32 Thoughts: The Podcast

00:00 We are always open to ways we can make this show better. It's very rare that you or I or Dom can be the ones that come up with the ideas to make our show better. This is true. Yeah. I hear you heard from somebody that put forth an idea that you're willing to bring to the masses. What's going on? 00:21 Yeah. So I'm asking for listener and audience feedback on this. Okay. Yeah. 00:28 Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Hope you had a great weekend. Kyle Elliott, Don back with you. Fridge, I nearly, that sound you hear is a sigh of relief coming from my side of the screen. I nearly had to go from enduring losing to your Vikings a week ago to falling to Dom's New York Jets, the mighty Jets here on this Sunday. We just began recording minutes after the overtime victory. Had that gone the other way, you may have been recording solo here. 01:02 I may not have been able to stomach facing the two of you after that stretch. I'm just saying. 01:08 I don't know what I would have wanted. 01:12 Doing the podcast alone or not. 01:16 Suddenly you're like, that doesn't sound like such a bad idea. 01:21 You had your chance. 01:23 You had your chance. That's true. I did. 01:26 And I'd rather have a partner. 01:28 Oh, good. How you doing? 01:30 Good. Where do you want to go here? Well, I should just say I am in Tra-Rivière right now. Craft Hockeyville is tonight. So St. Boniface was the winner back in 2025. They delayed the actual game itself by a year. So we're having it here tonight in Tra-Rivière, which is just down the road from St. Boniface at... Colise Videotron, the home of the Trois-Rivières Lions, the Montreal Canadiens ECHL affiliate. Looked like it was a great start to the preseason on Saturday for Montreal. 02:01 Both sides of the split squad against Toronto. We'll see who they dress there. And, you know, for Ottawa, a few new names that I think we'll see a couple at least. I'm not sure how veteran heavy their lineup will be, but I think we'll see some of their new faces here tonight in Trois-Rivières. 02:17 Is Eklund going? Do you have any idea? 02:19 I think he will be. 02:20 Yeah, that's one of the guys I want to see. I really want to see Eklund. I like him. 02:25 I like him. I thought that was a sneaky good move by the Sanders getting Eklund. So I'm excited to see him. And you know what? Have you done Hockeyville before? 02:38 I've done a couple. 02:39 That's one of my favorite assignments. And the reason why I did the game a couple of years ago that was outside of London, Ontario, just west of Toronto. And you remember those are the communities where hockey really bleeds through the blood of the people there. 02:59 I remember we did that was the game with the famous Pierre Dorian interview with Dave Amber. where I thought actually Pierre got a really rough break. I watched it live, and I didn't think it was near as bad as a lot of people made it out to be. It became one of those internet pile-on things. But the one thing I remember was how... 03:23 unbelievably passionate the fans were about hockey and how excited they were to have you guys there. And people lined up for Nick Kiprios' interview like a mile long, and nobody wanted my interview to the point where I was helping facilitate Nick signing for the entire mob. It was pretty funny, actually. Can you get me closer so I can get Nick's autograph? Yeah, no, no problem. I'll help that out. So it is a real reminder that those communities are the backbone of hockey support, not only in Canada, but in North America and the world. 04:00 Yeah, so Zach Bolduc is from Tra-Rivière and Sam Montembeau, I believe, grew up just outside of here. So I hope both of those guys are in the lineup for Montreal because that always adds to it. Because the big draw of that game just outside London, I think it was Lucan, right? Lucan, Ontario, that game. And that was Tavares' first game as a Leaf. So that added to the hype there. So yeah, it should be a great time. Yeah, great time here tonight in Tra-Rivière for Craft Hockeyville. We missed it after one year away. How was it being back in studio on Saturday night? 04:32 You know what? It was good, Kyle. I always find it at this time of year, I like to get back to work and I like to get in my mind that, okay, now we're on. Devontae Smith-Pelly was in mid-season form. 04:46 Dave and I were not, especially Dave. And, you know, it was... 04:52 It was actually a good game. We had the game in Montreal where Toronto did not send a lot of their top players. We didn't have Matthews. 05:01 We didn't have McKenna. But the one thing I did notice in both games, and Matthews talked about it, was... you know, Florian Jack, I got into a fight with Marshall Riffey and Matthews credited Riffey after the game for it. And in the game in Montreal, there was one hit and Bluger and Duhame got into it with the Canadians player. And, you know, Duhame was probably the guy who was more suited to fight, but Bluger did it. 05:31 And it's pretty clear if you looked at it, that A year ago, what was one of the critiques of the Maple Leafs? That they were 25 guys, 25 cabs, right? They weren't together. They weren't united. They didn't have each other's back. And in their first exhibition game, we saw two pretty big examples of somebody stepping in to make sure something happened. So it's very obvious that that they are trying to rewire what they were a year ago. I'll say something, too. 06:02 The other thing I've heard about Toronto is he doesn't say a lot, but Bobrovsky, I've heard, has become one of the biggest voices in there, that when he talks, mountains move. And like I said, he won't say a lot, but but they're watching when he does, and they're watching what he does. This is going to be a big week, Kyle. I mean, four exhibition games per team, not as much of an opportunity for someone to make a huge impression, but I think what it's going to force teams to do is make – quicker decisions. 06:41 You know, a guy like, if you look at Montreal, for example, a guy like Reinbacher, like how quickly can he make an impression at the start of this year? And some of the other guys that played, Struble, Jackye, you know, Beck, You know, Jack, as we know, there's been some talk, is he going to play forward this year? I think there's a lot of players who are kind of on the bubble, whether in the lineup or where they're going to be in the lineup, and you have less chance to make an impression. 07:15 So you really have to hit the ground running. You know, one thing I kind of heard is that in St. Louis, for example, they have a bunch of NHL guys who are kind of in the bottom six, and not all of them are going to make their team. And I think the Blues have let it be known that if you want some NHL depth deeper in your roster, guys who've played, we have extras. 07:45 And so I think, for example, that's already a team that's kind of looking and saying, These guys who are either one ways or high two ways, we're not going to have room for all of them. So who's interested? 08:03 Yeah, that, I mean, you can make the case, you talked about Montreal earlier, how many bodies are there, both on the blue line and potentially at forward. If everyone stays healthy, there's conversations to be had there as well. There's really no question about it. So, and the blues part is interesting, especially now with Alex Steen, hands on the wheel, and how he goes to make his imprint on the organization now with him as the GM going forward. So that's going on there. Yeah. We've got Montreal trying to push forward after a great season, a great playoff last year. 08:36 And then, you know, as preseason games get underway this weekend, I can't help but again turn my attention to Columbus. You knew eyes were going to be on that organization going into camp because of how it ended. And Rick Bonas at the podium there, if I am back, I am changing that culture. And then he comes out and says, there's two guys, I'm not saying who, but they come in out of shape. Adam Fantelli is still not re-signed. You had Kirill Marchenko doing his best to sidestep and stick-handle his way on Friday. 09:07 Questions about, you know, how committed are you? Do you want to still be here? What does your future look like? We all know that he's got one year left at a very manageable number for a guy that scores goals. And then I saw, you know, Aaron Portsline's tweeting about their scrimmage and Miles Wood and Eric Branson are going after each other. I mean, which on one hand you think, Great. There's intensity, there's physicality, all of it. But you can't help but think on the other hand, what does this all mean? How is this team going to look when the season finally gets started? So I suppose the Fantilli question, where are we at there? 09:43 As far as I know, I think there has been some movement, but obviously it's not done. You know, I was after our last pod. I had some interesting conversations after our last pod. You know, it's funny. You talk about things or we talk about things on the pod and it kicks conversations loose and you hear some things. 10:03 And, you know, I had a couple of people say to me that this, the number in the Gauthier deal, we talked about the great structure of the Gauthier deal. The number came in lower than I think many of us expected, 13 and a half. But you're willing to take a little less if you get written a check for 18.6 million dollars on a day. Right. Right. So you sacrifice structure for the number. But, you know, a couple teams said to me, the overall number didn't probably help Columbus more than it helped Fantilli. 10:37 Like Columbus can go and say, and you know my argument on this, Kyle, my argument is a good agent and a good negotiator will say, well, that's their situation, not our situation. But I think overall people would say Columbus would look at Fantilli and say, Hey, if go chase 13.5, that should be above Fantilli and we'll see where it all goes. Like there's no question that Fantilli's camp is probably using all the pressure that Columbus is feeling as a way to get the best deal they can. 11:13 So it's poker. As we talk about this a lot, it's poker. Now, Like I said, I think there's been some movement, but obviously they're not there. 11:24 The thing about this and the reason I think that Don Waddell and Columbus has some challenges, it's a puzzle, right? 11:32 They probably, probably need to know Fantilli's number before they make other decisions, right? So when they sign him, then they know, okay, we've got Fantilli at X dollars, and it's going to be above $10 million, but you've got to know where. 11:49 And then you can figure out, okay, where do all these other pieces fit? Because one of the challenges with Marchenko – is he's only making $3.85 million, even though he's not a $3.85 million player. He's worth much more than that, and next year he'll be on a contract that is much higher than that. But if you're trading a guy out at $3.85 and you're adding probably one or more pieces that make more than that, You've got to know what Fantilli's number is so you don't walk yourself into another salary cap problem. 12:27 So I think And there's this thing, too, like this whole thing about the Marchenko trade is that depending on who you talk to, you get differing opinions on whether or not Columbus really wants to do this. And especially now, I think most people believe that Columbus wants to start the season and go and then decide what they want to do. Now, there's others who said, no, they think if they get a deal that they want, they'll move Marchenko. 12:59 But That's in the minority. That's not what most people think. However, what most people do seem to agree with is, absent knowing Fantilli's number, it's hard to make a trade for Marchenko because it's extremely difficult to see them bringing in less salary than they're sending out because Marchenko was so undervalued at just under $4 million. So I think that's kind of what's going on there. Now, Kyle, the other thing I'll tell you, And it was a really interesting conversation. 13:33 One of the big storylines of the summer is how the pendulum has really swung towards the powers in the hand of the players. 13:40 And, you know, I'm not going to complain about that. I just tried to get every dollar I could in a contract negotiation. So... 13:49 I would be a hypocrite if I said that everyone else doesn't have the right to do it. 13:53 I think after watching, like there was one manager I spoke to after that Markchenko press conference that Mark Shegg put on Twitter, and he said that there's a feeling around the NHL that among the teams that the pendulum has swung so far the other way that the teams have to get some control back. 14:18 And I said, well, how are you going to do that? And they said, well, you know, you got to hold strong. And I said, that's easy to say when it's not your team. Like, that's what happens. Like, a lot of guys say, oh, this other guy has to hold strong. And then when it comes to them, they're like, well, I had to. It's my best player. Like, it's funny how that all works. Yeah. But I do think that when you look at the Larkin situation, and again, I know Larkin took a lot of heat for that press conference last week. 14:50 But like I said, he was sitting there saying, I am not throwing any more gasoline on the fire. And I understood why he did it. But between Larkin and Hellebock and now this one with Marchenko, I think there are people saying here, that the teams feel that they have to regain control. Now, it's hard when you're the one going through that maelstrom, and it's hard when that gong show is going on around your team. 15:20 But I do think there's some of that, Kyle. I do think there are people who are like, The players have all the control right now, and we want to try and rest some of it back. I don't think you can ever put the genie back in the bottle. The salary structure is forever changed as long as the cap keeps going up. But I do feel the teams are sitting there saying, this bus has gone past 55, and we need Keanu Reeves to deactivate it before it explodes. 15:53 Yeah. 15:55 So, and just to jog my memory, correct me if I'm wrong. I mean, the difference between Larkin's situation and Marchenko's, I mean, Larkin's request got out. You reported it. But certainly if the player had it his way, that stayed private the whole time. Marchenko, on the other hand, there was more of a deliberate to put it out publicly. Yeah, that came out during the draft from Kevin Weeks. 16:19 He spoke to the agent and it got put out. Yes. 16:23 Right. 16:23 Yes. 16:24 So I guess when you look at it, What else do they have than other to say, no, we're not going to let that public pressure force us in to doing anything? Because when it comes to no trade clause, no move clauses, I mean, those are agreed upon with both parties. Do you think now, do they look at that general managers now? I mean, how many players have some form of trade protection now around the league? Is there a bit of... 16:55 sober second thought and go, did we get a little too excited with handing these out willy-nilly without being exercised in some cases? 17:04 I may be proven to be wrong here, Kyle, but I don't think the teams can control themselves. 17:12 I just don't think they can. You know, for example... 17:17 You take a look at there's there's a young player from Anaheim, Tim Washi, right? 17:24 Like Tim Washi is a really good story. He's a really good story. Like this guy was nowhere a couple of years ago. 17:33 You wouldn't have known him. You wouldn't have thought he was an NHL player. 17:38 Like, he wasn't really on anyone's radar. And then his last year at Western Michigan, he had a really good year. He had 38 points in 42 games. And because he's a big guy and he played hard and the team had a really good year, you know, he was there with other guys like, you know... Teams were scouting Alex Bump, who became a flyer draft pick. Teams were scouting Owen Michaels, who's now signed as a free agent with the Edmonton Oilers. 18:10 Teams were watching him. And so he has a good last year. He becomes a bit of a target. Anaheim signs him. He plays. 18:21 And, you know, they they needed somebody who could win a face off. So, you know, they they liked him. And this year he got a four year extension at two point two five million. And the last couple of years, I think he has a 10 team clause. And I know why Anaheim is doing this, because they spent so much money this year on a couple of guys. They need their depth guys locked in. They need some cost certainty. Plus, he's a good player. Washoe got 10 teams. You would think that that would be the kind of situation where Anaheim could say, we're not giving you any kind of a clause. 18:56 They didn't. They gave him some control. I just think at the end of the day, if we ever get to a situation where this is going to be under control, it's going to be because they make it a CBA thing and Bettman or Daly or whoever does it. I really believe that teams cannot help themselves, and the only way it's going to stop is if the league tries to make a point of it in CBA negotiations. I just, someone's going to, like, as I said before, it's like a lot of things in life, a lot of things in life. 19:30 People say, you should do this, you should do that. And then when it's them in the middle of a storm, they're like, ooh. 19:39 Much more easier to say it than do it. 19:45 Yes. 19:46 And also... Oh, you know that thing I said that you should do? Yeah, I'm not going to do it either. 19:50 Yeah, yes. Yeah, exactly. This is different. You don't understand. 19:55 This is different. There's a nuance here. My situation is not the same as yours. Yes. 20:01 Yeah, exactly. And I suppose there are, and that would not be public, but when you say teams can't help themselves, sometimes there would be... Maybe pressure from ownership to get a certain deal done. Get it done, whatever it takes. Get it done. Regardless of how a manager or whoever's doing the contract may feel, just get it done. Okay, you mentioned a big week, especially because of how quick this preseason is. And it could be an interesting week because on Tuesday in New York. 20:30 By the way, you know what else I heard at the game in Toronto on Saturday night? What was that? The fans ate all the Smashburgers. 20:38 Oh. They needed an emergency delivery of Smashburger meat on Sunday, I heard. 20:43 Now, I'm not as familiar with the concessions as often as I do games there. I'm not familiar with the concessions. I'm not like David Alter plugged in on that front. 20:52 Yeah. 20:53 But is that a new add to the concessions? I don't know. 20:56 I just heard they needed an emergency run on Sunday. My sources told me. So, you know what you're going to have to do? You're working Toronto-Montreal there next Tuesday, right? Uh-huh. You're going to have to eat one. 21:08 And I better get there early, apparently. Yes, you might. 21:13 I said to you, Elliot, Smash Daddy that originated in Ottawa, I saw they're opening a location in Toronto. Put it on your list. 21:21 Put it on your list and come talk to me. Okay. 21:25 So Tuesday. 21:26 Buy an ad next time. Don't have Kyle just say it. 21:28 Buy an ad next time. 21:31 You got to start somewhere. 21:33 This is this is the the the investment. OK, Tuesday, Board of Governors meetings in New York. You're going to be there. And one would assume expansion would be a hot topic, given what we have learned over the last few months on that front. 21:49 You're starting to hear some pushback. 21:54 So I was on with Maddie and Mike last, I think last week or the week before. 22:03 The weeks are starting to blend together, Kyle. It's early. The regular season hasn't even started yet, and the weeks are starting to blend together. 22:12 But I had heard that, and I'd said on the air that I think some of the expansion is farther along than everyone's willing to admit. 22:24 I got a couple of really interesting calls about that. And I'll just say that, you know, one of our early pods, we talked about my theory of expansion, new TV deal, the commissioner moves into a lesser role, Bill Daley steps in, the deputy commissioner. I just had a couple of people say to me, not so fast. 22:52 Not so fast. 22:55 And so I'm just, I'm curious to see what's going to come out of this meeting. Are we, cause, cause remember the, the Houston Austin thing was supposed to be a six month plan, right? 23:08 Well, we're coming up on three. 23:12 So we're halfway through it. 23:16 Like I said, someone just said, not someone, a couple people just said to me, don't run too far ahead here. So I think we're going to find out if, like, again, it's one of those things that becomes, Kyle, you know, when they first announced the Houston Austin idea, there were some reports that there were owners who were against this. 23:42 And there wasn't unanimous support. 23:46 I don't think Bettman ever does anything without knowing. The executive committee is 10 of his owners. I don't think he does anything without knowing they're on side. 23:58 But I just had a couple people say to me that, and I remember at the time I said, okay, people say it, and then when it really comes down to it, Bettman gets what he wants. 24:12 I've just heard this time again, there's some opposition. I think we're going to find out on Tuesday how serious that opposition is or isn't. 24:24 Well, I thought the same thing because, yeah, the league would not be as open as discussing this stuff as they have been over the last few months if they didn't have a pretty good indication of where this was all headed. That's just not how they've operated under the Bettman era here. Now, was there really, I'm trying to think back, Vegas, Seattle, was there much pushback at that time? I just feel once everybody saw what the price tag of the expansion fee was at the time, it was like, yep, We're in. We're in, we're in, we're in. 24:55 There were a lot of people who didn't think that Vegas was going to work. 25:01 And the guy who really deserves a lot of credit there is Bill Foley, because he was adamant it was going to work. And you know what? Like, credit to George McPhee and Kelly McCrimmon. They built a winner right away. They got... 25:16 probably the most favorable expansion draft rules maybe in the history of sports. And they took advantage of it, right? They did a great job. 25:26 So they deserve a lot of credit, but Foley's the guy. Like, I remember at the time, the NHL wasn't convinced it was going to work. 25:35 The first thing they did was they said, you have to prove to us you have a local fan base. Your fan base is not going to be, okay, the Leafs are in town. We're going to invite Toronto fans who can't get to games in Toronto to come down to Vegas and come to a game while you... 25:57 play blackjack along the strip, right? They were not going to allow that. And Foley said to them, there will be a fan base here. And he was right. Like, Kyle, you and I have been to games. It's one of the best places to watch games in the league. And those are serious, hardcore fans. Like, I remember there was one guy sitting near us at the Stanley Cup final last year, and he was wearing a Golden Knights jersey with the number one on the back. And his nameplate said from day, as in from day one. 26:27 and they love that team. But the league wasn't convinced, and they still did it. And Seattle, after Vegas came through, nobody was going to argue against Seattle. And also it made sense because you go from 31 to 32, right? The big hope bet, and hope bet actually fits the term because of where it is, it was really Vegas. They weren't convinced that one was going to work, and they hit it. Not only out of the park, they hit it into an ocean. 26:58 This one here, I think there, I have gotten the sense there's probably more opposition than there was to Vegas, but we're going to find out on Tuesday if there's anything real to it. 27:18 Right. Now, is it a matter of like Vegas? Are we sure it's going to work in a Houston, in an Austin? Are there other reasons why there's pushback? Because there's one thing, as you say, for the league to say, we're not sure about this. Sounds like they're pretty bullish. 27:39 But it's other governors that are going even with the big influx of cash that would come along with it. 27:45 We're not sold. I think that there's let's see what happens on Tuesday. OK, let's see what happens on Tuesday. And then and they'll really have like if it if we hear it's on track and it's coming, then obviously there wasn't the disagreement against it. Right. Right. 28:05 If we find out that they've called a timeout or something like that, then we'll have to figure out exactly what went on. I definitely feel, you know, Daly has been on record many times as saying that they think they have the talent. They don't think the issue is not having enough talent. I have had people disagree with that to me. But, for example, I don't necessarily think that's the reason they would stop expansion. 28:32 All right. 28:33 I'm intrigued now. Tuesday in New York for you at the Board of Governors meeting. How come you're not going? 28:40 I didn't get the invite. 28:42 I thought maybe it was presented to you and you said, no, I'm good. 28:46 Well, you know, I've always said that Sportsnet News makes good decisions. Yeah, exactly. 28:53 No, just a trip to Trader Vieira is enough this week, and then I'm sure I'll be bugging you enough the week after to start the regular season. 29:02 Yes, you will. Yes, you will. Yeah, like, just, you know, I know people are wondering about Hellebach, Larkin, all those situations. Edvinson, as far as Sunday, I had no... 29:15 Other updates. 29:17 Okay. Well, that let's get to the final thought then. And Elliot, we are always open to ways we can make this show better. It's very rare that you or I or Dom can be the ones that come up with the ideas to make our show better. So true. Yeah. I hear you heard from somebody that put forth an idea that you're willing to bring to the masses. What's going on? 29:43 Yeah. So I'm asking for listener and audience feedback on this. OK, so I got a note from somebody who works in the NHL who I think is a really smart guy. 29:55 And this person wrote to me on Friday, 100% feel free to ignore this, but I think your podcast should be Monday, Thursday instead of Monday, Friday. And I said, when smart people make suggestions, I listen. Give me your rationale. I don't want it to go right to this guy's head, but I do think he's very bright. 30:15 He wrote, basically, with seven days in a week, you have to make a decision when you want the extra day to fall. I think it makes sense to have that extra day be Sunday when lots of folks aren't in their cars driving to work at their desks in the gym or listening to podcasts. 30:32 Also, sometimes I won't finish the pod in one straight shot, so I'll listen over two days. But often the Friday one will just never get finished because I won't be listening over the weekend. And then by Monday, the new one is out already. And in general, it feels like often there's so much stuff that happens between Sunday night and by Friday morning that it feels like too long a break, whereas the weekend flies by. And you know what? I wrote excellent analysis. I will take it to the people. 31:02 So I spoke to Kyle and Dom about it because, first of all, I had to make sure that both Kyle and Dom are okay with this. You know, Kyle travels a bit, but, Kyle, you usually travel on Thursdays or Fridays, so you were okay with the suggestion. And let's be honest, Dom doesn't do anything, so it's not like it really affected his week. 31:25 So he was fine with it. 31:27 And so I'm taking it out there to all of you. 31:32 You know, there have been times that we've had chances to reinvent the pod. 31:39 And I've always kept it Monday, Friday because it's worked this way. 31:45 And there's a good listenership. And why fool around with what works? 31:50 But this is somebody who listens to the pod, who is a bright person. And I want to take the suggestion to the audience. So you can DM us. You can make social media posts to us. 32:02 Just let us know. And we'll keep an eye on. You can send your answers to the thought line where Griffin will keep an eye on them and send them to us. Good idea. Send it into the thought line, too. Tell us what you think. Do you want the pod to move to Monday, Thursday, or is your preference for it to stay Monday, Friday? I don't know what the threshold will be. I have to look at it and decide. But if it's close, we'll probably keep it where it is. But if there's an overwhelming desire to move it, then we will move it. 32:38 It's up to you guys. 32:39 Yes, I understand and appreciate the resistance to change, but I am totally fine if we get an overwhelming majority to adjust the second drop day of each week. 32:53 But Sunday for Monday will stay the same. 32:56 Yes, absolutely. All right. Good stuff. That was the final thought. And with that, we will take our first break here on this edition of 32 Thoughts, the podcast. When we come back, a brand new edition of The Thought Line. That's after this. 33:24 Okay, we're back. Time now for The Thought Line, presented by BetMGM. Make it legendary. Elliot, did you come across any podcast listeners while attending U of T Western on the football field on Saturday afternoon? 33:37 Yeah, I only could stay for the first half. The Purple Satan romped to a big victory over U of T. And, you know, I... 33:49 I love going to those games. It was nice. I took my son. We had a great time. Obviously, it was a really lopsided game, but I saw a few members of the U of T alumni there. 34:01 And you know what was actually... 34:04 The U of T was getting stomped, but just down from me where it was a group of like four, I think they were U of T students and they were four girls and they had clearly someone they knew on the team. One of the defensive backs or linebackers from U of T and they were so enthusiastic and they were like cheering for them on every play and they're losing 40 to nothing at the half. And I was just like, you know what? Good on you. Because it's not like U.S. college football here. 34:34 They don't have huge fan bases. So a lot of times, especially when you're playing for a team that is struggling and U of T has been struggling this year, I'm sure there's moments where you're out there like, why am I doing this? 34:48 So I just thought it was really great how no matter what was going on, those four women were cheering on their friend relentlessly. 34:57 But it was interesting. So Western has a cornerback, Owen Jackson. His father is Jeff Jackson, who's the president of the Edmonton Oilers, and he's a really good player. And they have a linebacker. His last name is Tharby, T-H-A-R-B-Y. 35:16 And I was looking at him and I think I covered his parents, his so or at least his dad and probably an uncle. When I was a student at Western, there were a couple of Tharby's. 35:30 I think one played at Guelph and one played at Wilfrid Laurier. And I think they were both linemen. So I'm so old now, Kyle, that children of players I covered are now playing university football. It was a great afternoon. It was a beautiful day. And it put me in a great mood to cover the Leaf game on Saturday night. And plus, also, it brings back memories of when I used to be the Kyle Bukoskas of those games on the score. It was a really fun time in my life. 36:01 Oh, man. 36:04 Any of those tapes still exist somewhere? Did you keep any of them? 36:07 Well, one of the really funny stories is the last broadcast I ever did at the score before I got hired at Hockey Night in Canada was a university football game. It was McMaster and someone. I can't remember who they played, but it was in Hamilton. And they asked me to say goodbye at the end of the broadcast. And I was like, really? We did a big goodbye the night before on the desk. It was a really nice thing that the people at the score gave to me. And they said, yeah, this is your final show. You've got to do it. 36:33 And in the middle of it, the satellite ran out. So it went from me saying goodbye to the color bars coming on. And I thought that was the funniest thing ever. It was as if the television god was like, I've seen enough of you saying goodbye, enough of this stuff. 36:51 Yes, that's right. 36:54 Too long goodbyes are no good. You don't want the overextended goodbye. That's right. 36:59 It was enough. I'm sick of seeing you say goodbye. I have to say, Kyle, the biggest... 37:06 Weirdest thing about the Leaf Regional this week was no Kathy Broderick. 37:15 It's the first time in 23 years I've worked without Kathy. 37:23 Come back, Kathy. We miss you. Yeah. 37:29 You get lost quickly with her around. And I mean you, specifically you. Yeah. 37:35 I'm not arguing with you. Like the things that I'm going to do this year that are going to be stupid and wrong because she's not around there to correct me or point me in the right direction. 37:46 It's going to be epic. 37:48 Yeah. The biggest eye opener for me with the nonsense she has to deal with on a daily basis was when I traveled with you and Dave for two playoff rounds before the final this year with Montreal. And the questions I got asked from you guys about logistics, I was pulling my hair out. Okay. 38:05 Let me just say, like, I can at least travel. I don't know how Dave gets from his house to his car. Like, I just don't. 38:18 I will not allow myself to be put in the same category, okay? The Venn diagram, when it comes to traveling of me and Dave, it's two opposite circles. They do not overlap. 38:31 There's a lot of slander I will accept. I'm not accepting this one. 38:37 Fair enough. Kathy, we miss you. By the way, I did want to shout out our podcast partner, Dom, who on Saturday night, he is the new host of Canucks Hockey on Radio. And Dom, you had your first show on Saturday night. You're the intermission host. 38:58 How'd it go? 39:00 Really well. Myself and Arash from Mars today, we're hosting intermissions now on KISS 1049 in Vancouver. So really well. We're really excited. Can't wait for the rest of the season. And you feel you did well? 39:12 Yes, I felt I did well. Thank you. 39:14 Good job, man. Congratulations. Have a great season. And if you ever need an intermission guest, just call Kyle. 39:22 I'm impressed, Elliot. This is quite the about face. It was just minutes ago. You were talking about how Dom doesn't do anything. So who cares what day you record? And now we're like, congratulations on doing the intermission hosting. That's right. I forgot about that. 39:36 Yeah. No, I'm really happy for you, Dom. Like being an intermission host of a NHL broadcast, that's a big deal. So I hope you do great. 39:45 Um, so I got, do you remember on the last pod, someone reached out to me and said, you didn't answer the question right about the expansion draft. 39:55 Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 39:56 Well, he reached out again and he said, you still didn't answer the question right. Like you did it wrong the second time too. 40:05 And seriously. Oh yeah. Yeah. 40:07 I was like, I've almost forgotten what the question was. 40:09 He goes, uh, He said, if you're only allowed to protect one goalie and you have two goalies with a no move clause that requires you to protect them, what happens? It's not what do you do if you don't have anyone to expose, where the answer is go trade for someone to expose. It's what you do if more players are contractually required to being protected than you're allowed to protect. 40:31 And I wrote, what a loser I am to get this wrong. And the guy laughed and he says, you know what? I don't really know what the answer is either. And he said, if he was to sign two goalies with full no-move clauses past an expansion date, what does the league do when expansion rolls around and you can only protect one? Because right now there's no rules set forth. So he said, it's an unanswerable question. 41:03 Right. Because we don't even know, yeah, if the draft will be different from the previous in terms of who you can protect and who you can't. Right? 100%. We don't know that yet. 41:16 All right. Well, I look forward to revisiting this later in the week about something else you forgot to answer. 41:22 I also wanted to shout out, I was walking around the Indigo bookstore at Yorkdale Mall on Sunday morning and a gentleman who worked there named Peter says he's been working at that store for 27 years. Say he's a big Leaf fan and he can't wait for the season to start and he listens to the pod. So I wanted to shout out Peter. 41:41 Excellent. All right, so we're going to begin today with Mark from Widness, England. Oh, wow. Hello, 32 Thoughts team. 41:52 Back in the spring of this year, I was doing some hockey-related research, and I was shocked and excited to discover that Lord Stanley of Preston, who donated the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, a.k.a. the Stanley Cup, had actually been laid to rest with members of his family in a recently rediscovered crypt under a church in Knowlesley, England, a mere 15-minute drive from my home. I contacted the church regarding going down and being able to see his final resting place, but it was deemed structurally unsafe and had to have some work done to be able to allow visitors. 42:33 Fast forward to today, work has been completed and I got to go down and view the resting place of Lord Stanley. According to the church records, the last burial in the crypt was in 1943 and the last mention of it on record was in 1946. So it had been left completely untouched and forgotten about for 80 years until early springtime this year when some flooring contractors made the discovery of the forgotten crypt. 43:04 Being from somewhere that hockey isn't very popular, you always feel a million miles away from the hockey world, especially the NHL. So to have the actual Lord Stanley buried close by makes me feel a little more connected. Just thought it was a cool piece of hockey history. that a hockey historian or anyone who loves the game would enjoy knowing about. I've attached a few photos I took from today on the email if anyone is interested. Keep up the great work, everybody. Go Stars. Yeah, I'll show you the photos, Elliot. 43:35 It's pretty impressive. It's got the nameplate of them and everything. 43:39 I'm going to start writing. I hope to have a 32 thoughts written out next week, so save those photos for me so I can put them in there. Ask Mark if he's got 31 more thoughts for me, too. That is, first of all, Mark, thank you very much for sharing that. That is a great story. Great story. 43:59 And Mark is a Stars fan, so if Dallas is hoisting the cup this coming spring, We'll know why. Because a loyal fan found where Lord Stanley had been laid to rest many, many, many, many years ago, thereby reconnecting and stars aligning to allow these stars to win his cup that he donated way back in the day. 44:28 My only complaint with this story, Mark, is that a real tough guy wouldn't say... 44:34 I'm concerned about anything being structurally unsound. He would just go in there anyway. That's right. 44:42 Cool guys don't look at explosions. They just turn around and walk away. Don't worry about unstable buildings. 44:49 No, that is an awesome story, Mark. Thank you for sharing it. And I'm glad you had that experience. Like, that is an experience any hockey fan would love to have. And you know what? Maybe what you do here by bringing it to our attention is more people go and check it out. 45:06 Knowlesley, England. 45:08 All right. A voicemail is on tap next, courtesy of Christina from Columbus. 45:14 With the new CBA taking place, a lot of people are commenting about how paper transactions are limited now under the new rules. And my question is just that if under a paper transaction, a player's salary is taken off for the day, because they're signed to an AHL team. Why would a player agree to that if they're getting paid less for that day and their salary is being taken away from the cap? Love the podcast. Thanks for answering. 45:43 So Christina, it's a great question. I think that there's a couple different things we're talking about here, and I hope I explain this right. And the way that this is going this year, if I get this wrong, I'm going to have about 30 people tell me, so we'll know. 46:00 Basically, a paper transaction is that... 46:07 Say a player's on the NHL roster and you want to send them down to the minor leagues, maybe for a day or something to save cap room. And either your team is far away from the AHL team or you're just like, you know what, you're only going to be sent down for a day so you don't actually have to go. The NHL wanted to stop that. 46:30 If you're going to send people down and save money on the cap, you actually have to make them go. So that's why this happens. 46:40 And the, you know, basically, if you're sent down and you don't have to clear waivers or they're within your contractual rights to send you down, like you don't have a no move clause. You can't say no. You know, there's a risk if you're waiver eligible, somebody can claim you, but it's not like you can say no. 47:03 And, you know, teams will do it from time to time. If they're tight to the cap to save cap rooms, they can bank more space. And why would the if you're asking, why would the Players Association agree to that? 47:17 I guess in the overall grand scheme of things, it's like we talked about the other day about limiting the preseason games to two per veteran. Not enough people are going to argue against it or not enough people care about it that it becomes a big thing to stop. 47:36 And I think that's what it is. On the grand scheme of things that the players as a whole are going to worry about, that's probably a lower priority. But the NHL wanted to make it clear that if you get sent down They can't just say, okay, like say, for example, you're in Edmonton. Your American Hockey League team is in Bakersfield. Edmonton can't just say, you know what, just stay here. You're coming up in a day anyway. No, you got to go. You got to earn that extra day. I hope, Christine, that answers all of your questions. 48:09 I believe it does, yeah, because I think the big part of, you know, why would a player accept it? I think in a lot of these cases, they don't have a say in it, right? They don't have a choice. And I really do remember, like, that the COVID-shortened year is when teams really... 48:23 really tried to use that to their advantage, the paper transactions, just because we all know players are getting paid, but owners weren't necessarily making any money because the stands were empty. So trying to save money where they could about papering players on off days where they can get away with that. So over the course of a season, you have maybe 25, 30 days rack up where a player is on an American League salary as opposed to an NHL one. 48:47 A number of teams that tried to take advantage of that when they could. 48:50 That's a good one. I forgot about that one. You know, the worst case, honestly, was before the American Hockey League had their West Coast Conference. 48:57 Remember, you know, LA's team was in Manchester. 49:03 San Jose's team was in Worcester. I remember San Jose had a player, and I can't remember who it was. Somebody will tell me who it was. But San Jose had a player that got sent up and down like 15 times that year. 49:19 Really? Yes. But like not actually traveling each time? No, no, no. 49:24 I think they had to back then. I think they had to go back and forth. 49:28 And I mean, the only good news is they probably had super elite status, but that is a hike. 49:34 Yeah. That is a hike. Right. Well, yeah, Vancouver and Utica for a long time. Oh, yeah, that's another good one. 49:41 That's right. And it's not the company jet sitting there waiting to take you from city to city. 49:47 No, that is definitely not. That's like the Kyle Bacoska special, 36E with no declining seat. That's right. That's right. 49:56 Lois Ferris, you don't get any rewards points. 50:03 Now boarding zone 12. Zone 12. Zone 12. 50:06 You know what? It's so funny. I think of that Key and Peele shit where the guy's like, it's zone two and everybody is like. Yeah, that's right. Nog's wearing a red shirt. 50:14 Yeah. 50:16 Yeah. 50:17 Oh, gosh. 50:18 All of that is so good. I went down a Key and B rabbit hole the other day. Oh my God, those guys are incredible. Oh, just hilarious. 50:26 Yeah. And they came in at a great time when YouTube was really starting to explode and some of those sketches just became cultural phenomenons. Fantastic. They nailed it. Okay. 50:36 Christina, thank you for that. Elliot, we will end with this courtesy of Brock. Hello, 32 Thoughts crew. Is this the university asking a question? This is, yes. Okay. You're speaking for the entire university. Okay. Brock, you. Hello, 32 Thoughts crew. First off, just wanted to say, love the show. Wanted to thank you for making my long drives to work much more enjoyable. Anyway. Brock, you are welcome. We are honored that we can... Make your drives more enjoyable. With the recent naming of Drew Doughty as the new captain of the LA Kings, it got me thinking, something I try to avoid at all costs, us too. 51:15 Yes, us too. Along with Beau Horvat of the Islanders and Nick Suzuki of the Canadians, Drew Doughty is also from London, Ontario. As a lifelong resident of London myself, I wonder... Has there ever been a time in the league's history where there have been three or more active captains of teams that are all from the same hometown? I appreciate any light you can shed on this question of mine, and I look forward to many more commutes made bearable thanks to your pod. 51:45 Well, I'll tell you this. Off the top of my head, Kyle, there is one guess that makes the most sense. 51:55 The Sutters. Okay. 51:58 No. Because Daryl and Brian were definitely captains at the same time. 52:06 And Brent, I believe, was a captain too. But that might have been at different times because the Islanders had Trotje and Potvin. 52:14 Right. 52:15 And so that's why... 52:17 If we're looking for three as the baseline, they're not showing up here. Okay, so I could see that. But very sound rationale. 52:23 Yeah, because Daryl was the captain of the Blackhawks and Brian was the captain of the Blues when I was probably right around my teenage years. But Brent, I don't think, was a captain until later. So that is the first name that jumped into my head. 52:42 So you're telling me we have had situations before where there's three? Yes. 52:47 Okay. Are there brothers? 52:51 There are no brothers in this case. Okay. Now, in sum, it could be the argument of birthplace versus what a player may consider to be their true hometown. Okay. 53:08 Right. 53:09 Well, who cares? 53:11 I know it's close enough. Yes, yes, yes, yes. 53:20 I'm trying to think how recent, like what was the most recent one? 53:25 So. 53:32 If you're. Nah. 53:35 This one's a bit of a gray area because you're kind of looping the GTA together. Okay. Being the resident GTA expert of this podcast, I will rule. Okay. 2013-2014, you had Mark Giordano, the captain of the Flames, John Tavares, the captain of the Islanders, and Jason Spezza, the captain of the Senators. That's perfectly legit. 54:00 Okay. That is perfectly legit. 54:03 Wow. Wow. 54:06 That to me is perfectly legit. 54:12 Okay. 54:14 If you don't have a problem with it? No. 54:17 We're rolling on with that. Yeah. Now, prior to that, the year out of the lockout, now here's what I touched on earlier. 54:26 05-06. Okay, I'm trying to think. I'm trying to think what... 54:32 what players we've got here. 54:33 Okay, I'm trying to put my head into this. 54:41 Okay, 05-06. 54:46 You're talking about... Are we talking about like... 54:59 Like Iserman, Sackett, like that kind of group? 55:03 Because Iserman's technically a BC guy, right? 55:08 Right. 55:10 Are those the guys you're talking about? No. 55:13 I mean, it's that era, but... 55:14 Yeah, because Iserman, I'm trying to remember all their cities, and Brindamore was a BC guy, and Niedermeyer's a BC guy, although Brindamore's from some loser town. He's not like everybody else. 55:26 Well, that's here. This is where, again, what did I say earlier? Sometimes there's a kind of a difference between birthplace and what you consider hometown. 55:33 Yeah, but is it those guys, like that group of guys there? Because they're all BC guys. 55:39 Right, but it's not... And Willie Mitchell was a captain then, was he not? In 05-06? Yeah, because Minnesota had like... Jacques Lemaire had like 11 captains on his team. 55:52 Yeah, but he's from Port McNeil. Oh, okay. So... 55:56 Rod Brindamore is one of the names, again, because he was technically born in Ottawa. 56:01 Oh, so it's Brindamore, Iserman. No, but not Iserman. 56:07 Not him? Though he grew up, I think. Oh, that's right, because he was born in BC. 56:12 He and Raiders, but was born in Cranbrook. Yeah. 56:20 Trying to think of who else would have been. Two others? From Ottawa this season. 56:25 I think both defensemen. 56:27 One's got to be Luke Richardson. Yep. Okay. 56:34 Who am I missing? 56:36 This player that season was captain of Chicago. 56:40 Hold on. Let me think. 56:44 Is it? 56:45 Great storyteller. 56:47 Is it Adrian O'Coin? Yes. Okay. I'm not so sharp on my trivia. I got to get going here. Yeah. That's early. That's a great question. 56:57 Yeah. And there's a number of other examples, like going back as early as 84, 85 years. 57:03 And then the following year, too, Denny Podfan for the Islanders, Mike Bullard in Pittsburgh, and Rick Vive for Toronto. Ottawa again. There's a whole run of Montreal connections. Luke Robitaille, Mario Lemieux, Ray Bork one year. It was a couple years of Ray Bork, Scott Mellenby, Vincent Danfous. Right. 57:23 Of all the examples, Ottawa's featured three times. Montreal... 57:30 Seven times. Yeah, I'm not surprised about that. 57:34 Edmonton once. Because I think the Niedermeyers grew up, I think, in Cranbrook, though Scott was technically born in Edmonton. And Jerome McGinley, right? Yeah, and Messier, the Islanders. 57:46 Excuse me. Did you just call Messier an Islander? No. 57:51 I think you did. Rangers. 57:55 Yeah, my bad. 57:57 And what's the oldest one? Like, what year would be the oldest one? 58:01 84, 85. 58:03 And you said that was some of your Montreal guys? Is that the one? Oh, that would be before that. That's Ottawa, right. Sorry, Potvin. Yeah. Five. Geez, I forgot Mike Bullard was from Ottawa. 58:15 Well, that was a great question. Brock, great question. Yeah. And we just took up your whole drive trying to figure out the answers. 58:23 Exactly. Trying to make sure we knew, in fact, where each guy was from. 58:27 That's awesome. That was a great question, man. 58:31 I never realized there were so many. Me neither. I was expecting the answer back being, actually, this is the first time it's happened. Not the case. It has happened before. 58:42 Plenty of times, which is so cool. All right, Brock, thank you for that and getting our brains going to wrap up this edition of The Thought Line. You can submit your own trivia question or hockey history piece or general question to 32thoughtsatsportsnet.ca or you can drop us a voicemail at 1-833-311-3232. One final break and we'll wrap up this edition of the podcast after this. 59:22 Okay, that's going to do it for this edition of 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Thank you so much for listening. As mentioned last episode, we are still working away at getting music back into the equation to wrap up these episodes as the year progresses. I'm happy to say that we are on track to do so, just working down a bit of a short list to get different Canadian acts clear to be able to play them. The plan is to have them ready to go in time for when the regular season gets underway next week. So check the ticker for the latest on that. And one final reminder that, yes, tonight, Kraft Hockeyville can be seen from Trois-Rivières as we celebrate St. Boniface. 59:59 Here tonight, Montreal and Ottawa on the air at 7 Eastern for Pacific Time on Sportsnet 1. Ron McLean is here on site. I'm here on site. John Barlett, Craig Simpson in the booth for the call. Should be a lot of fun from the Colisee Videotron here in Trois-Rivières. Okay, hope you guys have a great start to the week and we'll see if my days are numbered in saying this. We'll talk to you again on Friday. Take care.