead spin anymore. But like, I know they're going to take this audio and put it over the video and be like, this is what the real call is. So I got to absolutely lose my shit over it. And, yeah, that's not at all for me. And the other thing for me is I, like, again, grown up in Toronto, so we were right across from Buffalo. So I saw a lot of Buffalo stuff.

I love Rick Generette. And I love, I like a lot of the Mike Lang stuff in Pittsburgh. But those are the only two guys. that can do that act. Like, do not try, don't do it. Don't break out catchphrases. Don't, like, Lange and Jeneret did that. It's been done.

They did it better than you're going to do it. Please, there's so many guys that are like trying to break out these like cute little. Absolutely. It's like, dude, I can tell you have that written on a cue card in front of you that you've been saving for this moment. Like, don't. Yeah, you've been saying that into a mirror for a week and a half. Exactly. No, thanks.

Yeah, I think Ray Ferraro is the ideal between the benches guy. I don't know that anybody else even comes close. I like a Mike Johnson type where it's a guy who's just like, he's not going to hit you over the head with the analytic stuff, but he clearly knows it and knows its value and that kind of thing and isn't going to like, you know, again on the Boston broadcast where they're like, and that's why you don't put your story. talking coursey and that kind of stuff and it's like

you're covering the team with Patrice Bergeron on it though like you should be saying that it's insanely good but anyway yeah like and then a play by play guy like I said I just like a guy who kind of lets it breathe a little bit I don't need to know who was giving and receiving every single pass I don't need to know the four guys who are around the net jamming at a rebound like none of that is as material as a lot of announcers make it out to be.

Like, you know, it's the thing that people knocked doc for is like, it's a radio call on TV. Yep. And let's put it this way. Like, there's a reason it works on radio. It's because I can't see anything. But I can see that like a pass goes from point to point or whatever on the powerplay. I can see that. I don't need you to go describe every, every, you know, bitten piece of, you know,

the action on the ice. I think you can just kind of let it breathe a little bit more. And yeah, like I said, you get some smart guys in there. And that's a skill. Like you're sitting there with a microphone in front of you and it's your job to call this game for potentially millions of people. Like, I'm sure the instinct to describe every little thing is probably pretty intense. But yeah, you're right. It's that ability to just say like, you know what? You're watching the game. You see exactly what's happening. And, and like, I find that just in sports, and this seems like a recent thing, the whole thing about, like, when the announcers go totally quiet and everybody loves that, like, you know, somebody will hit a big home run. And they're like, and listen, the announcers

don't say a word, the entire, for the next minute, and you really, isn't that great. And yeah, sometimes that is great, but sometimes to me, that feels gimmicky. Sometimes it's not. You got to, yeah. You got to know one to step in. Yeah, I'm not, I'm not talking about, like, going dead quiet and, you know, just letting the crowd take over, whatever it is. But, like, just understand, I mean, Bob Cole's best calls, his classic moments on, like, big goals or big saves very often, was just saying the player's name. That's it.

He didn't have to describe, you know, it was, you know, it was just Marchand. Like, that was it. That was the whole goal. It wasn't Marshawn comes in and deeks around and makes a move? And now the Oilers, like, no, like, I know what's happening. But that punctuation mark of, you know, just the excitement was, it was great. And again, I don't even know how you teach that. And maybe it's just something you've got to do it for 20 years before you figure it out. Yeah, the thing I always compare it to is like they, you know, when you watch a soccer game, I don't think you watch too many of them, but you can take my word for it.

That when you watch a soccer game, there's a lot of just like talking about whatever is going on. You know what I mean? Just like having an actual conversation instead of like, like the play-by-play guy talks, and then the color guy talks, and then the play-by-play guy talks, and then the guy between the benches talk. Like, it's a lot of, oh, what do you think about how, whatever, Manchester United is attacking, and then the guy says, and he says, well, don't you think, blah, blah, blah, and like, there's an actual conversation. I wish there was more of that in hockey. Because, again, like, I don't need everything described, and I don't want a guy just being like,

okay, now the play has stopped, this is when I jump in and I break things down. Like, just make it like a more of a convo. I think that becomes a little more interesting. Yeah. And part of that is just the chemistry between the two or I guess the three people in the booth of kind of knowing how to let that flow and that's where some of the greats have it. Yeah. What else? What else?

The thing is, me, Sean, we're like, oh, there really, like, isn't a lot to talk about this week. Yeah, great picked the right to bail. Yeah. Yeah, he pulled the shoot. What he's going to visit his daughter, I believe. So I get it, but also, like. Yeah, but he's tweeting right now. Like, dude, what do you?

Get him on here. Yeah, lazy. Many are saying lazy. Many. Yep. And they're right to say. I don't want it bad enough. Yeah, that's right.

How about this one, Sean? The Chicago Blackhawks formally said, we're rebuilding. How many years too late do you think this is? Yeah, I mean, it's probably a couple at least. Although, I get it. You know, trust me, if the Leafs ever win three championships in five years, I will go and handcuff myself to whatever that roster looks like and refuse to let it be broken up because it's,

so I get why there was a hesitancy for Stan Bowman to do it. But it's interesting. It's interesting for a few reasons. First of all, that Stan Bowman is being allowed to do it very often in these situations. Yes. You'd see a team say, okay, we're going to start over. We're going to start. Without you.

Somebody new. Yeah. It's a guy who steered us into the ditch. We're going to be all set with that guy. But, yeah, it's really weird. Yeah, the other piece is that it's a rebuild. The messaging has been interesting because the reason we're talking about is because if people haven't seen it, they put, they basically sent a letter out to, I don't know,

it was a season ticket holders or they put something out for the fans saying, here's our strategy and they used the word rebuild. And it was pretty much what the Rangers did a couple years ago, where you're putting your cards on the table and you're letting your fans know what's what's going to happen. But then Stan Bowman went and did the media rounds and at least in a couple of places, he is basically saying, well, no, nothing's really changed. This is what we were already doing. And what they were already doing didn't really feel like a rebuild.

I mean, yeah, there were times they were trying to get younger. They had some high picks. That's what every team tries to do. but they, you know, it didn't feel like a classic rebuild. And certainly, even now, like, we're not hearing that Patrick Cain's on the block or Duncan Keith is on the block. And they're trying to, you know, they're going to trade guys and get first round picks. And even the Brandon Sade trade that just happened, you know, they didn't get like an A plus

prospect. They didn't get a first round pick. They got a guy, a youngish guy to drop into the roster. He's 25. Like, he's not, Nikita Zadoraov is not a. young guy. He's not, yeah, he's not young, but he's 25 for a defenseman. He's, he's, yeah, but I mean, that's, that's, that's what's even in the league? Like, you're five years? Yeah. That, that's, that's the thing. Like, what is the window here? And I think it's pretty clear that, you know,

let, let, let's set aside whether you even could trade Patrick Kane, Jonathan Tate's guys like that, carrying $10 million dollar cap hits in today's flat cap environment. Um, it's pretty, let's clear they don't want to. It's, it's, so is it a rebuild or is it, I don't know, I don't want to say a reload or whatever. They love to say that shit. And so, like, I was kind of excited that they didn't say that, right? Like, one of the first teams to ever rebuild and actually, or in the modern era anyway, and actually, like, acknowledge it.

But here's what I think the crucial difference is. They let Corey Crawford walk. which, you know, fair enough. He wanted a bunch of years and he wanted a little, maybe a little extra money, but not, you know, not too much. And they're replacing him with nobody in particular. So, like, if you look at all the, all the Blackhawks performance the last two, three years, you have to understand that, like, that's with borderline elite goaltending, right? And so if you take borderline elite goaltending out of the picture, this seems going to be really bad because they're not going to have somebody who's putting up a 915, 920 save percentage anymore.

They're going to have guys who are around the league average maybe. And, you know, like the other thing. Yeah, right, exactly. And so, you know, if you're looking to bottom out, like, that's the way to do it. You can't say, you know, the thing we always say about tanking and stuff like that is you can't say to the coach, like, don't put the best team on the ice. You can't say to the players like, don't try on the next shift. What you can say is we're going to take the tools that a coach would need to be successful away from him with the express purpose of losing. And we're going to, you know, just put together a roster where, yeah, even if a guy tries hard, like, that's not.

going to make much of a difference. Yeah. So I think that's the only shift we're seeing right now. But, you know, when they maybe start thinking about trading guys at some point in this coming season or next summer or something like that, then they can start loading up on draft picks. And that's what they need to do because they don't even have all their own picks for next year's draft, let alone somebody else's.

And that's what's going to get interesting. because at this point at least, the goal tending is not good. But beyond that, like, this is not a rebuild in the sense of, like, what Ottawa is doing, what Detroit is doing, where it feels like they're signaling that, hey, we're going to be garbage for three years, get some high picks, and then we're going to come back. Like, that doesn't feel like what the plan is in Chicago right now. Again, because you've got Kane and Taves and Keith, and these guys are not in their prime anymore, but they're still in the window of being

players that can be part of a winning team. And I don't know that you want to just burn through the next three or four years of that and then come out the other side. Unless maybe the idea here if you hook Stan Bowman up to a lie detector is I'm going to go out there with no goaltending.

Team's going to stink. And then maybe around a trade deadline where suddenly a Patrick Kane or Jonathan Taves doesn't have a $10 million cap hit anymore because we're enough of the season has gone by. Maybe at that point we move somebody like that, see if some team wants to take them on, get a big windfall for it. Maybe. To me, I don't see how it's a rebuild if you're keeping those three guys, plus Brett Seabrook, you're not. Well, they can't go anywhere.

That's the problem. They all have no moves. And they're, you know, especially Jonathan Taves was like, I'm not. going anywhere. Like, I'm not going to waive my no move clause. And so at that point, it's like, oh, I guess you can't do anything with those guys. Like, you can certainly sell off everybody else that isn't, you know, 25 or under. But, and then the other, the other problem with that group is, like, remember how sad they all got when Brent Seabrook, who was one of the worst defensemen in the league for multiple years before this, started getting healthy scratched? Yep. And they were like,

you know, things got to change around here. This is bullshit, blah, blah, blah. And it's like, yeah, you guys need to, like, understand what the situation is. And maybe this helps them understand what the situation is and moves them in the right direction. But, yeah, they're just, they're not a good team. And now, you know, like, in addition to not being a good team, especially defensively, they're also going to have to be like, oh, and we don't have Robin Lainer and Corey Crawford back there. We have Malcolm Suban and I don't even know who the other two guys are.

Yeah, and it was interesting in Bowman. Stan Bowman had an interview on The Athletic, and he may have made this point other places too, because he went everywhere on that one day this week. Because I think we even talked about it last week where we were kind of like, what is Chicago doing with the goaltending? Like, Corey Crawford wanted to come back. There were guys available that, you know, lots of goalies out there,

and yet they're going in with these three young, unproven guys. And he actually kind of answered that in a way that I thought made some sense, which is it, Stan Bowman basically said that Cory Crawford wanted to come back, but he wanted a multiple-year deal. And that they basically don't want to commit to, anybody for more than a year because they feel like as crazy as the whole goalie carousel was this offseason, that next offseason with the expansion draft, it's going to shake all sorts of things free.

Because, of course, any team that has two decent goalies at that point is going to be looking to move one, because otherwise you're going to lose them for nothing. And I actually found that interesting. He was basically saying, in a year, we think we're going to be able to get a really good goalie, but we don't want to do that and then have somebody already locked in. So it's almost like they're punting on this year. I'm sure if one of the young guys steps up and is fantastic, which does happen sometimes, great, lock in on that guy.

But it really seems like he was saying, like, a year from now is when we're going to do the shopping for the goaltenders. And I did find that very interesting compared to some other teams out there that are locking guys down and all of this. That at least it did seem, you know, we'll see if that is how it plays out. We'll see if, you know, maybe a year from now we'll be like, yeah, he misjudged the market really bad. and they still got no goaltender. But at least it did show that there was some thought to it, and it was an angle that I hadn't considered when we were questioning it a week ago. So I found that interesting.

Yeah, you definitely have to start making plans for the expansion draft right now. Like, everybody was making fun of Edmonton for resigning Chris Russell yesterday. And I was like, this is just so they can expose him in the expansion draft. There's no other reason to do it. And I don't think, you know, like, he's an okay, maybe, like, third-payer guy if you use him that way. And if you expose him just to lose him, well, you know, Seattle took a guy who is incredibly replaceable off your hands. So who gives a shit? And, yeah, like, you know, teams are doing more of that.

Like, there's more to a lot of these transactions just on that front. and I think people are considering or even maybe able to consider because, you know, ones to set up a domino, to set up another domino, you know, that kind of thing. So, yeah, believe me, I'm not sitting here going, you can't, you couldn't possibly understand all the ins and outs of, uh, of Ken Holland's, uh, machinations here. But I think that, I think that kind of thing definitely, uh, needs to be considered whenever you're looking at why did they do that for two years instead of one or whatever it is. The only other thing that happened this week, though, Sean, is Joe Thornton signed with the Leafs.

Did he? Yeah, you might have missed this news. It wasn't, it was one of those things where it came out of nowhere. There wasn't like a lot of runway on this for weeks and weeks leading up to it. The Leafs don't get a lot of coverage, so, you know, what do you? And it wasn't like super reported before the fact that like the leaves were pursuing him or having Zoom calls with him or any of that kind of stuff. But yeah, I think this is this is the kind of move where even if you're like, yeah, obviously Joe Thornton isn't Joe Thornt per se anymore. It's fun.

At the very least, it's a fun pickup. I love it. It's fun and it's like really like what is the risk? when a guy's coming in. Yeah, there's none. Pretty much on the minimum. Not even any bonuses. So you're not even risking next year's cap. Yeah, like maybe, look, I mean, he's 40, whatever, 41, 42 years old.

He was pretty good a couple years ago. He was okay last year. He's not at the age where you would expect him to go up and down. Like, I mean, he's not going to suddenly, the curve isn't going to start suddenly point upwards, even the whole change of direction thing. even or change a change of scenery. It's, he's not going to get better, but he is a guy where his skill set, in theory,

has always been the vision, the hockey IQ. In theory, that doesn't necessarily fade the same way that speed or some other things do. He could still be a useful player. And what if he's not? Like, even if he is complete garbage, yes, it probably, you know, there's an opportunity cost. The Leafs are up against the cap, so even $700,000 is something. There's an opportunity cost in that they could have gone and got somebody else to fill this role.

And, you know, if he's absolutely terrible, then it kind of becomes a bit of a sideshow maybe. So I guess that's the downside. It's not much of a downside, considering the upside here. You might get a pretty useful. A capped-out team gets a pretty useful player, not to mention a guy who, by all accounts is great in the room. He's been around forever. He's a leader in his own way.

Players that play with him love the guy. That it probably wouldn't kill the Matthews and Marners of the world to again be around somebody who's, you know, who's been doing this for a while. And, you know, and to be around somebody who doesn't have that cup and kind of sit there and go, oh, yeah, you know what? We're not guaranteed. Here's a guy who's first ballot Hall of Famer, one of the greats of his generation. He doesn't have the cup. He doesn't have that ring. Why do we assume that we're going to get it if, you know,

and maybe that helps. Maybe that kind of old guy without a cup mojo can lift the leafs up a little bit. Yeah. And I think I was thinking about with respect to old guys without cups, it doesn't seem like there's a lot of them. It seems like it used to be a pretty big thing. of like, oh, this one of the great players of his era is sitting here without a cup. It doesn't really feel like for all the facts that, like, you know, five teams have won the

Stanley Cup since, like, 2010 or whatever it is. Like, it's really interesting that in the last few years, a lot of old guys without cups have become slightly older guys with cups. Yeah. Yeah, every year we get a couple checked off. the list. But yeah, there's so many teams these days, and careers are getting shorter, so yeah, the list does, it populates.

So I kind of, I'm trying, I've been trying to think of, like, who's definitively, like, I guess, apart from Patrick Marlow at this point, who's definitively like an old guy without a cup who everybody in the league would go, oh, damn, I hope that dude wins a cup. because, like, you would say Ovechkin. Well, Ovechkin won one a few years ago. You might have said Stamcoast. Stamcoast just won one. And I guess it's weird to talk about, like, Stephen Stamcoast, who's, like, 30 as an old guy without a cup.

But you know what I mean. And I was just trying to think, I don't really think there are any apart from, like, at this point, like I said, Marlowe, maybe Ilya Kovalchuk. That's about it for, like. Well, I think there's a couple more. So Marlowe is definitely one. Joe Thornton, I think, is at this point. Well, right, yeah. He's the number one.

He's the potential Ray Bork. Everybody wants him to win it. Yeah. You know, especially if you were to do it with the Leafs, which I realize for a lot of people, they'd be like, you know what? I love Joe Thornton, but I'm not cheering for the Leafs. Whereas, you know, with Ray Bork, everyone was like, yeah, I'll cheer for the Avalanche. Who cares what it did? So maybe it's not going to eat the same.

But I would say the other guys that jumped to mind for me is, one guy who just came close is Joe Pavelski, who I don't think is quite at that level of Thornton as far as being like the first ballot hall of famer type, but has all the same scars from San Jose and near misses and all of that. Yeah, now we're just saying guys from the sharks, but... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Jason Spets on the Leafs, I think, is now, I mean, he's...

Yep, sure. He's a great 1A for your old guy without a cup, man. You got to have that depth. He's pretty good. The other big one that I would say is Henrik Lunkwist, I think, is still. Sure, yes. And it's tricky with goalies. There's never really been, like, you know, people who read my stuff know why I write about

this concept all the time. There's never been like a really great goalie old guy without a cup story. Maybe Hasek with the Red Wings would be the one that you would point to. But, you know, Lunkwist, if, you know, Lundkwist, if, you know, If he were to like go into Washington and go into the playoffs as the starter and lead them on a cup, that would be fantastic. That would be an amazing story. Chances are, maybe not. Like I, you know, a backup goalie finally claiming a cup is, I don't know.

I don't know how. It would be a nice moment, but I don't think, I don't think that you could make a whole like storyline out of all this guy, you know, he's still plugging away. because he just wants that cup so bad, blah, blah, blah, blah. Like, at some point it's like, yeah, I mean, look, he's the greatest goalie of his generation, blah, blah, blah, but. The thing with Lunkwist is when they, when did they lose in the file? 2014, I guess, when they lost L.A. in the final. Like, he was so devastated. I've never seen, like, a goal, like, when they scored the overtime winner.

Yep. Like, I was there. And I remember, like, I'm watching the celebration and, like, you know, the confetti's coming down and the crowds go and crazy. And, like, Lunkwist is just still laying there in the grief. Like, he's not moving. And I'm like, is he okay? Like, that might have been it. Like, that goal might have just, like, sapped his will to live.

And he's, and I remember him finally getting up and, like, his teammates coming over to him and him waving them away. Like, no. Like, I don't. Get the fuck away from me. Losers. So it was, like, that was, that was, if he could play a meaningful role in a cup run, I think he would be right there with, with Thornton as far as. Yes. That's a great point.

Like you say, I don't even tend to think of goalies in that vein, but yes, absolutely. I'm looking at my list that I did for the playoffs. Some other notable that, Miku Kovu. Sure, but like who cares? And I would say, like, Giordano maybe is a pretty good one. But, like, yeah, I mean, certainly there's nobody on, like, the Thornton Marlowe, like, oh, these guys are going in the Hall of Fame for sure. Like, G. Erdanos may be a maybe, you know?

Like, I don't. The only other guy that I think is maybe at that Hall of Fame level, although it's debatable. And this is a guy that I don't think of as an old guy, because in my mind, he's been 28 for the last 13 years. But Shea Weber is still looking for not only, you know, for that deep cup run. Like, I don't even know if he's, has he even been out of the second round? I don't know. He wasn't there in Nashville. No, I don't think so.

I think that sounds about right, yeah. So, you know, he's one of those guys that, but I feel like he's not quite far enough along in his career that you feel like the clock is really loudly ticking the way it obviously is for Lundquist and Thornton and Marlowe and those guys. Yeah, I mean, he was, he was in that 03 draft. He went in the second round with, with Bergeron. So he's not not old. 35 by now. So, yeah, he is getting there. I mean, he's only got like nine years left on his contract.

So you got to. That's right. Yeah, definitely that's a guy I don't think of as being super old, but he definitely is. So my theory on this is that there's going to come a year or two when we're just like, oh, I guess there really isn't one. Like in the next three years, we're just going to be like, I think every old guy just has a cup at this point. You know, all the guys we mentioned are like, not just like old guys without a cup, but like, oh, that guy's like 38.

That guy's like, like once Shea Weber retires, I feel like everybody who's pretty good is just like, yeah, no, I got one a couple years ago. And that's weird, right? Like that's not, man. That can't be a common thing. I get a couple of articles out of this concept every year. Absolutely. You're bumming me out now.

I mean, you know, we're not. that far from the Connor McDavid years. He can, uh, he's, right. Well, I mean, there's a generation, there's a generation that's like, maybe certainly not like Thornton old or anything like that, but like, you know, guys that'll be 33 or 34 who are like, like a Joe Pavelsky, I guess, where, you know, he's not that much younger than Thornton, but he's, you know, only, quote, unquote, only 34, where, like, is Joe Pavelski? Voski going to be like the old guy without a cup for the next three years? That's weird to think about.

But he might be like the big one. He could be, especially, you know, he's had the near, because the near misses is what helps make the story, right? Like, you know, the guy. Right. We just said with Weber, like, oh, he hasn't even been out of the second round. So we don't have that, you want to have that picture of the guy, like, watching the other team celebrate and, you know, be like, he was so close. And Pavellsky's had that a couple times in the last few years. I'm sure there are other guys.

I'd have to think through, like, I mean, at some point, like, Claude Jaroo probably gets into that. Tavirus is close. He'd fit it. Well, I think the other thing to say about the old guy without a cup is, like, the journey of it, like, you know, guys get traded. Guys bounce around from team to team. Like, those guys aren't going anywhere.

So that kind of chips away at that storyline as well a little bit. And the other thing is, you know, fans are starting to understand, like, there's going to be 32 teams. Like when in the Ray Bork years, he spent most of his career with 21 teams, five of, at least five of which were complete jokes that were never going to win anything. They were just their own candy bar for everyone else. So it was kind of like, yeah, you would expect that you're going to go to the final a couple of times. you would expect that you're going to like over the course of a 15 year career, you should win a cup at least, especially if you're a superstar player that, you know,

should elevate your team around you. And now, what do you do? Like it's 32 teams, two of them are bad, three of them are really good. Everyone else is pretty much the same. And you're just, you're just, flipping coins in the playoffs. It's tougher. And that's what we call parity, and it's good.

It's good that there's parity. So, I don't know. It may be in a sense, like, it takes away some of the, you know, some of that story. Because, yeah, you're going to be sitting there going, like, with Ray Bork, you were like, he's the greatest player who's never won a cup. It's him and Marcel Dion, and he's finally going to get his cut. And, you know, now it's going to be like, well, yeah, but, I mean, also Thornton didn't get one, and Longquist didn't get one, and Marlowe didn't get all.

these guys and you're going to kind of go down the list and be like, yeah, just, just never happened for, uh, for all of those guys, but, or maybe it will. Maybe we'll get, uh, maybe we'll get the, uh, you know, Tavares to Thornton Despetta handoff and we'll kind of wipe out. Wow. The whole, the whole gene pool of the old guy without a cup for the next, the next decade. That would be, that really would be wild. Like, God, the, the, the, the articles you could write about it. If, if, if all three of those guys win and they, you know, they'd win with the Leafs.

I'd probably get a couple of articles out of that, I think. Yeah, one or two. I'd be able to squeeze that out once or twice. All right. Speaking of the Leafs, we got to, I talk to a friend of mine, John Cullen, who's a comedian. He's a podcaster. You would know him, I think, from a blocked party or the POD cast. He just put out a record last week, a comedy album.

And I talked to him about, he's a Leafs fan. So we talked about the Leafs. We talked about Joe Thornton and, like, just cool old guys who stuck around for a really long time and that kind of stuff. And John's very funny and nice. And so, please enjoy the interview. Thanks. Hey, it's me. You just heard me say that I would be dumping to this interview two seconds ago.

And I'm here with my friend, comedian and podcast hosts. Anything else you want to say, John, of your credit? No, that's good enough. Okay, comedian and podcast, so it's John Colin from Blocked Party. Hey, R.L. Thanks for having me. What's up, thank you for saying that you dumped to this interview. I like that. I like that you already, you're setting the X, you're setting the bar really low. Like, yeah, I'm just going to dump. I'm going to dump the show to this piece of show guy.

I don't recall saying that, first of all. And second of all, I would say, John, that that's an industry term. Oh, okay. All right. I think. You might have used it wrong. You're probably more of an industry guy than I am at this point. And isn't that sad for all of us? That's what a lot of people say about Puck Soup. They're like, oh, that's a little too industry for me.

This is the big time. Yeah. This is the big time. That's it. Although I only get, I'm on with you. Wish, wish couldn't show up. Sean couldn't show up. So this is like the small time of the big time.

So I feel less pressure. Well, people who are listening to that, I can reveal you now. People who are listening to this already know, which is taking a week off. Okay. Good for him. And Sean, um, has a family with like kids and stuff. God. So sounds terrible. Yeah, two childless men mid 30s. Yeah, exactly. We're just hanging out. Chopin it up. Yeah, exactly. Two friends from the internet. We,

we have the modern, we have the true modern love story. Two guys who met on Twitter like five years ago chopping it up, two white guys in their mid-30s with no kids. Finally. Yeah, exactly. It's what the people wanted, you know. Does one of us have a dog that we post about like it's our child? You bet we do. Oh, yeah.

And if you had a dog, you would do the same thing? 100% I would. That's what I'm saying. We're just, yeah, that's the space we live in. Yeah, absolutely. What can we do, you know? Now, John, I had you on a podcast this week. You put out a comedy album.

I did. less than a week ago. Yep. And I, of course, listen to it. I like to support my friends and all they do. Thank you. And you had a bit about how hockey players talk. Yeah, I did.

I think we all know how they talk. That's right. Pretty badly. Can I give you one note? Yeah, sure. Absolutely. One thing hockey players do when they do interviews is they go, you know, they sniff a lot.

Oh, yes. I didn't have enough sniffing going on. No, you didn't. And that was, that was driving me crazy. I'm like, I don't think this guy's, this guy's never talked to a hockey player in his life. Well, so I'll let you in on the little secret. Okay. So people who are listening to this pod will not have listened to my album and probably won't even after hearing me on this, which is totally fun. It's very funny. They should. Thank you. Thank you. The context of the joke is that, um, that American and Canadian pilots sound really different when they come over the intercom. They're like American pilots sound very like prim and proper and like, you know, hey, I'm a

pilot. I wasn't trying to get you to like do your bit by the way. I know. And I'm not going to do the bit. So. Okay, good. Don't worry. I'm not going to be that guy.

Now, John, I heard you recently had a run in with a barista. Is that right? Pumpkin spice latte. Are you kidding me? Folks, can we just order a freaking coffee flavored coffee? Exactly. Yeah, no, I promise I'm not going to do the bit on the pod. I just wanted to like give some context.

Yeah. So it's just a bit about how American pilots and Canadian pilots talk differently and that Canadian pilots have a tendency to talk like hockey players. And I think it's just like a Canadian thing that as soon as we get in front of the microphone, we talk like hockey players. And the joke made it on my album, but it is, that's the first time I've ever told that joke. So I was doing the album. I was doing the album recording.

And you'll hear later on in the show, spoiler alert. Um, for whatever reason, when I'm coming into my last joke, I say, okay, it's time to land this plane referring to my set. And I was very embarrassed that I had used this verbiage because I've never said it before. And so I like talked about how this is like a very embarrassing way while recording an album to like segue into your last joke. And so I had thought of that pilot comparison before, but I had never actually told it on stage. And so when I said the land this plane thing, I did the, the American versus Canadian pilots bit, and it worked really well. So then the next show, so I taped four shows for this album taping. So I did it, and it worked. And so then the next show, which ended up being the last show of the four, I was like, maybe this is like a good joke that I should just put earlier in my act without the whole land this plane thing.

And so that's what you hear on the album is I just did it like for the first time. It was like a standalone bit on that show. And it like got an applause break. And I was like, okay, I guess it's going on. So it wasn't something I planned. So now that you and I have had this discussion, I think that it will be easy for me to think like, okay,

maybe I'll add in some sniffles. However, I do want to say, as a stand-up comedian, you don't want to be on stage sniffing too much, you know, because then there's a little bit of a connotation there that I don't want to. Well,

you know, for hockey players, I think it's kind of in the same realm. You're right. You're right. That is also a very fair comparison. Now, John, you are a person who lives in Vancouver. I do.

However, you are a Toronto Maple Leafs fan. I am. I'm sorry to your listeners. I know they have to deal with Sean on a weekly basis. Yeah, the thing I always say is we just don't talk about the Maple Leafs enough on this show. And so... And that's really true of life. You know, people are saying it on Twitter.

They're saying it around Canada. They're like, could someone just please talk about the Maple Leafs for a while? I'm turning on hockey night in Canada. All I want to see is the damn Leafs game. And it's another senator's game. And it's never on. They're like, oh, it's the nation's capital. We got to play the Senators.

It's like, listen, one time, throw me a bone here. That's right. Let me watch my beautiful sons play hockey. What do you think of the Leafs off season? I like it, Ryan. I'm going to be honest with you. I like it a lot. That's interesting.

I think it's fine. You think it's fine? Okay. I think it's fine. Yeah, like, okay. I should say, like, it's hard because we didn't, you know, you can't compare it to, um, say, like the Rangers adding Lafranier, uh, through the draft or like some of the other teams who had like very strong drafts.

You also can't compare it to like Buffalo getting Taylor Hall or whatever, but I think as far as, uh, the Leafs go, I wanted them to get rid of Capitan. Um, I think he, uh, I think he is what he is. I don't think he's going to get any better. I think he's just like a 40 to 45 point guy. I think what you see is what you get. I don't think playing with Crosby is going to help him.

I just think he's just a guy to me. Sure. And he has value and they made a great deal for him. So I was like, okay. Yeah, I got why that trade happened. I think he can play at a pretty high level with Sidney Crosby because just about anybody can. Right? Like if Chris Koonitz can make a Canadian Olympic team off, I play with Sidney Crosby from before.

I think that, you know, granted, Crosby is not exactly 28 anymore, but... Yes. And who amongst us is 28 anymore, right? I'd say a number of 28-year-olds. Yeah, we're listening to this podcast. That's right. Yeah, it's very weird for me as a man who will be 38 in January. Damn.

to like really wrap my head around, there's only going to be like four NHL players older than me. Well, and you know what the crazy part about that is. So I mean, you're a little older than me. I'm going to be 35 in a week and a half. And it is really strange that that part of it is weird,

but the part that's weird to me is it feels like it was just yesterday when I was saying, oh, whoa, like all the guys in the NHL are my age. Right. You know, like, because that was like a weird thing. Like I remember, I think the first player who was like really, really good that was younger than me is Crosby. Like I'm born in 85.

Crosby is 87. So it was, I can remember being like 22 years old and being like, wow, this 20 year old hockey player is like famous and so good at hockey. And like, wow, this is crazy. A younger kid than me is so good at this. And it feels like that was just yesterday. And now it's like, it really does. Crosby's close to retiring. Like, he's not.

But, like, you know what I mean? Like, you know, people, and it's funny because people his age 100% wash out of the league. Oh, yeah, of course, right? Like, there's just exceptions to the rule and that's it. And it's like Spetsa's two years older than me, I think. And like, you know, obviously we get a ton of coverage about Spetsa being, you know, in Leaves territory.

And like, people talk about him like he's dead. Like he is just a dead person. Yeah, it's that, it's that tweet of like, oh, he's a, medical miracle. He's still in the NBA at 32 years old or whatever. Yeah, exactly. It is totally, and it's, you know, every year, not every year, but the last couple years with like Spets and then obviously they've signed Thornton and, and Wayne Simmons is like a good example too. Like he's 32. So I mean, at least Spets is going to be 38 this year. Like Wayne Simmons is 32 and people are like, oh, you know, he might not have anything left, you know, this could just be it. You know, his body might be giving out.

and you're like, man, when did my body give out? Right. I'm waiting for it, I guess. I'm on NHL.com right now. I know there's a way I can look up just guys by their age bio info. There it is. Guys who are still in the league who are older than me. Andy Green. Oh, yeah.

Okay. Thornton, Marlow. Joe Thornton, Patrick Marlowe, Sedano Chara. And Justin Williams is the only other one. He just retired. He just retired. Wow. Miko Kovu, who is, you know, everybody's like, same deal. Oh, he's a thousand years old.

Yeah. Is an NHL team even going to sign him, Ryan? Are they even going to sign him? He signed with Columbus. No, I know. But I mean, like, that's what people were saying. Like, when he left Minnesota, it was like, does he even, are they even going to sign him?

He probably can't play more. He's 36. He might have something to give on, if you're playing him eight minutes a night on your fourth life. Yeah, exactly. He's two months younger than me. Okay. Yeah.

So he's, yeah, okay, so he'll be 30, 38. Okay. Yeah, and March. Man, that's so hot. Colville Chuck's my age. Duncan Keith is my age. Mark Dierdano is my age. Jason Spetz is my age.

Everybody else in the league is younger than, and all those guys who I just said are my age, or at least two to eight months younger than me. So I'm feeling great. Where do you stand on the whole? People debate this sometimes on Twitter. Where do you stand on the whole? And I know you're a hockey media guy, so maybe this is a little different for you, but like put it, put yourself.

the shoes. Like, I know some people think it's like unacceptable to like get a jersey with a name on the back of a player who's younger than you. Do you subscribe to that theory as well? I think, uh, getting a player's name on the back period is kind of embarrassing. Oh, really? Okay. Yeah.

Um, especially just because it's like, it definitely feels like the thing of the second you get a jersey with a player's name on the back, they are 100% getting traded. Right. You know? And so, like, if you are, let's say, let's say you're a Bruins fan and you're like, I want a Patrice Bergeron jersey. I get that, you know? And it like, because like not only is it a guy, but it's like a legendary guy. So like he's still playing, but they're going to retire his number two minutes after he retired.

For sure. Yeah. But like if you're buying like a, let's say even a Charlie McAvoy jersey where it's like, oh, he looks like he's a cornerstone defenseman, blah, blah, blah. The idea that he's going to play the rest of his career in Boston, I don't get it. And I don't think that he's going to be the kind of player that 30 years from now, people are like, the Charlie McAvoy era. Ooh, we loved it. You know?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think the way to go is if you're going to get a guy's jersey, it's got to be one of those upper, upper, upper echelon guys. That's fair. Like I have a Matthews and a Tavares leaves jersey. Yeah, I think, see, I think the Tavares one, you're really, you're really playing with fire because by the end of his, Oh yeah, he's gone. Yeah, Tavaris is going to play the last three years in Arizona with Austin. That's what they always tell me.

That's true, yeah. That's what everyone tells me, he's going to Arizona. I'm like he's not, I mean, have you seen what's going on down there? He's not going to Arizona. But the, yeah, the Tavaris one was just a, that, I'm not going to lie. was just a like pure excitement pure excitement i bought it like a week after he signed with the leaves because it was just candy bar at the checkout line i get it yeah exactly it was totally because i think the thing was is that for so long we were told oh all the ontario boys want to sign with the leaps and they never did

you know we lost out on stamcoast and there was a lot before that where it was and drew dowdy would come out and be like i never want to play for the leaps you know and stuff like that and it's like okay maybe that maybe they actually don't want to play with us. And then Tavares sign and it was like, oh my God, it's happening. So yeah, I just, I had to do it, you know. And now, now that's becoming like a thing. Oh, Wayne Simmons, oh, I can't wait to get back to Toronto. The hometown, you've always heard so much about, oh, Wayne Simmons, the Toronto kid.

Yeah, of course. Never fucking comes up his entire career. Well, same with Joe Thornton is really funny too. You know, he's from St. Thomas, which is like a tiny town two hours outside of Toronto. Like, yeah, I'm sure he grew up. a leaf span. But I also think like we net all you ever heard was like Joe Thornton is San Jose.

He loves San Jose. That's where he's at. And his wife's from Switzerland. It certainly seems like he's going to retire to Switzerland. Like yes, he has already said that. Yeah, I'm going to play for Davos until I'm 90. I think his parents live there now too. If I'm not mistaken. Yeah, I think he might have said

that. Yeah. That's so so that's the thing too is it's like, oh, Ontario boys coming home. It's like not really. It's just the team is good. Like the team is Good and has a chance to win. The guy is coming home. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

Like, it's just, you know, and that's, it's, it's like Shania Twain. Same vibe. You know, she's back now. But when she was, like, married to Mut Lang, she lived in Switzerland. And I was like, yeah, she's Canadian, but like, you know, she makes country music and she lives in Switzerland. She, she or, I guess, both she and Joe Thornton, and especially Joe Thornton's kids are going to be a lot like those, uh, oh, you know, he was raised in Germany because his dad was, uh, in military, but he's an American soccer player or whatever. You know, Joe Thornton's kids are going to be dual citizens, maybe even triple,

because they probably grew up so long in the U.S. that they feel like they're U.S. hockey people. Well, and they were probably born in the U.S. too, right? Yeah, I would think. So then that would make them citizens. Crazy. So, yeah, I mean, it'll be, it'll just be, it'll depend on how good they are. That'll be the thing.

If Joe Thornton's kids are good at hockey, then they can play for Canada. and if they're not as good, they can play for the U.S. or Switzerland. And then one step down from the U.S., yeah, it's Switzerland. Like, if they're, hmm. Who's a good, who's a good Swiss player? Uh, Heeshire? Oh, I'd say, man, if they could aspire to be Nico Heeshire, they'd be, I think Nico Heeshire fucking rocks.

That's my. Oh, I love Heeshire. Yeah, that's my hill to die on with him. I think he's like, I think this year might be the year. Well, I mean, it's hard to say if this. this could be anybody's year with like however screwed they're going to play 52 games yeah yeah but it really feels like he's just kind of on the cusp doesn't it to me that's what it feels like yeah i mean i feel like he might already be there honestly i'm pulling up his hockey reference page

yeah i mean i guess he only had whatever he has 135 points and 209 games that's pretty good still yeah he's like a 20 goal like great two-way player you know yeah um And if he had any help around him, he'd probably be better than that. Yeah. So, yeah, you know, I don't know how we got on the topic of Nico Heacher. But the other stuff about the least. You asked about a good Swiss player. That's right.

You're right. No, I immediately forgot that. They have a few, don't they? Kubalik is Swiss, too, isn't he? That's a great question. Isn't he like Czech Swiss or something like that? That's a great question. Could be totally wrong, and I'm just completely making that up.

Yeah, I think you might be. Yeah, you are. I think I'm thinking of. Urashev is who I'm thinking of, who was like really good in the world juniors like a couple years ago. And then never. There's another like really good. Roman Yose.

And people are going to be really, well, yes, of course. Nino Nieder writer. Oh yeah. There we go. Timo Meyer, Kevin Fiala, Sven Berci. Yeah. Okay. I was like, I was like, I knew there was like another really good young guy we were missing.

Fiala is the one I was thinking. Yeah. And even then really good. I don't know. He's fine. Oh, well, fair enough. And they got Jonas Hill or Annette. So they're all good to go.

David Abyshire, I think is famously. David Abisher Jr. Man, it's going to, isn't like the kid in the next draft Swiss? Like the future number one pick is like a Swiss kid. Am I right? I might be wrong about that. No, isn't it the Finnish kid, Atu Rati? That's a made up name, I'm pretty sure.

It is. I just said it. Yeah, I knew it. All you have to do is just start saying vowels and you probably hit it. You're going to at least land in the neighbor. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Okay, so I guess with respect to the Leafs, where do you see them shaping up in, let's just

pretend it's going to be an 82 game season. Of course, it literally can't be, but let's say it is. Where do you think the Leafs end up? I mean, it's going to be interesting because it sounds like they're going with a Canadian division, which I think helps the Leafs. I would agree. Yeah, I think that the Atlantic would be harder than the Canadian Division. division would be for the Leafs. So I think they have a chance of winning the Canadian

Division, which is... I think I agree with that, yeah. Yeah, I mean, really, like, you... It's them, Calgary, maybe, Edmonton, maybe... Is Montreal take a step ahead? Is Calgary way better with Markstrom? I don't know. Vancouver took a step back. Vancouver definitely took a step back. It's interesting, I mean, you know, the other thing to say is, like, we don't know, like, chips are still going to be falling, like, right up until the season starts, it feels like, like, like, like, like, I sure. I was, you know, talking to people, it's like, oh, I can't believe Mike Hoffman isn't signed yet. I can't believe Sammy Vottenan isn't signed yet, that kind of thing.

Yeah. And it's like, well, they're all going to sign somewhere. They're not going to not sign. Yeah, Hoffman's not going to not get a contract. Yeah, somebody will give him $2 million on a one-year deal, something like that, whatever. And he'll be a perfectly good 25-goal guy on any line you're. put him on. Yeah, that's just what he does. He's the only thing he's good at, but it's a good thing to be good at. I say that all the time. Like Alex Ovechkin's got a million holes in his game.

But he's the best goal scorer ever. So he's going to score 50 for you every year, and that's going to be like 20% of your total team output, 25% or whatever it is, like 17, whatever. Like, that's a lot of fucking goals. Yeah. It's very good. It's a very good thing to be good at. Yeah. If you're going to good at one thing in hockey and you're not a goalie. Yeah, exactly. Like, you can be a defensive defenseman and unless you get, like, talked about, unless you play in a Canadian market, like Jeff Petrie, uh, no one's going to care and you're going to sign two million dollar contracts for your life. Yes, absolutely. Nico Heser is a great example, right? Like, I forget what his contract is, but they signed him for, like six, I think. Yeah, and like they signed him for the full freight, or term wise anyway.

And it's like, oh, he's just going to be really fucking good and undervalued forever because, you know, he only scores 20 goals and 65 points a year. Yeah, while doing everything else well. Yes, that's exactly right. On a bad team, too, bad line mates. Patrice Bergeron's a perfect example, too. Like, up until maybe three, four years ago, everybody was like, great player, really good player. And now, like, they put him with two guys who can actually put the puck in the net. And it's like, is Patrice Berseran like one of the greatest centers of all time?

Yeah, totally. Well, it was funny because I think as like, as a Canadian, you kind of realized it a little bit more because he was so good at the, at the international level. Yes. Like, he was so good in the world juniors in 2005 when he played with Perry and Crosby. Like that line was insane. And then, yeah, and then every time he played for Canada at the Olympics or anything, you're like, oh, this guy is definitely one of the best. Like, you look at like, you know, the Canada Rock. from like 2010 to 2018 pretty much were just, or sorry, 2016, no, 2018, we're not,

there was no Olympics in 2018. That's why I got confused. That's, 2016 was the world. You're kind. Sorry, God. Anyway, the rosters were so good and like Bergeron was getting 20 minutes a night on like the best teams ever assembled. And you're like, oh, and he was on the ice with one minute left in every game.

And you're like, okay. Yeah, he is definitely one of the best players ever. Somebody asked me this. Apparently we can't stop talking about Joe Thornton. Somebody asked me, where do you think? Talk about him, baby. I love it. Here's the thing that's really funny to me is like I posted about, I posted a

screen cap of me like buying a Joe Thornton jersey. Like I haven't, but I was like, oh, like if the Leafs, whatever they're, you know how they're doing all those retro jerseys? Like if the Leafs one is good, I'm for sure buying a Thornton one. But I was like really close to, I was just making fun of like, oh, I'm so close to. of buying a Thornton jersey. And like multiple Canucks fans and people were in my mentions like, oh,

Thornton's washed and he can barely skate and like blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, yeah, have you not considered how fucking cool Joe Thornton is? He's just like the coolest fucking guy in the league. Like he doesn't matter. I mean, he's getting paid $700,000.

He'll score between 20 and 40 points depending on how much he plays. And, uh, yeah, he'll most likely he'll play eight minutes a night. get 20 to 25 points. He'll set up at Austin Matthews for a sick goal at some point, and he's like the coolest guy in the league.

Like, yeah, it sucks. We signed him. It's like, give me a break. Yeah, no, like, it's the same thing about when Yarramir Yager would sign with somebody toward the end of his, like, you know, when he was just signing with everybody, right? And it's like, yeah, nobody, nobody's going, oh, Yarmir Yager is going to turn everything around for us. but everybody's like, Yarmir Yager is fucking cool.

Yeah, he's cool as hell. And he is so cool. Yeah, of course he is. And so. Remember that time that the woman like tried to threaten him with those like scandalous photos? He was just like, whatever, release them. Yeah, he's like, it makes me look cool again. I'm like 42 years old.

Did I sleep with a model last night? Yeah, that's super cool. Blackmail me. Rats. Yeah. He's not married or anything. What does he care? Yeah, I would love one time.

for a model to blackmail me. That's what I would love. Just one time. Yeah. But anyway, the thing I was going to say about Joe Thornton, somebody asked me over the weekend, like, where do you rank his career? And it was just that was the whole question. Where do you rank his career?

First of all, the only thing to say, I guess, is, you know, obvious first ballot Hall of Fame should get in unanimously, right? No question. Yeah. But then I was looking at it. And I think in era-adjusted points per game, he was like fifth or sixth all-time. Yeah. Stats are nuts.

He's 27 points behind Joe Sackick for sixth all-time in era-adjusted scoring. Yeah, it's crazy. I think it's just like because it was so many assists, right? Yeah. It's like, it's kind of the Adam Oates thing where it's like people I don't think ever really understood how good Adam Oates was. And then he like really drove it into the ground by being a total weirdo. But, um, but then like, yeah, Thornton is kind of the same thing. It's like, not that he's a total weirdo, but it's just like, it's so many assists. And yeah, he was never flashy. He was always

slow. Like that's the other thing too is like, people are like, oh, Thornton so slow. It's like, yeah, that's, he's been slow. Yeah. He's been slow forever. He's never not been slow. Yes, the NHL was slower when he was younger. So it may be, maybe, maybe. him look faster, but like he's never been a guy where you're like, whoa, look at the speed. No, absolutely. Right. He's not like a P.K. Subbin where it's like, oh, his knees gave out. He's done. He's just, the game flows around him. He doesn't. Yes. He doesn't. But I'm looking at it. Did you know Joe Thornton once scored 37 goals in 72 games? No, but that sounds awesome. Yeah. It was when he was 21 years old. He scored 37 and then two.

seasons later, he scored 36. That's cool. And then right after that, he was like, I'm just going to be a 20 goal, like, 70 assist guy for the rest of my career. Yeah. Like, that's the thing is, like, I think people don't understand how many years he was like 80 or 90 plus points. Like, that's the thing. It just, I think it was just because he did it so quietly, you know? And, and, and like I say, it was like a lot of assists. And so you weren't necessarily seeing him on highlight reels. You weren't seeing like, you know, so I think people forget that, you know, you can be really good in ways that are not necessarily, like, incredibly obvious, I suppose. Yeah.

And the other thing, obviously, is like, when San Jose was good, it was because Joe Thornton was running their power play. Totally. Right? Like, totally. I mean, there were multiple seasons where, yeah, you know, he's into his 30s now, 69 assists, 49, 59, 59, 39, 33 and 48 games, 65. Yeah.

And he's insane. He's an insane passer. I've seen him play live a bunch of times. I've been down to San Jose a few times. I've seen them play here in Vancouver. Like he just, the vision and the passing is, it's something to behold. Like the way that he can saucer pass and just, like, landed on a, landed on a dime. It is incredible.

And I think it's, that's the thing is that's never going to disappear. from his game. So he might get slower, but, you know, he's not going to all of a sudden be bad at passing. That's not like a skill

that goes away. Right. Yeah, I mean, the issue is, I guess that, like, you know,

he's maybe not going to be able to put himself in a position to make that happen anymore. And that's why you just put Joe Thornton on your power play. Like, totally.

Even if he doesn't score a single point at five on five, he's at least, I would say, going to pass, what did I say, 26, 27 points behind Sackick for six in our adjusted scoring all time. So, you know, I think he can put up 27 points if you put him on Toronto's power play. Oh, I think so too. I mean, it was funny because when he signed, I wasn't even, I sort of thought, okay, definitely going to get PP2 minutes. And then on the leaf report, James and Jonas were

talking about how they could see the Leafs possibly putting him on the first. power play. And at first I was kind of like, oh, I don't know about that. But then I thought about and you're like, Thornton feeding Austin and Willie. Yeah, okay, that sounds good. That sounds really good. And Tavares, like, you know, I think they were actually talking about moving Marner off of P.P.1 and replacing Marner with Thornton because Marner's the distributor right now. He's the passer. And, you know, you've got three guys who are all known for their shooting. like Tavares, Austin, and Willie, and you just have Thornton, like, standing the sidewall, making passes.

Like, yeah, I'm here for that all day, Ryan. That's what I want to see. Yeah, no. Like I said, I just want, I want him to have, like, one good season right into the sunset and lead Zurich or whatever team he's going to play for to 58 straight A-League championships, like 90-year-old Joe Thornton still out there. He can't even move, but it doesn't matter.

The hands are still there. That's the dream. And, and I mean, look, that's what Yager's doing, right? He's still playing, I'm pretty sure. Yeah, he is in the Czech League, for sure. Awesome. And he's what, 48, 49? Yeah, he's got to be, uh, let's see, elite prospects.

That's the first website I think to go to when I think of Yarmor Yon. Well, they're elite an elite prospect. It does list him as, being on cladnos roster for uh yeah there you go this season but he that looks like they haven't started playing yet gotcha um so who knows i mean look the guy is to answer your question yes 48 he'll be 49 uh in february damn that's nuts yeah that's cool though you know like it's i i remember when um when the olympics were here in vancouver i went into a restaurant and um there was like a bunch of hockey royalty were having lunch together. Like it was like Wayne Gretzky,

um, Chris Chelyos, um, maybe Mary Olimew was there. Wow. Steve Eiserman. It was crazy. And they were just in, like they were just sitting at a table. Like they didn't have a private room. It was just a cactus club, which is like a, just like a fat, like a upscale casual type place. So there was no private dining room. Like they were, they did have this sort of like, there was this big round table at the back of the room. But they were all. They were all. And they were, sitting at this back table. It was nuts. And obviously they had kind of like guards or bodyguards or whatever kind of like don't bug them while they're eating. And so my point, Chelyos was at the time probably close to 50. He had just been like out of the league for two or three years.

And like you saw him and it was just like, man, like this guy's 50, but like he is shredded. Like you wouldn't go anywhere near that. Like he just seemed so naturally strong still where you're like, okay, made sense that this guy played in the NHL until he was 48 or whatever. Rod Brindamore's style. Yeah, there's just some guys who just age that way, I think. They just, you know, they just never lose it

for whatever. Yeah, and Yager, of course, a notorious like workout freak. So, uh, meanwhile, though, I think Joe Thornton, uh, his workout routine is, uh, you know, just curling a beer up to his mouth. Thornton's a little bit more of a natural. Yeah.

he's got that sort of Adirondack chair vibe too. Oh, yeah. You know, he plants himself at the cottage and then he's like, okay, that's it. I'm out. Yeah. I remember when he, there was some story where, you know, Pat Burns was, if not his first coach, one of his first coaches. And they were like, oh, you know, one of those things. Like, if you were, if, you know, if Joe Thornton wasn't playing hockey, if whoever else was on the Bruins at that time wasn't playing hockey, what do you think he'd be doing?

And Pat Burns was like, moving. pianos. Great kid, but you know, he's just a big boy, and that's about all he's all he can do. And I think, I mean, what was I? Like 14 when that happened? I think about that to this day. I think that's so funny.

It's so good. I mean, that's such a good quote. And I think it's funny because I do feel like Thornton's one of those cool guys, just like as an athlete that sort of had this kind of late career turnaround in some ways. Like I feel like he was kind of like the trade was so weird. And then that was like all people could talk about for the first like five or six years he played in San Jose was this like trade and San Jose wasn't very good. And he was seen as this kind of like aloof guy and people didn't really give him a whole

lot of respect. Yep. Um, in that sense. And now it's just, it feels like it's just come completely full circle. Yeah. I remember like whenever he re-signed. with San Jose in whatever, like, 2012 or something. I wrote, like, a column being like, oh, he just doesn't want the pride.

Like, you know, I didn't mean it, obviously, because I'm not stupid. But, like, it played so, because so many people felt that way, that it played just like, oh, you also think that way. And I had to be like, no, no, no, no, no. No, I don't think that. Yeah, it's funny. And I feel like it's interesting because Spetsa, I feel like, is a similar guy. of that, you know, where people are always kind of like, oh, he's really goofy, he's got this goofy laugh, and he seems like kind of dumb. And now it's like the opposite. Everybody thinks that's cool. Everything you hear from the Leaf reporters are like, oh, he's going to be a coach and he's going to be a genius coach. And he's like, thinks the game at an insin or a G.

You don't have to be like in Mensa to be a hockey coach. You know, you just have to, you just have to understand like very narrow things at a very high level. Yeah. And, you know, probably be a good motivator. You know, like, that's it. Like, I feel like you can be, it's not like being a GM or something where it's like, oh, you have to be able to, you actually do have to be able to manage like 15 different things at once. With a coach, it's just like, all right, boys, here's what we're doing on the power play. All right, get out there.

Score. Yeah. our power play is slightly different than the power play you were on on your last team. And the rest is just managing personality. The rest is all the same that you've been doing since you were in juniors. We just do this one other little thing that's kind of different. All right, let's fucking go, boys. Here we go.

Yeah. And then, yeah, it's just managing personalities after that and not pissing off the wrong people. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. That's what's his name? In Chicago. Yeah. Yeah, and the guy in Chicago that Jonathan Taves was always mad at for scratching Brent Seabrook.

Why am I forgetting his name? Jeremy Colleton's the man. Jeremy Colleton, yeah. It feels like the Chicago fans really don't like that guy. Yeah, well, again, like, you know, Jonathan Taves doesn't seem to like him very much. So they're going to take their cue from Jonathan Taves. I mean, I would. Jonathan Taves seems like a cool guy.

Another one, yeah. Yeah, smart guy. He's like an actual smart guy. Yeah, went to college. That kind of thing. Yeah. I love one of my favorite things, if you're listening to this and you've never done yourself the favor, YouTube Jonathan Taves French, because he's completely fluent in French.

Oh, I didn't know this. Wow. Yeah, he grew up in a, he grew up in a bilingual household and his mom spoke French. So he is like 100% fluent with like an extremely good French accent. Like it's not like fluent in a way of like, oh, he's fluent, but like he never really uses it. Like he's fluent fluent, fluent. And it's really funny. Like you can look, especially when they were in the Stanley Cup final all those years, there's lots of, when he was at the podium, he would stay after his English questions to do French media, like RDS and stuff.

And yeah, he's like completely fluent, awesome accent. And it's just like, oh, this guy's cool. Like, it's just a cool thing. I mean, yeah, whatever. It's just another language. But it was like, yeah, there's something about him that he just, yeah, I like John. Anytime they're like, oh, uh, so-and-so speaks three languages.

I'm always like, that's fucking cool. I wish I could do that. Me too. Somebody told me the other day, Melania Trump is like fluent in six languages or something like that, just because, like, she was a professional model and, you know, being from Slovenia, you get a lot of different cultural push and pull in your region, fair to say. And so, yeah, it's like, oh, she's fluent in, like, six or seven languages.

And it's like, that's fucking really impressive. It is. Some people just have that brain, though. Like, I grew up in high school with a girl who was from Serbia. So she spoke Serbian and then she spoke English because she moved to Canada when she was pretty young. Her family did. But then she also just had this like sticky brain for languages. Like I think she also knew Croatian because she had some like, you know, Croatian family.

And then like she moved to Canada where obviously, you know, French is our second language here, or our other official language. And then she took, so she picked that up. She was taking both French and Spanish in high school. She was like on her way to being fluent in both of those. Like, she just had one of those brains where languages made sense to her. And I feel like my brain is exactly the opposite of that. Like, I think I'm a fairly intelligent guy.

But when it comes to learning new languages, I'm like, I don't, what? I don't understand. Like, it just, it's lost. Yeah, I took six years of French and junior. high in high school. Almost none of it stuck. I did duolingo for Spanish for like a year and a half. I can barely read it at this point.

That's about it, man. Yeah, I know. I took 12 years of French being in Canada. I took it from grade one to grade 12. But even same thing. Like, I know words. Like, if you're like, what's the French word for this? I can be like, oh, it's this.

But like to speak it, to speak like a sentence of French, I don't know. I can go to the bathroom. So that's it. Yeah, exactly. Me too. Yeah, it's like that I can order at a restaurant. That's about it.

My brother-in-law is deaf. So I've been like learning sign language for the last, him and my sister have been together for like 12 years. And sign language is actually fun to learn because it's like, it does in a way, it's very tactile. So it kind of makes sense where you're like, okay, my hands make this shape. I do this thing.

It's a little bit. more straight ahead and sensible than something like, uh, then like a written or spoken language where it's like, oh, these are sounds that are completely foreign to me. I can't even make this shape with my mouth. This is a nightmare. Yeah. Well, John, we're, we're running up on 40 minutes here. And, uh, you got too long. Look, took up too much of your time. I don't, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying, uh, there's probably like at least 30 minutes of show that we're going to record after this. And yes. At least I would say probably 45 before. for it. So in the interest of wrapping things up,

not punishing your listeners. Well, look, do they deserve it? Who's to say? It's impossible. Let's see here. You got to plug the album. What's it called, please? I forget. Sure, yeah. Well, first of all, thank you for having me. My pleasure. My pleasure. Yeah, my second comedy album just came out last Friday, as you said. It's called Long Stories for No Reason.

You can get it wherever you find your music or your comedy, Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube music now, which is like what Google Play is or whatever. It's everywhere. If you have serious XM, you may have heard it on some of the comedy channels on there. And yeah, you can follow me on Twitter at Cullen the Comic. And Blocked Party also. Am I right about this? Oh, yes. And then my podcast is called Blocked Party.

Very fun. We have a guest on me and Stefan Heck, who you may know from Twitter. he's at Boring underscore as underscore heck or if you're a hockey fan you might know his very very good hockey twitter account which is at hockey dipshit um which he retired for a year because he couldn't stand watching he hates the Canucks that's right yeah he was a former season ticket holder and he's like I hate Jim Benning so much I'm I'm out I'm quitting everything to do with hockey I don't think he watched a minute of the Canucks yeah I remember I tried to talk to him about a hockey thing and he was just like I don't know what that is so yeah I almost respect

it in a way. It's like, I can't quit the Leafs. So good for him. But yeah, it's a, we have a podcast called Blocked Party. We bring a guest on every week to talk about a time that they got blocked on social media. It's a lot of fun. We just celebrated our 100th episode. So you can check that out over at Blocked Party Pod. And we've been threatening to have you on for too long RL. So we got to, we got to do that soon. And then we'll have the old, the old crossover that the Puck Soup fans can look for. Unfortunately, I have never been blocked by anybody on social media. So, yeah, I'm sure you have. No, it's never come up. All right, John, thank you.

I appreciate you coming on and helping us kill some time. Thank you so much for having me, Ryan. It was a pleasure. All right, later, bud. All right, we're back. And, you know, we've been a podcast that when nothing's going on, we did a really good job of filling time, I feel like, the last several months, with games and quizzes and things like that.

The problem is, of course, that it's hard to do a two-man quiz without just being like, no, you're wrong. It was Wayne Simmons, actually, and you go, ah, damn. That's it. That would be the whole game. So me and Sean are going to steal, very unapologetically, steal a game from Comedy Bang Bang that can be played perfectly with two people. and for those of you who are familiar with Comedy Bang Bang, it's the game, what am I thinking?

And for those of you who aren't, the game is played. It's pretty simple, actually. We both, on the count of three, will say a thing. In this case, it will have to be a thing related to hockey. But it can be anything related to hockey. It could be Pat Burns. It could be a slap shot. It could be the movie.

Youngblood. You just, it could be a player, whatever it is. We just both say it at the same time. And then, so, for example, say Sean said Pat Burns and I said a slap shot, we then try to find the thing that is between those two things. So I, for example, I might then say Ray Bork, a guy who play for Pat Burns and had a good slap shot, for example. And so it progresses like that until we can see.

say the same thing at the same time. And it could take two tries. It could take 50. We don't know. And that's the magic. We don't know. But I should warn that I have, when Ryan explained this game to me, I recognized it. I've actually, I didn't know it from the show, but I've played this game with my kids a couple of times.

And I'm terrible at it. I'm really bad at this. And like to the point my kids will berate me, they'll be like, that's, you're moving further away. that you're really you're really poor at this. So, yeah. Well, this is why we've narrowed the focus to just hockey. Yes.

For that very reason. Because we can't count on Sean for a lot, but knowing stuff about hockey. You would think, yeah. Pretty high up on that list. I'm going to do my best. So, yeah, thank you for explaining the rules. Unfortunately, Greg's not here.

So if... Yeah, can you ask, Who is Pat Burns? Wait. Wait, what are words? Yeah, if you're wondering why this podcast is 20 minutes shorter than all the other ones, that's why we're missing this section. Yeah, we had time to squeeze in a 40-minute guest segment

because we didn't have to clear time in the schedule to answer Greg's questions about how games work. So, Sean, let's just get right into it here. I'm going to think, I'm going to think. Okay, I have a hockey thing. Do you have a hockey thing in mind? I have a hockey thing and is this, are you just going to like count it down? Like give me a three, two, one and then we both. Three, two, one. All right. Say it at the same time. Yep. Okay, ready? Three, two, one. Rick Nash. Alexander Ovechkin. Okay, who is between Rick Nash and Alexander Ovechkin? Ready? Three, two, one, St. Ilya Kovalchuk.

Okay, we're circling now. All right, who is between Elyakovlchuk and Stephen Stamcoz? Okay, give me a second. I have no way to do my typical delay of game attempt here, so this is getting tricky. All right. As this goes on it, it is supposed to get faster, by the way.

Oh, I got that news for you. You're supposed to be really ripping through them. It's not going to happen. Okay. All right, ready? Yep. All right. Three, two, one, Martin San Luis.

Martin San Luis and Jerome Ginnla. I feel like this, I feel like this is a very obvious one. I feel like this one is we should get it. You do? I think. Oh, boy. Yes. Okay.

Ready? All right. Three, two, one. Vinila Cavalier. God damn it. You know what? You were right. That was a much better one.

That was, yours was better. Yeah. Jerome McGillan and him fought in the Stanley Cup final. Calgary Flame, like Calgary Flame players at St. Louis was briefly a flame. Yeah, sure. Oh, yeah. That's a great point, too. Okay.

What do we say? Joe Newendike. We're down to Joe Mniel Cavalier. Oh, God. Okay. All right, ready? I'm ready. Okay.

Three, two, one. Ben Bishop. Ben Bishop. Ben Bishop played for both of those teams. Hold on, hold on. I feel like there's maybe we might be able to do this. Where did Ben Bishop come? Are he played with?

Ben Bishop, oh, was he a, an Ottawa draft pick? Can that be right? Yes, he was. Yes, he was. Yep. Okay, Ben Bishop and Joe Thornton. And by the way, we just keep saying players, we could branch this out. We could say power play. You know, like, it doesn't have to just be players. I want to stress that. This already has a chance to be the first three-hour episode in Puck Soup history. So. All right. Joe Thornton. Ben Bishop. Okay, I got it.

This is another easy one. All right. Ready? Yep. Three, two, one. Joe Pavelsky. Yes. Yay.

We did it. We did it, folks. I feel like we primed the pump with the old guy without a cup thing, but that was. That might be right. That might be right. I was just thinking he was a teammate of both of theirs very recently. Yes. That was my whole connection there.

Let's do another one. Sure. And let's try to branch out from just players. Well, it can be anything. Yeah. In the history of hockey, it can be anything. Okay. Ready?

Mm-hmm. Okay. Three, two, one. Stanley Cup. The Miracle on Ice. Ooh. Okay. Okay.

Miracle on Ice and Stanley Cup. Again, I think this is pretty straightforward. I think we're nailing. I think we're getting this on round two. Okay, ready? Three, two, one, gold medal. What? What is Ken Morrow?

Ken Morrow. He was, he won the Stanley Cup and was part of the Miracle on Ice. He was the only guy who won them both in the same year. Oh, see, I wouldn't have known that in a million years. The way they talk about, you-Mikorzioni. Like 97. Okay. All right, so hold on.

That's right. The way they talk about Mike Arruzioni around here, you'd think he won freaking five Stanley Cups. You never playing the NHL, I don't think. Yeah. But, uh... Oh, Christ. All right.

So now we got to go from gold medal. Okay. All right. Kim Moore and gold medal. Uh, all right. We can, we can get there, I think. Okay, ready? Yep.

Three, two, one. Team USA. Team USA and Her Brooks. Team USA and Her Brooks. Okay. I got it. Yeah. Do you?

Okay. Let me think for a second. I don't think it's super obvious, but I think there's a good answer here. I'm, like, I know where I want to go. Sure. But I'm not, I'm, I'm, you can hear me typing as I'm like trying to, oh, that didn't help me at all. Okay, okay, all right. All right, so we have Team USA.

Team USA Herb Brooks. Ready? Yep. Three, two, one. 1980. Oh, Christ. Oh, we're dead. We're done.

I was trying to think of like a Team USA coach, but. Oh, Lord. Okay. Sure. We are screwed hard, but all right. No, we'll. Okay. We are way off course.

We can get back. We can do this. Okay. All right. 1980. Peter Lavialette. I got a good one, but there's no chance. you're going to land on the same page as this, but let's...

Yeah, that is a problem. Who was Team USA's coach in the last World Cup, by the way? I don't know. You guys don't even stick around to the more round anymore. It was Torts. Torts. Okay. That's certainly true. In part because Torts is the coach. Yes.

He wants them to play a very specific style that maybe doesn't work in Best on Best International Hockey. Let's see. Okay. Pierre Lavillette 1980 Hmm Hmm Okay, I'll go with one here

I'll go with one I don't know that it's going to work at all But hopefully we can definitely Ready? Yes Yeah, okay Three Two, one

Legs Feed the Wolf What did you say? Legs feed the wolf It's one of the things Her Brooks was always yelling about in the freaking movie. And I figured that was, that's the kind of thing that Peter Lavillette would love to say.

That was a really, that was not an easy one. I don't know. I have no idea what you're talking. Okay. All right. When he would make them do like bag skates, basically. Yeah. He would just be constantly yelling,

legs feed the wolf gentlemen. Let's, I feel like Peter Lavillette's the kind of guy that makes people bag skates. I feel like we can do this. I feel like this is, I got to say, I feel like this is our last. chance on this one, but I think, let's feed the wolf, Philadelphia Flyers. I think there's a path here. By the way, Philadelphia Flyers because Peter Lavillette coached them and they had their record undefeated streak in the 1980 season. Ah, yes. Okay. All right. Well, we'll see. But I have my answer. Okay. I have my answer. Ready? Three, two, one. Ken Hitchcock.

Oh, Ken Hitchcock and Gritty. Yeah. Ken Hitchcock and Gritty. Okay. Oh, this is easy. Is it? I don't think it is. Okay, I've tried to think of...

By the way, I hope that the people listening are, like, shouting out their own answers and... Yeah, I think that's the whole deal with this game. Certainly when I listen to it. You can be mad at the other guy, and except, of course, you're not... allowed to be mad at me personally. Gritty and Ken Hitchcock.

I've got two ways I could go on this one. Okay, I got it. I got it. Again, I don't know that this is going to work, but I think we can get there. Ready? Sure. Okay. Okay.

Three, two, one. Tough to play against. Nope, I got it. Craig McTavish and tough to play against, perfect. This is easy now. Craig McTavish, a coach who attacked a mascot is where I was going on that. Oh, yes, of course. Of course.

Wow. Okay, that is really good then. All right. All right. Craig McTavish, tough to play against. I think this one's straightforward. Ready? I don't know.

Okay. Three, two, one. Helvet. Dave Somanco. Oh. I almost said no helmet. And I would have given us that one. Okay.

All right. Dave Semenko was tough to play against. And did wear a helmet. That's right. Okay. All right. I, I, yeah, sure. I feel like I might be close.

Okay, ready? Yeah. Three, two, one, fighting. I'm going to give that one. I feel like that's, yes. That's as close as we're going to get. I feel like, yes. That's as close as we could possibly get.

especially now, but we'd just be circling different terms. Donnybrook, bench clearing brawl. Have you ever gone to a science center or something where they had that thing where you'd drop a penny and it spins around this thing? But it just spins for it. And you're like, it's not getting any closer. And your kids are like, I'm bored, dad. And you're like, no, we got to watch the whole.

How's it doing that? Yeah. Yeah. Yep. All right. All right. We'll do one more. One more.

All right, let me think. Okay, I got mine. Okay, I got it too. Ready? Yep. Three, two, one, Seattle Cracking. Oh, okay, this is easy. Ready?

Is it easy? Okay. Yeah, it's very easy. All right. Three, two, one expansion. Yes. We did it. Yeah, see, perfect.

Okay. We got a rhythm going. We nailed it down. I think that's the perfect place to end. This is exactly where you walk away. This is... Yeah. We're never doing better than one extra clue.

Yeah. So, yeah. Okay. Well, the last thing I have on the agenda here is we don't have any clarity on anything to do with next season. And isn't that weird? It's a little odd that we're, in theory now like a month and a week away from a start. date, or sorry, two months in a week. Training camps opening, certainly.

Yeah. Certainly training camps. So. Apparently, I was reading Pierre LeBron yesterday was talking about they're going to try to nail at least some of the specifics for next season down on a GM call on Friday. Okay. Which when you're hearing this might be today or it might be tomorrow. I don't know when this is going to get posted.

So we might, by the time you hear this, have a plan. plenty of clarity. But as we're recording this, yeah, the fact that we're like six weeks out from the potential start of the season and it's like, or the start of training camp, rather, is like, we don't know. I think the one thing that Pierre mentioned that I was like, oh, yeah, that is probably a huge issue, is that the seven teams that didn't make the bubble, haven't skated together in like nine months. No, eight months at this point, right? Is that right? It's since March. So, yeah. Seven. It'll be eight. months in a little bit. Yeah. So that's, like, they don't have any plans for that to take place anytime soon, which is fucking crazy.

Like, by the time the season starts, they could have not played together for, like, 10 or 11 months. Yeah. And that has to be, I would think, the longest those guys have ever gone without playing. And there was. Anything resembling meaningful hockey. Yeah. Like, there was, and there was a. time where they were thinking about, well, what if they did an extended camp? What if they,

there was even talk of them doing something while the playoffs were going on. But I mean, what do you, what do you do? Like, hey, let's let's all show up and do some drills and then potentially, what, go back home for another two months? For four months, right. Yeah, it's, it's tough. That's one of the many, many things I'm curious to see if and when we get going for next season is like, what, happens with those teams. Maybe they're all super well rested. Everyone's healthy for the first time in their lives and rested or maybe not. I think there's there's two ways it could go. Either it goes like, oh my God, these guys are insane. They haven't played like they're fucking so good. Why are the

kings this good? You know, or boy, you can, you know who you can tell is how long these guys have gone since they played a meaningful hockey game. I don't think there's any middle ground where I'd be like, oh sure, that makes perfect sense. I think one of those two, like, if any of those teams come out and are mediocre, I'd be like, yeah, that doesn't check out. Check out for me. Like, why would they only be okay? But yeah, like, they don't, you know, we mentioned it last week.

I think Bill Foley's like, it might not even be January. It might be February because we just don't know. And, yeah, like, you know, the OHL and the WHL aren't. playing yet, but the cue is and everybody's getting COVID. College hockey is going to start in like three weeks, but only for some of the conferences. Like, so much is going on and nobody seems to have anything figured out. It's crazy.

Yeah. That there's just like, oh, yeah, we'll get all the, we'll get all the fellows together on a call and we'll fucking hammer this out on Friday. What? Yeah. And it's a crazy time because you look at like what else is going on in sports. and we talked about it last week, the NFL is having all sorts of problems, and that's a sport that plays once a week.

But also, meanwhile, the flip side is baseball's World Series is going on now, and two months ago it looked like there was no way baseball was going to get to a World Series, because it was just, you know, the test left and right, and teams were 10 games behind. Now, that's, obviously football is very different because of the schedule. Baseball is different, too, because you can play double-headers and make up time that way. And in fact, they even changed the rules so that you could play more double-headers and shorten the games. But they got there. So, man, I don't know.

The one bit of good news is apparently there's at least some optimism now that there might be an AHA season after all, where it had recently looked like that just wasn't going to happen. And that's going to be important. Because, I mean, what do you do, like, you know, if there's no AHA season. You can't have prospects not play for a year. Yeah, you can't have your prospects not play for a year. you can't, you know, and you also can't just, you know, you see all these things where, you know, like, I'm a Leafs fan. I'm always looking at their cap page and it's like, okay, well, if they carry 20 guys, yeah, okay, so, but what if they carry 20 guys and then somebody gets hurt? You're calling up somebody who hasn't played in three months.

They're just sitting at home. Oh, yeah, we need you to come be our six defensemen now. Are they going to be like big huge taxi squads? Are you going to each team's going to have 30 guys? How does that work with the cap? How do you send somebody down when there's nowhere to send them down to? Like there's, this feels a lot like going into the playoffs, right? Where it was just that when you first, when that plan started to form and you're like,

yeah, but there's so many questions about how this is going to work. They got it figured out then. But this is like degrees of difficulty harder. Yeah, travel and because they're not going to play in bubbles. We know that. We know that the players just would not go for it. Yeah. So.

Yeah. I think the thing about like baseball seasons and stuff like that where, you know, they're going to do the series of like maybe you just play the Bruins four games in a row and then get out of Boston and then you go play the Leafs. Or, well, I guess, well, that's the other thing. There's no cross-border travel right now. So it looks like there's probably, we mentioned it in the interview with John Colin, but it looks like there's probably going to be a Canadian division. And then that throws everything else into chaos because, like, you know, the Atlantic has three Canadians. teams in it. The Central has one and the Pacific has three. So like there's two divisions that just have one or zero Canadian teams in them. And the rest is like heavily heavily Canadian. So

how do you figure that out? And the two teams that are losing half their, the two divisions that are losing half their teams are on opposite size of the country. So you can't just go like, oh, we'll just switch those two together. And that's not going to work. So, yeah. So it's just, you know, like I said, I think the reason, well, egg, the reason I keep going back to the college hockey planning is because I like college hockey. But also, like, they are, you know, it's six different conferences that are planning very different ways of going about this. They're, for example, the NCHC, which has like the University of Denver and North Dakota, uh, you know, a bunch of other teams. They're doing basically a bubble in Omaha for the first several games of everybody's schedule, like everybody's going to Omaha and just playing there. And then after that, they're just going to do travel like normal,

but probably play more games against one another. The Big Ten and Atlantic Hockey are both supposed to start, like, within the next two or three weeks. and they haven't even released their schedules. All we know is they're just going to play only each other plus an independent team. The Big Ten is going to bring Arizona State in, and Long Island University in its first year is going to play nothing but Atlantic hockey opponents. And then we don't know anything about the other conferences' plans. And this is the crazy part. Yale, which is in the ECAC, 18 guys on their team.

tested positive for COVID last week. 18 guys. Wild. It's like, so how do you do any of it? I don't know. Yeah. And again, you mentioned it by like in the Quebec Junior League, like, you got teams testing positive and then like, oh, yeah, and turns out eight players on the last

team they play just tested positive. And you just trace a bad. Yep. Like, it's the sort of thing, any rational common sense view when you actually think about what they have to figure out leads you to. to there's no way. It can't work. It's,

for me, any optimism I have comes from the fact that they did, we felt the same way about the bubble playoff thing and, and they pulled that off. But,

oh, boy, like, it's, the people who have to figure this stuff out are going to earn their money. Let's put it that way. They're really going to, they're going to earn their money for sure.

And then I guess the other thing to say is, we're at this podcast, trying to come up with our own offseason plans because, you know, like we said, multiple times, there's nothing to talk about and, you know, we'll probably get more clarity about how things are going to work as the offseason progresses here. But again, like, we might not be playing hockey until February. So with that, I think, I think Sean and I can now reveal the plan. plans for the podcast is we're just going to do it every, uh, the main show every few weeks, uh, in November and December at the very least. Um, and hopefully, you know, if we do it every two,

maybe three weeks as things become necessary, um, well, just kind of figure it out, uh, as we go, basically. I think that's the, the, the best thing we can say is, um, you know, plan for every couple of weeks. Yeah. Um, because I don't think. anyone wants to listen to us spend like two hours analyzing the one minor league signing that happened that week or whatever. And this is the same way that we've approached it in previous off seasons. There's just not enough meat on the bone to do a full show every week. So we'll kind of save it up and do a good show for you every couple of weeks. And then the Patreon

will presumably continue during that time. Not affected by the current off-season plans at all. Yeah, and in fact, you get, so you get your bonus episode, you get your two bonus episodes, and then typically what happens, if for those who maybe are subscribers on the Patreon, but this is their first year, during the off-season, the mailbags get a little bit longer and more in-depth. Yeah, they're like 45 minutes. The weeks where we don't have a main show.

When we don't have a main show. Yep. So all the more reason to sign up for the Patreon, plus my newsletter, plus me and Sean Gentile are recording a stick to sports episode this weekend. So we'll have that for you as well. Maybe Greg took the week off because he really wants to nail down the Taco Bell article. We just don't know. Sean, what do you have to plug, bud? I can plug just my stuff on the athletic.

I'm shifting into off-season mode there too, but still have a fair amount of stuff coming. I did a fun thing this week where I had a reader email me and challenged me to come up with one rule or tradition or something in the NHL that every team is directly responsible for. And so that ended up being a two-parter Eastern Conference, Western Conference just went up today where your favorite team, I can find something and go, this is your fault for good or bad, you get the credit or the blame for this piece of the NHL. And it's just basically a chance to give up the origin stories of a whole bunch of different stuff that you may not know where it came from. And some of the stories are pretty wild. So check that out. Yeah, I read the Eastern Conference.

I haven't gotten to the Western Conference yet. We had to get everything going for the podcast today. So that's not actually my fault. We can blame Greg for that too. I don't care. It's fine. So yeah, I can't wait to read it. The Eastern Conference one was crazy about like why icing exists and stuff like that.

So, yeah, check out Alishan's shit on there. He does a really good job. So, yeah, theathletic.com slash down goes brown. I'm pretty sure is the address for that. I don't think it is, but yeah, it's... It could start being. It could be. There's no reason they couldn't do it.

Could figure that out. All right. So, yeah, thanks for listening this week. Like I said, we will not be back. I almost said we'll be back next week. No, we won't. I can promise you that we will not. And then we'll just kind of play it by year from there.

So thanks for your support. Thanks for checking out all the stuff. We do listen to ESPN on ice. I think Greg would probably tell you to do that, but only after you listen to Puck Soup. And that's it. Have a good week, everybody. See you.

goals and saves and slap shots and goons. We've got sportly commentary to whatever you commute. We also cover movies, TV shows, it's in tunes. It's your weekly bowl of Hagi and Nancet. Part 2.