Elliotte Friedman makes statement on Jeff Marek firing, 32 Thoughts future

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Liam McCormick
July 27, 2024 (2:47 PM)

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Earlier this week, extremely surprising news broke that Sportsnet has parted ways with longtime popular analyst Jeff Marek.

Marek has been a mainstay on Sportsnet for years, being on Hockey Night in Canada, a daily radio show, and the 32 Thoughts Podcast with Elliotte Friedman - widely regarded to be the best hockey podcast available. Yesterday, Friedman made a statement on Marek's departure from the network and confirmed the Podcast will continue.

It was brilliant. Jeff has his loopy suggestions, but they made for fun debates and great moments.�

Life throws curveballs at you. I will miss being his teammate, and thank him for being a tremendous co-pilot on the start to our 32 Thoughts podcasting voyage � �which will continue.

The exact reason for Marek's departure has not been revealed by any sources, except YYZSportsMedia citing �unconfirmed draft reasons'. It seems like there may have been some mutual unhappiness between Marek and Sportsnet, and a contract expiration could've simply ended his time there.

It's unfortunate to hear Marek will be leaving his duties at Sportsnet, if only for his work on the 32 Thoughts Podcast. Marek and Friedman were a fantastic and reliable team for hockey news on the Podcast for several years. Already, a few replacements have been floated for the Podcast, including Pierre LeBrun, Frank Seravalli, and Emily Kaplan.

Hopefully Marek finds a new home in hockey media soon. Plenty of fans have already missed his coverage, and are hoping to see him get back in the media landscape for next season.

Source: Elliotte Friedman