Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What happened in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final?
Did you just do an Insta story of me? I did it before we started recording. What is this? It's just a photo of a microphone and you getting ready in the background.
Oh, okay. I thought somebody just texted nice Insta story. And I'm like, what are you talking about?
Yeah. I like sneaking the quick ones on you.
That's all I got going for me. Freege cam. That's what the people want. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by your Canadian Toyota dealers and the 2026 Tacoma. It's time to Toyota. Dom, Elliot and Kyle with you once again on this Wednesday morning. And the Stanley Cup final is all square, two games apiece, five to three. The Hurricanes win game four.
So this one was a real blowout, Elliot, when you look at every other game. Yeah. in this series. But another game where an early two-goal lead means nothing. Brandon Bussey, Elliott, gets the call. First Stanley Cup playoff start.
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Chapter 2: What are the implications of Mike Babcock potentially coaching the Edmonton Oilers?
First Stanley Cup final start. And this... It's clear now is going to be a series where say percentage, goals against be damned. The only stats for goalies that matter are the W's. And that was what was next to Bussey's name by night's end. He delivers a win, made the saves, enough of them when Carolina needed. And they go back home with the win in Vegas that they were looking for.
I apologize for what I'm about to say, Hurricanes fans. But when the Golden Knights made it 2-1, I was convinced they were going to win. Carolina had the two early goals, but I hated that power play. Vegas could have scored three times shorthanded. And even though they were being outshot, they just seemed so dangerous to me. Even when it was 3-1, I was still thinking Vegas is going to win this.
And then McNabb was just a bit late, a bit late at the buzzer. And when they tied it, I still thought they were going to win it. So on Saturday in game three, Kyle, I don't know about you, but when the Hurricanes came storming back from that 4-0 deficit to tie, I think all the Knights fans, whether they admit it or not, in the building, thought they were going to lose. They were nervous.
They were scared.
Chapter 3: What are the latest updates on Dylan Larkin's situation with the Red Wings?
Carolina was the better team in the first overtime, and when they got out of it with the victory, they erupted. That was as much relief as it was jubilation. This time, it was the Knights doing the chasing, and I really believed everyone in this building thought that Vegas was going to win. And they were shocked that they didn't, thanks to an incredible play by Jordan Stahl.
So we're flying to Raleigh on Wednesday. Game five is on Thursday. I apologize in advance, Hurricanes fans, but I really thought you were going to lose this one.
That is a great way to set up your arrival back in the day. My hotel is, my room is. Yes, exactly.
Chapter 4: How did Mike McCarron's contract extension impact the Minnesota Wild?
And if anyone wants to reach out, I will have no issue chauffeuring Elliot to the location of your stay.
Kyle will be holding a sign, Friedman staying here.
Chapter 5: What insights can we gain from the top prospects at the NHL Draft?
Yes, that's right. We'll have it in the back window of the rental car. Elliot's in here. The windows will be down. Please let me get out before you do what you need to do. You know, Bussey is the story.
Chapter 6: How does the Thought Line engage listeners with their questions?
Well, Stahl's the other story. There's two big stories, Stahl and Bussey. Let me just talk about Bussie for a second. So Dave and I were at our section getting ready for the show, and someone turned around. Someone yelled, hey, and I turned around, and it was John Osetutu, who represents Bussie. And he goes, let me introduce you to Bussie's family.
And I go, oh, you guys rushed in just for this one? And they all went silent for a second. And you could tell they were a bit sheepish. And I looked at them and I said, I think we have a pretty good idea. Your guy's starting. There were so many rumors. But literally, I said it was about 20 minutes before we went on air, which is, you know, about 25 minutes before the warm up.
So we kind of had an inkling at that time was going to be him. I said, don't worry, you're not telling us anything we don't already know. And it was such a nice family. His parents are Rob and Lisa, his fiance, Mary and Mary's parents. So his future in-laws were there and, and John was wearing a hat and I forgot it. It says house money on it.
And it is the family slogan and they sell merch and I'll be going on to the website after to buy the merch because the house, the hat, the house money hat, it looks great. Yeah. And that's the slogan. You better do that quick. What's that? You better do that quick before they're sold out. After you mentioned it too, it's, it's such a great, it's, it's fitting that you would win in Vegas, uh,
with a slogan, House Money. And for those of you unfamiliar with what that means, it's like when you've already beaten the odds and you're playing from ahead. And it's such a great slogan because you look at his career path, the fact he'd been on waivers, how long it took him to get here, starting out of nowhere, really in this spot, it really is playing with house money.
And I thought he made some brilliant saves in this game. He got help from a crossbar here and there, like every goalie does. But, you know, that kind of a situation, when you start in that kind of a situation, it really says a lot about who you are. Because a week ago, we're all talking about Frederick Anderson as a consmith candidate.
And you don't think that a huge game in this series is down two to one is going to be on you unless there's an injury, you know, a severe one. Like you just don't think it's going to be you. So it showed a lot of great mental toughness. And it was a brilliant performance. Like I said, I thought the Hurricanes were reeling for a good chunk of that game. I don't care what the shots were.
And Bussey had to be spectacular.
Well, I think they talked about it a lot on the panel of how aggressive he can play. Now, that can get you in trouble, but I thought about that one cross-crease pass to Eichel shortly after Jordan Stahl had put them back ahead. If he's not the aggressive mentality of pushing out to cut down the angle, because Eichel even got it up. It was just another inch higher.
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Chapter 7: What are the latest trends in NHL coaching changes?
Yeah, I appreciate you pointing that out. No question. And Bryn Mawr also said in the postgame here that they haven't even begun thinking about what the net's going to look like for game five back at home. That's either a Wednesday conversation or a Thursday morning conversation. But he certainly does.
You've got to think that they're going to they're going to tell their goalie. Wednesday night. Who's playing? Yes. Yes. Showing up at the rink Thursday morning. I don't even know who's playing.
I don't know. Absolutely. I know. That's just what he said and I'm relaying it. But he definitely does lean on Paul Schoenfelder, the goalie coach, heavily when it comes to this stuff. And with Bussey, I mean, Craig Simpson showed it during the game. You look at his season and
Early on in the year when he first got his taste with the Hurricanes, he went on an 11-0-1 run, 9-0 at one point, and late in the year, 6-0-1. So this guy can get on a lengthy streak. Carolina doesn't even need that lengthy of one. They just need two wins now in the next three games is enough for the Hurricanes to become champions. So he has done it and was good enough here in game number four.
And You mentioned the parents. It was a really neat moment. The reaction of them when Ehlers hit the empty netter and they could finally kind of take a breather was really sweet. We showed it to Bussie in the postgame. Really neat to see both your parents, Rob and Lisa, your fiancée Mary here as well. There's some great reactions, and then as you can imagine in the crowd.
So I just wanted to see this. What do you think? Oh, that's pretty special. So... They're the reason why I'm able to do what I do right now. Their sacrifice means everything, and, yeah, they're the best. Just the fact that they're here watching this in person, I mean, what does that mean to you? I mean, flying East Coast to Vegas in one day or this morning is a lot. It means a lot.
I can't believe you guys just did that to me on TV. So, yeah, it's special, though. That'll be a memory I have forever. But I'll enjoy this one tonight, and then tomorrow we move forward to Game 5. I didn't anticipate he was going to be as emotional as he was. That certainly wasn't why we put it there.
I just thought it would be a neat thing for him to see his parents in that moment, knowing how tight the family is. And you mentioned, I mean, their family motto is on the back of hats, right? So that was really cool. Jordan Stahl. Elliott, 37 years old. It's been a long, long time since anybody has scored in each of the first four games of a Stanley Cup final. He has done that.
And that game winner here on Tuesday night, that one replay of it is going to, I think, live on in the history of Carolina Hurricanes lore.
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Chapter 8: How do performance bonuses affect NHL salary cap compliance?
Like, one of the things that's clear here, and again, I've said this a million times, I have no desire to kick Knobloch while he's down. And Whoever takes over is going to have a really high bar to beat what Knobloch did. Take them to within three wins of the Stanley Cup over two years.
But one of the things I had heard was that this year, they just felt like even the best players felt they needed to be put back in their place sometimes. That maybe they had too much say. too much control, and they needed somebody who was going to say, no, you guys are great players, but I'm the boss and I'll make the decisions. And Cassidy, for example, is not a guy who's afraid to do that.
And they interviewed Berube and they interviewed Laviolette. Like I heard Laviolette was there last week. And interviewed very well, I heard. I think they interviewed Jim Hiller. I'm sure they interviewed some other people. But that's even, I think, I've heard that the players recognize that they probably needed somebody who would tell them no more often. And that's how we kind of got to Babcock.
And I think they were about to push this through. and hire them and i think the players association got word of it and they were upset for the reasons that we talked about before and then it gets out and all of a sudden i think initially the oilers were like we're still doing this unless we get told we can't and now we'll see I mean, I don't know.
I don't know where this is going to go as we record this on Tuesday night. I really don't know what the outcome is going to be. But I can tell you, in addition to what the Players Association said was, hold on, if there was going to be an investigation, there should still be an investigation. There were two other things that were presented to me on Tuesday, Kyle. Number one is, how would...
I think some people spoke up on behalf of some of the other players who weren't on the leadership group or who didn't meet with Babcock. I think that there were some people who were concerned, some of the younger veterans or prospects. And I think somebody also said, I heard there was someone who spoke up.
I don't know if they spoke up to the PA or who he spoke to, but you know, like they, they would say, Hey, like, What if my player gets traded to Edmonton? Am I going to want this for my player? Or is it going to be harder for Edmonton to get players to go there, even with the talent they have, because those players didn't have the chance to meet with Babcock beforehand?
And I think that's another reason that the challenge started to grow.
And it just makes me wonder, again, we'll see what happens with this investigation if it's granted and what ultimately comes of it. But however you feel about this, you knew there was going to be some kind of blowback and you knew there was still some loose ends over how it all ended in Columbus, Elliot. So you just can't help but wonder.
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