transcript

Speaker 1:
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Speaker 2:
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Speaker 5:
[01:59] Can I just say this?

Speaker 1:
[02:01] Yeah.

Speaker 5:
[02:02] Maybe somebody will explain to me. I'm just asking, why do you need to?

Speaker 1:
[02:08] Great question.

Speaker 6:
[02:08] Well, the Panthers have to.

Speaker 5:
[02:11] They do?

Speaker 6:
[02:12] Yeah. Stanley C. Panther and Victor E. Ratt.

Speaker 5:
[02:16] I actually, I should know this because I've been there for three Stanley Cups, two finals in a row.

Speaker 1:
[02:22] Yeah.

Speaker 6:
[02:23] You're too busy getting fights with the fans there to notice the mascots.

Speaker 5:
[02:28] The cameraman's like, do you know they pack heat here?

Speaker 1:
[02:31] Oh, yeah. Thanks for the ride.

Speaker 6:
[02:35] Welcome to 32 Thoughts The Podcast, presented by your Canadian Toyota Dealers and the 100% Electric BZ. Available now during Red Tag Days. Dom, Elliotte, Kyle with you once again. Before we go any further, are there any wardrobe or appearance critiques you would like to share with the rest of the class, Elliotte, that are at the top of your mind?

Speaker 5:
[02:58] Kevin said that he was much more impressed with your sideburns today.

Speaker 6:
[03:04] Okay. They're no different than they were two days ago, but it's nice to hear.

Speaker 5:
[03:08] Yeah, we all know that's wrong. I loved your intermission interview with Guli. There are people out there who are not crazy about the intermission interviews and you can always try to make them better, but I thought yours with him was great. Where, what did you say to him? Can this go all game? And he's like, why not?

Speaker 6:
[03:26] Yeah, he's like, yeah, I can and it will.

Speaker 5:
[03:29] Great answer, great, great job. But what did you see there? What did you notice at the arena?

Speaker 6:
[03:37] Oh, that was an awesome game. First and foremost, Elliotte. Game one was great. Game two blew the first one out of the water. And I will say this, like I saw, like Max Lapierre, who's down here working for TVS Sports. You know, I saw after game one, like he was a little harsh on the Tampa atmosphere there and the building. And the problem is because, you know, you can't compare it to, you can't compare any building to what.

Speaker 5:
[04:08] You can't compare anything, yes, to Montreal.

Speaker 6:
[04:11] But I really like doing games here. And it was a little more reserved. You're always trying to take a pulse when the teams come out onto the ice before the game. How loud does it get? What's the building feel like? And it felt a little more reserved. And you're like, ah, like, is this a nervous crowd? Are they a little down on their group because of what happened in game one, because of their struggles at home in the playoffs. It's now spanning like three years, bizarrely for a team like the Lightning. Anyways, it didn't take very long for that to be brushed off to the side. What an incredible game. What an incredible display of electricity, of physicality, of veracity. It was fantastic. So at the end of that first period, we're standing in the hallway there waiting to interview Gouli. And I kind of wondered, like, you know, what would Marty St. Louis think of a period like that? Because his game was not, let's scrum it up every whistle. Like, there's certainly more art to how he views the game of hockey as a player and as a coach. Like, how did he feel all that? And I just saw him coming down the hallway and just a little smirk on his face. Like, it was almost like, yeah, Tampa Bay laid down the gauntlet and our guys didn't shy away or blink whatsoever. And then at the end of the second intermission, I'm walking down the Tampa Bay hallway, and one of their equipment guys, he looked like he was carrying like a handful or an armful of kindling with all the broken sticks and the busted blades. Like, it was just nothing was getting out of Benchmark International Arena unscathed on Tuesday night. It was really great. It is fascinating. Like, it's hard to believe that going into this game, too, that Tampa had lost 10 of 11 playoff home games. And all the ones in overtime, too. Like, that's not Tampa. Like, it's unbelievable. And I think, you know, there was certainly part of the messaging, I think, going into overtime from Cooper to his group was, it's time to change the narrative. So, they did that. I think Brandon Hagel has been the best player in the series through two games. Two overtime, back and forth, lead changes, great drama. Five more games of this. I don't know if we can all take it, but sign me up.

Speaker 5:
[06:49] We can take it.

Speaker 6:
[06:50] Sign me up.

Speaker 5:
[06:51] Yeah, great hockey. I agree. If I'm the Canadians, I'm disappointed. You can sit there and you can say, all right, we got a split on the road. Great. And you have to do that now. But you were up 2-1 in this after two periods. You had a chance to take two. And unfortunately, Slavkowski gave away. You had a power play late in the game regulation, couldn't close it, and then overwhelmed. No shots, nine-nothing in overtime. And the dock play where he doesn't get the red line, it leads to the icing where they score the winning goal. And the thing that's interesting about that is, as you heard, Sanlui admitted that didn't like that play. That's a lot for Sanlui. You know, he generally knows that if you criticize a player in Montreal, you give everybody license to criticize them. And he's very careful about that stuff. Any chance you think you see Gallagher for Doc in game three?

Speaker 6:
[08:02] We were wondering that, walking out of the arena, that exact thing, Elliotte. I think there's a real possibility, one way or another, that Brendan Gallagher gets in now that they're back at home, to maybe A, get a bit of a different look. And also, don't profess to know what St. Louis is thinking at this point in time. But now that they have last change for the next two games, gotta find a way to get that Suzuki line going five on five, because at even strength through two, it's been a grind for them.

Speaker 5:
[08:38] Yeah, it's been quiet, been very quiet, but great series. And as you said, we're gonna get five more, five more games of that. Lost opportunity for them. Series is exactly what I expected. Dobush has been really good. He almost saved them in this one. Lots more to come. They have two days off, which means even Kyle Bukauskas can leave his hotel room in Montreal. See you on Friday night.

Speaker 6:
[09:09] Oh, can't wait. Even for 50 minutes will be great.

Speaker 5:
[09:12] Will you leave your hotel room with two nights off?

Speaker 6:
[09:16] I will, just for you.

Speaker 5:
[09:18] Okay, I'm glad to hear that.

Speaker 6:
[09:21] All right, Elliotte, Monday night, finally, we saw the Oilers and the Ducks kick off their first round series. And amazingly, for the first time this year, no points Connor McDavid, no problem for the Oilers. Two goals from Jason Dickinson, who we weren't sure was going to play right up until game time. Two from Kasperi Kapanen, and for an Oilers team with some unfinished business. Maybe some good feelings early of it wasn't McDavid taking over the game, but some other guys feeling important early on in this journey.

Speaker 5:
[09:59] That was a great hockey game, really entertaining game. And Dry Cytl was excellent. He looked like he was in perfect form on the way back. He was a horse. You'll remember that when he got hurt, there was all this panic of how long he was going to be out. But the Oilers didn't seem too worried about it. I think they really felt that if everything went on schedule, he would be back on time. And if you watched him skate the last few days before game one, it really looked like it. I'll admit this, I'm a little more concerned about Dickinson. You could see there were points during the game he was laboring. He was going out and he was just trying it from point to point. You know, I think he's so important because when he's healthy, everyone slots in there, and now Adam Henrique is hurt. He won't play game two. So I think it's even more important that he's healthy and people slot in properly. I just don't know. The only negative, I think, for that game from Edmonton is, I watched Dickinson, I watched how he was gutting it out, and you just don't know how long he's going to be able to last. If it, or if there's any reason he might not be able to play the full two months, if Edmonton goes on another run, he is clearly gutting it out like many of these players do, and he's not 100 percent. The thing I liked about it for Edmonton is, they had the lead, they blew the lead, they were losing, and they just stayed calm. They understand what the playoffs is all about, it's rotting the emotional wave, and they did it, and they found a way to win. Ingram battled, Eckholm made an incredible play on Michael Grandlin late in regulation. I think the one thing Anaheim showed was that we were kind of wondering which team would show up, and would these guys be nervous? Well, Leo Carlson didn't look nervous, Seneca didn't look nervous, Jackson Lecombe didn't look nervous. I think that even if Anaheim was to lose a relatively short series, if that happened, I think they showed that they're going to give Edmonton battles during these games. It's not going to be easy, and if the Ducks were going to sit there, and we were going to think they were just happy to be here, that's not going to be the case. They're going to go toe-to-toe with them, they're going to challenge them, and it's going to be a hard series, but I really liked the way Edmonton reacted when they were pushed. I thought they were very good.

Speaker 6:
[12:34] Ten shots on goal for Carlson in game number one, he had a couple of points. Seneca had six, though still looking for his first playoff point. I shouldn't say still, it's been one game. But it's an interesting...

Speaker 5:
[12:47] That lengthy playoff for Seneca has come to an end.

Speaker 6:
[12:51] It's really got to be weighing on him, I can only imagine. But for an Anaheim team, we were talking about this watching some of the games on our off night down here in Tampa, but the way that that group can play and be a little bit more loose and I would say the willing to take risks offensively, and would that put the Edmonton Oilers in an uncomfortable situation? Certainly, it did at times. You wonder about Anaheim's ability to stick with it here as the series goes on, to just see how far they can push the Oilers out of their comfort zone and into a game. They may not have an interest in playing. Be interesting.

Speaker 5:
[13:36] I just think we've got an 8-7 game somewhere in this series.

Speaker 6:
[13:40] Yes.

Speaker 5:
[13:41] I hope we do. I hope I'm right about that. I hope we get some 8-7s and some 10-9s. I generally think Dustal is too good for that, and Ingram's really battled. But Anaheim gave a better showing. I just didn't know what to expect from them. Would they, yeah, we've done it with, this is house money. Yeah, we're just happy to be here. Obviously, they weren't. I just wanted to see how they looked, and they looked pretty good. They battled.

Speaker 6:
[14:09] OK, the Ottawa Senators, Carolina Hurricanes. I think to this point, if you were to pick out the most heartbreaking loss yet in these playoffs, it was Ottawa in game number two in double overtime. Incredible drama with the offside and the penalty shot that was awarded, the no goal and all of the posts that Ottawa had there. You could tell that there was such a weight off their shoulders and finally scoring in the series. But that's going to be one. I mean, you talked about how disappointed Montreal must feel after having a lead and opportunity to take both on the road. I can only imagine what the trip was like for the Sen's back home, knowing the chances they had to leave Raleigh with a split and did not.

Speaker 5:
[14:55] Okay, so you want to get to the crazy stuff after. I give a lot of credit to Frederick Anderson because the 2-2 goal was a really ugly goal. And, you know, you're wondering if he would melt down after that. He didn't. He stayed calm and he didn't give up another one. I thought it was the best game. Al Mark played as a standard that I saw. I thought he was incredible. I cannot believe that Tim Stutzla didn't have eight goals in this particular game. You could see his frustration. He had great chance after great chance after great chance. And Mark Jankowski, who we thought ended the game in overtime, the goal that was disallowed made a great play to get stick on stick and prevent Stutzla from scoring one of those overtime winners. You know, the way that I look at it is like, I don't think it's over. I think it's a big challenge. Ottawa's got a hold serve at home, but I don't think it's over. I, you know, I really felt they had to get one break. They did. They got it to overtime. They could have won. You know, it's frustrating and Carolina is a hell of a team. But, you know, Ottawa was there. They lost to nothing and crazily in overtime. You cannot, you cannot fall apart and you have to stick to your plan. You know, like I said, I said it on the last pod. I wonder if there's any chance they go to it, Kyle. You know, Cali have 40 goals in the AHL. Do you just put them in because you need a score? You know, it's, I don't, sometimes I don't know how Green feels about him, but I just can't help but look at it and wonder, do they just try it, just to try it? But, you know, maybe they, maybe they have to lose another one before they think about it. All right, now, the, the crazy play. There was a lot of reaction to this, obviously. Number one is the rule. I think a lot of people didn't realize that that rule existed, rule 38.7, that the penalties happen after a play is blown dead for offside. I did know that rule existed. I had to ask which one it was. I couldn't remember which one it was. But I knew that rule existed. And the reason that rule exists is so that if a player doesn't see an obv- so if a player sees an obv is offside and he knows this isn't going to count, they go and commit some heinous physical foul against another player and say, I can't penalize me. It was offside. So I'm just going to go out there and I'm going to decapitate someone. Now, you know, I- there were some people who were saying you should get rid of that rule. You shouldn't have it. I don't know. I'm fine with it. And then some people were saying, well, it should only be for majors and not minors or penalty shots or anything. And I just said, there's enough gray area or judgment calls in the rule book. This is letter of the law, black and white. I prefer that. We have enough judgment calls. We don't need any more. I am fine with this. And to be honest, it led to an incredible moment of high-level entertainment. So I might even more be in favor of it after seeing it happen. It was funny, Kyle, I had one hilarious text exchange with someone in the league who said that the interpretation was wrong. And I said, what do you mean the interpretation was wrong? And he goes, it's a penalty shot. It's not a penalty. The way that the rule reads, it's a penalty and a penalty shot is not a penalty. And I said, it is literally called a penalty shot. Therefore, it is a kind of penalty and it should be allowed to happen. And we were arguing with each other, literally for about 15 texts. He was like, no, it's not a penalty. I said, yes, it is. It's a penalty shot. He goes, that is not a penalty. I said, then why does it say penalty in the world? Word. Like, we didn't. And Kyle, you'll be not surprised to know we did not solve this argument. We refused to concede to each other's point.

Speaker 6:
[19:35] That's amazing. It sounded like you guys are on a path to a conclusion, solution somewhere.

Speaker 5:
[19:41] We were going to solve world peace after that. But the thing is, I said, is that you know what would happen if the penalty shots didn't count, and this play had occurred, people would have said, well, the penalty shot should count because the word penalty is in it. So either way, you were screwed. I said, just leave it the way it is and count it. There were lots of arguments about this. I think once people realized what the rule said, they understood why the penalty shot happened. But then they started moving on to other things. I had people said to me that wasn't even a penalty shot. I go, are you guys crazy? Of course, first of all...

Speaker 6:
[20:20] Whoa, hold on.

Speaker 5:
[20:21] No.

Speaker 6:
[20:21] I was shocked it was a penalty shot.

Speaker 5:
[20:24] Well, the only reason you were shocked is they didn't call it on Greg earlier. But my point is, that should have been a penalty shot too. All of these things should be penalty shots. Greg should have been a penalty shot. That's a penalty shot. And I was glad they gave Byfield a penalty shot on Tuesday night in the Colorado LA game. Call the penalty shots. These are scoring chances. We're in the entertainment business. People want to see this stuff. We want to promote goals. We want to promote chances. Nobody in that building was sitting down. Call the penalty shots.

Speaker 6:
[21:03] You didn't get the puck till the hash marks.

Speaker 5:
[21:06] Who cares?

Speaker 6:
[21:07] He was in alone. I tend to agree with you on the idea of call more penalty shots, but of all the ones throughout this year, including earlier in that given game, that were not called the penalty shot.

Speaker 5:
[21:18] They should have called it on Greg. They should have called it on Greg.

Speaker 6:
[21:21] And for that one to be pointing to center-ice, I was like, wow, what? Crazy. And I suppose, justice in the end, that Martinook ends up being the hero. I mean, I thought credit to him. I can only imagine what he was feeling on the penalty shot attempt. And I like the fact that he just gripped it and ripped it, tried to beat Allmark Gloveside. Allmark made a good save. That was a heck of a shot on the winner too. Happy for Martinook. As you know, is blood, sweat, and tears for that organization. So neat moment for him to celebrate in overtime.

Speaker 5:
[21:59] As the Hurricanes said in their social media post, puck don't lie. Puck don't lie. Now, there's a couple more here. First of all, I don't know where this started, but there was somebody put out there that if, they said that if Carolina had accidentally put the puck in their own net on the delayed penalty, they still would have gotten a chance with the penalty shot.

Speaker 6:
[22:27] No, I think that's, I think that's not true. Yeah, yes, you're right.

Speaker 5:
[22:32] So, it's rule 84.2. There's only can be one goal on a play. If the team shoots the puck into their own goal, game's over and the team that was to be penalized declared the winner. So, that's over. Now, the other thing is, of course, the play that was offside. And, you know, so I called the video room and I got the explanation, and it was that they felt that Jordan Stahl didn't have possession and control. They said he had possession but not control on the play. We'll get to whether or not you agree or disagree in a second, but, you know, people were like, that doesn't make any sense. Possession and control are the same thing. And Kyle, I reach a point where I say, just don't throw any more gasoline on the fire on social media. I was like, I could write this, but I'm not going to. I'm just going to let it sit and see if other people explain it. You know, in hockey, possession and control are two different things. You can look it up at various points in the rule book. Possession is the last person or team to touch the puck. Clearly, Jordan Stahl was the last person to touch the puck. Control is basically, do you do something with it that shows you have control of it? And, you know, I guess they felt that he had the bauble, just as he went over the line, the slight bauble, and that meant that he didn't have control and they blew it dead. Um, you know, Ron played a play from Connor McDavid and I remember that play. I thought that was a goal, too, and they didn't count it. And when you look at those two plays next to each other, yes, you can see. You know, we've talked about this before. I think that, you know, we're, we're skinning the onion way too tight a lot of the time, but it's Colin Campbell's Law of Unintended Consequences. You know, when, if you're going to call this, this is what you're going to get sometimes. And I know Jordan Stahl couldn't believe it. I saw his reaction, and there were people that felt that it was the wrong call. But when you look at the, and, and generally I feel that it's so, it's almost so invisible to the naked eye, and I'm pro-goal, I want goals. But if you look at that McDavid one, and you look at that one, I could see why they did it, even though I got to admit, I really don't like it.

Speaker 6:
[25:16] Yeah, the problem is, it's, as we talked about, when you open Pandora's Box, you can't have it, well, if it's really close, then it just don't review it. We're too far gone beyond that. Also credit to whoever on the Hurricane staff is in charge of breaking down Ottawa's power play. They have got that figured out through two games. And one of the adjustments that Ottawa needs to make going forward, along with some other things, to try to get back into this series. Okay.

Speaker 5:
[25:47] No, by the way, one more thing about the offsides. There were people who asked me, there should be a time limit, because Carolina had the puck for a while before the penalty shot was called, and Ottawa finally was able to knock it dead. People were like, there should be a time limit. When they brought this in, the offside challenge, it was debated. And the NHL felt very strongly, nope, that if the play is offside, it's tainted until they get it out. Colin Campbell actually told me that some of the people in the hockey ops were saying, hey, if you can't get the puck out in 15 seconds, it's your fault. But Bill Daly and Gary Bettman felt very strongly, no, the play is tainted, it stays tainted until you clear. And if there's one thing I know about Bettman, if he decides something, pretty easy to get him to change his mind, not. Just out of curiosity, Kyle, have you been reading this Tom Dundon stuff with his new team, the Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA?

Speaker 6:
[26:56] No, I have not found time to read through that yet. But please enlighten me and all of us.

Speaker 5:
[27:02] Are you familiar with what I'm talking about, though?

Speaker 6:
[27:07] No, I mean, other than he's bought into that.

Speaker 5:
[27:11] Okay, so he's bought into the Portland Trail Blazers. He's now the majority owner. And there's been a number there in the first round of the NBA playoffs, and they just won game two. They beat San Antonio, Wemba Yonah, the tremendous young player for the Spurs. He fell and like hit his jaw on the floor in game number two, and he left with a concussion. Hope he's okay. And the Trail Blazers came back and won. But there's a bunch of stories locally about Dundon's ownership of the Trail Blazers. Staff required to check out of hotels by 12:30 p.m. to avoid late fees. Two-way players, which is a kind of NBA player, they're like depth players, aren't allowed to travel to playoff games to cut costs. No free t-shirts for fans at the home game, game three. I didn't realize this, but apparently they have two mascots in Portland. I don't know why, but he's looking at canceling one of them. And also, yeah, I even know they had two. But also, you know, they, they, so Chauncey Billups was their head coach, but he was caught in that big gambling sting. So he, he was suspended or whatever happened. And they have another coach, a former player named Tiago Splitter. And apparently, he did a really good job this year. But it's been reported that Dundon's looking at other coaches, and he wants to pay a salary. It's been reported that is low by NBA standards. And in one of these stories, I read that someone said that according to sources, Dundon had said, why are we wasting money? And let's think about this prudently. And I was reading all this, and I was saying, boy, does this bring back memories. Like you remember when Dundon took over in Carolina, remember he let go of Chuck Caton, and people were furious at him. Because Chuck Caton was such a, the radio play-by-play voice, he was such a legend in the franchise and in the market. And I was texting someone I know in the NBA about it, and they were like, you know, he's going to realize this is not the NHL. You can't get away with that here. And I wrote back to this guy, I said, maybe, but we all dealt with this stuff, and we all covered this stuff when Dundon got into the NBA. And you know what we learned? And he said, what's that? And I go, we learned he doesn't care what we think. He's going to do it. So, you know, we'll see, you know, the NBA is a bigger league because it's a bigger scale. Does it get him to change his mind? Or like, especially because, you know, he paid four billion for that team. Does he just say, look, like, people may not like this, but this is the way I do things and you can, and there's been a lot of things that people have challenged him on. And he said, nope, I'm going to do it in my way and bet in the long run that we're going to be just fine. And that's kind of what happened in the NHL. So, I just, it's been fascinating, Kyle, reading all this stuff and kind of reliving his arrival into the NHL. And, you know, Dundon basically showed after a while that people can say what they want. He's going to do what he does and he's going to bet on himself.

Speaker 6:
[31:08] Get rid of a mascot though.

Speaker 5:
[31:14] Can I just say this?

Speaker 6:
[31:15] Yeah.

Speaker 5:
[31:16] Maybe somebody will explain to me, I'm just asking, why do you need two?

Speaker 6:
[31:22] Great question. Well, the Panthers have two. They do? Yeah, Stanley C. Panther and Victor E. Ratt.

Speaker 5:
[31:31] I actually, I should know this because I've been there for three Stanley Cup finals in a row.

Speaker 6:
[31:37] You're too busy getting in fights with the fans there to notice the mascots.

Speaker 5:
[31:42] The cameraman's like, do you know they pack heat here? Oh yeah, thanks for the reminder. It just brings back memories, let me just say.

Speaker 6:
[31:53] Okay. The Utah Mammoth Elliotte have their first playoff victory in franchise history. They go back to Salt Lake City with a split against the Vegas Golden Knights. What a game by Dylan Gunther. What a response from the Mammoth. Logan Cooley, who opened the series scoring, ends up scoring the winner in a critical win for Utah. What did you see?

Speaker 5:
[32:21] Public enemy number one, Logan Cooley, the man that Nick Doud was going to get. I'm not going to repeat what Nick Doud said he was going to do to him. Cooley is the last laugh in game two with the winning goal. Obviously, it's huge for Utah. It's their first ever playoff win and even the series. But in game number one, they had a chance to win this game in the third period and they lost. They got beat by the experience of the Golden Knights. But this time, they held on. Again, two-two. You're wondering if it's going to be a repeat. You're going to be right there and the Golden Knights superior experience beats you. But they found a way. I'm just going to say this. Nick Schmaltz, at the end of the game in regulation, if you're trying to defend your zone, dive at the puck. There was one, he didn't get out near the end. He could have dove at. It was too nerve-racking at the end. I want long series. I love long series. I want these to be competitive as possible. So I'm happy Utah won because it means a longer series. You know, Vamelka I thought was tremendous. I'm really curious to see what the Delta Center is going to look like for games three and four. Vegas has got a true home ice advantage. They've got great fans there. It's a real loud building. Now it's Utah's turn to fight back, show what they've got. But the most impressive thing for me about them was that they lost the game, I thought, because of calmness and experience in game one, and they matched it in game number two. It's interesting. Cassey Campbell Paschal sent it to me. Cooley changed his knob at the top of his stick for the first time basically in his life last summer. He made it more like a small letter T because he said his hand was slipping as he shot or tried to receive pass. So a thicker knob there. And obviously, it's worked a lot for him because he's been a great player in the first two games.

Speaker 6:
[34:42] Wonderful. That first home game, game number three, like does Ryan Smith ensure he high fives every single person that has a ticket to the game that night? Does he work his way through every section one by one? High five, high five, high five. He had that going in Vegas. He is a man of the people there, Elliotte.

Speaker 5:
[34:59] As we know, they're going to be mad at him if he doesn't.

Speaker 6:
[35:02] Yeah. The Xameth.

Speaker 5:
[35:06] The Xameth.

Speaker 6:
[35:08] That's going to be a big stage. Big stage for the Xameth.

Speaker 5:
[35:15] Crowd that party, Zam. Let's see if we can get it up to three laps this time.

Speaker 6:
[35:21] Yeah, that's right. No more to and outs. By the way, you remember last year, Clayton Keller told us that Dylan Gunther has one of the best releases in the NHL.

Speaker 5:
[35:34] Yes.

Speaker 6:
[35:35] That was on display here on Tuesday night. That one-timer had a lot of heat behind it, with a bit of traffic in front of them. And, oh, God, it was a thing of beauty. Thing of beauty. That's a release.

Speaker 5:
[35:53] That was his typical goal, right? They fire the puck at him, and before you even know what happened, it's in.

Speaker 6:
[36:01] Yeah. Great for Utah. Got a series there. One-all headed to Salt Lake. How about Boston and Buffalo? How did you feel about Josh Allen banging the drum? I thought it was a great touch. What did you think?

Speaker 5:
[36:20] I think it's great. Josh Allen is the biggest star in Buffalo sports. I mean, there were all the jokes after they lost. You know, that's just life in the big city as far as I'm concerned. But how could you not invite him if he's there?

Speaker 6:
[36:36] Of course.

Speaker 5:
[36:39] How could you not invite him? So they lost, though, and the jokes were flying. You know, a tough night for Luke, and I'm not going to make fun of him. Bad goal. Everybody knows it. What's ironic, Kyle, is it came on the anniversary, I was told, of Nick Lindstrom's goal against Dan Clucce.

Speaker 6:
[37:03] Yes. Saw that.

Speaker 5:
[37:05] Now, 24 years earlier, and so, basically, if you're a goalie in 2050, you do not want to play on April 21st, because you're going to give every 24 years a bad one goes in. You know, if you really think about it, the Bruins probably should be up to nothing. They're probably looking at this saying, we should have won both games, but after the collapse of game one, you feel a lot better with getting that one. I assume they go back to Luka Din in game three. I figure he's the guy. You know, the one probably bit of good news is they do give Lyon a few minutes. He hadn't played in a while. I think he missed a few games. I think it was five. So, at least, you know, he gets a chance to go in there and feel the puck and, you know, at least in case you do need him, he's not cold. So, I always try to look for silver lining. Did you see him ask Tanner Janow if you wanted to fight?

Speaker 6:
[38:18] I was going to. I saw the video clip and I was going to ask you, did I see what I thought I saw? Was it?

Speaker 5:
[38:23] Oh, I think so. I mean, it was sent to me too. So, Alex Lyon is a friend of the pod. Let me just say, Alex, as a friend of the pod, that is a very bad idea. You do not want to fight that guy. Pick someone else. Do not take Janow, okay? Bad choice.

Speaker 6:
[38:47] I tend to agree with you, but we've seen those eyes. Like, you just...

Speaker 5:
[38:51] I don't care.

Speaker 6:
[38:52] Maybe something there that we're not aware of yet.

Speaker 5:
[38:55] Crazy eyes will not handle the fists of Tanner Janow.

Speaker 6:
[39:00] The Ox. The Ox.

Speaker 5:
[39:03] Just a really bad, bad idea. And the Sabres power plays on an 0 for 31 stretch. So you talked about how Carolina's got Ottawa figured out. Buffalo's going to have to come up with something else here because it's not working for them right now. Yeah.

Speaker 6:
[39:23] Surprisingly, knowing how big of an asset it has been at times, but not lately. There's been a few teams that have kind of stumbled into the playoffs by way of their power play. It's not been great down the stretch. And now trying to resuscitate it here when there seemingly is less room. And you got a team that's keying in on it for potentially seven games. It is not an easy thing to do. All right. A couple more series we've got to work our way through. The Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild. I mean, we knew going in, we talked about it a little bit, Elliotte. That was a huge spot for Jake Ottinger. He delivered and almost expected after stepping aside and saying, we're okay going down one game to nothing in the series as we often are. A much different Dallas team took to the ice Monday night and that one's even as well.

Speaker 5:
[40:25] Do you remember the last series between Minnesota and Dallas and how mean and dirty and nasty it was?

Speaker 6:
[40:32] Yes.

Speaker 5:
[40:33] It did not take long for this one. So Zuccarello is hurt. Trennan who took a ferocious but clean hit from Blackwell. We don't know if he's going to play. Hintz was already hurt and we know he's not playing game three. That whole thing with Harley and Foligno in the stanchion, I mean, that was just crazy, crazy stuff. Gave him the major initially and dropped it down to a double minor. I mean, really fortunate that Harley wasn't badly hurt there. These two teams, they hate each other. Just hate each other. And, you know, the one thing again, it's a broken record. We talk about the power plays again. Minnesota's power play in game one was like Montreal's. It did whatever it wanted and Dallas just bled goals and chances. They settled down in game two. Look, this is going to be Minnesota's first home game of the series. You know, they're going to be stepping into a maelstrom of stars, Will. You know, Minnesota will be doing what they can to. They'll pressure them. They'll get some penalties called. Again, I see that as the big thing. You know, Marcus Foligno said they can't hang with us at five on five. And each team is accusing the other team of diving. Like these teams, they hate each other. Just like it is everything you want in the playoffs. But I really do think the number one thing in this series is going to be health. Because the way this is going is going to be more guys hurt. That's number one. And number two, can Dallas hold that power play? It's, it's, can they not let Minnesota ran roughshod like they did in game one? And still, they have to make life more difficult on Faber. He is just doing whatever he wants to do out there.

Speaker 6:
[42:47] Yeah, it's, it's impressive knowing what Quinn Hughes is all about. And for him to be right there in the spotlight too. And finding room to do it. A whole host of problems for Dallas. I know I didn't mention this as we were kind of setting up the series here early on. But the deeper it goes, the more when you look at it as Jason Robertson's Dallas Stars against Bill Guerin's Minnesota Wild, that's a, that's a fascinating and kind of fun storyline to follow through all of this too. Because he looked like-

Speaker 5:
[43:23] You know what? This is a stupid storyline. Can I just say that? It is a stupid storyline.

Speaker 6:
[43:29] It's fun, Elliot.

Speaker 5:
[43:30] Oh, it's fun, but it's stupid. And here's the thing, like all the credit to Jason Robertson who scores against Minnesota at outstanding rates, like, you know, it look, it's a good narrative, but this should be put to bed. US won the gold medal, okay? Garen's right. It paid off. And as much as I would have liked to have seen Jason Robertson there and win the gold medal, because I really like Robertson, and I really like his brother, I really like, like, as you know, Nick is so fantastic to deal with. Yeah. I want to see their family do well. Garen, like, they won the gold, and everybody there played their part. Garen has won. He, they justified his picks. So even though, yes, because I saw it, somebody said Robertson, that was all these points against Garen's wild. You can't knock the picks that Garen made.

Speaker 6:
[44:29] It has nothing to do with that.

Speaker 5:
[44:31] Oh, yes, it is. It's a lot of it's that. Of course it is. Why did you even bring it up? Because he wasn't picked to the Olympic team.

Speaker 6:
[44:38] Yeah, but it's not questioning who he did pick. But like as a competitor, I don't know. If I was in that spot, there would be something a little extra sweet about knocking the wild out of the playoffs. Absolutely.

Speaker 5:
[44:54] Yeah.

Speaker 6:
[44:55] You would be the same way. You would be the same way.

Speaker 5:
[44:58] Of course. You know what? It's fair. You know, Kyle, I'll say it's fair. But it's like someone was saying to me, well, you know, he's still showing that he should have taken them. I'm like, no offense to Jason Robertson. They won the gold medal. Like, you know, it's not like anyone, Garron took instead, played badly. I don't know. It's 1 51 a.m. I'm crabby.

Speaker 6:
[45:21] Yeah, that's OK.

Speaker 5:
[45:23] All right.

Speaker 6:
[45:24] We're almost through this here, big guy.

Speaker 7:
[45:26] Yeah, it's all good.

Speaker 5:
[45:27] It's 1 51 for you, too.

Speaker 6:
[45:29] That's right, but it's not for Dom, so he is not allowed to complain.

Speaker 5:
[45:34] That's right. Dom, you are not allowed to be crabby.

Speaker 6:
[45:38] Yes. Philly Pittsburgh, two games to none for the Flyers. Pittsburgh looks a little frustrated. They look a little out of sorts, and Philadelphia is in a great spot going back home. We talked understandably a good deal about Porter Martone after game one. I thought after he scored in game two, by the way, what's the first or youngest teenager, or youngest player ever to go back-to-back game-winning goals to begin their playoff career?

Speaker 5:
[46:12] I think the first rookie ever to do it in his first two playoff games.

Speaker 6:
[46:16] Yeah.

Speaker 5:
[46:16] To score game winners.

Speaker 6:
[46:17] So impressive. I thought after he scores in game number two, and I'm watching, the camera follows him back to the bench, and he's talking to other guys on the bench, and this is a world full of alphas, and you mentioned players know when a guy comes in and he's the Jit. I just thought like already like those alpha type qualities are right there on display for a young guy. It's remarkable how fast the ascension and the degree of comfort he looks with all of this here under the bright lights.

Speaker 5:
[46:53] Yeah, he's tremendous player. And, you know, like some people were saying, National made a mistake taking Brady Martin. I'm like, come on, like these guys, they're just starting their NHL careers. People are way too quick to judge. I guess that's always the case, but they are way...

Speaker 6:
[47:13] It's the world we live in.

Speaker 5:
[47:14] Like there are, there's a lot, Porter, Porter Marton looks like a great player, but there's a long time here for Brady Martin to turn out equally as great. Like it's just, that's also a terror. I'm going to, I'm going to talk about every single terrible narrative that's going on with Stanley Cup.

Speaker 6:
[47:31] Can't ignore the storyline of Marton and Brady Martin.

Speaker 5:
[47:35] Yes. It's just, it's crazy to me. It's, it's, it's just crazy. Like the other thing that's funny is, so Pittsburgh makes the playoffs here out of nowhere, and people are talking about Dan Muse for Coach of the Year, and what a great run, and they lose their first two games, and it's like, oh, the Penguins, we knew it, they're old and slow. They're gonna have to tear their two games away from having to tear it down. I was like, well, that was quick. We didn't even get through the first week. But you know what, they haven't played well. Crosby is, and he tortures the Flyers, but he hasn't gotten on track, none of them have. They dumped the puck in a little bit more in game number two, as the Flyers did a great job, just an excellent job of shutting down the blue line and making it hard for them. They've been very disciplined, they've stuck to their system, they've done really well. You know, a lot of those Penguin guys are going to have to take it up to another level, because they're just not getting anything out there. Carlson had a great season, he's been quiet. I have to say, though, whoever had the Hathaway-Glendening parlay to score in game number two, I hope you enjoy your new vacation property, because I don't think too many people picked that. I think they have to find a way to play faster, and sometimes that's not speed, but it's just the way you move the puck. Phillies put a web there, and they can't get through it.

Speaker 6:
[49:21] Also, I want to shout out Dan Vladar earns the shutout, and he was a guy who went through last year in Calgary, I think, as they were trying to protect and understandably develop Dustin Wolfe. I think Vladar got a lot of the games on the schedule that maybe weren't the most attractive, second half of back-to-backs, et cetera, ones with less than ideal travel, and maybe it reflected the numbers a little bit, but clearly the Flyers saw something there where if we put them in a different situation here, there's a goalie that can really help us, and he has, and big-time performance for him, first two games out of the gate, and helping Philadelphia in a 2-0 series lead there, too.

Speaker 5:
[50:12] Well, and while we were doing this, just moments ago, Nick Waugh scored an overtime. Colorado beats LA 2-1. I give LA a lot of credit. You know, we talked about in our preview about how they defend very well, five-on-five, but I did not think that they would be able to give Colorado two games like this, two-two-one games in the first two games of the series in Denver. This was, Kyle, I don't know how much of a chance you got to watch this. This is one of the weirdest games I have seen this year. Byfield penalty shot, again, I like the penalty shot. Wedgwood makes a great save and the As fans behind the Kings bench knocked the glass out onto DJ Smith and the other Kings players. That was weird and thankfully not serious. Then, the Kings score the first goal of the game. Josh Manson clears it, it hits the ref and ends up in the bench. So, they get a faceoff back in the offensive zone. They score off it. The Kings do to go ahead one-nothing. There's another one that people think Sam Malinsky scores for the Avalanche and the puck is actually on the outside of the net that nobody realizes. Like, the whole game...

Speaker 6:
[51:38] Doubt he did.

Speaker 5:
[51:40] Yeah, doubt he did. He was the one. He knew it was there. The whole game was just... And then the big hit on Natchez, the turn this game mean. Like, Carolina, Ottawa was weird. One play, really? This was a whole series of things that you don't see. It was a full moon over Denver. Full credit to the... Forsberg has been fantastic. Full credit to the Avalanche, but the Kings... I don't know where this is going to go here. They're down 2-0. But they gave Colorado much, much tougher games than I think a lot of us predicted. Before Waz scored the winner here, the Avalanche were all over them. It looked like just a matter before they were going to score.

Speaker 6:
[52:29] Yeah, I just wondered, was that LA's best punch here on Tuesday night? I do not like to try to speak in any way in terms of absolutes when you're only two games into a series, but we all know how tough it's been at home for Los Angeles this year, though they did finish the season much better on home ice than it was for much of it. But that was, as you just said, a heck of an effort in Denver, knowing the stakes after dropping the first game, and they still get nothing out of it. Still an 0-2 hole going back home to Los Angeles. It's going to take some kind of heroism to try to turn this series around and dig back into it, because as we all know, Colorado is just that good. All right, let's get to the final thought, which is presented by the Toyota BZ. So Elliotte, we still got some openings around the league. Toronto, Nashville, Vancouver, New Jersey introduced Sunny Meta here on Tuesday. What has filled up your notebook over the last couple of days?

Speaker 5:
[53:39] I have to watch the Meta media conference. I didn't get an opportunity to really do it. I saw the one quote where he talked about poker with Jack Hughes. I think Meta blew a real opportunity there. He should have just played cards against him. Said, you want to learn something? Here, deal with it. That's right. See how much money he could have taken. That's right. Jack's AAV is eight million. Next year, he's playing for seven and a half. I got to watch that press conference. I didn't get a chance to on Tuesday. But, okay, Toronto. Here's where I think we are. So, I was on Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer. And I said that I think we're close. And we'll know in the next 24 to 48 hours. Somebody called me after they read that. And they said, you're right on some things, but you're wrong on others. And they said, as it stands now, we're probably not looking at this week. Probably not. However, I believe Scott White was in Toronto on Tuesday. I believe Ryan Martin was in Toronto on Tuesday. And then I'm not 100% sure if John Chica was in Toronto on Tuesday, or Evan Gold was in Toronto on Tuesday. White, yes, Martin, yes, and it's either Gold or Chica. Now, Evan Gold was in Buffalo because the Bruins played there on Tuesday night. But if the rumor seems to be that they're down to three for that position, and it's either White, Martin, Chica, or White, Martin, Gold. And two were in the city for sure. And I'm trying to figure out if three of them were or all four of them were. But there was another round of interviews, I want to say Monday and Tuesday. Okay. So those, so some combination of that are your finalists. So that group, that's their situation. Mike Gillis, we know they spoke to him months ago. His interview last week was via Zoom. I haven't spoken to him and they won't comment. I think there was concern about all the media around Gillis in the Leafs organization. Like the one thing I believe a thousand percent Kyle is that there's been so much, I don't know if you want to call them leaks or noise, that there's some misdirection going on here. I believe the plan was to bring Gillis in for another interview, but I don't think that's happened yet. So I don't know where that stands. But a few sources had told me they thought it was going to happen. Maybe Wednesday, I had a couple that pushed back and said, unless things change, probably not this week. But White, Martin, I think one of Gold or Chica, that's where I think we stand right now. And like I said, White was in Toronto, Martin was in Toronto, Gold was in Toronto. I just don't know if he was officially was a finalist. And if Chica's won, he was in Toronto too. So there was another round in person at the start of this week. Vancouver. So Rick Dallowall reported Ryan Bonus. Matthew Fairburn reported that they want to speak to Kevin Adams. I believe that they are interviewing formerly Ryan Johnson this week. And there's more. And so again, some people asked me about Oilers now. And I said there was two, maybe three lists. I think Rutherford has a list. I think ownership has a list. I don't know if it's as simple as saying that Rutherford is interviewing some newer people and ownership is interviewing some more experienced people. But I do think that that's kind of the way it looks. Because I've heard that there are some fresh names here, ones that may not have been connected to any other search, working on those. And I think there's some experienced names there too. And that's kind of how I heard it was being split. I did mention that it's possible there's a third list. I'll see if I can figure out if that's true. But I did hear it on Tuesday.

Speaker 6:
[59:10] Should it be concerning that there are separate lists at this stage of the process? Or is that kind of normal?

Speaker 5:
[59:20] I don't know that that's normal, but I'll tell you this. This has been a year for very, very unusual searches. There's things about the Nashville search that have been a little bit unusual to me. There's things about the Toronto search that have been a little bit unusual to me. So I can't say I'm hugely surprised that there's things about this Vancouver search that sound a little bit unusual to me. Like if you're one of those people who's like, the NHL has been doing the same thing over and over and over again, and it's time to do things a little differently, well, we're setting new records for that this time out.

Speaker 6:
[60:06] Not all at once, everyone.

Speaker 5:
[60:08] Not all at once. Yes, we're definitely, if you're one of those people who's like, the NHL has to do things a little differently, you've got to be ecstatic right now, because there's stuff I've been hearing that has been way out of left field.

Speaker 6:
[60:24] Right stuff.

Speaker 5:
[60:26] And I will say this, like this whole Vancouver thing, I will say this until I'm blue in the face. I think if it was totally up to Rutherford, he would promote Ryan Johnson and that's where we'd be.

Speaker 6:
[60:40] Okay, thanks for that Elliot.

Speaker 5:
[60:43] My pleasure.

Speaker 6:
[60:44] That was the Final Thought presented by the Toyota BZ. We'll take our first break here. We should also mention later on the podcast, we've got an interview coming up with Henrik Lundqvist. Before that though, the Thought Line is back, a brand new edition on the other side. You're listening to 32 Thoughts The Podcast. All right, here we go, a new edition of the Thought Line. We're gonna try, try the keyword here, to keep it to two editions a week as we go through our playoff grind. So two every three episodes is the hope, though they will be abbreviated versions. Nevertheless, we've got a good shortened patch here today, Elliot. Any shout outs for you before we proceed?

Speaker 5:
[61:38] No, unfortunately, I haven't had time to go through the shout outs. It was a long night on Monday night, so I haven't had time to do it yet.

Speaker 6:
[61:45] I wanted to shout out Greg Wolfe and Brayden Coburn with the Block Party Podcast, associated with the Tablet of the Lightning. I know you were a guest on there not too long ago. I popped on with them this week. Great conversation. The opposite of our show, they were terrible answers to great questions.

Speaker 5:
[62:06] I have to ask them, ask them who was a better guest, you or me?

Speaker 6:
[62:10] Yeah, they said something about your episode, but your ego is big enough. I don't want to relay the message. They said it was very well received. I'll leave it at that.

Speaker 5:
[62:19] Okay, good. Good. I'm glad.

Speaker 6:
[62:21] Okay. Emily from Monterey, California. Hi Elliotte, Kyle, Dom, and Griffin. With the Colorado and LA Kings first round matchup, where we have the President's Trophy winners with the Avs and the Kings squeaking into the playoffs through the turtle race in the Pacific, their point differential is 31. My question is, what is the biggest point differential in the first round of the playoffs? Love the pod. Can't wait for all the playoff pods to come.

Speaker 5:
[62:52] So Emily, off the top of my head, I don't know, but I'm going to do a quick Google search. And the one I'm going to look up, and I'm not sure that this is the right answer, but it's something that I remember from my childhood when the Toronto Maple Leafs made the playoffs with 57 points. And I'm looking, what was the difference Kyle and Emily said?

Speaker 6:
[63:19] 31.

Speaker 5:
[63:21] Well, I'm looking at this very season, and the Chicago Blackhawks won the Norris Division that year with 86 points, and the Maple Leafs made with 57. So the difference is 39. That one off the top of my head is bigger, but I actually, just looking at this, this year in the Smythe, and this has to be close. If this is not the record, this has got to be close. The Edmonds and Oilers made the, won the Smythe Division, they made the playoffs with 119 points, and the Vancouver Canucks finished fourth in that division with 59 points. The difference is 60. Kyle, if that's not the record, I want to see what beats it.

Speaker 6:
[64:03] That is the record. Really? Look at you, you stumbled into the right answer.

Speaker 5:
[64:07] Yeah, this, see, Emily, this is a perfect example of my career. I look at something that is wrong, and I stumble on to the correct answer. Nothing more encapsulates my existence than that.

Speaker 6:
[64:25] Yes. It's been a while since you've backed your way into the right answer here on the Thought Line. It's good to know you're still capable of doing it. The 31-point spread between Colorado and LA, by the way, tie for 60-second most, so not even sniffing anywhere close to the top. Though 31 points does feel like a wide margin. All right, Emily, thank you for that.

Speaker 5:
[64:47] Good stuff, Emily.

Speaker 6:
[64:48] Very good. Curtis and Edmonton. Wife and I were arguing about how the rings move up the Stanley Cup when a new one is added. TJ Oshie mentioned his caps. Stanley Cup win was the first one on the new bottom ring back in 2018. So it will be on the cup for 65 years. So when a large circumference ring moves to the more narrow upper portion of the cup, how do they keep all the names on that ring? Do they just redo the ring with a smaller font size? Is there a gap in the bigger rings that go away as it ascends the trophy?

Speaker 5:
[65:26] You know what? I do not know the answer to that question, Kyle. I assume... Well, let me just say this, Curtis. Without even answering the question, as a person who has been happily married for 16 years, let me just say you are wrong and your wife is right. Whatever the argument is, concede, okay? I am just telling you that because I want you to be happy. Kyle, I assume you have the correct answer.

Speaker 6:
[65:58] So the smaller rings, to the best of my knowledge, they don't... That's just history now. Those do not change.

Speaker 5:
[66:06] Oh, okay. So those ones always stay the same?

Speaker 6:
[66:08] It's just... Yes. I think it's just the bigger rings that have enough space for 13 winners to be placed on it. Every 13 years, the top ring is removed, it's flattened out, it's permanently on display in the Hall of Fame, you can go see it, and a new one is slapped on. So as Oshie said, in 2018, that was the last time a change occurred. They won the Cup in 2018, so they were the first on it, and therefore we'll have a 65-year run, where it can be visualized on the Stanley Cup. So 2018, and now, I guess 2031 will be the next time we have a new ring added on to the Stanley Cup, but the smaller ones up top, I believe those ones are untouched. It's just the big ones that they rotate through slowly over time.

Speaker 5:
[67:05] And I believe that the Maple Leafs are now off, the 67 Maple Leafs are now off the Stanley Cup.

Speaker 6:
[67:17] They may still be hanging on.

Speaker 5:
[67:20] I remember reading somewhere, and someone will tell me if this is wrong, because I think one thing that's happened, Kyle, now, is that they've limited the amount of names to, I believe, 52. It used to be much larger than that, so I think because teams had more names on there, I believe at some point, the 67 Leafs were taken off.

Speaker 6:
[67:41] Okay. All right. So, we have one more here. John in San Diego, by way of Montreal. Okay. Longtime listener, going back to the 30 Thoughts Days and the launch of the podcast. I was lucky enough to go to the Oilers Panthers Game 7 two years ago and saw Elliotte in the airport early the next morning. I was a big fan of the score back in the day. Got highlights for all the teams, not just Leafs analysis, and a big fan of anyone from that network being successful. Back when Elliotte acted like an underdog. Anyway, he looked absolutely bagged in the airport. So, I let him drag himself to what I assume was the airport lounge. Hopefully, he went on LTIR shortly thereafter. Look at that, giving you his space. My question is...

Speaker 5:
[68:35] The story does actually sound true, I have to say.

Speaker 6:
[68:38] Yes. We were all zombies after that series. My question is, in relation to the listener a short time ago, why are NHL teams so resistant of printing tickets? When I went to the aforementioned Game 7, I pleaded to get one printed hoping the Oilers would win, former Fort McMurray resident over here, but they said no. Is it that printed tickets are less secure? We saw tickets printed when Ovechkin set the goals record, and otherwise the only way to commemorate a fan or player's first game is a souvenir puck. Bring back the tickets. I have a small personal story on tickets. For the past decade plus, I have been collecting the 1992-93 Canadian season from preseason all the way through the playoffs, and I am only four ticket stubs away. I would gladly take your listeners' help and willing to pay way over average to finish it off. The irony of my collection is that we were nosebleed blue season ticket holders, and I refused to go to the Stanley Cup Parade at four years old because, quote, they win every year. The irony. Now I hope for one to share with my kids. That is the current hope. The missing tickets are as follows. September 18th, 1992, a preseason game in Calgary. January 27th, 1993, versus Hartford. February 3rd, versus LA. March 6th, at Minnesota. That's impressive that he's that close to having a ticket stop from every game that year.

Speaker 5:
[70:09] First of all, John, good luck in completing your list. If anybody does have a lead on any of those four games, why don't you just read them again so that we have them?

Speaker 6:
[70:20] Yeah, so September 18th and 92, preseason game in Calgary, January 27th of 93, at home to Hartford, February 3rd, at home to Los Angeles, and March 6th, at the Minnesota North Stars.

Speaker 5:
[70:35] So send a note to the Thought Line email again, Kyle.

Speaker 6:
[70:39] You really don't after all this time.

Speaker 5:
[70:41] Well, I just want you to read it again.

Speaker 6:
[70:43] 32 Thoughts at Sportsnet.ca.

Speaker 5:
[70:46] 32 Thoughts at Sportsnet.ca, if you have a lead on any one of those games, and we'll get you in touch with John so that you can get them to him. I just think, honestly, John, the answer is that we're moving more and more towards a paperless society. Like I'm somebody who likes to carry a small amount of cash on me at all times. More and more places, they don't even take cash anymore. So, we're moving towards a paperless society. And that's the reason as much as anything else. I'm with you, though, as a child of that era. I absolutely believe 100% in paper tickets. And if I could get one to every game I go to as a fan, I would gladly take it.

Speaker 6:
[71:29] Yes. Would love to get to a point where, okay, if the actual legitimate ticket that gets you in the building has to be digital, that's fine. But I would love to see an opportunity for those that wish to get more the souvenir purposes to have a ticket stub, because they are so cool. Those that collect them, the way they've evolved over the years, bring them back.

Speaker 5:
[71:51] Bring them back. I believe there was somebody who mentioned that he is a season ticket holder to a team that if you want to request, you can get. But that, I think that was mentioned in our pod a couple weeks ago, but I think unfortunately, that is happening fewer and farther between.

Speaker 6:
[72:13] All right. We'll wrap it up there. As Elliot asked just a moment ago, 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca is the email if you'd like to submit anything to the Thought Line or you can leave a voicemail at 1-833-311-3232. We'll take one final break when we come back, an interview with Henrik Lundqvist, the Hall of Famer on 32 Thoughts, The Podcast. All right, as promised, look, it was a real treat to get some time with Henrik Lundqvist, the Hall of Famer, the all-time winningest gold tender, the NHL, not from Canada, with 459 in his illustrious career. Of course, the gold medal with Team Sweden back in 2006. We talk about some hockey. We talk about now as he's made the jump to the media side, working for TNT and the MSG network, and also something that's become very near and dear in his life, recurrent pericarditis. He wants to spread awareness and educate those that may not be aware of that condition. It's something that he is currently living with. Now, as you know, this podcast is visual only. There is no video attached to it. But as you can imagine and would guess, Henrik looked phenomenal for this interview as well. So why do we get to it? King Hank on 32 Thoughts, The Podcast. So Henrik, first of all, thank you very much for joining us. It's great to have you here on 32 Thoughts. So I wanted to start with, obviously, you have lived the grind as a goalie of the playoffs. What is the grind like now as a broadcaster? How are you adjusting to it? I know it's early days here, but you're a few years now on the big desk with TNT.

Speaker 7:
[74:13] Well, less pressure. Let's start with that. A lot less pressure. But a lot of late nights. Now when we work in TNT network, we're going to do East Coast, West Coast. So probably finish around 1, 1.30. If we have overtime, we're going to go later than that. But now, seriously, I really enjoy it. We have a great crew. We have a lot of fun on and off the camera. And the game itself, it's just so good, I think. There's so much to talk about. It makes it easy to be on the other side. You know, the media side talking about the game and the playoffs. You know, yeah, I love watching the regular season and talk about it and enjoy that. But there's nothing like the playoffs. You can just feel it when you watch it, the intensity and the importance of every play, save, goal, you name it. So it's a lot of fun to cover it.

Speaker 5:
[75:14] So Henrik, I'm curious, when you would have played, for example, say you were playing goal in that Carolina-Ottawa game the other night. After a game like that, how quick could you fall asleep? And after a long night as a broadcaster, can you fall asleep easier?

Speaker 7:
[75:35] Yeah, I can definitely fall asleep easier as a broadcaster. But I do drink a lot of coffee, update, some energy drinks. So that being said, I think when you play the game, it was hard at times to turn off your brain because you constantly analyze the game, what happened. Or you start maybe thinking about the next game. It was probably easier to fall asleep sometimes when you did well, because you could let go and enjoy the moment. But it was a tough loss. It's where you were laying there and trying to figure out what went wrong. Could I have done anything different? And man, those sleepless nights, I don't miss those, that's for sure. But I do miss the excitement of playing and the importance of the games and stuff like that.

Speaker 6:
[76:28] Okay, so I wanted to ask, because some of my favorite memories of covering the playoffs, certainly early in my career, was getting a chance to interview you a couple of times after a win. And I've always told people, like what stood out to me was just, you're standing there, obviously, like you're drenched in sweat, it's a big win. And it just felt like you're standing there with this emotional big stream of consciousness. Like you just let everything out, everything that you were thinking, as you were answering the question. So I've always wanted to ask, how would you describe what your mental state was after a big win in the playoffs?

Speaker 7:
[77:05] Yeah, I mean, there was so much that went into every game, physically and mentally especially. So sometimes you were exhausted, but yeah, you have those, what, 10 minutes before you guys come into the locker room. So that's the time where you try to gather your thoughts a little bit, good or bad, to make sure, you know, whatever you're about to say makes sense for right now, but also moving forward. And especially in the playoffs, you know, you, you don't want to be saying things that could feed the other team or create an issue. And I think you'll learn that when you play in big markets too, you know, talking to media becomes a thing you do every day. And you have to be somewhat smart about it. But at the same time, you want to be honest. I always felt like talking to media was an opportunity to connect with fans. And it was an opportunity for fans to understand what we were going through, what we were thinking in that moment, good or bad. You know, sometimes, you know, you might think you don't want to talk to media after a loss. But again, it was an opportunity to explain, you know, I saw it this way, or I should have been better there or done it differently. And just that honesty, I think is great to have when you're talking to media, because it is a bridge between you and the fans.

Speaker 5:
[78:24] So, Henrik, you know, one of the guys who covered the Rangers for a long time was the late, great Larry Brooks. And, you know, I was in the scrum when he got in the fight with Tortorella when the Lightning played in New Jersey. And I was just curious, you know, when you first got there and you were breaking in on the scene, you know, Larry could be, like, that back page of the Post, like, that was a big deal. And I wondered, were you ever told, like, this is a guy you got to be careful with or this guy is important or you got to be careful? Like, did you ever get any of that in New York?

Speaker 7:
[79:00] No, nobody told me that. But I could tell the way he asked questions and he was there every day. He was the guy I probably talked to the most to throughout my career. And, you know, again, the way he asked questions made me realize pretty quickly, like, wow, he knows the game. And as a player, when you have reporters ask certain questions and the way they ask it and when they ask, you know, of course, you have a lot of respect for that. Now, being on the other side, I find it extremely hard to ask questions to players. I don't know what to ask. But I thought he was extremely good. He was tough, but honest. I think for me, throughout my career, rarely did I read much of the stuff. So I kind of approached everybody the same way, even if they, you know, gave me a lot of positive headlines, or if they were ripping me apart. I didn't know. I just saw them as, okay, they're part of the crew that's here every day doing their job. And it's part of my job to sit down with them pretty much every day after practice or games.

Speaker 6:
[80:17] So have you grown a different appreciation or view of being on the other side of that? And I also was curious, because you guys do a really wonderful job in the post game to get a few minutes with a star of the game with the panel, as they're a guest that's been a favorite of yours. And I could not believe Matthew Schaefer took the shot at you that he did earlier this season. That took gumption.

Speaker 7:
[80:38] Well, what I love with players, there's so many you can name here that's been good. But when they're themselves, and let loose, and you see personality, and emotion, and all that, I think when you're asking questions, it turns into a better interview. But more importantly, I think the fans enjoy it more. When they're watching it, you're getting a bigger piece of that person, not the player, but the person. And in the end, that's our goal, I think, with media, right? It's to, one, you want to educate the viewers or the readers, but also have them an opportunity to get to know the players. So the more you can get of them and their personality, the better. So we try to do that in TNT, to be somewhat serious, but at times a little silly and funny as well, to bring that out. And you asked if I have more understanding or respect for the media. I knew it was a tough job, but it's, again, it's to have opinions and try to be right. That's not easy always. There's a lot of wrong takes for sure.

Speaker 5:
[81:51] Oh, yes, there are. And you're speaking to the two of the authors of them on the podcast. So I got, so I told my high, I've got a bunch of friends, Henrik, who I've been been tight with since high school. And I told them on the group chat that we were going to be interviewing you. And they said, OK, Elliot, we have a question for Henrik. And I said, OK, what is it? And they go, we know, Elliot, you need a lot of makeup because we know what you look like. But Henrik is the perfect human. Does he actually need makeup on the air?

Speaker 7:
[82:27] Oh, well, you know, you've been in studios. It gets hot in there and you get shiny. You definitely need a little powder, otherwise it's going to be too shiny in there. But we're not in charge of that. We'll let the crew that works around it and all the set to handle that. I trust them.

Speaker 5:
[82:46] The other thing I want to ask you, Henrik, was I watch, I'm a big baseball fan. I watch a lot of John Schmoltz, the Hall of Fame pitcher. And he talks a lot about how it would be hard for him to pitch in this day and age because of the change in the way starting pitchers are used. They don't throw as many pitches they used to. They don't pitch as long into games as they used to. And we're starting to see the same thing happen with goaltenders, Henrik. Very few of them play as much as you got the opportunity to play. There's a lot more platoon goaltending. Like, would you have been able to handle this now? Or would you be like, leave me alone. I'm taking my 70 games.

Speaker 7:
[83:27] Well, I think it's a different era. A lot of these guys, they've been used to it ever since they entered the league. You have to go back almost 10 years when you start to see a switch where you went from, you know, 70 to 65 to high 50 in terms of starting games and then playoffs. Even you see teams rotate at times because that's what they do during their regular season. And so I guess it's a mindset. It's part of what you're used to as well. But if you ask me or any other goalies that play for a long time, that we're just used to, you knew you were playing most nights. It's a very different approach. But the guys today, they're just used to it. They can handle it. That being said, if they threw me in today and you play for two and you said, I don't know, I want to play. I want to get out there, not on the bench.

Speaker 6:
[84:25] So I was really curious to ask you, Henrik, where do you see the future of goaltending as a position? Because obviously, for certainly the early days of your career, your off seasons, a lot of it will be spent, okay. Technically, how do you get better as a goaltender when a lot of the skaters were just, how do we get stronger? How do we get faster? Now, there is so much emphasis on skill development as shooters, and you see the way they rip the puck nowadays. Where do you see the position going in terms of how best to combat, how good the shooters are nowadays?

Speaker 7:
[84:58] Yeah, I think it's a constant evolution of the position, you know. You have a few years where it's steady, and then it starts to change again, because it's back and forth between how goaltenders play and how the shooters shoot. You know, you learn from each other, and it used to be top shelf shots all the time because your goalies went down, and your goalies then adjusted their gloves, their positioning of their gloves to keep them up, and now you see a lot more goals go underneath the elbow or underneath the blocker, and then eventually you'll see goaltenders adapt to that. And in terms of how you move, it changes over time, and I think if you want to stay in the league for a long time, you have to be able to adjust your game a little bit, because you can't be too stubborn. The game will continue to change. Maybe it's hard to see year over year, but if you take five years at a time, yes, it's going to change in terms of how the scoring chances develop, and how the guys are shooting, and how they scout you. So I think it's important that you pay attention to that, and don't think that, okay, I entered the league when I'm 22, I'm going to play exactly the same when I'm 35. So just being able to adapt. Then you see that even, you talk about some of the best players, Ovi, we talk about Ovi a lot on the network, his ability to adapt, his positioning, and yeah, for the longest time, he was always on my right with the one timer. And over the last few years, you see him move around more, more goals right in front. And it goes for a lot of the top guys, over time, they adjust and adapt, and it's going to be the same thing with goaltending, I think, and I just love watching goaltending now, though. The way they move and the really good ones with quick feet and patience, they're a lot of fun to watch.

Speaker 5:
[86:59] Okay, so one game, winner take all, Henrik's team against the Biz All-Stars. You get first pick in goal, and you've got to win. Who's your pick?

Speaker 7:
[87:10] And we're picking a current goaltender? Yeah, wow, current goaltender. I mean, you look at all-time record, Vasilevskiy has an outstanding do or die situation. I think over the last few years, his numbers are not great in the playoffs, but I'm still sticking with him. You know, just his ability to elevate his game when it matters. I'm throwing in Vasilevskiy there.

Speaker 5:
[87:45] I think it's a great pick. Have you seen, like you mentioned the numbers have changed. Have you seen any difference in him, Henrik, over the past couple of years? Is that fluke or is there something that's changed?

Speaker 7:
[87:59] Good question. You know, to me, I look at that first game, he just come up with that one extra save. That was the difference. Now, still good, but he was unbelievable there for so many years. In the last two, three years, it seems like the bounces are not really going his way. I remember that third goal the other night, the guy fanned on the shot and it goes underneath and goes through him. Sometimes, it's just that little, you need a little puck lock too. I mean, he had an enormous stretch here last couple of months in the regular season, so it's right there. We'll see if he can get to that level here in the series against Montreal.

Speaker 6:
[88:42] Is there anything, I know you haven't been out of the game for that long, Henrik, but when you look at shooters today, is there any part of you that looks at that and thinks like, man, there were not many back when I still was playing that could shoot it the way they can. Just when you look at where stick technology and all of that has gone.

Speaker 7:
[89:00] Yeah, I mean, you look at the top shooters today, it's just their ability to, not only how hard they shoot, but how accurate they are. Right. Back when I entered the league, back in 2005, you had a few guys that had a bomb, and then brass was good, but now most guys can hammer it. Because they grew up, like you said, they grew up with the technology, with the sticks. And it used to be a couple of guys where you were a little uncertain on one-on-one, but a lot of guys, you felt pretty confident, I will stop you on a one-on-one, if you do, if you take a wrist shot, slap shot. Now it's a lot of the guys where if you're a goalie, you better have your feet in place and be ready with your gloves. Otherwise, they're going to just roof it on you. So, you know, we do see more goals. I think guys can shoot it better, but there's also way more East to West passes. I don't know if teams defend as well as they used to. It's a lot of offense first. Sometimes I wonder when I see goals develop and like, ah, you got to help out and take the backdoor play a little bit better than that. But bottom line, the game is in a great place. It's very entertaining to watch.

Speaker 5:
[90:23] Henrik, I just want to ask, how are you doing? You know, you wanted to go to Washington. We are all looking forward to seeing how weird it would see for you to be in a different uniform. Unfortunately, you couldn't play. Like first, how are you doing? How are you feeling?

Speaker 7:
[90:39] I feel great. Yeah. Physically, I feel good. Life is really good. Happy and doing so many different things I want to do right now. The MSG and the network here in New York and the Madison Square Garden and working with TNT. So overall, I feel great.

Speaker 6:
[90:57] Awesome. So why don't we get into that then, Henrik, and that part of the story, I know it's become very important to you because, of course, you had the open-heart surgery or hoping to make a comeback. And then recurrent pericarditis comes into your life. So just love to know kind of what you remember about how you first kind of thought something wasn't right there and why that's become an initiative that you really want to raise awareness for.

Speaker 7:
[91:24] Yeah. I mean, the first time I heard pericarditis and then recurrent pericarditis, I had no idea what that was. Inflammation around the heart. Like you said, I was coming out of the open-heart surgery. I was weeks away from joining the capitals. And then one day, massive pain in my chest, out my back and then felt tired, fatigued, sick almost. And that's when I start to wonder what, there's a lot of uncertainty there, a lot of questions. But I had a great doctor, a lot of conversations. And when I was diagnosed with recurrent perciditis, you know, fast forward a few months, it forced me to retire from the game. You know, it was not the open heart surgery. It was the recurrent perciditis that really forced me to retire. And, you know, over the last four or five years, I do have setbacks. I have flare ups where I feel the pain and I have to adjust my lifestyle a little bit here and there. And then throughout the last couple of years, I started talking to Canucks about this initiative where I want to help other people going through a similar situation. So through our campaign, lifedisrupted.com, you can find a lot of this information about the disease and a lot about my journey and what I've been through to, I think, just guide people in the right direction. And for me, it's knowledge, educate yourself, talk to your doctor. Again, I didn't know much about it when I heard it the first time. But now when I know I can put a plan in place, and it just gives me a lot more confidence. And as an athlete, you're used to get the information, do your rehab, and you're back. Now, it was an adjustment period for me. I knew it was going to take a longer time. But I thought it was going to be a couple months. And they said, no, this will be years. It's a process. Be patient. But as long as you're having those conversations and the right feedback and the right plan in place, you can live a really good life, which I'm doing right now, with small adjustments. So I appreciate you giving me this opportunity to talk a little bit about it.

Speaker 6:
[93:53] Yeah, absolutely. And certainly the website you mentioned there, thelifedisrupted.com, we'll put that in the show notes of this episode for listeners that want to look in and learn more about it. And I wonder when it ends that way, Henrik, I mean, what an incredible career even just getting to that point. Was there any part of you that felt any degree of resentment or anything when it came to that conclusion, or were you pretty at peace with what you accomplished in your career?

Speaker 7:
[94:23] When I was diagnosed, it was extremely hard. I had months where I was very disappointed, frustrated with everything. I had to work through it. And then the day that I decided to retire, I was in peace with everything. I worked through it and I found so much gratitude towards my career and what I experienced and teammates and the organization and memories I created along the way. So I was ready to move on. And it was somewhat scary, but hey, listen, all athletes have to make that decision at some point. We all make it in different ways for different reasons. I was kind of forced to make it, but I was in peace and ready to move on. And I think for all athletes out there, it is a big thing when that day comes, when you're officially making that decision to walk away from something you've loved doing from the age of what, five, six, seven years old. It's been a huge part of your life. That's a big hole to fill. And in terms of meaning or inspiration, so you need to replace it with something. So I would encourage a lot of athletes to think about it. You need to dig deep a little bit when it's time to make that decision and then find that peace and gratitude and then you move on.

Speaker 5:
[95:55] So Henrik, I think there's something that you could, a gift that you can really give people a bit more. Like you mentioned you found peace. Was there anything that you did or any something you used to help you find it? So there's anybody out there who's battling through anything, they could say, hey, Henrik Lundqvist did this and it really helped him. If it could help Henrik Lundqvist, it could really help me.

Speaker 7:
[96:22] I think the important part for me was to start focusing on all the good things the gain gave me. The memories, friendships, the experience overall. Yes, there were things I still wanted to accomplish and at first, those are the things I'm focusing on and that's where the frustration and disappointment comes out. But then you turn around and you start really appreciate all the good times and the positive things that you've experienced, and it makes you extremely happy. I always say, gratitude is the best feeling in the world. So when you land there, eventually it's a step, it's a process, but eventually you will land there and that's where, wow, what a journey that was and makes me happy and smile when I think about it. And it also helped me be excited about the future and what I'm doing now. And it's a different life. I do miss a lot of things about the game and the pressure and the importance of playing the games, but doing a lot of other things that makes me happy now. And yeah, that's that.

Speaker 6:
[97:31] Great. So last one from me, you had your hobbies while you played. Now, post-playing career, when you're not broadcasting, what keeps you interested, excited, and occupying your time?

Speaker 7:
[97:43] I think the biggest change when you retire is your schedule. You know, my time, I can prioritize my friends, family. I love to travel, do a lot of different things with work, making sure I have people in my life that inspire me and challenge me at times. So, but just the ability of decide what to do, when to do it feels extremely, I feel lucky to have that in my life. When you play the game, you're a slave to the schedule. Sounds a little negative, but I mean, you love the schedule, you love the games, the practices, the travel, I do. But it's hard to do other things during the season and a big part of the summer because of preparation. So now, the ability to just move more freely and pick the things that interest me, inspires me in an easier way, I feel like just a great thing for me.

Speaker 5:
[98:45] All right. Last one for me, Henrik. There was one of your former teammates told me a story and I want it to be true. So even if it's false, you have to say it's true. Okay? He said that you owned a car that had reflective paint on it, that blocked photo radar or like radar from police. So you would drive ridiculous speeds and they still couldn't catch you. Is this story true?

Speaker 7:
[99:19] I bought a car that had a radar in it. Never used it because it picked up so many different signals. So I, and that's the truth. It was never on. It was true. It picked up everything everywhere. So it was off. And yeah, maybe I did drive a little fast at times, but I've slowed down. I'm older, more mature. And yeah, in a safer place. That's the truth.

Speaker 6:
[99:53] You could teach Elliotte a lesson or two with that. That's right.

Speaker 5:
[99:55] I'm still pretty aggressive. I'm still pretty aggressive. Yeah.

Speaker 6:
[99:59] Oh, well, Henrik, I mean, I look back at every year, you were north 900, say, percentage is a goalie model of consistency in the crease and continuing to do so in your post-playing career. So really great to have you aboard here for the conversation. Thanks so much for coming by.

Speaker 7:
[100:16] Thanks for having me.

Speaker 6:
[100:17] All right. Thanks again to Henrik Lundqvist and wanted to share again the website that we referenced in the interview. If you'd like to learn more about recurrent pericarditis, that is lifedisrupted.com, disrpted.com. The link will also be included in the show notes of this episode. Games tonight on the Stanley Cup Playoffs and where you can find them on the network. So on Sportsnet 360 at 7 Eastern, 4 Pacific Time, Game 3 from Philadelphia, the Flyers and Penguins at 930 Eastern, a little after 930 Eastern. Game 3 from Minnesota, the Wild and the Stars. That series, of course, tied at one game a piece. On Sportsnet West at 930 Eastern and 730 Mountain Time, we'll have our Hockey Central pregame show teeing up game number two between Edmonton and Anaheim from Rogers Place in downtown Edmonton. That game, a little after 8 Mountain Time, that can be seen on CBC as well as Sportsnet. Three games on tap on Wednesday. We will be back on Friday. Talk to you then.