32 Thoughts: The Podcast

00:03 Someone banging on your door? You know what? I don't know what's going on here. There's been this hotel. The hotel we're staying in is actually a pretty good hotel, but there's been a lot of strange banging here. Like if you're somebody that doesn't handle like weird noises or gets freaked out in hotels, you would not like this. 00:29 Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast. I'm Elliot and Kyle back with you once again. And Elliot, my man, I am sure Tim Stutzler's personal chef cooked him up a marvelous meal at home on Tuesday night. I would not dispute that for a second. However, I can also... guarantee that whatever he had the night before would pale in comparison to the five-course Michelin star rated bonanza we were all treated to Wednesday night in the nation's capital for Brady Kachuk's return his first game back there as a member of the Florida Panthers from the chanting to what we saw on the ice and The celebration after the fact, Mr. Brightside playing in the senator's room, all of it. 01:19 I'm sure it was a very cathartic experience for a lot of people in that building on Wednesday night, Elliot. And one of the early games in the year, one of the early games of the year by a long shot. Where would you like to start with that event, sir? 01:35 Let me just say. 01:37 everyone here and i mean everyone should take a bow you all deserve a standing ovation multiple curtain calls kyle i was mad when i saw that this game was not on sportsnet schedule that we weren't broadcasting this one as i watched it I did a slow burn until I boiled over. 02:09 How fantastic would it have been to broadcast this game? 02:15 So good. 02:16 So good. Because you know... 02:19 And leading up to puck drop on Wednesday, there was that small cynical thought in the back of my mind of what if all the hype, the intrigue coming in, what if what we see doesn't match it? What if it becomes a nothing burger? Maybe there's some high emotion the first five, seven minutes of the game. They boo the welcome back video and then it becomes just another hockey game. 02:43 That was not the case. I think it blew all of that out of the water. And in talking to someone who was there on Wednesday night, Elliot, they said the most impressive part for them was that crowd, they kept that level the entire night. There was no drop off from the various chants. And also the fact that Brady at a certain point just goes, I'm going to embrace the villain role here. 03:07 It was all great television. 03:10 Great theater. So great. 03:13 To me, the standard bearer for haterism in a return game is Tavares back to Long Island. 03:20 Yes. 03:21 The Islanders fans set a standard at that game. And then the Islanders clobbered the Leafs that night. That was the hate game. And I think we all feel hate is good for sports. 03:38 Hate works. Hate makes sports better. You saw that Paul Maurice quote in the morning? Yeah, 100%. 03:45 I have to say, Ottawa's fans, I agree with you, they reached the bar. They jumped over the bar. 03:56 They pole vaulted over the bar. 04:00 So I was at the Danny Heatley return game, and I remember leaving that game. His first game back as a San Jose Shark when he went to Ottawa. 04:09 I remember being at that game and being underwhelmed at the response. I remember leaving. I was kind of disappointed. 04:20 And I was at Vince Carter's return game to Toronto, and there was some hate there that night. They were really on him. But I was like, wasn't anything that I would look back when my career was over and said they made it an overly rough ride. This one, I think we're all going to remember. And It always brings me back to the Anthony Stewart line. Are you a team or are you a club? 04:52 And the Ottawa Senators showed that they were a team. This was a big one for their fans, and it was a big one for them. And when Brady scored early, that game could have gone sideways. 05:06 You know, everybody could have been like, oh, like the very mature Panthers, they're going to handle this. Brady just scored. They're going to weather the storm and they're going to be OK. And Otto was like, no, that's that's not happening here. We are not. We are defending our turf. This is our house and we are not allowing this to happen here. 05:32 And. 05:33 You know, if you're in Vancouver and you've got Quinn Hughes coming back this week, or you're in Winnipeg and whenever Connor Hellebuck returns as a member of another team, you know, all of these fans are going to be like, this is the gauntlet that has been thrown down on us. Now, look, they lost, but I love the way that Kachuk handled the booing during the video. And I love the way he handled the post game. 06:04 They were ruthless. 06:06 My when I look at these things, it's like never let them see you sweat. 06:12 And that had to I don't I don't think the booing during the video would bother Brady, but the result sure did. 06:20 And I'll bet I'll tell you who I know that's going to bother is going to be Paul Maurice. 06:26 Paul Maurice is going to be bothered by that result. I've told this story before, but I always remember back in my NBA days, Kyle, when Antonio Davis, the Raptors traded for a player named Antonio Davis. And the first game they went back to Indiana, they lost and they played really badly. 06:43 And I remember Butch Carter, who was the Raptors coach at the time, saying, I thought these guys liked Antonio Davis. Yeah. 06:53 I thought that they were gonna stand up for him. 06:56 And he hammered the Raptors for, it's one thing if you lose, but it's another if you get overwhelmed, right? And they got overwhelmed that game and he ripped them. He was like, this was a big game for Davis. 07:12 And Paul Maurice will use that at some point on the Panthers. He will say to them, this was a meaningful game for this guy, and we lost 5-1. 07:24 And they'll take that to heart. Like, this is not over. 07:28 And, of course, the playing of Mr. Brightside. You know, the Florida Panthers, when they beat Edmonton for the cup, what did they sing at the bar? 07:40 Pink Pony Club. They rubbed it in. So the Panthers can't complain about this, that the Senators played Mr. Brightside. They've done it to the Oilers. It bothered the Oilers. They were really upset about that. The Senators knew what they were doing. They knew what they were doing when they played it on a loop. 08:00 The Panthers will remember. This was not a one-off. 08:06 This is now a... 08:11 heated rivalry. 08:14 Yes. Yeah. Now, in fairness, there had been some pretty good episodes between Florida and Ottawa the last couple of years when... This took it to another level. I know. I know. Yes. But it's not to suggest they were... 08:29 Just two ships passing in the night prior to Wednesday night when it came to the schedule. And you mentioned the Healy game all those years ago when he first came back with San Jose. If I'm not mistaken, there was quite a bit of a gap time-wise from when he was traded to when San Jose actually came back to Ottawa. 08:50 Yeah, that doesn't mean anything to me. 08:53 Either you hate or you don't, right? Well, it kind of felt like the perfect storm where it's early enough in the year and emotions are still very, very raw. 09:04 And I think there was... Kyle, after what I saw tonight, they could have played that game in March. It wouldn't have mattered. 09:14 Sure. It wouldn't have mattered. 09:17 I understand. 09:19 I just think that it all led to, it certainly didn't hurt the cause of the fact that we're sitting here partway through October and this is the matchup we get. 09:31 They were ready. 09:32 That's all I'm saying. 09:34 You know, there's so many things. I mean, the bad thing for Ottawa is all Mark got hurt, and we'll see where we are here. 09:42 He's been incredible to start the season. But you know this whole thing, you know, Devin Cooley right now about, like, disassociating yourself and almost being two people. 09:54 Like, there were some people in Ottawa that didn't like the fact that some of those senators went for dinner with Kachuk on Tuesday night. 10:02 That's exactly what Cooley is talking about. That's, hey, you know what? We can be friendly when it doesn't matter, but when the game starts, I'm going to do anything I can to carve you. 10:16 That's what the best are like. You can have your friends in the league. You can have friends on other teams like Jake Sanderson and Brady Kachuk are always going to be linked, not only because Ottawa, because they won a gold medal together, but when the puck drops and you're on two different teams, I'm, I'm going to, I'm going to beat you. 10:36 I'm going to do whatever it takes to beat you. Um, I think that it'll be interesting because I'm really curious about San Jose on Thursday night because San Jose is there and that's like in the NFL what you would call a classic trap game. 10:52 Can you keep the energy and emotion up? They're going to be so spent for that one, but That said so many positive things to me about the way the Senators are as a team and who they are. 11:09 Travis Green got extended this week with a year and a half to go on his contract. To me, that game says everything about why he was extended because he's got a team that's ready to play. 11:28 And all those players were ready to play. Like if I was a Sanders fan, I would be incredibly proud after what happened Wednesday night. And I didn't think anything, nothing I saw was over the line. 11:48 No, no, no, no. I think it was just good. It was raw emotion, I think, in a lot of it. 11:55 And you mentioned some of the guys getting together for dinner the night before. That was it. Obviously, it was a big, big night for the organization. And naturally, it was that curiosity of how are the players going to handle it? Is it going to be as big of a deal to them as it clearly was to the fans that walked through the turnstiles that night? Is the whole added... 12:16 circus of it's the first game back and the booing and the chanting and all of that is that going to affect how they played and you heard Travis postgame he goes this was by far this is our most complete game yet this year I know it's not a huge sample size but that to your point says a lot about where this group is at because I think at the end of the day I mean you know it's like that scene from fever pitch right where they're like after they go down three nothing to the Yankees and they're out at the restaurant and they see members of the Red Sox having dinner and they're like how How could they possibly be having dinner right now? 12:47 Like we're in the feeling the state of crisis of the season is over. These diehard Red Sox fans and there are the players enjoying a meal together. Like how possibly could they be in that in that state of mind? You just as a fan, you want the players to feel the same level of investing as you are. And yeah, from the senators that wore the jersey on the ice to those that weren't in the crowd, they were they were in lockstep Wednesday. 13:12 What a great scene. 13:14 What an incredible, incredible atmosphere. Someday, and Kyle, you live there. 13:24 Someday, it's going to be interesting to find out where it all fell apart between Stutzla and Kachok. Yes. Because they lived together at one point, right? 13:35 Well, that first year, right? It was the COVID shortened year. It was Stutzla's rookie season. It was him, Kachuk, Josh Norris. We're all Ruben together. I think in Mark Stone's old house. 13:46 And it was... 13:47 it was a great feel good story. Like in an otherwise tough year for the team, like that was three pieces of the future of the cornerstones. Totally. It was like, look at how great this is. And I, and I've kind of asked around Elliot and you know, like the sense I get is just as, as years goes on, you kind of realize personality wise, you're just different. Like, I don't know if there was one incident that was like, Oh, the relationship between Tim Stutzler and Brady Kachuk was never the same. Um, I just wonder if it was more the sense of they, their personalities became almost oil and water in a sense over time. 14:28 One left too many dirty dishes in the sink. 14:31 They never forgot. Yeah. So I, I, I, Because it is fascinating. And even hearing things, you know, the last couple of years where they were teammates. 14:41 Okay, are they still as tight as they were in those early years? But it never, when they were together, seemed to affect their play. 14:49 No, because they were pros. Yeah, they were pros. 14:52 They're both pros and they did it. I thought it was in a lot of ways very instructive that it was Stutzler who scored to tie the game after Brady opened the scoring. It kind of seemed fitting in a lot of ways. But it's just... You know what? When it was all over, Kyle, I was kind of like, why aren't there more games like this? I wish there were more games, more nights like this. 15:20 When a building is like that, nothing... 15:23 Nothing beats it. You know, the other thing I wanted to say too, Kyle, is that there were some people who felt that Kachuk didn't deserve a video. I can't tell you how strongly I disagree with that. You know, I think the Sanders obviously has some very raw feelings towards him as an organization. And it's still... 15:45 You know, we've got people who said he asked for a trade and there's other people who say that he didn't. He just told them he wasn't going to resign. I don't know if we'll ever really get the full story on this one, but I thought it was I thought it was an excellent. You know what? I think the senators did two things there by doing that video that. I think we'll go a long way. Number one is there are probably some guys on the Sanders team now who played great for them on Wednesday night who looked at that video and said, you know what? 16:18 I'm appreciated here. Like sometimes I think we all go through phases in life where we say, do our employers really appreciate us? 16:28 And do we think they really care about me? If I was a senator player, I would have looked at that and said in the middle of all this, they still put together that video. And that means I'm appreciated. And I think that matters. But even more importantly, if you watch that video, and again, I have no problem with the fans booing it. And I love the way that Kachaka acted after it was doing the wave. If you look at that video, there were a lot of shots in there, a few shots in there of families he'd helped or families who were battling through something. 17:03 So that's for them. You know, you make those families feel seen. 17:09 And even though some of them are probably big, hardcore Sanders fans and they're probably disappointed to see Kachuk go, they will also always remember Kachuk as someone who came and gave them a moment of peace in a time of need. And so I think maybe that video wasn't for the fans and they didn't like it. And again, I get it. But I think the two groups of people that would have really resonated with were the players that are still there and the fans who went through things and Kachuk was still there for them. And if that group, if those two groups of people appreciate it, In the moment, then you have achieved something here. 17:47 And also you just like I understand why Marchenko didn't get a video in Columbus. And we'll get to that in a minute. 17:55 But I think it was the right thing for Ottawa to do. And I think the right people would appreciate it. 18:05 Totally agree. I mean, his work with the Boys and Girls Club in Ottawa was very real and something that I think he put a lot of time and effort in, and his wife as well, being involved there. And I know he got to the rink early on a Wednesday morning and spent time with the staff there, with the Senators to get a visit in. I think he still has great relationships with all of them from their years together. But not unlike the players, when the game rolls on, you remove one part of who you are and replace it with another. 18:37 And you want to do everything in your power to beat them. But I think with that, there's a lot of layers, of course, to this whole story, which is why it's been so compelling. And I think why there is so much interest leading into the game on Wednesday night here, Elliot. But I will, my prediction, I think somewhere, it may take a long time, I think somewhere down the line. 19:00 There will be some sort of night in, hopefully by then, Ottawa's got a new building. 19:09 Somewhere down the line. 19:10 If I was Adlauer, I'd go to them Thursday morning and say, hey, how about that new building? 19:16 You're never going to be more popular. 19:18 Yes. Yeah, yeah. Long after everyone that was playing in the game on Wednesday, the careers were over. There will be some moment I can see Brady Kachuk standing in the arena and the crowd applauding and embracing him. It may take a while. You think so, eh? I do, yeah. Because I'm sure a lot of Sens fans never would have seen a time where they would embrace Danny Heatley. They did that. I mean, we'll get to Columbus in a minute. Rick Nash was villainized initially when he first came back after he was traded out of Columbus. They love him there again. 19:50 Like, his number hangs in the rafters. I think especially... If Ottawa wins at some point over here, whether it's with this group that they have now over the next while, what have you, I think that'll put a lot of emotions at ease. Because you do zoom out, there was a lot of good that Brady was at the forefront of at a time where it was very easy to pile on Ottawa and that franchise. But... It was, for how that crowd reacted and felt on Wednesday night, totally justified, totally fair, and just a great scene for everybody to take in. 20:28 It's kind of interesting that it's October the 21st, which is the date of this game, and that is going to be one of the five best moments of this NHL season. 20:39 Mm-hmm. 20:43 Blind ranking early. There's only four slots left. That's right. 20:49 Yeah, good call. 20:49 If there's a playoff series, holy cow. 20:53 Oh, my gosh. 20:55 Early item on the Christmas wish list for a lot of us. 20:59 And I think you referenced it earlier, but someone said to me after the game, I said, do know one thing. This is far from over. 21:08 Far from over. I will say one of my leaf loving buddies texted me for one night only. I'm really enjoying Ridley Gregg. 21:19 Yes. Yeah. Like, I mean, talk about a guy that understood the assignment on Wednesday night. Oh, my God. Right in the thick of it, just in the only way that he can. Like, I think a lot of the a lot of the main characters involved that you would expect to be involved on on Wednesday night, they they delivered. It was a lot of fun, man. So that was going on in Ottawa Wednesday night. And, I mean, you try to compare and contrast and juxtapose to the night previous in Columbus when Toronto rolls into town and it's Kirill Marchenko's return. 21:51 Now, the circumstances are different in the sense of, of course... He wasn't in Columbus as long as Brady was in Ottawa. He wasn't the captain. There's differences in that sense. But the similarities were, you know, leading into it, same sentiment coming out of the Columbus dressing room. If he doesn't want to be here, we don't want him here. We're glad that those that are in this room... are guys that want to be here and be part of the solution. However, what we saw on the ice from the home crowd Tuesday night in Columbus was something far different. 22:24 So it was a completely 180 response when you look at how the Blue Jackets handled that game versus what we saw in Ottawa. 22:34 Yeah, very disappointing. Very disappointing. And actually, again, we talked about there was no video for Marchenko. I actually laughed when I saw what Columbus did. They played the song by CeeLo Green, Forget You, and they showed Fantilli delivered a big hit to Marchenko early in that game, and they put it underneath the song on the video board. And I was like, that's actually pretty creative. Yeah. We did an interview with Marchenko that aired in the pregame show, and he said that he had a conversation with his wife and they just decided it was time to try something new. 23:15 Like, it's pretty clear he decided he didn't. 23:19 He wasn't going to extend there either. And it was time for him. 23:24 And again, I have no problem with the Columbus crowd being unhappy with him. That's life. But, you know, it's my old line or Gord Stelic's old line. If you're going to stink, stink on the road. Like that was the opposite Ottawa, right? You can't. 23:45 First of all, it's a big game for Nyes. Now, he still has to go back to Toronto, and that's coming up in a couple of weeks. But to me, it's almost like the same thing. It's a big game for Nyes, who struggled since he got a couple goals in his opening game there. But it's a big game for your fans. 24:04 And, you know, there were a couple of things that happened there. I was at Dallas, Boston that night, so I didn't see all of it. I went back and I watched some shifts and I watched some goals, but there were a couple of things that happened there that... 24:19 I think were pretty interesting. You know, they got pounded. 24:25 I heard that Wierenski was still trying to throw some hits when it was getting pretty lopsided. So I thought it was interesting that he, as the captain, still tried to get something going. But Goodbranson fought. 24:42 late in that game or later in that game and watch him after that fight. Like he glares at the Columbus bench. And I don't know who he's looking at. I don't want to guess because God knows I've gotten myself into enough trouble over the last couple of weeks. But you watch Greg Branson after that fight. He glares in the direction of the bench. 25:06 And he's a really prideful guy. He cares a lot. 25:10 And You know, 6-2 in that game, it's not good enough. 25:17 And, you know, I thought Bonas did the right thing post-game. He didn't pile on. Like, it's obvious he knows he can't do that right now. It's happened too much. You can't do it. And there are times, like some of the best bosses I've ever had, I remember Glenn Healy and Kelly Rudy telling me this about Al Arbor. Yeah. 25:37 Al Arbor would be all over the Islanders when they were going well. He would grind them and grind them and grind them. And when they were really struggling, he'd back off. 25:46 And some of the best bosses I've ever had, like when things were going really well for me, they would just kill me. And when I felt low, they would be like, all right, how can we drag you out of this? But I just think in that moment, Bonas has hammered them so much he couldn't. Now, I guess he had a really hard practice on Wednesday and made them do stuff all over again, which is fine. 26:07 You can just sense that this next game for them is a huge one, and it probably should have been the game they had on Tuesday night, but especially they're all going to be watching, and their fans are all going to be watching that Ottawa game on Wednesday, and they're going to be saying, you know, what's that mean with, like, what is it, the chipmunk or the raccoon that's waving its hands? 26:38 Like, why this and not this? 26:40 Oh, yeah, yes. 26:43 The Blue Jackets or fans are going to be saying, why wasn't that us? 26:48 Like, where was that for us? 26:52 It's a bad one. 26:54 Yeah, and when you think about it, Elliot, Even zoom out the last couple of years with Columbus, like when Patrick Laine left and some of his comments about the dressing room upon his return. 27:11 And I mean, obviously, there was there was the season in which we lost the Gaudrill brothers. It was very admirable how that team carried on, nearly got into the playoffs, just missed under very, very difficult circumstances. But I guess, and I'm not here to weigh in on what's true, what's not, but the perception of what's been going on around the organization and why maybe success hasn't been sustainable, why they haven't. you know, gotten into the playoffs and gotten over that hump where they have been close down the stretch a few times in the last number of years. 27:44 I promise you, you get a big game like that on Tuesday night and how you look and the result, like it doesn't necessarily help any narrative that you're looking at and going, that's not true. That's not how we operate, whether it is or is not. 28:01 It's one thing to lose a game like that, and it was a big game for Toronto also. They had plenty of incentive, but it's how they looked when they lost. It's how they looked when they lost. It really, it does not help matters at all as Columbus is collectively. They just went through this whole thing, of course, with Wierenski in the summer and trying to get Fantilli signed the drag right up until the start of the year pretty well. This doesn't help matters when the first true big test of, okay, where are we at as a group? It's an emotional night for the fan base. And that's what you get. 28:33 Yeah. 28:35 Yep. 28:37 It doesn't help. It's just not good enough. And everybody knows it. 28:42 And I thought, too, like, you know, from the Toronto side, we remember last year when Vegas came into Toronto and that was Marner's first game back. Like, that was a team that looked like we are not losing this game. There is no chance. And it was not in doubt from the drop of the puck. And, you know, credit the Leafs is that night wore on on Tuesday night in Columbus. 29:05 Do you remember Colasar, like, pushing signs away from Marner? 29:09 Yes. That's right. Yeah. Right in the tunnel. They're coming out for warmup. 29:12 Like they, the moment they showed up, they were like, yeah, they were, I thought it was the Jersey. Like the moment they showed up, they were like, no, not happening tonight. 29:24 Yeah. And so I thought as, as the night were on for Toronto, they look similar where it was like, you know, it's a big deal for their teammate, their new teammate. And they thought we're winning. 29:36 And they were the better team. 29:38 So, yeah, like a couple of... 29:41 Emotional games, at least going in, and a really wonderful scene, of course, as we talked about on Ottawa Wednesday, Elliott. And that leads us to some other news that we're still keeping tabs on around the league. And we stop off in Detroit once again. We're playing the hits here. 29:58 And not only the Dylan Larkin situation, but Simon Edmondson as well. Helene St. James, one of the beat reporters there with the Wings. 30:05 She's been on top of these no trade lists. Sure has. 30:10 I had one when they expanded, but she's, I think, had two or three of them now. 30:15 Yes. She's making me look like a toddler out here. 30:21 Hey, she's doing her job and she does it very well. Yes. So the list now, what, to 10 teams? It's gotten a little bit bigger. And the fact that the Devils were on it. 30:31 That's an interesting one. Yeah. 30:35 Someone who's a Devils fan texted me and he goes, do you think Larkin's playing 3D chess? Instead of going to Minnesota, where Hughes is, he's going to go to New Jersey, where Hughes is going to be. 30:48 Yes, the Gretzky maneuver. 30:50 I asked him if he was Charlie Day with all that stuff on his wall. 30:55 It's pretty funny. I was like, hey. It was interesting that the Devils were there. That was definitely the one that raised the most eyebrows because a lot of those other teams are obviously top contenders. Larkin is... 31:12 Larkin is definitely trying to make this possible here. He's expanding his list. We'll see. 31:25 The one thing I will say is that Detroit, whatever they're considering out there, whether it's Larkin or it's Edmondson, And I think they're a little bit disappointed how they haven't been able to budge Edvinson to this point. 31:45 I think they're a little bit disappointed, a little bit surprised. But the one thing I think they are doing, and I've heard this a little bit, is they're starting to ask about young centers. 32:00 And maybe even some guys who are top prospects that aren't in the NHL yet. 32:05 And I had a couple teams tell me on Wednesday when I was preparing to do this and just asking around that whatever Detroit's planning here, they're looking at young centers. 32:23 And again, like some of them might not be in the league yet, but there is some groundwork being done here. 32:31 Who's available, who they like, And I did have a couple teams say to me, do not be surprised if and when this logjam breaks, if one or two of those is involved for Detroit, if they can. That is definitely a goal of theirs. 32:52 And whether it's a Larkin trade or an Edvinson trade, if it does come to it, like that's kind of what they're targeting. And maybe... 33:00 It might be one or the other. Like it might just come down to what... Like I don't want to say it's Edvinson for that or it's Larkin for that. It's just because I think I could be wrong to specifically say it's one of the two. I just think I've heard that some of the teams they're talking to That is what they're asking about. How would you feel about X, either young center that you have now or young center that is part of your prospect pool? 33:31 Boy, it's a tough spot for them. I had a guy tell me today that he was like, man, Detroit thought Larkin and Edwardson were going to be their cornerstones for years. 33:43 But I think they're starting to... Realization is starting to set in, so they're starting to lay their groundwork. 33:50 I suppose, as they should, if... This is the path that we're headed down for Detroit. I mean, they're still of the mind, though, that the preference is to sign Edmondson. That hasn't changed? 34:01 I think that's the preference. But like I said, nobody has said this to me from Detroit. It's just basically what I'm hearing is some teams are wondering if Detroit is just like, you know what? In case it doesn't work, we better start getting serious about what could be out there. 34:20 I think you can say publicly we want to sign him and it's true, but you still have to be prepared for reality. Like, you know, for example, if you do want to trade him, you've got 40 days or he can't play this year. So you better get to work. 34:37 Okay. 34:38 And... 34:39 I think we're always curious about Carolina, whether it's on the Detroit front or, of course, Winnipeg and Connor Hallibuck. 34:49 And you're learning that they're entertaining another offer to try to lure... 34:56 the FESDA and Hart Trophy winner out of Winnipeg that would not involve a package, including Alexander Niketian? 35:04 Yeah, so we've been saying this a lot, or I've been saying this a lot. I don't want to drag you into my idiocy, Kyle, but we've been saying this a lot. Too late. 35:15 If the Keishan was going to go to Winnipeg, this deal might be done already. 35:24 But I did have a couple of people tell me on Wednesday that Carolina does have an offer for Hellebuck that no longer involves him. Because it's just, it's a waste of time, right? So I think whatever Carolina's got out there is a non-Nakeesian package. Now, if it was so spectacular to the Jets, this trade would be done already. I think that Buffalo and Utah are still around here. 35:55 And, you know, Lukaden had another rough night on Wednesday. But I just thought it was interesting that Carolina, I think, has something out there that's a change from where they originally were and they remain interested. You know, I did hear something really interesting about Carolina on Wednesday, too. I was talking with someone about them. 36:22 And you know how Bill Guerin, when he traded for Quinn Hughes, he talked about how he makes his best offer right away. He goes in hot and he says, this is what I can do and hopefully we can make it work. And so I always wonder, what's the book on these guys? How do they do things? 36:45 And so Carolina's way under Eric Tulsky is they don't necessarily come in hot. They'll negotiate with you. 36:55 They don't say this is our first offer and our best offer. They don't do that. But what they do have as a book on them is if they tell you it's time, it's time. 37:07 Like either you make the deal or you don't. 37:10 And when they traded for Rantanen from Colorado, So that night, I actually heard about Pedersen from Vancouver, and they had two deals on the table. 37:26 I was slow to turn to pivot to Rantanen because I thought Pedersen was going to get done. So that night, it was either Rantanen or it was Pedersen. And I guess they said to both Colorado and Vancouver, it's time. 37:42 We want to do this. We're getting to a point where we're going to do one of these two deals. So make us your best offer. 37:53 And so, yeah, we're going to do one of these two deals. So it's time for your best. 38:02 And Colorado came forward with the deal that they took. 38:07 And Vancouver... 38:12 just didn't. 38:13 They, they felt that Vancouver's offer was lacking. So they made the deal for renting it. And I think Vancouver was a bit surprised. 38:24 And that was when like the word kind of got around on them. If they say we're doing a deal and you better be ready to do the deal. 38:36 And I don't know where they stand with the Jets right now. Obviously, they have something out there, but I still think Buffalo and Utah, I think those teams are kind of hoping that Winnipeg feels a bit squeezed. 38:55 I'm not sure that's actually going to work, but... 38:59 That's the way I do think those teams feel. But what have we learned about the Hurricanes and the way they do business? 39:07 If they say it's time, no more fooling around. 39:12 Do you get the sense, I mean, how much has Eric Tulsky's perception and reputation around the league evolved from when he would have first taken the job in Carolina to where we sit now as other managers have dealt with him? Well, he won, and not only did he won, he has not been afraid to take swings and be willing to pivot if that swing wasn't the home run cut that he had hoped for. 39:40 Well, I think that's the thing. The Rantanen thing, I don't know that there's a lot of teams who would have done what he did. Take the shot and then... 39:49 and then make the deal. And it was a deal that brought them a pretty critical part of a Stanley Cup champion, Stankoven. I think number one- Well, Taylor Hall too, right? Didn't they get Hall on that deal? Yeah, that's right. Good point. 40:02 You know, first of all, he's got an owner that backs that. You have to have support from the top, and he does. 40:10 You know, I don't think- I don't think all the teams like the way he's threatened off her sheets from time to time over the years. He did it, you know, obviously they did it with Bouchard. They did it with Keandre Miller. They got the player. I think they did it this year with Edvinson. They kind of threatened it with Detroit a bit. But I think the respect is there. Like he won and he has a vision and it works. 40:40 And, you know, the coach there is obviously a very big part of it. Brenda Moore is the most powerful coach in the league. But, you know, obviously he understands like the, like the thing that the Hurricanes have is they have an identity. 40:55 Can you skate? Yes, you can play here. 40:59 Right? 41:00 And he finds players who fit that identity. I mean, do these GMs always like each other? No. But do they respect those who are successful? Yes, they do. 41:15 Yeah, and he's been one of the most successful here over the last few years. By the way, Elliot. 41:20 I'm looking forward to that game on Thursday night too. Edmonton, Carolina, and Seth Jarvis was activated for it. So he's going to be back for that. That'll be a great hockey game. I'm really looking forward to that. That Minnesota-Edmonton game the other day was an excellent game. 41:37 Um, the Oilers beat them on the power play. The Wild kind of tuned them a bit at even strength. 41:43 Um, but that was great hockey. I have no idea what Quinn Hughes was complaining about in the post game though. It's just like, like what, what are you complaining about? That was a pretty obvious, that was a pretty obvious too many minutes. 41:57 Yes. Unfortunately, I think you're right because the pass was for, I forget who the other Wild was right at the blue line and Hughes is just stepping on the ice and the puck's coming his way. 42:08 It's reflex. 42:09 It's kind of like it was funny. There's that one and then the Dobish penalty in overtime in the Montreal game. It's like two examples of going, I'm sorry. I understand as a fan you're going, I hate the call, but those are going to get called. 42:25 Well, you know what? You know what? Like, so I'll give you my theory on Dobish in a second. But I couldn't believe people were saying they shouldn't have called that. You have to call that. You have to. Because the thing is, the next time if someone skates through the crease or skates, sorry, in front of the crease... 42:46 they're going to be hitting Dobish. It basically makes him a fair target to get hit if you don't penalize that. That, to me, is why the referee has to 100% make that call because if you don't, players are going to be clipping him or knocking into him in the same situation saying, I thought he was going to interfere with me. So I completely understand. I have a theory on Dobish, and Eric Engels kind of wrote about it on Tuesday night. And, you know, I just think he's a little bit unsettled at the challenge from Fowler. 43:24 Like, I think he thought, like, after last year, he played great. He got them into the third round of the playoffs. And, you know, I think he was kind of settled a bit. You know, he's a guy who really – Pete Fry's done a lot of great work with him on his emotions, but he's a very emotional guy. I just look at him and I think he kind of thought this was too soon for him to be in another battle for the job, and I think it's unsettled him a bit. I think there's plenty of time to sort this out and fix it, but that's what I look at when I see him. 43:59 I was, by the way, happy too, Kyle, for your Kings that got off the schneid. 44:05 Yes, yeah. Important win for them after they went down 2-0 early in Washington and turned it around. I almost think with Dolbisch, it kind of reminds, and you hear tennis players, some of the great ones, talk about it's a completely different... set of circumstances mentally and just how you view yourself among the rest where you're chasing down the chance to be number one in the world and then you become number one of the world and there's nowhere else to go but back down the rankings again right like Battled, battled, battled. 44:38 Here you are. You are the goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens. In the playoffs, people have got stop signs all over the city and in the building with your name on it. You're getting serenaded in the postgame. You are the guy and you are playing like the guy. And then you get back to training camp in the fall and it's like, oh, you got to do that all over again. All season. 45:01 to have the kind of results to hang on to that spot. 45:06 And that's why those, from a goaltender's perspective, it's so impressive not only to have the ability to be a number one guy for the long term, but to have the mental fortitude to keep yourself in that space when you know there's always the possibility of someone coming for you or just a bad run of results, how that changed how you're looked at. Anyway, I mean, he's still a young goaltender. Obviously, you know, it gets the contract done in the summer that I've still got all the time in the world for. 45:37 But it's another challenge for him to try to face. 45:42 Agreed. 45:42 100%. 45:44 So I was looking on social on Wednesday, Elliot, and I know I wasn't the only one that felt this way, but as teams were starting to tease their hometown remix looks with the different word jumbling and I think someone was doing it in like Morse code too. I couldn't help, but that was like you setting out the matchups on a Saturday night. 46:09 Your team abbreviations. 46:12 I got a few of those. I had a few people who sent me notes about that. 46:16 It was pretty funny. I love that. 46:20 I still have a decoding Elliott Friedman hoodie from the old 32 Thoughts merch days. 46:25 You know what? I wore a yellow laces one the other day. Oh, nice. And, you know, my son, Max, I gave him an extra shirt I had. I think it was hair. I don't know if it was hair sponsored by Elliott Friedman or hair inspired by Elliott Friedman. And he wore it to the gym and people were like, do you make your son wear that shirt? I was like, Max, you're never wearing that again. That would be hilarious. 46:50 Like, oh, my God. 46:52 Elliott's a monster. Yeah. 46:55 turning his own son into a walking ad for him. 46:59 Speaking of sons, by the way, that was a great night for Cole Knubel, Mike Knubel. Cole scored a couple goals the other night, and Mike Knubel was one of the great players to deal with when he played. He was a great talker, a really insightful guy, and I'm really happy for them. Philly has recovered. They have shaken off rigor mortis, and they are back. 47:23 By the way, I'm so glad you brought that up because the Knubel family connection between Mike and Cole, that's going to be one of the questions featured in the thought line in a little bit. So thank you for teasing that, Elliot. 47:38 Well, Kyle, I am here to help. 47:41 Thank you, buddy. Okay, a couple more things we wanted to get to here in this news block of the show. So, man, I think both you and I heard the same thing. I mean, thankfully, Ben Kindle was doing much better on Wednesday, but gosh, the horror when you see the statement that the Penguins put out the day previous that... He had a medical episode on the team plane just as they had taken off from Salt Lake City to head home. Of course, they turned around so he could be properly attended to. But in that statement, Elliot, you know, they mentioned that their team physician, Dr. Dharmesh Vyas, I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly, but he was on the plane with the team. 48:18 And so him and the medical staff were able to attend to him literally right away, even while they were in the air. So... 48:27 I guess I assume that that was a normal thing that the team physician would travel with the club all the time. It turns out that's not the case. 48:37 No, it's not, Kyle. And it is in the playoffs. I think teams generally travel with their own doctors. But in the regular season, particularly for short trips, there are teams that don't. They don't bring their doctors with them because, first of all, at a game, the other team will have their doctors there. 48:56 As we now know, if an ambulance leaves an NHL game for any particular reason, you can't resume until another one's there. 49:04 You must always have an ambulance in the building for a game to be played. And they've taken some real positive steps in that way. But not everybody in the regular season travels 100% of the time with their own doctors. 49:16 And thankfully, the Penguins do. And that played a huge role in this. And Kyle Dubas is supposed to update Kendall's condition on Thursday. But one of the things I heard in the aftermath was maybe this should be mandatory. maybe you should have your own doctors on a trip all the time. And if there's anything we can look into from this in order to make things a little bit better, this was a situation where the worst possible outcome looks to have been averted because the doctors were there. 49:51 So maybe that's something everybody here should be thinking about. All doctors, all the time. 49:57 I agree. I totally agree. I mean, even if 99.99% of the time you go, could have left him at home for that trip. We just saw the .01 the other day, Elliot, and thank goodness. So to me, that would be worth whatever the investment would come with ensuring somebody's there at all times when the team's not at home. 50:19 There's too much at stake there. I'm totally with you. OK, let's get to the final thought. And Elliot, where are you in the world as of this conversation? 50:30 So I'm in Dallas, Dallas, Boston. Really good game the other night. Kind of a playoff game. Dallas doesn't give you a lot. And Boston right now doesn't give you a lot. You know, the Bruins are in a good place. 50:44 They They had a near-perfect road trip. They only lost the Dallas game in overtime because Rantanen had the hat trick. Swayman was incredible. He made a couple of great saves before Dallas won the game, but it was two teams that didn't give up a lot. Very, very good game. Very good game. 51:06 And saw David Perron there in the press box. He's going to be joining them pretty soon. You know, one of the things Dallas was kind of looking at is just improving their play along the boards. 51:20 And Perron does that. He's a really sharp guy. 51:24 He's a really smart player. And I think that's one of the things they were looking at was just improving their board work. And that's one of the reasons they – They targeted Perron. 51:37 Also, they got the extension done with Husna Dinov, who's been a really good player for them, three times 3.95. Good game. Really enjoyed it. 51:48 But the reason we're here is the Jets are in town, and they're playing. They were in town. They played in St. Louis on Tuesday. They lost. They practiced on Wednesday. And they're playing on Thursday. And, of course, we are both headed to Winnipeg this weekend for the Heritage Classic on Sunday. And we were taping a piece. And I kind of want to explain what this piece is because it's a bit unique and it's a bit different. 52:17 So about five years ago, our feature staff was working on a piece on Mark Shifley. 52:27 And they interviewed the late Dale Howarchuk about him, and they interviewed his parents about him. His dad, Brad, and his mother, Mary Lou, together. 52:41 And as many of you may remember, Brad passed away a year ago during the playoffs. And so we had this piece that was done on Shifley, and it never went to air. 52:56 And the reason it never went to air actually was they were working on putting it together. And then the big hit on Jake Evans came and you couldn't air it then. And it just never got done. So with the heritage classic in, uh, Winnipeg, uh, our producers came up with the idea of, and especially now is, uh, you know, this year they restored the jets records and, Yes. Right? 53:26 And so if you look at it, Shifley now is five goals back of Dale Howarchuk. He's 14 points back of Dale Howarchuk for number one all time. 53:39 And he is actually 12 assists back of Thomas Steen. He's actually fourth in assists. Blake Wheeler is at 550. Howard Chuck is at 550. And Steen is at 553. So he's getting to a point where he's going to pass all of this. So our features crew came up with the idea of doing this piece. 54:00 And I have to tell you, I... 54:04 Wasn't sure, but, you know, you trust the people that they know what they're doing. They say, okay, you guys believe in this. You have faith in this. You're pushing on this, and you believe in this, so let's do it. And we did the interview with Shifley on Wednesday after practice, and it was really something. 54:24 We had about 13 clips of his parents and Dale Howardchuck on an iPad, And he held it, and he watched the clips, and he talked about it. 54:35 And it was pretty powerful, I have to say. He really held himself in check until the last question. At the end, he got very emotional. One of the things that happened was after Brad passed away, The Jets fans and other hockey fans who are great people made donations to the True North Foundation, the Jets charitable arm in his dad's name. 55:07 And they basically kept the money. And now what they're doing is like Mark Chipman came to him and basically said, you know, what do you want to do with this? How can we make something good for this? So they're creating a scholarship in his father's name. They're working on that right now. 55:23 Oh, cool. But it was really something to sit there with Shifley and watch him look at these clips. And he said, I've never seen these before. And it was really special to him to watch them talk about him. And he actually asked at the end of the interview, could we send him the clips so he can watch them from time to time? And we will. But it was a unique idea that our features crude and deserves a lot of credit for that they push this and Shifley deserves a lot of credit for being willing to do it. 56:05 So that's going to air on Sunday in the pregame. But Like, Kyle, we all do interviews and you kind of remember them for a long time because of the emotion in them. Like the one interview that you did that I will remember to the end of my career was David Ayers because it was just such an unbelievable night. And you did such a great interview with him in the postgame. And this is going to be one of the ones that I remember. That's for sure. 56:32 That's awesome. I'm glad that that, and I'm sure those interviews they would have done all those years back with Howard Chuck and his parents, would have been great stuff at the time that has never seen the light of day. Like what a, what a wonderful way to, to give it new life. So it can be seen by the public that would be interested. And for Mark, of course, to, to see it as well. That's really cool. So you would have, and you wouldn't have run, I guess like it was a clip by clip and then he would respond to it as opposed to running it all back to back. 57:06 Okay. Yeah. 57:07 Yes. And then, and also I think they downloaded, I think the interview with the parents was about 13 minutes long and they, they downloaded it all and they'll send it to him so he could watch the whole thing. But yes, we just, he held the iPad and we just went clip to clip and we watched it all. And like I said, you, you, you never know how these things are going to go, but it was really, it was really something. It was amazing. It was pretty powerful stuff. Now, I have to tell you, so the features crew on this is Michael Addick, the producer, and Zach Lazzik, the cameraman. 57:40 And Michael Addick, we went for lunch after the feature shoot, and Michael said that you have reneged on an agreement. Is that true? Yeah. 57:52 It is not. So he did me a huge favor for something not that long ago. And he said, I'm going to do this for you, but I need you to do this to hold up your end of the bargain. I said, no problem. And I'm still going to do it. I just haven't had a chance to yet. 58:09 How long was this? 58:11 Just a couple of weeks. 58:13 Like, keep in mind. I thought it was like eight months. Oh, my gosh. No, no, no. 58:19 I completely made that up. 58:21 This is just a few weeks, but I will get to it. 58:24 So what do you own, like Michael Backlund's coffee or something like that? 58:29 He would love some of his coffee because, yeah, I believe he's like part owner of a small roastery in Sweden. 58:37 So anyway, I've got to track Michael down here at the rink in Calgary and see how I can get some of that product to Mike Attick. But it's not a lie. I mean, you, gosh, you took forever to finally repay your debt for the in-season cup last year. Now, when you did, you delivered. 58:55 Yeah, I'm slow. 58:56 You took your sweet time with it. 58:59 That is true. 59:01 Sometimes I can be a little bit quicker. I always pay up, but sometimes. But the thing is, I'm the other way, too. If I ever win something off people, like I've had people come up to me and say, you know, I owe you this. And I go, you shouldn't have told me. I would have never remembered. Like, I never keep track of this stuff. 59:20 So I just like to win in the moment. Like I've won bets before and I said, and like people will say, well, I'll give you what I owe you. And I'm like, no, I don't want that. I'm like, what do you mean? I go, I just want you to know that I won. I actually don't want anything for it. 59:36 So I'm kind of like that with everything, to be honest. 59:40 That's good. We normally do shout-outs in the next section, and there are some, but we record that section early, and there were some shout-outs on Wednesday night I just want to make. I went out to a great dinner with Ken Wiebe, who's in town, on Wednesday night, and... Someone came up to me. His name was Evan Williams. He's a big hockey fan in the Dallas area. He was having dinner with some of his coworkers. He came to say hi. He said him and his twin brother, Ethan, are huge pod fans. 60:14 I said, which one of you is older? He goes, I am by 20 seconds. So Evan and Ethan Williams. Evan, 20 seconds older by Ethan. 60:23 Thanks very much. And also, Ken... 60:29 brought a friend of his who he used to play hockey with for the Winkler Flyers in the mid-90s. 60:37 Ken is a really good golfer, and he was a really good hockey player. The guy's name was Mike Dick. They played together. 60:44 Mike actually went to Bemidji State, played 10 games there, and then he played in Texas. He played hockey in Texas in the Central League. with Fort Worth and Huntsville. And he played in the Western Pro League with Central Texas and Corpus Christi. And, you know, he played for about five years. 61:05 And just a hilarious guy. He showed me some pictures of Ken and him back when they were, I don't know, they must have been 18, 19 years old playing in Winkler. And Ken, who has done what my wife won't allow me to do, which is go bald, he had a full Yager mullet. 61:32 Oh, my gosh. It is such a great picture. 61:38 Now, what does he rock better, the mullet or... 61:43 Nothing. Now. 61:45 I got to say, I hate to give Ken any kind of compliment, but he wears them both really well. He does. That's fair. 61:53 Yeah. That's fair. I can see it. 61:55 That's great. 61:56 It's a good, it's a true Yager-esque malt. It was really good steak. Really good, really good meal. 62:03 Beautiful. Glad you had a good time with them. 62:05 All right. That was the final thought. 62:07 I got to go to bed. I got getting picked up in three and a half hours. 62:13 Oh, yes. Oh, man. You're already into the grind. 62:16 There'll be nothing left of you come the outdoor game Sunday. 62:19 Oh, don't you worry. I'll be fine. 62:24 That was the final thought. And yeah, well, we'll let Ellie get some rest, take our first break and come back with the thought line. You're listening to 32 Thoughts, the podcast, and it continues after this. 62:48 All right, just in time for a brand new edition of the Thoughtline brought to you by BetMGM. Make it legendary. So, Elliot, the other night I was at the 24th edition of the Eric Francis Pizza Pigout. Oh, you went to the Pizza Pigout. Yeah. Nice. In support of Kidsport Calgary. They did it at the Dome this year. 63:08 Looked like a huge success. Again, I haven't seen the final numbers of the money that they raised, but the place was packed. It's impressive how many pizza vendors come out to that in the city, too. 63:16 It's really cool. And anyway, so at one point of the night, a gentleman by the name of Brian came and introduced himself. And he introduced me to his wife, Jody, who is a volunteer with Kidsport. And he says, because of Jody, she goes, Jody listens to you guys' podcasts all the time, and she makes me listen to it. She's dragged me into it. So in my mind, I'm thinking your wife is a genius. But out loud, I said to her, why would you subject your husband to such torture? 63:47 Because, you know, we are humble. We are very humble. Yes. 63:50 Yes, we are. Yes, we are. 63:52 But in my mind, I'm like, smart lady. 63:55 Well, thank you very much, Jody. We appreciate your listenership and the fact that you have dragged someone else into our abyss of loserdom. Thank you very much. 64:08 And by the way, congratulations to Eric. That is an outstanding event. He does a great job with it every year. 64:13 Yeah. And they also, they announced in partnership between the alumni and Kidsport, they announced a new scholarship going forward in Peter Maher's honor, which was really cool. 64:23 Great stuff. Not, you know, not surprised Eric would do something like that. Like he's, he's very, very charitably oriented. Great job, Eric. And great job, Jody. You got anything else before I get on to mine here? 64:36 No, that was my one. 64:38 Okay. Leaving away for you now. All right, I got a few here. So first of all, from Randy Craig, my daughter Katie teaches fifth grade in a title one school in Durham, North Carolina. She wanted to try a fun way to introduce her kids to our great game and include it in their lessons. She has 16 teams in her class and had them draft a team from each conference and is having them tally the wins. To say the kids knew nothing about hockey is an understatement. 65:09 He laughed and said the last team drafted was Florida. They are super into it now, and she starts every day by showing the wins and ends it by putting up the night's schedule. Now she wants to take the kids to a game, maybe the only time they would ever go, and so she reached out to the Canes, and she has fundraising to make it happen, which I know she will get because she is tenacious. She had the kids reach out to their team and mascot, and so far the Sabres and Flames have sent the kids some stuff. 65:40 Good on them, Sabres and Flames. She does Hockey Shirt Friday and has visited every thrift shop on the drive from Durham to Ledyard, Connecticut, where we live, looking for them. Kids would love a shout-out. Her love of hockey comes from her grandparents, Wayne and Sue Craig, who were original Penguin season ticket holders, and she grew up in the rinks in D.C. and Connecticut during my Navy career, watching her brothers play and me coach youth and high school hockey. 66:12 Katie Craig's school is... 66:15 Glen Elementary in Durham, North Carolina. So I wanted to shout that out. Katie, you are single handedly growing the game more than Kyle and I and Dom ever have. So congratulations to you. And I hope the kids keep enjoying it. And if anybody wants to steal that idea, please go ahead and do so. And Katie, you should know that your dad, Randy, is super proud of you and wrote this all for you. great job katie great job so that's the first one today yeah excellent and if anyone wants to steal the idea i don't think katie has copyrighted it so go ahead and steal the idea i also wanted to shout out for a reason more to laugh at someone than celebrate with them kyle our saturday night hockey producer brian spear So Brian has tickets to leave games, and he took me to see the Sharks on Monday night. 67:11 And he told during that game, Philadelphia beat Colorado. 67:17 And so Brian and Dave Amber and Kathy Broderick, and I think Luke Gazdick is in it too, they belong to an NHL Survivor League, which is similar to those NFL Survivor Leagues. You pick one game a week, and it's three strikes, and you're out. Okay? So you have to lose three times to be knocked out. 67:38 Thanks to Philly's win over Colorado on Monday night, Brian got knocked out in week four. 67:46 He had Edmonton on opening night. They lost to Vancouver. 67:52 In week two, he had St. Louis. They lost to Chicago. 67:56 In week three, he had Vegas. They beat Calgary. And in week four, he had Colorado and lost to Philadelphia. So, Brian, you deserve a shout-out for the exact opposite reason as KD – She grows the game. You decreased your bank account and your hockey expertise. 68:17 A couple other people I wanted to shout out. At that game, we sat next to a young man by the name of Nathan Muscle who's taking sports management at York University. His father's Lindley, really nice kid, bright future. 68:31 I wanted to shout out a gentleman. He's a mentalist I met in the lounge yesterday. at uh pearson his name is etan elie melek he's a medalist he goes and does corporate events pretty cool thing he mentioned his son kobe big hockey fan loves the stats so shout out kobe uh mike and rob two podcast fans i met on the flight to chicago and at the uh dallas game on tuesday against boston i met a whole bunch of fans patrick ali garrett i hope i remembered all those names jeremy who's an accountant at richter and i also met heather ben who is jamie and jordy's mother she was at the game and i had a chance to chat with her briefly i was reminded i'd met her once before and i think i sat right in front of them the year he was nominated for the heart trophy patrick keane won it that year But it was good to see her in Dallas. 69:29 So a lot of shout outs and a couple of really good stories. But I wanted to tell that Katie Craig story because that's a great story. 69:37 Talk about two opposite ends of the spectrum between Katie and Spearzy. 69:41 That's outstanding. 69:44 Katie's growing the game. Spearzy is stunting it. 69:49 Awesome stuff. You've been busy in Dallas. That's great, though I'm not surprised. 69:53 Yeah. You know what? I, you know, we had a, it was a bit of a rough travel day. Unfortunately, we had repairs on one of the planes. I mean, it's still like nothing really much to complain about. We just got, unfortunately I just got to the game late because it had been, but that was a, that was a good game. As we mentioned earlier, that was a really good game. 70:14 Okay, let's get into this here. Stilts leading it off from Peoria, Arizona. 70:20 Oh, I thought you were going to say Peoria, Illinois. You threw me a curveball. 70:24 I know. Okay, stilts. Okay. 70:26 Hey, guys, long-time listener, second-time emailer. I've got a burning question for you regarding a possible Quinn Hughes-Billy G scenario. Billy G, of course, Bill Guerin, the general manager. Okay. Could Hughes go to Billy G and tell him that he'll sign a new contract with the express understanding that he would be traded to the team of his choice after the season? This way, the Wild can keep Hughes for the playoffs knowing... that they will get something back for him in the form of players' picks and or prospects. 71:00 I'm not sure if that is legal or considered collusion. I do believe that Quinn wants to do the right thing by them and not walk and leave them with nothing. Please give us fans an answer to this scenario. Thank you, guys. 71:15 still there's nothing you could put in writing, but they could make a handshake deal on it. I think we had a similar question to this, Kyle, uh, last week or a couple pods ago. 71:26 Yes. 71:28 Right. You can't put anything in writing like that, but if everybody trusts everyone else, you can do it. Like the thing about a guy like Bill Guerin is, I think he's the kind of GM that would agree potentially to something like that. 71:44 Um, that, uh, You know, I remember, you know, I remember when Roger Clemens signed with the Blue Jays, there was like a side agreement that if he wanted to get traded, he could get traded. And he pitched two years there and he won the Triple Crown both seasons. Like he pitched great, but the team just wasn't at that level. And it turned out there was a side agreement there. And Paul Beeston, the great longtime president of the Blue Jays, he got in trouble for that. 72:14 So you can't put anything like that in writing. But if everybody trusted everyone else, there's no reason you couldn't agree to something like that verbally. You just have to trust that everybody will live up to their obligation at the end. I got to tell you still, it's like if I was in Garen's shoes and I was concerned that he was going to walk unrestricted, I would consider that scenario. Just the question is, would everybody agree to it? And does everybody trust everyone else? Good idea, though. 72:44 Yes. Nothing wrong with thinking that way. Patrick from Minnesota. 72:49 Hello, gents. And Dom. 72:53 Now that is true. Like we have to say, if you saw Dom's hair today, I couldn't even come up with a style like this. 73:02 Yes, that was beyond... Oh, now he's just turned his camera on. Yeah. That's beyond anything you could come up with. Turn it back off, please, Bob. Yeah. 73:12 This is Patrick from the land of Sky Blue Waters. I was watching the Dallas and Colorado games on back-to-back nights last week and absolutely loved it. The two-game series reminded me a lot of the way college hockey handles weekend series. As a diehard Gopher fan, it was fun to watch two rivals battle it out on consecutive nights, and it brought back memories of fantastic matchups like Minnesota versus North Dakota, where night two always seemed to produce some fireworks. So my question is twofold. First, would the NHL ever consider scheduling back-to-back games only when both teams played the night before? 73:47 In theory, that would put both teams on more equal footing to create a fairer competitive environment. Secondly, would the NHL ever consider using back-to-back series between division rivals as a way to amplify rivalries around the league? How much fun would a weekend set featuring Boston and Montreal or Philadelphia and Pittsburgh be? Obviously, there are significant considerations such as arena availability, travel logistics and scheduling constraints. Also, how does the league do all this? But it seems like a concept that could translate well from the college game and add another layer of intensity to existing rivalries. 74:23 Go Gophers and go Leafs. 74:26 OK, so Gophers and Leafs, a lot of connections over the years. So, Patrick, they do it periodically. Now, I think last year, I can't remember who it was. It was the Avs or someone played the Kings twice in a row. 74:44 I think I don't know if it was a back to back or it was a Thursday, Saturday, but occasionally this does happen. 74:52 Years ago, when the rights were still at CBC and Winnipeg was still in the Southeast Division, there was a time where they had Thursday, Friday, Washington at Winnipeg. They played them back to back on a Thursday, Friday in Winnipeg. We did one of those games. 75:09 And I'll tell you, what I heard from the league after is the home fans didn't like it as much. 75:17 And you have to understand, the leagues have a lot of data on this kind of thing because I think in theory and on its face, Patrick, your idea is a good idea. Why not help travel by doing things like that? The league just told me that the season ticket holders and the fans in the home city were they weren't as crazy about it and unless they get something that makes them change that then we probably won't we'll see it from time to time but I don't think you'll see it a lot and that was that was the number one feedback they got from it the home fans were kind of like eh we don't know if we'd like this 75:55 I think the league, what I was told, they do look for opportunities like we saw last week with Colorado and Dallas. The problem is, and once again, television ruins a lot of this stuff because whether you're our employer as a national rights holder in Canada or one of the national rights holders in the U.S., these marquee rivalry type games are often ones that the national rights holders would love to have on their air. Well, the thing is, typically you're not having national nights on back-to-back nights during the regular season. 76:28 So it's tough to schedule it all that way. And, you know, as Patrick alluded to in his question, when it comes to arena availability, travel logistics and all of that, when you think of these rivalries, whether it's the Battle of Pennsylvania, Toronto and Montreal, Montreal and Boston, go down the list from there, these are often situations where travel isn't too bad. between the two cities. There's not a ton of distance. So it's easier to slide them in as a one-off somewhere in the schedule because you're not putting one of the teams at a huge disadvantage by having to travel a great distance. 77:01 So it's an easier one for the league where they've got to try to jam in certain games going, well, we'll just slide this one-off game in here because it's only an hour flight for said team. So that's why we don't see it as much. Some of the reasons why we don't see it as much as I think we all would like, but they do look for opportunities to do so when they are there. They are aware that fans love it. 77:22 Well, I guess evidently the ticket holders, not so much, but I like it. But yeah, you said back-to-back games in Winnipeg. 77:29 I wonder if it's different that it's both cities getting the most one of those. 77:32 Two different cities, yes. 77:35 But Patrick, I don't think anybody argues with the logic of your suggestion. 77:40 No, certainly not here. Okay, a couple more to get to here. Zach from St. Louis. Hello, gentlemen. And Elliot, oh... 77:48 You got the treatment too. 77:51 I had a quick question. 77:52 I liked it better when they were ripping Dom, I have to say. 77:54 Yes. I had a quick question regarding penalty kill stats. I'm watching the Blues play Nashville the other night and something interesting happened. With the Blues on the penalty kill, the first in the league as he wrote this in, Jordan Binnington received a penalty for letting go of his stick during the play. So a penalty shot was awarded to Jonathan Marcheseau, and he subsequently scored. So my question is, does this goal count against the Blues PK stats? 78:26 Nashville was able to continue on the power play, so I assume no, but also didn't know if power plays could, quote, double dip, so to speak, this way. Thanks for all you do for the listeners each week, and let's go Blues. 78:41 Boy, I got to tell you something. On his face, Zach, I'm sure Kyle's got an answer here, but on his face, I wouldn't know the answer. Just assuming that the power play continued, I would guess no, Kyle. What do you got in this one? 78:54 Yeah, you would be right to assume that. However, it was categorized as a power play goal. That penalty shot goal by Marcia in that game. Yes. Yeah. And it was the only situation of that game that the Blues were shorthanded. So the stats show at the end of the night that their PK was 0 for 1. 79:13 uh on the game so it did affect their their penalty killing percentage it did benefit the predators power play percentage even though it was a penalty shot and the actual two minutes of five on four action didn't produce a goal it was recorded as a power play marker for for nashville i i i don't recall the last time seeing this of a penalty shot being uh being taken during a power play opportunity. Of course, I'm certain it's happened a bunch of times over history, but that's how the league records it. 79:46 It was a power play goal in this case. 79:49 So, Zach, I went through the rule book while Kyle was droning on and on and on and on, which is good because it allowed me to go through the rule book, but I found it. Rule 24.6, no penalty shall expire when a goal is scored against a team on a penalty shot. 80:08 I was today years old when I learned this. Zach, you taught me something. Thank you very much. I had no idea. I would have just assumed that the penalty would be over. 80:21 Zach, you have accomplished something that most of us will never accomplish in our lifetimes. Grab Elliot's attention long enough that he learned something. 80:36 Oh, wow. That's a great question, Zach. Great job. 80:38 Okay, Elliot, one last one here, and it comes from Derek from Philly. 80:44 Hey, guys. Hi, Derek. 80:46 Love the pod. Kyle, be nice to Elliot. Yes. I think you've got us mistaken here. 80:52 Yes, Kyle's very mean to me. 80:54 You're listening to the wrong show. I'm very sensitive. 80:58 With Cole Knubel making his NHL debut Monday night with the Flyers, it had me wondering, and of course scored a couple of goals on Wednesday, Mike Knubel's last NHL game his father, was with the Flyers April 27, 2013. Flyers captain, Sean Couturier, was on that team. His son, Cole, made his NHL debut Monday with the Flyers, and Sean Couturier was in the lineup. Has this ever happened before in NHL history? 81:29 Did a father play his last NHL game with the same team his son made his debut with while having his father's former teammates on said team? I feel like there is no way. On a side note, I feel old. 81:45 Well, it had to happen with the hows. 81:48 Yes, yes. 81:51 Yeah, in fact, there's 18 instances. 81:55 I got to think there is some, I got to think, I mean, we spent a lot of time talking about the Kachuks on this pod. I got to think that happened too. 82:03 Well, just in the terms of same team, 82:07 No. Oh, same team. 82:09 Right, right, right. And I mean, 18 instances, I mean, that's just specifics to the house. So there's 18 guys that were there when Gordy played his last game and when either Marty or Mark played their first. 82:22 So that's obviously in Hartford, right? Yes, exactly. Okay. I'm trying to think of other situations where that might have happened. 82:33 There's one, another one, not that long ago. 82:38 Does the Stasnes count? Peter in Quebec and Paul in Colorado? 82:44 Yes, Elliot. Now, of course, it wasn't with... 82:48 the same team, but there is a player out there that can say they suited up with Peter Stastny for his final game in the league with the St. Louis Blues in 95 and also suited up with Paul Stastny for his first game in the league in October of 2006 with the Colorado Avalanche. 83:09 Oh, okay. So it wasn't when Paul Stastny was with the Blues. Correct. 83:15 Okay. Okay. 83:17 Yeah, this player, energy guy, tough guy, later got into coaching. 83:26 I picture him with several missing teeth. 83:30 He was a Flyers assistant coach for a number of years. 83:35 Then the head coach of their farm team. 83:39 I wouldn't have gotten it without a hint. That was a good hint. 83:44 Okay. 83:45 The first guy that jumped into my head was actually Adam Deadmarsh, but I know that wasn't him. 83:51 Okay. Yeah. That's a good thing to bring up though. Okay. So the only one I'll have you try to get at. So the one that happened before Sean Couturier's link between Mike Knubel and Cole Knubel wasn't that long ago. And again, it was an example of same team, father and son. This player suited up the father's final game and the son's first game. 84:15 Same franchise. Yeah. 84:18 When would this have been? 84:19 Yes. Okay. Well, first, okay. Father's last game, April of 2017. Son's first game, March of 2024. Someone banging on your door? 84:33 You know what? I don't know what's going on here. There's been this hotel. The hotel we're staying in is actually a pretty good hotel, but there's been a lot of strange banging here. Like, if you're somebody that... 84:47 doesn't handle like weird noises or gets freaked out in hotels you would not like this man i was worried that that was your that was your taxi to the airport um Okay, give me one more hint. 85:10 It's late. 85:11 Yeah, this one will give it away, but it's what I always come back to. You got in the saddle with the father once. 85:22 The Dones, yes. 85:23 Yes, yeah. And Lawson Krause is the link. 85:27 Oh, Lawson Krause, right. 85:31 Shane Doane's final game and Josh Doane's first, both with Arizona. 85:36 So it has happened. 85:39 Not a ton, but it is a unique and special circumstance. 85:45 That is, those are great pickups. 85:48 Yeah, really cool. Great pickups. 85:52 And not that big of, I mean, for Krauss, like that's not a, what are we talking about there? Seven years. Seven year gap? Yeah. 86:00 That's it. Like Couturier, 13 years. 86:03 But, I mean, it just speaks to how, how long Shane Doan played for. 86:10 But that's great. Derek, great pickup on that one. Yeah, that's a great question. Recognizing the link and thanks to the NHL stats and Sportsnet stats for getting to the bottom of it. Okay, enough of that. 86:21 If you would like to submit your own question or... 86:25 idea to the thought line, you can do so by writing an email at 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca or leave us a voicemail at 1-833-311-3232. One final break and we'll wrap up this edition of 32 Thoughts on the other side. 86:59 All right, before we go, we are overdue for a check-in on the in-season cup leaderboard in the first few weeks of the regular season. So David Amber, he has been down this path before of in-season cup glory, and he is off to a hot start, leading the way with 10 total days, all courtesy of of his Dallas Stars, mind you, interestingly enough. Luke Gassick with five days. Elliot and I both with four. Elliot's Winnipeg Jets and David's Dallas Stars go head-to-head later tonight on Thursday. 87:31 Not a lot of chirping between the four of us yet, but it's going to come here. The animosity is going to set in. All right, taking us out today, a track from Blue Bloods. Did you just find yourself at a warehouse party or maybe a prairie Ukrainian community hall? These Rust Belt Roosters keep you guessing. Manitoba-based Blue Bloods play music that feels like a gaggle of hosers crashing a Mennonite social on with groove tunes and smoky ballads that explore Manitoba's historic strikes, urban back alleys, and wheat fields. 88:05 Blue Blood's core is Courtney Devin on vocals, Sam Little on bass, and Conrad Swetman on electronics and guitar, with Manitoba indigenous rapper Christo Jonas Wilson, CJ the Grey, as the frequent stage collaborator. Their album, Discount Everything, follows Blue Blood's 2019 EP, Make It Rain, with which the Winnipeg Free Press called a profound statement of intent from an emerging artist whose work will soon be sought after in their four-star review. 88:35 This track, along with all the others we featured here at 32 Thoughts, can be found on the Spotify playlist, 32 Thoughts, the music. Here is Blue Bloods with... Back in the Day featuring CJ the Gray on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Have a great week, a great weekend. We will talk to you from Winnipeg after the Tim Hortons Winter Classic Monday morning. 89:14 So embarrassed. Couldn't bring myself to tell my parents. Had me feeling like Clarence. Teenage party go over. Hardly sober. Get it in the fist, fights over and over. That's the lifestyle of any razz and it's over. A.A. meet as many friends did it go to. 89:31 Drive over and bust off, don't doubt that. Stover and that young soul was always an outcast. Dealing with grief, became stronger from wealth that. Taking out, it takes a real one to bounce back. 89:42 It takes a real one to bounce back. 90:27 I'm fresh off the plane with a dream in mind. Grew up quite afraid to be denied. Feel some type of way showing face when on stage that idea dies. I've been smoking way before it got legalized. My pineal's out, only one I feel defeated by. Rez Boy in the city happy to be alive. And I'm enjoying every minute in real time. 90:48 I wanna be soft with two times three Life is a beat, I offer the nikes on my feet Had the bracelet, the wrist In the stool, nothing feels amazing than this I mentioned parties flexing my raps Well into Crescent, it sure was a blast Call me CJ, but this ain't San Andreas Went from recording in my sister's basement 92:18 I know it's hard to wonder. I gotta keep it under. Every single day I find a reason to lie.