0:00

Welcome once again

0:02

to 32 thoughts

0:05

the podcast presented

0:07

by the GMC

0:09

Sierra elevation. Elliot

0:21

let me open up by asking you what

0:24

do you think the most important

0:27

number was on Tuesday night? Ooh,

0:29

trivia. I've

0:31

been good at your trivia lately, but

0:34

you have been good. You know what Jeff, it's 105 a.m.

0:37

Eastern and I don't

0:39

feel especially sharp. So I'm just going

0:41

to answer the question for

0:44

me. And maybe this is different for everybody else.

0:46

I'm sure Vancouver Canucks fans aren't a big fan

0:48

of this number, but to me the number of

0:50

the night is 30. It

0:53

was 32, but they took

0:55

away two block shots from the

0:57

Nashville Predators. Holy smokes. Elliot

0:59

the Preds as they claw back

1:01

into the series beat Vancouver four

1:04

to one. Get the

1:06

split on the road heading back to Nashville. We'll

1:08

see game three on Friday. They

1:10

blocked everything as Brian

1:13

Burke would say they all

1:15

had a part time job as a wall. That's

1:18

what it felt like on Tuesday night for each.

1:21

I didn't think Vancouver played that badly. I

1:23

just think you and I I think the

1:25

predators deserve a lot of credit. And

1:28

when I saw them on Tuesday,

1:30

I saw a team, Jeff, that

1:33

was down one to nothing and was

1:35

desperate. That's what I saw. A

1:39

team that didn't care that Thatcher Demko

1:42

was hurt like brunette was

1:44

clearly all over them. Do

1:46

not ease off the

1:48

gas because they're number one goal.

1:51

He isn't there. Do not allow

1:53

that to lure you into

1:55

a sense of complacency.

1:58

And I thought the predators right. from

2:00

the beginning, they were diving in front

2:02

of POCs, their sticks were in great

2:04

spots. They played a beautiful defensive game.

2:06

I looked up in the third period,

2:08

the shots were 12-12, Jeff. I

2:11

said, it feels like there's been 60 shots in this

2:14

game. So again,

2:16

I don't think the

2:18

Canucks deserve to be ripped. I think

2:20

they got beat by a more desperate

2:22

team. I think they were... So

2:25

basically the timeline, as I understand it

2:27

is, they showed up at

2:29

the rink on Tuesday morning and

2:31

were told Demko wasn't playing. And

2:35

I think they were a little... I don't

2:37

think they were shell shocked. What

2:40

I thought it was, was, on

2:42

the first shift, Hughes falls

2:46

and the puck ends up in their net. Patterson

2:48

was fumbling the puck. I saw a lot

2:50

of guys trying to do 10-15% extra. But

2:55

look, we don't know what is going to happen

2:58

here with Demko. I

3:01

was told to refrain

3:03

from guessing as to

3:05

how long this is going to be. I

3:07

think it's one of those things where you

3:10

kind of have to let it heal. And

3:13

while you prepare for a couple

3:15

of weeks, you just don't know.

3:19

So Maisie had the flu today. He

3:22

was really under the weather. And

3:24

then Gemmer got a validation. It would be probably week

3:26

to week. So for

3:28

now, the Smith and Silavs are

3:31

their team. Now I want to talk about Patterson

3:33

for a second because

3:36

he's starting to come under a lot of heat. And

3:40

that's life in the big city. That's the way it

3:42

goes. But the one thing,

3:45

and I learned this with Matt Sundeen,

3:47

stoic sweet to stoic sweet, you

3:51

always think that because someone

3:54

is a stoic, they

3:56

don't care. And

3:58

that's a mistake. I

4:01

think Pederson burns to win just like

4:03

Sandin burn to win and I

4:05

think people mistook Sandin's

4:08

calmness or stoicism for he

4:11

doesn't care as much and

4:13

I know I was guilty of that

4:15

and You know, I

4:18

learned it later Especially that night Sun

4:20

this Sunday and came back to Toronto

4:22

and he realized how much the fans

4:24

there loved him You

4:26

learned how much it mattered to him that

4:28

they loved him I think Pederson

4:30

is the same way. I think

4:32

he's a Stow it

4:34

guy, but it doesn't mean that he doesn't

4:36

want to win Just

4:39

don't mistake the fact that

4:41

he's not you know, and the

4:43

cops don't always like the Messier references But

4:46

just because he's not 94 Marc

4:49

Messier and in people's faces

4:51

all the time Doesn't mean

4:53

he doesn't want to win. I think it's

4:55

fair to criticize him for

4:58

not producing Like I

5:00

said, that's life in the big city, but

5:02

don't think that he doesn't care because he

5:04

does To be honest with

5:06

you. We've had this conversation before if

5:08

I'm running a hockey team, I kind

5:10

of want My players to

5:13

be like that specifically in the playoffs. I don't

5:15

want them to ride the waves Because

5:17

the playoffs are an emotional roller

5:20

coaster an emotional, you

5:22

know wave crashing into the rocks I don't want

5:24

my players to ride that I would that's one

5:26

of the things I always admired about Kerry price

5:29

At the end of a game when you interviewed Kerry

5:31

price and you've done this Elliott if you didn't know

5:33

what the score of the game Was he wasn't

5:36

gonna give it away in his emotion in the

5:38

postgame interview if he lost the game It would

5:40

be the same as if he won the game

5:42

the exact same type of

5:44

emotion I think that's healthy for

5:46

an athlete and if I'm running a team, I want

5:49

more guys like that I never look at both headers

5:53

Yeah, but I just I just don't want

5:55

my guys riding the wave I just I

5:57

just don't because I mean I I

6:00

just don't think that it's healthy or productive.

6:04

But, this is a series, this is

6:06

a series now, and I

6:08

didn't expect anything different. Here's

6:11

my question though. So, Bavilier scores, Forsberg-Sissons,

6:13

Key for Sherwood with the empty net

6:15

goal, 4-1 is the final,

6:18

and the big story coming out of

6:20

it is outside of Thatcher-Demko, which is

6:22

enormous, is as we mentioned off

6:24

the top, the blocked shots. I

6:28

know playoffs is all about

6:30

sacrifice and bruises

6:33

and ice bags and

6:35

headaches and masking injuries, all of

6:37

that stuff. I

6:40

don't know how many more games the

6:43

Nashville Predators can play like

6:45

that if that has to be the

6:47

recipe for success. Yeah, it's hard. It's

6:50

hard. I mean, you do it because that's what

6:53

you do. The one thing I

6:55

remember, I can't remember which player told me it

6:57

was, it might have been BXS, but

6:59

they say when you watch a shot block,

7:02

the thing is not only to watch where

7:04

it hits someone, but how

7:06

far the person who

7:08

blocks the shot is from the

7:10

shot that's taken. And McDonough

7:12

had one in the third period, he must have

7:14

been 25 feet away from where the shot was

7:17

taken. And it looked like it

7:19

just killed him. You're right,

7:22

Jeff, you're totally right, but

7:24

it's like killing a high diver that

7:27

there's a risk. Yeah, they know there's a

7:29

risk, but they're going to do it anyway. UC

7:34

Saros, excellent big save on Dakota Joshua

7:36

and Brock Busser specifically. That

7:39

was a fun game and I don't think that was

7:41

indicative at all of how Vancouver played. It was just

7:43

that Nashville is jumping in

7:45

front of everything. Yeah, and also now

7:48

too Tyler Myers, they

7:50

didn't just have one injury, they had two.

7:54

And Myers is one of those guys, I like

7:57

him in the playoffs, he's a big guy.

8:00

He takes up a lot of room. He's

8:02

mean and You

8:04

don't just want a situation Jeff where

8:06

you've lost your number one goalie You

8:09

don't also want to have say oh jeez

8:11

not only that but we're down one

8:14

of our top six be a guy that Rick

8:17

talk it really depends on so it was

8:19

a tough day for the Canucks, but

8:21

it's 1-1 Myers

8:24

is really good in game one by the way.

8:26

I just want to throw that one in next

8:28

we didn't talk about him Last game meanwhile speaking

8:30

of road teams getting a road win the

8:33

Colorado Avalanche with Alexander Georgiev

8:35

and his 28 saves

8:37

beat the Winnipeg Jets by a final score of 5 to 2

8:41

Although the highlight in this game for me

8:44

was Mark Shifley with that one-handed goal. That

8:46

was a thing of beauty Nonetheless, this series

8:48

is tied at ones and we're heading back

8:50

to Denver, Elliot So

8:52

we'll never have the answer to this question,

8:55

but if a newnan wasn't sick Who

8:58

would have the goaltender been but

9:01

he was you know what yeah? I think

9:03

you know what the answer to that one is What do you

9:05

think it is? I think it

9:07

would have been a newnan when I'm not

9:09

way that both both bed Nara was talking

9:11

about Georgiev And how Kale McCarrah was talking

9:13

about your yeah, I'm firmly convinced. It would

9:15

have been a newnan I don't know I

9:17

don't know if I buy that but whatever

9:19

the case is the question is moot because

9:23

Jeff he was sick and unable to

9:25

play and You

9:28

think about Georgiev is I just hang on I

9:30

just like that you're ripping my answer, but so

9:32

maintaining the question is moot and irrelevant And I

9:35

ask the question of that which only makes it

9:37

even worse But your

9:39

game went when when in Winnipeg scored there

9:41

early again You think it's gonna

9:43

be 10 nothing or it's gonna be 10 or 10 9

9:47

Like you're sitting there, and you're thinking

9:49

oh my god like when I saw that

9:51

puck go in I actually Said

9:53

to someone like are they gonna pull up I? Wondered

9:57

right then and there, but to

9:59

Georgiev's credit He found

10:01

a way, he battled. It's

10:04

another reminder of how much emotion

10:06

and momentum changes in game, not just

10:09

game to game. But he

10:11

battled, he found his way, and

10:13

all of a sudden, the

10:16

looks are going to start going at

10:18

Connor Hellebach. Because he's the guy who's given

10:20

up 11 goals in two

10:22

games. And, you know,

10:24

Giorgev is giving up

10:26

9, but, you know, he's

10:28

given up 11 in two games, and

10:30

he's going to have to face some

10:33

questions as he prepares. You know, I

10:35

really, everything, I was working

10:37

Vancouver, Nashville, so I

10:40

was obviously watching that game much more closely. But

10:42

Jeff, did McKinnon

10:46

and Mccarr play 60 Minutes? Because

10:48

every time I looked at the screen, they

10:50

were on the ice. You know,

10:53

they, he rode his horses. He

10:55

got a huge goal from Zach Pareese.

10:58

You know, his first playoff

11:00

goal in a while. But

11:03

I really, like that

11:06

was a night where Jared Bednar said, I

11:08

am riding the horses even more than

11:11

I normally do. And

11:13

when you have thoroughbreds like that, they

11:15

rarely let you down. And

11:17

just like Vancouver, Nashville, anybody who thought

11:20

this was going to be a short

11:22

series was crazy. And nobody should be

11:24

surprised that we're going back to Denver

11:26

1-1. But, again,

11:28

you know, a couple days ago,

11:30

it was all about Giorgev and Willy Stark.

11:33

And there's no doubt about who's going to

11:35

start for Winnipeg, but now it's going to

11:37

be Hellebach who's going to face a couple

11:39

of days of, okay, what are the Avalanche

11:41

doing to you? Nathan

11:44

McKinnon, 22 Minutes and 59 Seconds,

11:46

Kale McCarr. Yes. But listen to

11:48

Kale McCarr, 27-12. Even

11:52

I even lie, look at that note and I'm

11:54

saying that's it. It seemed like those guys were

11:56

out there all night, but it's

11:59

interesting. Ken Webe sent us a text,

12:02

the traitorous Ken Webe who

12:04

has left our organization. He

12:07

sent us a text saying that when

12:09

him and Eric Engels were talking with

12:11

McKinnon in the morning, you could tell

12:14

McKinnon was all business and

12:16

he and they delivered. I

12:19

mean, that is a great series to

12:21

watch. Up, down, up, down, there's so

12:24

much skill on the ice and

12:27

that series is an upset if it

12:29

doesn't go seven. The,

12:31

here's one for you as well. There

12:33

is a forward who played more than

12:35

Nathan McKinnon and that's Valerian Šuskin, 23

12:38

minutes and 37 seconds. He

12:41

was actually out there more than McKinnon was,

12:43

but we all know what happens to him. Come

12:46

playoff time, he has been a beast

12:48

and continue. Although I thought Arturi Lekkinen

12:50

might have been the most impressive forward

12:52

for the Avalanche in the night and

12:54

he was fantastic. I

12:56

think the other guy I'm looking at

12:58

in this one is Ehlers. I

13:02

think, you know, we talked about Pedersen

13:04

for Vancouver, time for him to get

13:06

going. For me, for Winnipeg, it's Ehlers.

13:08

They need him to get going. Agree,

13:10

disagree. Yes,

13:12

they do, especially with that speed against the

13:14

Colorado Avalanche. That is the, that is Ehlers

13:16

is a wild card in any series just

13:18

because of that blazing speed. Tampa

13:21

Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers. Another

13:24

close one. This one

13:26

went to overtime, 3-2 Florida Panthers.

13:30

A couple of things here. We

13:32

saw the save of the

13:34

year. I don't care. Stop the contest. It's

13:36

over. Sergey Bobrowski on

13:39

Matt Domba, absolutely insane how he

13:41

twisted his body around and got

13:44

his arm out there and made the save on

13:46

Matt Domba. Carter Verhege

13:48

with the overtime winner, Sam Bennett, hit

13:51

in the hand with a Brandon Montour

13:53

slap shot, did not return. That's

13:56

potential bad news there. And they said tomorrow they

13:59

will have an update, which says

14:01

to me they're waiting on the

14:03

doctors. Yes. Florida

14:05

Panthers heading to Tampa with a

14:08

two nothing series lead fridge. That

14:10

was a great game. That was

14:12

a great game. Bobrovsky Vasilevsky. Bobrovsky

14:15

is drinking from the fountain of youth, and

14:18

I think he drinks from it like right

14:20

around a day or two before the playoffs. He

14:22

was really good this year, but he

14:26

has become a guy who Florida...

14:29

Florida deserves a lot of credit to me because

14:32

they know how to manage him. They

14:34

have figured out the key with him about the

14:36

rest and how much his body can take, and

14:39

then they give him the fountain of youth right

14:42

before the playoffs start. He

14:44

was fantastic. Vasilevsky was fantastic.

14:47

That was a great game. Everything

14:49

that happened in that game is what

14:51

you expect to happen. Florida pushes. Tampa

14:54

pushes back. They have the heart

14:56

of the champion. They

14:59

hate the Panthers. The Panthers hate the

15:01

Lightning. It's up and down.

15:04

Its momentum swings. But

15:07

one of the things we talked about in the

15:09

Carolina Islanders series, Jeff, is that you

15:12

can see a situation where the

15:14

Islanders lose the series. They play

15:16

hard every game. They're in every

15:18

game, but the Hurricanes are just

15:20

a little bit better. That's

15:23

what I'm seeing after two games of this

15:25

series. The Lightning are right there with them.

15:28

They're fighting. They're putting everything they have in

15:30

it, but the Panthers are a

15:32

little bit better. Everybody's

15:34

injured right now, as you said, Bennett, we'll see

15:36

what this is here. But I'm watching

15:39

what the Lightning are doing, 11 and 7. Glenn

15:43

Denning and Mott came back to play. They

15:46

have guys in their defense that you're looking at and

15:48

you're saying, okay, I've got to go to hockey DB

15:50

and figure out what exactly is going on here. They

15:53

are battling with everything they've got,

15:56

but the Panthers just look like they're

15:58

a little bit better. I

16:01

know better I know better Jeff than

16:03

to count out the lightning, but that's

16:05

what I'm seeing Are

16:09

we let me swing back to Sergey Bobrowski here

16:12

Are we going to have the conversation at

16:15

some point these playoffs or is the conversation

16:17

already done and that?

16:19

Conversation is the Hall of Fame.

16:21

Oh, you know what? I think he's going It's

16:24

got a couple of business Yep.

16:27

No, I I think

16:29

a final appearance Stanley Cup final appearance

16:32

only goaltender to win a playoff series in

16:35

Columbus history I

16:38

think he's going to the Hall of Fame. I do and

16:40

like I said you know, Florida

16:43

has Figured out something here

16:45

and not only is Florida figured it out, but

16:47

he's bought into it because he

16:49

sees it makes sense Give

16:53

a thought on Carter for Hagee the overtime

16:55

hero. Yes You know So

16:59

sportsnet stats put out the stat that

17:01

now he's tied for third

17:03

all-time and playoff overtime Winners

17:06

with five he's one back

17:08

of Maurice Richard. He's in

17:10

a tie I think with Corey Perry

17:12

and Glenn Anderson and he's three back

17:14

of the all-time leader Who's Joe Sakhic

17:17

like Chris and I'm sorry Chris if

17:19

I'm butchering your name Chris

17:22

Jastrowitz who does some

17:24

of the work for TNT and the

17:26

and the bleacher report he

17:29

Pointed out that if you look

17:31

at games played Verhagee's

17:33

at something like 47 games

17:35

and all these other guys are over

17:37

a hundred That

17:40

is captain clutch Verhagee

17:42

is captain clutch Incredible.

17:46

Yes so Chris Tweeted

17:49

out you want to try to put out his last name

17:51

and getting it wrong too. So I'm not the only one

17:53

Oh Chris just rem ski.

17:55

Oh, so I was even I was like way

17:57

off Yeah,

18:00

but that's okay. I'm sure

18:02

Chris gets it all the time. He's a wonderful guy, by the way.

18:05

Yeah, great guy. Sorry, Chris. For

18:07

that name butchering, I wasn't even close. Joe

18:11

Sackick, Chris submits, did

18:13

it in 172 games. Rocket

18:16

Richard did it in 132 games. Anderson

18:20

in 225. Perry

18:23

in 197. Kane

18:25

in 143. Right,

18:27

Patrick. Verhagee has done

18:29

it in 47 games. That's

18:34

insane. Great stat,

18:36

Chris. You know what

18:38

the truth is that Sackick

18:43

and Rocket Richard and Patrick

18:45

Kane and Glenn Anderson

18:48

and Corey Perry are all

18:50

overrated. They should have done it

18:52

in less than 50 games like

18:54

Verhagee did. We're taking

18:57

Sackick out of the Hall of Fame

18:59

and reporting Carter Verhagee in clearly.

19:02

That's where this conversation is headed. Well,

19:05

here's where this conversation is headed right now.

19:07

4-3 is the final score of the

19:09

Rangers over the Washington Capitals. It was power

19:12

play goals for the Rangers. It was a

19:14

gorgeous, a gorgeous shorthand goal

19:16

by Ke'Andre Miller and a beautiful

19:18

passing play with Sabana Jad and

19:20

Chris Kreider. There was

19:22

a controversial hit. Our Temi Pinerin on TJ Oshii

19:24

discussed it myself. I thought it was the right

19:27

call. The

19:29

non-call was the right call. Someone will look at

19:31

it and say, well, he kind of lunged up. To

19:34

me, I always look, what's the primary

19:36

point of contact?

19:39

It was the chest. And

19:41

the puck was there. The

19:46

puck was there. I thought they made the right

19:48

call. Now, I know not

19:50

everyone's going to agree with me. And

19:52

the other point, Capitals fans, I

19:54

will concede it is this. If

19:58

Tom Wilson does it. It's

20:00

a fiasco. But

20:04

I thought that they made the right

20:06

call. A slight difference

20:08

between Tom Wilson and Artemi

20:10

Panera. But I think it

20:12

also shows that, yeah,

20:15

of course there's a slight difference

20:17

between Tom Wilson and Panera. But

20:19

I think that ultimately the question is,

20:22

does a player make a legal hit

20:24

or not? And

20:26

I thought they made the right call. I

20:29

didn't think he got the head as

20:31

the primary point of contact and

20:34

the puck was there. Before

20:37

we get to it, and coming up we have the

20:40

Montana's thought line coming up in a couple of moments.

20:42

We want to do a little bit of news as

20:44

well, whether it's Lindy Ruff, whether it's Pat Verbeek, whether

20:46

it's Ron Francis, whether it's

20:48

Ivan Fedotov and his new contract, we

20:50

will get there. In the

20:53

meantime, a quick thought on the other series

20:56

before we get to the break in the Montana's thought line. The

20:58

Maple Leafs bounce back and win 3-2 over

21:01

the Boston Bruins. And

21:04

Auston Matthews is the hero in this one

21:07

with a goal, two assists, three

21:09

points, six hits. You

21:11

maintained on television for everyone to see

21:13

and hear that that was the best

21:16

game that Auston Matthews had ever played

21:18

in the NHL. Defend your thesis, young

21:20

student. You know what this is like,

21:22

this, defend this thesis? It's

21:25

like in old school when Will Ferrell makes

21:28

that speech in a debate and

21:30

James Carville says I can't

21:32

argue with that, it's completely right. That's

21:37

what that is. Although I will say, one

21:39

of my friends from Vancouver called me and said,

21:41

you know, I was

21:43

disgusted watching you make love to

21:45

Auston Matthews on national television. So

21:47

I didn't get that criticism. Any

21:50

time you see anything remotely nice

21:52

about a Toronto Maple Leafs player,

21:54

it's just like cue the outrage

21:56

around the country. Like I said,

21:58

you made love. Austin Matthews. That's

22:00

what I got told. Anyway,

22:03

look, it's, again, I know,

22:06

I know fans ride the roller coaster, and

22:08

that's why your fans and that's why we're

22:10

employed. So I've got no problem with it.

22:13

But you have to know that these series are going

22:15

to go like this. You know, they got they got

22:17

pummeled in game one, they were much

22:19

better in game two. And again,

22:22

it's sort of like your give when that first

22:25

goal went on Gorgia, we're talking about how Jesus,

22:27

another 10 nine game, when

22:29

they blew their coverage at the end of

22:31

the first period and gave up that late

22:33

goal to posture knock, and went down to

22:35

one, you know, I think everybody thought the Leafs were

22:37

going to just fold and get

22:40

killed. But they you know,

22:42

they they fought back and they won the

22:44

game. And it was redemption for a lot

22:46

of guys. It was, you know, Sam snob,

22:48

I thought was very good. You know,

22:51

Edmundson played a ton, he played 24 minutes. You

22:53

know, it's

22:56

it's that's a tough series. Now,

22:59

I think the one guy that there's two guys

23:01

now, I think this shifts

23:03

to a bit. One is

23:05

Marshawn. I think that

23:08

he was quiet, I thought in game two.

23:11

And, you know, for Boston to

23:13

regain control the series in Toronto, he's

23:16

gonna have to be a big part of that. And

23:18

you know, I want to talk about Marner for a bit. Marner

23:21

is getting the heat. Like

23:23

you can feel it. Yeah, you know,

23:26

what what is like the Toronto Sun,

23:28

they had the headline on Tuesday,

23:30

they called them the invisible man.

23:33

Okay. I remember

23:35

when one of those Toronto

23:38

Ottawa playoff series, you

23:40

know, the Maple Leafs won a seven

23:42

game series in the first round. And

23:44

they had one day off before game

23:46

one against Ottawa. And I

23:48

remember later one of the players told me

23:51

Pat Quinn gave them the off day off.

23:54

Okay. Off they are.

23:56

And so they show up the next day they

23:58

come to the rink. It's the day. of game

24:00

one and they show up for

24:02

the morning meeting and you know, basically

24:04

what they said he said was, that's one

24:07

of the players told me later, he said,

24:09

Quinn said, look guys, they're rested. You

24:12

were banged up. I

24:15

all this is what I'm asking you tonight.

24:18

You play hard and you take a piece out of

24:20

them for later in the series. That's

24:22

why apparently like the plan was and

24:25

they lost five nothing. And

24:27

the next day on the front of the Toronto

24:29

sun, you remember what the headline was? I

24:32

don't. Curtis Joseph. It was

24:35

Joe. Oh, Joe Siv. Oh, I

24:37

do remember that. Yes. The

24:39

Joseph headline, right? And Joseph was, who

24:42

has a, is a hugely prideful guy.

24:45

He was furious. Like he was like,

24:47

I cannot believe I'm taking the blame

24:49

for this where our game plan was

24:51

pick a piece out of them for

24:53

later. You know, I

24:57

don't know how deeply I want to get into this whole Marner

24:59

thing. I think that he

25:02

tightens up. I think he

25:04

wants to win so bad and he

25:07

wants to do so well. I

25:09

think in the post season, he,

25:11

he, he, I just think he gets

25:13

so wired in his own way

25:16

that it affects the way he plays. And

25:20

the only thing he can do is relax

25:22

and just be Mitch Marner, who's a really

25:24

talented player. But you

25:26

know, you can feel this. It

25:29

always seems to happen. And Sheldon Keefe

25:32

went out of his way to

25:34

defend Marner on property. He

25:36

knows this. He sees what's happening. You know,

25:39

these are, it's a Matt game three.

25:42

Joe Torrey always said the most important

25:44

of a series was game three. It's a big

25:46

one for a few guys. It

25:49

is. I do think we

25:51

should mention one other player before we move on

25:53

here. And that's Lena Salmarc.

25:56

I thought it was the wrong move

25:58

going to Almarc. They should have

26:00

stayed with Jeremy Swamin after the way he played

26:02

on Saturday. I understand how they

26:05

felt about last year against the Florida Panthers

26:07

and getting stuck and getting out of their

26:10

rotation. I just thought they were

26:12

going back to Swamin on this one. I

26:14

was wrong and I got it. I got

26:16

to tell you, he was lights out in

26:19

that game and that save on Robertson,

26:21

a 10 Beller, um, and there

26:23

were a few like that as well. That was a,

26:27

no one's pinning that loss on Lena Salomarik.

26:29

He gave the Bruins everything on Monday. I

26:31

agree with you. Uh, you got to think

26:33

of Swamin in game three. I

26:35

do wonder if at a certain point of

26:37

time, the Bruins are going to

26:39

do the reverse of what they did last year,

26:41

which is at the, at the beginning of last

26:43

year, they had the one goalie

26:46

for six games and then Swamin for seven. I

26:48

wonder if we're going to see one,

26:50

two, and now three, which

26:52

I assume is going to be Swamin and

26:55

then eventually they pick a guy

26:57

to finish this series. That's

26:59

what I'm wondering about. And you know, the, the

27:02

whole, like the Nylander

27:04

thing, like I was on

27:06

Pat McAfee on Tuesday and sleeveless.

27:09

Yeah. Sleeveless. It's too bad you really

27:11

couldn't see the jacket. Um,

27:13

but first of all, he's great

27:15

for hockey and his whole staff. They're, they're

27:17

great. He is. Yes. They had

27:20

Pete, they had PK on earlier and

27:22

it's just crazy to me that one

27:25

of the first questions I got

27:27

asked was, has Nylander been disciplined?

27:29

Is he not playing because he's

27:32

being punished? And,

27:34

uh, it just shows like, like,

27:37

I always say this to you, don't walk into

27:39

trouble and, uh, he's

27:42

injured. I, as I said on

27:44

the pot last podcast, I heard it was

27:46

more likely he was going to play game

27:48

two than game one. He didn't. And

27:50

again, I'm hearing it's more likely he's going

27:52

to play game three than game two, but

27:55

we'll, we'll see what happens. Okay.

27:58

Moving along. Uh, just. other

28:00

Holohom night for Connor McDavid.

28:04

Five assists no big deal. Second

28:06

overall in

28:09

playoff assists no big deal you

28:11

know just trailing you know Wayne

28:14

Gretzky and Mikko Lane and

28:16

then who we talked about on the radio show

28:18

on on Tuesday afternoon and a big seven three

28:20

Rangers went over the fires on April 8th 1982.

28:22

He was great

28:27

in that game Zach Hyman with the hat trick

28:29

and the Oilers draw first blood against the

28:31

Los Angeles Kings your thoughts on this

28:33

one. So I think I've talked

28:35

about this before but you know in the

28:37

80s one of the big rivalries in Major

28:40

League Baseball was the

28:42

St. Louis Cardinals against the New

28:44

York Mets and the Cardinals had

28:46

Vince Coleman and Willie McGee and

28:48

Terry Pendleton and Ozzy Smith and

28:51

they would steal bases and in St. Louis

28:53

at the time they played an artificial turf

28:56

but when they went to go play the Mets who

28:58

played at Shea Stadium they played on grass and you

29:00

know what the Mets would do Jeff they

29:04

would water the

29:06

grass and the dirt to

29:08

excess so it was

29:10

like basically a sludge fest and

29:13

the Cardinals couldn't run as much

29:15

because the ground was so soft. Like

29:18

Whitey Herzog used to freak out about it

29:20

the manager of the Cardinals. If

29:23

I was yeah. You

29:25

know who used to do that in the NHL? Who's

29:27

that? Our mutual

29:30

friend and colleague Doug McLean when

29:32

he was with the Florida Panthers and the

29:34

high-flying Pittsburgh Penguins would come to town he

29:37

would tell the Zamboni driver to leave extra

29:39

water on the ice essentially do two floods

29:41

for every flood just to slow it down

29:43

and turn the rink into a great big

29:45

slushie. Well I can't

29:48

I gotta say knowing Doug I'm not surprised.

29:51

I said that as a compliment Doug but

29:54

if I was the Kings I would be trying to do

29:56

that in Edmonton. Look I think

29:58

they're going to try to turn that game. into

30:00

three yards in a cloud of dust as much as you

30:02

can do it in the NHL. I

30:05

believe that. Yes, I believe that. You

30:07

know, I would almost be like, I

30:10

would almost be like the, again, I'm

30:12

going with my old sports references, the

30:15

bad boy Pistons when I used to play

30:17

against the Bulls basically say, you know

30:19

what? Doo-bar. We're

30:22

going to commit all these fouls and see how

30:24

many of them you're actually going to call because

30:26

if there's the S-Fires in the 70s.

30:29

Because the thing is, I'm not talking about beating

30:32

people up like the Flyers used to. But

30:34

that was the whole thing with penalties. You can't

30:36

call everything. So we're just going to keep taking

30:39

penalties. Well, that's a wonder about what the Kings

30:41

are going to because number one, they have to

30:43

set up the layers better. They got shredded. They

30:46

absolutely got shredded. By the way, I'm still

30:48

thinking about that dry, subtle goal from the

30:50

oblique angle. I can't believe he scored that.

30:53

But that's the thing I have

30:55

with the, like, how are you

30:58

going to slow these guys down? Because

31:02

you have to find a way to do it,

31:04

whether it's cycling and winning puck battles down at

31:06

the other end. You

31:08

know you're going to give up good chances

31:11

to the Oilers. But

31:13

what happened in game one? Like they have

31:16

no chance. Some

31:18

teams can go back and forth with the

31:20

Oilers. They can't. They have no

31:22

chance if the games are going to be played

31:24

like that. They have to find a way

31:26

to slow them down. Have to. Evan

31:30

Bouchard, we should point it as well with four points

31:32

in that one as well. Vegas

31:34

Golden Knights and the Dallas

31:36

Stars. Elliot, hey, Mark Stone,

31:38

return for game one. So

31:42

did Alex Petrangelo. So did Carrié. Golden

31:45

Knights win this one by a final score of four

31:47

to three and only mustard 15. Dean

31:52

Jost, Elliot, who

31:54

happened in the conversation.

31:57

Yes, first of all, God has

31:59

a sense of humor. humor having Mark Stone

32:01

to open up the scoring in that series.

32:06

That's number one. Yeah,

32:08

you know, you know, a hot injury,

32:11

you know, you hope

32:13

for if you're Dallas that that's just

32:15

a blip because you thought like,

32:17

I think Jeff Reese is a great goaltending coach

32:19

and it looked like recent kind of sorted everything

32:21

out with a hot injury there, but

32:23

he had a really bad start to game number one.

32:27

And you know, like if you're the stars,

32:31

you know, you're saying, oh boy, I saw

32:33

way too much of that this year. And

32:35

now you're nervous because you're sitting there thinking,

32:37

okay, are we going back there?

32:39

Is this just a one off?

32:41

Now Logan Thompson was also kind of rough.

32:43

He had, you know, one goal he'd like

32:46

to give back, but he, the

32:48

Marchman goal. Yeah, the Marchman goal. Yeah. Yes.

32:52

But he won. And so you get that Mulligan if you

32:54

win. But

32:56

that's the thing again, like I don't panic.

32:59

It's one game. It was a four three

33:01

game, but I don't like the

33:03

looks like any Dallas stars fan. I don't

33:05

like the looks of what

33:07

I saw from Ottinger there. And

33:11

if you're Dallas, you were thinking, I

33:13

thought this was over. Hmm.

33:16

You know, I did like the looks of in Dallas,

33:18

the rink before the game. That

33:21

was fantastic. Yeah. That crowd

33:23

was amped. Well, also

33:26

to Leah, Leah, and Mark and

33:28

Mark stone, like the fans. Oh,

33:30

yeah. Stone. That's

33:32

great. That's what

33:34

sports is all about. Like stone was great.

33:37

Leah was great. And

33:39

the fans were great. That's, that's what sports is

33:41

supposed to be all about. That was a funny

33:43

moment. Yeah. I thought Hex did a

33:45

great job with it. I thought she was awesome in that, in that

33:47

moment. Okay. Islanders and

33:49

Carolina hurricanes. What a weird game. What

33:53

a weird couple of minutes as well. And I want to

33:55

fill in the blank for you in a

33:57

couple of moments here. So the Islanders are up.

34:00

three nothing, even though it's a game that's been kind

34:02

of owned by the Carolina hurricanes,

34:04

we're like, okay, getting Varlam off.

34:06

We've seen this before. And

34:09

then it's Q the comeback and

34:12

the Carolina hurricanes start clong their way

34:14

back and they pull their goalie and

34:19

they get it tied. Uh,

34:21

who scores with two 13 to go

34:24

nine seconds later, Jordan Martin scores.

34:26

And the Carolina hurricanes take the

34:29

four to three lead. The

34:31

Islanders pull the goaltender Jake Gensl

34:33

scores on an empty net three

34:35

goals in 80 seconds

34:38

for the Carolina hurricanes and

34:41

Brock Nelson goes

34:44

hard at Jake

34:46

Gensl, Kyle Paul, Mary picks up where

34:48

Brock, where Brock Nelson left off. I

34:50

don't know what it is about empty

34:52

net goals this year that have upset

34:54

Morgan Riley, Brady, good Chuck, and now

34:56

Brock Nelson and Kyle Paul, Mary, but

34:58

there we are. And you and

35:01

I were talking this afternoon about

35:04

how often or if ever it's happened

35:06

where two teams in a closing sequence

35:08

like that have both pulled

35:10

their goaltender for the extra attacker. And

35:14

this is one of the rarest

35:16

creatures in the NHL, the,

35:18

the two teams pulling the goalie for the

35:21

extra attacker to try to reclaim a lead.

35:24

Um, you see goalie goals more than you

35:26

see this, but our good friend,

35:28

you mentioned sportsnet stats, the, uh, a moment ago,

35:30

our good friend, Steve Fallon and I were going

35:32

back and forth all day on this one and

35:34

he came up with this and

35:37

I was embarrassed that I didn't remember

35:39

it game six, 2013 final.

35:44

Dave Boland in

35:47

the game where he scored the game winner, Chicago

35:49

tied it with the extra attacker after

35:52

Boland scored the go ahead goal, Boston

35:55

pulled their goalie for the final

35:57

15 seconds. Wow.

36:00

Great Paul Steve Fallon Bravo, buddy. It's

36:03

one of those things Jeff where you You

36:06

hear it and you say of course Yeah,

36:09

can't blame anybody for not remembering it. But when

36:11

you hear it, you feel really stupid That's

36:14

a great pull by Steve, you know Broke

36:18

like Brock Nelson. I understand he's frustrated but you

36:20

can't have any issue with what Gensil did there

36:22

He had a man between him and the net

36:25

he was Like that was actually the

36:27

right play to stick handle it towards the

36:29

net instead of try and shoot So

36:31

I can understand why Gensil was pissed off

36:33

and Nelson's just frustrated because they've blown a

36:36

three goal lead The ice

36:38

there was tilted the shot attempts. Everybody knows

36:41

110 to 28 this one. I also

36:43

wonder if there's a goalie change It's

36:46

not like it's varlemoss fault But

36:48

I do wonder if they go to Sorokin at

36:50

any particular point here And again,

36:53

it's you know, it's what we talked about

36:55

the honors compete hard and they play hard

36:57

But Carolina is just a little bit better

36:59

Like the Hurricanes have looked like a machine

37:02

in the first two games of this series

37:04

that no matter what New York does Like

37:07

Brynne Moore has a group here It

37:10

clearly is we stick to the plan we stick to the

37:12

plan we stick to the plan it doesn't

37:15

freakin matter what happens we stick to

37:17

the plan and The Hurricanes

37:19

in the first two games have done

37:21

that and I know it's early But

37:23

that is how you are successful in

37:25

the playoffs you trust what you're taught

37:27

to do You trust what you've done

37:29

really well and Carolina's done that I'll

37:33

tell you I just um That

37:38

I keep going back to that closing

37:40

sequence of the game where we saw

37:43

so many different Personalities come out of the

37:45

New York Islanders and maybe it's listen We all

37:47

know the Patrick was a very emotional person

37:49

and has been a whole bunch of like I've

37:51

always said about Patrick Why he's a nice bunch

37:54

of guys. Yeah, he's a whole bunch of

37:56

different people I we've seen a lot of different

37:58

sides of the Patrick. Wow personality And we saw

38:00

that with the Islanders. Like they

38:02

went from being five on

38:04

six, looking to close out, to

38:06

being tied, to playing

38:09

six on five, just to try

38:11

to get this thing back tied,

38:13

to going into full meltdown

38:15

mode. All

38:17

within a minute, maybe

38:20

80 seconds, Elliot. Like we

38:22

saw all of those different

38:24

personalities and emotions come out of the

38:26

Islanders in maybe a

38:29

minute, maybe a few seconds over a minute.

38:31

It was, Elliot, it was fascinating

38:33

to watch. Well, you know, I

38:37

can't figure out why are they

38:39

trying to attack Steph Nason? Like

38:41

I know that he fought Kyle McClain. It's not

38:44

as if it's a size mismatch or anything, but

38:46

then he's getting chopped down by the goalie and

38:48

Matt Martin's attacking him. Because he was there. Because

38:50

he was just a close guy. Yes, so. In

38:54

a lot of ways, losing that

38:56

way is worse than losing eight to two. If

38:58

you lose eight to two, you just

39:01

got your ass kicked and it's over. It's

39:04

over early. And a game like that,

39:06

where you lose like that, it

39:08

hurts a lot more. And I'm not surprised

39:11

you react like that a bit more. Okay.

39:14

That was the last couple of days in the

39:16

Stanley Cup playoffs. Hitting a pause, Montana's Thoughtline and

39:18

News of the Day still to come on this

39:21

podcast. Listen

39:25

to the 32,000 podcast ad free

39:27

on Amazon Music included with

39:29

Prime. Welcome

39:41

back to the podcast, the Montana's

39:43

Thoughtline, Montana's barbecue and bar, Canada's home

39:46

for barbecue. Every

39:54

time he thinks yourself. It's

40:00

something though is a goofy throwaway tag is now

40:02

turned into a musical interlude here on the program.

40:04

Thank you, Rick Turner for that one I

40:11

know I can hear the giggling in the background. 32

40:13

thoughts at sportsnet.ca. 1-833-311-3232 Jose

40:20

from Almeria, Spain. Hello Jeff, Elliott

40:22

and Dom. After listening to

40:24

the last couple of podcasts It looks like

40:26

the NHL will give Morello, Alex Morello, the

40:28

chance of bringing back the coyotes to Arizona

40:31

During a number of years, five, and I

40:33

was wondering one thing What

40:35

happens if someone more reliable and

40:38

more trusted between the other owners

40:40

steps up and decides He

40:42

wants to do it himself Before Morello

40:44

gets it. Arizona is a very attractive

40:47

market Everybody saw he got double what

40:49

he invested in after years of doing

40:51

a terrible job. Why? Don't

40:54

we see why anyone wouldn't like to

40:56

invest there love the podcast and go

40:58

Canucks, Elliott First of

41:00

all impressive love to hear Questions

41:03

from areas you don't expect to hear like

41:05

Spain so it's pain. Yes In

41:09

exchange for getting Morello to go without going

41:11

to court or anything like that He

41:14

has the window till at least December 31st

41:18

2027 on December 31st 2027 at the NHL's discretion they

41:23

have to rule that he's

41:25

got the arena half done and if

41:29

he does he keeps his window

41:31

and If he

41:33

doesn't then he loses the rights

41:36

so until then Morello

41:39

has the exclusivity and We

41:42

just have to wait to see if he

41:44

pulls it off. Okay? Great

41:46

question there Jose. I think a lot of people

41:48

have wondered about that too. So glad we got

41:50

that on the pod Yep, Tim Tim

41:53

is the Canucks fan in New York. A

41:55

lot of Canucks fans. Jeff and Elliott Spain.

41:57

Yeah, New York There's

41:59

over We're so international. We're so

42:01

international. No, it's not spreading Hi

42:06

Jeff and Elliot used to be just the exclusive domain of

42:08

the maple Leafs in the Montreal, Canadians Good to see other

42:10

Canadian teams getting out there Which team

42:12

do you think has the most

42:14

at stake if this isn't their

42:16

year last year teams of big

42:19

expectations? Made big changes after losing

42:21

Toronto and Cal Dubas went different

42:23

ways The Rangers fired

42:25

their coach Winnipeg parted ways with

42:27

Blake Wheeler, etc Could

42:29

McDavid or Dreyse Seidl seek a

42:32

fresh start of Edmonton struggles? Will

42:34

Bryndenmore or Keith get another chance

42:36

to get over the hurdle? Does Florida

42:38

re-sign Reinhardt? Thanks that

42:41

from Tim. Well, I

42:43

don't think there's any issues with Bryndenmore. I think

42:45

he's basically got an extension done in Carolina,

42:48

I think they've agreed to it for

42:50

some time. He just wants his assistant coaches

42:52

taken care of I do think

42:54

Toronto and Edmonton are would be too high

42:56

on the list I think the pressure

42:58

is always on in Toronto and Also,

43:01

there is a new president there Keith

43:03

Kelly and I think people are

43:05

wondering. Okay, what's you know? How is

43:08

he gonna look at things? So I think Toronto was

43:10

a good one. I think Edmonton's another

43:12

one I don't think that Connor

43:14

McDavid and Leon Dreyse Seidl are asking for

43:16

fresh starts after this year I don't think

43:18

that's realistic But all you have to

43:21

do is look at the clock and

43:23

see Dreyse Seidl is one year away

43:25

from unrestricted free agency Eligible

43:27

sign extension in July I think if

43:29

you're the orders you don't want that

43:31

hanging into next season and then

43:33

you've got McDavid who's two years

43:35

away and Obviously, he loves

43:37

having Dreyse Seidl around them. They have a great relationship

43:40

So I think Edmonton is is

43:43

a big one, but you know, those

43:45

are obvious answers I wanted to try to think of

43:47

something that was maybe a little

43:49

less obvious and one

43:51

of the team I wondered about was LA you

43:54

know, they've Been

43:57

this is the third straight year. They've played Edmonton

44:00

in the first round. They've

44:02

lost the first two. We

44:04

know they made a coaching change. They have an

44:07

interim coach there, Jim Hiller, right now. Rob

44:10

Blake has one year left on the contract.

44:13

And so I kind of wonder about decisions

44:15

that the Kings might have to make with

44:18

the roster and through the organization if

44:21

they get beat out by the others again. So

44:23

that's the team I would mention. Excellent.

44:26

We'll finish up with a question, a

44:28

junior hockey question, Elliot from Trevor. Longtime

44:31

listener, first time caller, brackets,

44:34

emailer. This question is

44:36

from Merrick. When looking at the OHL

44:38

priority selection, that's the OHL draft, from

44:40

the weekend, I noticed a couple of

44:43

players from Nova Scotia drafted. How

44:45

does that work? Is Nova Scotia

44:47

not part of the QMGHL territory?

44:50

So the person that Trevor's referring to

44:53

is Aidan O'Donnell, who's

44:55

from Cole Harbor. You may have heard of it, Nova

44:57

Scotia. Plays with

44:59

Steel Subaru AAA. He

45:02

was drafted into the OHL. Now

45:04

here's something interesting. It's

45:08

an interesting wrinkle in how

45:10

kids get drafted into the

45:12

either WHO, the OHL, or

45:14

the QMGHL. CHL

45:18

alumni, okay? So

45:20

if you played in the CHL, you're

45:23

allowed to choose which league you

45:25

want your son to play in.

45:28

Oh! So Aidan

45:30

O'Donnell's father, Chris,

45:33

played games for the Ottawa 67s

45:36

and Oshawa Generals. Actually, Elliot, you'll

45:38

like this one. He

45:40

played on an Oshawa Generals

45:42

team that also featured Tyrone

45:44

Garner, who we talked about a

45:47

couple of weeks ago here on the podcast.

45:49

A podcast answer. A couple of weeks ago.

45:51

Who was, I believe, the only, and he

45:53

played three games in the NHL. I

45:56

believe he was the only goaltender

45:58

ever the NHL, well

46:00

the only person ever in the history of

46:03

the NHL, Tyrone Garner, to play

46:05

in the NHL as a goaltender and

46:07

then play as a skater

46:09

in another professional league

46:11

after he stopped playing net. I know

46:14

it's ridiculous, right? I want to talk

46:16

to Tyrone Garner. Find me Tyrone

46:18

Garner. I got to talk to this guy. The

46:20

Sim family is the same way. John

46:24

Sim from

46:27

Nova Scotia, his son Landon, obviously from there,

46:29

dad played with the star and he is

46:31

staying his son. Landon

46:33

plays with London. He was drafted by the

46:36

St. Louis Blues. Because

46:38

he was an alumni, he gets to choose

46:40

the league of the QMGHL, the OHL, the

46:42

Western Hockey League that his son plays in.

46:44

I'm not sure how many people are aware

46:47

of that, but that's how it works. As

46:50

you see someone come from a territory

46:52

that shouldn't be under the jurisdiction of

46:55

that league, that usually means, well it

46:57

should always mean that dad played. And

47:00

so as a CHL alumni, you

47:02

essentially get the courtesy of the right to choose which

47:04

league your son is going to play in. That's

47:07

a good one. Montana's dot line.

47:09

Montana's Barbecue and Bar, Canada's home for

47:11

Barbecue. Ah,

47:26

Elliot, yet another start to another

47:28

week. Now other than the 32

47:30

Thoughts podcast, there's not

47:32

much else really to look forward to.

47:34

Jeff, you are forgetting about Montana's daily

47:37

deals. Their chicken wings are double dusted

47:39

in-house, cooked to a golden crispy finish

47:42

and their half price on

47:44

Mondays. Half price? Half

47:47

price every Monday and sauced however you

47:49

like them. Well then, head on down

47:51

to Montana's Barbecue and Bar for half

47:53

price wings every Monday, the

47:55

only other thing exciting about Mondays. Some

47:58

conditions apply, visit Montana. tandas.ca for

48:01

details. Elliott,

48:12

normally we lead the podcast off with news, but

48:14

on a day like this and days like we've

48:17

had in the past couple, we led with the

48:19

games this time of year, that takes priority. But

48:21

some things we have to go over here. Sorry

48:23

with the Buffalo Sabres and they find their bench

48:26

boss. It is Lindy Ruff. It

48:28

is a two-year contract for Lindy Ruff for the

48:30

Buffalo Sabres. And the first thing that I thought

48:32

of here was this

48:35

very much feels like a Terry

48:37

Pagula hire. Now, Kevin Adams has

48:39

a pass with Lindy Ruff. Yeah.

48:42

For a couple years he was on the bench as an

48:44

assistant with Lindy Ruff. How

48:46

would you describe this hire? Terry

48:48

Pagula, Kevin Adams combination of both.

48:52

So I had a DM on Tuesday

48:56

afternoon and I can't respond

48:58

to all my DMs, but this one it was

49:01

basically one line and

49:04

it said, why do you and

49:06

Kevin Adams hate each other? I

49:09

was like, oh, okay. This is interesting. I'll bite.

49:11

Oh, I wrote back to the person. I said,

49:14

you got me on this one and you've got me

49:16

curious. I really like covering Kevin

49:18

Adams as a player and I'm

49:20

curious to know why you think that we

49:23

hate each other. Like he might hate me.

49:25

It's very possible people do, but

49:27

I certainly don't hate him. And

49:30

he goes because you guys are always

49:32

contradicting each other. You'll say something and

49:34

he'll contradict it or he'll say something

49:36

and you'll contradict it.

49:38

And I said, you know, honestly, I never

49:40

even realized that. I hadn't, you're the

49:42

first person ever to mention to me.

49:44

I hadn't noticed that before and by

49:46

the way, who can contradict me? I'm

49:48

always right. And

49:52

so an issue was

49:54

what I said on your

49:56

show on, on

49:58

Tuesday, saying that I said they

50:00

didn't really talk to anybody. And then I kind of amended

50:02

it and said, well, if they

50:04

talk to people, they didn't really talk

50:06

to people at length. And

50:09

I do stand by that. Adams, and I

50:11

didn't get a chance to listen to his press conference

50:13

because I had to do some other things. He

50:16

said that he talked to a lot of people. And

50:19

I'm not going to argue with him. What I'm going to

50:21

say is this. The

50:25

coaching search got done in five days,

50:27

six days. How

50:30

long have the Ottawa Center has been without a coach? How

50:33

long have the St. Louis Blues been without a

50:35

coach? All

50:39

you have to do is just look at

50:41

the evidence to say this was not

50:44

an in-depth coaching search. I

50:47

don't know how anybody can argue this.

50:49

I will concede that

50:51

Kevin Adams probably spoke to a few

50:54

people, but

50:56

to argue that this was

50:59

an in-depth search, it's

51:01

just wrong. Now the

51:03

one thing I, but

51:06

I also believe the truth is this, Jeff.

51:09

There's not necessarily anything wrong with

51:12

that. If the

51:14

Buffalo Sabres decided that Lindy

51:16

Ruff was their guy, that's

51:18

totally fine to me. And

51:21

I don't even understand why

51:23

they should argue otherwise. Like

51:26

sometimes I think people do

51:28

things because of optics. And

51:31

I definitely sense there's some of that here.

51:33

I saw people online criticizing the

51:36

Sabres for going right to Ruff

51:39

and instead of doing like a

51:41

long search or a full search.

51:44

To me, if you

51:47

think that Lindy Ruff is the right

51:49

person for your team, make

51:51

the call. I don't

51:53

think you, some people are going to love

51:55

it. Some people aren't going to like it.

51:58

Some people are going to be happy. Some

52:00

people are going to criticize it. You know

52:02

what Jeff, that is, that is life. In

52:05

the social media age, no matter

52:07

what you do, you are

52:09

going to have people who are publicly going to

52:12

disagree with it. But if you believe

52:14

it's the right call and you're in

52:16

charge, you make the call. The

52:18

Buffalo Sabres clearly believed that Lindy

52:21

Ruff was the right person. Now,

52:25

ultimately we'll find out somewhere down the road if

52:27

it was right. But there are things I can

52:29

tell you. He is

52:32

ecstatic. Okay. Um,

52:36

I think Lindy Ruff over the past

52:38

two years, before he got Jersey, I

52:40

think he wondered if he was ever going to

52:43

get another NHL head coaching job and he got

52:45

it and he loved it. And

52:47

I think when he got fired by Jersey, I think

52:50

there was probably a time, and I would bet

52:52

this too, Kevin Adams is

52:54

no idiot. He knew there was

52:57

a good chance that Lindy Ruff was going to be available.

53:00

And I think I would

53:02

bet that Lindy Ruff, when the season was ending

53:05

the way it was, and he

53:07

thought he might be losing his job in New Jersey

53:09

because these guys know when it's coming, I

53:11

guarantee you, he thought again, he

53:14

might be done. And nobody

53:16

loves Buffalo like Lindy Ruff loves

53:18

Buffalo. And he there, like

53:20

they couldn't have hired a person who would

53:23

want to be the head coach of the

53:25

Buffalo Savers more than Lindy Ruff

53:27

would. And that does matter.

53:30

And I'll say something to, and I say it on your show.

53:33

Last year, Lindy Ruff was a

53:35

genius. They beat the

53:38

Rangers. They got into the second round. This

53:40

year, Lindy Ruff with a

53:42

roster. Forgot how to coach. Yeah, he forgot

53:44

how to coach. With a roster, and I

53:47

said this many times and I'll say it again, they

53:50

made, I think, very justifiable

53:52

long-term decisions that made them

53:54

worse in the short term.

53:57

Now, do I think they would trade for a goalie

53:59

sooner? Yes, but they made some

54:01

decisions that were fair that cost them

54:04

and then Dougie Hamilton got hurt You

54:06

know, I'll say this to Lenny

54:09

rough People say he doesn't

54:11

have a lot of rules play hard

54:14

dress respectfully be on

54:16

time Okay, if

54:20

you if you do those things for him,

54:22

you're gonna be fine but if

54:24

you don't You're gonna have a

54:27

problem and I think people Should

54:30

not be afraid To

54:32

justify their decisions if

54:35

the Buffalo Sabres believe Lindy ruff is

54:37

the right guy There is

54:39

nothing wrong with them coming out and saying

54:41

this was a short and sweet search Because

54:44

we believe this is the right guy. I don't

54:46

have a problem with it and Over

54:49

and we'll see where we go over the next couple

54:51

years. I Understand

54:53

the idea of once you've identified who

54:55

your guy is you just go and

54:57

sign them you go and get them

54:59

Yeah, but always whenever

55:01

you're interviewing for something like a

55:03

head coaching position Part

55:06

of me always says a even

55:08

if you know who you want to

55:10

lean to like unless unless there's another

55:12

team That's gonna sign that coach I'm

55:16

very much of the belief that you

55:18

go through research if for nothing else

55:21

than to gather information and Like

55:25

if you're the buck if you're the Buffalo Sabres, for

55:27

example, the one name that jumps

55:29

out to me For

55:31

gathering information having the conversation. Maybe

55:33

one day he'll be in your

55:35

mix Is

55:37

Jeff Blashel? Assistant

55:40

with the Tampa Bay Lightning I'm sure would love to

55:42

get back behind a bench in a full-time

55:44

capacity as a head coach He

55:47

has a lot of information about

55:50

the Detroit Red Wings and the

55:52

Tampa Bay Lightning two teams right

55:54

around the Buffalo Sabres That's fair

55:56

at least having the conversation about

55:58

his experiences with those teams And

56:00

even if you can glean something, I think

56:02

is valuable. And

56:04

that's just part of having a lengthier

56:07

interview process. The

56:09

other thing too is I'm really curious

56:11

who's saying to that DM because I

56:13

got a DM today saying, man, Kevin

56:15

Adams must really like you because he

56:17

seems to agree with everything you say

56:19

publicly, Merrick. That's

56:21

pretty well. Then we know who he likes and we know

56:24

who he talks and we know who he does talk to.

56:27

I have a hard time believing that's true too. But,

56:30

you know, the thing, the thing I'll say about

56:32

your point and you're right, like, I'm not going

56:34

to argue with that. And you're totally right. I'll

56:37

say this. I think there's a lot of

56:39

coaches in the NHL that

56:42

would privately tell you that

56:44

they don't mind the way Buffalo did that

56:47

because of Buffalo decided that

56:50

they were going to do Lindy Ruff. They

56:52

didn't waste everybody else's time. There's

56:55

there's there's coaches in the league who believe

56:57

that they only get

57:00

interviewed exactly for that reason and

57:02

they're not serious contenders and

57:04

they. Yeah, I get that. I get that. You

57:07

know, I like I'm willing to concede the argument. I'm

57:10

just saying, like, if you decide someone's your

57:12

guy, make the

57:15

call, which the Sabres did.

57:18

Um, speaking to make the call, Ron Francis saying

57:20

he still needs to make the call on

57:22

the future of Dave Hacstal. That

57:24

one's surprising. Yes. And

57:27

because I felt that that was not a

57:29

Ron Francis type move, he's very patient. Look,

57:32

it's the same thing we talked about with Lindy Ruff. First

57:35

year expansion team did

57:37

about what we expected. Second

57:40

year, 100 points. Um,

57:44

one around, you got an

57:46

extension. You're sitting there.

57:48

Wow. Like, what a great job. What

57:50

a great win for Seattle this year.

57:53

Pretty much an 80 point team. What's

57:55

the average of 60 and 100, which is

57:58

kind of like their first couple of years. 80

58:01

points, they probably regress to the mean. They

58:03

don't have a lot of scoring. That's

58:06

something they got to find. Like

58:08

again, again,

58:11

you have to say to me, what

58:15

is different? And maybe there is something that I

58:18

don't see. I mean, I don't see Seattle a

58:20

lot. Maybe there is

58:22

something that is different between now and

58:24

then. But you have

58:26

to explain it to me and you have to

58:28

explain it to me in a way that would

58:30

make sense in the way I know that

58:32

Ron Francis thinks.

58:36

So you want to know what my theory is,

58:38

Jeff? My theory

58:40

is they are thinking about Dan Bilesma. Who

58:44

coaches in Coachella Valley, the

58:46

AHL affiliate for the Seattle Kraken.

58:49

That's my theory. That's

58:52

my theory. You're going to have

58:54

a lot of players from Coachella Valley start

58:57

to populate that Kraken roster. That's

58:59

what I'm wondering. And it's my

59:01

opinion. It's my theory. And

59:03

also there is a connection. Jason

59:05

Botterill, the assistant GM in

59:07

Seattle and Dan

59:10

Bilesma, head coach

59:13

Pittsburgh Penguins. That's

59:15

my theory. And

59:17

Jeff, there's a connection. Jason Botterill,

59:20

Pittsburgh Penguins. Dan Bilesma,

59:23

Pittsburgh Penguins. I could be wrong,

59:27

but that's what my spidey

59:29

senses tell me. I

59:32

thought I was wrong once, but I was incorrect. Pat

59:35

Verbeek, general manager of

59:37

the Anaheim Ducks. Any

59:40

rare media avail? We know he likes to

59:42

work in the shadows. Yes, he does. He

59:44

likes to be the international man of mystery. We

59:49

know that he is interested in

59:51

a top six right hand shot

59:53

forward and a top four right

59:55

shot D. So cue up your

59:58

Stamkos, Reinhardt. Marcia

1:00:00

So, Linhome, Myers,

1:00:03

Tanniv, Pesci, Fronik,

1:00:06

Rumors, Elliot. Yeah, I don't really

1:00:08

have any specific names right now.

1:00:11

I had enough work to do today. I'll just

1:00:13

irresponsibly throw some out there. I'll just irresponsibly throw

1:00:15

some out there. That's what we're paid to do,

1:00:17

be irresponsible. So it's a nice way to live.

1:00:20

But I thought we should mention it on the pod. I

1:00:22

don't know how many people said it. But

1:00:24

the other thing too is I want to give some credit to the

1:00:26

docs for tweeting that out. Yeah.

1:00:29

And the reason I want to give credit to them for

1:00:31

that is that there are

1:00:33

some teams in this league that don't get as

1:00:36

much coverage as other teams. And

1:00:38

you have to find unique ways to get

1:00:41

your stuff out there. And

1:00:43

to me, that was what Anaheim did

1:00:45

there. They put that out there so everybody

1:00:47

saw it. And if they hadn't

1:00:49

put that out there, I don't

1:00:52

know how many people would have seen it. But

1:00:54

I think it's good that people are talking about

1:00:56

the ducks. Oh, this is what the ducks want.

1:00:59

Oh, who can we link to the ducks? I

1:01:01

think that kind of thing is important. I

1:01:04

think that's smart. And I agree with you. Good

1:01:07

on the Anaheim ducks for putting that out there. And

1:01:09

finally, we'll finish up with this quick

1:01:11

conversation. The Philadelphia Flyers signing

1:01:15

Ivan Fedotov. Two-year contract, 6.5

1:01:17

million. AAV

1:01:19

is 3.25 to which many are saying, hold on.

1:01:24

Three games and a 0.811 save percentage back at

1:01:26

3.25 times 2. Yeah.

1:01:32

And the thing is that the

1:01:34

one thing the Flyers know here is that

1:01:36

UFA deals, which is what this is, they

1:01:39

can't be used as comparables. So

1:01:41

they didn't... Like sometimes when you see

1:01:44

contracts like that, people say, oh man, they're going

1:01:46

to screw over like the other teams that are

1:01:48

trying to keep salaries down. Not

1:01:50

the case because in the UFA deal, it's

1:01:52

not a comparable. Look, they were in a

1:01:54

tough spot. The guy was a UFA. But

1:01:57

the thing here to remember is

1:01:59

Ersin is locked. locked in for a few

1:02:01

years too, so they're spending less

1:02:03

than $5 million a year in

1:02:05

their goalie position. I'm

1:02:07

assured that the Flyers did not want to

1:02:09

go to that number, but it's

1:02:12

not going to hurt them because Ursens locked

1:02:14

in in a lower number. What

1:02:17

I thought about this one when I saw it was it

1:02:19

had to be something like this because

1:02:22

I can't believe that

1:02:24

Fedotov himself would

1:02:26

have put himself through what he did to

1:02:29

get here for a minimum

1:02:31

salary. That's fair

1:02:33

too. I think that's legitimate. I think

1:02:35

that's fair. Good point. Okay. On

1:02:38

that, we'll wrap. Enjoy the games tonight. It is

1:02:40

game three between the Boston Bruins and the Toronto

1:02:42

Maple Leafs. The venue shifts to Toronto. Game

1:02:44

two of the Golden Knights featuring Mark Stone. Did you

1:02:47

know he scored in his first game? I

1:02:50

heard. Yes. Facing off against

1:02:52

the Dallas Stars via the Golden Knights lead the series 1-0 and

1:02:54

the Los Angeles Kings

1:02:56

look to pull even with the Edmonds and

1:02:58

Oilers. Enjoy these three

1:03:00

games. This pod returns Friday morning.

1:03:02

Enjoy the hockey.