Upsets and Aftermaths

Got his time zones mixed up. Did you and then you texted and you're like I got my time zones mixed up Yeah, I thought it was 315 not to 15 Well, that's not even time zones. You just got the timer on yeah, no Yeah, when I saw you you said 515 I was like, oh that's 315 Pacific and then I think that's the first time you've ever done that Yeah Where are you? I'm in the car. Are you gonna record the car? Yeah, I've got the Riverside app going so I've hit record. So if you guys want to start whenever it'll uh, It'll be recording. Oh my gosh Okay, let's uh Welcome to 32 thoughts the podcast presented by your canadian toyota dealers and the 100 electric bz available now During red tag days dom elliot kyle back with you welcome to the month of may friege The final day of oh, yeah Yeah, we're here That april went by in a flash The final day of the month featured two games both with elimination circumstances and the two teams In the last two years that met in the western conference final both had their seasons end On thursday night the edminton oilers a third straight trip to the stanley cup final Is not going to happen and the anaheim ducks. They are not just a team that can score We learned they're a team that can close out a series as well pat verbic He had the mandate to make the playoffs this year. They have done more than that The upstart ducks elliot through to round number two in 2026 The window is open kyle the ducks Have arrived The flying v has landed The contention window is open And look, we know the oilers have injuries and we'll get to that but I just think that the ducks deserve the credit. They did not fluke into this series victory They won it fair and square. They earned it They were the better team for most of the series and I think they've got some guys playing hurt too Everybody does it at this time of year Probably the guy i'm happiest for in some ways is jackson lakom Because he was fantastic And he had another great defensive play on a one-on-one with mc david In the first period of the game and yes, we know mc david is somewhere around 50 percent But it doesn't matter him at 50 can still embarrass a lot of people lakom got a big contract at the beginning of the year the biggest money in ducks franchise history And there were people like who who who's this guy who got all this money? Well, nobody's questioning that anymore and a lot of people in the sport already knew how good he was and How good you look at it now the us won the gold medal at the olympics And we all know how good their d was but it had to be really good because this guy didn't get to play a minute He was their extra defenseman and he just sat there and now look how he played In the first round. He was a stud. I thought leo carlson was great. I thought goche was dangerous I was really happy for terry too. Did a great interview with scott oak the longest serving duck Dostal who had not been very good He entered this game with the worst numbers in terms of save percentage Of any goalie in the playoffs and only lucanin Among goalies who played more than one game had a worse goals against average And he was kelly felt he was dicey in the first period like he thought he was vulnerable But he locked the door in the last two and he looked like he's a great goalie Anybody who's listening this podcast knows how highly we think of him what he almost did to candidate the olympics But he hadn't been himself since the calendar flipped to april. He finished better this way the But that fourth line it's amazing to me. They kept on putting veal washy and more Out there against mc david and you would have think that they would have been obliterated By those guys and they hung in there. They played really well like jeffre veal is a 29 year old guy who's an unrestricted free agent And how much money do you think he just made kyle? No, I think yeah, he's at minimum Doubled his lot in life Going into the summer So VL this year is making 775 Okay, like I look at his history. I think 780 Is the most he's ever made All of his other contracts. I think are under 800 as well Like I don't think this guy has ever been Over 800 k a year. I think it's seven seven eighty is the max. He's gonna get something now Obviously, it's not gonna be ridiculous But it's gonna make a difference in his life And I I love to see guys like that Get rewarded if you go back Two weeks kyle. I really felt were the ducks Going to be happy to be here or were they actually going to be ready for this? Well, we got our answer They were ready for this and they're going to be a tough out for either vegas or utah Whoever gets them next congratulations to them. They deserve it And it was troi terry who said to scott after the game that first game of the series They lost it, but they thought coming off the ice in ebbiton We realized hey, we can we can play with these guys and they went and proved it You know who else I thought of seeing them Celebrate a series win here on thursday night ryan strome. Yep Not around anymore traded to calgary and canadian fans know this like early in The montreal rebuild martin st. Louis had this line about you know, sometimes You go and plant the trees, but you're not around to be able to sit in the shade Those players that are around during the tough years the developmental years the teaching the young players how to handle all of this You know in montreal jake allen was was one of the great examples of all of that No longer here as canadians are now Playoff bound back to back years and ryan strome was very much that guy What 14 players made their playoff debut for anaheim here in this series You know you go around that room and ask the kind of influence that that guy Had on that group on his time in anaheim and and even though he's no longer a duck Big big part of where they are right now. So that was a guy. I thought of through all this too, elliot Yes, and uh, we'll be seeing some more of ryan strome. I think okay Oilers. Yes oilers So I've said enough stuff that's gotten me in trouble in edmonton this year So I was trying to be careful But I watched connor mcdavid Postgame and his line was we were an average team all year when you're an average team with high Expectations You're going to be disappointed Mm-hmm so Someone called me earlier in the series And look, we know edmonton's banged up. Okay Again, it's not an excuse. I think anaheim's banged up too, but we know edmonton's banged up We know mcdavid's hurt. We know drysaddles hurt. We know dickinson's hurt. We know hyman came back from an injury and Aside from his messy light kicking motion. I'm not sure how Close to 100% he is The oilers historically when they lose They're angry mcdavid's angry drysaddles angry You can't miss it. It's it's there. It's raw. It's open These guys are demanding to play with they demand a lot of themselves. They demand a lot of others And we've seen their emotion boil over before We really didn't see it in this series kyle They were disappointed you could tell But did you ever see them really? Angry like we've seen them angry before did you see that? No, it was different this year so You know florida missed it florida been in the final three straight years lost 1 1 2 and they were out of gas Edmonton been to the play a final Two straight years Not three but two and they'd gone far before I also think they ran out of gas And I think when you take a look at the running out of gas and the injuries Kyle I think they knew I I think they knew they just they they were kind of resigned to We just didn't have that ability to get to a higher level This year they knew they weren't the contender. They were the last two seasons And we're gonna do more of a breakdown on them over the next few days I want to take some more time to You know make some calls and just think about it a bit But this was a really hard year in Edmonton. I think it was the the the pressure The disappointment of going to the final twice and losing Wanting to climb that mountain again. Like I don't think the will was lacking. I I think these guys Still want to be great and demand to be great, but they just didn't have it Um, you know the goalie trade that didn't work out Um, you know, they traded for Ingram and that one did work out, but they traded for Jari and that one didn't Um, he got one game in the playoffs and even after he played really well. They were like no Ingrams are guy. They Said they weren't gonna bring paul coffee back. They brought paul coffee back Like there were a lot of things that happened this year That I think you know, there's gonna be challenges but this was a harder year than Edmonton expected and I'm just curious to see where All of the cards land When this is over because I think everybody there is exhausted on and off the ice And This is one of those situations where I think everybody takes a step back And they breathe a bit and then they figure out Where this is all Going to go like, you know, someone said to me I was on my national radio hit And they said if Edmonton loses, do you think mcdave had asked for a trade and I'm like, no I don't think that's happening And you know people were asking me that in the third period. They were texting you think mcdave had asked for a trade if they don't come back and I'm like No, I I don't think that's gonna happen But I do think there's a lot of organizational disappointment About how this year went and I think there's a lot of physical and emotional burnout And let's see where the next little bit takes us Just felt unsettled almost right from the start of the year Don't you find Elliott like all the things you just touched on throughout the season Remember those drysidles comments just before the olympics Uh kind of set things into disarray again and trying to get things back on the rails You know new jinn hopkins set after the game Couldn't keep the puck out of our net. It was the story all year. They gave a what 26 goals To the ducks in in six games. Yeah, not all of that is is goal-tenning. It's you know part of it is is the team collectively But it's just it never felt Settled there in Edmonton and to your point for everything that was kind of working against them Like that's going to happen and I wouldn't say they were Resigned like I get what I get what you're saying there Elliott because I think resignation You're now kind of insinuating the idea of of giving up and I don't think that's what they did at all But just understanding I I don't think this is what it's been all year. Yes. No, this is what it's been They never believed they were giving up, but I think you know and mcdavid I mcdavids quotes at the end Confirmed what I thought They just felt they weren't as good. Yeah. Yeah, exactly and There must be something to be said too. I mean for all From a player's perspective a well like you've played deep into the spring the last two years Now you get a little more of a full summer to recover to get yourself feeling good Is there not something to be said too from a front office perspective where our season ends on? June 24th We've got the draft in a couple of days and now we got to decide what we're doing at free agency Like to have a little more time to ramp into those critical dates on the calendar and come up with a bit of a plan That may be a silver lining here too moving forward because um July 1st It's it's they've they've had some tough ones here the last couple years like let's let's be honest, right? So now a bit more time to try to come up with the best plan of attack there And most importantly mcdavid and dryside and other guys can rest for sure for sure So We'll get a little deeper into the oilers in a few days. You think yes. Okay. All right. Yes So congrats the ducks they'll face the winner of either vegas or utah and I have to say with how anaheim is playing and how utah and vegas look in their series um Not a bad matchup or one way or another for for the ducks There'll be more opportunity to flex their offensive muscle in round number two. It should be very good. Okay the other Western conference series that wrapped up on thursday night the heavyweight bout Of round one elliot minnesota and dallas great night for minnesota sports in general By the way, the timber wolves knocked off the nuggets. Is that a precursor? We've already had one minnesota team beating a denver team in the playoffs on the hardwood And now the wild are set up to play the avalanche in the stanley cup playoffs, but as we all know bill garen Determined this year to arm his team with the ability to hold their own in the most top heavy division in the league There was a haul he gave up for quing Hughes even the second round pick for michael mccaron, but he saw a roll for him Uh seventh game not necessary here and a 11 year drought is over for the wild inability to get out of the first round no longer they are through to round two You mentioned that the timber wolves beat the nuggets Did you see the home run that byron buxton hit against the blue jays tonight? No, I've I've been ducking a bit of that lately. Okay, so to alleviate stress We have seven tv's in the room where we watched and so one of them was on the blue jays. Yeah, I only have six in my hotel I know, you know you yes you you didn't get the presidential suite this time. No, I went to master cuthbert Yeah, again bathing his feet in it right now Taking care of those disgusting corns. He's gone on there. Anyway Buxton hit a home run tonight that I think landed In dom's backyard in vancouver Geez really oh my god Well, good for byron buxton a good good night for minnesota. Yes. Anyway gambling garen Rolls another seven A huge win For them john hines first ever series win yes and the thing about the wild this year is that after so many years of coming up short in the first round 11 years since they last won a series Not only did they Talk the talk but they walked the walk. What did marcus felinos say? They can't beat us five on five What did brock faber say we knew we were the better team that we had to prove it? Finally, they did it Finally they did it and They were the better team five on five they dominated it and They never panic like we have seen the minnesota team falter or panic or whatever um They dominated this series at even strength finally maverick bork scored for dalis on it but they dominated the series and their depth players were better and You know, I think you could say that some of dalis's top players were very good But overall minnesotans were better like the the faber Hughes duo they dominated they were they own the ice every time they were out there And minnesota was full value for this And i'm really interested to see what they can do against colorado because There aren't many teams that can say we have the star power that can match the avalanche They are They can they have star power. I mean the avalanche are so deep down the middle And that's what scares me about them for minnesota But this series minnesota took a really good team A 112 point team and they dismantled them jesper wall stat first minnesota rookie to win a playoff round Like that was another gutsy call. They would have been easy for them To go with gustasen they go with him and he wins it this This minnesota colorado series. This is a stanley cup in round number two And now that the wild have finally gotten over the hump They're gonna have they're gonna be even more confident like there are confident bunch to begin with the way they talk But they're gonna be even bigger now although This is the big challenge This might be a tough if minnesota was to win this series. This might be the toughest series they play Even no matter what happens after that um You know the the moment I really thought perfectly encapsulated the series is dallas finally gets that even strength goal from bork to go up two to one and the lead lasts 54 seconds Like they go right back down the ice and terracenco scores To tie it and that's a perfect example Of of what they're all about. I have two predictions about the wild And the players do you want to hear them? Yes, love your predictions prediction number one Quinn Hughes Signs a three-year extension Oh Okay Three years Why what how did you land at that number? It's just It's just my prediction. Okay three years. He goes three years All right Um, my second prediction is I think I may have mentioned this before Vancouver makes a big run at mccaron Hmm Vancouver Yes, but I think there will be more he's been phenomenal He's been fantastic But Then I think he's the kind of player that the canucks will look at But there will be others Wow Like I understand. Yeah a whole host of teams would love what he brings to the table and what he's bringing to the table in the playoffs Vancouver is a bit interesting only because Of where they're at short term and long term Yeah, but anyway Good, uh All right. Those are two good predictions. We'll see if either of those turn out to be right now. Let's talk about dallas a bit So dallas again as I often say it to me. It's not when you lose in the playoffs It's who you lose to the stars won't be happy with the first round loss. They'll be disappointed But they lost to minnesota, which is a hell of a team I I think the the biggest disappointment they have is look at the guys who have zeros next to their name Ben no points foxa no points Sam steel no points thomas harley no points And that's a rough one. They need harley. Um, and I he had a really tough start to the season He admitted but I thought he finished really well I thought he played very well at the olympics for canada and I thought he finished really well But he had a nightmare of a playoff now some of those guys Were part of a very important penalty kill that gave minnesota all sorts of fits But the bottom line is until bunting went in and bunting got two points in game six They didn't have anything from anyone in their bottom six And and bunting finally gave them something Rare prediction kyle from us that Turned out to be a good one that they should put bunting in and he could help them Um, yeah, good. Obviously there's there's a big decision Here on ben a big decision here and You know the the biggest challenges for this is that he's a franchise legend he's he's gonna get his Number retired um But you almost wonder if I mean Like who's gonna make the choice here? Is it gonna be ben making the choice? Or is it gonna be the stars making the choice about where this goes? And so that's a big one um, you know the other one is Is jason robertson and Jason robertson took care of business this year the Dallas stars told him You know, don't worry about the contract. Let's see how the year goes and we'll see what happens when it ends Well, kyle, I don't know how you voted But I think if I remember correctly I had him as my First team all-star winger in voting left wing. I think he is I always forget this stuff. I know I have it correct on my ballot But I think he was first on mine. He had a 40 goal year He scored five in the playoffs five of the first six games um, he took care of business and They're gonna have no choice but to pay him And I believe that's going to be around 12 million a year I I think he's gonna want the same thing rattanon got and The way this went kyle, I would be surprised if he doesn't get it And um I'll tell you this like Those robertson brothers jason and nick I give their parents a lot of credit. They raise those those kids well. They don't complain. They do their job they to their best of their ability um, and they're both real gentlemen and uh He took care of business and I think they're gonna have no choice but to sign him kyle I I can't the only way I can see this going another way is if for whatever reason robertson decides he wants to go elsewhere But I have no reason to believe that They're gonna have to do it and the thing that's really interesting about that is that Like bork they have to give him a new contract too And you know, he had just one goal in the playoffs. It was a big goal um, you know, I just wonder if they're gonna have room like when when they add his 12 here ish That robertson's gonna sign for it might be trouble to fit It might be a problem for them to fit in other pieces like bork So dal's gonna have some decisions to make and they're gonna be disappointed They don't want to hear what I said like oh, well you lost to a minnesota great team. They're gonna be like We lost in the first round that sucks and obviously not having hints was a very good deal Yes, different team without hints in the lineup. There's no question there and with both robertson brothers switching agencies over the course of the season I mean andy scott it seemingly represents half the dalas stars now So at least there's somebody familiar again going into jim nil's office To try to get a deal done assuming that's the route it goes but That's a big one for dalas the future of their captain there as well and the stars team that Had been to the third round each of the last two years three years, excuse me uh, and now Though they were against a quality opponent in the first round It's tough to not feel like okay Did we take a bit of a step back this season and where do they go from here? All right So why don't we get now to the final thought brought to you by the toyota b zed? And so the final thought will be just a round up of other news and notes from around the league Uh, we'll start in vancouver this time elliot and uh, Their search for a new hire in their front office says Number of names have been out there reported about who has interviewed with the canucks What's the latest that you've got on the vancouver front? Let's take a look at The names that we're aware of and i'm sorry if i missed anything here Shane don't jeff tambolini brad pascal ryan johnson patrick berck ray whitney evan gold ryan martin Brett peterson jamie langenbrunner Those are the ones If there's other people in there Uh, unless i forgot someone who's been obviously reported Those are the ones i know about now tom Fitzgerald i think i mentioned it on the last pod but in case anybody didn't hear And shame on you if you didn't i think they did ask to talk to him, but i understand he's focused on natural So that didn't happen Uh, i believe some people have been told they're out I think patrick berck was told he was out. I think ray whitney was told he was out. I think ryan martin Was told he was out so i don't know if there's a Short list yet I think there's there there might be a little bit of semantics in terms of They've told some people they're out, but i don't know if they've completely whittled down the list We'll see where that goes over the next two days Um, i heard positive things about don't i heard positive things about gold Um, but there could be others i just might not have heard everything I think the canucks have an interesting dynamic here And you know, I think a number of you have heard a similar kind of report I've i've said it and i'm definitely not the only one that Um, you know jim rutherford. I think his choice was ryan johnson um, if you Don't hire ryan johnson And let's just say you hire someone like ebb and gold or brett peterson Who are in a similar position to ryan johnson? But in another but it comes in from another organization I think you might have a question there about what it means for the future of johnson and your organization Uh, like the canucks obviously thought very highly of him a year ago to extend his contract and ask for him to agree not to interview anywhere, but um when you When you're in a situation like that and then you bring in someone from outside Who's similar and put them above them? You kind of have a decision to make so that's one thing I've been thinking about I've been asking about some of the questions that the canucks have been going with um I think they've asked Some of these candidates how long they feel their rebuild would need to be That's definitely been one of the questions And other questions about rebuild is a subset to that including What were some of the most important lessons you learned? But they've definitely been asked about how long realistically they feel a rebuild there could be I think they've asked them to rank their top three picks um Because that's where vancouver could pick from one to three They want to have an idea of what everybody thinks and I think also they've been asked about coach From what they've seen would they want to keep adam foot or would they want to make a change? So I believe all of these things Uh have come up In conversation as part of the interview topics And I heard there's been Five people on most of these zooms with the candidate. So that's some of the stuff that I know so far All right, and any sense of Well, I mean we're days away from from the draft lottery and I don't think the draft lottery matters Because they know where they're going to be picking one two or three and they're asking these candidates Who they would take in those spots if they have an idea of how their candidates feel I think they want to do in-person visits Before they can before they you know hire someone and that's obviously a smart move Okay, what about toronto? so toronto um So james myrtle in the athletic had a line about Toronto being turned down Asking to speak to a current general manager I believe that was julian breezebaw of the Tampa Bay lightning Um, that's who I think they asked permission to speak to and I don't think anyone is shocked to hear That the lightning would say no Uh, so that's that's that I I do think they asked for permission to speak to To him and they were rejected I mean you everybody listening this knows what I have reported over the past couple of days That I think they're working on a matt sundin john chaker combination and it's a matter of sundin agreeing to a contract and To what they have planned for him because I do think at the beginning Everybody was kind of like let's bring you back into the organization and that it involved into We want you to have a bigger role and I think everybody had to Understand everybody else's expectations Of what this was going to be about As last I heard on thursday There was still confidence that this was moving in a proper direction But again nothing is done until it is done You know, there's been a lot of reporting over the past couple days on this um I've been working on a lot of it myself. You know the biggest questions that I've been asking is Just about I have a lot of notes from chaker's time in arizona And what people said back then and I'm trying to go back to some of those people and say Okay This is what was then You know, how do you think it's different 10 years later have your opinions Soffin have your opinions changed um, do you believe this has a chance to be different and you know, I think the biggest thing is that There's a reason that 26 year old people Are not Hired to run these kinds of companies because you don't have the life experience To do them you don't you can't manage people You're unprepared to manage people who are a lot older and a lot more experienced than you And you know, I've seen people arguing about Good move bad move things he did It was a gong show of an organization and we know that I think a lot of people back then were the way things were handled And in a personal way Managing people is important And that's one of the things I spent a lot of time Trying to make calls about Just to see with a bit more time And a bit more experience To some of the people who had issues back then feel He could be better now and I'm working through that at this point in time And I'll present my findings But also I want to speak to him Um, I've reached out to him. I haven't been able to talk to him yet. He's been ducking all interview requests um, but The questions that get raised I would like to ask him about them myself See what he has to say and judge those answers Excellent well We can't wait to hear more there because that's certainly been a big, you know As that name has surfaced and it all seems to be headed in that direction a big part of the conversation of okay How is chica different now compared to then? How much was it victim of circumstance and the environment in arizona at the time all of it all important questions to be asked and Um, I think we're to your point still working our way through getting a good answer there Okay, the other bit of news we wanted to touch on here before we wrap up Misha Donskov, Elliott So he's a guy that's been in the coaching world for a number of years. He's got a history with hockey canada He was part of the coaching staff at the four nations at the olympics He's been coaching staff with a couple of different stops in the nhl And it was announced On thursday that he is going to be the head coach for team canada at the world championships Coming up this year also next and the head coach of the world junior team Next year between ebbenton and red deer So this is a name that i think has has been out there maybe a little more The last couple of years elliot What was your impressions about this news of hockey canada given donskov these roles over the next couple years Well, I think it was kind of a plan that he was going to be a very big person at hockey canada for years to come You know, he worked on the olympic team this year. He was in idli with them But i've had a couple also we mentioned um mani malhotra as an up and coming younger coach and i had someone who reached out to me and said You should start putting misha donskov in that group too And he will be he just turned 49 His birthday was uh was last week and they said you should start putting him on that list And one of the things I suspect here was that He was on the olympic team as we mentioned and peter debor Is now coaching the islanders and i had a couple people who said to me they thought debor would be interested in him And you know the islanders now have an opening on the bench They made it one assistant coach change And I don't know if that was debor's plan or not There were some rumors out there that donskov would be consideration for that or other jobs But now he's locked in as a head coach and he's going to be In prime position here And I just had a few people tell me watch out for this guy because the nhl knows him a bit From his days in dalis and vegas and now with hockey canada and the olympics And his time Will come I think one of the things that was the question here was just getting a bit more head coaching experience um And now he's going to get it in a couple of tournaments But I've had people say to me You better start doing your work because his time is going to come Makes a lot of sense and also he would have worked with the debor and vegas for a number of years too Right, of course good call the team canada experiences So some growing history now between donskov and and some prominent names around coaching circles in hockey And he himself is becoming a more prominent name as we move on here All right, that was the final thought to presented by the toyota bz We'll take our first break when we come back a brand new edition of the thought line is back We'll also get uh, just the other series that are still On going in this first round and look ahead to Friday as well when we come back on 32 thoughts the podcast All right, welcome back time now for a true Car cast edition of the thought line. No I'm in my hotel in montreal Elliott's not in his car. He's at home in toronto producer dom Is on the go mobile producing this edition of the thought line a 32 thoughts first elliot So dom is usually On the ball as much as it pains me to give him a compliment Dom never screws up time zones until today Thursday Well, it's the podcast you'll hear on friday may 1st But this part was taped thursday april 30th for the first time ever Dom forgot that the eastern time zone is three hours ahead Of the pacific one. So when we were supposed to record this He was driving and dom wants us all to know That this is a hands-free setup. He does not want The vancouver police Yeah to leave their protective services guarding the vancouver white cabs owners to worry about him illegally driving a vehicle with equipment in his car I have a theory because it's tax season and maybe dom had some discrepancy in his return And his mind was a little preoccupied That's the I don't make fun of the cra kyle There's two groups of people. I don't make fun of the cra and the border control. Yeah, well I'm not even gonna ask why All right, any shout outs to you before we proceed. Yeah, there's a couple so in one of the previous pods we were talking about coaches who won In cities they played in and I wondered about glenn sather and oh, yes a few albertons Reach out to me and say You were right even though as one person said to me They said kyle is too serious a dungeon master He would have been a terrible Dungeons and dragons leader because there is no gray area. It is black or white As several people pointed out to me glenn sather played one season in the wha the last professional year of his career for the edmunds and oilers in 1976 77 Where he had 19 goals and 34 assists So even though sather did not play for the oilers in the nhl Yeah, he coached them to the stanley cup. He managed them to the stanley cup and He did play for them in the wha. So I got a few of those Yes, well, I'm glad those called it out because yeah, that's why it wouldn't have come up on the list because He played for them when they were with the wha, but I agree that should count He wore the jersey then he coached them Won a cup. He's on the list. I agree I'm with you on this and I also got some people mentioned assistant coaches or one person did And they pointed out how steve ought was a beloved st. Louis blue player Yeah, and and he was an assistant coach for the blues when they won the stanley cup in 1989 and ought uh right now is coaching the blues american hockey league team the in springfield and they Actually won their first round series. They beat the charlotte charlotte. I pronounced charlotte. Can you believe that? That's pretty good. They beat That's right up there with detroit and mishap no But at least detroit I do that on purpose this charlotte was not on purpose They beat the charlotte checkers You know why I got that wrong because their name is too confusing Can you guys come up with an easier name back to back ch? Yes, they beat the charlotte checkers Two to one and now they move on to the atlantic division finals. So I wanted to show it out steve ought Excellent. Okay. Here we go a couple submissions today. We begin with jackie in westport, massachusetts Greetings to dom elliot and kyle I can't believe your list of injury related emotional stanley cup final moments omitted the night the new jersey devils clinched the cup in the year 2000 peter sakura Was stretched off the ice during the first period after a devastating hit from darian hatcher Thankfully this didn't result in a more serious injury But he had to watch the remainder of the game from a hospital bit as the team rushed onto the ice following jason arnott's double ot winner patrick elliott and later larry robinson Don sakura's jersey to include him in the celebration that moment cemented robinson standing as the single greatest threat to my quarter century plus marriage Thanks for all your great work on this pond from jackie a stalwart devils fan mired in brune's country jackie you're right about that. I can't believe it. I covered that series I remember it and the devils did take the stanley cup to the hospital that night So that sakura could see it. Yes Excellent call. Can't believe I forgot. Thank you for reminding us. Great one Okay, steve from cobden ontario. Hello kyle dom and the raccoon king I'm here watching the pens flyers game six and it's currently in the first overtime still 00 it has me wondering if this could be the longest game without a goal Would love to hear what sports net stats can find We did not even need sports net stats for this one. Elliott. We remember this one because The longest as a matter of fact, I think it's the two longest games In nhl history are both one nothing games if I remember correctly the one the longest one from 1936 detroit and the montreal maroons is for sure And I can't I think the second one is but I can't remember for certain Yes, you are right that one also went into a sixth overtime though not as deep as the Detroit montreal maroons game in 36 This was three years previous between boston and toronto one of the links between both of those games Was that gold tender loren shabbat? Appeared in both real one lost one but unbelievable You had one gold tender appear in the two longest playoff games in nhl history And also earlier this week was the anniversary of the devils and sabers Going to quadruple overtime or dav hannon scored And that was where two hall of famers faced each other domina koshik beat martin broder That was also a one nothing game the anniversary of that game was Earlier this week Great game. I remember watching that one on television Awesome. Good memory. Okay One more here. Nathan and bowman alberta Good day griffin dom kyle and siro sneer Oh god What's up with that? So siro sneer was the opponent in the raccoons cartoon Oh, yes, siro sneer was the bad guy right And he always lost just like i am against the real raccoons. Yes, so this is that's appropriately named here I was listening to monday's pod and the discussion surrounding golly numbers in the carolina autoa game got me thinking Both gollies turned in excellent performances, but under very different circumstances from their Original regular season numbers in the post salary cap era What is the biggest discrepancy in a golly say percentage from regular season average to post season Average examples that come to mind would be tim thomas dominating in 2011 or j.s. chagrin getting a ton of shutouts with the ducks in 2003 But i'm not sure if either of these would be the biggest gap keep up the great work And i'm still waiting for that raccoons on ice telephys game from elliot slash siro's backyard That's right. I remember that earlier. He'll be waiting a long time I don't want to give them any more reason to stay. Yes, that's right. You just welcome more of them Uh, off the top of my head. I would have no idea like I really I mean Patrick won 86. I don't know So our post salary cap era 05 or 6 on So biggest jump from regular season to playoffs Would bennington be it no because he got He is uh six on the list but not 2019 um, this was 21 22 when they lost to uh, Colorado in the second round now top of the list If you want me to give it to you. Yeah, just give me the year Well, I was going to say it has a bit of an asterisk on it because it's from this year and he's still playing so the number can change Oh That's a Nathan touched on it in his lead up to the question You're assuming I was listening to that part of it That's a big assumption As you know my attention wanders and sometimes I go in and out right we lost you at zero sneer But you basically did because I was thinking about that the whole time Yes, uh, okay. Well, Frederick Anderson. Yes. So there we go He was 874 on the regular season right now through the four games against ottawa and 955 say percentage That's the biggest jump right now in the salary cap era The second biggest belongs to thatcher demko in 1920 of course that regular season was cut short He was 905 in the regular season and then bubble demko was born. Oh, yeah, remember 985 in the playoffs for the canucks just unconscious level good He was fantastic Yeah, man, I'd like to see him get back to that all the injuries Yes, we all would for sure So other goalies that have appeared on this list just from this season, you know archers she loves Not a ton of games, but excellent of course for for pittsburgh and alex lyon has gone from a 907 and to this point as of this recording A 953 With the buffalo savers also shut out michael noyberth Had a great showing though. It was a short one for philadelphia in the 2016 stanley cup playoffs at 981 All right, that's gonna do it for this edition of the thought line. You can send in a submission of your own 32 thoughts at sports net dot ca or if you'd like to leave a voicemail 1833 311 32 32 will take one final break when we come back We'll go over wednesday night's games and get you set for Friday night's action in the stanley cup playoffs 32 thoughts the podcast continues after this All right, welcome back so later tonight aliad here in montreal the first elimination game of the canadian's lightning series Canadians have a chance to punch their ticket to the second round here at home and I have to say Wednesday night the vibes were very high for that group We saw the joy in the hallway in the aftermath celebrating Particularly after the brendan gallagher post game interview that we did for sports that i've got to give martin saloui Uh credit here like when he talked about Sensing okay game four you're up two goals. You let that slip away What type of emotional? I don't want to say damage, but that emotional feeling that's going to linger how do they Avoid that well insert brendan gallagher into the lineup knowing what kind of jolt that was going to give The rest of the group didn't play a ton under seven minutes But didn't matter first shift of the game opening the scoring three minutes in and you know as saloui's talked about rewrite The narrative if you don't like a moment that could potentially define a series gallagher and the canadians did just that in game five Do you like it when you realize that all the players are watching your interview live I've well i've never had that happen before Where players are in another room down the hallway. They have access to what was our truck feed So they could see the interview in real time Not only could they see it they could hear it I was like I felt I was in the twilight zone Did did you feel self-conscious or nervous or did it tighten you up in any way shape? Because I know some people in our business That would have been completely wrecked by that Well, certainly the thought goes into my mind going what are they all thinking about this? Like as I said to dovish i'm like we better make this good And the funny part was so the last time I interviewed dovish It was after game one and that was when you know at the start of overtime He accidentally went to the wrong net initially and asking him about that and he gave a great Answer on it and you know that got some play on social the next day And we were kind of laughing about it on the off day of kind of how it it took off and he's like oh I still feel so bad So when he comes out of the dressing room and he sees me standing there He kind of gave me an eye roll like oh my gosh this guy again You know the last time we did an interview that happens. So before and I said, you know, don't worry I don't have anything crazy to ask you This time around and then it ends up being a whole thing again So anyway, maybe it's becoming a bit of a theme But I initially couldn't hear it like when he turned around down the hall and was like do you hear that? I'm like hear what and then from that point on I think they clearly boosted the volume and the tv in the other room because then I could hear it clear as day So honestly more credit to dobish because you could absolutely hear him at like a one second delay But he still I thought gave some pretty thoughtful answers. Those are infuriating. I hate when that happens He did really well I remember when I was still a radio reporter. There was a cbc french reporter tv in toronto And we were at a jay's game and I was watching him do a stand-up and he snapped at me I was still really young. I was in the business. You were just watching Yeah, I just wanted to see how it was done, right? I was I wanted to be in tv someday I wanted to see how it all worked. How do you go about doing a stand-up? How does it work? And he snapped at me. He did not like me Staring at him while he was doing it So there are some To be honest if that I was thinking about what I would have felt like if that happened to me I would have been like people actually listen to this garbage. Okay. I better be sharp here or something like that But I would have laughed it off. I guarantee you there would have been some people who would have been hugely self-conscious About the players watching your interview live Well, kaden gulie said afterwards. He's like, were we loud enough in there for you? I'm like, oh, yeah, you're plenty loud But I I could understand that like to me, you know, because you get asked about like, oh How do you do like a hit in the arena before the game and you know, you got 20,000 people going crazy? I'm like that is way easier easier than if you're in like a room and there's three people watching you Yes, the same thing. I agree. You know what I mean? I agree. Yes. I'm with you on this All the time if I'm looking into the camera. I don't care how many people are around me I'm not bothered at all as long as they're not physically tackling you I find that easier than Even if say five million people are watching I find that easier than a room of say 200 people Right, right exactly. Yeah, because you know, they're like though. They're all around you Their intentions are not on you. You're just talking to a camera, right? It's a way different mindset Anyway, uh, the canadians full value for the win Very happy for gallagher very happy for gallagher and You know and I saw you reacted to it too But the tweet I put out about your interview with him and all those guys waiting for him like coffield Uh Gully The one that really stood out for me was patrick liné because liné has kind of become the invisible man the forgotten man, right? But he's still there And I thought kevin made a great point about how Lani and gallagher would be skating together on a daily basis And liné would be super happy for gallagher because he got to go in and actually do something And I thought that was a really interesting point by kevin But it's the old line. Are you a club or are you a team and and that's a team? Uh, you're i'm jealous of you that you're going to be in montreal for that game on friday night It's going to be a phenomenal atmosphere The arena is going to be berserk the fans are going to be berserk the area outside is going to be berserk I really hope you're not going to be a hermit in your room on thursday night and you're actually going to go out there because The city will be crackling you will be able to feel the electricity And you know tampa is going to try to ruin a party and they're perfectly capable of ruining the party I really think kyle like that game To me there have been three games in this series that have been wild that have been boiling over and in danger of Just completely igniting and there have been two games that have been more passive And I thought the game five was more passive I believe that plays into montreal's hands Um, I think that it's better for them Montreal, I think like tampa's fought everyone all year They have thrived on chaos and edginess and anger Montreal to me strikes me as more businesslike. Yes, they have guys who can rough it up and don't shy from it But to me like susuki the captain it's businesslike, right? It's just up down straight Let's do our jobs and we're going to win the game that way Um, but like jack I gets the penalty for roughing. I didn't like it I I thought what did he do to deserve a roughing? But I believe the call had its intended effect and that everyone noticed it Like the penalties are going to come easy here And I just think in games like that for whatever reason tampa's not as good I I think when they don't have that around them and they're not Making you crazy and all over you and being on edge. I just don't think they're as good a team and I thought that at home Um, whatever you felt about the energy of the building I didn't get the sense that that was too big a moment for montreal Now this is going to be a huge challenge that tampa teams got a lot of pride I don't sense they're folding nobody would be surprised if this goes back for a game seven But I just think this is going to be an as this whole series has been You bet like it's five one goal games three of them in overtime You better be ready to play when the puck drops in this one because these two teams There's no difference between them. They're as evenly matched as it gets Um tampa's gonna be hard to put out and montreal's gonna be hard to beat in front of a wired building at home I am for the first time in my life kyle. I am incredibly jealous of your existence Hopefully first of many first of many, um I uh, it was funny someone with the lady was saying before game five. He's like everyone talks about how great the series is He's like, I don't know how great it is. There's just like no room out there. It's so tight checking He's like there's hasn't been a lot of heads. Oh, I think it's been great But it was just funny that that perspective of it Obviously, uh the stuff that was going on in between uh or after whistles early on in the series has kind of gone away Now as it typically does as the series goes deeper. Um, but no, I think it's been it's been really really fun to watch Um, and now for this canadians team as it's currently constructed It is the first time that this group has the opportunity to actually win a series and Though it is great being at home. You nailed it in terms of how it's all going to be feeling or in and around the building on Friday night, but you also know too how playing at home It can work against you at times, right? And so for a veteran team like tampa, they're like perfect We got to go on the road and win a game to save our season Love it. Nowhere else we would we would rather be But this is could be another great test for this young group of you want to put on a show you want to deliver for your fans Everyone is frothing at the opportunity to witness handshakes at the end of the game How does that play in your mind when the actual puck drops? It's uh, it'll be great theater again as it's been through The first five games of this series And let me I just like to say one thing at the end of this. Um, you know, I don't have a full picture of what's going on here Exactly. So I don't want to say anything that's out of turn But in a game like this one, I think of the night before game seven in the 2003 Stanley Cup final Scott Stevens went to uh pat burns and said I think we'd feel a lot better if Ken Danico was in the lineup and In that series Ken Danico was going in and out with Oleg Tevredovsky. They were kind of splitting and it was Stevens who went and said I think we'd really like it if Danico played and he did and I don't obviously we don't have a full picture of Victor headman or anything like that But if he could play I Was able to play I wonder if the lightning would feel just better as a group that he was out there Hmm interesting point. He has been ramping up Like that practice day before game five. It was as involved In the drills that I've seen. I'm certainly since uh this series has has started so Seems to be on a path towards playing again Uh, but when yeah, not sure. It's a great point though Okay, can't wait for Friday night in Montreal the Philadelphia Flyers Elliott are on to round two They managed to get over that hump third time third opportunity at eliminating the penguins a great dramatic fashion Cam York the stick into the crowd. Hopefully everyone's okay. Uh, it was very Mel Sundin got suspended a game for that. Could you imagine? That's right. Congratulations, Cam Yeah, you just scored the series winning goal Your hearing will be tomorrow morning at 10 a.m Yes, that's right. Yeah, sundin got suspended Cam York The the fan base may build a statue for him in the aftermath of doing all that With the image being I'm tossing the stick over the glass But anyway, we'll get to uh, you know Pittsburgh in a little bit and where they go from here as their season comes to an end but now we know We've got the flyers and the hurricanes in round number two a series that could potentially start as Early as this weekend. So Carolina Full value effectively wire to wire the best team in the metro all season long Flyers a team that have come a long way post-olympic break in their defensive game How do they stack up against one of the best checking? And ultimate suffocating type teams in the hurricanes Well, it's a great thing for Philadelphia and first of all, I give them full marks for the win They to me the difference in the series between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia was The flyers were ready to play from the beginning Philly it took a few games for this some of their guys to get into the series that did not happen with Philadelphia They were ready to play and they were ready to go And I give them a lot of credit for that. It's it's a major reason Uh now it ramps up another level for them And they're gonna face a team that was as dominant as anyone in the first round of the playoffs And you talk about Philly they played with structure They played with determination. They were committed to what they had to do and they rarely broke from it The the hurricanes are the eastern conference standard bearer for that. They have a structure They have a system. They don't break away from it. They look for guys who can play it And two of the guys that they went out and got last year Because they thought they would fit their system Logan stankovin and cayondrie miller were two of their best players in round number one This will be harder for the flyers. I'm not saying they're incapable But I think it will be another level, but they're here They've they've earned the right for it. And I think one of the keys is obviously gonna be is frederick anderson Going to be in a position where he can continue doing what he did in round number one because There were opportunities for otter to win those games. He just didn't let it happen. The other thing I wonder about um, philadelphia is wilf ladar Need a rest at Any point, you know, he played 52 games this year Uh, that was his career high Before this he'd only played two nhl playoff games And in you know, both of them he didn't play a full game They played they played a combined 49 minutes in the two of them. This is by far his biggest workload and part of me is just wondering And it depends as we record this we don't know if they're gonna play saturday or they're gonna play monday So let's just say for argument's sake they play saturday Do we get a point where philly says we might we might just need to give him a break? How does he feel about that can he handle that? That's the other thing I wonder about for philly here If it's monday, it's less of a worry than discard it forget. I ever said it but if it's saturday It could enter. He's just never played this much although. He's been fantastic So then that's like zooming out. That's kind of my feeling on on philly going into this series is almost for the entire group about how do you put yourself in the best position to Deal with for potentially seven games exactly how Carolina plays like I think back to you know, remember when the devils got into the playoffs in 2023 And it was the first time for a lot of their young stars. They beat the rangers like what a great feeling and then they get Carolina and round two and just the emotional capacity Wasn't there. They were never really able to get into that series And I think they were swiped aside in that five games to the hurricane So clearly an emotional one for the flyers here knocking off their interstate rival Big result in the end they clinch in overtime at home. The place is going nuts like Philadelphia is orange again It's uh, it's a great thing that they've got going but we even talked about as pittsburgh was Extending the series one by one here, you know, some of their young players hitting a little bit of a wall It's going to be the ultimate test. I think of of their careers to this point to go. Okay It's been a long year. We've been through a lot. It's been demanding in the playoffs, but finding the necessary energy To withstand how carolina plays It's it's it's a great test here for a young flyer team that has already done some really impressive things that they'll be able to look back on going forward I agree with you. This is a this is a great thing for the flyers. There's nothing bad about it And i'll say this too. I I was shocked at the beginning of this series If you would have told me that garnet hathaway would have been a scratch in game six I never would have believed it because of the way he started the series But that's the way it goes and you know hathaway has has come back After you know a really rough time in the season He was very effective and they'll they'll need him against these guys like if you take a look at Some of the depth players like mark jannikowski. He had a great first round series against ottawa Philly's gonna need their depth guys again. All right, Pittsburgh penguin So I mean as you touched on elliot I'm sure kicking themselves for taking too long to get into this series But this is a team that played six more games than all of us and surely their fan base by and large Would not have seen coming at the start of the year that has to be seen as a positive Do you think any of this season and how it played out? Changes how kyle dubis views the immediate future and of course the big question to start with is what are they thinking with of guinea malcon? I don't think it changes anything because Dubis has always believed that the team has to get younger And we all know that as much as it pains us all to think about Malcon cross be latin carlson malcon cross be especially they are mortals And father time is undefeated and eventually new players will have to take over. I think this was a really exciting Enjoyable season in Pittsburgh. I loved watching the team. They were fun to watch But it doesn't change anything long range Because dubis knows he has to get younger the day will come when none of those players will be there And he has to be prepared for that You know kindle had a rough playoffs. He'll be better off for it chinikov had a rough playoffs He should be better off for it like as you said those guys didn't start on time and when the next playoff series comes They'll all be better off for it. Like, you know who looked better? Soderblum You know, he did not look as good in detroit as he does in Pittsburgh. That's another guy who you can look at and say Hey, they may have found somebody And they have Still a draft class from last year guys like zonin and horcoff who look like they're coming So I think the things that we're curious about number one is malcon And the thing with malcon is the last time he was a ufa it was clumsy and Some of that was the organization's own fault When ron hex doll was hired he was supposed to rebuild And hex doll is a guy who wouldn't be afraid of making a hard decision He wouldn't be afraid of that at all And he was ready to move on from say malcon and in the moment of truth the organization folded and gave him a new contract and It it wasn't handled well it from ownership. It just Ownership crumbled at the big moment and they weren't ready to do it So the number one thing you have to do is Don't let that happen again. And I know we're going to new ownership here I would say it even if it was going to be the same owner You cannot let that happen again You have to get that sorted out as quick as possible. What are malcon's intentions now? The guy is hilarious. I love reading his interviews But sometimes you can't tell if he's being serious or he's saying something jokingly or tongue-in-cheek So I would assume sometime in the near future That malcon and the penguins are going to sit down and they're going to say okay. How does everybody feel here? Where does everybody stand, you know Someone pointed out to me. He started the season as a center and he finished the season as a winger You know, how does he feel about that? um Does he see himself as a center does he see himself as a winger? Does one disagree with the other? You know, how does everybody feel about that? That's one thing um contract I can't imagine it's going to be too much of a problem But his aav was 6.1. Do the penguins want him to take less? He just had a great year Numbers wise he was a point of game player um, he had 61 points and 59 games and three and six in the playoffs You know, does he look at that and say? I don't know. This is just me talking. I deserve a raise But or do the penguins say even though they've got a ton of cap room? There's a certain level we want to keep it at. I can't imagine any I can't imagine the organization would be too crazy about turn They did give crossbe for two years. He's crossbe. I mean, we'll see You know malcon played 56 games this year So I don't think any of those things are impossible to bridge But you've got to get yourself in a room and see how everybody feels before you know for sure I'll take malcon at his word that he wants to play But I do think everybody here has to have a conversation and make sure They're all on the same page with where he plays what's expected of them and obviously What the salary and contract is going to look like but this was a really fun year in Pittsburgh And whenever you have a fun season, I tend to think these things can sort themselves out But overall I just look at dubas and I see him saying that We still have to get younger. We still have to accumulate pieces Because sooner rather than later all of these guys are going to be gone and we better be ready to handle it So another one I wondered about I mean hey for the last few years and certainly The feeling around the penguins and how they looked was much different than how they've been this year But with each season you're almost counting down. Okay one less year on that eric carlson contract Oh another signing bonus that knocks down the amount of money that you would be on the hook for if you were to take it on Would there be any takers out there to trade for him? He of course had a great season great season with the penguins Um, like could you see a world now where he remains until that contract only have one more year Left now Next season will will be it for the eight-year deal that he signed back in san jose But do you anticipate the the conversation or not the conversation the narrative around That contract and that player has has shifted internally well, the one thing I I do feel very strongly about is that Dubas had always made it clear in conversations with other teams That he was not going to just trade carlson for the sake of it Like he wasn't going to accept a bad deal or eat money that he thought was unnecessary or Or like throwing sweeteners just to trade eric carlson He said I am not doing any of that and I am only doing it if it makes sense and we should remember Carlson has a no move clause here. He has say okay, and You you can't forget that And dubas stuck to that and carlson had a great year So I always stick with that number one. What does carlson want to do is he want to come back and number two? I think the thing about uh Dubas is if he said before i'm not even going to consider it unless it made sense What's he going to do now? Kyle in a situation where this guy just had a great season and he played pretty well in the playoffs Like there there were a lot of guys there who didn't play great. He was not one of them So I don't think his price is necessarily going to get lower remember On july 1st. It's a six million dollar signing bonus. He's only do One and a half million in cash after that for the full season There is no way after holding on to him for all these years Dubas is suddenly going to say oh Got a guy feel pressure to trade era carlson You're going to have to make him a the player's going to have to want it and b You're going to have to make dubas want it like this whole situation in pittsburgh and this kind of goes back to mall can too Because of the way who they have there this isn't going to be like other rebuilds They're not trading these guys Especially guys like cross beat after a season like they've just had But I think dubas will be committed to getting younger and Trying to make some of the same good bets he made this year like anthony mantha um I don't think unless it's changed recently It doesn't sound like there'd been a lot of discourse about a contract extension for mantha Dubas made a great regular season bet and now we'll see that the season's over mantha had a rough playoff Now that the season's over. How does he feel? But I think you're going to see a lot of that a lot of can I make smart bets? Can I find players that can make a difference? Um not for the biggest price. How do I get younger? Do we continue to draft and develop? Well? This year was a bonus. Uh, I think that he's going to keep trying Even though the results were good this year. I don't think it changes the template of what he wants Now I know this has been a lot of rumors about the penguins and somebody like jason robertson I don't know how dallas can't sign that guy now I I mean they're gonna have to pay him. They're gonna have to he's done his job. I mean Uh, I don't know that that's gonna be feasible So call one other thing I want to mention what the penguins is They're a hl team scranton wilkesbury. They had a really good year. They they were 46 17 and 9 I think And so there's obviously high expectations for them going into these playoffs Look at the names of some of the guys who are playing for them Billy covenin avry haze tristan bros rooker migrory Owen pickering um I think also harrison brunakey I think is down there too And then of course the goalies muroshov and blumqvist so There's a number of guys there that are going to want to prove That they are ready to play in The nhl next year So how those guys do and how well they play individually and as a team in the calder cup playoffs kyle I think that could determine some of the penguins decisions Does anyone burst through and say you have to have a spot for me next year at the beginning of the year? and So the full picture probably isn't going to be known Until the votes are in on some of those prospects So you mentioned the excitement around a will harkoff or a bill zonan another one in their system elliot mccail illian I believe i'm pronouncing that right anyway got him in the fifth round in 2023 I remember earlier this season someone in the organization there said quietly They were really starting to get excited about him and it was just that can we get him over here to north america? I put up 44 points this year in the khl And in fact a few weeks ago came over and played just five games in wiltsbury So he finished the season north america That's another one too when you talk about you know some exciting names in their prospect pool quietly maybe not doesn't have the same Fanfare as a zonan or a harkoff as you say, but I think there's there's a lot of Intrigue and An excitement internally about what that player could potentially be too especially without these come overseas That's gonna be that's gonna be dubas's way Get younger While understanding that You've got a captain there who burns to win And he's not just any captain He is the captain By the way kahl apparently we're gonna have to do a podcast next year saying that Pittsburgh the only team that doesn't care if they win because it works for them Yes, that's right more training camp fodder We come on next year. I'm charging them for it Yes, that the invoice is coming. You got to pay for it next year Okay, before we wrap up we should also talk about uh, you saw vegas from the other night too another great game that went Deep into the vegas night double overtime. Did you see this on the one year anniversary? of Brett howden scoring an overtime goal in the playoffs. It was against minnesota Also a game number five also at home It was bret howden at home in game number five against utah while repeating himself as the overtime hero shorthanded that was a Determined shift between him and mitch marner off the face off there Uh an impressive win for vegas a team that has trailed in the third period In all five games so far elliot and somehow lead this series three games to two It's it's kind of what's happened to edmonton and their series against anaheim early on that edmonton would They led games two three and four and they lost all of them Uh while game three they were tied going into the third period and they lost it but in games two and four they were ahead and and they lost and A lot of that is experience kyle. I really believe it and uh again This is another series where I think some of vegas's guys took a long time to get started like dorafia who now all of a sudden is red hot and helped win that game but Experience matters and like that winning goal by howden in game number five It's basically one on four and in those moments when you're playing They almost played a full overtime in game four and they were into double overtime in game five In three nights Exhaustion and mental fatigue really hurt you Kyle they really hurt you and I think that those teams have kind of been through it before and those players who have been through it before Sometimes things happen and they're like This is the moment I can take advantage or this is the moment where I know I'm starting to slip and I better be on my toes And that's that's the kind of goal I look at like sometimes it's a breakdown that gives you an odd man rush or you score Or another team. It's another breakdown where a bunch of guys are just exhausted or not experienced in the moment And a guy like howden who's been around takes advantage of it um You know carter heart statistically still giving up goals But now it's at a point where all you're asking him to do Is not steal you games Just make one more save than the other guy And he's found a way to do it the last two games. He's found a way And but eichel's gotten better as the series has gone on um Hurdles still they're kind of waiting for him to go. You know, who's been great. Shay Theodore never mind the points But you're noticing him a lot more the vegas guys were challenged early. They were in trouble They've raised their level now the utah guys have to do the same Like a lot of younger players It should be fresher legs. They've never been here before Now's the point in the series where you get challenged. Can you take yourself to the next level? You started great Vegas elevated now. It's your turn Can you elevate the conventional wisdom is you have to lose once Before you can win kyle Can they prove that to be? poppycock Can they say that's bs. We are ready now Excellent use of poppycock. I've never that one a while. That's great But yes, and as you know too, like this is two games in a row now after utah going How did we how did we lose this? and so How that sticks with you is one of the great challenges in in trying to put it in In the rear view mirror and I would I mean you talk about how vimalka is holding up. I mean man I just I'm not sure like I literally I'm not sure because of course I have zero experience with the position But how far he lost his net on the doura fee of tying goal? They're late in the third period now. I think it was a bit chaotic for every utah player on on the ice there I'm sure going over video. There was Some correcting in terms of this is how you want to defend when they've got their goalie pulled late in the third period But yeah, it was just you mentioned the experience You know vegas on the scoreboard have looked in trouble at times But in terms of how they carried themselves have never felt or given off that impression that they feel in trouble, you know, they they don't act like they're panicked, right? You know, it was interesting when they are down to one toriela fooled around with the power play units a bit and He benched hurdle a bit and he benched doura fee of a bit But he but he's not overreacting right like he's It was funny. I was talking to somebody The other day who knows tortorella well and he says tortorella is a much better guy than he lets people see But he's never seen happy john this much behind a bench before he said it's weird to watch Which is which is kind of funny. He wise man He is done everything he's done to be positive and you know, even the other day when they called up the two kids Connelly and bowman and we were wondering are they actually going to do this? They sent a bit of a jolt, but they didn't Panic and I I think if I had a team if I looked on my bench and I saw guys like stone and eichel and you know, even guys like rally smith or brandon sawed or Shea theodore braden mcnab Like guys who've just done this all before even if they're your best guy or you're not I'd say man, we've got we've got a lot of people here have seen a lot of hockey And i'm not gonna panic No, so that Moves back to utah and is part of a trio of game sixes We have for you on friday night beginning Up here for our listeners in canada hockey central the pregame show at 6 30 eastern 3 30 Pacific time setting up game six between montreal and tampa a little after seven et on sports net and cbc A little while after that at 7 30 eastern it's game six Boston and buffalo as the brun's try to force a game number seven and then later in the evening 10 eastern 7 pacific time On sports net and 360 at the conclusion of brun's and sabers It's the golden knights and the mammoth as utah tries to force a seventh game back at t mobile Anything else for each? I gotta go shower and get to work. How does that count? That's pretty good, and i'm sure the rest of the panel. Thanks you for that So i'll let you do that and i'll handle the music that we've got taken us out of the episode today courtesy of cota club established in 2025 cota club has made quick work of establishing itself as one of the nation's premier Up-and-coming alt rock acts the calgary base outfit has an album set to release in june And a performance at north by northeast in toronto the following week positioning themselves for a breakout year Unfiltered unassuming and unknown cota club is paving their own way Live show coming up later this month at the aviary in edmonton on may the 21st Here's cota club and purgatory on 32 thoughts the podcast. Have a great friday. Have a great weekend Running out of sympathy Trapped in this devil running out of places to go Stay breaking twists in mind and put us here for all you're growing Just pull me son, just pull me son, pull you to the new sensation You set off price and knew you'd pay to be You'll never risk any good He spoke the lies and played out the story Welcome to your life in black and shall we Can't help this empty feeling Still dancing with your demons You just can't shake the shame You're the only one to blame Your soul was my survival This is the price of people Just pull me son, just pull me son, pull you to the new sensation You set off price and knew you'd pay to be You'll never risk any good He spoke the lies and played out the story Welcome to your life in black and shall we Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh You set off price and now you'll pay to be You'll never risk any good He spoke the lies and played out the story Welcome to your life in black and shall we Sing a voice to all your glory Welcome to your life in black and shall we Welcome to your life Welcome to your life in black and shall we You