Elliotte Friedman opens up about the firing of Jeff Marek.

The hockey world was left stunned earlier this year when Jeff Marek, longtime broadcaster and voice of hockey at Sportsnet, suddenly announced that he would no longer be working with the company after having served in his role there for over a decade.

"After 13 great years at Sportsnet, I’m moving on," announced Marek in late July. "It’s been an incredible journey and I’m thankful to have worked alongside so many great people and played a role in bringing sports and hockey news to fans across Canada and the world. More to come soon."

The sudden and unexpected departure on Marek's behalf, which we now know was not voluntary, also marked the end of one of the most successful podcasting duos in all of hockey, with Marek serving as the longtime co-host of National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast.

On Friday, Friedman spoke of Marek's firing for the first time, with the notable exception of a single tweet, and began by indicating that he had intended to do the show with Marek for many more years to come.

"I remember thinking we were going to do this for 2000 years," admitted Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast.

When it comes to how everything went down however, Friedman admitted that he felt it wasn't fair to share his side of the story until Marek has done so.

"Now I know there have been people out there that have been saying I should address this, talk about what happened, give my feelings, and someday probably when I write a book I will," admitted Friedman. "But I know if this happened to me, I wouldn't want any of my friends to say anything until I had a chance to do it. So my belief has always been, aside from the one post on X, my belief has always been it's Jeff Marek's story to speak about first, and that's the way I'm gonna leave it. When Jeff talks, someday after that I will talk."

Friedman spoke very highly of Marek despite the fact that he was terminated by Sportsnet.

"Jeff is a great broadcaster," said Friedman. "He brought out the best of me in this podcast. He was a huge reason for its success, a huge reason it's gotten built to what it is, I will miss his stupid/weird ideas and I will miss working with him. And as great as he is a broadcaster, he's an even better person."

It doesn't sound like Friedman is concerned about what comes next for Marek.

"The thing I like the most, is I believe Jeff will land on his feet," admitted Friedman. "That's important for him and his family, and I look forward to seeing what the next chapter in his life is."

In conclusion, Friedman acknowledged that things wouldn't be the same with Marek no longer in the picture.

"Obviously I'll miss him, just as all of you will."