Playing With House Money

Did you just do an Insta story of me? I? Did it before we started recording. What is this? It's just a photo of a microphone and you getting ready in the background. Oh, okay I thought somebody just texted nice Insta story and I'm like what are you talking about? Yeah, I like sneaking like quick ones on you That's all I got going for me Freed cam. It's what the people want welcome to 32 thoughts the podcast presented by your Canadian Toyota dealers and the 2026 Tacoma. It's time to Toyota Dom Elliott and Kyle with you once again on this Wednesday morning and The Stanley Cup final is all square two games a piece five to three the hurricanes win game four So this one was a real blow out Elliott when you look at every other game in this series, but Another game were an early two goal lead means nothing Brandon bussy Elliott gets the call first Stanley Cup playoff start first Stanley Cup final start and this It's clear now is going to be a series where safe percentage goals against be damned The only stats for goalies that matter are the W's and that was what was next to bussy's name by nights and he delivers a win Made the saves enough of them when Carolina needed and they go back home with the win in Vegas that they were looking for I apologize for what I was about to say Hurricanes fans But when the golden nights made it two to one I was convinced they were going to win Carolina had the two early goals But I hated that power play Vegas could have scored three times shorthanded And even though they were being outshot they just seemed so dangerous to me Even when it was three to one I was still thinking Vegas is gonna win this And then McNabb was just a bit late Uh bit late at the buzzer And when they tied it I still thought they were gonna win it So on Saturday in game three Kyle I don't know about you But when the Hurricanes came storming back from that for nothing deficit to tie I think all the night's fans whether they admit or not in the building Thought they were gonna lose They were nervous they were scared Carolina was the better team in the first overtime And when they got out of it with the victory they erupted that was as much relief As it was jubilation This time it was the nights doing the chasing And I really believed everyone in this building thought That Vegas was gonna win And they were shocked that they didn't Thanks with an incredible play By Jordan's stall So we're flying to Raleigh on Wednesday Game five is on Thursday I apologize in advance Hurricanes fans But I really thought you were gonna lose this one That is a great a great way to set up Your arrival back in the my hotel is my room is Yes exactly And if anyone wants to reach out I will have no issue Showfaring Elliott to the location of your Kyle will be holding a sign Friedman staying here. Yes, that's right. We'll have it in the back window of the rental car Elliott's in here Windows please let me get out before you do what you need to do I you know Busy is the story while stalls the other story there's two big stories stall and busy Let me just talk about Busy for a second so Dave and I were at our section getting ready for the show And someone turned around I someone yelled hey and I turned around it was John Ose tutu Who represents Busy and he goes let me introduce you to Busy's family. Mm-hmm. I go oh you guys rushed in just for this one and they all went silent for a second And they're and you could tell they were a bit sheepish And I looked at them and I said I think we have a pretty good idea Your guys starting there were so many rumors But literally I said it was about 20 minutes before we went on air which is you know about 25 minutes before the warmup So we kind of had an inkling at that time was gonna be him. I said don't worry. You're not Telling us anything. We don't already know and it was such a nice family his parents are Robin Lisa His fiancee Mary and Mary's parents so his future in laws were there And and John was wearing a hat and I forgot it says house money on it and it is the family slogan And they sell merch and I'll be going on to the website after To buy the merch because the how the hat the house money at it looks great And that's the slow that quick. What's that you better do that quick before the sold out After you mentioned it too It's it's such a great it's it's fitting that you would win in Vegas With a slogan house money and for those of you unfamiliar with that means it's like when you've already beaten the odds And you're playing from ahead and it's such a great slogan because you look at his career path The fact he'd been on waivers how long it took him to get here Starting out of nowhere really in this spot. It really is playing with house money And I thought he made some brilliant saves in this game He got out from a crossbar here and there like every goal he does but you know That kind of a situation when you start in that kind of a situation It really says a lot about who you are Because a week ago we're all talking about Frederick Anderson As a consmouth candidate and you don't think that a huge game in this series is down two to one is going to be on you Unless there's an injury You know a severe one like you just don't think it's it's going to be you So it showed a lot of great mental toughness And it was it was a brilliant performance like I said I thought the hurricanes were reeling For a good chunk of that game. I don't care what the shots were And bussy had to be spectacular Well, I think they talked about it a lot on the panel of how aggressive he can play now that can get you in trouble But I thought about that one cross crease pass to ikel shortly after Jordan stall and put them back ahead If he's not the aggressive mentality of pushing out to cut down the angle because I could even got it up Like it was just like another inch higher And it was tied again in the third period and he just slid across and stayed closer to his goal line I think that was going in the fact that he pushed himself outwards was enough to cut down the angle and I mean he made a few big saves there in the last few minutes But at that felt like the biggest one. I agree. I agree I'm watching ikel and i'm watching aho here by the way and i'm wondering which one of these guys buss out first You know ikel's got a lot of points He's got a lot of assists, but you can tell like both those guys are a bit snake bit anyway So bussy to me was the number one story this game You know, I have to say I was Before we get to stall I had heard rumors that Anderson was not going to address Obviously nobody was going to confirm it and then we saw check off come out as the last guy and the and the backup goalie and You know initially we were told it wasn't an injury and I know there's a lot of conspiracy theories around this kind of thing um, you know when he took quite the contact from barbershave And I know there were people who were surprised that the concussion spotter didn't take him off the ice But brindamore had been adamant both in the postgame of game three and on the off day on monday that That he's fine and so I'll take them at their word um, he did go out and skate for a few minutes on Tuesday morning early Um, there's not really any morning skates for a five o'clock local to game for either team But he wasn't out there a long time and I know people are wondering okay If that's not it is he being bothered by something else but Brindamore came out and said he needs a rest And if we're going to give him the rest we give him the full rest he doesn't play And I know some people were kind of mocking that or saying who does that in game four of a Stanley Cup final or they haven't had a big schedule They'd only played what 13 games and even though he played every minute before the final I would just ask everyone to remember that he's been through a really really difficult time With clodlamus passing and they work extremely close And if you heard the interview we did before the sir that aired before game two Where he talked about how Clodlamu always fought for him and sometimes even when Anderson didn't fight for himself Lumiu fought for him so I think anybody who's wondering about him taking a day off or a game off just remembers that that's a guy who's been through a lot. Yeah, I appreciate you pointing that out. No question. And Brinnellar also said in the post game here that they haven't even begun thinking about what the net's going to look like for game five back at home. That's either a Wednesday conversation or a Thursday morning conversation. But he certainly does need to think that they're going to they're going to tell their goalie Wednesday night who's playing. Yes. Yeah, I just know that the ring Thursday, yeah, I don't even go. I don't know. Absolutely. I know. That's just what he said. And I'm relaying it. But he definitely does lean on Paul Sean Felder, the the goalie coach heavily when it comes to to this stuff. And with bussy, I mean Craig Simpson showed it during the game. You look at his season early on in the year when he first got his taste with the hurricanes. He went on 11. Oh, one run. Yeah. At one point and late in the year, six on one. So this guy can get on a lengthy streak. I hear Carolina doesn't even need that lengthy of one. They just need three. They need two wins now in the next three games is enough for for the hurricanes to become champion. So he has done it and was good enough here in game number four. And you mentioned the parents. It was a really neat moment. The reaction of them. Yes. Felder has hit the empty netter and they can finally kind of take a breather. It was really sweet. We showed it to bussy in the post game. Really need to see both your parents, Robin Lisa, fiance Mary here as well. There's some great reactions. And then as you can imagine, the crowds, I just want to see this. What do you think? Oh, that's. That's pretty special. So the other reason why I'm able to do what I do right now, there's sacrifice means everything. And yeah, they're the best. The fact that they're here watching this in person, I mean, what does that mean? I mean, flying East Coast, Vegas in one day or this morning is a lot. It means a lot. I can't believe you guys just did that to me on TV. So yeah, it's special though. That'll be a memory I have forever. But I'll enjoy this one tonight. And then tomorrow we move forward to game five. I didn't anticipate he was he was going to be as emotional as he was. It certainly wasn't why we put it there. I just thought it would be a neat thing for him to see his parents in that moment, knowing how tight the family is. And you mentioned the, I mean, their family motto is on the back of on the back of hats, right? So that was really cool. Jordan's stall, at 37 years old. It's been a long, long time since anybody has scored in each of the first four games of a Stanley Cup final. He has done that. And that game winner here on Tuesday night, that one replay of it is going to be a two, I think, live on in the history of Carolina Hurricanes, lore. That was such a great replay. And also the one from behind the net, the slow moll of the puck going in was such a great replay, was great television. So I'm going to ask, I'm going to ruin this. I'm going to ask Rod Brindamore a question on Thursday morning at the media conference. Okay. If 2006, Rod Brindamore lined up against 2026, Jordan's stall, what would happen? Because they both have to be about the same age at the time, right? Yeah. Rod was months away from turning 36. So he's a little bit younger than Jordan at the time. Okay. So they're close. Yeah. Anyway, I see a lot of similarities. That year Brindamore was an MVP level player. He was a hard trope. It didn't win it, but he was in the conversation. And stall obviously wasn't a hard trophy player during the regular season, but he was his usual selky self and all of a sudden, he is very much in the consmouth conversation. Yep. Dave Amber is our consmouth handicap. He's constantly talking about it. He's constantly wondering about it. He first shift to game one. He was like, it's totally true. He looks pretty good. It's, oh my God, he could win the cons might. Like, he doesn't even have a vote and he cares more about it than the voters. And so he's been talking about winner lose, Marner wins it. Yeah. I think Carolina wins now, stall for sure. And that's why I say to echo Dave, we're three games into the final. Like, there's a lot to still be determined here. So to try to say right now, well, even if Vegas loses, would, would Marner not have a legit shot, potentially, but now, I mean, do you not feel differently about that conversation than you did 12 hours ago, Elliott, after watching what Jordan's stall just did? There's, I usually feel differently about my conversations with Dave, about 30 seconds after I have them. Just regret. Regret is the right word. But stall what the fourth guy, what is it? Johnny Bussick, Steve Payne, is it Mike Bosse, the other one? And Mike Bosse, yes. As the guys who scored in each of the first four games. And also if you look at it, the players he's played against all four rounds have been completely shut down in terms of scoring goals. And you know, the thing about him is he's still, you wouldn't, couldn't tell. The guy is 36, 37 years old, right? He's still a monster. And he's still an effective player. And the interviews with you are hilarious. Like they're human, the one from the other day. And then this one after game four, where you showed him the replay and you could see the real smile on his face, hey? And you know, the other thing I think about stall is I thought the hurricanes made, the Canadians look small. I think the golden nights make the hurricanes look a bit small. And Tortorella said post games killing us in front of the net. I think that for stall to do what he's done in this series is even more critical, not just because it's the Stanley Cup Final, because physically I think he's one of the few hurricanes that really can stand up to these guys. Like you know who's really trying his Taylor Hall, like he's really taking runs at people, but a lot of the hurricanes are smaller than the golden nights. He isn't and he's making life miserable on them. And I think that's enormous for this series. Well, I had a conversation with Eric Saul a little earlier in the playoffs and he'd kind of joke like all the genetics that I did not get Jordan got what genetics did Eric not get. Well, he said all the physical ones. And he goes just like the way he's built, like just a way. Eric's leader, Eric's leader, then Eric was when he played, of course, both effective in the road right. But yeah, and Jordan Martin, I can't even say that. And he's been his teammates and switched 2018. And he said of all the errors, he goes, this is from a complete totality of all the different areas that he can impact the game. He goes, this is the best I've seen him. And he's felt that way really all season and then certainly through the playoffs. This isn't a sudden realization. He's been been really, really effective. What's interesting though, Elliot, through I think each of the first four games, second period has killed Carolina, the long change. And they talked about it again. They talked about it on the off date. Like Taylor Hall said, we have to get this momentum. We have the momentum after the first period all the time and we never hold it. And Brita Moore was like, it even, it's not so much in their own zone. It starts in the offensive zone where whether it's a turnover at a bad spot or just lack of awareness when Vegas starts to blow the zone, but it just feels like one pass. And suddenly there's danger off the rush. Carolina's been during the regular season. They were one of the more most effective teams off the rush. And it hasn't been that way in the Stanley Cup final. It's been Vegas doing the majority of the damage there. So that continues to be a story where you mentioned the shot disparity. Keep looking at the shot clock. I felt myself here on Tuesday, Elliot. And it was like, oh, only seven for Vegas, only nine for Vegas. And yet it seemed like they had seven or nine glorious chances. They don't give up a ton of shots, but the ones that do are really, really high quality. I don't know if that helps. The brand new busier friend, Rick Anderson or hurts them. But the few chances that Carolina do give up, they sure are juicy ones. It's just been a bizarre series on a number of fronts and not exactly a defensive lockdown series, which is kind of funny, which is great because the last defense you play, the more entertaining it is. Absolutely. But think about what we've watched from these teams just from the playoffs alone. I know you can become a different version of yourself from the regular season when the game changes. But they've been so good defensively up until this final and now it's been completely different. But to your point, to all our benefit, anything else on this one before we move along for it? I love the drummers. Every game I love the drums show. Love the drummers. The whole show is fantastic, but I. I really do like the drummers. A couple of things, by the way, you mentioned Martinook. He got a good laugh post game. I tried to walk into the Carolina room and the guy stopped to look at my pass and they're like, he's checking your pass. He loved it. - That's like getting carted. - Yeah, it's like, well, we'll get to that and we'll get to the getting carted. I loved when you went up to Ealers after the game and asked if he'd done any curling and went up there. He's like, I wanted to, but why are you asking? (laughs) - Yes, well, because Cuffer mentioned it on the air. He had the one clear laden again. - Yes. - That was perfect draw weight, died just before the goal line for no icing. And then we wondered on the empty net goal. I mean, it wasn't a complete traditional bank shot. It was a rim that went off the stanchion, but it felt like there was some curling magic behind that one too. - I was surprised, by the way, at the end of the game, for the extra shooter or the extra skater, they didn't put out an out there. - Yeah. - I was a little surprised at that. That was the one thing that surprised me a bit. - Right, leading goal scorer for Vegas. - Yep. (sighs) - Too too, man. I feel as it should be. - So there's a couple members of our crew who are staying out here until we return for game number six. - Yeah. - Gene Prince of Pay. I just wanna say, I think that guy, Tans and Butter. (laughs) - I know. - Eight in the morning is when our pool opens, and he's all, while he wasn't out there, he went out to Vegas practice or availability on Tuesday. I don't want people to think that Gene doesn't work. Like Vegas had an early availability out at their practice facility, and he was there. But other than that, he's the first guy at the pool. He's like, the door opens up to the pool and Gene is falling into it. (laughs) - And he went out to the pool. - Absolutely convinced he Tans and Butter. - We're gonna get back here Friday afternoon. - Yeah. - I just wonder, is that gonna be a situation where you know where at the hotel, where you put the bread on the conveyor belt to run it through the toaster, and you've got a crank just a little too high, and it's a little more done than you would like. Is that gonna be Gene when we get back here? Like just a little too much time in the toaster. But he's Tans so beautifully, I feel. He could be out there for a minute. - It's incredible. I'm so jealous of it. You have no idea. - That's what it is. It's just it's jealousy on our part. - It's pure jealousy. - I thought he spent a good truck of time in the sun on when would that have been? Sunday when we didn't have much to do, and you wouldn't know it. Color hasn't changed in the least. - Sorry, I'm completely distracted. I'm on the house money website. - Yeah, you know, you got to put the order in. Do they still have any in stock? - BuddyHockey.com. Yes, they do. I'm buying a hat, and I'm gonna buy something else. Now, this is all the proceeds go to autism awareness because they have a member of their family who's on the spectrum. So I'm adding to that too. - Nicely done. Okay. Few other things to get to in what's been a busy time around the league separate from everything going on here at the Stanley Cup final, Elliott, and we will begin with what's been percolating in Edmonton. And the idea of Mike Babcock becoming the next head coach of the Oilers. You even put up a report. It's onsportunate.ca was posted during game four that the NHL PA has requested the league to investigate what all happened with Babcock was hired in Columbus and then stepped down even before training camp had begun in earnest. There's a lot of layers to this. And naturally when his name comes up, there's a lot of reaction from all sorts of corners here for each. But it sounds like this is a situation where obviously, the particulars when it comes to economic David, Leon Drysaddle, the big names in that dressing room, are were well aware of what the Oilers are looking at here. So bring us up to speed. What's going on? And where do you think this has headed? - So the latest news, and as you mentioned, it kind of continued during the game. So basically the way we understood it leading up to before Tuesday was that if the Oilers notified the league, that they were going to hire Babcock, the league would look into it. And the players association, and I think they have to do this. I don't think the players association has a choice here. If they want to show that they have any teeth and they want to show that they are mindful of the players, they have to step in and say, hold on. And I was told, and I didn't realize this, but I was told that at issue, and the reason the players association is adamant about this, is that when Babcock resigned in Columbus, the NHL was about to do an investigation into everything that happened there, and Babcock just resigned. He just said, look, it's not worth it. Whatever his rationale was, he resigned. And so the league just said, there's no point in having an investigation. I think everybody felt at that time, Babcock was going to retire, and we weren't going to see him in a head coaching role again. Well, now that this has come up, the players association has said, hold on a second. There was supposed to be an investigation that never happened because Babcock resigned. Now we want it to happen. He shouldn't be able to come back without that investigation. And I don't necessarily think it would stop the others from being able to hire him, but I do believe the league will grant this. I don't think they're really happy. This is happening during the Stanley Cup final, but I do think they'll grant it at some point. I don't know when. And I just can't see the others moving forward with the hiring if they know this is coming. I think the others know now that if they really are going to hire Babcock, they're going to do it in the face of an investigation. So how do they feel? We'll find out. And where do you think the genesis of the interest from the Oilers standpoint all started? If you may able to. - Right, this broke after our last part. - Yeah. - You've been able to hammer that down? - Yeah, absolutely I can. Well, you can go through this. It's good way to do it. So Darren Dragger was the first to report it. He got it confirmed first. I'd been working on it for a few days. I'd heard it, but I wasn't sure what, I'll be honest. I wasn't, this is not a story you can go out with when you don't really know what's going on. And I wasn't really sure. I heard that they were interested. I heard that it could happen, but I was trying to figure out what all the facts were. What his status was, what was really going on, and where this was all really standing. And I had heard that, as I said a couple of times now, I believe a lot of what has happened in Edmonton since their loss has come from the top. I believe the owner, Darrell Kates, was incredibly upset about the way this season ended, as were a lot of people around the others organization and their fans, but I believe he was determined to act. And what adds to this is the fact that McDab it is only on a two year extension. Like everybody is super paranoid about what that could mean. And I think he was the driving force behind the coaching change. I think he was the one really pushing for Cassidy. I mean, I'm sure other people agree. He was the number one guy available on the market, but I think Kates was really pushing it. And I think he's one of the people who was really interested in Babcock and pushed Babcock. I had heard, I don't know if it's true, they've definitely spoken. I had some people say they met face to face, but I've never confirmed that. And what's also been confirmed now that I'd heard was that Babcock had met with some of the players. Like I think, like dry settles overseas. So one of the things I was unsure about is had he met with dry settler just zoomed with dry. So like I was trying to knock down all these details. I'd heard he gone golfing with a couple of the players. I again, like there was so much out there, but there's no question. mind that while the players had to be consulted the leadership group about the higher, it wasn't their choice. But if they would have been uncomfortable the leadership group, I think they could have blocked it. And I think the players have talked to all of these potential coaches. Like one of the things that's clear here, and again, I've said this a million times, I have no desire to kick nobloc while he's down. And whoever takes over is going to have a really high bar to beat what nobloc did. Take them to within three wins of the Stanley Cup over two years. But one of the things I had heard was that this year they just felt like even the best players felt they need to be put back in their place sometimes. That maybe they had too much say, too much control, and they needed somebody who was going to say, no, you guys are great players, but I'm the boss and I'll make the decisions. And Cassidy, for example, is not a guy who was afraid to do that. And they interviewed Barube and the interviewed LaVu lat. Like I heard LaVu lat was there last week and interviewed very well. I heard I think the interview Jim Hiller. I'm sure they interviewed some other people. But that's even I think I've heard that the players recognize that they probably needed somebody who would tell them, no more often. And that's how we kind of got to Babcock. And I think they were about to push this through and hire him. And I think the players association got word of it. And they were upset for the reasons that we talked about before. And then it gets out and all the sudden, I think initially the others were like, we're still doing this. Unless we get told we can't. And now we'll see. I mean, I don't know. I don't know where this is going to go as we record this on Tuesday night. I really don't know what the outcome is going to be. But I can tell you in addition to what the players association said was hold on. If there was going to be an investigation, there should still be an investigation. There were two other things that were presented to me on Tuesday. Number one is how would I think some people spoke up on behalf of some of the other players who weren't on the leadership group or who didn't meet with Babcock. I think that there were some people who were concerned some of the younger veterans or prospects. And I think somebody also said, I heard there was someone who spoke up. I don't know if they spoke to the PA or who he spoke to. But you know, like they would say, hey, like what if my player gets traded to Edmonton? Am I going to want this for my player? Or is it going to be harder for Edmonton to get players to go there, even with the talent they have because those players didn't have the chance to meet with Babcock before had? And I think that's another reason that the challenge started to grow. And it just makes me wonder, again, we'll see what happens with this investigation if it's granted and what ultimately comes of it. But however you feel about this, you knew there was going to be some kind of blowback and you knew there was still some loose ends over how it all ended in Columbus, Elliott. So you just can't help but wonder from the Euler's perspective. Even if you think there are qualities to how he coaches versus the situation you are in and seeing the possibility for the right fit, is it worth the headache and the consternation and everything that potentially could still come here, depending on how this all goes and what the PAO's request. I think it just shows you how important it is for them to win. Because I don't think for a second that now suddenly the Euler's are caught off guard going, oh, investigation, we didn't see this possibility coming. No, but the thing is, I don't know if I would say they didn't know that there would be this blowback. But I think sometimes out there, people, I don't know, maybe they think it'll blow over or maybe, like I don't know if there's anything there in Columbus that we don't know about yet, but maybe you're told something and then you find out and you find out later, there's something else. I don't know. I don't know what the answer is or maybe you think that other teams bring in people that have had a past so you can too or maybe you think this time it'll be different. Like there's, I think it comes down to, to me, it just shows that look, Edmonton just came off to newer coaches, J Woodcroft. And let me just say, I'm surprised that J Woodcroft may not get a head job out of this cycle. I'm really surprised at that. And then they did Chris Noblock. So now they did two in a row and you know what they're going to do now, they're going to, they've clearly decided they're going in the opposite direction. I think people find reasons, especially when you're like, we got to win, we got to win, we got to win, and we think this is the guy, you find reasons to do it instead of not to do it. You know, I'll say this like, I had a really, I was going through a really tough point in my life and the two people who gave me the best advice to help drag me out of it were Darryl Sutter and Mike Babcock. And but that doesn't mean I don't recognize that other people have their own experiences which are different. I will never mitigate anybody else's feelings. And I just think that what's happened here is you're so determined to win that you, that that that consumes you. And I hope everybody involved here is really considering all angles. And there's, everybody here should be saying, is there anything we're missing? We already have all these stories. Is there anything we're missing? I think it does speak volumes. The fact that I mean the leadership group at Edmonton has by and large given their blessing. The fact that you've got a Lincoln Zach Hyman who of course played for Babcock. I mean, it became an NHL player under Mike Babcock. And now has a big role with the Oilers. So I do believe that that speaks volumes. But as you know, it doesn't speak for everybody. You're right. This case. So you're right. Okay. Anything else here? Yeah. The other thing I want to talk about here is and this is something that I thought of was another reason I was waiting to write the story before Darren beat me to it is that the question I was asking is what's with the timing? Because so before game one of the Stanley Cup Final, Bill Daly was asked about Cassidy. And he said Vegas is within their right to do it. But they said, look, they don't want to be distracted while they're playing. Let's see what happens when they're done. Now I took that to mean the league will back Vegas saying no, but he they left the window open slightly, slightly in case Vegas changed their mind. Other people have taken that to mean they the league thinks Vegas is going to change their mind. I don't know. I'm just saying that everybody it's funny. Like two or three people, ten people hear the same answer and they interpret it six different ways. So when this got out, I sent to myself, why are they doing this now? Why don't they just wait if they want to hire Babcock, then just say, okay, Mike, you're going to holding pattern. Let's just make sure we can't get Cassidy. Why wouldn't you wait? And I spent a lot of time working on that. And I think that Edmondson believes they won't get permission. Now maybe there's a one percent chance, a five percent chance that it turns out to be wrong. So while we've been here, I had someone say to me and I think this is someone who would know they said to me that Vegas blames the oilers for this getting out. Look, I don't think it benefited the oilers to get it to get out the way it did with Cassidy. I was actually surprised to hear that Vegas thought that way. So I was like, how do the oilers benefit from that getting out? But But Vegas thinks it was from them. And it may not have even been Edmonton's hockey operations. And I suspect it wasn't. But Vegas still is annoyed at the others over it. That's what someone here has told me. And so it's like, you know, people think about Vegas is this kind of group that doesn't care what anyone says about them. Let's just say that's not 100% true. And there are some people who are very sensitive. And I think that they're mad about it. And almost out of spite in a way. Oh, you think this is inconvenient? I think there's a couple of people said to it. So I ran that off a couple of people. And they said to me, they think that's true. So we'll see again, if they change their minds. But I also think that I'll say this too. The feeling here in Vegas is that, and obviously there aren't Edmonton people here, but there's a lot of other people around who are pretty connected. Is that the others don't think they're going to be able to get them. So now they got to shift their focus elsewhere. Yeah. Wow. We knew this was going to be a big off season for the Oilers. It's just getting started. And there's a lot still to unpack to see where that ultimately goes. We've got a few other items here to get through Elliot. But I guess just on the topic of coaching, you said you had a couple of things you wanted to touch on. Well, yeah. So, you know, first of all, I wanted to mention called her cup. It'll be Toronto versus Chicago. And Chicago, Spirits and Astas took over the middle of the season. That's all it's so we now have two interim coaches in the NHL and the NHL, who are competing for championships, John Tortorrella and Spirits and Astas. He's done a really good job there. I'm still trying to figure out if John Gruden is one of Toronto's interviewees. I don't know. But he's obviously got the team in the Calder Cup final and the hurricanes have a chance to win up both the NHL and the NHL level. I heard tonight here that San Diego is about to have an opening for its job. And I'll tell you, I've said this a million times. If the NHL ever expands to San Diego, I'm going there. But Matt McElvin is their American Hockey League coach. He's leaving for an assistant coach job in the NHL. I think it might be Boston. But I heard tonight that that job's going to be open and I can imagine that will be a good job. So that's the one I wanted to mention. And I also wanted to talk about Alex Talk for a sec. Yes. So number one free agent remaining on the market. I just heard I'm careful with this because there's still time. And things can always change with one phone call. But the word at the combine I heard from a couple of different people is that there hadn't been a lot of movement that there's still a gap. Now I had a couple of people tell me he's definitely testing free agency. And I said, guys, I'm not going there because who knows what can happen. There's still a couple of weeks, deadline, spur action. Nobody has to do anything now. You can always do it later or closer to July 1st when everybody really shows their cards. The one thing I definitely did here is that they're still a gap. They're still work to be done there. I keep thinking about what we saw when we went into their dressing room after game seven when they lost to Montreal and him still sitting there in the bulk of his equipment. And it took me back, Elliot. And please, I'm not trying to compare the two situations. But I remember my my first year of, I guess, now what you would call you 18, playing rep hockey. And at that time, you know, I was in grade 10. You played with kids in grade 11 and grade 12. So, um, and I remember the last game of the year. And we got knocked out of the playoffs and one of the guys on our team that was in grade 12 and he knew that was it for him. Like he knew then that that was it. That was a last game of competitive minor hockey of his life. And he sat there in the dressing room. I couldn't tell you how long he sat there with with his equipment on because he just he knew once he took that jersey off, that was the last time he was doing it. And he wanted to delay it as long as he possibly could. And I'm not suggesting or putting thoughts into Alex, Alex, Mike and saying he knew right then and there this would be the last time he'd wear a Buffalo uniform. But I just I keep coming back to that image anytime you mentioned something like that to suggest there hasn't been a lot of movement on a new contract front. Did you just do an instant story of me? I did it before we started recording. What is this? Oh, okay. I thought somebody just texted nice instant story and I'm like, what are you talking about? Yeah. I like sneaking the quick ones on you. That's all I got going for me. Freed's cam. It's what the people want. The freeze content never misses. I put anything involving you out there and it does numbers. No wonder you're so valuable to the company. Okay. Dylan Larkin, there's still lots of follow up with that trade request and where things could possibly go there. So Halene St. James reported three teams. She did Minnesota, Florida and Vegas, right? I had heard different teams, but I don't want to discredit anyone else's reporting. I think I think I mentioned Minnesota, but I tampa and Dallas. But I think the thing, I think for her to report that it's probably a great source. So, but I think the key thing here is that I just believe it's going to be somebody who's ready to win. You know, I, you know, the one thing I think is in, you know, Pat Prason represents both players at the beginning of Quinn Hughes thing. He didn't think he was going to Minnesota. And they, and he got talked into Minnesota. So I think that's kind of important to recognize here. People can be talked into things. I, I already think that you know, Garen's history and he talked about it with trade for Hughes, going hot, make your best offer. I think he probably has already. And I suspect Florida has to. And now it's just a matter of, okay, is it what iserman likes or is it, or as you say, sorry, that's just not good enough. So, but I do think teams have started to make offers. And I'm sure there's something I'm missing out there. You know, the other thing too is one of the things I've really tried to figure out is, you know, where it kind of went sideways there. Someone sent me a note and they sent me video of when he got very emotional when Tyler Batuzi got traded and said that must have been the beginning of the end. I had a couple of people said to me, the Batuzi trade was really hard on him. And the contract talks after that were really hard on him. But they really felt that that was business and they kind of got through it. And then they felt where the relationship and a couple of people tell me this, where the relationship really started to fall apart was as, you know, the Red Wings kept missing. As you can imagine, it would be hard on everybody. And then just kind of what happened around those deadlines and the summers. Like a couple of years ago, 23, 24, Larkin got hurt and he missed a whole bunch of games around March. And it and then after that season, they lost, Gostos, Baron, Peron. And I think those were tough losses because they really thought that they were players that really helped Detroit. And you know, Peron continued to be very effective and Gostos bear has been really good. And as a key part of a potential Stanley Cup champion here, then they come back to next year. They miss out again. That was the year Larkin gets mad. Then, but I will tell you, I will tell you that year that the Iserman didn't add anything. I did have people say to me, he tried really hard like he was out there. He was grinding. He just struck out. It wasn't for lack of effort. And then this year, they don't get Hughes because Isarman wouldn't do it without the commitment of the extension. Um, they may they do get help though. They miss. Um, it was interesting. John Warden, the former trainer from the Redwings who's had some really insightful tweets about it. Talked about Larkin celebrating with the Olympic team and how Isarman might not like that. And then they miss again. This time, Isarman gets help. I think Larkin was pretty banged up, but he didn't produce. And, you know, I thought the, as I said the other day, unfortunately, it was time. I just think Isarman hard driving old school, demanding and Larkin. Um, and I'll say this like, I think it's been really hard. The reaction on Larkin, but even some of the biggest detractors would never say that he didn't compete all out. And, you know, for whatever reason, I think they just kind of lost faith in each other a little bit. And, you know, it's interesting. Like there was a report they haven't spoken in a while. Um, I can't confirm that, but I had heard something along those lines that they for Captain and General Manager, there wasn't a lot there. And I just think that, you know, Nick Kippriell once said to me, one thing I always remember losing sucks. And I think it just drove the wedge into this relationship. Right. Cause it's been, we've talked about it at length three years in a row, four years in a row. Yeah. It's kind of been right there, right there in one way or another. Yeah. And absolutely that can wear on everybody. It's funny. Like, oh, there was something else I said in my NHL network, hit where I was kind of talking with, I was there with Catherine tap and Mike Johnson and Jason Demaris. That day, but it's, it's kind of like that US national team group chat. Right. There's, there's a lot going on out of there. Yes. The ripple effect. Yeah. One of the more impactful group chats to ever exist. You mentioned Minnesota earlier, speaking of them, Mike McCarran, you anticipated there was a path to getting him resigned with the wild and it in fact happens. A beauty of a contract six years, three point three million per. Yeah. You know, some people didn't like this contract. I, my guess is. So I heard from another GM that before Nashville traded him, their last offer was nowhere close to this. They were not willing to do this. And McCarran bent on himself and where the cap was going. And I actually think he took less A A V. So, and Minnesota was willing to give him more term to keep the cap hit down so that they could do other things. Like, I think McCarran, and the other thing too is Minnesota for them. If I'm right and Hughes is going to extend for three years, this is about the next three years and that's it. This is about Minnesota trying to win in the next three years. And maybe let's say they get Larkin or whatever they get somebody else. Maybe they extend the window. But right now, the time is now for Minnesota. So, you know, people are saying, oh my God, you're going to hate that contract in four or five years. I'm like, who cares? Like, this is a win now contract and you'll take McCarran now. At, I think you're going to take McCarran now at 3.3, you'll take it for the next three years to win you a cup. I understand what he's doing. They're in their window. You go for it. I get it. And it's the way we're seeing more and more examples of contracts at least. They kind of wink at what Bill Garen has done here with McCarran. Right? Like, I'm not even talking about the, the marsh and deals of the world. But those types of players where you see a fit there, you've got to get it to a certain number in totality, to get it done and spreading it out over a few extra years. The price teams are willing to pay, especially those in a situation like Minnesota. Okay. Well, with that, let's get to the final thought, which is brought to you by your Canadian Toyota dealers. An Elliott, we had a handful of the top prospects that will be showcased at the NHL draft later this month. Keaton Verhoff was here, Chase Reed, Carson Carroll's, Albert Smith's as well of Latvia. Caleb Maholtr, of course, said that Caleb and Keaton on with Ron and Kevin in the pregame show was, was really good. Need to hear from both of them. But then you knew and Dave had Albert's on. He was the recipient this year of the EJ Maguire Award of Excellence. Had a heck of a year, I thought was terrific with Latvia and the Olympics for a kid that was barely 18 years old. And now just getting ready for the NHL draft. How was he? What was it like being able to meet him and to speak with him for a bit? That guy is massive. And he's only going to get massive. I'm looking at this guy and I'm sitting here and I'm saying when this guy fills out, it is going to be impossible. It's going to be like trying to skate around a tree trunk. Yeah, yes. And I'm not talking about some wimpy birch tree on your lawn. I'm talking about a true Sequoia. This is, yeah, Douglas Fir. A Douglas Fir. Really nice kid. Quite, you know, didn't have a lot to say, but that's fine. Did not have to do the Canadians throw the puck in the garbage challenge. That was a great line with Caleb and Kevin when he found out he missed. And he said, your uncle Steve Nash would be very upset that you missed the shot. But I can see why I've seen him play a little bit at the Olympics and I've watched a little bit of film. I wouldn't say it's a lot, but because he's mobile, I can see why teams like this guy. If you're going to be as big as this guy as and you're only going to get larger and you can skate, that's what championship teams win with guys like that. You know, it was interesting. I was asking, you know, what's his point? Still he doesn't have a ton of points. And I don't know if he'll ever be a big point score, but the one thing a couple of guys said to me is he can pass the puck. So if you're big and you're mobile and you can pass, you're going to play a long time in this league. I understand the hype. Let's put it that way. Yeah. Well, especially when you look at, I mean, some of the defensemen in this series, Alietta, I know this guy does have production going along with it, but Shay Thedore, how effective he is at whether it's stretch passes or just making that first pass out of his own. How valuable that is for good teams. I can totally understand why the excitement is building around that guy. And before the game here on Tuesday, so Emily Kaplan with ESPN and Ranole Bois, Tavia and myself, we all had a few minutes just to go speak to the players just because I think all three of us are going to be there working the draft and Buffalo at the end of the month. So just a chance to say hi and ask some few questions. And I think it was Rano that asked Albert's who his favorite players were growing up or player. And the two names that he said, interestingly, Alietta, because when you consider how young he is, yeah, number one, Sandis Ozilinche. Really? Number two, Arter's Erbe. You know, it's interesting when he maybe he liked you and Ranole better than me and Dave, because he said more its cider on the air, which I thought was a great answer. Yes, but that was kind of more who he tried to emulate. Right. That was when he was with us. He didn't really name a lot of favorites. You know, maybe he just found Dave and I really off-putting. Yeah, he did release one of you. I'll let you decide who. Clearly, it's Amber, clearly. But you know, it's the thing I liked about him was, you know, we put the earpiece on him. And a lot of people, the first time they have that put on them, it's really uncomfortable. It's not a headset. It's the actual ones that go inside your ears. And he was pretty calm. And doesn't have a lot to say. Not in a bad way, just quiet around, probably around people who doesn't know that well, just doesn't offer a lot, which is fine. But like I said, a beast on the blue line for a lot of time to come. And these kids, Ellie, I mean, we've seen it happen in for a lot of years here now, but just seeing them interact with some of the staff with the league that obviously have been doing this for a long, long time. I don't imagine they've had a ton of time to get to know them. But a lot of them took them out for dinner last night, I hear in Vegas or it would have been Monday night. Anyway, He just tell like there's that is a confident group of kids that easily adapt to their environment. Like none of what they were experienced here at the Stanley Cup final in Vegas, all of that none of it looked overwhelming to them. It's just it's a new age of players. That was a final thought brought to you by your Canadian Toyota dealers. With that, we will take our first break when we come back, a brand new edition of the Fought Line. 32 Thoughts the Podcast continues after this. Alright, welcome back. Time now for the Fought Line presented by Bet MGM, Make It Legendary and Elliot I can only imagine with two full days off in the city of Las Vegas, all the different corners of the strip that you found yourself in and who you could have possibly met along the way. Do you have show notes? Well first of all, Dom, which one of us do you think got carted at the craps table? Definitely Kyle, Elliot. Good guest, Dom. I would have loved it if you would have said me, but I can understand why you voted for Kyle. Yes, Kyle, you got carted. Proud moments. So long as I will take that as long as I can. I would too, but it was funny. We're sitting there in a casino and we're about to play the game and they're looking at you and I was like, who are they? Who are they siding over then? It's you. They asked you for your license. It was great. So I think what we should talk about here though is that so Dave really likes craps. He's good at it. He likes it. And I can see why? Yeah, it's a fun game. He likes the fact that everybody can win it. Someone can win for it. Anybody at the table and or everybody at the table. But you had a big run. How long did you hold the dice for like 20 minutes? I don't know of that. I was probably closer to 10 maybe it just felt like 20 when we got got into it. But the thing was because we got there and the guy that was rolling when we first started, he came out hot. Yeah. So built this up a bit of a question. And then suddenly it was like cold, cold, cold, cold, cold. The next three, four rollers including and I was ready to like walk away. So I thought I'm going to be cleaned out here before I know it. And then suddenly a few people backed out and so the role of roller landed on Amber. I thought, okay, I can't leave if he's going to roll. And maybe I should have because that was short lived. It was like maximum carnage when he crapped out. And then it got to me. And I think again, I was ready to leave and you're like, well, you can't leave now. It's your turn to roll. So I knew I had to dig in for the group. And there was no right time or reason why it happened to work. But my most proud moment as the roller Elliott, because we got going a little bit. And at a certain point, you threw a bet down on me rolling a hard six because I had rolled six a few times and you finally put a little bit of cash on that. And I get the hard six for you. I was so happy about that. Yeah. That was that was great. I I I mean, I put that money down. It wasn't a lot expecting to lose it because you never win those rights. And you nailed it pretty quickly. But personally did a great job. You were hugely successful. You lasted much longer than Dave or I did with the dice. But I noticed that whenever before you threw them, you were you were fiddling with them so that a nine was showing. What's the why were you doing? Well, nine was my favorite number right. Paul Korea. I tried to wear that as much as I could growing up whatever sport I was in. And so I don't know because the guy again that that was hot when we first got there, he had a whole kind of pre shot routine, which I kind of liked because it was working for him. And those in between did not. So I have to do something here. So I guess in the moment I decided the numbers facing up was going to be nine. And I chose six and three to kind of get there. So I had to fix the dice. So we were showing that I did like this little wrist roll action, whatever the hell that was. And then I tossed the dice. But again, it like started to work. We were on a bit of a run. So I couldn't change it. And I stand by my decision because I'm determined had I not done that. They would have been much different. Anyway, great job. Great job. Actually, by the way, not only was I carted at the table, I was then carted again at the cashier when I went to cash. It would be hilarious if they said, sorry, you can't have your money or two young. Keep the chips. No cash for you. Yeah. So there are some shout outs. There was a Vegas fan. I met Sarah Rose or husband, Weston. Sarah is a ringer for Velma from the old Scooby Doo cartoons. Oh, nice. But she's a big Vegas fan. Then I met Francois Bourbon, a actually, we met him. We went to Shake Shack after three. And Francois Bourbon, yeah, was in Vegas playing in the world series of poker, not the big event, but one of the smaller ones. It's called event 18 Monster Truck. I asked him, how are you doing? And he said, the buy-in for that was $1,500. He'd already recouped his buy-in. So good job, Francois. Hope the rest of the tournament went well. We met one of Logan Stankovans youth coaches whose name actually is Connor McCoach. I didn't believe it when he first told me that. He's like, you're putting me on. He's like, no, that's my name. Bill Orrando, what's that? And I carted him. That's right. Billion Orrando from Victoria. I was going to shut out the Victorians because it's from your island out there. Jamie Hendrix is a former Kanox trainer. He was at the game with his wife Jill White who still works for the Kanox. And their son, they drove down from Vancouver, 20 hours. And then I met these two other fans from Alberta. Their names were Ethan and Luke. And I'm like, did you guys drive down to? And one of them said, are you crazy? Have you seen gas prices lately? So that flopped as a question. Then there's a couple other people I wanted to shut out. So I met these two fans from Washington, Mark and Jerry. And one of them, big capitals fans, they just wanted to come to the Stanley Cup final. I was like, you're back to the scene of the crime in the 2018 victory. They were like, they love that that got point out. But they're just big fans of came. And one of them was wearing a referee jersey. And he said, he showed me his phone. And he says, this guy took a picture with me. Do you recognize who this is? He says, Hey, I'm a ref. Can I take a picture of your referee jersey? Oh no. So it was NHL referee Kyle Reeman who was at the game because he's buddies with Garrett rank. And he just wanted to come support rank who's finally got to work a Stanley Cup final. So so actually I saw Kyle Reeman there with his wife, Alyssa, just said hi to them briefly. I thought it was kind of cool that an official would come to support another official, like sometimes players were who were friends. I wanted to shut out an eye doctor from Vegas, who's a regular listener of the pod, Dr. Matt Kutnelli. And I met a couple members of the Vegas off ice stats crew. I was rushing to the dressing room after the game. So I couldn't remember their names, but I wanted to show them out. The last thing I wanted to mention was I had some buddies and some people who wrote in and they were like, what was Kevin talking about with your nail clipping in public? Oh yeah. He brought this up on air in game three. And so this is what happened. I walked from our hotel to the rank before game three, which is about a 30 minute walk. And I was not on the strip. I was on one of the back roads. And I was by myself and I brought in the L Clipper and I clipped my nails while I walked. And some people were like, that's disgusting. And other people, Jennifer Bauderol was one of the people fuck was really disgusting. And other people were like, no, was anyone around you? No, you weren't on the strip? No. It was basically private. Yes. Perfectly fine. Where do you fall on this? Yeah, it's a note for me, dog, because especially when I heard that, I thought there's no way this is the first time you have pulled off an act like this. Am I right? No, it's true. Like I've done it when I'm driving. Not like actually moving, but when I'm stopped somewhere, explain some things. I guess it's seem even worse. But never around other people. I guess, but there's plenty of things you still like I'm doing it, like watching the game tonight in the real. I know you're still just like leaving your DNA in areas of Vegas, even if it's not the strip. And I still think that that probably wouldn't even make the top 20 of strangest things you could see on the strip. But that I agree with. with man. I can't I can't get behind it. I really can't I want to support you and try to find loopholes in life to save some time. I think now when you just got to take the extra two minutes in your bathroom, your sauna bathroom. Blur so soft. Yeah, this guy walking on the sidewalk, clip biggest toe nails or his fingernails going, I can't believe how soft people are. That's such a visual. No one even saw me do it. I know, but I think there's a lot of things in life where even if people didn't see it, doesn't make it right. And I'm kind of put this one in that category slightly. Oh my guy, you are your own content machine in so many ways. It's great. Okay, okay, we're going to start with a voicemail here because I've been called to the carpet. This is Bruce from Henderson, Nevada. So there you go. All right, it tells you how much I know about this brand of chip. I had no idea. It was capitalized the UT and the Z or the Z was capitalized in the notes. So I thought he just read the letters, but turns out it's UTS. And now I feel like a PUTZ. So I have to do I have to do the big Turk. I have to find a big Turk. Yeah, that's right. That's one of food hunts. Yes, we get to Raleigh, big Turk and UTS. By the way, there was somebody I think in the crowd at game three who also said told me that UTS can be bought here. Oh yeah. Yes. Okay, so I guess the point is you said the flavor. Yes, that may be the ultimate decider or what makes getting them in in Raleigh unique was the was the barbecue flavor. Okay, this this edition of the Veline Elliott, I call it this is your life. Okay, we begin with Matt from Kelona, BC. Hi, Jans, Slough the pod. First a fun fact. I once worked as one of Elliott's minion reporters when he was the sports editor for the Gazette, the official student newspaper of Western University. Really? Yes. Any recollection? The only Matt I remember is Matt Casey. Okay, you're close. This is Matt Carter. I'll be honest. I'm sorry. I don't remember that individual off the top of my head. All right. Well, there you go, Matt. And that'll do it for the note. No, no, I guess this. But guys, here's my question. How do NHL teams account for bonus laden contracts to ensure their team is still cap compliant? What made me think of this was of Guinea-Malcons recent contract extension. He signed a five and a half AAV one year deal, right? Two questions. Why is it structured as two and a half base salary and three million in bonuses? And how are the additional performance bonuses calculated? For example, if a team was against the cap, could they ever be in danger of going over because a number of their players earned performance bonuses? Thanks again for the pod. 32 thoughts is a must listen for me on the long drives through the interior of British Columbia. And thanks for not firing me in 1991, Elliott. Pretty sure I was an awful writer. I will say this. You're probably nowhere near as bad as you think, Matt. And there were some people who were definitely worse. One of whom is the co-host of this podcast. So thank you for listening, Matt. Always good to touch base was somebody from my past. So there's three types of players that get bonuses. Number one, entry level, guys signing their first deal. Number two is players over 35. You can sign a bonus contract. And number three is players who've missed a lot of games due to injuries. If you've really been hammered by injuries, you're allowed to sign bonus late in contracts. So the simplest way to say it is let's just say, for example, I'm signing a Kyle is bonus eligible and I'm signing him to a contract and he wants $2 million is the base without any bonuses. He wants $2 million. If I only have one and a half million in cap space available, I can't give him that. I can't do that. Your base salary always has to be cap compliant. So if I have a million and a half available, I can give Kyle a million. I can give him as close to a million and a half as I want. But I cannot give him a base salary that puts me over the cap. Boneses are different. If you're one of those three groups of players that are eligible for bonuses, then you can go two ways. Either you have them all all the bonuses that are reached fit under your cap or if you can't fit them in one year, you can put them on your cap the next year. The problem is whatever your overage is gets taken off of next year's cap. So for example, let's just say this year you had bonuses and you were $3 million over the cap. Next year, you lose $3 million off the top of your cap. You can spend $3 million less. So that's the way it works. But if your bonuses take you over, you can put it towards the next year. Pittsburgh with Malkin, they have a ton of cap rooms. They really don't have to worry about this a lot. But of all the sudden, they do some blockbusters. They give some big contracts. On the off chance, they have trouble next year. They can put it on their cap the year after. That's how it works. Excellent. Up next, this is from Jeff, Jeff, either Byterman or Beaterman. Do I, did you say I know this person? Well, we're going to get to that. But if it's the person I know and I think I know and if it's the Jeff, I know it's, it's Beaterman. All right. There we go. Dear Elliott and the hangers on just kidding. Love everyone on the show. But as a proud member of the venerable Mr. Friedman's demographic, I do think it's time we 50 somethings got a little respect. If not from the raccoons, then at least from fans desperately hoping to hear their name said on your podcast, certainly not me. Jeff, Beaterman, but I digress. I'm sure I'm only the 97th person to flag this egregious error, but it was Eugene Levy who hosted the classic SC TV Half Whits sketch. Okay. So first of all, Jeff and Kyle, thank you for putting this in because I got a bunch of notes about that and I forgot to mark it down. I screwed that up and there were a number of people who actually sent me the links to the YouTube's and I realized right away to my horror that Eugene Levy was the host and Joe Flierty was one of the content. You know, I must have gotten confused when they did the news, SC TV news. Oh, yes. Joe Flierty was the serious newscaster. And so I must have just screwed it up. I kind of mixed that up. But yes, several of you pointed out my egregious mistake. Car did guy had it right. What were the odds of that? Okay. So Jeff continues question for the pod and I want honest answers only. I assume one day we'll reach the point where fans can get a direct feed of the behind the scenes conversation between the crew and the broadcast team. Until then, I need to know when a playoff game that seems headed for a decisive four-nothing finish, somehow lurches and over time how many quote are you bleeping kidding me moments are thrown around. Is it pure production panic prep mode where everyone is figuring out what to say, who to interview and how to fill the time or is there genuine chagrin that your I'm going to be in bed my midnight plan has been delayed indefinitely. You can tell me we share the camp cabin in August 1981. The summer of Bolo bats that kind of bond means something love the pod keep making camp Timberlane and YMCI proud. So YMCI is York Mills collegiate. That's where I went to high school. I do remember Jeff. We were in the same cabinet camp Timberlane. And I should shut out another friend Cory Mandel who bought camp Timberlane and has made it an even bigger success than it was. He and his son went to go see the Canadians twice in the Buffalo series. I think they went to game six in Montreal and they went to game seven in Buffalo and saw the victory. I should shout out sports net editor Mike Corine who's a huge Sabers fan who drove down to that game seven. I'm sorry Mike. I know how hard that was. Anyway, so that's that's funny. I remember Jeff very well. Cory didn't ever mention what his son's name was. So I can't shut him out, but they're big names fans who went to those two games. So the honest answer Jeff is that for that game, the game three that was four four nothing four four and then double over time. Nobody's complaining about that. Nobody. That's a great game. You love to be part of them as we talked about on the pod. When our careers are over, we'll say boy we were there for that night and it was incredible. I mean also it like if you're not enjoying being at that game, then just leave and give someone else the opportunity to work it. You shouldn't be there. So when you're asking me to be honest, that's my honest opinion. If you can't enjoy that game, get lost and give the job to somebody else. I will tell you where I've seen people lose their minds before. So years ago, I think it was my first year at hockey night, which would have been, I was 0304, maybe was another year later. But early in my time at hockey night, Vancouver and Dallas played in the playoffs. 2007. 2007. 2007. So it was three years into my time there. And on the first night of the playoffs, what did they play for over time? So you have to understand, Jeff, and everyone else, at that time, you're doing double headers for the first two weeks of the playoffs. You get your first game and then so that game would start at whatever time. And all of a sudden, you're in quadruple over time on the first night in the late game. And that's a night where people are like, kill me now. It's not like they don't enjoy it or they're bad attitudes. It's the first night of a two month run and you get quadruple over time. And what they all would tell me, I was a ringside reporter then. So I would have been probably an Ottawa, because I think that would have been a year Ottawa was the early series for us. So I'm not in the studio. I'm not working in the West Coast. And they tell you if you get quadruple over time on the first night, you never catch up. You need a short series. And that one, I think went seven. Yes it did. So you never, you're behind your under a rock right away. Those are the killers. Those are the ones where people say, please God, have mercy on my soul. I think both Ron and Kelly have talked about that game like it. And to your point, they're going that we were right for weeks after that because it came right at the beginning. And it was a perfect storm of the late game that goes into four over time. So even later for them working in Eastern time out of the studio in Toronto. And I'm with you. I think when you get into these situations, whether it's a feverish, forgull comeback or not, in the moment you're just living what you're seeing. Right? I mean, that was Saturday night. We didn't have a flight the next day. We had nowhere to be. It started at just a little after five o'clock, your local time in Vegas. It could have been much, much worse for us, but even in situations that are less ideal, it's really, you're just focused on the game itself. You're enjoying what's playing out in front of you. For me, like my mind doesn't wander to all the other stuff. Like maybe afterwards you get back to the hotel and you're like, holy smokes. Okay. Now I got a pack because I've got to be up in three hours to get on a flight. And then it hits you a little bit then, which I think is only human nature. But in the moment, it's all about the game in front of you because, man, waited all year to get to the playoffs and you want to enjoy what's unfolding. Okay. One final one here, Elliott, comes from, I don't think this is from your past, but you never know. This is Caden from Edmonton, evening boys. Even though many of us projected this final not to have many goals, we have been proven wrong. So what's the most on average total goals in any Stanley Cup final? I'll say eight. So you're not too far off. There are two series that tie at the top. Canadians Black Hawks in 73. That was the eight seven game there, remember? Yeah. And Maple Leafs Rangers in 1932, both of those had an. Are you serious? Nah, yeah. I am. Both of those had a 9.33 total goals per game average through that series. I would never have gotten that 1932 one. I'll tell you that. Number three and number four on this list came in successive years, both with the Islanders, 1980 and 1981 versus the Flyers and North Stars respectively, eight and a half and eight point four. And as of right now, coming in at number five is this Stanley Cup we are currently covering Elliott, Vegas and Carolina, 8.25 goals we are averaging through four games in the series. The average actually drops slightly after game four tonight because there was only a mere eight total goal scored. Always happy with no defense. Keep it coming. We'll see how much that number can climb here throughout the rest of this final. Great. Caden, thank you very much for that question. Thank you to everybody who submitted. That was a thought line presented by BEMGM, make it legendary. You can submit your own at 1-833-31132. 32 if you'd like to leave a voicemail or email us at [email protected]. We'll take one final break and wrap up this edition of 32 Thoughts the Podcast on the other side. So that is going to do it for this edition of 32 Thoughts the Podcast. Thank you so much for listening. Now we will be spending today hustling back to Raleigh, North Carolina with only one day in between game four and game five. Said game five goes Thursday night. Hockey Central pregame show will be on the air 7/30 Eastern time for 30 Pacific from the Lenovo Center. Pucked off a little after eight Eastern five Pacific on CBC and Sportsnet, the Stanley Cup final. All tied at two games a piece. It is down to a best of three. We have a great couple of days we will speak to you post game five on Friday morning.