Eric Francis on Zary's Future and More!

0:00You'll know how to chop them in at all here. He scores. He scores. He scores. Well, see that. Off the glass, I look forward to what you look. I'm getting a little out of circle. Happy to be out of shock. See if they play all the game of freedom. Another shot. They score. The plane's winning. Yeah, baby. They score. And the seed of red hero. Flamestock starts now. On sports 9, 9, 60, the van. Brought to you by Mr. Loop plus tires. Here's Pat Steinberg. It's the a change your oil. Change your wipers event at Mr. Loop plus tires. Get an oil change. At Mr. Loop plus tires and get a pair of good year wiper blades. Free when you download the coupon at Mr. Loop dot com. What's going on? It's Friday, March 20th. And we are underway this hour on Flamestock. Welcome to the Scotiabank. Sound of them. And the hot still lounge. We're on Apple Spotify. Amazon Seeker. Wherever you get your podcasts, Pat Steinberg along with you.

1:00It's Friday. And look who we last sued into the hot still lounge as well. It is Eric Francis. Some sports net and sports net dot CA. It's time for the Eric Francis. Now we're brought to you by Paradise Bay hot tubs for all your hot tub and patio needs. Come see them at go Paradise Bay dot com. Hello, EF. I spent a large amount of time today in my Paradise Bay hot tub. Did you? Yeah, you get old like me. If you get old like me. Back problems. Nothing fixes it like a Paradise Bay hot tub. That's what I like to hear. That's right. And I don't say that just because they're a wonderful sponsor. I said that because I've been buying hot tub from for 30 years. I've been waiting for my invite for the hot tub party wins. When is that? Well, it's funny because they sell. You know, I remember when I first bought my first one a long, long time ago. They sell it as a 10 man hot tub. I wanted the biggest one. I said, I don't want 10 men in a hot. I want a one man nine woman hot tub.

2:01They don't they don't advertise it like that. Yeah. And this one person hot. Yeah. And I got older now. And I just want a smaller one. And I never said anything about two men. So you can't. Oh, so it's a one person hot tub. It's a family hot tub. You know what I mean? I'll squeeze my land there. No. Just like I do into my speed. Oh my god. How are we doing? I'm good. I'm sad. Well, two things. I'm happy that you sound better. And I'm glad you took the day off. And I'm especially glad because logo filled in and made me money. I hear that. Is sprinkle the day yesterday. Sounded just made too much sense. So I put a few shuckles on it and made some money. That's what I like here. And, you know, and I don't remember doing that with you at the helm. But the other thing I want to talk about today. This guy I'm telling was. Chuck Norris hot tub party's off canceling it. Good. That's what I was angling for. Chuck Norris dying at age 86. Rest in peace. I never thought he'd die.

3:01A lot of people probably never thought he was invincible, right? Like, but the the the the Chuck Norris jokes. I honestly think of all the things the internet's brought us over the years. That might be top 10 things. I have 102 of them up right now. Like, they're so good. And I none of us are going to try and take credit for him. But can I read a few or sprinkle a few through our little hit? Yeah. And you pick a couple of here because they're so brilliant. I'm trying to find my favorite one here. I'll start. Yeah. Chuck Norris can dribble a bowling ball. Yes. He can. I know. Seeing it on the internet. Chuck Norris uses pepper spray to season his meat. Chuck Norris won an arm wrestling tournament with both arms tied behind his back. The flu gets a Chuck Norris shot every year. Chuck Norris doesn't do pushups. He pushes the ground down. Love that. I love that. What? When Chuck Norris' parents had nightmares, they would come into his bedroom.

4:02The flu gets a Chuck Norris shot every year. I just read that one. Did you read it? Come on. Let's get some. Chuck doesn't need to throw out the trash. It always works. Chuck Norris makes onions cry. Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information that he wants. Chuck Norris won a steering contest with the son. Ghost tell Chuck Norris stories. I can't play. Okay. Enough. But I just, I wanted to get some of them in there because God. I apologize for doubling up. No, that's okay. This guy. He doesn't just breathe. He holds up. No, that's okay. This guy. He doesn't just breathe. He holds air hostage. That's amazing. That rest of the piece, Chuck Norris. Funny thing is, name two Chuck Norris movies. Enter the dragon. I'll answer. Sure. Way of the dragon. I think he's both of them. He did a couple of dragon movies. I think so.

5:02Okay. I'm going to check that out right now. I ask you as a bit of a test because everybody knows who Chuck Norris is. No matter what your age, but not many could name a movie or two of his. No, I don't think it's Walker. What did he eat? A walker or something? Walker Texas Ranger. Yeah. That's the only one I could name. And I couldn't even name it just ever. Way of the dragon is Chuck Norris. Enter the dragon is not. So I got, I got one. There's never been a hurricane named Chuck because it would have destroyed everything. No, I have to go. Take a little filmography here on. Yeah. You go on IMDb. Chuck Norris. So, yeah, the way of the dragon. I did get that one. Did you ever see Fire Walker? Oh, I heard that one. No, I haven't seen it. Bells of Innocence. This might be my favorite one. Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table because Chuck Norris only recognizes the element of surprise.

6:02Now the text, now the text line's getting in on it. They got it. Yeah. And it's awesome. Good. Chuck Norris once punched a horse. That's how he got giraffes. Like, how did he be, how did the world decide to elevate him? I don't know to this. You don't know what I mean. Like, you could have done this for the rock. Or like, I don't know. But, but somehow some way. The confluence of the internet and Chuck Norris and the three movies he was in. I know he was in a million, but none of them were really memorable. And this is what we have. So, Chuck Norris can rub two pieces of fire together and make wood. That's good. That's a good one. That's really good. From a couple on the text line. Um, thanks. We're underway. It's the Eric Francis hour. You know, around these parts. So much of the rest of this season. And honestly, pal, I, I think. Honestly, the focus for next year as well as much as they'll talk about.

7:03You know, we want to be competitive. And, you know, our goal is to make the playoffs and all that type of stuff. You know, I think for the rest of this year, I think next year as well. I think the focus is going to be all about, you know, setting things up for the future. By the way, tonight's game Friday night's game kicks off the 50 game at regular season. Countdown to the end of this building. We're sitting in, you know, preseason, play out that type of, But 50 more regular season home games starting with this one this today. Because there's eight more home games to go this year. And there'll be 42 home games next year. So with, with that being said, knowing that this is all about the future. I want to have a little bit of a conversation with you. I know that you guys talked about Connor's area on the telecast on Wednesday. In the intermissions because he had him's up a great game. Score the only goal regulation. You know, had a had an assist taking off the board for the high stick. But, and he was really good in the press conference afterwards. Yeah, like he was really funny.

8:03Yeah, like you did it all that night. What, what does this guy, what is, or where does this guy fit in the future? Is my biggest question. He's got two years left on his contract after this year. And he has never really been able to have a season quite like his rookie season two years ago. And so he strikes me as a guy that is, is very much up in the air when it comes to what his places in the long term big picture for this group. He's 24, right? So he's still young and people forgot that and think he's been around for a long time because it feels like he has been. There just hasn't been a progression from that rookie season where everyone was kind of like, wow. Okay, he came at a time when people maybe weren't expecting him to kind of blossom and break through. And remember, he was on that line with Audrey. Audrey and the kids, wasn't it him and was it possible? Yes, but Audrey and Zary. And, but he, but you know, he progressed, he springboarded, however you want to say, but then it hasn't.

9:05Look, the progression stopped last year because of the two injuries. There's no question about it. But now it's just a question of opportunity. I bet you, if you injected some truth serum into him, he would say, I haven't been given enough opportunity. I'm guessing here. Okay, I've not, he's never told me this. But I bet you the organization, if they were to give some truth serum, they'd say, well, we've given him opportunity. He just hasn't made the most of it and shown us what we need to see. So I think it's now incumbent on him to seize, whether it's 10, 10, 12 minutes a night, or if he starts getting elevated to 14, 16 minutes a night, he needs to start putting together offense. That's the bottom line. He's makes every game, he makes a nice player to where you're like, wow, like nobody holds on to the puck better than him. Maybe Audrey. The only two that could extend the dangle and the play a little longer. But you need, it's got a translated offense or else it's no good. This organization has a million middle six forwards.

10:06And this organization has a bunch of five six defensemen. That's not how you win hockey games. You need top liners and you need top pairing defensemen. That's what's been missing around here forever. And you know, you don't have any stars around here to do that. And it's going to take a long time to identify them. Will he be one of them? I don't think he's in that conversation. I don't think he's a top line player, do you? No, I think he's got a good amount of skill. I think he's, I think there's a lot, I think there's more than what we've seen. And I think that, you know, he said at the end of last year, he feels he can be kind of like a 20 goal 50 guy, 50 point guy in this league. And I think he could be that, but 20 goals and 50 points is a middle six guy in the NHL. That's what we're looking at, right? And what can he be a core middle six guy is kind of like, is he a guy that they, all of a sudden start to think about, hey, do we trade this player? Like, is he a guy that is involved in trade conversations towards the end of his contract in a couple of years?

11:11Or is he a guy that like, no, we really want to get this guy signed to a longer term deal? That's, that's my question. It's kind of similar to frost in a lot of ways. It's only got very similar. He's a little different only because he's UFA in a year, but still like, I think the conversations are the same in that, you know, do we want to resign frost? Is he a part of the future? Or is he a guy we're okay moving on from potentially trading or just letting walk in unrestricted freebies? And I don't think either Zerry or Frost have given them a definitive answer on that front. And again, that's what I'm, and I don't think we're going to get it in this final 14 games. But next year, I'm, there's going to be some really interesting evaluations being done. 100% I agree with you. I think next year will be the biggest year in both of their careers. You know, it's tough to look, let's not get into frost right now. But you know, Zerry, I just, they, I think at the last contract conversation, I think everyone kind of looked at each other and go, we don't really know where you're at. You know, you missed, you missed the year, you know, like the progression isn't there.

12:18We don't really know what you're actually who you are. And so that'll be the one of the more interesting guys next year, you know, because he's going to be given, given every chance next year to play obviously middle six line. You know, you know, right now he's been playing 10, 12 minutes a night. He must have played more the other night. I didn't look it up, but he was, he was everywhere the other night. And he played really well. He does have a little bit of chemistry with Strom. But again, that's not a long term thing. Obviously, anyway. So, you know, I think that's going to be the focal point. The interesting thing about being a flames fan for the next three, four years. Identifying the new pillars. We just identified the old pillars. And every single one of them got traded away. And brought back good value. But it was very evident and obvious who the pillars were. We heard from the coach every day about the six man leadership group. Well, there's your six pillars. And now, you know, four of them are out of the lineup. And, you know, so who's the next pillar? That's really the, we could title this talk.

13:20You know, who's the next pillar? And then start going player by player and talking about the mayor through the possibility. Zary should be in that conversation. Do I think he'll be a pillar? If I, if I had the presence of a, of a logo and I could, you know, put money on it. I wouldn't call him a pillar. I'd call him maybe an important building block or maybe tweener. Who's going to help you get from here to respect the ability? It's probably, it's probably a fair way of looking at it. And I, I don't. I just remember the dynamic. Zary. We saw that first year. But that was also before. Perreck. That was before. Coronado would score 24. That was before. Reshney. That was before. But possibly Gavin McKenna. Like, you know, things have changed a lot. And guys says before they traded for Frost and Farah. Be like, there's been a lot that has changed since that year for. For Connor's area, right?

14:20And, and because of that, you know, it's kind of, it's, it's a little harder. And we've been talking two years ago, near the end of the season where they were going to miss the playoffs. I would have said, absolutely. Zary's a big part of this future. And now, now I'm a little bit more uncertain. The one, the, the one thing that I think needs to happen is to your point. Like, give this guy the opportunity. Give him, like, stop bouncing him around so much. Yeah. And then see what you've got. Like, make sure that you give yourself the best opportunity to know what you've got. Yeah. And, and I think that's going to be really important. Even as we go down the stretch here. But, but, but it's easy to say, yeah, well, let's start, let's start to give him first second line minutes all the time just to see what he's got. And, you know, I don't know what the runway is. 10 games, five games. And if you don't see it, then it's like, we've tried this a couple of times. It's just not working. But also it's, it's, it's an internal balance, right? Like, you know, I, I think a lot of people would rather see a matvay gridden be getting making sure he's on the second line at the very least every night for the next 10 years.

15:25Or, you know, let's, let's just talk next year. Yeah. I don't think people want. Zary on a second line ahead of gridden. Or a first line ahead of gridden. So it is a merit-based system internally. And you want to see who deserves the chance. And these 15 games are a great audition for all these guys to start giving the coach reason to think over the summer. I saw something there and I think that we're going to start the season with Zary on the second line. Yep. That's what these games are about, man. The, I don't know if you've seen this the same way I have. I know you're not on our text line. But, you know, on phone calls, text line over the last couple of years, last year and this year. There's been some comparisons and it's funny because Florida is here on Friday night to take on the flames. There's been some talk about how Connor's area is being used or, or, or manage very similar and, and mismanaged as the word that's being used. Similar to the way Sam Bennett was mismanaged here.

16:26Oh, yeah. Don't want to compare the two. No, it's a very easy and obvious comparison. But like, I do think of you're the flames. You can learn some lessons with how they maybe made their missteps in Sam Bennett's development and now look at them. Yep. And, and use those missteps to step in the right direction and go the right way with a guy like Zary. Yeah. Absolutely. And I think that'll be the fear if we get, you know, a couple years down the road and they're debating whether we trade them. That's going to be the fear that he's, there's, there are so many similarities between the two. It would be easy for somebody listening right now to scoff and say, are you kidding? You're comparing him to Sam Bennett. Look what Sam Bennett is. Well, yeah, but look what Sam Bennett was when he was here. He was in the exact same predicament as Connor's area. You know, people were banging the drum for him to play center more and then he'd play center and he would be no good quite frankly. And then, then you know, and they just weren't seeing what they needed to see from him. And it was so frustrating because also there was that sample size from the playoffs where you knew he could be a difference maker on a regular basis.

17:32We haven't seen that sample size from Zary where he could be a difference maker on any regular basis. Right. So that comparison, that's where the comparison ends. But other than that, I see him exactly in the same moving from the second to the fourth line all the time. Wing, center, wing, center, different people every night, sometimes out of the lineup. Like, it's pretty amazing to how easy it is to compare the two. I know you're a you and you and I've even gone back and forth on this before on and off the air. I know you're a big Morgan Frost guy and and you know, honestly, I'm not the opposite. I think there's a lot there. I think that he's a very, very skilled player. I think he's got a lot of attributes that you want. He plays a position naturally that this team right now is is not very organizationally deep in. Like, I honestly think if if Frost can take this opportunity that he's gotten in the last two weeks since cadre has been traded. The opportunity that he'll almost certainly be given next year to honestly be like, he could be the number one center.

18:36Go out and take like give us a 50 50 point season and and really put yourself in a spot where Craig Conroy is thinking in a years time. Oh jeez, we're getting some trade offers for this guy, but we actually we really want to resign and we think this guy can't like you go and make this a tough decision for Craig Conroy next year. And I think there's an opportunity because he's got the skill. He's got the ability, but you know, can he do it on a regular basis? Because we've had stretches this year where we've been watching on the concourse or we've been talking in here about they're like, and he's been like he's been their best player for the last week or so. Can you can you get that more from a guy like Frost? I think he's the best skater on the team. Maybe save for Perek like you know, but this skating is unbelievable. His hands are the best on the team in my opinion. That combination should net you 60 points in the league. I think it's also smart. It's the compete level. That's not there on a regular enough basis.

19:36That's in the eyes of the coaches. Look, you know, I defer to them in terms of why he's not able to put up more points. Look, he's also not exactly flanked by superstar talent either. So that doesn't help with his production. But I do think the world of Morgan Frost and it's going to be a very interesting one because there's one year left on his deal. You could go right into free agency. He's unrestricted at the end of his deal. This area is not. No, no, they can control. Zary do agree, but not Frost. And you know, Frost may do what all the other pillars. And I'm not including him as a pillar yet. I mean, maybe next year he'll start to emerge as one. But then by then it might be too late because he may have made a mind up that. No, I definitely want to live out east or I definitely. Whatever I want to I want to go somewhere warm. I have that opportunity. It's a once in a lifetime. Maybe twice in a lifetime for an NHL or. And so. But if he if he can establish himself as a number one center here. It's tough to imagine I need want to leave. But that's the goal. Make it so that he doesn't want to leave because too many guys have wanted to leave this situation.

20:36And quite frankly, when you're rebuilding and it's clearly now just a full on rebuild. A lot of guys just don't want to be part of that. And I get that too. But it does come with opportunity. And maybe he wants to cash in on that. Well, just for you, Jim and Strathmore Chuck Norris once created a diamond by putting a lump of coal in his hand and making a fist. I remember that day. Chuck isn't gone. He's giving death a near Chuck experience. That was pretty funny actually. Chuck Norris died so he could beat up the grim reaper. And then Superman wears Chuck Norris pajamas to bed, which is a classic. Oh, that's a classic. You're right. Just for you. And aliens are real. They're just hiding from Chuck Norris. I think people need to know that too. Um, he is Eric Francis. My name is Pat Steinberg. We are underway from the Scotiabank Saddle Dome in the hot stone lounge. It is the Eric Francis Zauer on this Friday.

21:36And the Eric Francis Zauer brought to you each and every week by Paradise Bay hot tubs for all your hot tub and patio needs. Come see them at go Paradise Bay dot com. Talking your team right now Flamestock is on sports net 960 the fan. Flamestock is brought to you by a Mr. Lou plus tires. It's the change your oil, change your wipers event. Get an oil change at Mr. Lou plus tires and get a pair of good your wiper blades. Free when you download the coupon at Mr. Lou but dot com. It's a Steinberg and Eric Francis along with you. It's going to start getting warmer and thus you're going to need to use your wiper blades more. Should go and take advantage of that little uh that little promotion on over at Mr. Lou plus tires. The Eric Francis Zauer on this Friday edition of the program. He's Eric Francis the sports net and sports net dot C.A. But it's not a limited time. It's not a limited time. It's not a limited time. Look, there's Kelly Rudy. Really? Yeah. Never heard of him.

22:36I know that you're you've never been a fan. You've never been a you know funny story. We met. I don't say the year but Cowboys had just opened. 1994. I did it for Cowboys is 30 years old this year. I was there opening 96. I was opening as they're opening night and and almost all the days between now and then. I had a stretch. I mean for a stretch that would have been true for sure for about 10 12 years and got married. Um. Met Kelly at the Cowboys golf tournament. Yeah. Obviously knew who he was. It covered him in the league and stuff but didn't know it anyway. It sparked a brilliant friendship. We have a photo from how many people have a photo from the day they first met. Not many. It's a good point. A lot of married couples can't say that. And I'm not saying that we're like a married couple but sometimes we quibble like a married couple. There were people and I told you this story but there were people. Going back this would have been like November.

23:36Uh. When November December and you guys were taking shots at one each uh. One another on on the telecast. Oh yeah. And I and and that was a night. I was I was sitting in with you and you in parks and I had people asking me on the call and show that night. They were like. Man what's going on like the text. I was like what's going on with Francis and Rudy like that's. I'm I'm worried that they don't actually like each other like guys settle down. Yeah. Yeah. Someone told me like online too like Twitter and stuff before going nuts. Like I didn't. Someone said I read it. Yeah. Read it even. I don't know. Taken size like all Rudy was being a jerk or Francis being into like guys. That's a joke. They're like they're like the biggest thief for 30 years. Like settle down. I've been to his daughter's weddings like you know like it's not. Yeah. Anyway. Uh. I still don't like I don't still like him. When you say when you point him when he walks by I still can't give him love. When Chuck Norris goes in the water. He doesn't get wet. The water gets Chuck.

24:37That's one of the top five. That's good. That's that's from the text line. Um you wrote on Wednesday following the the shoot out win. Um and I heard what was was when we played the post game interviews. I kind of get a pretty good idea of where you're going because I'm like. Yeah. Like it was an impressive display from the flames. I mean here's a team that as a 0.0% chance of making the playoffs is traded away. As you mentioned so many of their pillars that have been. Um key core members for the last number of years. They have three goals taken off the board by video review. Just the second time in NHL history. That's happened. And yet still find a way Devon Cooley. Uh let's in one that he probably would like to have back and then he shuts the door the rest of the way. Including two for two in the shootout. Like you know that that for a team that. Has new players and his auditioning young players and isn't going to the playoffs.

25:37Kind of still showed that there's lots of fight left in this group which I know really struck a chord with you on Wednesday. Well I do any time to come out. Their work I think is still not questioning that one blow at what against Dallas other now. I don't like. It's got to be tough in that room. You take away most of their leaders. Take away their best players. No question. And what you're left with is you know a 15 20 game balance of the season. That doesn't mean a darn thing to anyone except for them. It should be something for them because they're fighting for jobs and positioning and lines and. But what we saw the other night. Was exactly what a flames fan should want to see. Every single night like that's the perfect scenario except for the fact that they won. Right. And I know every fan I'll agree with that like you know. Work your work as hard as you can. Stand up for one another be aggressive. You know they weren't backed down from anything they were initiating in a lot of cases. It was pretty good and they didn't get deterred by all the goals getting called back.

26:41And unfortunately they won and I say unfortunately just you know because of what everybody's hoping for a better standing for the draft lottery. But hey those people paid their money that night and God bless them for paying to come see them. You know like late this season against St. Louis come on. Good on them. They got their money's worth and they got the win at the end. Everyone got to go home with a bit of a smile on their face. So that was cool and a couple of the young guys stood out. Like everything about that game was what you want except for the win. Yeah. The. There were even a few games on the road trip that you would put like. Yeah. Like they three nothing after 40 and they fought their tails off and fought just short against the islanders. And so that's a hey a loss equals a win for a lot of people and in Washington they're got three nothing thing. Then they tie at three three in the second and then they just get stomped in the third. But they're doing their best they're an underman hockey club and we all know that. And so great start against Detroit one nothing and then again Detroit pushes back and. So like those are nights that I think a lot of people are okay with around here and.

27:44Great occasionally they're going to win games and. Yeah. They want to win. They can't catch Vancouver. Yeah. They can't catch Vancouver. You just don't want them to jump forward and catch Chicago or one of the other ones. So. The culture. I want to just want to address this because people cringe when we talk about it. But like this is a sign that the culture is still strong moving forward. And there's these guys are still adhering to the one kind of nonnegotiable which is effort. I sat down at a long chat with white cloud the other day and he was saying there's you know effort is that's that's the number one word. I said but isn't that the number one word pretty much in every locker room. And he said yeah but like sure but every locker room has a bit of a different slant on it and priorities and. But here it's really all you've got. It's all you've got is effort because you don't have the skill to compete with all the other teams. You got the goal telling no. Yeah right like this is a where would you say this goal telling is like if is this a top.

28:5010 top half top half for sure yeah. I'd have here's here's what I got to see to maybe boost it into the top 10 for sure. Wolf's got to have a more consistent year next year because it's been a little bit more of an inconsistent year. This year for him compared to his rookie year. And then we got to see it again from Cooley right like that's that's the really interesting part is this has been a great year for Cooley. Statistically one of the best goalies in the NHL. Can you do it again right like is is is year two a follow up or a step back. And but goalie people love this guy goalie like the goalie community is enamored with Devon Cooley. And are like how did we miss Kevin Woodley our goalie expert last week was like I've talked to people around the league. In in the goal telling fraternity and they're all like how did we miss on this like how did San Jose miss on him when they had him. How did the wreck like how what what did sigilette see what did La Barbara and Scapsky see in in Cooley that made them like they had him targeted for months like he.

29:55I've been hearing Cooley in the flames for months prior to them signing him like what and they're like I can answer what they see you know the answer to right like they saw raw athletic ability crazy and they saw perfect size. And they thought if we could harness that and teach him how to play goal because I looked at earlier I mean I don't think up until last year he'd ever played more than like I want to say 23 games in an entire season. And that goes back to like when he was 14 years old and the obviously growing up in California wasn't even playing against like good players either like all of it's just amazing that he managed to get as far as he did before somebody finally gave him that last golden chance with the you know one of the top goal tending teachers in the league with La Barbara but also like the goalie guru that that overseas the whole department that spotted him and said we think we can turn this get the they had to teach him how to play. And you talk to you talk to Cooley he raves about that first year with Scab ski as well that's what he transformed he talks about all the time he goes I don't even know how I stopped a puck ever before because I didn't know what I was doing I just thought well here guys here comes a guy shooting he goes now every time the puck is coming at me or a guy's coming down he has I know exactly what to do every time I don't always do it but I know exactly what to do prior to this experience here in Calgary I had no idea other than okay make sure you stop it stop it stop it.

31:21Stop it stop it stop it stop that's the only that's your only thought that's like a golfer who's only swing thought is hit it as hard as you can yeah it's not going to work it's kind of it's similar you talk to you talk or I don't have a lot of fighter pilot friends myself but you talk you listen to people who are fighter pilots. You have fighter fighter friends a little bit I have zero you're just in chat rooms and stuff. Wow I'm part of it okay Maverick I'm like I'm like a train spot are you only a train foamer but I'm a fighter jet guy no but you know you listen to fighter jet pilots talk on online and they talk about like how they know what to do in every situation because they're training and their preparation and and Koolie never really had that before until he got to the flames organization and that's exactly what it is like you know two on one coming down this guy like I know exactly what to do because of my training and my preparation and and that's what Skapsky and now La Barbara have done for him is is turn him into not just a guy playing goal but turn him into a gold tender right.

32:26Do you ever wonder if he sits up at night I don't sense he does like I think I don't think money's a concern in the family it's not a motivator for him this guy's pretty free spirit but like you think that agent should have had him sign that deal that early they yes and here's why because they feel like if they they feel like they could have gotten a Dan Bladar ish kind of Dan Bladar light deal same agent Milstein's the same agent for Dan Bladar is as Koolie I think they felt they could. I think they felt they could get a deal like Dan Bladar light in the offseason this year if they didn't sign but they feel that they played two more years build up more of a resume then Koolie in his late twenties can really hit it in unrestricted free agency in two years from now so I think that was the that was the read that they felt like they could do it this year. But they feel like it would be sound or thinking long term when it comes to the overall dollar figure if they sign the two year deal get the guaranteed money now and then really be in a good position if he if he's a nine 15 as a one B the next two years with wolf well then he's really going to be in line for a big money.

33:38And it's a I just throw that out as a devil's advocate like you don't it's fair question because I thought this could have got a lot more money. Yeah even just staying here even if that was his whole goal stay here. Just hold off don't sign it yet wait wait wait I think he could have got what do you get one two one one like miniscule amount for a guy who's amongst leaders in the league and I'm not saying he could have gone on the free agent market but it and gotten huge money but I love that there's the recognition of the grasses and always green or somewhere else all these pillars we've talked about that have wanted to go and see if the grasses green or somewhere else. It's not always worked out for them in a lot of cases it has but you know here's a guy who understands that the only reason that he's amongst league leaders is because of the group around him that's taught him to be this way. Why not stay for a couple more years continue to learn from them and then you're right go out and straight gold. By the way his press conference after the game the other night was this kids always hopped up on goofballs after every game right it's fantastic when you when you when you completed his sentence.

34:45Yeah I thought I want a prize. We're going to show it on the broadcast again tonight because he says I was working on three things he was rambling on and on about the three things is stick checks and this and then he says the third thing. Oh I forgot what the third thing is and I said because I had spoken to about a week ago about it I go shootouts he goes shootouts shootouts yes shootout Logan comes in. Logan comes in he goes watch out for the audio spike on Devin cooling I'm like why is like you'll you'll hear it and then that's exactly what it's like freaks out. Oh okay I heard you I heard you play it on the after the I was driving home and I was listening to your show and getting no insights. You never know what these these interviews aren't so you play them live right after late yeah and so you play it then you're like okay they always after messing to Logan cooler whatever word you use. It was pretty funny like another classic this guy just never ceases to amazing he is he is a character I'll say that much. Okay just before we wrap up Chuck Norris has a bear rug in his house the bear isn't dead it's just too scared to move.

35:53Chuck Norris died 20 years ago the grim reaper finally had the nerve to let him know. Oh that's good let's leave it on that 86 years young Chuck Norris passing away on on Friday so rest in peace to Chuck. Yeah it's going to be a it's going to be an interesting final 14 game so the 14 game stretch to wrap up the season begins here on Friday night in the 50 can you believe we're into the final 50 games of this building like I we see it every day every time you pass go to place. It looks it looks better it looks more complete it looks more like oh that's where that's going to be that's going to be even you can see where the practice facility in the community rank is going to go that's starting to. Take form every time you see it you're like okay like I can't wait to get in there yeah and yet at the same time every time I sit in this chair right here. And leave this building at 12 30 in the morning and you're like yeah because it this place isn't going to exist in the new building we want to like it's like it's like on the one hand you're like this place needs to be replaced it's it's old it's time and we're going to miss it but it's time.

37:08The other end like it's going to be sad not having these old confines because we've been in this building so damn much over the last 20 30 years right. I agree I agree and I've you know it's funny over the last two months when I'm on the road you know I go into every dressing room and you talk to the other teams or when they come here if you get a chance I'll grab two or three notable players and I'll ask them I've been asking for their saddle don't memories you know for you know obviously we're going to do a lot of right ups on the saying goodbye to this little barn. And it's quite amazing how many guys talk about like people not everyone but a lot of the players talk about this like like a guy like Darryl Sidler would talk about Maple Leaf Gardens and everybody agrees Maple Leaf Gardens the Boston Garden all the old ones the forum they're like iconic legendary well the reality is Maple Leaf Gardens was a dump an absolute dump I grew up there going to games there as a kid is gross it was it was not. But but I still look at it is that grand old barn there are people that look at this some of us think of this as a dump a lot of fans probably think of this as a dump but there's a lot of players that come here especially kids who grew up in Western Canada who say this is like the one of the last of the great rings after this all the rings are the same.

38:26And they really are like some are better than others Detroit Spectacular and Montreal but but like the ring itself once you're on the playing surface the players look up it's the same in every ring. And I'm not saying it's different here but the roof is very different and when you drive up in that team bus these guys are still they go how man I can't believe I'm playing into that saddle that I used to see on hockey. Yeah cool yeah we're it'll be an interesting time yeah no doubt good stuff you have a wonderful take care wonderful weekend yeah I'm glad you're sounding a little better. Thank you for forcing me off the air yeah you needed a buddy yeah bye buddy good enjoy the game he's Eric Francis on Twitter at Eric Francis and he joins us every Friday on the Eric Francis hour as we start to wrap things up this hour the Eric Francis hour brought to you each and every week by Paradise Bay hot tubs for all your hot tub and patio needs come see them and go Paradise Bay dot com.