The Buyck Stops Here

Before we get started, we wanted to hit pause for a moment for the horrifying situation at CFB Wainwright. We're still learning what all happened over the weekend, but unfortunately, we do know it is a tragedy at the military base there. All the love we can share is going out to the Canadian Armed Forces there, their families, the Wainwright community, the first responders, everyone that has dropped everything for the time being to help. We are thinking of you. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Dom Schrammati is our producer. Elliot Friedman is our insider. My name is Kyle Bukowska. So, Elliot, this Sunday. This Sunday, we will all be in Winnipeg at Princess Auto Stadium for the Tim Hortons Heritage Classic. Two great uniforms, great traditions between the Jets and the Canadians. Should be a wonderful scene there. But before we get there, we should get to the check-in, which is brought to you by Expedia, the one place you go to go places. And that is because the Connor Hallibug file has not only not yet been settled, but it's almost been. Reopened, in a way. Sounds like there is a path where Hallibug could return to the team as soon as this Friday, two days before that outdoor clash. But all of it kind of dates back to October the 2nd, the day that the Jets officially began their regular season. So, why don't you give us a rundown of what you learned over the last few days and where things stand between Hallibug and the Jets? Kyle, I would bet. Against Hallibug being there next weekend. I kind of do, too. I felt I talked too much last pod. I listened to Friday's pod, and I hated how much I talked. So, I'm trying to be. I'm trying to have more brevity this week. Anyway, my belief is that if Winnipeg can't trade him. By Friday, they'll just tell him, look, we're going to pay you, but you're not coming in. That's what I expect to happen. I especially don't expect to see him there. Like, that's a big weekend for the Jets. It's a great get for them. The Heritage Classic, the outdoor game. They don't want it completely overshadowed by a Hallibug arrival. So, that's number one. So, let's take everybody through this. What did we not know? And I'm going to tell you, one of the calls I made on Saturday, when I explained what I was asking about, you know what someone said to me? How do you know this? What took you so long? Oh. That's got to just feel great. I have to give credit to the Jets, HelloBox representatives, the League and the Players Association. They kept this quiet for two weeks, basically. Now, I will say, initially I reported that he told the Jets that he was ready to end his absence and join the team before the opener. I had some people who disputed that, but it was right around that time. But around the time of the opener, and the Jets opened on October the 2nd, he informed them he was ready to come back and rejoin the team. Now, because he had left them and not shown up without permission, the Jets had some added power under the CBA, where they could give him a suspension of reasonable length. And Kyle, why do CBAs and agreements get written up like that? For one reason, so lawyers can make more money. Because the NHL's lawyers and the Players Association's lawyers worked out an agreement where reasonable was about two and a half to three weeks. It's this coming Friday. So they can't suspend him any longer. Basically what it comes down to, if a player who has a contract wants to play for a team, you can't tell him no and not pay him. Which is why the Jets will have the option to pay him, but tell him to stay away. And we'll see where this goes. I think there's a couple of teams here that hold the keys to this. And the three teams I'm going to put in those positions are Buffalo, because they've wanted Hellebuck, and he is willing to go to them. Number two, the Rangers. Not because they want Hellebuck. I don't think that's likely. But whatever Chris Gurrie is going to do here with the injury to Shusterkin, it could set a chain reaction around the league. You know, people were sending me notes after Dylan Garand had that rough night against the Devils last week. Oh, the Rangers need to make a move. I don't necessarily agree with that. Even the best goalies are going to have stinkers, and he's generally played pretty well. I just think the overall arch of their season, especially with the Rangers being as competitive as they are, I think they feel they can do better. So I think they're going to do something. And the third team I'm going to put here, and I think they've kind of been in and out and in. And out is Utah. And, you know, the goalie metrics are different depending on which site you use. And I always think to remember that teams have more detailed information. Like some of the sites that do the goals saved above or below average, they do really good work. I don't want to discount these sites. Their information is valuable. But the teams have more to access than the public does. But Kosa's. Kosa's been pretty good. Vemelka, by goals saved above expected, is off to a rough start. And this is a big year for them. A very big year for the Mammoth. And, you know, the thing about Utah is they grind you in trade talks. They kind of have that reputation, which is fine. But if they want something. Like you look at Vincent. They wanted Trochak for a year at least and finally got him. They've been in and out on Hellebuck. That says to me they're interested. Now that it's real. I just want to see if they're a factor at the end of all this. We all know that Caroline has been interested. There was even a picture. Circulating of the two GMs, Eric Tulsky and Kevin Shevelday off talking. On Saturday afternoon after the story broke. I've reported many times. I don't think it's an easy deal for those two teams to make. Although I do think Caroline is interested. And I always assume there's other teams out there I'm not seeing. But I think it really comes down to Buffalo Rangers. Possibly Utah. Possibly Carolina. You know LA. Frank reported LA. The way they're going. I don't know. I also find it very hard to see what the trade is there. Kyle. Like I look up and down. And I'm thinking. I don't know if I see the match. But. You know if. And when I'm talking. Talking about Utah by the way. If the Rangers go get a Lukanen. Or the Rangers go get a Vemelka. And I think those are two of the guys they've looked at. I also heard Scott Clemonson. This guy's going to think I have air tags in his bags. I heard he was in Calgary last week when Anaheim was there. Assume he was maybe looking at Huso. But the Ducks don't have a lot of depth in goal. So I don't know if I see that. But and I think he also saw an AHL. game there. But Vemelka and Lukanen are two of the guys they've scouted. Let's see where this all goes. Deadlines spur action. But as I've said many times. I think the Jets prefer no deal. Over a bad deal. Though it's much more difficult. When. You actually have to pay somebody. Not to be there. I don't care. How much money you've got. Nobody likes that. For what it is worth. Karel Vemelka. Three more years on his deal after this one at 4.75. As you know he's played a lot for Utah the last couple years. Yeah. Even if a team saw him. Let the league in games. Played last year. right yeah even if you saw him as a 1b guy that's very that's pretty good value there in terms of what he is owed over the next little bit so i can understand why a team whether it's a new york or otherwise uh could be attracted by that and the other thing too i mean you played the clips after the jets game on saturday from adam lowry and then scott arneal i mean they they just there's emotions running through them because they just come off a loss but i mean it's quite clear they don't want any part of hellebuck back in the mix there they've moved on so kyle it's interesting i got slightly scolded did you see the afternoon panel during the winnipeg carolina game that we had about it ron kevin luke gazdik and myself conversation no i didn't yes well why would you have my own game to prepare for oh my you prepare i had 30 seconds i had 30 seconds that took me hours to iron out prepare please prepare that is what we're preparing we're always preparing thanks for the support thanks for the support kyle well so luke said and i always defer to luke and kevin those guys played the game and they didn't win the game they didn't win the game they didn't win the game they've been in those rooms they they understand the way players think much better than i do and luke said he finds it very hard to believe that the players wouldn't embrace and welcome him back based on his experience very legitimate position i said no they don't want them back want him back and i will say that somebody reached out to me on sunday and said you don't speak for the players here and i said that's fine that's totally fine that is my opinion but they said you don't speak for the players here and like i said that's fine if you've heard me talk about this stuff before i i i am i am careful about stating i don't purport to speak for people but i wanted to throw that in there what i had heard is that if hellebuck came back and he was committed to the jets and he was staying there they would make it work but if he came back just to tide over the days until he gets dealt they didn't want that and i think even if hellebuck comes back it's not to stay it's kind of like the weird limbo that larkin's in in detroit it's it's waiting until you have a trade and like i said my opinion like you said i don't think the jets players want that yeah i mean it's human nature i put whatever you do for a living career-wise and the equivalent of that to what we're seeing here in winnipeg like why why would you understandably and it's not about having any hard feelings or um going down a path where you hold a grudge or anything but you want to be elsewhere and i think that's what i'm saying i think that's what i'm saying no problem okay that's clearly taking some time to get sorted out but you know in the meantime winnipeg has dealt with enough through the early part of the season the summer all of it coming off a really hard year last year and and it's clear they've dug in like i thought they gave for the most part carolina almost all they could handle on saturday you know that's they've continued to be the class of the league they've got good results and now to have to look at this as a potential stop gap situation uh if that were to be the case yeah i i could totally understand where if the players felt we don't want any part of that it would make total sense i would feel the same i'm still really hurt you weren't watching every second of our broadcast i am mortally wounded in my office here yeah i could tell your shoulders just slunked i also kind of wonder if the jets gave clay stevenson that game for a reason let's see against these guys let's i am so impressed by the hurricanes by the way no stall no hall no jarvis yet and jarvis is in a contact jersey now so it's any day any day now he's gonna play yeah sudden scoring sunday morning yeah sudden scoring sensation mark jankowski didn't play sunday night in calgary and they keep winning yes they just keep beating teams and again the ice was tilted against the jets in terms of shots i thought stevenson was was good could he have won sure but there was nothing i saw in that game that said to me he's incapable and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if the jets made a decision we need to see him against the top opponents i also just have to say so we're watching this and carolina's playing calgary here on sunday night when we talked about the league encouraging teams to do uh colored helmets with their white jerseys more and carolina was kind of one of the pioneers of it the last few years so there's a lot of they're actually they're wearing their white helmets here sunday night in calgary with their white jerseys and it just looks weird like i've gotten so used to their red helmets with the whites doesn't look right tom dundon is the kind of guy who would hear us talking about that and say oh yeah the league legacies well watch what i'm gonna do i'm gonna do the opposite total hipster move oh it's become mainstream nah we're out we're out we're out league wants us to do this no no we're not doing it that's over yeah although the flames did get a huge win over these hurricanes their first home victory and the flames needed that reward the home fans great night for them okay well anything else on the the jets here after a story that has yet to be sorted no i i don't think so it's gonna be a big few days so another person said to me you know what you've doomed us to elliot and i said no what's that and they go six days of insane rumors and i go yeah you're probably right about that um you know the thing about shovel day off is he has the full backing of his owner mark chipman really trusts him he puts a lot of faith in him because he will do what is right by the team and there's been situations before where they've had guys they've had to move and he's waited longer than many others would this is the first real deadline here and in some ways it's not a deadline because we could go past it but this is the first deadline of any significance in this situation i think actually in a lot of ways the biggest call is ownership well that's what affects here right it's yes not coming out of shovel day off's pocket if hell about gets paid again and the other thing too is i i've kind of wondered does what does the players association do it's a harmonious time now with the league and the pa i think at the beginning they would say okay the jets have the right to send them home and pay them but what if hellebuck says no i want to play like does the players association if this drags on are they gonna have to step in and say you got to bring our guy back in another task for the lawyers elliot i should have been one okay that was the check-in brought to you by expedia the one place you go to go places and so naturally when we talk hellebuck and a story that continues to drag on further into the month of october you can't help but think about detroit and dylan larkin and what the red wings are thinking we heard actually from chris elliot who spoke to some reporters in detroit this week about everything that's gone on with the organization from eiserman's exit to finding a replacement and of course the former captain that wishes to be a part of the organization to be traded so what do you think they make of what we're seeing in winnipeg i if i was the red wings i'd be looking at this and also knowing that larkin's already been injured once and saying how long do i want to let this go on i was thinking about all this like this is now going to be going to move into circus town in winnipeg Not because anybody wants it, but because eventually we just get get there. If I'm the Red Wings, I'm looking at this and saying, when does this get that way with us? How much longer do we want to risk Larkin until he gets hurt? I'll say the other thing tonight. I watched a bit of Minnesota and they played the other game. They dominated Columbus. They beat them two to one. They outshot them 34-14. And you know who I thought was really good was Yurov, who scored their first goal. Fourth of the year. John Hines postgame. He's going to be a top two center in this league. Oh, gassing them up. A little polish on there. I don't know if you heard of Patrice Bergeron, but just wait until you see this guy. That Yurov is a really talented player. I think for a lot of young guys, it's just time, right? But I don't know. I mean, I'm watching this whole Hellebuck thing unfold. And if I was the Wings, I'd be like, I know you have a target and you want to hit it. I'd be looking at it. I said Northeast. Sorry. I'm not really good with the compass directions, everybody. I would look Northwest of me and I would say, those storm clouds. Do we want them coming over us? Larkin has stayed. He hasn't vacated. He stayed, played. But especially with the injury, I'd be a bit nervous. I'll tell you, there was something that was really weird in Detroit last week. So we drop our pot on Thursday and we credit Horkov for getting that deal done because it builds him up in credibility. And then Chris Illich does an availability the next day with some of the local Detroit reporters, which is perfectly fine. I've got no problem with that. But then he says, we're still looking for a president of hockey operations on top. And it was good in a way because that's been the rumor. And he confirmed it. So we don't have to guess anymore. But I just thought the timing was really strange because you get this deal done and you get, you empower Horkov and you make him look stronger in the eyes of the league. But then the next day you say, oh, we're still going to bring someone in over top of him. I just thought it was weird. Anyway, the other thing I wanted to mention there is Edmondson. So when Bernard Docker got put on waivers on Saturday, there were some Red Wings fans who wondered if that meant that Edmondson was getting close to signing. Bernard Docker cleared. They sent him down to Grand Rapids. I don't think one has anything to do with the other. Like you heard Horkov. He said they want to sign him. At this point in time, I'm still under the impression that Edmondson has not changed his mind. OK, well, on the topic of defensemen, then another item you had on headlines on Saturday was the situation in Toronto. We know Chris Tanev is still on IR. He did skate by himself after the team on Saturday. So it was encouraging to see that for him. We know how important he is to their blue line. But as a collective, it is an aging defense core. It is a lot of experience, but a lot of miles, too. And what you reported on Saturday, Elliot, that Toronto would be willing to pay a premium asset if they are getting a difference maker in return. I guess I just can't help but wonder how many premium assets do they have left that they are willing to part with at this time if the right opportunity came up? Yeah, I think that's a good question. I had a couple of people who said the same thing to me, Kyle, especially since they don't seem that interested in trading Cowan. Like they really seem to believe that. No, no, no. That he's he's the real deal. Like he he has come a long way in a short time in the eyes of the organization. But it always comes down to perspective, right? Like what? What do you perceive as an A asset and what do they perceive as an or other people perceive as an A asset? I would assume that the Colorado pick is one of those things. I would assume that a couple of their prospects are, you know, a couple of their top prospects would be not in the NHL would be a couple of those things. I'm not really sure what else, but I think the main reason that got around. And I heard. I heard Chica told several GMs this was because, you know, some people think that with the pressure Toronto faces, especially with Matthews has only one year left on his deal, that they'll do something panicky to make everything look better, especially now that their defense is leaking a bit with Tana about, although we skated. And I have to tell you, Kyle, you saw him on Saturday morning, too. He's walking around. He doesn't even look injured. I'm like, he looks perfectly normal to me. Now, I'm not calling him a faker, but he looks perfectly normal to me. It looks like he's ready to play. Like he's walking around. He's smiling. You never know with him because of some of the injuries has been to, but he doesn't look like he's in a really bad way. I want to say, but I think that the main reason that got out, Kyle, was because, you know, I think teams feel that Toronto is going to panic and they're going to do something. You can get them to do something. They don't really want to do it. And I think it's their way of saying they aren't interested in that. Now, I'll say this. The other thing I said, which I had a couple of people reach out to me about, was they're willing to go older for younger. That they said that to them, they interpreted that as some of their older D are available. Like if you're a team looking for some of their older defensemen, they'll do that as long as their return is younger. Have you heard? Have you heard much on Ben Danford in their system where they see him? Does he still need more time before they want to? He's not far away. They like Danford. He, you know, obviously I think he'd be one of those guys that everybody's talking about. They like Danford. I know that. By the way, I just wanted to, we don't need to relitigate the whole Gavin McKenna only see in six and a half minutes again in that Buffalo game. I just thought he handled all the questions about that Saturday morning brilliantly. And it's, who is it that has ever been benched like that before? He laughed and said, never, I think it was Luke Fox. I think it was our colleague, Luke Fox. Yeah. I haven't, I haven't had this happen before, which that was a good question. Good question. Yes. Yeah. But makes sense. Like I, I could imagine, uh, as, as good of teams he would have played on in white horse, I'm sure they could have always used them. You know what? That said. To me quickly was that they wanted to get through the second period with the lead, and then it got out of control in the third, that they just, they're still learning to trust them with leads. And they wanted to get out of that second period with a lead, uh, after two in that game, it was four, two Toronto. And they just said. And they just said, we're not gonna fool around with this. And it got out of control. That's what happened to me there. Yeah. And, and Simmer pointed out on Saturday, there was a time in the second period where D zone draws. So it was Norm would have been McKenna's line, but he was on the bench cause they had, I don't know if it came up as do hame or, uh, who they put in his spot. There a little more veteran responsibility just for that time. And then he got stuck out there and it would have cost McKenna shift and Craig's. Point was that's the sort of thing when Hillary's going, oh, I just got lost. It wasn't my intention and it kind of gets away from you. He's going, those are the examples where you kind of lose shifts, where you think it's going to be a quick face off, get off guy, and you end up getting trapped and then the whole line changes. And now you're back, uh, to the start of that rotation over again, but instead, uh, Hiller put him out with whoever they put out. I think it was some fourth line guys, uh, may have been blue and McEwen for, for the next shift. Just to make sure that there wasn't an extended period that he sat on the bench for on Saturday against the Islanders. So there's a point was there's the adjustments, both ways of how a player can get lost and Hillary they're going, I'm going to make sure it's not a extended period again, where he's not seeing the ice. But anyway, he's just getting started and has looked so good in moments, uh, at 18 years old. I think there's, it's all going to be fine there for, for McKenna. I like how he's handling things. So if Toronto is. Willing to make some of their older defensemen available in Pittsburgh, it sounds like some of their older forwards could be had at the right price too, as they still try to prioritize youth. Yeah, Pittsburgh has had a rough road trip here and that's where they're going. Um, after I mentioned that on Saturday, it was interesting what these things all knock loose. I had some people tell me that they thought that when. Montreal was trying to add to a Marchenko deal in Columbus, they think that Raquel was one of the guys they were seeing if they were going to make it. they could deliver to the blue jackets obviously it didn't happen but he was a guy that they were targeting to see if columbus would like him and if it made their if made the overall package sweeter could they deliver him there but he has really struggled to start the year um rust i mean i have always loved rust if i was on a team and i needed a winger that i thought could help me put over the top brian rust would be one of those guys and so he's another name out there but those are the two names when i mentioned that those are the two names that everybody was immediately talking about there's others but those are the two names that everybody was immediately discussing rost and raquel and like i said somebody told me that raquel was out there and discussed in that whole marchenko thing yeah and it feels like already we're having feels like already we're at that point with the penguins of what do they think they are this year and what do they think is the best course of action moving forward right last year was such pleasant surprise they were supposed to be the one team rebuilding they get into the playoffs have a home ice advantage and now this year it's okay maybe this is a bit of a different path and how do we adapt to it that's what i read into and i heard what you said on saturday about what they were looking at doing reality has struck okay so elliot sunday pretty quiet night with just two games it was a busy night on saturday and there were a few things worth reliving i mean that utah edmonton game was a great one in edmonton on the thursday night uh from an entertainment standpoint i know wouldn't have been a fun one to watch if you're a utah fan on on saturday at the delta center uh but it certainly was a trait right from the first shift that connor mcdavid the show that he put on there man like another five points he's got 23 in eight games uh first guy since lemieux to have 20 points in the first eight games of a season and so i'm sitting there watching with with simmer you know i mentioned lemieux i'll get to that in a sec but we were laughing on the cap and goal you know dry sidle does the work hanging on the puck down low makes the nice pass up to bouchard at the point he unloads and it goes right off of mcdavid's knee right to caponin and he just pops it in the net and mcdavid just for standing there gets the primary assist like we couldn't help but laugh going just everything's finding him right now and in the right ways and dry sidle doesn't even get a point on the play and simmer was saying you know those first couple years of his career when he was in pittsburgh playing with lemieux he would just shake his head on the bench because he goes not only is that guy one of the greatest players going to be on the bench but he's also going to be on the bench of all time the amount of times where the puck would just find 66 so he's sitting there going like how does how does the puck even get to him in that spot uh but he had that magic and and con connor certainly has that going on early this season utah beats them they become the first team to beat them in regulation this year and edmonton went into that game in salt lake city in a lousy mood they were out there to pummel them they got three guys back they were held healthier but they were out there to send a message and i think that's what great teams do like i've always been a big michael jordan guy and one of the reasons that i think michael jordan was as great as he is was that in a meaningless game in the regular season he would find a reason to kill you like he would invent maybe some way that you would slighted him or some bad thing that you had done and it was probably a tiny thing but he would kill you for it and i think that attitude that i saw them go into utah was we're here to destroy these guys and i think utah is a really good team and their best days are obviously very much in front of them and i think they're going to be one of the league's top teams for a long time but they're not on edmonton's level yet and edmonton showed that like they and the other thing too was the way that utah beat them thursday night was kind of the way they lost to anaheim in the playoffs last year they got scared around they looked a bit slow um when they lost the momentum they couldn't get it back and i wouldn't be surprised if on some level edmonton was thinking that too like no we're not letting what happened last year happen again they were a team on a mission there to clobber them and you know the thing about mcdavid is the most points in a season in the cap era is mcdavid 153 i think he's going to beat that this year do you think he can get 200 so i i looked kretzky did it four times i mean that's that's basically two and a half points a game you're averaging over the course of of the year records uh it's if there's any guy in the league right now that can can do it that's that's where i'm i'm putting my money 199 lemieux got just missed it he got to 199 i just i want to say yes just for the hell of it i don't care if i'm wrong i want to say he can do it i say he smashes his previous best i could he i i'm thinking he's in that 180 zone this year is kind of what i'm feeling that's like you're driving on calgary's freeways the 180 zone yes yeah me and yvonne demidov you know he's not into personal goals mcdavid that stuff doesn't interest him but to me it's almost like what he knows is that he's not into personal goals and he's not into personal goals not be tempted, but by the idea of you can do that. Like if I had that kind of skill, I wouldn't care how many points I could get as long as we won. I think we'd be wired the same way. But if you told me I could get to 200, I would, I would want that just for the challenge of it. Could you actually do it? Like, I wouldn't even care if I broke Gretzky's record. I would just want to know that I got there. But Elliot, the thing is, this is supposed to be the year where the Oilers are dialed in defensively, where they're not leaning on McDavid and Dreissel for everything. Babcock's already admitted that he's, he's forgetting, right? What did he say the other day? Oh, I did a bad job. I played him 25 and a half minutes. You know what? This is the thing. Okay. Maybe they will dial him back. Maybe we'll turn out to be truly wrong about this, but I just think that it's like a magnet, right? It's like, you, you can't, you can't deprogram yourself as of that. You can't. I know. And that's the thing, like we're losing McDavid's over there. I shouldn't send them out, but I'm going to, you can't, you can't stop yourself. The devil on your shoulder. It's not even the devil on your shoulder. It's, it's, it's human nature. And that's the, and the amazing part of it is his first goal Saturday was beautiful. Of course, the second one, the second one, Elliot, this is, this is the NHL. This is the best league in the world with the best players, the best goalies in the world. And he came blitzing down main street there. And you could just tell, like, there was no, there probably wasn't even thinking, it's the great instinct just takes over. But there was zero, as soon as he crossed the blue line, I'm sure, I'm sure you thought the same thing. You're like, there's no way he's not scoring here. Of course, he's going to score. Of course, he's scoring. Now I do think generally teams will layer themselves better than that. Yeah. It was a bad night for Utah. But you're right. The moment he got in there, he was scoring. And the other thing too, is Edmonton's power play the last six years, not counting so far this season, it's 28%. This year it's at 25. Now that's still really good, but it shows you there's more room there. It's just, yeah, I would love to see it. It would be so cool to, to follow that journey. If he got to, to really push. Close to 200. It's going to be incredibly hard to sustain that for 84 games. I hope you're right, Elliot. That's all I can say. I hope you're right. Most people don't normally say that. I know. This is an exception. How are you feeling about your, uh, King's playoff pick? Yeah. Yeah. Not looking so hot right now. Uh, I'll admit that, uh, that's a team that again has to decide what direction they're going. But the problem is they've got a lot of veterans on their assigned a term and they can become challenging to do that. I remember at the beginning you talked about the Kings and you said you liked the Laviolette push. And that's true. Whenever he gets to a team, they always have a big jump. But if you look at his history, he's always had a D that could really move the puck. When you look at him at his peak in Philadelphia, obviously they had Pronger and they had that year they went to the final, they also had Kimo Tiemann and they had Matt Carl. Like they had a bunch of guys. All three of those guys had double-digit points in the playoffs. When he was in Nashville and they lost the finals, you know what defense they had. They had Yossi, they had Subban, they had Ellis, and they had Ekholm. And all of those guys were multi-point guys in the playoffs, double-digits. Okay. You know, I just think, you know, the Rangers, team that lost in the, in the third round that he had, they had Adam Fox. Um, they didn't have as much, as many guys who scored, but you know, Fox at the time was obviously like a Norris trophy guy. Brant Clark is a really skilled guy, but I just don't know if they have the D that he needs to be successful here. That's a good point. Cause yeah, they are still searching for answers, still without a win and the latest defeat coming at the hands of the Boston Bruins on Saturday. Who look really good early, really good early. Don't they ever, like Fraser Minton, that was not a one-off last year. He looks another year older, another year wiser, uh, and, and he's not the only one that's, that's taken a step here, but bring that up because it's kind of a weird situation with the Bruins. Like you say, they're going well. Uh, they've ripped through California, swept everybody there and they got one more stop on their road trip, but so Nikita Zdorov. That'll be a good game. I'm going to be there on Tuesday night for Dallas, Boston. Oh, good. Looking forward to that one. Yeah. Yeah. You've got, you're logging a few miles this week. Yeah. I'll be, uh, I'll be checking Expedia a lot because I'll be traveling quite a bit this week. I'm looking forward to, I'm always here to pump the sponsors. Um, funny, you're talking about that Fraser Minton deal with Boston and Toronto. I guess as that one got close to the deadline, the call, you know, we talked about last year with Toronto and Montreal and the one that didn't get over in time, I heard the last few minutes of that Boston Toronto one, cause that one also came down right near the deadline. Uh, I heard the last few minutes of those calls were a doozy over the first round pick protection, but a bit of a shout. Yeah. But Boston hit that out of the park. I remember with Minton, like there were people in and around Toronto or like, I don't know if he'll ever be more than the third liner. That guy's really talented. Boston hit that one out of the park. So Zdorov Elliot, he, that the Anaheim game the night before takes a penalty, not happy about it. I forget who the Anaheim guy was that he went after and got another penalty because of it. Marco Sturm ends up getting a penalty. Marco Sturm ends up scratching him for the Kings game And because of that, the undisciplined shown there. And what was interesting online, I'm sure you caught this, is that there was a Twitter user that responded to that and tagged Dan Milstein, who is Zdorov's agent, and said, this stuff, paraphrasing, but he wouldn't be treated like this in Toronto. And Milstein responded and said, no, he would not. Now, Milstein is not one to shy away from engaging online. He's very active in that sense. So that's not new, but couldn't help but the eyebrows raise a little bit when you saw that. What did you think? I tend to shake these things off because, number one, it's a one-off. And, like, the thing I look at it, too, is Boston's going really well, right? Like, as we said, they're off to a great start. I think when the team is going well, I'm sure there's people in the organization who didn't like that very much, but when things are going well, you're like, whatever wins matter when I worry more about those kinds of now, maybe what you do is you put it, you followed away and you say, okay, I remember that this happened. I also think if you're a player and the coach says, look, you're scratched for one game because of that and we'll see how it goes in the future. Sometimes you just got to take it, right? Like it wasn't like if I was in Zdorov's position after what happened that game and Marco Sturm was pissed at me, I would probably be like, all right, I got to eat that one. That was, that was bad timing and I got to eat it. Now, if things continue when they devolve, then you've got a problem. but when you're winning i think when you're the player in that situation you have to say my bad and i'll live with the consequences and as long as it's like just like a short-term thing someday you're saying we're gonna look back at this and laugh at it if it turns into more and it shouldn't because you're winning right now then you have a problem to deal with but if i if i were the bruins i'd be like eh tempest in a teapot we're good now we're not letting anything getting the way of our early season momentum also just on the florida panthers front elliot so they've got first team ever natural hat trick three straight games brady kachuk did it twice carter verhage sam bennett got a hat trick for good measure also on saturday night i feel like this is just the pendulum swinging back the other way for the panthers like brady kachok wasn't going to go 84 games without a goal yeah and the team in general just scoring right because yes that was not a plenty early on in the year i don't see it continuing this way where there's a hat trick every game from somebody i just think this is the early season balancing out and going forward it'll be a lot more of what we anticipated they would be going into the season they're like the last team i worry about the last one if i was to rank the teams 1 to 32 in terms of what i'm worried about they would be 32nd yeah that's fair them or carolina stanley cut pedigree still matters so elliot i will tell you not that i would ever be in this position however if i was ever in the ufc i would love to walk to the octagon to fat lip by some 41 mike malott that's just that yes yes nhl 2002 it was part of the soundtrack anyway Great memories Mike Malott Walked out to that song In Edmonton Won by knockout But it was really cool So of course His brother Jeff Plays for the Ducks But the reaction Of him and his teammates Watching that fight And everybody Going nuts afterwards And I thought Mike Malott Gave a phenomenal Interview in the ring There after the fact Shouting out His brother Jeff Because they played The video for him Of them all Celebrating his His victory It was just It was a neat moment That kind of cross between hockey and mixed martial arts and two brothers that continue to look out for each other that was that was really cool so earlier this summer I played in a golf tournament with um a guy by the name of Cody Chovancic and Cody Chovancic made his UFC debut in in the preliminary card in the bantam weight and i was actually reminded about this by uh dave mccarthy great guy from nhl.com and sirius xm hosts the show and uh he reminded me of this that he sat at the same table as we did now cody uh lost to sue young you in a bantamweight match on the preliminary card but uh i really enjoyed meeting him and he was super excited about the possibility of debuting in the UFC on that card. So, you know what? He lost. It happens. But I wanted to shout out Cody because he worked a long way to get there. And look, as a guy who's never going to be in the UFC, the octagon and wouldn't last three plus rounds like Cody did, I just want to say tip of the cap, Cody, that you got there and you made it. That's awesome. There'll be a lot of people who will want to do what you do that won't get that far. I'm happy for you that you got there. Awesome. That's really cool. You got to meet him. That's super cool. Yeah, good guy. Good guy. A couple of other things we wanted to get to before the final thought. The Flyers, as we know, pick up their first win over the weekend. It had been a very rough go for them. They beat the Ottawa Senators at home and a wonderful bit of good karma. So that morning, they bring into the dressing room Jason Martinez, who we have shouted out on this podcast before, but a popular voice in that Philadelphia market. He continues to battle cancer. He's been very public in sharing his fight that he continues on there. But anyway, I had some wonderful, wonderful things to say in the dressing room to the players Saturday morning that put some things into perspective for an otherwise frustrating start for them to their season. They go out, they win. He gets, Martinez does the boxing gloves after the fact in the dressing room, the game puck from Rick Tockett. Yeah, it's not much had gone right for Philadelphia from the jump this year, but that was something they certainly knocked out of the park. Yeah, when you're going really badly, and you find time to do that, both in terms of inviting him to talk and giving him the game puck for your first win. Those are big time karma points. That was, that was excellent. And Matthew Schaefer inviting Lila to the game on Saturday, that kid knocks it out of the park too. He was, he's so much more mature at 19 years old than I was at 19 years old. It's like, we're not even the same species. Yeah, well, that very much is true. But you're right. He, that guy stands alone. I just, I don't know how he has enough room in his heart for all the things that, that he does. That was beautiful how he handled that interview just after warmup minutes before playing in an NHL game. Didn't matter to him. That was, he was so present there. Very cool. And also too, that I'm glad you guys showed the visuals there later on on Saturday night, but the Barry Melrose banner that went up in Adirondack, of course, he's got- So it was good to see you were actually watching. I was watching there. Yes. That one I watched. I couldn't hear it, which helped, but no, I'm kidding. But it was, it was cool to see the visuals. No, you're not. So that was Cooper Melrose's grandson, Steve Levy, of course. John Bucciagross was there. Bucci actually sent me four of his Barry Melrose t-shirts from his website, which unfortunately didn't make it in time, but they did a great job. They're Adirondack one. They beat Trenton five to two in that game as they put up the Melrose banner. That was a, that was an awesome night. All right. So let's get to the file thought. One of the topics that's been going on and is getting a little more attraction around the league, particularly over the last week is attendance in certain markets. I know not every building throughout the 32 teams is sold out every single night, but some in particular raised some question marks. There are a lot of questions that are going to be raised in the comments section of this video, but I'm going to go ahead and get started. So we're going to go ahead and get started and we're going to go ahead and get started. That game against Toronto just over a week ago ended their sellout streak. I'm not counting, of course, the COVID shortened seasons. We know that's something to do with how the team is no longer prioritizing selling tickets to brokers. So that's a bit of a different subject on that front, but then you're seeing like Edmonton noticeably a couple thousand empty seats earlier this week in that Utah game. That's a place that's normally filled. There's a number of empty seats in Chicago. We know they've been going through a rebuild for the last number of years, but still in a market like that, when you see those amount of seats unfilled, you can't help but take notice. Elliot, do you have a thought on what we've seen in the last little bit? Is this something the league should be concerned about? Is this a blip? Is this more so just a snapshot of where we are economically? Why don't you take a first crack at this? Well, when you have a gate-driven league like the NHL is, and the NHL depends on gate probably more than anybody else, then you have to be concerned about it. And if I was ever a commissioner in a position of power, like I'm just naturally paranoid to begin with. So I would always be worried about what does this mean? What could happen? And how do I fix it? And I think attendance matters. You know, number one, you hit it, Kyle. The cost of living has gone up in North America. Gas, everything, housing, rent, it's gone up. So whenever the cost of living goes up, discretionary income goes down. And hockey is not averse to that. And I think we have to recognize that there's a lot of people out there who really love hockey, who are battling and can't spend as much money as they'd like to or would hope to on tickets. And you should never forget that. I also wonder sometimes if it's early in the year. Like there have been times where hockey sales have been soft early in the season. Look, football is still being played right now. If, you know, a lot of fans out there, I'm sure they're going to football games. They don't have as much to spend on hockey. And I have seen some situations where as the season goes on and football goes away, hockey attendance increases. So you can't forget that. But the number one thing I always think about is do your fans feel valued? Like I did a hit last week on the hockey show with Marquesi and Futa where I talked about Vegas and Vegas has stopped selling tickets to people they identify as ticket brokers. And that's one of the reasons that their attendance has dropped. It's not the only one, but it's, it's a major factor. And I got a DM from a Golden Knights fan who said, you're not wrong, but I'll tell you, he said, I don't feel as someone who's been a Golden Knights fan since day one, that I don't feel as appreciated as I used to be. And that's important. Like your fan, I'll tell you a story, Kyle, your fans have to feel that they matter. I know a couple, elderly couple, they've got season's tickets to the Raptors here in Toronto, and they've been wrapped up with the Raptors season ticket holders since day one. And about 10 years in, they were at a game and there were two courtside seats that either they didn't sell or whoever they'd given them to, or hadn't shown up. So they're, the person they deal with in the ticket office walked over to them just before tip off and said, look, we've got two extra seats courtside tonight. You're day one-ers. We know you love the Raptors. Cause we know you're always here. We always see you. How would you guys like to sit in these courtside seats tonight? And they were like, what really? And they said, absolutely. Like you've been some of our most loyal customers. If you want it, they're yours. And for one night they got to sit courtside and they, they, they told me this story later about probably about a year after it happened. And they said it, it just, you know, sometimes you feel that when you've been around, does your relationship get stale? Do you still feel appreciated? And I think that is so important. Like sometimes it's just a phone call. Sometimes maybe it's like a team sweatshirt. Sometimes it's like a note on a birthday or something like that. Sometimes it's moving them up to the best seats in the house. But whenever it's like this, Kyle, I always think if I was in charge, I would want to know that my fans feel appreciated. And George Gillette, who passed away a few days ago, um, when he owned the Canadians, one of the things he did was grade five students got tickets to Canadians games in the highest level. He just got them in the building and they have the biggest building or one of the biggest buildings at 21,000. It was a bit easier for them to do it than others. Um, that's the other thing I would do if I had empty seats. Now I had a big argument with Lou Lamorello about this once, and he you'll be surprised to know that he refused to concede the argument to me, Kyle, like he, his belief is that if you're paying full price for a ticket, you should never turn to someone next to you and have them say they got in free. He was like, nope, you cannot allow that because, or severely discounted because then a person sits there and says, why am I paying? Full price for this ticket. Fair. Let me concede the point. However, when your attendance is down, I would be getting kids in the building because that's not only an investment in your fan today, you get a kid into a building and they're your fan forever. That's the other thing I'd be doing. So Elliot, I go back to the board of governors last month and you know, Ted Leonsis was announced as the new chairman of the executive committee. And what was one of the things that he said, along the lines of, you know, the NHL is an 11 billion dollar company. billion industry whatever number he used somewhere around there and his goal is to double that now that's that's great i the idea of that i i love this sport i want it to continue to grow and to prosper at all levels to get to become a better version of its previous self but you also are going okay how how are you doing that where are you where are you doubling that money as you said off the top this remains a gate-driven league i think it's quite clear if one of the plans is to double ticket prices for example that is going to be a non-starter i mean the situation up at edmonton elliott yeah that's they have had such a group of loyal fans that live through that decade of darkness and now enjoying the fruits of a team that's been to two stanley cup finals that have been in the playoffs last number of years in a row and and we've heard and the fans up there whether they're season ticket holders or just fans trying to get tickets to games or that went to games in in the playoffs over those uh last especially the the two runs the final uh they very well know like the the leaps and bounds that the average ticket price at face value that they went from round to round of course is one thing but year over year from 2024 to 2025 that city spent so much money on tickets to go to the playoffs to go watch the oilers play and it gets to the point where you're going i i've i've maxed out how much i have in my budget for spending so i think that's why you see a scene like we had thursday night with all those empty seats because i'd be thinking the same thing if i'm an oilers fan where i'm going look i think the oilers are pretty good this year i think they've got a chance to be in the playoffs again to possibly go deep in the playoffs again so if i'm going to map it out maybe instead of spending three hundred dollars three times during the regular season i'll maybe spend nine hundred dollars and get a chance to go to a big playoff game in the spring i think there's that that sort of thinking that goes on too and you mentioned about making fans feel important so craig simpson goes on our pre-game show on saturday and this was under the context of the whole gavin mckenna benching situation i thought it made one of the greatest analogies i've ever heard that man make when he talked about when you're a player and you show up in the nhl you have a bank account at zero and he's not talking about money it's talking about a bank account of trust that you are trying to build up with your head coach i think that exact same theory applies to ownership with their fans i know they are in the business of making money and it can't every decision can't be simply about what's right emotionally or what's right morally the bottom line does matter i'm not going to be naive in thinking that but you cannot completely neglect the bank account of trust you have with your fan base you cannot let that run empty because then you start to get into some trouble no matter how good your team is on the ice eventually your most loyal of fans will say i'm not doing this anymore or i'm backing off for a bit until things change and they've got every right to do that and i think regardless of where this all goes if this is just a blip or if it becomes a further issue i think it's just a great reminder around the league do not let that bank account of trust with your fan base run empty well said young kyle thanks buddy all right that was the final thought why don't we take our first break good block we'll come back with the thought line you're listening to 32 thoughts the podcast it continues after this all right winding back up for another edition of the thought line presented by bet mgm make it legendary elliott we have another layer to the colored versus whites jersey topic to add really yes something i was not aware of in the 1956-57 season we talked about of course the importance of having a white and dark distinction back then the early days of television because it was black and white that season was also when referees went from orange sweaters to black and white stripes for the purposes of television to be able to tell them apart from everybody else along with the fact they weren't wearing equipment but that was how the black and white striped zebra look we were all accustomed to now that is where it started i had no idea me neither also the earliest known white sweater to be used regularly in the nhl because the montreal canadians brought in a white sweater somewhere in the 40s and i have been told one of the few things that the hockey hall of fame does not have is a game used montreal canadians white sweater from that 1940s era so if there is anybody out there somewhere in their closet in their most prized possessions locked away safely in their homes have one of those and would be interested at all in donating it to the hall of fame they would be more than happy to hear from you somebody's got one somebody out there has one we're putting it together to the test what else you got all right i got a bunch of things i i got a lot today i had none last time so i'm making up for it this time so you'll remember in season cup of which i have no idea who has to say who's in that by the way as we learned last pod boy did i get ripped mercilessly for forgetting luke scored on his first shift but and his first shot too but you'll remember that a previous time it came up about how rugby does that right rugby has an in-season cup for both the men and the women yes i know we were going with this yes there was for the men and the utrecht for the women and i'd like to thank a listener named mike trip who sent me an insta dm that canada won the utrecht by beating england 24 21 friday night at bmo field and not only did canada win 24 21 they ended england's 41 game unbeaten streak dating back to 2022 so mike thank you for bringing this to my attention and congratulations to the canadian women for beating england and taking current possession of the utrecht shield i also wanted to point out that there was a listener and now i can't find who it was who added to our list of players who scored on their first shift and first shot and it is an individual kyle that we should recognize because if we don't he could beat us both senseless at the same time and quite possibly with one hand tied behind his back that would be buffalo sabres broadcaster rob ray yes october 21st 1989 yeah and i am happy to add that to the record before i next see him yeah um i don't know if you heard him on kipper and born last week talking about the art of intimidation i have no doubt that he has not lost the ability to intimidate oh you know i'll remember one thing with with rob ray you know like those when buffalo and toronto were good those games are incredible like the hate is real and there was a time that shane corson and darcy tucker charged at him down the hallway they all threw him down the hallway and he was like oh my Three of them got kicked out of a game in the last minute in Toronto and at the newer rink, Scotiabank Arena. And the dressing rooms are pretty close and the hallway is open. And Corson and Tucker had to be stopped by security to get to Ray. And Ray actually, someone who was there witnessed it, told me that you could tell that Rob Ray was actually hoping security would not be able to stop them. That he was more than happy to get his piece of that. And in the dressing room when, you know, they said he said something that was really out of line and he did not deny it. He was clearly relishing that he had gotten under their skin so badly. Anyway, Rob Ray, Adam to the first goal and first shift and first shot group. I also want to. I also want to mention Terry Koshin, who writes for the Toronto Sun. He was disappointed that May 13th was not added to the pantheon of. outstanding birthdays not only is that his birthday but it also includes pk subban dennis rodman travis zajak michael amadio jim ralph and the biggest star of all of them b arthur wow that's a lineup yes my wife is steph is big into the golden girls if i didn't say that b arthur was the biggest star of all of them i would be in partner jail so i have to mention that that's good there's something else i'm working on for the next pod that someone made a suggestion to me okay now shout outs i wanted to shout out our hairstylist you gus athanasopoulos his birthday was saturday turned 47 thank you gus he's 47 look yeah he looks much younger than that wow yeah he's 47 but he looks younger than some people i know who are 30 um i also wanted to kyle i wanted to shout you out too because you met someone who works out at kyle's gym and he said you were a super nice guy and he actually said to me i saw him sunday when i went to the gym and he said that you were so friendly to everybody that came up to you during the game i said kyle's a really friendly guy and i got a dm from someone who clearly purchased a bot to do this and they said they also said they were at the game on saturday night between the maple leaves and the islanders and they also said give you a compliment for how friendly you were to people like people were going up to you all game long and you were super nice to them again not a surprise and then this individual added at the end the other thing i noticed is that kyle worked for about 30 seconds of combined television and he was like i'm gonna do this i'm gonna do this i'm gonna do this i'm gonna do this i'm gonna do this i'm gonna do this i'm gonna do this i'm gonna do this and did nothing else and they wrote where can i get a job where i do 30 seconds of work and gets paid like kyle gets paid and i said there are not a lot of those available and kyle will not be unseated that's why you hold on to that job with the fiercest grip imaginable yes one of the great uh pieces of advice i got doing broadcast in school was every word you say is like a dollar out of your pocket so i try to be selective that's by the way i got a good laugh listening to the last pod the end of the pod when you were complaining about daylight savings time and how much trouble it's causing you yeah ridiculous i do not like that here here in ab we're not changing a thing it's not for me it's gonna be dark until 10 a.m here what was your line once daylight saving time starts i'm not giving the times is that what you said i it's too confusing now some parts of ontario's changing other parts not i don't know i i'm gonna be i know i'm gonna start missing flights the times are gonna be all off for me anyway i digress anyway i have to say you scored major points with how nice you were to people at that game the other night and some shout outs some fans i met you scored major points with how nice you were to people at that game the other night and some shayla and laurie at starbucks uh aiden and elias i was at a family event and they were there on thursday helping run the show a gentleman named peter flattery um we were at morton's for dinner on friday night with some friends steven there was a couple getting married bruce and shirley there was the fusco family one of their sons works at dome production and then on saturday kyle you and i were at a family event and they were there on thursday helping run the show a gentleman named peter flattery um we were at the maple leafs practice facility there was the toronto marathon going on here so the leafs moved their morning skate to their practice facility and there was a huge girls hockey tournament there what they call it pink the rink pink in the rink yeah pink in the rink okay and i met a few of the players there were uh two young women from the under 13 double a sudbury wolves ellie bouchard and amelie thompson and there was isabel fanning of the durham west lightning so it was really packed in there and really enthusiastic young fans so i wanted to shout out those players who i met that's awesome david and i were your workout buddy commenting on your summer glow up he's like he's putting in the work so it has not gone unnoticed my friend thank you it's a good list thank you very much that's a very good list uh okay a few other things to get to here and on the topic of first goal first shift first shot jordan from victoria bc writes in hey kyle dom and the raccoon whisperer yes last episode you talked about the fastest first goals by nhlers i am from victoria and while sneaking in nine holes of golf on one of my lunch breaks a few years ago i ran into a man named bob barlow we got to talk and he mentioned how he had the record for fast his first goal which was his first shot first shift after six seconds on the ice back on october 11th 1969 according to wikipedia this is still true bob's a local legend who carries his hockey card around and gives it out like it's his business card just thought i would email in as this came to mind when listening to your last episode fun fact he also had the record for the oldest rookie to play a game in the nhl at age 34 but that was eventually broken by connie and madigan in 1972 at age 38 love the pod go ducks yeah so connie mad dog madigan we've talked about him i think briefly on the pod before one of the in in the last game they play in slapshot the movie where the other team brings out like all the killers from all the various leagues one of those is based on connie mad dog madigan he's actually in the movie so right that's that's that is and the other thing i wanted to mention about that is that i once golfed in a golf tournament with gus bodner for a long time he had the record for the fastest goal by a player in his first nhl game which was 15 seconds but as you meant as jordan mentioned that's since been beaten by 15 seconds like he was lounging around for an extra nine seconds there he gus had to get to work because that one eventually got beat yeah bob barlow with the minnesota north stars back in 69 six seconds in and i guess he came back to the bench afterwards had the puck with him and said to uh ren blair who was the coach at the time why didn't you bring me up sooner uh good question tough to beat that one yes that's a heck of a start okay mike from tilsonburg ontario hello jim just had a question about goalie masks watching the jets versus hurricanes game and i got to thinking about clay stevenson's mask who pays for the goalie masks because i'm sure they're a pretty penny with the amazing artwork that is on them and i also want to know a rough estimate of how long it takes to get the mask from the painter because it seems as though clay got his pretty quickly thanks guys and keep up the great work on a hazard a guess of who foots the bill so i i know the teams pay for the masks yes i have heard that the paint job could depend on what the quote is am i right or wrong about like like basically the more elaborate you want the design the more expensive it can be yeah i've heard there's been some debates over the paint job and i've heard there's been some debates over the paint job and i've heard there's been some debates over the paint job and i've heard there's been some debates over the paint job i don't know if a team is required to pay all of it or just cover a certain amount what do you what i assume you look this up yeah i was told the teams foot the bill and oh they do eh okay and the line i was okay which is pretty good it was the richer you get the less you pay for things because i kind of thought that that was because that's true and a lot of things i have to tell you because it's the goalies that in most cases they're the ones that seek out the artists and they're the ones that seek out the artists and they're the ones they're in communication over their vision of kind of what they want their masks to look like so i thought maybe that was one thing that the goalies are on their own for what they want no but i knew i i knew years ago it must have changed because i heard a story a few years ago i gotta remember who it was where a goalie submitted like a number for the paint job and the team said come on you you can't be serious now maybe that i like i know just like helmet sticks all that stuff the team pays the cost of the mask that's not even negotiable but the paint job it must have changed because i do remember years ago being told a story about a team balking at the cost the quoted cost of a paint job maybe it's changed yeah and now i mean goalies it's not unusual to have what two or three different versions of masks per season and it's usually always something fresh you think back like martin burner for example had basically the same design his entire career yeah very similar or either you know like j.s shiger in anaheim like you just picture that and you know what his mask looks like and he wasn't the only one um that would go for years kippers off in calgary with the same design but now so often it gets refreshed now it has to be approved by the league of course that's one stipulation but it is uh the bill goes to the team and when it comes to timing if it's just before the season there could be a bit of a backlog understandably because that's when everyone's getting it done but in the case where let's say clay stevenson for example as mike pointed out you know he's got a lot of money in his pocket and he's got a lot of money in his pocket and he's got a lot of money in his pocket you know he comes to winnipeg fairly early on in the year and usually something like that where there's not a backlog with uh artists it can be turned around in about a week or so because they understand the urgency of getting one done so david origo is one of the painters and often he'll do sort of like these time lapse videos of what he paints um i love those things i think those things all right one final one paul an exhausted canucks fan are you sure this isn't dom under a pseudonym yes well just wait wait you can decide for yourself hi elliot i have a son named elliot but different spelling the kid's probably a genius hi kyle i too am from campbell river and can lay claim to having been a linesman for a game featuring a very young rod brindamore and hi dom i have no connection to dom except that he's also a suffering canucks fan so you do have yes that's true i was incredibly pleased to see michael di pietro get the win friday against anaheim according to my calculations di pietro went two thousand eight hundred and four days between his first nhl appearance to gaining his first win in the nhl so my question is this is this a record for most days between a goalie's first nhl appearance and their first win love hearing you guys during my walks down here in southern spain just a stone's throw from gibraltar all the best oh wow do you remember who the oldest goalie is to win in his nhl debut famous game that you covered not david ayers yes right oh very good kyle wow that's right well i should have just known that sometimes you forget you know you've done a lot of games like the fact that you you nailed it i will never forget that for me i will never forget that one that's a great poll so that one i always remember because if you ask who's the oldest to win their first game it's it's david ayers i'm trying to think like i'm trying to think who would be if there's anyone that's beaten dps okay let me ask this first it has anyone waited longer nope so he's the record holder at the record yep two thousand four days that's that's a great one great well congratulations to michael and that that's a that's a fantastic accomplishment it's amazing like he's not unrestricted free agent at the end of this season too so we'll see where this uh we'll see where the cleared waivers a couple times boston made a move to get him a job make sure that he had a job this year that he wasn't going to have to go do waivers again they weren't taking that risk great victory for di pietro great victory yeah so he's top of the list second frederick shabbat really yeah 2455 days from first appearance to first win wow that's who we beat by almost 400 days that's like that tampa bay rays pitcher who came back at age 35 after the kids at school told him to do it well i thought you were talking about uh dennis quaid and the rookie that's exactly who that's based on right that there you go that's right yes so i was backdoor my way into that one people are gonna listen to this and go what's with these two idiots exactly yeah they're idiots but they somehow end up with the right answer in the end it's like that uh that old sketch from snl where gretzky's going up against uh wayne and garth and like through just the sheer luck they end up beating him in hockey like garth just happens to drop his goalie stick out of fear and he stops it and anyway that's what we've done here yes that's pretty much what we have done here all right time to take another break one eight three three three one one thirty two thirty two is the phone number to call if you'd like to leave a voicemail here at the thought line or you can email us at 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca some canadian music and our goodbyes on the other side all right before we go we should mention sportsnet monday night hockey tonight involves macklin celebrini and the san jose sharks who love playing overtime early on this season in toronto to face the maple leafs who have lost three straight the urgency ramping up already there in leafland to get things turned around on the air at 7 et david amber luke gassick justin williams have you covered from our studio puck drop a little after the 7 30 eastern 4 30 pacific time that game streaming exclusively on sportsnet plus and another reminder about that if you have any questions about whether you have that already in your television cable package or it's something you need to add on you can go to sportsnet plus.ca slash monday night hockey hopefully the answer you were looking for is there taking us out today a track from love who's a rising cree singer songwriter from pound maker cree nation in saskatchewan blending uk-inspired soul alternative r&b and indie pop with powerful storytelling rooted in identity resilience and indigenous womanhood her debut album is quayu produced by connor sidle has helped propel her career to over two million streams and more than 300 000 social media followers her breakout single mama reached number one on the indigenous music countdown while her music has earned editorial support from spotify and apple music along side national media recognition currently an artist in residence at toronto's allied music center love continues to establish herself as one of canada's exciting emerging indigenous voices bringing contemporary cree storytelling to audiences around the world you can see her at the national music center in calgary next month on november the 19th this song along with all the others we have featured here can be found on the spotify playlist 32 thoughts the music here is love and g o s on 32 thoughts the podcast have a great week i pray for this energy to pass through to me god showed up at my doorstep and he told me not to give up yeah so i pray for this energy to get through to you every woman of color sister or mother you gotta let your light shine because this one is for my girlies going through a hard time the lessons you've been blessed with your troubles will melt away all you had generations of strength my faith is the centerpiece of my reality my reality we shy away from our desires and our dreams ♪ My power but just speak it to me ♪ ♪ To existence ♪ ♪ I pray for this energy to get through to you ♪ ♪ Every woman of color, sister or mother ♪ ♪ You gotta let your light shine ♪ ♪ 'Cause this one is for my girlies ♪ ♪ Going through a hard time ♪ ♪ Lessons you've been blessed with ♪ ♪ Your troubles will melt away ♪ ♪ Oh, you had generations of strength ♪ ♪ Oh, you had generations of strength ♪ ♪ Oh, you had generations of strength ♪ Thank you.