Jeff and Elliotte give credit to Jason Robertson and Nick Schmaltz, touch on players of interest as we near the trade deadline, and discuss the comments made by Angela James regarding the state of women’s hockey.
Take a bow, Jason Robertson! Jeff and Elliotte discuss the play of the Dallas Stars, their transition to a new core, and Robertson’s hat-trick-filled weekend (00:01). They hit on some other great stories from around the league including Nick Robertson’s first career regular-season goal, the Colorado-Calgary game (10:30), the play of Cale Makar (13:30), and the seven-point performance by Nick Schmaltz (38:35).
As we get closer to the trade deadline, Jeff and Elliotte do a bit of a tour around the league looking at players/teams of interest -- Tomas Hertl (17:20), Hampus Lindholm (18:15), Max Comtois (22:15), Claude Giroux (24:15), Rasmus Ristolainen (27:00), Jack McBain (31:40), Vancouver (29:10), Shea Weber’s contract (36:45), and the Toronto Maple Leafs (42:00).
They also address the comments made by Angela James via social media regarding the state of women’s hockey (46:15) and they take your questions (54:00).
Music Outro: Ryan Scott - Love U Like The Sun In June
Listen to his debut album “A Freak Grows in Brooklyn” on Spotify
This podcast is produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.
Audio Credits: Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, Bally Sports Southwest, Bally Sports West and Sportsnet.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.
Elliotte Friedman [00:00:00] Okay, let's go.
Jeff Marek [00:00:02] I’m just reading Tony Gwynn stats.
Elliotte Friedman [00:00:04] Why're you reading Tony Gwynn stats?
Jeff Marek [00:00:05] I love Tony Gwynn.
Amil Delic [00:00:07] I looked through his stats last week.
Elliotte Friedman [00:00:08] What is with you two guys?
Amil Delic [00:00:11] Unbelievable.
Jeff Marek [00:00:11] It's insane.
Elliotte Friedman [00:00:12] All right, let's get going.
[00:00:13] [SFX puck hitting post.]
Jeff Marek [00:00:15] Welcome to 32 thoughts the Podcast presented as always by the all new GMC AT4 Lineup. Jeff Marek, Amil Delic, and Elliotte Friedman, along with you for another Monday morning pod and Elliotte, why don't we start with a good news story for a change? Why don't we start with something a little more uplifting than who's getting traded? Who's upset about leaving? Why don't we do a good news story and that good news story coming out of this weekend is: Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars. Back to back hat tricks, that's outstanding, so goals number 24 to 29 this weekend for Jason Robertson and before I get your thoughts on this player, let's rewind quickly to our interview with him from the NHL players tour in Chicago before the season began, where he talks a little bit about his confidence.
Recording [00:01:02] [Jason Robertson: I think I'm a lot more inspired to do even better. I think expectation, yes, last year was, you know, I just wanted to make the team and then coming in this year, as during the summer, the whole time, I'm like, okay, I'm gonna come in and I'm gonna try to, you know, help this team go to playoffs, like, be a big piece. And coming in now with a lot of confidence because for the last year, you know, I watch all the games I play last year thinking about what I could do differently, how to do differently, you know, what I should've and could've done. So I'm just a lot more mentally, I'm ready to keep going. And one thing I really need to work on, or not really work on, just wanna to keep doing more is getting in the middle of the ice, attack the middle of the ice, don't be so timid, waiting around the perimeter, you know, looking for guys because you know the ice is there, think I'm fast enough to go to the middle of the ice and, you know, create more scoring chances so that's what I look forward to.]
Jeff Marek [00:01:50] You know, one of the interesting things about Jason Robertson's weekend is, you know, we focus so much on Robertson's shot, which has always been his calling card even going back to when I first used to watch him play with the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL, we look at all those goals. We're not pointing at the shot for anything here are we Friedge?
Elliotte Friedman [00:02:05] Not really. I mean, there were a couple of good shots, but they weren't ones where he stepped up and really wired them too much there was the hat trick on Sunday was a rebound in front, a shot that kind of dribbled through the goalie in an empty netter. But the one on Friday, I mean, that was just a spectacular hat-trick.
Jeff Marek [00:02:23] Oh, awesome.
Elliotte Friedman [00:02:23] Including the winner in overtime where it was the end of a minute, 37 second shift and he was, he wiped out at the end of it just hilariously.
Recording [00:02:31] [Play-by-play of Jason Robertson's hat-trick goal in overtime.]
Elliotte Friedman [00:03:01] You know, what a player he's turning into, by the way, I want everyone to know that I noticed we got the, Jeff hockey snob, "when I watched him in Kingston," because the rest of us, of course, didn't do that. I want you to know that, you know I noticed it, Jeff.
Jeff Marek [00:03:16] I'm just trying to give you some context from where I first saw him.
Elliotte Friedman [00:03:19] Right, yes.
Jeff Marek [00:03:19] And that was Kingston. And the story was, you have to see this American kid playing for the Kingston Frontenacs because he's got the best shot in the OHL, it's ridiculous. Like it always pops when you see a junior hockey kid who already has an NHL shot, it really stands out, and when Robertson played, he was that guy like he would shoot from anywhere Friedge. And you can't blow pucks by NHL goaltenders, but you can sure blow pucks past junior goaltenders and and Jason Robertson did that on the regular. I was just sort of providing a little colour, Elliotte, just giving a little context.
Elliotte Friedman [00:03:55] This comes down to, I knew about Jason Robertson and the rest of you didn't.
Jeff Marek [00:03:59] You know, you know how many hipsters it takes to change a light bulb Elliotte? It's actually kind of a rare number. You've probably never heard of it. Anyway, continue.
Elliotte Friedman [00:04:09] That's so good, I like that. I think the interesting thing about this this year is, Dallas as a team is kind of turning over a bit.
Jeff Marek [00:04:17] Yes.
Elliotte Friedman [00:04:17] Seguin's been really good lately. Benn certainly is not to be underestimated. But what we're seeing is the turning over of the Dallas Stars, eventually from the Jamie Benn Tyler Seguin Stars to the Jason Robertson Roope Hintz Stars. And Joe Pavelski's a very big part of that, and I believe the Stars are hopeful that they're gonna lock him up and he's going to re-sign. But I think what you're seeing this year is that Dallas is changing kind of the core of its team or, if you wanna say adding to the core of the team. You know, the Sars have some really big decisions to make, and I think a lot of it depended on, did they make a run for the playoffs or not? You know, they're there. You know, Robertson has really played an enormous role in getting them there and this weekend especially. But I look at him and I think this kid is turning himself into a franchise player.
Jeff Marek [00:05:13] You know, well, there's another franchise player that it seems as if you know, all of this is being built around, and we talked plenty about him since his rookie season, and that's Miro Heiskanen.
Elliotte Friedman [00:05:22] Yes.
Jeff Marek [00:05:23] It seems to me as if you know you look at the future of the Dallas Stars as to your point, they're starting to turn this thing over and start handing it to that, you know, next generation of hockey player, it's being done around Heiskanen, it's being done around Robertson. Roope Hintz. I know they really want it to be done around Denis Gurianov, who's one of the more frustrating players in the entire NHL, just complete flashes of brilliance occasionally, which just must be so frustrating for the squad you're like, where is that every game? And the other is Jake Oettinger.
Elliotte Friedman [00:05:55] Yup.
Jeff Marek [00:05:56] Who's now finally arrived as well and you know, he's going to be someone, albeit in a restricted free agent, just like Jason Robertson is gonna be due a new contract at season's end. But that's that, the hush we refer to it Elliotte, next core of the Dallas Stars and of course, Robertson is a huge part of that, and you can make the argument, he does the most difficult thing to find in a rebuild, and that's a young player who can score goals and Robertson does that.
Elliotte Friedman [00:06:22] Yes, and there's not much else to say there. You're right, I think the Stars... It's good that you pointed out Heiskanen and Oettinger because I, number one, I forgot to do it, and number two, especially in Heiskanen's case, you can't ignore it. But we are seeing the turnover of the Dallas Stars very much in front of our eyes. I should also mention Jeff that it was a big weekend for the Robertson family, not only because Jason got back to back hat tricks, but Nick scored his first regular season goal.
Recording [00:06:50] [Play-by-play of Nick Robertson's first regular season goal with the Toronto Maple Leafs.]
Elliotte Friedman [00:07:00] He had one in the bubble for the Maple Leafs against Columbus in 2020.
Recording [00:07:05] [Play-by-play of Nick Robertson's playoff goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets.]
Elliotte Friedman [00:07:30] But he's battled injury and he's battled to get back. So Robertson and Sandin were the first two of the really young Maple Leafs who signed for no bonuses, right?
Jeff Marek [00:07:41] Yes.
Elliotte Friedman [00:07:42] Because the Maple Leafs told them that they had a better chance of reaching the NHL if they didn't have bonuses that the teams had to worry about in such a tight cap situation. So he did it, and I think a lot of people thought that he would be a regular far sooner than this. And number one, he's battled some injuries. And number two, there's a lot of really good, high level skilled players on that roster. And you know, the one thing to is, I've heard through the grapevine that Jason's success now, it's not that it's been tough on Nick because I wouldn't want to say that. But I think that if you have a sibling, whether it's a brother or a sister who is successful, I think sometimes you as a sibling feel that pressure to succeed too. Nick is determined to make it in the NHL, and why not? Why wouldn't he be determined to make it the NHL? And I still think he's going to get there. And I still think he has the chance to be a very effective player. But I think at times I think some in the American Hockey League have felt that he feels the pressure to get there faster because of how successful Jason's been so, I'm rooting for Nick and I hope that this is the first of many for him and his NHL career.
Jeff Marek [00:09:02] Two great players, two great people as well. I've had a chance to talk to both and get to know both. Really wonderful. You can tell they were raised really well.
Elliotte Friedman [00:09:09] Nice kids.
Jeff Marek [00:09:10] Yeah, really and just dynamic shots and really dynamic players as well so I'll just throw it out there. Nick Robertson for Jon Klingberg, you in? It's that time of year Friedge.
Elliotte Friedman [00:09:23] Well, look, we know that Toronto had considered a Klingberg deal.
Jeff Marek [00:09:26] Yes.
Elliotte Friedman [00:09:27] I don't know that Robertson was in that deal.
Jeff Marek [00:09:29] Make it a family affair in, in Dallas. This is, like I said, you mentioned this is the this was a huge weekend for the Robertson family, it was. You mentioned, was a huge weekend for the Dallas Stars, it was like, they're right in there, like there's a pack there, you know, for that wild card spot, it's, you know, Dallas and Nashville and Edmonton, Vancouver, a big went on Saturday, the Anaheim Ducks as well. There's that group in there and now Dallas is on a nice little run and a nice little roll and they might be starting to pull away from that pack a little bit, not unlike Nashville did not too long ago, only to fall back down to earth and allow a couple of teams in but, you know, this was a big weekend for those players and that team, but this is a big week coming up Elliotte for a lot of teams as well.
Elliotte Friedman [00:10:18] Before we talk about a big week coming up, I do want to mention that Colorado-Calgary game on Saturday night.
Jeff Marek [00:10:26] So good Elliotte.
Elliotte Friedman [00:10:26] That was a phenomenal game and there are some games even though you're sitting in the studio, you're saying to yourself, boy it was a pleasure to be around to work that game, and that was one of them. And there's a player in this league this year, I think has got the coming out party going and doesn't get enough attention, and that player is Lindholm from Calgary.
Jeff Marek [00:10:49] Sneaky good first line centre, 2a guy, and he's a very undercover elite member of the best line in the NHL, Elliotte, alongside Goodrow and Tkachuk?
Elliotte Friedman [00:11:01] Well you have your best third line, now is this your best first line if you proclaim [unclear].
Jeff Marek [00:11:07] Oh yeah. I've yeah, I've been on that, best first line for a while now.
Elliotte Friedman [00:11:09] The play he made in overtime to knock Rantanen off the puck, just elite level play, he had two goals in that game and he scored right after Colorado would score goals to negate it. That Calgary team, this is an interesting one because I think they're still considering potentially adding, maybe plugging another hole up front here and there and maybe a depth D. I was talking about that with some people on Saturday, and you know what they were saying to me Jeff? They were saying if they were the Flames, they seem to have some magic. They would be very careful about how much they tinker with what they've got going there.
Jeff Marek [00:11:46] It's really working. It's really good, and speaking of Lindholm as well, someone told me this recently, that back at his draft, Boston was desperately trying to get in to draft him, that the Boston Bruins really liked Lindholm, to the point where I think they were talking with the player like, okay, will you come over right away if we draft you, like they were, Boston was serious about getting up, and because that was a Nathan MacKinnon draft and Barkov, Drouin, Seth Jones, Lindholm goes fifth to the Carolina Hurricanes. And the one thing about Lindholm as well, and this goes back to Carolina, is he's super versatile. Like he looks obviously great playing centre, and that's his natural position, but how many times did we see him with Carolina specifically Elliotte bounce back and forth between the wing and centre? And played up and down the lineup?
Elliotte Friedman [00:12:32] He could play wherever you want him to.
Jeff Marek [00:12:34] That's it. Like he is the, like one of the most versatile forwards in the game period yet, to your point. Not a peep, because he's surrounded by stars.
Elliotte Friedman [00:12:44] By the way, before we close the book on Calgary.
Jeff Marek [00:12:47] Okay?
Elliotte Friedman [00:12:48] I did want to point out that I'm really happy that sacrificial lamb Dan Vladar got a victory in that game. After Kevin tried to set him up for failure at the top of the--I know Cole Bieksa's a big listener to this podcast and Cole, you have to be disappointed in your dad for the way he tried to set up Vladar for defeat at the beginning of that show.
Jeff Marek [00:13:11] And by the way, speaking of Kevin Bieksa, he is one of the big stars of the episode one, season two of Hey Burkie, which is coming out very soon.
Elliotte Friedman [00:13:20] Oh, that's a good show. I like Hey Burkie.
Jeff Marek [00:13:22] Stay tuned for that. Oh, you're gonna have a couple of cameos in there too Elliotte, don't worry. You're gonna get your face time animated.
Elliotte Friedman [00:13:28] Great.
Jeff Marek [00:13:29] You know, another player it's funny, a friend of mine the next morning I wake up, and it's just a two word text after that game, because we were texting about the game as it was going on, a lawyer friend of mine in Boston, he sends a two word text in the morning. "Makar Hart." What do you think of that?
Elliotte Friedman [00:13:47] That one shift he had before the third goal was ridiculous.
Jeff Marek [00:13:52] So good!
Elliotte Friedman [00:13:52] This is gonna be a wide open Hart this year.
Jeff Marek [00:13:54] No no no no. It's the goalie in New York, c'mon.
Elliotte Friedman [00:13:57] Yes, I know how you feel. This is going to be a wide open Hart this year, wide open. And right now, as we sit here this weekend, I do agree with you. Shesterkin is probably my vote.
Jeff Marek [00:14:09] I'm sorry. I'm getting a little older and losing my hearing, can you say that again, please, Elliotte, a little louder and clear so Amil can capture that and maybe use it as my ringtone for you.
Elliotte Friedman [00:14:17] This is almost as painful for me as the illegitimate election in-season cup is going right now
Jeff Marek [00:14:26] Oh in-season cup is awesome and I've got a guaranteed win coming up on Tuesday, Arizona and Detroit.
Elliotte Friedman [00:14:31] Unbelievable.
Jeff Marek [00:14:32] Did you see?
Elliotte Friedman [00:14:32] You could have a second one!
Jeff Marek [00:14:33] I know, it's so good.
Elliotte Friedman [00:14:34] So what happens? How could you get two guaranteed win nights in a row? Who has the win Tuesday?
Jeff Marek [00:14:39] So if Detroit wins on Tuesday, then they'll capture the in-season cup, which is still a win for me. Then their next game is Thursday against the Minnesota Wild and your boy, Jeff, he also has Minnesota, too. Love this pool.
Elliotte Friedman [00:14:53] This is like one of those elections where the winner is already determined before the election begins.
Jeff Marek [00:14:58] So my favourite kind--oh, this is just--and one thing I do want to mention as well, and I love this. The grade 4/5 class that have put together the in-season cup on Twitter and it is at @InSeasonCup, to follow along with this pool that we're involved in: Caroline Cameron, Elliotte, myself, David Amber. Do you know how many followers it has?
Elliotte Friedman [00:15:19] How many?
Jeff Marek [00:15:20] 2500.
Elliotte Friedman [00:15:21] That's pretty good.
Jeff Marek [00:15:22] 2500, that's amazing, for this like, goofy little pool that we're doing throughout the season, which is really only interesting to four people, and at any given time, three of them are angry at each other. I think it's outstanding.
Elliotte Friedman [00:15:36] There are people out there who are talking about some like, do some rules, tweaks and things like that.
Jeff Marek [00:15:41] Yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:15:41] I don't agree with all of them.
Jeff Marek [00:15:43] Yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:15:43] But I like the fact that people are willing to, you know, it's your pool. Put your own spin on it the way you like it.
Jeff Marek [00:15:49] How about that Caroline Cameron shouldn't be allowed to sit with the winner for two weeks in between games? How about that rule?
Elliotte Friedman [00:15:56] As a matter of fact, I think they've lost two days with Toronto, and I'm gonna have them reinstated because it's not fair. If she, if she got two weeks with it, then Dave should get his two days with it.
Jeff Marek [00:16:08] I still think I should get one for day one, but that is a no.
Elliotte Friedman [00:16:13] No! No no no. All right. Start the podcast and we'll talk about some free agents.
Jeff Marek [00:16:17] Here we go. Welcome to it, 32 Thoughts, Marek, Delic, Friedman, presented by the all new GMC AT4 lineup.
[00:16:22] [Intro music.]
Jeff Marek [00:16:49] Okay so Elliotte, before I was so rudely interrupted by you, comma, again, in brackets, welcome to my life. I want to get into a discussion about the free agent players for this week. You talked about this on Saturday, whether it's Tomas Hertl in San Jose, Hampus Lindholm in Anaheim, Claude Giroux in Philadelphia as well. I think we can probably throw [unclear] reference Joe Pavelski, maybe John Klingberg in that mix as well. Is this the week where teams finally make their minds up about these players or is that already done?
Elliotte Friedman [00:17:23] No, I think we're gonna see some traction. You know, I had a couple teams tell me that they don't see Hertl being available. I don't know that I'd go that far. Like when San Jose came out and said, we're gonna, we're gonna sign them. I think some of the things you always wonder about Jeff, are these teams serious or not? You know, sometimes there's teams out there that they have the reputation of saying, oh yeah, we're gonna really sign them, but they come up with offers that the player kind of says or the agent says, that's just not gonna get it done, we, we never believe that you were serious in the first place. That is definitely not the case with the Sharks here. They're making a run at it. I don't know how I would handicap it, but they are definitely trying to get that done, like their efforts from what I hear are very legitimate. Lindholm, the Ducks, and we talked about a little bit. They've made it clear that they are not gonna do term. Now, I think, I can't prove it, but they might be willing to make a slight exception for Linholm but, it's just no way that they're going to be able to offer Lindholm say, four years and think they have any chance of getting this done right? like someone made a really good point to me, they said for Rakell, you can argue, I think for Rakell, you might be able to get away with four years because some of the other forwards in the NHL have gotten four year deals, especially last summer. But, you know, so maybe depending on how Rakell feels, you get away with that, but probably not with Manson, and definitely not with Lindholm. So I don't know what Anaheim's, you know, nobody's gonna talk specifically yet about negotiations. And Verbeek had a town hall last week with fans where on the weekend where he said, we're gonna try to sign them, but I just don't know how reasonable it is if you're not willing to go six years or seven years with Lindholm, I just I don't know.
Jeff Marek [00:19:22] Do we know that that's what Lindholm wants?
Elliotte Friedman [00:19:24] I don't know that.
Jeff Marek [00:19:25] Does Lindholm want max term here?
Elliotte Friedman [00:19:27] The one thing I do know is that at some point in time, there was a conversation. Now this was under what I think while Bob Murray was still GM, it was a while ago so it would be. There was some point in time where there was a conversation and apparently what the Ducks and Lindhom talked about and he's represented by Claude Lemieux is that you know what the market is for defenceman. You've seen all these deals. Jones signed 8x9, Nurse signed 8x9, Werenski signed a five year deal at nine and a half. He's younger than those guys. I mean, you know what the market is, and so I don't know what Lindholm is willing to do, I don't know where this is gonna go, but I will say if Anaheim is really, really so careful about term that they're they're not willing to go there, unless they're really willing to bump up the AAV, I just don't know how it happens, but we'll figure it out. You know, the ones that are different, like we just mentioned, Pavelski, there seems to be optimism that he wants to stay. You know, Goodrow, that one in Calgary's been very, very quiet, I don't think there's much action going on there at all. And the Forsberg one, all I've heard is that right now, they're not close but, you know, you've got two veteran grinders there, David Poile and JP Barrie, and they've both seen everything. I will say this, I was talking to some other people about that particular situation, and they said there's so much experience in that negotiation that that's one that could get done in, in an hour if they both decided to get serious and get it done. So the two ones I really thought were really hot last week in terms of where like talks were trying to go were, were Hertl and Lindholm. Because I think Lindholm will get done first, if it gets done in Anaheim.
Jeff Marek [00:21:14] I was gonna say, I don't think that Anaheim would go the remainder of the season and just let Lindholm go.
Elliotte Friedman [00:21:22] No, there's no chance.
Jeff Marek [00:21:23] Like I can see Dallas doing that with Klingberg because listen, their expectation is we're going deep into the playoffs here like we're going for it. You know, Anaheim looks at this as, hey, maybe we're, you know, we're in this playoff race right now, and that's great, and for many, it might be a surprise, I think there was an expectation that there'd be maybe two more years of pain. So I don't know that they'd look at Hampus Lindholm and say, yeah, you know what? Let's take a good run at this, and if we lose him, we lose them. I think that they're looking at this as, we're still rebuilding for a couple of years here. You know, we still have, you know, Mason MacTavish coming like, we still have young players that are on the horizon that are gonna be in this lineup. If Lindholm is going to go somewhere else, we need to turn that into assets. I would be shocked if we get the trade deadline and he's not signed or traded.
Elliotte Friedman [00:22:12] There's no way that's happening from what I can tell. Just quick note, you mentioned the player on Anaheim.
Jeff Marek [00:22:19] Maxime Comtois.
Elliotte Friedman [00:22:19] Who got an assist as we're doing this on Sunday.
Jeff Marek [00:22:23] Got back in the lineup after a few scratches.
Recording [00:22:26] [Maxime Comtois interview about his game.]
Jeff Marek [00:22:58] This has been a tough season for Max Comtois. Last year he's a leading scorer for the Anaheim Ducks, and this year, you know, it was cold to start the season, had the hand issue, ended up having surgery on it, came back into the lineup I wanna say it was early December, and then he caught COVID and was out again and hasn't been able to find his spot back in the lineup. And there's a, there's a few things working against Max Comtois here. You know, one of them is the left side is really good with Anaheim I mean, Adam Henrique is a real good player, as we all know. Sonny Milano's having a career season. Sam Steel has been playing real well. You know, Nic Deslaurier might be the toughest player in the NHL and does things that few other players in the entire league are willing to do and also, we should mention about Deslaurier, that he's a second unit penalty killer on the Anaheim Ducks, and that's a really good, I think they're top 10, like that's a top 10 penalty kill and Deslaurier's a second unit on that. So he's a pretty necessary guy in the lineup. So Comtois had a hard time finding his groove, finding his way back in the Ducks organisation so that's someone that I don't think Elliotte we should be surprised about, if come March 21st trade deadline, he ends up finding a new home.
Elliotte Friedman [00:24:16] Okay.
Jeff Marek [00:24:17] We've talked about what the thousand games means, et cetera. We've talked about Colorado and you've talked about Florida as well, and something really interesting on Friday night. So Lehigh Valley, AHL affiliate for the Philadelphia Flyers, facing off against Charlotte, that's the AHL affiliate for Florida and Seattle as well. And on Friday, everybody was there. So and by everybody, I mean, Chuck Fletcher, general manager of the Flyers, Danny Briere, Dean Lombardi, Bill Barber, who actually dropped the puck before the game as well, throw that note in there too. So everybody was there, and I am of the belief, and I believe the consensus seems to be, that they were there to see Owen Tippett. And we've talked about Owen Tippett before, speaking of guys who're having a hard time finding their way in the lineup, Owen Tippett, you know, couldn't find his way into that stacked Panthers lineup, he's playing in the American Hockey League right now. The belief is they were all there to see Owen Tippett and you know, you put two and two together, does that mean that there is a Claude Giroux-Florida Panthers deal on the horizon and could Owen Tippett be part of it? We know the Panthers have put Tippett out there and have made him available. You have a thought on that one?
Elliotte Friedman [00:25:34] Like Florida doesn't have a first rounder this year, and I don't necessarily think that would be a dealbreaker if Florida was the team. I just feel that, if you're trying to compete as quickly as you can and Philly wants to come back next year, Owen Tippett makes a lot of sense for me because he's a guy who's ready to play. But, you know, is it gonna be Tippett and a future first rounder? I'm just curious to see what the rest of the deal could be. And then we gotta see if, we gotta figure out if it's going to be Florida. I don't know about Colorado in this one. I have a feeling Colorado... Like I still think they're around on this one? But I wonder if they're looking elsewhere. I, I think Colorado's up to something, trying to do something pretty big. I think they look at this is their year to go for it and they should. So I, you know, Giroux would definitely be big, but I also kind of wonder if they've got some other feelers out there. I think Boston's probably kicking tires on this. I think the Rangers have kicked tires on this. You know, the Rangers, I also think are gonna try something pretty big. I believed for some time now that Florida, if I was placing a wager and it wouldn't be a very confident wager because I'm not sure where this is all gonna go. Florida might be that team, and Tippett to me makes perfect sense in that deal, but it's obviously got to be Tippett plus, so I'm wondering what what it's gonna be. You know something else I wanted to address with Philly. There was a report out there that Ristolainen turned down six times... like 6.35 or something like that?
Jeff Marek [00:27:08] Mhm.
Elliotte Friedman [00:27:09] I don't think that that's correct in this particular case. One of the things I was wondering about was, how could you turn down 36 million, it just seems really strange to me. I think the offer was somewhere between 4 and 4.75. Now, maybe what the confusion is, is that, this happens to all of us at this time of year. It really does. Like I say, I don't like to drag other reporters because I know what a tough job this is, I don't want people to think that I disparage anybody else because I don't.
Jeff Marek [00:27:46] Only me.
Elliotte Friedman [00:27:47] Only you. The only thing that I would say is, I kind of wondered if it's possible that that was either a coucher or a number that Ristolainen would take or something like that. I don't think he turned down a number that high. I do think they're negotiating. So I'm curious to see where this is gonna end up. But I had heard the number was somewhere between 4 and 4.75. We'll see where that one goes.
Jeff Marek [00:28:14] Do you think at the end of this Ristolainen just stays?
Elliotte Friedman [00:28:17] You know, you've seen what I've written and said about it.
Jeff Marek [00:28:20] Yeah!
Elliotte Friedman [00:28:20] That's why this time of year is so tricky because, even though like I said about Hertl, I think San Jose's taking a real run at this. I wouldn't want to handicap it because I think everybody goes through a lot of emotions. You know, how good's your team? Where do you think you're going... Especially with a guy like Ristolainen, like, I'll tell you this like, I've heard the Philly players, they just love the guy and he really likes them. But, you know, he hasn't played in the playoffs. All of these conflicting emotions come with you. Like the one guy I've heard that there's been like nothing going on right now is Nick Paul. And I just wonder if what that means is that Ottawa's gonna come up to him, you know, right before the deadline and with their best offer and say, are you taking it? But it's a really confusing and confounding time. Like, here's an example with, with Vancouver. Rutherford has us all chasing our own tail and he's probably laughing his head off cause we're all doing it. You know I've had some people say to me, they think it's likely going to be Boeser that gets moved. But I had some other people say to me, don't go with that, don't do that. And I say, okay, you know, what do you think? They said they think it's going to be the player who can get them the, the best defenceman that they can get. You know, I think Lundkvist's name has come up, Nils Lundkvist in in New York. The name Bowen Byram's been thrown around there a little bit I'm not convinced that Colorado's doing that, but I do think that Rutherford wants a young defenceman who he thinks that he can build around with Quinn Hughes. And someone said to me, I will bet you that whoever gets traded from Vancouver is gonna, you're going to look at the defenceman in the deal and you're gonna say, that's the guy that Vancouver wanted all along.
Jeff Marek [00:30:07] Here's what I wonder about with Colorado and Vancouver. It's not Brock Boeser, it's J.T. Miller, and here's why. Because J.T. Miller has one more year of term, and if Nazem Kadri's gonna walk away next season, J.T. Miller slides into that second line centre position next year, and that's the final year that Nathan MacKinnon's on the $6.3 million deal. It gives you Kadri insurance, and it gives you a gritty, playoff style player.
Elliotte Friedman [00:30:36] That's why I think they've also talked about Andrew Copp. We mentioned him on Friday.
Jeff Marek [00:30:41] Yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:30:41] I think your theory is very good. That's a good theory. And I think it's going to be a player like that. It's going to be Miller or it's gonna be a Copp. But you know, again, I'm not so convinced it's gonna be Miller. I think Jim Rutherford's gonna take stock of it, and he's going to say, here's the best young defenceman I can get in. You know, Winnipeg, by the way. So they just had Ehlers come back, and I think they wanted to see their team with Ehlers.
Jeff Marek [00:31:06] Yup.
Elliotte Friedman [00:31:07] They got one point in two games. They lost an overtime game to Dallas and they lost to the Rangers tonight. Shesterkin, by the way, your guy tried to score at the end of regulation in the empty netter, but it got stopped at centre ice.
Jeff Marek [00:31:18] He's tried twice, he's tried twice. He's gonna get one. That's going to be the final, that's going to be his final kiss to the voters.
Elliotte Friedman [00:31:25] But I think the other thing too, is that I think what Vancouver's done is, they're trying to find out, okay, Boeser, what do you think in next deal? Miller, what do you think in next deal? I think they want to know that too so. He's trying to figure out all of his options.
Jeff Marek [00:31:39] What did you make of my report about Jack McBain on Saturday?
Elliotte Friedman [00:31:43] Yes! So, you know, I wanted to ask you a bit more about that because, like as you pointed out earlier, you're the only guy who sees these people before they reach the NHL.
Jeff Marek [00:31:51] Well, I saw him play with the junior Canadiens in the OJHL as a matter of fact, watched him play in the Oval Arena as a matter of fact.
Elliotte Friedman [00:31:57] Oh my gosh.
Jeff Marek [00:31:58] Against the Stoffville Spirit!
Elliotte Friedman [00:32:00] I'm so old, I remember when his dad was a first round draft pick.
Jeff Marek [00:32:03] Andrew McBain. You just mentioned Winnipeg Jets, absolutely.
Elliotte Friedman [00:32:06] Yeah, I remember his draught so I like, I confess. I mean, obviously, I know who Jack McBain is.
Jeff Marek [00:32:12] Yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:32:12] But I don't know him that well. Tell us a little bit about him.
Jeff Marek [00:32:16] Okay, so Jack McBain is a centre, plays at Boston College with the third round draft pick of the Minnesota Wild. He's now in his fourth year with Boston College, and much like we've seen other college players after four seasons, if they don't sign with their NHL team, they become free agents. Now, the most high profile as, as you know, Elliotte was Adam Fox, who's now with the Rangers and is making all the money and picking up, you know, Norris trophies along the way. But there have been others who have done their four years and then not signed with the team that drafted them and gone free agency, we're thinking of Jimmy Vesey, I remember how Nashville felt about that. I mean, Zach Hyman as well, was going to Michigan, was drafted by the Florida Panthers who ended up trading his rights to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who ended up signing him. But wonder what happens here, considering, you know, you and I have talked about, you know, you never want to let a player get too close to free agency, because what the heck, you know, you can, what's the harm in having a look at what's out there? And Minnesota has a cap crunch coming up, as we all know, I mentioned Jack McBain is a centre. Minnesota's in a tough spot right now. They've lost 8 of their last 10. They're trending downwards and allowing teams into this race. Considering this is a go-for-it season for the Minnesota Wild, I wonder if they trade Jack McBrain's rights at trade deadline to bring in a player, to bring in an asset they can help them this season. I don't know a hundred percent, but I would say there's a likelihood that Jack McBain doesn't sign with the Minnesota Wild and, unless a deal gets worked out, a trade and then a deal gets worked out with another team, he becomes a free agent on August the 15th.
Elliotte Friedman [00:34:01] Nobody's gonna trade for him and give up any kind of asset for him until they know they're gonna be able to sign him.
Jeff Marek [00:34:08] Correct. So if you're Bill Guerin and you want to do a deal, you'd have to let any potential team talk to him before.
Elliotte Friedman [00:34:17] That's what I would think.
Jeff Marek [00:34:19] This happened with Adam Fox, who went from, was drafted by Calgary, went to Carolina?
Elliotte Friedman [00:34:24] Traded to Carolina in the Dougie Hamilton deal. I remember seeing Brad Treliving at draft week where he made the trade. I remember seeing Brad Treliving walk over to Matt [Cator]. Now you can't call them agents when they're in the NCAA, you have to call them family advisors.
Jeff Marek [00:34:44] You have to flip the business card over. On the one side, it says Agent, on the other side, it says Family Advisor, it's got to be a pay attention to which one [coughs] you look at.
Elliotte Friedman [00:34:53] I remember him walking over to Matt [Cator], who was the representative--
Jeff Marek [00:34:57] Family adviser Elliotte.
Elliotte Friedman [00:34:59] For Adam Fox. And I saw them talking to each other, and when... this was funny, when they split up, they both saw me looking at them and they're like rolling their eyes and, and when they laughed, I said to Treliving, okay, what's happening. So you'll know tomorrow, I think, he said. And I was like, go to [Cater]. I say, what's happening? You'll know what tomorrow. And the next day, Fox was in that deal. The Dougie Hamilton deal. So that was a perfect example, and Vesey was another great example of, of players who've done that.
Jeff Marek [00:35:35] The other thing that I should mention about McBain, too, he did play for Team Canada at the Olympics. And the last time I checked, which would have been yesterday, he had 17 goals in 21 games for B.C. and over a point a game player there, a much different team when he's in the lineup there without--actually, you can find this on YouTube, he scored a really great goal right off the faceoff. Two weeks ago, it's a great--you see this very rarely. It's a cocky move. You take a shot off the draw after the goalie is right side and just plunked it in. Anyway, it seems like Elliotte like once every five years this situation arises, what with Jimmy Vesey and Adam Fox and now it's Jack McBain who may... may follow in those footsteps and we wonder what happens with the Minnesota Wild here if they end up moving him to bring in an asset to help them this season?
Elliotte Friedman [00:36:25] Now I just before we wrap this up and we go to the viewer emails and--
Jeff Marek [00:36:31] Listener, this is this is a audio property, you're not on television. Why are you wearing a suit Elliotte? This is a podcast.
Elliotte Friedman [00:36:37] I guarantee you I am not wearing a suit. That's, that's a pretty good point, listeners. One of the things we also talked about was the idea of trading for Shea Weber's contract.
Jeff Marek [00:36:49] Yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:36:50] So Michael Russo, the tremendous athletic reporter of the Minnesota Wild, he texted me on Sunday morning. He basically said, did you hear that the Wild were involved in that? And I actually did not. I was thinking more of a team that was trying to get to the floor. But Michael brought up a really good point that Minnesota's got a cap penalty the next two years. And if there was any team where it made sense to use Weber's contract, it might be them.
Jeff Marek [00:37:20] Hmm!
Elliotte Friedman [00:37:21] Because you take yourself right to the edge and then you give yourself an extra 7.6 million in cap room by putting Weber on LTIR. That's for the next four years. And then what you also do is, you only have to pay 6 million in cash total.
Jeff Marek [00:37:38] So there you go. You've just done the trade, Jack McBain for Shea Weber's contract.
Elliotte Friedman [00:37:42] Well, that's, that's very good.
Jeff Marek [00:37:47] You just did the deal Elliotte! Well done!
Elliotte Friedman [00:37:50] How come these idiots can't make trades? They're so easy.
Jeff Marek [00:37:54] We just stumbled into one here! That's wild.
Elliotte Friedman [00:37:59] But, you know, as we're taping this, I haven't seen what Russo wrote, but I did text him tonight and say, are you writing this because I didn't want to spoil it--like the worst thing I could do is go on saying Michael Russo's gnna write this and he hasn't written it yet, and someone steals the idea.
Jeff Marek [00:38:13] Yeah way to go.
Elliotte Friedman [00:38:13] But he told me he is writing it, so it's gonna be out there at the time, like this is there, but it makes sense. It makes sense for them too.
[00:38:20] [Break.]
Jeff Marek [00:38:32] But, you know, Elliotte, one of the other feel-good stories on the weekend involves the Arizona Coyotes and a certain 7-point performance by Nick Schmaltz.
Elliotte Friedman [00:38:42] It would be tough to say, let's talk about all the fun things that happened this weekend. Jason Robertson double hat tricks Calgary-Colorado Great game and not mention Nick Schmaltz. That would be borderline negligence. The thing too about Schmaltz with the 7 point game is that sometimes I look at these games and say, okay, how many second assists were there or something like that?
Jeff Marek [00:39:05] Yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:39:06] That wasn't the case in this one. Only the last point was really a second assist where he wasn't involved at the end of the play when, when Dysin Mayo scored the goal. You look at those first six points, he scores two of them.
Recording [00:39:17] [Play-by-play of Nick Schmaltz's two goals against the Ottawa Senators.]
Elliotte Friedman [00:39:50] And the assists. One of them's a wicked one timer of his.
Recording [00:39:54] [Play-by-play of Nick Schmaltz's assist.]
Elliotte Friedman [00:40:02] One of them was forcing Matt Murray into a turnover.
Recording [00:40:05] [Play-by-play of Nick Schmaltz's assist.]
Elliotte Friedman [00:40:17] One of them, you need two great passes that led to a goal.
Recording [00:40:21] [Play-by-play of Nick Schmaltz's assist.]
Elliotte Friedman [00:40:35] And the other one was another great pass like, six out of these seven points were directly responsible for him and the last one was the second assist.
Recording [00:40:47] [Play-by-play of Nick Schmaltz's assist.]
Elliotte Friedman [00:41:00] Like he had a dominant, dominant game. Yeah, that turned out to be a great trade for them, that was Schmaltz for Strome and Perlini, that turned out to be a great deal. I remember last year, because he's signed to a big deal.
Jeff Marek [00:41:13] Yes.
Elliotte Friedman [00:41:13] If they had bought him out last year, it was only a one-third buyout and there was a crazy rumour going around that maybe they were gonna do that and I remember I called Bill Armstrong, I said is there any chance you're going to do that? He, I remember he was like, like there was a pause like, why on earth would we even do that? And I said, I'm just checking, you know, you don't have to get mad at me. And he says, we're not interested in doing that. He's a good player and, you know, 7 point night. Pretty impressive.
Jeff Marek [00:41:40] Not bad. Also getting business done, Liam O'Brien with the, uh, the two year deal and Travis Boyd as well. So getting some players under term.
Elliotte Friedman [00:41:48] Travis Boyd is playing in between Keller and Schmaltz. There probably aren't many better situations for Travis Boyd than that one. And so now he gets two years locked up at decent money?
Jeff Marek [00:42:00] Yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:42:01] Smart decision.
Jeff Marek [00:42:02] If you're the Toronto Maple Leafs Elliotte, are you feeling Boston footsteps here?
Elliotte Friedman [00:42:06] Feeling them? You can see them. Objects in your rear-view mirror might be closer than they appear. To be honest I'd kind of forgotten about it. And then all of a sudden Amber, who is the the Sportsnet hockey panicker, who was the one who said, you know, Boston's two points behind the Leafs right now and I'd completely forgotten and just watching that game on, on Saturday night... You heard what Dubas said on Friday.
Jeff Marek [00:42:35] Yup.
Recording [00:42:36] [Kyle Dubas: I mean, it's a lot of it's going to depend on Muzzin's health and where we're at. We still have some, quite a bit of flexibility to get creative and try to make something happen but I don't think we'll have, you know, unless we get the news we don't want on Muzz. I think we'll just have the one, the one move left, left in us here.]
Elliotte Friedman [00:42:53] He's not going in goal, he's going on D.
Jeff Marek [00:42:55] He's got one move left.
Recording [00:42:57] [Kyle Dubas: No, not at this time. I think our, if we're gonna focus on anything, we always just trying to make the team better but I think at this time, it's, it'd be more on, on defence.]
Elliotte Friedman [00:43:07] He's got one move and it's gonna be a D move and I'm really curious what this D move is. Is going to end up being but the thing that's interesting is that they're saying that their defence has been not bad. They don't have a huge problem with that. The one thing I really think here is that Keefe is a bit careful now after the soft comment this year.
Jeff Marek [00:43:30] Yes.
Elliotte Friedman [00:43:30] Like that soft comment blew up in his face. I see what he's doing. He's saying, I am not making this worse. And the other thing too is, good coaches, they realise when their team is fragile and they're saying, I'm not going to be the one to kick on them now. They need to see me as an ally to them and not someone who's pouring dirt on them. And so I see what Keefe is doing and I see what Dubas is doing. And I understand it because the fan base is in a panic. You can see what's going on. They're having trouble making saves. Y'know Cassie made a really good point, she's wondering a little bit about, at times Campbell's stick position because, you know, some of them are getting through him at a place where the stick could be. But you can see he's battling his confidence, he's saying all the right things, they're saying all the right things, but they're talking about how their defence has been not bad? I was talking about this with a coach on another team, and he was saying to me, If you really look at the numbers since January 1st, their play in front of their own net and against the rush is way down from where it was from the beginning of the season until their COVID shutdown. So, yes, I do think they have to get saves, their goalies have to be better, but they've been leakier than they have been in the past. And you know, that game on Wednesday night where Sandin scores the goal in the first period off a really smart play. Play breaks down, Skinner, I don't have any problem with Skinner leaving them, and he backs away to create an opening and scoring. But then he had a really tough time in front of his own net as Stewie showed. I'm looking at this right now and I think the Maple Leafs just said, we can't trade everything, we can't acquire six new players. So we're gonna do our one move and hope it fixes. But what I see as a team, the goalies aren't confident and the confidence of the team is coming down with them, and some of the weaknesses that were being covered up by saves before.,They're not getting covered up now, and the coach and the GM want to be very careful that they don't say anything that makes the situation worse.
Jeff Marek [00:45:47] So now we've got the Campbell's stick much like after talking to Mike McKenna last week on the radio show, I can't stop looking at Petr Mrazek's right foot.
Elliotte Friedman [00:45:56] Mrazek's foot yes.
Jeff Marek [00:45:57] His right leg is significantly ahead of of his left leg, which leads to some problems, but he won't get it out of his game and that goes back to probably Grand Rapids. So now you'd be staring at Petr Mrazek's right foot and Jack Campbell's goal stick, thanks for the distraction, everybody.
Elliotte Friedman [00:46:17] Okay, so before we get to the... the listener, not the viewer stuff.
Jeff Marek [00:46:22] Ears, not eyes. It's a podcast. Ears, not eyes.
Elliotte Friedman [00:46:24] There was something that hit Twitter on Sunday, and you're way more up on this than I am, and that was the Hall of Famer Angela James had a post about the battle between the PHF and the PWHPA, one of these leagues has to go away so there's not this many letters.
Jeff Marek [00:46:45] Or just combine them and add PHF to the PWHPA to make it nice and really confusing. So a couple of things happened this weekend. Well, listen, I believe this is going to happen early this wee, maybe if you're listening to this podcast on Monday, when it comes out, maybe it's already happened. The Toronto Six are the top team in the PHF, and they have new ownership. Anthony Stewart, Angela James, Bernice Carnegie, co-founder of the Carnegie Initiative and former NHL head coach Ted Nolan. There are other investors, I just don't know who they are, I can't nail that part down, but those are four of the big ones here so, Angela James is also the assistant coach of this team. Like Angela James, like I don't know how much more we have to add to her resume. She's a Hall of Famer, she's actually in a number of Hall of Fames, you know, she's one of the most accomplished women hockey players to ever put on skates, a tremendous athlete and... like her words carry weight. Like if you look at the generation of female hockey players Elliotte that won gold in Salt Lake City. You talk to a lot of them that's like, wow, Angela James is our hero, Angela James, Angela James, and for good reason s,o when she speaks, and it is seldom, it isn't often that Angela James weighs in on huge issues, but when she does speak, there's a gravity there and it carries weight.
Elliotte Friedman [00:48:07] True.
Jeff Marek [00:48:07] So she came out this weekend and said that she's been very quiet about the PWHPA and the PHF, saying she's sat back while she's been coaching for the Toronto Six. She says, "I'm disappointed in the PWHPA." That's a group that's being led by Jayna Hefford, another Hall of Famer. She writes, "Whose interest are you protecting? It isn't the interest of the non-national team players that have supported your association for three years now without playing a league game. Their careers have passed by now. And you want another group of women elite players to follow you while you claim to make a sustainable league. The fans and players deserve more than a showcase game or two." The NHL has repeatedly said until you and the PHF can come together. They will not step in and support a women's league, essentially Angela James, and you can read the entire text, Saroya Tinker tweeted this out on Sunday. Essentially, she's saying, you know, it's time for the women's game, considering that both entities, the PWHPA and the PHF, considering they both have shared goals, and we've talked about this countless times Elliotte, there are two different entities here with the same goal. Angela James writes, why can't you work out these differences? And that's one of the keys that I think a lot of people are wondering about. And now that Angela James is a co-owner of one of the PHF teams, I wonder how vocal she's going to be in pushing the issue like, we knew there was gonna be a pressure point right after the Olympics, something had to happen, this momentum needed to be captured and channelled into something. And it sounds as if Angela James is very much trying to keep that conversation in the forefront, the idea that these are there are two entities with shared goals and they really need to be working together. She says, "Women's hockey is bigger than the PHF and the PWHPA. Together, we can make history. The best women players in the game deserve to be competing at a pro level in one league. Yes, it is sustainable. Hashtag for the game." That is huge coming from a giant in the game in Angela James.
Elliotte Friedman [00:50:30] You know, I don't have a lot to say about it. The points I would make is, look, it's obvious, as you said, she's got now in addition to the emotional investment in it, because she's a huge supporter of women's hockey, she cares a lot about it. She's worked on that particular team. But now she's got financial reasons to really throw herself behind it. But the thing is too is that she's right. You know, people don't like to hear this, but one of the biggest reasons that it's having trouble getting off the ground in a league is the two splinter sides themselves, and they have to sort this out. It's like a family squabble, right? It's the family's mad each other. Only they can sort it out. Nobody else gonna sort it out.
Jeff Marek [00:51:13] You know how I feel about this one Elliotte? It's funny. I was having this conversation with a couple of people last week when I was doing the PWHPA Ottawa showcase, and that's, we think there is a fight right now between these two sides, but there's not. I think these two sides need to compete against each other first. They need to be in the same marketplace, each with leagues like there's all kinds of rumours about the PWHPA and what Jayna Hefford, along with Deloitte, can put together here for a league for the PWHPA athletes. I look at it like NHL-WHA. I look at it like SiriusXM. They need to be in the market together.
Elliotte Friedman [00:51:53] No. No no no. I disagree with you on this. This is, and I don't like disagreeing with you on this stuff because you've done the research more than I have. My point is that maybe there haven't been two leagues or have been for times.
Jeff Marek [00:52:04] There have been.
Elliotte Friedman [00:52:04] But this has been going on for long enough. We're past that. Sometimes in life you have to take the L for the good of the overall situation, right? We all like it. Nobody likes doing it. It can really suck from an ego point of view, but you get to a point where you say, you know what? It's better off for the overall situation if we take an L. And now it's up to both those sides, to everyone to sit down and say. for the betterment of the game, we gotta make this work. Neither one of us is gonna be completely happy. But in the long run, if this is as successful as we believe it can be, we're all gonna sit back and 25 years and say, why the hell do we take so long?
Jeff Marek [00:52:43] In a perfect world, you're 100 percent right.
Elliotte Friedman [00:52:45] It's not a perfect world, but that means you've gotta try to make it better. I'm sorry, but I, you know, like, that's where we are, Jeff. Your iron is never going to be hotter. Never.
Jeff Marek [00:52:55] It is hot right now. That part is 100 percent true, and you would hate to see this momentum in this.
Elliotte Friedman [00:53:01] Hot like me in the mirror.
Jeff Marek [00:53:02] Oh good lord. Hey, by the way, how did you think of my suit on Saturday?
Elliotte Friedman [00:53:06] It was a great suit. That purple thing was fantastic.
Jeff Marek [00:53:09] That Berman special.
Elliotte Friedman [00:53:10] Before we come back for, um...
Jeff Marek [00:53:13] Viewer mail!
Elliotte Friedman [00:53:14] Before we come back for viewer mail, yes. David Letterman's viewer mail. So if you were watching Wednesday Night Hockey last week, Buffalo-Toronto, I had a slight trip on my tongue that ended up going viral and people loved it. It was funny.
Jeff Marek [00:53:29] Whatever are you talking about, Elliotte?
Elliotte Friedman [00:53:31] So, you know, I don't think there's anything wrong with what I said from a language point of view. But if you have a young 'un who you're a little worried about, sensitive about things they may hear, Amil put together a little mix, so you'll turn down your pod for the next 20 seconds.
Jeff Marek [00:53:48] I think that's as close as Amil is going to get to a diss track. Well done, Delic. More 32 THoughts in moments.
Recording [00:54:03] [Elliotte Friedman: Sometimes as break your down, break your break your break your break your break your break your break dic break your dic break your dic break your game down to the basics.]
Jeff Marek [00:54:12] Good grief.
Elliotte Friedman [00:54:15] Amil, how much time did you spend working on that? Seriously, how long does that take you?
Jeff Marek [00:54:20] No hang on, I have a better question. How long did it take you to decide to do that after you heard Elliotte mangle his new tongue on Wednesday?
Amil Delic [00:54:28] Three seconds.
Elliotte Friedman [00:54:30] How long did it take you to do that?
Amil Delic [00:54:32] About five minutes.
Elliotte Friedman [00:54:34] Nice work Amil.
Jeff Marek [00:54:38] Well done, Mr. Delic, Sir, it'll be a little something extra in your envelope this week.
Elliotte Friedman [00:54:43] Not from me there won't be.
Jeff Marek [00:54:44] Let's get to some emails and some phone calls here. Let's, this is an interesting one, this is interesting. I'm curious your perspective on this one because I have a very strong opinion on it. We'll see where you're at. From Tracy in Edmonton. "Hi Jeff and Elliotte. During the pandemic, it became common, brackets even necessary, for radio and television broadcast teams in all sports to cover games from remote studios rather than in-person. This seems to be subsiding in many sports, but seems delayed in the NHL, perhaps due to the amount of cross-border travel required. Do you see a return to normal anytime soon, example the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs, or is this more likely a trend? Appreciate your thoughts."
Elliotte Friedman [00:55:26] I have incredible amount of respect for people who call the games off monitors. I think it's really hard. I think it's always better to be at the rink just because you can talk to people. You feel the crowd better. You see things that sometimes the TV monitor doesn't pick up. I don't think I'm speaking at a school when I'm saying that there were times during COVID where I know members of our crew, they weren't crazy, and this is both on camera and behind the camera, they weren't crazy about travelling because of the quarantines they faced if they got it. For example, we had some people who caught COVID in the states and they were stuck in their hotel rooms for 14 days. Depending on the rules like in some places, you got it. You know, you could maybe go out after five as long as you had no symptoms, but other places you had to stay there for, in your room basically, for a full 14 days. And that wasn't fun. I don't travel very much anymore. You know, in the states, the rules are very different, they're travelling. I hope we get back to it more. I believe our basketball crews are starting to travel more. Our hockey crews, I don't know what's going on there, to be perfectly honest. I saw where the TSN guys said that they were starting to travel again. Look, TV stations, we like to cut costs. That's what we like to do. It's definitely less expensive to do remotes. You save on travel, that's a lot of money. You save on per diems, that's a lot of money. I hope it doesn't stay this way for good. I think you really lose something and, I think when the broadcasters lose something, the viewers lose something.
Jeff Marek [00:57:11] That's what I think. I think the... having people at the games is an investment in your broadcasters, is an investment in your crews. It's an investment in your people. I mean so much that gets presented, is discovered or massaged or, you know, learned through these relationships face to face. You know, you just mentioned Mike Russo in the last segment. You know, Bruce and I for the longest time, we would always see each other at the draft, and that's it. It's like, hey, we should really do this more often. Like we'd only see like every year we would see each other once a year and have a great conversation it was like that with Katie Strang as well, I got to see Katie at the draft and then that was it, and be the one face to face conversation that I had with Katie like, I'm, I don't think that I'm in the minority here. Like I would be a better broadcaster, and I think we all would be, if we were at the rinks more. If we are all at the games more and I understand--
Elliotte Friedman [00:58:03] I do feel very disconnected from a lot of the league.
Jeff Marek [00:58:06] Yes, I feel the same way.
Elliotte Friedman [00:58:07] Yeah.
Jeff Marek [00:58:07] I've had this feeling for a few years. I don't feel like I'm at my best because I'm not at the rink as much as I would like to be or as I should be. I still try to do the job to the best of my ability, but I do feel that you really do lose something the farther away from the rink you are.
Elliotte Friedman [00:58:25] Agreed.
Jeff Marek [00:58:26] That's how I feel about it. Okay Elliotte, this one is from Madeline in Toronto. Now she's a nurse, thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you, and huge respect, and also a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, "My nursing friends, and I'll listen to your podcast all the time and love it." Full of respect to all the nurses. Thank you so much for all of your dedication and hard work and man, you people deserve all the money. Madeline submits this. "I had a thought on your discussion about adding a shot clock to OTe in the NHL. I love the idea. As a kid in Richmond Hill, Ontario, I played a sport called ringette.. We use a thirty second shot clock in ringette, and when it expires, the possession of the ring is given to the opposing goalie and they have five seconds to make a play. I think this gets the goalie more involved in the offence and really changes their playmaking ability, while also adding the increased risk of turnovers and resulting in a potential goal. Let me know what you think. Great job, Jeff. Great job, Amil."
Elliotte Friedman [00:59:22] So we had a lot of feedback--
Jeff Marek [00:59:24] Hang on, hang on, how can you miss that? "Great job, Jeff. Great job. Amil.".
Elliotte Friedman [00:59:28] Oh!
Jeff Marek [00:59:29] Madeline got the assignment!
Elliotte Friedman [00:59:31] A-2 Madeline, A-2. Beware the ides of March, two weeks away.
Jeff Marek [00:59:39] That's awesome.
Elliotte Friedman [00:59:39] Well first of all, I want to thank everybody, we had a lot of response on this whole idea, and I have to say that there's an idea I actually like better than the shot clock. And it also came in an email from a gym teacher who actually said that instead of the, he doesn't like the shot clock because offensive zone pressure should be rewarded, and once the puck enters the o-zone under control by the attacking team, it can't leave the zone while still under control. He prefers if the attacking player retreats back, they must dump the puck and all of their team must touch up to their side of the red line. So the other team has a free out. I like that better. I think I like that better than a shot clock.
Jeff Marek [01:00:20] Okay. I mean I'm... again, I'll come back to the whole idea of like trying these things out at a summer.
Elliotte Friedman [01:00:27] Someone else and I do apologize, someone else suggested doing it at the All-Star Game.
Jeff Marek [01:00:31] Oh, that ain't a bad idea, that's a cool idea! Yeah!
Elliotte Friedman [01:00:35] Have a young stars game or something, you know, maybe even the All-Star 3-on-3 tournament itself with these rules. I don't know how all the hungover players will feel if the game's like in Vegas.
Jeff Marek [01:00:46] Too confusing. Too confusing. Too confusing, what? What, what am I? What am I doing here?
Elliotte Friedman [01:00:51] Wait a second, I'm still a little bit foggy from last night.
Jeff Marek [01:00:54] Hold on a second here.
Elliotte Friedman [01:00:56] Next year it'll be Florida's, there'll be like sunburned players going up and down the ice.
Jeff Marek [01:01:00] You know what? What's the worst sunburn you ever had?
Elliotte Friedman [01:01:03] Oh, I had a bad one when I was like a 17 year-old. I remember I was.,It was so bad I fell asleep in the sun. This is one of those things where you could just touch yourself and it would go white and then red again.
Jeff Marek [01:01:14] Yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [01:01:14] It was painful.
Jeff Marek [01:01:15] So mine was in California, this would have been right after high school. My buddy and I thumbed up and down the coast to California, went up to Arcadia and then down in Sacramento and ended up staying on campus at Stanford and that was really cool and anyway. But on the one day there we're at my buddy's cousin's house and he's got a pool and a terrace it's a great spot. And so I lathered up, I'm like, I'm working on my tan today, and lather it all up, and no problem fell asleep in the sun and burned my eyelids.
Elliotte Friedman [01:01:48] Oh!
Jeff Marek [01:01:49] Have you ever burned your eyelids, Elliotte?
Elliotte Friedman [01:01:51] No. I can't say I have.
Jeff Marek [01:01:52] Every single time you blink, you're in agony. I never realized how much I blink in a day? It was honestly like some of the most annoying pain I've ever felt cause you can't do anything about it. You gotta blink! And every time I would blink, it would be agony. Anyway, on that lovely note, let's get to another email. This is obviously inspired by your, by our conversation and your inclusion of Michael Misa in 32 Thoughts last week. Michael Misa of the Mississauga Senators. So here's a question. Alessandro in and Halifax. "Can you explain how the decision is made between who is deemed exceptional and not exceptional when discussing younger players joining the junior leagues? Would love to hear more about the process and decision making of who the committee thinks is good enough and whether it is based more heavily on stats or visual and who is part of that decision."
Elliotte Friedman [01:02:47] You would be better to answer that than I would.
Jeff Marek [01:02:49] It's reviewed by Hockey Canada. What they do is they put together an evaluation panel, like the player has to apply for exceptional status, which, just so everybody knows allows you into junior hockey one year earlier, so you can join as a 15 year-old playing junior hockey in the CHL. Now, it's not all based on skill, but skill is certainly a component. It's also, are they physically mature enough? Are they mentally mature enough? And I believe academic ability as well. And it's a panel of people from Hockey Canada and outside Hockey Canada as well, and it's a full kaleidoscope, it's, you know, it's physical skill you know, can this player play? Can this player play at that level? And can they mentally handle the challenges of playing as a 15 year-old where it's going into a league, where there are overagers who are 20? Will they be able to handle it, you know, physically and handle it mentally as well? So it's a panel put together by Hockey Canada.
Elliotte Friedman [01:03:49] Nice.
Jeff Marek [01:03:50] Taking us out Elliotte is a New York based musician, an axe murderer. Folks, prepare yourself for Shred Fest 2022. Ryan Scott is a freak on the guitar and mixing influences of Blues, jazz, R&B and even some Brazilian psychedelia--ooh, like the sounds of that. Ryan delivers all of this with beautifully crafted lyrics that complement his guitar skills. From his debut record, A Freak Grows in Brooklyn, here's Ryan Scott with Love U Like The Sun In June on 32 Thoughts the Podcast. Have a good week!
[01:04:21] [Outtro music.]