The Ben Mulroney Show - Oscars audience down down down.... / The golden goal puck controversy

Episode Date: March 18, 2026

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Learn more at aboutamazon.ca. There are a lot of research. to watch sports. Some people watch it for the pure athleticism. Some people watch because they have a favorite player. Some people watch because if it's hockey, they like the fights, right? There's that level. And then there are those who watch for the drive for excellence, the storylines behind the players, how they've had to struggle to make their way to that peak level, the human achievement of it. And depending on the arena, depending on the back, It can take on even more importance.

You know, at the Olympics, when you're playing, as they say, not for the name on the back of the jersey, but for the name of the country on the front. It means more. And at the World Baseball Classic, where countries send their best to compete against each other in what has become a, it's a fairly new tradition, but a very important one. when Venezuela played the United States in the final of the world baseball classic, in a world where the United States, under the cover of darkness, went in and captured the, let's call him what he is, the dictator Maduro, so that he could stand trial for narco-trafficking in the United States. And a commitment is essentially a quiet, not a quiet coup, but there has been a quiet transfer of power. from the communist regime, they say socialist, to the United States.

They're watching very closely. What was that going to do? What was that going to do to the people of Venezuela watching? What was that going to do to the players of Venezuela playing against Americans? Well, as it turns out, the Venezuela beat the United States in the world baseball classic. Let's listen to a little bit of the game. game in Spanish. Doblete.

It was more than a baseball game for Venezuelans. I mean, it's a baseball-obsessed nation. And the World Baseball Classic title could be viewed as a unifying moment for the country. And they've had some tough years. They have been through a lot under Maduro and Chavez, a lot. a lot of economic strain, a lot of poverty, a lot of flight of capital

and flight of people. And then what happened earlier this year. So let's listen to one of the players following the game. Here's what he had to say. Yeah, it's a little bit more special because you play for your country, you know, 30 million people in Venezuela.

I know they all happen right now. You guys know what's going on. Nothing I can hide it. You guys know how was Venezuela, you know, and all that. So it's a beautiful country. And I love the people from there. And I know

Venezuelan people are in everywhere right now. And I know they happen right now. So this won't meet a lot for us. Can I just say I love that response? I love that response. He went out there as part of a team that did something wonderful, something entirely positive for the people of that country. And he was able to reference what's going on politically without getting political.

And I think that would be a great lesson for, for people in Hollywood sometimes because sometimes I don't think they've gotten the memo. I don't think they've gotten the memo. We're going to start with some good news. Here was a good political joke made by host Conan O'Brien

at the Oscars on Sunday. Here's a good joke. I should warn you tonight could get political, okay? And if that makes you uncomfortable, there's an alternate Oscars being hosted by Kid Rock. Now, it's at the Dave and Busters down the street. A lot of tickets for that.

There are some prominent voices like Michael Knowles on the, on the conservative side of the podcast world. He thought that was a hysterically funny joke. He loved it. And it makes you wonder, was there actually an alternate show? Because they had to be watched. People had to be watching something because a lot of people were not watching the Oscars.

The ratings came out. It's a remarkable shift, remarkable shift away from the Oscars. Viewership collapsed by 16, million people in 10 years. 2017, it was at 34 million, down to 17.9 million in 2026. There was a brief rebound after COVID, but the backslide has continued. They haven't hit 40 million since 2014. And that's when they peaked at 43.7%.

And so my producer, my intrepid producer, who, by the way, is fighting, fighting the good fight trying to, he's okay, he's okay. I just want to say, I appreciate you. I appreciate you. We were talking about it. Like, these numbers are not, it's not all the conservative leaving, right? If it was the conservatives leaving, the numbers would still be higher. Because not everything is that.

This is because I think people are tired of celebrities not doing what Sal Perez did, which was, or not doing what Conan O'Brien did, which is, If you want to say something political, just be better at doing it. Be a little more subtle. People don't want to spend their time where they should be enjoying themselves being lectured to. They just don't want that. They don't want that. I just assume that right now, if somebody's listening to me, they do want to be lectured to.

I hope you do. No, I'm not lecturing anybody. Super Bowl ratings. They've been at 110, 125 million viewers consistently. And Bad Bunny, Bad Bunny, his performance, and everyone was worried was going to be political. It was huge. It was one of the biggest Super Bowl halftime shows of all time.

Maybe he was getting political, maybe not. Most of us didn't understand what he was saying. And if we did understand Santiago, our board producer, he let us know that the lyrics he was singing not necessarily in line with the visuals of the, it was a hodgepodge, right? And so, but he knew, he knew not to get too political or people would tune out. And I think it's important, it's important to remember. Like if you were sitting on the, if you were sitting on the fence saying, you know what,

I don't know if I'm going to watch a show this year. I don't know if I'm going to spend three hours watching a show. But what I'm going to do is I'm going to road test it. I'm going to watch the red carpet show first. I'm going to see how political people get there. And then just some of the, some of the, overly simplified takes that people have on world events. I wouldn't watch that.

I think that might be one of the reasons I stopped watching slowly but surely to inevitably lead to today where I didn't even remember it was on. By hearing them say that, you might have been somebody who was road testing the Oscars during the Red Carpet. And when you heard some of those hot takes or maybe not hot takes, just takes it aren't your own and takes you or not looking at. for, he said, yep, I'm going to pass. As we say in French, J'm pass. And I think it's, it's, these artists who believe that they have a platform on which to, from which to speak,

they're forgetting, they don't have a platform from which to speak. They have a platform from which to perform and from which to perform and from which to produce and direct. That's what they have. And I think they think that because people very much love their talent and very much love the emotional response that they get from their performances, that that automatically means that they want to hear them pontificate and they want to hear them judge and they want to hear them attack.

And they want to hear their worldview. I'm sorry. I was in that world for a long time. you can say that stuff. Absolutely you can say that stuff. But this is the end result. And I guarantee you those numbers, those numbers of this utter collapse

in the numbers at the Oscars, that's because a lot of people who probably even agree with those actors have decided they don't want that on a Sunday night for three hours. There's no way, not everybody who tuned in is exclusively,

that represents only Democrats. I mean, it might only represent Democrats. are people who lean left. But I guarantee you there are a lot of people who lean left who tuned out. Because if they are passionate about that sort of thing, by Sunday night, they're gearing up for another week. Do they really want to hear stuff like that? I don't think so.

And they've tried to get people to not. Listen, if Ricky's your vase shaming people into just get up there, accept your award, thank your God, and sit down. If that's not enough, if that doesn't work, nothing's going to work. So we'll have to see what that. what YouTube comes up with when they eventually rest control of that show. All right. When we come back, could we get an international incident on our hands?

There is a puck that is in a place that the Americans don't think it should be. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney show. And yes, the question is, could we have an international incident on our hands? So you'll remember that Canada sadly did not get the outcome that they wanted in men's hockey or women's hockey for that matter. but we're focused on men's when Jack Hughes of the Team USA scored an overtime to win that game and Olympic gold. Very excited. He was happy for, you know, he made his entire country proud. Don't forget, Sledge Hockey in the Paralympic games. Oh, yes.

So they won, it's never been done before, the trifecta. The trifecta, yeah, they'd be, okay, thank you. And those guys in Sledge hockey are serious. You thought murder ball with the rugby, wheelchair rugby was tough? Yeah. Okay. So, but look, so sometimes, I mean, depends, generally speaking. I don't think there's a rule as to who keeps the puck in these moments. But Jack Hughes, the golden gold guy, was on ESPN, and he was asked who had the puck. Want to know where's the puck? Did somebody get that puck?

I honestly, I have no idea where that puck went. I know who doesn't have it as me. I sure is have it, but... Okay, so he doesn't have it. And he expressed a little sadness over that because his dad's a huge collector. He also has three sons in the NHL, and he would have loved to give it to his dad.

And it turns out, it's in the Hockey Hall of Fame just a few minutes from here. As a matter of fact, when I walk from the subway here, I walk past the Hall of Fame every day. So it's not that far. And we'll get to their statement in a moment. But here's an American tick tock on what he thinks should happen with the puck.

Does anyone else have a problem with this? Is this really where this puck should be? This is how we're told it went down. An I-IHF official collected the puck and gave it to the Hockey Hall of Fame, who authenticated it, and then brought it up to Canada. Now, in most cases, the Hockey Hall of Fame might be an appropriate place to be, but given that it's in Canada and given less than, than 10% of Americans visit Canada every year, the more appropriate place would be this one.

This is the Smithsonian, the National Museum of American History, because this is not just a piece of hockey history, it is a piece of American history. Let's get it to Washington, D.C. Now. Agree to disagree, dude. Since 1998, the Hockey Hall of Fame has a longstanding collaborative relationship with the I-IHF, which is the International Ice Hockey Federation. And just like accomplishments by Canadian baseball players reside at Cooperstown at the Hall of Fame there for baseball. Or football players that come from Canada do incredible things.

Their accomplishments are recorded in Canton, Ohio. The Hockey Hall of Fame is where this sort of thing goes. And, you know, but I did check. I checked. I went to see to read the. the statement from the Smithsonian on this matter. And it doesn't exist. Because I don't think they care the way you do.

I think you just made this up in your head and decided it had to go there. And you reverse engineered a justification for yourself. You get yourself confirmation bias. And you know, you got one part right, six to seven percent of Americans visit Canada each year. That's not a reason for it to be in the Smithsonian, dude. that's a reason for your people to get out more. I think you guys got to travel more. And if you care about this, if you care about this that much,

and if you care about hockey that much, then come to Toronto and visit the Hall of Fame. Or do you only care about hockey when your team wins? In which case, yeah, I get it. You don't have that much to be happy about, except when American teams made up mostly by Canadians win the Stanley. Cup. But yeah, I mean, this selective outrage is ridiculous. It's ridiculous. Like, whatever. I don't think this is a big problem. I think this is Americans taking issue

with the fact that this is the way it is. It's like the little league world series that the Americans won every single year. And one year they didn't win. One year they didn't win. They won every year before that. And they didn't win one year. What did they do the next year? They changed the rules. They changed the rules to ensure that at least one American team would be in the finals every year because you had one bracket that was American and one bracket that was the world. They completely changed the system because they didn't like the outcome of the year before. And the same thing happened with America's Cup, the racing game. As soon as America didn't win America's Cup, they changed the rules to make it more likely that Americans would win. And this to me is

the sour grapes. it's the sour grapes so ah it's it's it's very rich it's like what what would you do man if um

if if the Blue Jays win the World Series next year knock on wood and we just decide we want to keep every every aspect of that up here or what would you do if if a home run that happened up here won the World Series for another team

but we didn't decide that because it happened here, we would keep it. We wouldn't send it down to Cooperstown. There would be an outrage. There would be an outrage. And so this is where it goes. This is where it goes. They've got, what do they have at the hockey hall of fame? They got Sidney Crosby's Golden Goal. They've got the gold medal, Natalie Darwitz's gold medal winning puck from 2008 World Championships. And can I say this one thing to Jack Hughes, who wanted to give the puck to his dad. And I say this with respect and with congratulations

for a well-earned victory and a place in hockey history and indeed American history. It's not your puck. It's not your puck. I mean, you even said in some interviews. You were playing for the name in the front of Jersey and it took place in a massive hockey competition

that matters. And your dad, your dad will get over it. Your dad has the pride of three sons playing professional hockey, and he gets bragging rights that his son scored the winning goal for America in the Olympics against Canada. If you think he needs that puck to, I don't know, round out the collection, well, you don't know where pride from parents comes from. You'll maybe learn one day.

And two, if he does actually need it, if he is disappointed, he doesn't have it, then respectfully, your dad's being greedy. Well, if you look at the hockey universe, I mean, the Hockey Hall of Fame in their statement that they sent to us, I mean, they say very clearly that they're, I mean, their missions to collect, preserve, research exhibit, promote artifacts, images, stories that, is that what his family is going to be doing? No. For the good of everyone?

No. Because it's, was it his golden goal or was it America's goal? It's America's goal. To its that other guy would say, well, then it belongs in America. I was like, well, you start doing that, and there are no more halls of fame. Like there's no, it's a Hall of Fame for hockey. It's not the NHL Hall of Fame. It's the Hockey Hall of Fame.

And that's why women's hockey is there. And that's why different leagues are represented. And that's where it belongs. And if you start taking issue now, then that's, then, I mean, it's sour grapes. Like, put down. It's selfish. It's selfish. Put, like, the time to fly the flag was during the Olympics.

This now belongs in the annals of history, and the best place to preserve it is the Hockey Hall of Fame. Yeah, I love what they said. We hold tremendous respect for the men and women who create these unforgettable moments on the ice, and we remain committed to preserving their achievements in a manner that is responsible, secure, and accessible to fans everywhere. Toronto is the most hockey-loving town, hockey-loving city. There's, I'm sure, small towns. But this is one of the biggest cities accessible to the world. If you live in New York City and you love hockey,

if you can't get off the couch to go to the Hockey Hall of Fame, you don't love hockey. We put it in Toronto. Where did you put the Baseball Hall of Fame? Cooperstown. Where did you put the Football Hall of Fame? Canton, Ohio. Trust me, we are making it easier on hockey fans

from the United States to enjoy the Hall of Fame than you have made it on football. fans and baseball fans from Canada to go to their respective halls of fame. You're welcome. You are welcome. You can go to Nobu here. I don't think they got a Nobu in Canton. I don't think they've got

Michelin Star restaurants in Cooperstown. You can do that here in Toronto. So to all you people saying it should be the Cessonian hard pass, it's in Toronto and you're welcome. What should be happening with the U.S. Golden Goal Puck that dropped

Canada down to silver on the podium in these last Olympics. Apparently it's at the Hockey Hall of Fame here in Toronto, and there are some Americans none too happy with that. And Jack Hughes, who actually was the one who secured that win, was a little bit miffed and he thought he should be able to give it to his dad. And look, I could probably see all sides, but I've decided on this, my stance is it is where it is, and that's where it belongs.

So let's start with Sharon. Sharon, welcome to the show. Good afternoon. I'm calling to agree and disagree. Sure. I think Jack should have the puck. Let them give it to his dad. Let the family enjoy it.

The hockey players' goals like that are important to them. After they're finished with it, then give it to the Hall of Fame. And in line with that, where's the woman's golden puck? That's a good question. Uh-huh. They don't count, right? No, no, that's not true. in the statement that we read,

they've got plenty of women's accomplishments. They also have plenty of players who, by the way, were our mortal enemies, the Russians for years. Their accomplishments in hockey are in there. This is not about one country. The Hockey Hall of Fame is where accomplishment in hockey goes. Sharon, thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Who do we have? Let's go to, oh, Tony and Montreal. Tony, welcome. Oh, Ben, nice to, that you take my call. I love your show, man. Thank you. And I loved your dad. And I heard your dad on the last time he spoke on CJD.

Basically, what a genius politician talking about having an objective that's a national objective makes you a great politician. And the Morunis are great. I wrote you an email asking you to run for the leadership of the conservative party. Ben, you've got to get into politics. Your family has always been there. Your sister and everybody else. I appreciate it. We love you.

Well, thank you. you. I kind of like chirping from the cheap seats, as I like to say. Tony, tell me what you think about this puck. What I think about this puck is I think that the gentleman that scored the goal is going to be immortalized by people that love the game. And the Canadian, well, the hockey Hall of Fame is in Canada. Yeah. When the Russians came here in 72, all their paraphernalia went into that.

We have the greatest hockey players in the world that have their paraphernalia. in that location. This is not jingoism. This is not America versus Canada. This is the game. And as you have clearly mentioned, Canada enjoys the game and has promoted the game. And I guess as your producer said,

it's not just, you know, we're housing it for, you know, future sale. This is going to be intergenerational. If I want to go see Morris Richard's hockey stick, it's there. You're right. If I want to see Paul Henderson's gold and his jersey, it's there. So, you know, Jack Hughes, He scored an incredible goal.

I think that Canadians were very, very, let's say, gentlemanly, sportsmanly about losing that game. We gave kudos to them. We will come back in the future and the next gold medal, and we'll give it a good goal. But you know what, Ben, we put the puck in that hockey hall of fame. Shouldn't they be bloody happy about that? I agree. Hey, Tony, thank you very much. I appreciate the call from my hometown of Montreal.

Let's go to Nathan. Nathan, you got three kids who play hockey. Hey, three kids play hockey. Oh man, the amount of the amount of stuff that goes into it. A couple points. So ironic, the Hughes brothers all played their minor and junior. And sorry, their minor hockey, learned to play hockey up here in Mississauga. Yeah.

Going to the Canland in Oakville. They still have pictures and stuff all over the wall. So, you know, it's just kind of funny. They are American, but they learn to play the game here. God bless Canada. Well, of course, which is why the Hall of Fame should be here. A hundred percent. And we, listen, we could have put it in.

someplace. We could have put it in Saskatchewan. The way they do it in Cooperstown. We put it in Toronto where anybody can see. If you love hockey, make the trek to Toronto to appreciate all of hockey. Quit fashion. Quit fashion Cooperstown. It's a great place. I love Cooperstown too.

I'm trying to point out, I'm trying to point out how easy it is to get to Toronto. No, fair statement. My initial point has been redacted. I think the puck should go to the Hughes brothers, but under one condition. Give them the puck. The dad, they want the puck.

That's the one thing they want. Fine. Hey, man. How about that pair of gloves that you're never going to use again? How about that U.S. pair of gloves that you're not going to use ever again? You're in an NHL player.

I mean, you're going to get new gloves in four years. The gloves are sitting in a hockey bag in a garage somewhere. Yeah, but Nathan, what I would say is, like I said, you've got the pride of knowing that your son is immortalized forever. If you need some physical proof of it, the proof is in the DNA. Everybody knows he's yours. Like he's your son.

You don't need the puck. There are people, there are fans out there that can only commune, can only feel that sense of pride by getting close to it. And for me, it's hoarding the wealth. You got three sons in the NHL. You got a son who won for his country. And now you want the puck? I think it's too much.

I think it's too much. I disagree with you, buddy. That's okay. I think hockey players are very superstitious. And I think that puck belongs with his family. I don't know why the I have AAHA. I think if it was good enough for Sidney Crosby to put in the Hall of Fame, it should be good enough for Jack Hughes.

I got to run, Nathan. Thank you very much. Let's go to Richard. Richard, welcome to the show. Hey, Ben, we've got a lot of Canadian artists in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. So, you know, if they can have our artists in their Hall of Fame for Rock and Roll, we can have their memorabilia. Yeah, it's just, it's such an odd little thing.

It's such a petty little thing, too. And like I said, the Smithsonian hasn't called. probably because they know that it belongs in the Hall of Fame. And the Hall of Fame shows as much respect to hockey as the Smithsonian shows to all of the things that they are trying to preserve. Ben, do you know where the puck from the Team Canada-72 Russia series is? Well, I'm guessing it's in the Hall of Fame. No, Pat Stapleton grabbed it.

And then he took it home, and this is a cautionary tale. Then his son used it to play pond hockey and fired it into a snowbank, And it's still missing in action. And so when people say, oh, let him have it and then he can give it back, well, there's no guarantee that it's going to be given back. They'll even have it. Or after he dies, some other member of the family might take or somebody might try to steal it and they might try to sell it.

And that'll be the end of that. And then what do you say to Americans who were so bullish on their own history? What's that? Bobby Hall's wife, when he was in the tumultuous divorce, took all of his memorabilia and put it in. in the garbage. And some trash collector in Chicago made a big score one day.

I mean, those stories are funny. But again, this is what happens. This stuff. And like I said, I don't know when the precedent was set, but if Sidney Crosby, who could have done whatever he wanted and then they would have given it to him, didn't have a problem with the puck

ending up in the Hall of Fame, then nobody should have a problem with any puck ending up in the Hall of Fame. I got to bounce, my friend. We've got to a little bit of time left. Who do we go with, we'll go with Mark. Mark, did you just hear what happened

with the 72 Summit Series puck? Yeah, I did. That's urban legend. That's not necessarily what happened. Okay. If you ask Pat Stapleton's wife, she'll give you a different story. Okay.

Okay. But don't you think, wouldn't it be great? Wouldn't it be great? Being in that business, I'm going to say this. Yes, the puck should be in the Hall of Fame. Yeah.

I get it. On the other side, should it be in maybe the U.S. sports or hockey Hall of Fame, maybe so. I have no problem with that. I think we're missing the point here with the whole thing. I understand the value to the U.S. on that puck. I don't know where a Lake Placet puck is.

It might be in the Hall of Fame as well. That was the last championship. The point I'm trying to make is with the 72 series, again, why wasn't that puck given to the Hall of Fame as big as it was? I don't understand that. But here we are. And I'm okay with the Hall of Fame having it. I think it's a great thing.

But honestly, I got no problem also with the USA having it. I listen, and I respect that. I just think if we start going down the path of cherry picking and saying, oh, well, everything will go there except for here, the thing, whenever we feel like we want to keep it. I don't like that. I like having one consistent clearinghouse for all that stuff. We got a little bit of time left.

We got time for one more. Mike, shoot me your theory in 20 seconds. Okay. I agree with the lady before everybody there. It should go to the family first. And when they're done with it, hand it over to the Hockey Hall of Fame. And the only reason that I say that is I'm going to tie this in. I called in yesterday about the arrow.

I have my father that was first squadron ever made suited up for it. Yeah. All of his stuff that I have now, I'm handing over to the Heritage Museum in Hamilton. And that's great because you're a responsible person about who's to say everyone will be responsible. You know where responsible stewards of hockey history are? The Hockey Hall of Fame. Thank you very much for the call. Accessibility is making your education work for you, regardless of circumstance.

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