32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Bo Goes? (Owen Sound)

Episode Date: January 20, 2023

We are LIVE from Owen Sound, Ontario for Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada! Jeff and Elliotte kick off the podcast with some news from around the league including the latest with Bo Horvat (1:00) and Matt Dumba (5:45), Mathieu Joseph scratched against the Penguins (9:15) and Ivan Provorov choosing not to take part in the pre-game skate on Flyers Pride Night (12:50).Then the guys welcome you to beautiful Heartwood Hall in Owen Sound for their live show where they are joined by Lanny McDonald (and the Stanley Cup - 38:40), Blayre Turnbull (57:00), Les Binkley (1:14:15), Joey Hishon (1:30:45), Bobby Ryan (1:47:25) and Mike Futa (2:01:30).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call The Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailBig thanks to Bidiniband for taking part in the live show!This podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman. Mike Rogerson provided editing support for this episode and musical supervision was conducted by Caron Illidge.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

oh yeah for sure just sizzle the career here we go here we go ready now elliot you rolling yeah yeah that was pretty good coming down to three two and welcome to 32 thoughts the podcast presented by gmc and the new sierra at4x elliot we are in owens sound for scotia bank hockey day in canada right now we are in amal delich's tastefully decorated hotel room. It is really lovely what he's done with the place here. This podcast is going to be in a couple of parts. So earlier this afternoon, Thursday, we did a couple of hours at Hartwood Hall, which is a lovely establishment in downtown Owen Sound. Had some wonderful guests that you're going

to hear from here in a couple of moments, but wanted to make sure that we got a good chunk of the news section done this Thursday evening to try to keep the news as fresh as possible. So this is going to be in a couple of parts. In moments, you're going to hear people applauding and talking and drinking and having fun and Owen Sound. In the meantime, let's start with the news and let's start with bohorvat i think this is intensified this week i don't know that it's going to happen for sure but i believe some teams have stepped up and indicated they're serious uh we'll see where it goes but i definitely heard that there were conversations. I believe as we record this on Thursday night, and please understand that things can change,

but I believe as we record this on Thursday night, the Canucks have not given anyone permission to talk to Horvat for an extension. Again, these situations are fluid. They can change, but nobody has denied to me that there has been some intensifications. Now, who are we talking about here? I guarantee to you I'm missing teams. I have no doubt that I'm missing teams because

I think there's some teams that have been involved in some things this year that, or at least talks that I've been missing out on. I think Seattle's in it. I think Minnesota has been around it, but they can only do them as a rental. I think Boston's been around it, but it's not easy for them to do it.

You know, you mentioned in the Meyer part that's still to come that we taped earlier today new jersey yep i think new jersey's around something not saying yes not saying no here but i think they want to do things and i think colorado i haven't heard them but that doesn't mean it makes sense carolina i i don't know what what to make of it i think carolina they don't do rentals at least they don't pay big prices for rentals right but i do think they want to win so i won't discount them it would fit what they need yes like we're looking for need here and teams that are used to taking big swings that's carolina yeah but you know it's rental is generally not been their way you know the one thing i think about seattle is i think seattle would do it to keep them and you know one thing about the kraken is again i want to stress if they're in

makes sense for them to do it earlier so they have them and they can start talking to them here's what i wonder about last podcast what did we talk about trying to get everything done all at once get your big things out of the way listen we all watched either the show or the clips from tnt on wednesday night and how the guys were joking around with rick talkett and now the news of bo hervat situation intensifying is this headed to we're trying to get everything done here now as quick as possible and get this behind us i don't think they're rushing to get horvath done i just think some people have gotten a bit what i've heard is some people have gotten a bit more serious this would fit your motherford's mo the one thing we know about rutherford is he doesn't like waiting to the deadline

that goes back to when he won the stan Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006. This does fit how he traditionally does business. But I think in this particular case, he, look, it takes two to deal, right? You're not making a stupid trade. Other teams had to do it for real. I think that's what's changed here is I think some other teams have gotten serious. You know what, Jeff, what team I really wonder about here could be a total wild card? It's Tampa.

It wouldn't be easy, but I know they want to win. Like I had one guy who said to me, I don't think they could do it, but I think they'd try. Jeez, what were they prepared to give though? Like I know you and I talked about this the other day and Tampa always has players ready to come up from Syracuse and they can jump in. I just wanted to throw it out there because I had one guy and he goes, I admit I'm paranoid.

That's what he said to me. He goes, I admit I'm paranoid. That's what he said to me. He goes, I admit I'm paranoid, but he wondered if there's any chance that Tampa could pull it off because he thinks that's the kind of guy that they would go for. Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not watching you.

Yes. All right. So we'll stay on top of that one. Stay tuned with that one. Okay. A couple of more things here. Matt Dumba is a healthy scratch on Thursday night. We've talked plenty about Matt Dumba. And again, I always tell things here. Matt Dumba is a healthy scratch on Thursday night. We've talked plenty about Matt Dumba.

And again, I always tell you this about Matt Dumba. A while ago, I stopped talking about Matt Dumba getting traded because we've traded Matt Dumba now for how many years? And he keeps ducking and the ax keeps missing, Matt Dumba. Your thoughts on the scratch on Thursday and your thoughts on Matt Dumba in general. So the number one thing that everybody said after Dumba your thoughts on the scratch on Thursday and your thoughts on Matt Dumba in general so the number one thing that everybody said after Dumba they announced that Dumba was not playing was is he getting traded and I don't think that Dean Everson and Bill Guerin would

do that just to healthy scratch him if they were scratching him because he was getting traded, I think they wouldn't say anything or they'd come right out and say that. Like Dean Everson talked about it being a performance reason and he gave a quote saying, I don't know about the trade stuff. I'm just doing this for hockey reasons. I don't think those guys would come out and say all that if it was a lie.

I don't believe it. So I out and say all that if it was a lie. I don't believe it. So I look at this as purely a hockey thing. I was working on Tuesday night, Leafs-Panthers, so I didn't get a chance to watch as much of Minnesota, Washington as I wanted to. What I did was pretty entertaining. But for those of you who did watch the game, you know that there was a giveaway that Thumba had

that led to a great chance for the Capitals and I just think that you know they wanted to get Goligosky into a game I think Dumba's been struggling a little bit and I think they just said we're going to do this so I don't think it's because of the trade as a matter of fact I believe Dumba gave an interview I've only heard the second hand but i believe dumba gave an interview where he said the wild have been really honest with him about what the situation is he could be traded so i don't think they'd go through a dog and pony show to scratch him if it was a trade i think they would just say we're doing this to protect our asset so i think it is performance wise it can't be easy for Dumba, who's a really proud guy, but I assume he'll be back in the lineup pretty quickly.

I think it is possible he gets dealt. Like we've said, Bill Guerin has told people, if you want me to do it, make it worth my while. And I think there's a decent chance that somebody will. You know, Bill Guerin was on radio with me a couple of days ago when he said, I'm prepared to let people walk. I'm prepared to let people walk. Yep.

I'm prepared to let people walk. We're going for the Stanley cup. Uh, despite the fact that we all know what they're headed into and we all understand the situation with expiring contracts in Minnesota. Oh, speaking of mini, um,

I know it's a couple of days old here, but you want to have a whack at the Matt Boldy pinata seven times seven. I think it's, by the way, I think it's already a good contract well you know what jeff you know my feeling is if you have a person who you think is a cornerstone of your team then you sign them for as long as you can because the number only goes up agreed and my only point to it is i think he's already a seven million dollar player like i i look at this and I don't say, oh, you know what? He's going to grow into that contract and eventually it's going to, it's going to look good for Minnesota.

I think it already does. That's how highly I think of Matt Boldy. I know you're a big Boldy fan. The thing I thought was interesting was half the money is in the first three of the seven years. And you know why they did that? Because escrow is capped

those three seasons at 6%. So there's a certainty and the uncertainty. And when it comes to your finances, we all like certainty. Speaking of scratches, Matthew Joseph, Ottawa Senators, scratched Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. We know how many tickets he bought. Yeah, 50 points. That's a tough one.

That's a tough one. You know, there were a lot of rumors flying around Ottawa as to what happened. And you know what? I give Matthew Joseph a lot of credit because he came out on Thursday morning and he said, this one's on me. Because DJ Smith is old school.

He announces it, but he doesn't say why. And he doesn't want to embarrass the player. He has to do some discipline. And he doesn't want to embarrass the player. He has to do some discipline, but he doesn't want to embarrass the player. Now, the thing that I respect the most about Smith for this was, then the rumors start going around. Like how awful a person is DJ Smith? He scratches this guy when his whole family's there.

And you know what? For some time dj ate that and there's always some things i look at and i say in a situation i would hope i would act like that he didn't back down he didn't embarrass his player he kind of ate it and then i respect that matthew joseph came out the next day and he said no no, no, no, this one's on me. Because, I mean, you know how social media is. Something gets reported and when it doesn't get refuted, a lot of people accept it as fact. Or they have confirmation bias.

They want to believe that's true. So they accept it as fact. And what I heard was someone said to me i heard he broke a team rule and someone else came back at me and they said no he didn't break a team rule and i think that's true i don't think you broke a team rule did he bend a team rule but there was something that happened the senators felt they had to deal with i like matthew joseph and my very few dealings with them i've enjoyed dealing with them i have a lot of respect that he came up, he didn't throw gasoline on the fire.

As a matter of fact, he poured water on the fire. He doused it, he put it out. And, you know, like, I don't think that can be easy for him to sit instead of playing against his brother. And we'll see what happens. They're going to play again on Friday. But you know what?

Like he owned up to it. He took his coach off the hook. He took the organization off the hook. He said, this one's on me. I root for people like that. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to get up there in front of people and say, yeah, this one's on me. I eat it.

And I give the kid a lot of credit. And you know what that says to me? That also says to me that player and coach here are like, this was a blip and we're going to move past it. And this is not going to be a long-term problem. I told you the advice I got early in my career, right?

About making mistakes. What was that? When you mess up, fess up, and dress up. That's exactly what Matthew Joseph did. Yep. All right, a couple more things, Elliot, before we give way to Hartwood Hall, or the Hartwood Hall part of the podcast.

Jonathan Taves, what's happening here? Well, I was on TNT on Wednesday and the Marchese show, the temporarily renamed Merrick show on Thursday. Yes. And I probably didn't say it as clearly as I should have about like a second or third round pick for Taze, where he gets dealt.

I don't think that's what the Blackhawks are looking for. From other teams tell me that's what the market is for him. If Taze does get dealt, there's a couple of teams that think that it's probably going to be like a third round pick, maybe a second round pick, but that looks like what the market is

going to be for Taves. Okay. And finally, before we get to the live event part of the podcast here, Tuesday night, Philadelphia Flyers, Anaheim Ducks, the warmup without Ivan Provorov, did not wear the pride jersey. So it did not take the warmup, plays in the

game, the Tortorella comments, the subsequent controversy, your thoughts after being able to digest this now for a couple of days. You know, the one thing I want to say most of all is that I don't like people feeling excluded. I think I'm like most people, Jeff. Like in my tiny corner of the hockey world, everyone's welcome.

As long as you treat people well, as long as you're nice to people, I don't care who you are. I don't care where you're from. I don't care the color of your skin. I don't care what you believe. I don't care how you live your life. I don't care about anything as long as you treat people well.

And you know what, Jeff? I think most people are like me. I really do. I think social media amplifies a lot of negative voices who hide behind anonymity and scream things out there because they think there's no consequences to them. But I think the vast majority of people are like me. If you want to watch hockey or you want to play hockey or you want to work in hockey or you want to do anything

in hockey, I really think the vast majority of people don't give a flying whatever as long as you treat people well. Do you agree or do you disagree? No, I do. And I think by the gesture of putting on a pride jersey, I don't think that it's any type of statement other than to people from the LGBTQ plus community, by us doing this,

the message we're trying to send is, you're safe here. You're welcome. You're safe. You're welcome. You're invited. You're valuable. You're part of this.

You're not excluded. You're with us i think that pride nights are symbolic evenings and i think that's what they indicate like the thing is is that i know one player not wearing it becomes the story and i hate what it turns into especially on social media one of the things the flyers talked about was, do we not wear the jerseys? Because one player isn't going to wear them. And I heard they had a closed door meeting. I heard Provorov spoke. I heard Lawton and other players spoke.

And the players basically said, no, we're going to wear them. And Provorov said, you know, I'm not going to wear it. So I'm not going to take warmup. What it says to me is, I don't know how many players they have on their roster, 23, 24, whatever it is, 22. All the players but one wore the jersey, okay? To me, that's the story.

Like, if you look at where we've come in hockey and society in the last 20 to 30, 40 years, the fact that 95% of the players wore the jersey, that's a good thing. You know, Jeff, when we were kids in 1980, you think that 95% of the players would have worn a jersey? No chance. No chance.

But I think it goes back to what we said at the beginning. I think the vast majority of people, they don't care. They don't care. As long as you're a good person and you treat people well, and that's the message I think is important to get out of this is that I know why the story becomes the one person who didn't, but I think the story is in my life, and I'm 52 now, the 95% of people who do. and I'm 52 now than 95% of people who do. And that's the way I look at it. I feel that most people in life,

they just don't care as long as you treat people well. And social media amplifies all of the negativity. It does. That's all. I just want anybody out there who feels that that means that they're not wanted or not accepted. I don't feel that way. And I don't think the vast majority of people feel that way. I really don't.

The one thing that I really didn't like about all of it was how people that were impacted by Provorov's decision, their opinion was maligned. You saw Aaron Ambrose's comments you uh i had to talk to bane pettinger from caa on on the on the radio show how it affected them like this is their life okay we can drop in and out of things like pride nights and and pride parades like they live this this is their 24 they live this. This is their 24 seven. So this is, this is their lives. They don't get to opt out and just do a night when it's convenient. What I really didn't like is watching people in hockey's LGBTQ plus community get maligned for feeling the way that they did on Tuesday night.

Cause there's no pulling out for them. They're in that. And that, and that that's the one thing that I really found distasteful, how people went at them attacking how they felt that night as people in the hockey community. I found that really distasteful. I completely agree with you,

Jeff. But I, again, I really, really, really believe this 20% of the world has a Twitter account. Is that what it is? Something like that that i don't

know it's it's a really low number i really believe jeff i really do and again you can tell me if if i'm wrong i really believe the vast majority of people they're like you want to enjoy a hockey game with me i'm happy to watch a hockey game with you. As long as you're not a jerk. I really do feel that way. Do you think I'm wrong? No, I don't. The overwhelming majority of people in this game, not just in this game too, not just in the game, but in those rooms as well. You know, you asked me in 1980, could this have happened? No. In 1990, could this have happened no in 1990 could this have happened no but it also probably couldn't have happened in those dressing rooms someone standing up and saying this is my sexuality this is how this is how i live i mean how often you think those conversations happen

in hockey dressing rooms in the nhl 1980 never never in 1990 never now every team is prepared to have all those conversations let's now get to the live event portion of the podcast to Hartwood Hall listen to 32 thoughts the podcast ad free on Amazon, included with Prime. And with all of that taken care of, folks, I'd like to introduce to you our stars of the afternoon, the Rowan and Martin of Hockey Broadcasting, Mr. Elliot Friedman and Mr. Jeff Mayer. Normally, by the way... Oh, you're over here, Elliot.

All right, that's for the guests. The one thing that, and thank you very much, gentlemen. Thank you so much. And Dave, thank you for the wonderful introduction, which we did hear. But part of Elliot's thing is he's kind of late for everything. And I'm sure you've gleaned that from listening to the podcast so far. So here's how it's going to go. Dave sort of talked to you guys about how the guests are going to come up and who's going to be speaking and what we're going to be talking about as well. And we're going to kick it off with Lanny McDonald here in a couple of moments, Elliot. And Lanny's brought a special friend, not announced, but a special treat for everybody here. First of all, we want to thank everyone for a couple of reasons. One,

Elliot and I are always amazed that people actually show up to events like this. Like, we did a tour in the summer, and we're stunned that people actually were interested or thought that we could be consistently interesting for more than maybe 35 minutes, like we are on a podcast. So, A, thank you so much for coming. Much, much appreciated.

Give yourselves a round of applause. Thank you, guys. much for coming. Much, much appreciated. Give yourselves a round of applause. My wife actually heard a line from the last podcast saying that we had five more tickets that we could, sets of tickets that we can give away. And she looked at me and she said, more people actually want to come to see you. It's really embarrassing So we are really we really do appreciate it. Thanks very much And thanks for listening to the podcast all the downloads all of it no matter what we put out there So thanks for hanging in there for all the like my wife calls Elliot my work spouse Oh, I Elliot will call and my wife will say oh your mistress is calling again

And I do spend a lot of time with Elliot and and it's always a lot of fun So what we're gonna do is before we start to bring out guests will Mistress is calling again, and I do spend a lot of time with Elliot, and it's always a lot of fun. So what we're going to do is, before we start to bring out guests, we'll, because this is a live recording for the podcast, so we'll go through some news and notes from the week, and then we'll start to bring up some guests. We'll do a halftime break. We can get some refreshments, and then we'll get back at it. So I want to kick things off, first of all, by thanking Dave Bedini. Now, here's the one thing, before we start to talk about Owen Sound. Dave Bedini is and always has been a really important part of my life, specifically. Elliot, I think I've told you this story before.

My then-future girlfriend, then-future wife, then-, then future mother of my children. Claire. Not exactly in that order either, Elliot, if you catch my drift. When you dip the stick, you have to pay for the oil. That's how it works, Elliot. Our first date. Does somebody have like the sudden wave of nausea that just came over me? Anybody have any like Tums or anything like that?

Our very first date, a couple of things happened. And this is how much of a loser I am. The first part of the date is all Merrick is a loser. And my wife and I first met playing hockey together on a co-ed hockey team. And I used to always get on her about how awful her hockey pants were. Like, I don't know what time she had to get them back to the Hall of Fame, but they were old, and they were torn up, and they were just awful looking hockey pants. So on our first date, you'll love this one, Frej, I took her to a hockey shop in the west end of Toronto to buy her hockey pants. Right?

To which she said, many years later, that's the first date I've ever been on when someone tried to get me into pants. After that, we went to dinner and then we went to a restaurant on Queen Street in downtown Toronto to see Badini Band,

a band that's already entertained. Was that the Rex? No, you know what it was? It's not even there anymore because I asked David about it. It's a place called Chosky. Oh, yeah. It's no longer there anymore.

And then we went to dinner, saw Dave's band. Years later, when Claire was pregnant with our second child, who just turned 11 yesterday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday to Brody. So what happened was I was working a regional game. I think it was a Calgary-Columbus game. It was in Calgary.

Got home around 1.30, maybe 2 o'clock in the morning and as I'm coming in I'm like oh I'm gonna have a sandwich you know go to sleep my wife's do at any time but maybe I'll be able to have a chance to get a nap in Claire's coming down the stairs and she's like it's time like we're going this is the middle of January and we get in the car and and it's one of these beautiful Canadian snow globe scenes. You know, the snow is falling gently. I get my pregnant, at that point, girlfriend into the car, and we're ready to go to St. Michael's Hospital.

You know, I did everything out of order, right? Like I said, I did everything backwards. And we get in the car, and the snow is falling, and I turn on the radio. It's 102.1 The Edge, old CFNY. And my favorite band is Rio Statics, and one of my favorite songs is claire and that's my wife's name and that starts right away and I'm thinking to myself my life right now is perfect maybe you've had that point in your life where you feel like you really hit a stride this is why I'm here

everything is ideal the rubik's cube just all snapped together and all the sides are the right colors. That's how it felt to me. Dave Bedini, Bedini Band, his music, my wife, family, it's all interwoven. So Dave, this is a real treat. Please, a round of applause for Dave Bedini for providing, in a lot of ways, the soundtrack for a lot of everything that I'm done. A couple of things about Owen Sound. First of all, wonderful to be here. Whenever I mention the Owen Sound attack, Elliot always says, don't forget about the Platers.

Rich history here. We think of the Graves, two-time Memorial Cup champions, OHL champions with the attack. The Platers graduated numerous players to the National Hockey League. And executives. And executives. And we'll talk to Mike Futa here in a couple of moments here on the broadcast. Real happy to be here. Hockey Day is always a real special event.

We're glad to be part of it. We've been part of a number of them. We're sure this one is going to be outstanding as well. We'll kick off the podcast by starting. Are you going to talk about, like you always talk about the ring fries when it comes to Owen Sam. Okay, so Sam McKee. You have to do this. So show of hands, how many people here at the Bayshore have had the fries?

It's a very large majority. True or false, best fries in the Ontario Hockey League. Right? So there's one person that I have to give a nod to who first tuned me into this place, and there's a tie to this venue as well, Sam McKee. Sam McKee used to be a producer of mine when I did radio and podcast,

previously at The Fan. He's now on the air, does a number of things, does hockey, does golf. He's a real up-and-comer in the industry. He's from Owen Sound, and whenever I would mention the attack, he'd always say, best fries in the O, best fries in the O, best fries in the O. And interesting about Sam, he had his wedding

reception here, like right where we are sitting right now. And I'll tell you one more thing about, and I apologize, I don't know the person's name. I'll tell you one more thing about Owen Sound rink fries. I remember having a conversation with dale degray uh owens sound attack general manager and just frivolously i threw that one out about how great the fries are and he starts laughing like almost uncontrollable and i said what's so funny he goes you know the guy that makes the fries i say no and he tells me his name he goes i just drafted his son it was like in the 12th or 13 round i drafted maybe this could be a 32 thought note somewhere down the road i bring the i'll see if i need a couple extra need a couple extra at the end yeah dale degray drafted the

guy that makes the fries at the uh the bay shore so you're lucky here i know this community like listen there have been times when you know junior hockey was very much in question in owens sound like there was a time where it's like okay we're not going to have a junior franchise what is that going to mean um to owens sound what is that going to mean to Owen Sound? What is that going to mean to the hockey community? Listen, this entire community rallied around that team, and various business owners stood up. This is a community-owned team.

This is a community-controlled team, and it really is a beautiful thing. You guys sit second in your division. You're playing London tomorrow, the Evil Empire. We wish you all the best. Nothing better than beating the London Knights. We know that. Every market says that. So listen, you're lucky.

You're in a great hockey market, a great hockey team, and a lot of wonderful people, and many of them are here today. So thank you so much for coming out. All right. So we'll start off with the latest news of the day. And this is the sound of breaking news. Watch this. So it's 32 Thoughts presented by GMC and the new Sierra AT4X.

Elliot Friedman. Break news about Timo Mayer of the San Jose Sharks. Well, I think that there's a few teams that have indicated that they think if they're... Like a lot of the teams, the line I use about the NHL right now, if you listen to the podcast or Jeff show, you've heard it. I say that the NHL is constipated because there's so many teams that are right at the cap, but I'm crass at the cap or in long-term injury, you don't have the flexibility to make moves and it's going to be a problem. But I did get some teams who told me that they think if a guy could go early, it's Meyer. And, you know, I think that the reason is, is that San Jose, they're aggressive. They are trying to

do things. They would like to see if they can kind of, I don't know if jump the line is the right word, but if you come to them, they're ready to do business right now. And I think the other thing with Meyer is he's in a bit of a unique situation. He is not an unrestricted free agent after this year, but his contract is up. His birthday is in October, but you have to be 27 years old or seven years in the NHL by July 1st of that year. The NHL calendar is July to June. So if you turn 27 after July 1st of that year, you have to wait an extra year. So that's where Meyer is. His contract's up, but he's got one more year until he can be unrestricted. However, his current contract means that to keep his rights, you have to offer him at least a one-year contract of $10 million.

It's a qualifying offer. It's the Matthew Kachuk situation. You've got to offer him $10 million on a one-year deal. And I think there's some teams out there that really like Timo Meier. He's a hell of a player, having a hell of a year. He's played extremely well, but they don't like that. I think what they would rather do is they would like to know what he's looking for on an extension before they make the trade.

And the key here is San Jose has indicated a willingness that if you make them a trade or propose a trade that they like, they will let you talk to Meyers' representative, who in this case is Claude Lemieux. And so that is a situation that not every team is comfortable with. Like right now as it stands, the Vancouver Canucks have told teams, you do not have permission to talk to Bo Horvat, who is an unrestricted free agent next year. And I think there are some teams that would like to get Horvat and keep him, but you technically have to have permission to do it. Vancouver is saying no at this point, but I think San Jose has made it clear that if you're willing to do something that we like,

we will let you talk to him. And I think that could push the Meyer sweepstakes up a bit because I think there's a ton of interest because Quietly is having a very good year. Let me throw some darts here then. New Jersey Devils, does that land? There have been rumors before that the Devils have been interested, and yes, I mean, they like good players.

He's a good player. New York Rangers. That's been reported recently. Frank Cervelli reported that the Rangers were, he was number one on the Rangers list. I think that's a tighter squeeze cap wise for the future. But I, like I've heard there's a lot of teams interested and I've heard a lot of

really good teams interested. Carolina. I mean, they're in on every big name. It's, I would be curious about that. Carolina makes sense. Um,

are they going to do the extension? Like Carolina, Carolina, the way that they do business. The thing is Carolina doesn't like rentals. So are they going to do the extension? Like Carolina, Carolina, the way that they do business, the thing is Carolina doesn't like rentals. So they would only do it if it is an extension. Carolina doesn't like rentals. It fits,

but Carolina also has a rule and it's probably a rule. Any of you that run a company, you're probably very similar to this. Carolina sticks hard and fast. They say, here's what we think our value is for you. And we're not going over it, or we're not going too far past it. Like Dougie Hamilton, he got the big deal from Jersey.

Carolina wanted to keep him. Hamilton and his reps told them, we think we can do better. Carolina said, this is as far as we're willing to go. If you think you can do better, go do it. Carolina's done that for coaches too. They had assistant coach Dean Chanel. They offered him a certain salary. He said, I think he can do better. They said, if you think you can do better, go out there and find it. And Toronto hired him for a bigger number. That's Carolina's way. They put a value on you. They say, this is what we see as your value. And they're not going past it. So I think the big thing is,

Meyer's putting himself in position for a huge payday. I just wonder, does Carolina see that with what it equates him with? That's the question. Any Canadian teams? You know, I have thought for some time now that he would be perfect for Toronto. Yep. I think he is exactly what the Maple Leafs need.

Here's the thing with the Maple Leafs, though. They don't have a ton of cap room, and they only have so many assets to give up. And they don't want to let go of their first. And they don't want to trade their first. They don't want to trade Matthew Nyes either. But so the thing is, I think Toronto is still deciding what's our number one priority. When Muzzin went down, and I don't think we're going to see him play this year, Toronto's thought was we have to get a Muzzin-esque player.

That has to be our number one priority. Now, I think they still have time to figure this out, priority. Now, I think they still have time to figure this out, and I think the way their defense is played, I think they've considered, do we look at something else like what Meyer does? But I don't think they've made that decision yet. I think Toronto has to decide, first and foremost, what its number one priority is, and it may not be what Meyer does. Moving moving along how many Stephen Stamkos fans we have in the audience here tonight I'm guessing more than a couple here right Stephen Stamkos now the uh proud member of the 500 goal club we're going to welcome someone else who's a member of that 500 goal club here in a couple of moments um scores against the Vancouver Canucks yesterday early in the game it's not a Stamkos goal. Like, that's the only problem.

Like, when Lanny got his 500th, it was a wraparound. Yeah, that's a big problem. But don't you want the Stamkos goal? I'm sorry, Stephen. We're not counting that one. It's not a Stamkos goal. Look. I think that's actually the way the NHL scores games.

Look, I'm an artist, Stamets. I want my goals to look like art, and I wanted the Stamkos goal. But nonetheless, 500 goals for Stephen Stamkos. And, you know, you brought up something we were talking before. Anthony Stewart's got a really good point on this one. You know, Anthony was on last night. He was working the late game with, uh, with Carolyn. He was working that Vancouver, uh, uh, was working that Vancouver Tampa game. And Anthony brought up a great point, which I don't say often, but Anthony brought up a great point. Don't tell him when he shows up that I said that please but he actually had a

great line he said if Stephen Stamkos had been able to stay healthy and and Stamkos went through a lot as we all know we would be talking about him chasing Wayne Gretzky right now too there would be two guys chasing Wayne Gretzky for 894 as opposed to one and I think that I I watched that and I said geez that is such a great point you know you there's sometimes you watch someone make a point in a penalty you're like geez I wish I thought of that that was the first thing that came through my head so good um you know Stephen Stamkos has been through a lot in his career you think about the leg injury um you think about the blood clot. You think about all the

things he's been through. You know, he could only play the one shift, or he could only play the few minutes in the Stanley Cup final. He had the one incredible play, the one great shift against Dallas, and he couldn't stay out there. For him to get to where he is, and he's still going strong. First of all, Stamkos is hugely popular among NHL players there's a lot of players who really like Stamkos and secondly like that's what it's all about what's my grandmother's line uh you plan God laughs you plan God laughs and uh like you take a look at Stephen Stamkos's career he was the number one overall pick he's gonna everyone thought he's gonna be a superstar

and he is he's going to the hall of fame he's got 500 goals got a thousand points but that path did not go the way everybody thought it was gonna go he had a lot of obstacles thrown his way he had a lot of serious injuries thrown his way and for him to be at the level he's at at the back half of his career after everything his body's been through that that is incredible. And that's what life is all about. Absolutely. Speaking of incredible, some incredible guests here on the horizon. And our first guest is no stranger to anybody. I don't really need to know to read out the resume, although I will, because everybody knows it by now. He's a- Don't you love it when someone says this person needs no introduction, then you spend 20 minutes introducing them?

But what I really want to do is host. He's a Stanley Cup champion. He's a Hockey Hall of Famer. He's a member of the 500-goal, 1,000-point club. He scored 66 goals once upon a time with the Calgary Flames, and he made 9-year-old Jeff Merrick weep and cry when he was traded to Colorado. Please put your hands together. A warm, warm Owen sound welcome for Lanny McDonald. I think we had a mic for you there, Lanny.

Here we go. I think you forgot something, Lanny. Hang on. Lanny will be right back. Stand by. Stand by. Surprise guests, ladies and gentlemen, the Stanley Cup. I don't know, Lanny. It's not something I would, but then again, I've never won the Stanley Cup, and you have.

When you look at this now, I mean, all these years later, any room that this cup appears in, the room just lights up right away. Like, look at the jaws all hitting the ground. Look at the eyes. Look at the mouths. What goes through your mind? You've raised that thing. That is my baby right there. I made a terrible mistake. I think it was the second year that they actually allowed the Cup to go around to different places. Might even been the first. And I think Colin Paterson, who was our left winger, had the Cup the very first time in Rexdale. And so we had it out in Calgary. We had the party at our house after winning it in Montreal. Any Montreal fans out there? That looked good on you guys.

Yeah. He won the Stanley Cup on your home ice. That's what he wants to remind you. But we were only getting even for 86. Anyway, I made a big mistake. We had it at our house at that time. Phil let us just keep it at the house for three days and we had the big party at our house we had a band playing in in the back sail cats you ever heard of the sail cats only in

Calgary anyway I woke up and the cup cup is at the end of the bed, and I make the mistake of saying in the newspaper the next day, I woke up, that was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. My wife did not really appreciate that when I was talking about the cup, not her. Anyway, long story. You know, I just love the storyline. I still remember where I was um you know Jeff Jeff said and I don't think he was joking uh he was nine years old and he cried the day you were traded

and I I I you know what I remember the protest the the the first game after after at Maple Leaf Gardens and you were traded but I still remember where I was when you scored that goal, game six, the forum, and anybody here who watched that game will never forget it either, or was seeing it online. Just take us through it, Lanny, that great moment, the big smile on your face after. Well, I have to start two minutes before because I had an unbelievable chance. Dana Merson took a shot on net. Rebound comes out. 16 years in the league, you'd think all I had to do was move it sideways, shoot an empty net. And I got so excited that, holy shit,

I'm going to score a goal in the Stanley Cup finals here. And I went like that. Oh, my God. Plumbed it right into his pads. Patrick Waugh makes a save, goes in the corner, I race over, hook Bobby Smith trying to get the puck back, go to the penalty box, get a penalty, go to the penalty box, and I know Terry Crisp is going to bench my ass as soon as I get back. And so a good Catholic boy like myself, I say 400 Hail Marys in the penalty box,

hoping and praying they don't score. I jump out of the penalty box as soon as the whistle goes, and Jim McCown has rescued the Poconar, and he comes up the middle of the ice, and he's still upset at me today because he thinks I cut him off. upset at me today because he thinks I cut him off. It was a four on two and I cut him off, threw him back and made it a three on two. Hockenlube carries the puck from McCown up to the far blue line. Hockenlube throws it to Neuendijk on the left wing. They were killing the penalty. Neuendijk doesn't even stop the puck. In one motion, fires it all the way across

between Chelios' stick and skates. Right on my stick. And we know if Patrick Waugh slides sideways, you've got to go top shelf, because he spread eagles like this, gets as big as he possibly can, and when that baby went in, in the top shelf right where the peanut butter goes, like I wanted that buzzer to go.

Like, okay, end the game right here. We're out of here. But fortunately, Dougie Gilmore scored two more goals. We end up winning and the only team to ever win on farm ice. Speaking of the forum, and yes, round of applause. There used to be some grand old barns in the NHL, and I know the forum is special for you, that goal certainly. You scored the first goal of your NHL career at the forum,

the last goal of your NHL career at the Forum, the last goal of your NHL career at the Forum. Outside of your home rink, was that your favourite rink to play at? Well, it actually was. It was a tiny little barn, but it was such a great building and so rich with tradition and history. And I was fortunate enough to go back for the closing of the forum and we were standing on the ice for probably an hour and a half while they did introductions of hall of famers from the Montreal Canadians and that list went on and on and on but it was like a temple uh it was it was so rich with history like it's sad that that the forum is not there anymore but that's what hockey does i felt

like the luckiest guy because i played in all six original buildings. And to be in the Olympia in Detroit, to Chicago Stadium, where we saw one of the best fights ever in the stands. Without a word of lie, halfway through the second period, they shut off all the lights because the fight got that bad it it in consumed an entire section and in the bottom of the old building like you could take the chairs because

they were just folding chairs they were whacking each other over the head with the chairs so they turned off all the lights and brought in all the police from outside on the street and that's how they finally ended the fight it was awesome sorry i shouldn't have said it was a different era it was a different time you know i one of the things it's it's it's tough because it's a sad story, but I did want to ask you about it. But one of the most beautiful things we saw in the NHL this year was one of your old teammates in Toronto, Boreas Salming. And, you know, I thought what the Maple Leafs and all the players did

and the Hall of Fame did for him was incredible. And I thought Salming was incredible. And, you know, I just wanted to ask you about that weekend and what you saw in your great old teammate. Well, I dreamed of playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs. That dream came true for six and a half years. And I was lucky enough, fortunate enough to come in at the same time as Borya Salming and Inge Hammerstrom, Ian Turnbull and Bob Neely.

And all five of us, because the World Hockey Association came around at that time, all five of us made the team. And I had the greatest respect for Boria as both as a teammate, how he played the game, how tough he was. I still to this day believe he is one of the top five, six defensemen of all time. Toughness, shot blocking, fearless. Whether you went to Philadelphia or whatever tough rink you went into, he came to play.

He had a great shot. He was a phenomenal passer, and he was a better teammate both on the ice in the dressing room and off the ice you want to go have a cold beer with somebody go with boria it was awesome and what the maple leafs did bringing eight members of his family over uh flying them first-class putting them up for think six days in the hotel looking after every possible thing they could and how he survived that weekend I have no idea and I think it was because most of all he wanted to show his family and especially his kids who had no idea how much this guy was loved by Toronto people but all of the NHL and hockey fans in general and to see the emotion that happened on Friday night and Saturday night I spent an hour and a half with Boria Tuesday afternoon

just before they headed to the plane. And he was done. Excuse me. He was so emotionally spent from what he had just gone through for the last five days and it did not surprise me at all he he flew home that day that was Tuesday they got home Wednesday morning he had to be at 100th anniversary they were honoring him for Swedish hockey an award for the 100th anniversary.

He made it through that and then passed away, I believe, on the Sunday. I was not surprised at all. He had done everything you could possibly imagine. He had the toughest form of ALS you could, and I didn't even know there were different forms of ALS, you could, and I didn't even know there were different forms of ALS until you start to learn a whole lot more. I have the greatest respect for him, how he played, and what an unbelievable teammate he was. One excellent words. one excellent word you know when Boria passed after that weekend and like we were all right there we never played

with Boria but I think everybody had the same feeling you know we all started to reminisce and go back and watch old games and clips and one of the ones that I kept pausing on, and I want to use this to ask about your experiences in 76 as well. The standing ovation for him in 1976, playing for Sweden. I mean, you're playing Team Canada. What was, can you remember what's going through your mind, Lanny? I mean, here's, he's playing for Sweden. He's Maple Leaf. It's a standing ovation and Maple Leaf Gardens, your barn, you're playing on Team Canada what are you thinking well first of all it was an honor to be on that team in the first place if you ever have a chance to look at that lineup in the 76 Canada Cup I think 19 of 22 or 23 guys are in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

That's the most of any team. See, I didn't know that. But to be on that team in the first place, to stand on the blue line, Maple Leaf Gardens, listening for the lineups being called, and then Boria's name gets called and there was a five minute standing ovation and the crowd wouldn't stop cheering and then they came to Daryl and I oh thank you very much thank you very much it it was hilarious but we were so honoured that, wow,

like all of a sudden everyone else is understanding what we have thought about this guy all along. Who do you like watching now? I love Sidney Crosby. Like to be able to watch that guy and see how he has matured over the years. He makes everyone on the ice better each and every game. Like he does it, just basically does it all. He doesn't ask anybody for any help. He just plays hard and he brings that love for the game and passion for the game each and every day if you're uh i shouldn't say a purist because when they go to three on three overtime even though

i'm a calgary flame now through and through i have a small tattoo here a bigger one, Maple Leafs, on this side, but we're not going to show anybody. You watch the Oilers when it goes to overtime on three-on-three and you see McDavid and that other guy. Dry Seidel. No, you see McDavid and Dry Seidel, and I don't care if they put Nurse or whoever out there. Like, I'm a hockey fan who I can sit and watch a game and never move. You watch a game three on three in overtime with McDavid and Dreisaitl, like you're moving forward in the seat and all of a sudden you're half standing

and hoping they don't score because I'm watching a Calgary Flames game. Yeah. Oh, it's crazygary Flames game. Yeah. Oh, it's crazy. They're sick. Yeah. You're awesome, Lanny. You know, one of the enduring highlights is the 1978 playoffs and your goal in overtime. You can applaud.

That's fine. That's a great goal. First of all, I watched it again last night. That's a hard pass to take. You had to catch that. You're a baseball player. You caught that, dropped it, got it on your stick, made the move, scored on Chico.

About a minute and a half, maybe two minutes before that, Paul Matier made a save on Harris in clean. And I remember watching this as a kid going, it's over. Leafs just lost and Palmatier makes that save. You score afterwards and the Leafs are going on to the second round. What do you remember? I mean, it's a tough pass by Randy Carlisle. Harris picks it off going in on Palmatier. Do you have any vivid memories of what you thought at that time? Did you think it was done? Well, I think we all thought it was done, but we thought it was done in the third period as well because Paul Me, who loved to,

he thought he was the greatest goalie in the world. He had the best glove hand until Gordie Howe at 51 shot one over his shoulder and he didn't even see the damn thing. Gordie Howe at 51 shot one over his shoulder, and he didn't even see the damn thing. But Palmy loved to wander, and he got out behind the net in the third period, and lo and behold, he loses the puck.

I think it got shot out to Troche, and Troche shoots it at the open net, and Palmy dives and knocks it out of the air with his gold stick and on the bench we're thinking oh my god if he did that we've still got a chance here and then Harris gets the opportunity and we're still in it and then when the pass came to me there was three guys all had a chance uh i think it was potvin davey lewis and clark gillies and i think all three guys thought the other guy was going to get to gillies for sure i watch it like gillies i don't know what he was he peeled off i was so happy to see him peel off yeah we could have flown that plane home we had no need for gas we were higher in a kite all the way it was so much fun because Roger Nielsen made us believe that we could beat the Islanders and

they were an unbelievable team and no one gave us a chance to win one game and we end up winning four. It was so much fun and then we got beat by those damn Montreal Canadiens again. You're wonderful. Thank you so much for this. You're a fixture, Hockey Day in Canada, Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada, Hall of Famer. Listen, one of the most recognizable and accomplished players the game has ever seen. Owen Sound, put your hands together one more time for Lanny McDonald. Hey, just before I leave, I've been to 14 Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada's,

and I've got to tell you, we were at a school this morning, one of the most unbelievable school visits we've had. The concert last night was phenomenal, and the local talent, but how you guys have made us feel, we just came off the ice skating with the Stanley Cup. Owen Sound, you guys are hockey fans through and through, and we love you, and we thank you very much.

Thank you, Lanny. Thank you, Lanny. Should also thank Lenny for bringing his friend. Yes, we appreciate Stanley joining us here on stage. Our next guest is one of the most accomplished hockey players you will meet. For my money, she, with all due respect, played on maybe the best version of Team Canada, male, female, animal, vegetable, whatever, at the Olympics last year. That performance was outstanding. She's an Olympic champion.

She's a two-time world champion. She's a Clarkson Cup champion. She's a member of the PWHPA. Please put your hands together for Blair Turnbull. I have to find a text for you. By the way, those are outstanding, outstanding sneakers. Thank outstanding sneakers thank you outstanding Elliot is the fashion play to the two of us my wife says it looks like you don't have a mirror in the house when I get dressed okay so Blair I'm gonna just ask you to react to this text I don't want to say

who sent it to me but let's just say her name rhymes with Aaron Ambrose. Yeah. Okay. So I said, Blair is joining us tomorrow. What do you think? And this person whose name rhymes with Aaron Ambrose says, if Blair tells me to go through a wall, I go through a fucking wall.

Do you actually tell her to go through a wall I might have to now just to see her do it how do you react to that one because you have this like anyone that I've ever talked to from from your team from Team Canada always says the exact same thing like born leader no BS, honest answer, straight upfront kind of person and really inspiring type of teammate. So how do you address, I will go through a fucking wall? Well, first I hope she would never do that because it seems a little dangerous, but yeah, I think, I guess if you know me and you know my background and where I grew up in a small town,

I played hockey with the boys for my whole life until I went away to prep school when I was 16. Oh, just Shattuck, St. Mary's, classmates with Nathan McKinnon, no big deal. But I think the reason why I've had success in the sport of hockey is just because of the way that I work and the way that my parents raised me. Most people who play on the Olympic team have, I wouldn't say a very similar path to one another,

but most start playing with the under-18 program and then they go on to play on the under 22 development team and then you make your way on to the senior national team if you're lucky enough but for me I got cut from the under 18 team I never got invited to try out for the under 22 team until it was my last year of eligibility and then at those tryouts I made the team then I got invited to the senior team camp and I made that team as well. So I think in all those years of me getting cut and not getting invited to tryout for teams at all

is when I really strengthened my skills and my work ethic. And now I think that has earned a lot of respect from my teammates, and they know with me that they're always going to get the same person on the ice and off the ice, and I think that might be what sparked Ambrose's text. Rhymes with, rhymes with. Yeah, it potentially hurt. So how did you handle that?

Because we were talking about Stephen Stamkos before, and even though his path was, at least to get to the NHL, was more linear than that, he had the obstacles. You obviously had the obstacles. You got cut or not invited. So how did you handle that? How did you overcome that? It was tough.

And at first, I was pretty young when it happened. I was only 16, 17 years old when I first got cut. So I didn't handle it well. Like, what does not handle it well mean? Like, I handled it like a 16 or 17-year-old girl would, and I just lost all confidence. I was mad. I thought they made a huge mistake and I was wondering like how people on the team made it over me when you know really there were so many things that I needed to work on in order to

to be at that level. But like I said I lost all my confidence and I thought for sure that my time with the national team was over. You know if you you can't make an under 18 program, how are you ever going to make the Olympic team? So, but I was lucky that I was at Shattuck. I was surrounded by really great athletes. And then from Shattuck, I went on to play at the University of Wisconsin, where I was surrounded by arguably even better athletes than those who were at Shattuck with me. I played with so many girls who played on Team USA and then some on Team Canada as well. And I learned quickly what it took to even want to make the team. And I wasn't really showing those habits as a high school kid, but I learned those habits in university. And then after a few years of work, I was getting

invited to camps and getting invited to try out. And, you know, at first I was making the team as an alternate and getting told that I could come to the tournament, but I'll probably only play a couple minutes a game. And, you know, any opportunity for me was a chance to show the coaches that I deserve to be there and I could earn my spot in the program. And that's what I did. So everybody knows the big rivalry, the biggest rivalry in women's hockey is Canada versus the United States. As you mentioned, you were at the University of Wisconsin with a lot of the American players. Like when you're on a team with them and then you play in the biggest games of the year against them, is it tough to keep those friendships? During the games, it is for sure.

My best friend at the University of Wisconsin was Alex Rigsby, who is now Alex Cavallini, so she was the goalie on Team USA. So it was easy for all of us, though, to turn those friendships off during the games because you're so honoured to represent your country, and that's really all that matters in those 60 minutes of playing time is doing whatever it takes to win. And like you said, the rivalry is so heated that you don't see a face.

You don't see a name. You just see that American jersey and you want to beat them. Now, did you ever score on Alex? I actually scored my first international goal against her. And did you wink at her and say thank you very much or anything like that? No, I was too humble back then. So if you scored on her now, you would say something? I would rub it in her face now, for sure.

You know, I've always thought, like, there's a... You know, we're in the era of reality shows, and we all remember the very first HBO 24-7, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, you know, Road to the Winter Classic and the behind-the-scenes look at what really happened. I'm telling you, and I know women from both sides, Canadian side, American side,

and so I hear all the talk back and forth and you're making that face like you know what I'm talking about. Like, between one another, I've always thought that there's a great hockey reality show waiting to happen behind the scenes at the Team Canada Team USA rivalry if that happened what would it look like and what would it sound like I think that's a great idea for a number of reasons. First, I think it would be a great way to publicize who we are and maybe get more people interested in women's hockey. But I think people would know that you don't like each other. You would know that. Yeah,

we don't like each other. And but I think it would be pretty surprising to see how much goes into it. I think a lot of people don't really know all the sacrifices that a lot of girls on my team make. And I'm sure it's the same for the Americans. But I think it would be really cool for people on the outside to have kind of an inside look at what we go through and all that we put into it. And like you guys mentioned, our team last year at the Olympics, not only were we really good and really skilled, but we had so much fun. And I think it would be really cool

for the people to see that as well. You dominated. Like, let's just be blunt. I know at the end, there was a couple, like that final game, there was a couple of moments where Canadians staying up late felt a little like, okay, come on.

But like really like from stem to stern, that was Canadian dominance. And you were playing with Emily Clark and Rebecca Johns, great line. There's a number of great lines. But at what point did you feel like this is perfect? When I look at Canadian hockey teams through the years, I was mentioning, it doesn't matter, men, women, it doesn't matter. That was as close to a perfect Canadian team as we've seen. When did you realize that? I think at the start of centralization. So for those of you who don't know, during the Olympic year, there's 28 or 29

athletes that get centralized in Calgary. So we have to move to Calgary so we can train as a team and play as a team and basically try to live together, travel together, and bond to really become a team so that when we get to the Olympics in February, we're prepared and ready to go. So at the start of centralization, you could tell there was something a little bit special about this group. And I think it was the combination of us veterans having just come off an Olympic loss. So that was an inspiration for us to want to fix some things and figure out what we needed to work on. But I also think the biggest factor was just the group of people that we had. Staff, players, our captain, obviously, Marie-Philippe Poulin.

She's not only the best player in the world, but she's the best leader in the world. So I think when you're surrounded by people like that every day, it doesn't take long to figure out that you've got a really special group. After you won goal, I'm always curious about this. Who did you get texts from? Who did you get calls from? Were there a couple of people that you said, oh, I didn't expect to get a phone call or a text from blank? Yeah, it was pretty crazy. It was a whirlwind of an experience being in China and winning and celebrating. But no one crazy is coming to mind. I think after we won the biggest...

The prime minister maybe? The biggest thing for me after we won were just all the messages about people telling me to be I think after we won the biggest... The Prime Minister, maybe? The biggest thing for me after we won were just all the messages about people telling me to be careful because after we won gold in Calgary at World Championships, I broke my ankle in the celebration. Famously. So the biggest thing for me, people, I don't even know if they were excited

that I just won a gold medal. They just were really excited to tell me to be careful on the ice. That's one of the great celebrations we've ever seen, though. Like, whose idea is that? That's you't it that was all me yeah how often do you look at your olympic gold medal like if i ever wanted one of those and i know i won't you'd be wearing it now i i i i would wear it like to sleep so like how often like where do you like where do you keep it to keep it in the house to keep a safety deposit box you know how often, like where do you keep it? Do you keep it in the house? Do you keep it in a safety deposit box? How often do you look at it?

Yeah, it's in a safe. So my fiance, he is an Olympic bronze medalist. He won a bronze medal at the past Olympics in bobsledding. So we have a safe that we keep our medals in. Okay, you can applaud. It's all right. That's a big accomplishment. But any time I go to an event or I need to take it out to do photos or something i always

take a minute and appreciate it and and really it's something that it's special to me i think because my first olympic experience we got silver so now having a gold and i think back to the last four years and everything that we had gone through as a program and as a sport. And then for us to come out on top with an Olympic gold medal, it's really special. I just want to ask you about, you brought Marie-Philippe Poulin. Like, there was a time there where every big goal Canada needed, she scored. And you talk about her being the best leader. And obviously on the ice, she's incredible.

I'm always curious about people like that. What makes her so clutch? Because I don't know if you can teach that. What makes her clutch? I don't think you can teach it. I've been trying to learn and I still don't have it. But for her, I would love to take a look into her childhood and what she was like while she was in high school and just kind of compare her work ethic and her habits to

what those of everybody else are because the way that she plays the game is on a whole nother level like she's the best player in every situation. You want her on the ice. And there's not many other people in the world, in the men's game or in the women's game, who you want on the ice in every single situation, and she's one of those players. She's the hardest worker in the gym. She's the hardest worker in our practices,

and she's the best leader. She's the easiest person to follow because she's always putting in extra work. And you know that she's going above and beyond. Troy Ryan. So, you know, one of the great stories is your relationship with him going back a number of years. When did he first coach you? He first coached me with the national team.

But he coached my brother a long time ago. So this is a, this is a, cause I was told to ask about this relationship, that this one stretches back. Yeah, it goes way back. So I come from a small town in Nova Scotia, Pictou County, Pictou County, Stellerton, which is in Pictou County, um, right next to the town of New Glasgow, which is where Troy coached. So he coached a junior A team in New Glasgow. which is where Troy coached. So he coached a junior A team in New Glasgow. And, you know, being a small town, small area of Nova Scotia, hockey's huge. And the junior A crushers were the local team that everybody loved and supported. So being the coach of the crushers is pretty cool back there. But Troy also coached my brother. So my brother, like me, grew up playing

hockey and he played for Team Nova Scotia and Team Atlantic at the U17 Challenge. So Troy coached him throughout those days. So for him to get involved with the women's program back in 2017 or 2018, it was pretty full circle and something that was pretty cool because not many people from Nova Scotia were involved at the time. And yeah, it was something that was super cool for me. And we have a great relationship now. And he's definitely the best head coach I've ever had. Want to want to finish up with one question for the PWHPA. And I know everybody is NDA up on all this stuff.

I get it. But scale of 1 to 10. But there's no lawyers in the room. Scale of 1 to 10. How close do you think they are to putting it all together? I'd like to think 10. I don't think that's the answer Jeff wants. See, normally in this situation, what happens is if you don't say anything,

the person, it's a little interviewer's trick. If you don't say anything for a while, they tend to give you more, but players too smart for that. You won't buy the pause. I also don't want us to be named in a lawsuit. You know I got to ask, Elliot. I learned that from you.

Listen, you're one of the most accomplished athletes at Scotiabank Hockey Day, one of the most accomplished athletes in this country. Congratulations. As belated as it may be, whenever I meet someone that's won Olympic gold in hockey, I almost feel compelled to say thank you, thank you, thank you as a Canadian. So on behalf of everybody here, that was a remarkable performance. That was a lot of fun. Like Canadians coast to coast.

Like we followed every shift, and it was beautiful to watch. Congratulations. You're an Olympic champion. Now do it again for the country. Blair, thank you so much for this. Thank you, gentlemen. Before we get to a break, someone special we want to bring aboard here.

And we thank Lanny McDonald and Blair Turnbull for joining us. This is someone, when we found out we were coming here, Joel Darling said, I think we might be able to get Les Binkley to the show. And so right away, it's like, holy smokes, we can get Les Binkley here? That's fantastic. So please put your hands together

for someone who has Stanley Cup rings with the Pittsburgh Penguins, was the first goaltender Stanley Cup rings with the Pittsburgh Penguins, was the first goaltender in the history of the Pittsburgh Penguins, just a stellar individual, someone who, as you're going to hear about here in a couple of moments, really is a story of a battler and someone that fought his way to the NHL and stayed in through sheer determination and fearlessness and courage. Please put your hands together for the great Les Binkle. Thank you so much for this.

This is a real delight. Now, I had a chance to finally meet Les and chat with him before. And I said, Les, I'm going to ask you about your mask. And I don't want the answer until we get up on stage. So that's where I want to start. So Les is the first goaltender in the history of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The league doubles in 1967. Les is the first goalie.

He's not wearing a mask. He doesn't wear a mask for a little while, a couple of seasons, I believe, and he finally decides to put one on. And it's a wonderful mask. It looks like the Tony Esposito mask as well, except he's got, and I was a big baseball fan big baseball fan still am that's why i love this mask he's got eye black underneath underneath the eyes uh i always wondered was that paint was that tape and did you do that because of the tv lights that's right it was because of the tv lights i wore contact lenses and with those extra lights shining in from the side I got a hell of a glare

right I couldn't I couldn't see you know I remember reading a book about you when I was a kid and the big fact they put in there was you were the first goalie to wear contact lenses well let me let me tell you this story uh I played junior hockey and gulf which was a Chicago farm team they were called the gulf blackhawks I went to training camp with the Chicago Hank bass and went from the West I came from the east and they said you're a good goalie but you can't see I said hold on a second is that a problem I said, what do you mean I can't see? I got 20-20 vision. Yeah, but you wear those funny things in your eyes.

I said, well, that shouldn't stop you from stopping the puck as long as you can see it. They wouldn't let you wear glasses on the ice then, that's right? No, no. You couldn't be like Al Arbor because I remember him wearing glasses. No, I remember he did too, and he used to block shots and everything amazing i hope so shatterproof that's discrimination if he could block shots with glasses out there you should be able to stop watching it too i know did the uh here's another curiosity question did the contact lenses ever come out while you were playing lots of times i guess so what you do? You should have seen it.

It was so funny. You had both teams down on their hands and knees. Even the referees were trying to feel on the ice to get it. But I always kept an extra pair in the dressing room. Listen, that's outstanding. Growing up, I was a fan of a team called the Toronto Toros of the WHA. And one of the great Les Binkley stories, and I'm really curious to hear you talk about this. So there was a promotion done, and it was a cool one.

So there's a guy by the name of Evel Knievel. Some of you younger people may not remember Evel Knievel. He was a stunt rider, motorcycle stunt, jumped over the Grand Canyon, Snake River, all of it, Caesars Palace, the fountains, and was a real celebrity there in the 70s. And he played a little bit of hockey, had a hockey background as well. And your owner cooked a deal with him that in the intermission of a Saturday, I think it was a Saturday night or Saturday afternoon game, that Evel Knievel was going to take four shots on you with the intermission.

And he was going to get, if he was successful, $5,000 a goal. Do I have that right so far? Yes, but I wasn't supposed to take the shots. Gilles Guatton, who was the other goalie, he didn't show up that night. Wait goalie he didn't show up that night so he just didn't show up that night he he was in a pool room or someplace and we couldn't find him so i was a backup the backup always took the shots it was on wild world of sport frank gifford was yes i mean it was it was big time but I didn't know anything about it.

And they said, you're in goal. Okay. So he got the money, and I got $1,000 of saves. So I made two saves, so took the team out after, and we had the best party of the year. That's fantastic. Now. No, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

I want to add. Hold on on hold on okay i gotta ask one story here okay so kelly rudy okay you guys all know kelly is he's very competitive super competitive guy one of the stats people and just in case you don't know like the the people who are doing the game there's the there's the play-by-play guy, there's the analyst, and there's a stats person up in the booth who hands facts whenever they're needed to the people. One of Kelly's broadcasts, first broadcast, the stats guy said to Kelly, I could score on you on a breakaway. Okay?

And Kelly, he's very competitive. He lost his mind on this guy. He said, you could take 100 breakaways on me, and you wouldn't sniff the net. So what I want to know is, did you let Evel Knievel score? That's a long story, and I can't reveal it. But he got his money, and we got ours, and we had a good party.

Okay, hold on. There's another part of this story. So John Bassett, who is the owner of the team, got both Jim Dory, who is a defenseman, and Larry Mavity. So Mav, you all know from junior hockey, and Jim Dory, of course, a flipper they used to call him, probably used to flip pucks out of the Maple Leafs zone. So Jim Dory and Larry Mavity were instructed the night before

to take Evel Knievel out drinking and keep him up to all hours. So the best two drinkers on the Toros were Jim Dory and Larry Mavity, and they were assigned the task to take Evil Knievel out drinking the night before so he would be over-served and perhaps unable to complete the challenge. What do you remember from that part of the story talking to your teammates? The funniest part is I went to the party because I didn't think I was going to play the next day. because I didn't think I was going to play the next day. And, you know, Evil, he was a great guy,

and he had that cane with all diamonds in the top. But he was a funny guy. It's too bad he's passed away. Listen, his celebrity status in this, he was legendary. And we were all there for all the jumps. You have two Stanley Cup rings with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Right. One... Okay, I apologize.

How often do you wear the ring? How long do I wear it? How often do you wear it? How often do you bring it? I wear it at different functions because it's nice and small. Yeah. And it's not cumbersome. The new rings today, if you've seen it, it takes you with your hand.

Yeah. Yeah, I like this one for dinner and stuff. When you were scouting with the Pittsburgh Penguins, who were some of the players that you got a chance to see that later went on to fame with Pittsburgh and you said to yourself, that's my guy? Well, actually, it isn't my guy, but everybody sees the same players and we switched territories. Mine was Ontario and I went into the American colleges, into Michigan and those places and we all saw Jarmer Yager and a lot of teams that had interviewed him didn't think that

he could come over right away but because of Pittsburgh they had a direct flight from Hamilton to Pittsburgh and I wouldn't say they bribed the commercial airlines or anything to get him in there they encouraged well something like that yeah so he came from a great family I think they're into dairy farming and that and he he was a great player in fact to get him off the ice we had to turn the lights off because he just loved playing hockey the last one for me last you played maskless right who scared you who like when they were coming down the wing or they were coming down the middle of the ice when who first two years i played bare faith and one night in pittsburgh i'd

say six weeks after the series i saw the puck go back and i saw the guy wind up and then i picked myself up off the ice he hit me right in the mouth. And if you want to lose weight, eat out of a blender for two months. You're a remarkable man, sir. One final thing. You mentioned Galt Arena a couple of moments ago, and Galt Arena, just so everyone's on the same page here, Galt Arena is famous for a number of things. Gordy went back there for the one season. Galt Arena is the longest continually running hockey rink in North America,

and I suspect the world as well. Every season there's been hockey at Galt Arena. Stratford made some noise about that, but there was one brief time, I think they were replacing chairs or something, they shut down the hockey program. When you look back at all the rinks you played at, and I know this is special, anyone who's played at Galt Arena will always sing its praises,

which were some of your favorite rinks to play in? Well, naturally, Maple Leaf Gardens. And you always wonder when the visiting teams come in I'm going back when TV was just starting we had 10 players from Ontario playing on our team and when you go home they said what'd you do all winter you know well I was playing hockey but they didn't see you play so being at the gardens some of our teams had their best games playing in Toronto Montreal still happens I know it's true you probably didn't know that Gordie Howe scored a 700th goal on me

walk us through it well I felt sorry for him because he because he hadn't scored enough in his career? He'd been gone about two weeks and he hadn't scored, eh? So we're playing in Pittsburgh and no price goes behind the net with a puck. I thought he'd come out with it, but he didn't. One of the Detroit guys passed it to Gordy and it was in. So you let Gordy score on you, you let Evil Knievel score on you, did you let anybody

else score on you? Quite a few. How is it that every time that you're playing a game and the goalie's having a bad time, eh? I think they should hook him.

You do? Early. Only because not everybody can play 100% every game. Yeah, that is true. And it should be somebody up in the stands, whether it's a goalie coach or eyes in the sky. Not everybody can have a perfect night. That's an interesting point.

I am curious. This will be my last one for you. I know I'm being greedy here asking you all these questions. Which coach understood goaltenders the most? Like which one of your head coaches? This is years before, you know, goalie coaches were a thing. Did he answer none of them? I would say I had two NHL coaches, and they both were named Red. I had two NHL coaches and they're both were named Red.

Started Red Sullivan and he should have been a field goal kicker because he would come in and we had garbage pails all through the and I sat beside Tim Horton for a year and a half and Tim and I said we'd say here comes red we are gonna hide in our cell because the garbage can is gone with him by your nose and then I had red Kelly Rick Kelly never saw it was a son of a Seabiscuit and bottle washer? And I don't know. And then I played with Eddie Shag. He didn't know my name.

I played with him for a year and a half. What did he call you? But he did call me the goalie. At least he knew what position I played. And Eddie was exciting. Every day we went to practice, it was something new. The only thing was, Red wrote on the board,

no practice tomorrow. Guess who showed up? Eddie, he was the only one there. Couldn't read the board. Who wants to do this all night, ladies and gentlemen? Anyways, I really appreciate being invited because I grew up on the west side. I carried two bags of equipment from the west side around through the used to be a railway bridge which is long gone. My dad worked for the railroad. The CPR was on the east side and it was really

something to see how many athletes have come out of. They were really good. I went to Victoria They were really good. I went to Victoria School. They've since closed. And we had good ball teams. We had good lacrosse teams. And we had good hockey teams. And that's half the battle. And they had you.

Les, thank you so much for this. You're welcome. Thank you so much. Les Binkley, ladies and gentlemen. Les Binkley, ladies and gentlemen. Les Binkley. We're not going to top that. We're going to have a quick break, about 15 minutes. Refresh yourselves.

The Cup, by the way, has an appointment, so the Cup has to bounce. 15 minutes, we're back up. More guests on the horizon. Thanks for joining us. Live edition, 32 Thoughts to Podcast. Les Binkley. Les Binkley. I don't think I've ever been played on stage like that before, Elliot. How about you?

Definitely not. You know, I have to say, Dave, I wish my grandmother was still alive because if she heard me at either one of Rowan or Martin, she would have been so proud. That's very kind of you. Yeah, very proud. Folks, before I get going, again, another round of applause for Bedini Band. Just, and listen,

if any of you were there last night for the concert, it was tremendous, a legendary show they'll talk about for a long time here in Owen Sound. Now, I've been told we got to move things along, but as a little teaser, there's this story that I'm told to ask Bobby Ryan about that involves licorice.

Don't let me forget, Elliot. Ask about it. And if anyone, listen, if I forget, because I'm getting a little older now, folks, if we're saying goodbye to Bobby a little bit later on, please someone say, Merrick, don't forget about the licorice story. We'll get there. All right. In the meantime, Joey Hishon.

Man, was Joey Hishon a great player for this Owen Sound Attack team here. First round draft pick of the Colorado Avalanche was the first round draft pick of the Owen Sound Attack. High scorer, high skilled player, trains hockey players now for the NHL and in the NHL, works with the Adamote Sports Group. Please put your hands together for Joey Hisham. Look how lean you are, Joey. I've got some great sneaker games here, man. Great sneaker games here. We really, really do. First of all, thanks so much for being here. Listen, it was like five minutes ago you were the assistant general manager here. Anytime I had a question about the Owen Sound attack and Dale DeGray didn't want to talk to me, I would get to talk to you instead. Tell us what you're doing and what it's like to be back in Owen Sound.

Yeah, it's always phenomenal to be back. Obviously, I've spent a ton of time here over the years and love this city. And obviously, the attack, I have a long, long history here. So it's been incredible for me. But I took a job in June with Adam Oates. And it's been awesome. How much does Adam like growl at you? Because whenever he calls, it's like he doesn't talk to you.

He growls at you. Yeah, he's definitely extremely passionate about what he calls. It's like, he doesn't talk to you. He growls at you. Yeah. He's definitely extremely passionate about what he does. So, um, I like to put it that way, but he's, uh, he's honestly a great boss. He's been, he's been really, really good to me. Um, and I'm, I'm loving the job. So to me, Adam Oates, well, first of all, like what are the best pastors of all time? Like just, and you think of some of them, we would think of Wayne Gretzky, certainly. Um, but Adam Oates is right there, man. And the thing about Oates is, and Elliot's had these conversations.

I've had these conversations with Adam. You've certainly had these conversations with Adam. The way that he sticks to detail and the things that interest him. I was telling you before the show today, I was having a conversation with Adam last year in the playoffs. And we were talking about a play where someone stepped over the blue line and the defenseman stepped up, and it was just yard sale, splash. And I'm like, Adam, what should I look for here?

And he said, well, what happened on that play? And I said, I don't know. I'm looking at it like the oaf that I am. Well, a guy stepped over the blue line and the defenseman stepped up. He said, no, here's what I want you to look for. Where were his hands? And I said, on his stick. He says, no, watch it again. And I said, okay, so one hand on the stick. And then when he stepped over the blue line, he put the second hand on his stick. He said, yes. Now, where were his eyes? And I said, I don't know. He said, watch it again.

And sure enough, it's subtle, It's brief. As he puts the second hand on the stick, he looks down for that tiny fragment of a second that you would normally never even notice. And he said, that was the moment he got hit. And he said, I have our guys practice as boring as this is. And imagine yourself. Here's your coach calls practice. He says, I have my guys stand there and practice putting their bottom hand on the stick with their head up because your natural instinct is head down albeit briefly as the hand goes on the stick like it's that type of detail as adam goes pixel by pixel by pixel through video i'm guessing you've had similar conversations yeah i would say the uh the most impressive thing about him is his attention to detail with small things like that.

And, I mean, it's just incredible. Every conversation you have with him, you learn something. And it's so much more than skills that are involved with hockey. It's more about how the body moves, how your spine connects to the axis below your skull and all those things and how much your stick matters. And if you don't have the proper lie, how it's going to affect your movement and all those different things. And I've never been one who's ever learned much about the body.

I had some injuries in my career and I learned a little bit about the body because of those injuries. But listening to him talk and then if you ever came to watch one of our practices with whoever... Give us some names. It's, well, I guess it's public,

like some of the best players in the world, McDavid, McKinnon, the list goes on, and it is private, so I'm not supposed to say too much about it. Obviously, Mark Scheichle. Mark Scheichle, Chuck Eichle. Yeah. A little nagging cough there won't go away.

But you maybe would watch and say, well, I don't really understand what they're working on. But the things that he's focused on are things that are really going to help the player. And most importantly, I think, keep players safe. And that's his number one thing. He talks about that more than anything else and uh yeah it's it's really cool congratulations jeff you got blair turnbull suit and now joey too

you're you're two for four so far i'm doing good freedom so joey you obviously came through the city today what are the first things you think of when you think of owen, yeah, we were talking in the back. Obviously, Feuts drafted me here, and I wasn't going to report. And it's tough for me to say that. Don't hurt him. Don't hurt him. Don't hurt him. It's tough for me to say that sitting here now. And I own a cottage up here and spending a crazy amount of time here with my family. I have a two-year-old son and spend a lot of time up here. Obviously, I've come back to coach and help Dale as an assistant general manager. But I had a deal that I thought I was going to end up somewhere else in the OHL and Owen Sound drafted me and Futes and Dale DeGray were able to convince me to come. And it was the best thing that ever happened to me,

coming from Stratford, a small town. I didn't have to worry about things that happen in big cities that I wasn't used to. And the adjustment was just so easy for me. My billets, Dickengale Stega House, I was out visiting them today. Bobby Ryan was the one who lived there before me. So just an incredible experience for me and the adjustment was so easy

everyone in this city is so welcoming and just hockey crazy the year we won it was just like the craziest hockey experience I've ever had and yeah just incredible you can applaud for that one that was against Steelheads what a series You can applaud for that one. That was, again, Steelheads.

What a series. It was remarkable. When you look back at some of your teammates from that championship year, Shaw, for example, comes to mind right away. Who are the guys that you were closest with on the Owen Sound Attack at that point? Garrett Wilson, probably still one of my best friends to this day. Mike Halmo, very close with him as well. Scott Stager, he'll be here tomorrow.

Obviously, Shazi. Shazi was a guy we traded for. We traded Stephen Shipley for Andrew Shaw, Andrew Fritch, Matt Petgrave, and two draft picks. Maybe the best trade in the history of the OHL. So it was a huge uh rob the bank it didn't have to wear a mask absolutely absolutely shawzy came over as a as a fighter that was kind of barely hanging on to even even having a job in the ohl and and ended up playing in the nhl the year after that's pretty crazy. We love talking about Jordan Binnington. We love talking about Jordan Binnington.

You guys all saw Jordan Binnington play in junior hockey. What are your thoughts on Jordan Binnington, the junior? Just hilarious. Like this kid that comes in, he's like 6'1", 103 pounds. And just, but an absolute competitor. like such a funny guy in the dressing room and away from the rink but um he straps his pads on he's just a fierce competitor and you see his his flair even still now today at the nhl level so i mean a great teammate he was younger at the time he was 17 the year we won it, but made the Memorial Cup All-Star team

as the number one goalie as a 17-year-old. So just, I mean, fierce competitor. That was a ton of fun to be around. He's dying for a fight in the NHL, by the way. Did you ever see him scrap? He's just dying for one. Did he fight everybody in the OHL too? Yeah, I mean, I hope he never gets in one.

I don't know how well he'd do. He's not much more than 103 pounds now. Joey, how come the Justin Bieber, Jordan Bennington shoot-off never happened? You were supposed to set that up. Yeah. Well, COVID happened. I heard of it. Yeah.

Yeah. I think Biebs' interests went elsewhere, and I'm not sure if he's on the ice much anymore. I'd love that. Yeah, yeah. I think Biebs' interests went elsewhere, and I'm not sure if he's on the ice much anymore. So I'd love that to happen, though. It would be fantastic. What a show that would be. Was the plan to do it at Central Park? I'm not sure if that was the plan.

I had skated with him at Central Park a few times, which was a crazy experience, but that would have been a great venue. It's really nice. That would have been spectacular. How did you, I mean, Stratford, obviously, but what was it that got you two together in the first place? Yeah, I tell the story. It was kind of crazy. We knew each other a little bit. We're from the same hometown. He's obviously a lot younger than me, four or five years younger than me,

but we were driving. I was an assistant coach with the attack at the time and we were driving to barry for a game and my phone rang it was a california number and i i picked it up and he's like uh hey joey it's justin and i was like justin who and uh he goes it's justin bieber and i i went on pause who did you really think it was well Well, I stood up as a coach. Obviously, we sit at the front of the bus and I stood up and I looked. I thought one of the boys was messing with me. So I was quiet for probably 20 seconds. And then we ended up having a conversation and I was flying into L.A. and New York City and jumping on the ice. So it was really random.

I don't know really how it happened. I Tyson Berry had a big uh a big part of that he kind of told him to call me so I think that was the story uh just I'm sure everybody in this room remembers where they were the night that Owen Sound won the OHL championship and I'm just wondering if if if there's a story from that night that maybe you would want to share with the people here that was a great story about that night, or whether it was the game or the celebration on the ice or after that you really remember that these people should know. I mean, I think a lot of the people here would know,

but I think just the parade back into the city, that started probably how many went hands of short hands how many people went ah nice yeah montana's was pretty good too they tell me i had a great time yeah so so ryan o'reilly too actually uh I don't know if anyone here would remember that, but Ryan O'Reilly came up. So he's one of my good friends.

We won in Mississauga. He was at the game, and he drove straight to Owen Sound. So he was on our party bus. But yeah, the parade into the city was incredible. There's thousands and thousands of people lined up all the way to the Bayshore, and then we step inside the Bayshore, and it's a packed house at midnight um getting back from Mississauga so I mean it just just goes to show how passionate

these people are about hockey and I keep saying it um I really feel this way but it's time to win again the time is now I can't talk about those Owen Sound days without bringing up someone that we lost a number of years ago, but was just like such a gentleman to all of us, and that's Mark Reeds. As a head coach, as a human being, as someone, you know, not just at the rink, but away from the rink as well, you have a couple of thoughts on Mark Reeds.

Yeah, Mark was incredible, huge. I owe my entire hockey career to Mark. I came in playing double-A hockey in Stratford. Feuds drafted me out of double-A hockey, and Mark kind of just took me in right away and let me play a skilled game. And as long as I was competing, he kind of let me be the player I wanted to be,

and I pictured I could be. And just an incredible guy. I remember I had gotten called up to Colorado, and he had gotten really sick again. And he texted me. So I scored my first NHL goal. He texted me after the game and just congratulated me and he was gone a few days later so it was really really tough I was very close with him stayed

in touch with him he went on to Ottawa I obviously was hurt so I didn't play for a couple years but he was always checking in on me just a just a special guy. Final thought on Owen Sound? Well you know I was just going to tell a quick Mark Reed story. You know, you're probably too young to remember this, Joey, but Mark Reed scored a huge goal against Toronto Maple Leafs when I was in high school. And it was 1986. The Maple Leafs had a big run. They went to the, they were in the second round. They had a chance to beat St. Louis and then play Calgary in the Stanley Cup semifinal. They wouldn't have beaten Calgary, but I grew up in Toronto, a bunch of friends who were huge Leaf fans, and the game that cost them the series, they were up 3-0 in St. Louis in the third period, I think,

and they blew the game, and Mark Reed scored in overtime, and all my high school buddies, I remember when I got hired to Hockey Night in Canada, I went to go do a game in Ottawa, my high school buddies, I remember when I got hired to Hockey Night in Canada, I went to go do a game in Ottawa. You tell, my high school buddies said to me, you go up to Mark Reeds and you tell him, we remember that goal by Mark fucking Reeds. Before we let you go, Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada, like we talked so much about, and listen, Dave badini has you know uh written about this talked about this um there's a couple of things that joins the the country together common languages of music common languages of sport as well i think that there's no

such thing as a sports page or a sports section to me it's it's all culture um just your thought on on what hockey has meant to you i know it it's your livelihood and still continues to be so. But coming back to events like this, tentpole events, like Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada, when you think about, and I'm getting a little older, so I'm thinking a lot about it, like when I was a kid. When you look back at when you first started to play, and now you can contextualize it now, you have a kid yourself.

What goes through your mind? Yeah, it's incredible. I know, especially since I've retired as a coach, Now you have a kid yourself. What goes through your mind? Yeah, it's incredible. I know, especially since I've retired as a coach, like Hockey Day in Canada was like the most exciting thing for us as a coach because we're usually at the rink all day on Saturday preparing for games. And just to be able to throw the TV on and watch the Canadian teams play all day long. But yeah, the game of hockey, it just brings so many people together and brings communities together.

And look how many people are here tonight and will be at the banquet later. And then obviously they put tickets out for this alumni game tomorrow and it's sold out within five minutes. So just, I mean, Scotiabank just does an incredible job of hosting these events and it just brings so many people together.

And like you said, with my own son now, to be able to take him to the rink and kind of relive my memories as a kid and my dad bringing me to the rink, it's a game that brings people together. And, yeah, I can't thank the game of hockey enough. I owe the game of hockey everything I have, so it's incredible. Left-hand shot or right hand shot? I don't know if he's decided yet,

actually. So you're encouraging right hand shot because as we always say, you add 10% to the contract if they shoot right. Yeah. Right shot D.

He's a right shot D. That's the one. Joey, thanks so much for this, man. Really appreciate it. Thanks for having me. Joey Hisham, ladies and gentlemen.

So, you know, one of the things there, and I was reminded of this when we did Hockey Day in Canada in Stratford. Like, we don't get a sense of this. Like, we both grew up in Toronto, so we don't really get this sense. But when you move out of the big cities, what you tend to forget is the rink is the hub of the community. Like, that's where you go after school. That's where you go on weekends. That's where you go to meet people. Like, everybody goes there.

Like, we're both from Toronto, and that's a different... I've always said there's Toronto and then there's Canada. And in Canada, the rink is the hub, and I think that's a lot of what Joey was getting to. All right, from one great attack player to another, and when I say he doesn't need an introduction, I'm going to really pay attention and not even read the bio, because when I say the name Bobby Ryan, a smile comes on all your faces. He was a wonderful member of the Owen Sound Attack

and joins us now on the podcast. Hi, Bobby. How are you? It's good. I'm not stressed at all. Everything ran smoothly today. We're on time. So, Bobby, by the way, where's your equipment, by the way? Yeah, well, Feud's had one rule, and that was that he got to draft me, and it didn't work out. So my stuff's in his car, and there's no telling where it's going to end up now that he's got a coach against me and joey tomorrow so uh as of right now it's in the car we'll see if it makes it to the rink all right very good um you you could beat a feuds coach team without equipment i think yeah you know what they're they uh they do have a team meant for racking up pims in a charity game so i don't i don't like their chances uh what kind of beer leaguer are you now

non-existent none um there's no beer leagues yet for me I I was always told it probably takes about two years to really to get it out to get it out yeah so uh I am on the ice a lot right now kind of coaching some young kids and doing some skill work and um in the process of trying to uh acquire a rank like a three-quarter size sheet of ice for those purposes. My little guy just started. He's four. Nice. Right-hand shot or left-hand shot?

Unfortunately, he's going to be left-handed. Oh, 10% less on the contract. I was just going to say, yeah. He's looking like a left-handed guy, but I keep trying to steer him back to it and see how it goes. I just want him to get paid. but I keep trying to steer him back to it and see how it goes. I just want him to get paid.

Kid, I don't care what you do. Just get paid. Bobby, with all due respect, that's the most Canadian thing I've heard all day. Coming in from the American guy, eh? That's awesome. You know what? When we talked about, Joey talked about coming to Owen Sound.

Just for yourself, what was your journey like here? And how did you find it when you first got here? You know, for me, I came up, I guess I should probably let Feuds tell this, but when he called me to tell me he drafted me, I was outside playing lacrosse and wasn't watching, wasn't paying attention, had zero care in the world. I was fully committed to being the American route, going to college and, and, you know, committed to Michigan. So, um, you know, he got off the phone and the owner said,

how was it? And he said, oh, he's psyched, you know, so he completely lied. But, uh, I came, I came up and, uh, um, I came up, I saw the city. I got to be around it a little bit for a weekend with Mark Guy and, and Feutz. And, um, I and I committed very shortly after I it's no secret that I had a you know a turbulent past in a few years before that with the familiar side of things so this provided me I just felt there was a sense of community and home I met Dick and Gail Steghouse who I would eventually live with that provided me with that that you know home atmosphere that I was so badly in need of at that time in my life so it became a life-changing place for me it really did what was the one thing yeah honestly yeah what was the one thing that put it over the

top you mentioned you know meeting your future Billet family, the community, and everything. First of all, how much did you know about the Ontario League growing up? Not a ton. My draft rights, being from New Jersey, would have always been here. But as I got better at hockey, I was in California. So I actually thought I was going to play in the WHL. But it wasn't the way it works out. It's geographical, right?

So I knew nothing. in the WHL, but it wasn't the way it works out. It's geographical, right? So I knew nothing. I had committed to the US program, which would have been my, you know, the same as the first year here. It would have been my 11th grade year. I was committed to the program. I played for Detroit Honey Baked to be in front of the program the year beforehand. And that's when all this attention came and people talking to me about it. And I had zero idea. So I started with Plymouth games and Saginaw games. And those weren't the teams you went to watch to get a good feel for the not at that time as Saginaw came up and said we want to take you first overall come to a game I said okay and they lost 12 to 1 2 0 in sound um I said I'm not playing here there's not a chance I'm playing here

and they're like no I'll never forget it was Dick Garber he was he was the owner he said no no we're gonna build around you I said you're not building a thing around me i said like i was like yeah i'll i'll quit so um but yeah it worked out and uh um i i genuinely thought somebody would take me in the fourth or fifth round kind of how it goes with american players and you know i got the call from feuts and uh sat down with bobby clark after the trip and you know close family friend and said you're not going to college. You're going to be a lottery first round pick. So you're going to play at 19 or 20 years old and made the decision for me.

But I'm really glad they did. You mentioned your you mentioned association with the Clark family and Bobby Clark. Can you expand on that a little bit? I mean, Bobby's such a legend in this in this sport. We were it's funny Elliot and I where were we we're flying back from somewhere and we were where I was I was googling images of hockey swimming pools and there is I don't know if Bobby had sold the place by then but he used to have a place in New Jersey and the swimming pool was in the shape of the Philadelphia Flyers logo did you ever did

you ever swim in that pool I never did no um him. He and my dad have been very close for going on 30 years, probably even more. And, you know, the connection was there because I was a young hockey player from that area. At that time, there wasn't much of that, you know, especially, I think I was probably one of the first to come out of there. And then you had Bobby Saginetti who came here and turned into a first round pick, made a nice career for himself overseas. David Kolomaitis was another one that came through Owen Sound, so I became the Jersey pipeline for a little bit. And unfortunately, you're recruiting, you're doing things, and I'm like, oh, it's a great route to the NHL,

and then they didn't really play in the NHL. So you feel bad about it. I'm like, maybe you should have gone to Cornell. But it is what it is. Do you do stand-up? You're pretty good? You're pretty good. I felt so bad. But yeah, nonetheless, but Clarkie became, you know, kind of a caretaker for me. I was 50, you know, it was the summer before I even played here at this level and midget minors, and I'm skating with the Philadelphia Flyers and John LeClaire in the summer training with them um you know getting all this exposure to the NHL as a 14 and 15 year old

was just incredible um and I remember the players saying you know he might be a little young to be out here and Clark he's like he's going to be better than a lot of you he was really cool I'll be honest I remember the first few times watching you play in the OHL and I can only imagine how you were feeling I'm thinking thinking, like, Bobby Ryan must be, like, laughing inside because you would skate down the wing, and guys would try to hit you, and they would bounce off of you. Like, physically, it was hilarious to watch. The guys would take runs at Bobby Ryan, and they'd be like,

oh, watch out, Ryan, you're going to get, oh, man, that was a bad move. And it's like, you're just going down the wing, and guys are bouncing off you. Yeah, it was a hefty 225 when I got here. That's it. But that's, you know, we were talking about this the other day. I started in the OHL at 225, started in the NHL at 225. And when I ended, I was 205 because the games changed so much in that, you know, especially for a bigger guy to keep up with the Marners of the world.

I was like, I got to, I was shedding every year and it just got harder and harder to do. But yeah, that was all. I mean, the feet didn't work very well for me. So I had to have something. I had to be able to stick my butt out and be big. Uh, you, I know you don't have a lot of time. You got to go. But when I think about Bobby Ryan, I think about that four goal game in Ottawa. Like that's what, that's what I, uh, I, oh yeah. I think about getting back. Yeah. You're getting back goals. I would love to have scored four. I thought it was four. Okay.

Well, you know, inflation. You know, the cost of... Goals are worth 33% more right now. But I remember your hat trick in Ottawa and what a beautiful night that was. And I just, you know, your memories of that game and that night and the ovation you got and the outpouring you got.

It was incredible. And, you know, and the outpouring you got it was incredible and you know when i stepped away i knew it was going to be public because you don't skate off the ice without the recollection and i i thought to myself if it was my last game in the league you know the game previous i can live with that as long as i get the help that i need and i did but like going sound ottawa was a very small community, um, in the grand scheme of things, especially for an NHL market and the immediate outpouring of emotional support, not my teammates, not the, you know, not, not the coaching staff, but the people in the community that reached out, that found my number and found my email and just, uh, the continuous wave of, of text and things

that I got was incredible and, and helped me kind of power through. Cause you know, I, I came back and I was still by myself for another two months before I played and it was hard and it was a grind. But, you know, you lean on the people around you. I leaned on the community quite a bit at the time. And I think we all got to be part of something, you know, that night every now and again, you just get a moment in sports and, you know, for me to be, for myself, it would have been one thing, but for us to experience it together and my family being there, it was just an incredible night. So, um, you know, an emotional one. I've got a couple of questions.

I have one question about Miko Koivu and I have a question about. We're going to, we're going to get to licorice. Does anybody know that story in here? It happens here. We're going to, we're going to get there. We'll warm them up with the Miko Koivu story. Um, Elliot mentions the hat trick, uh, in, in Ottawa. Itawa i'll tell you man one of my favorite things that i've ever seen is the miko koivu stick saga what do you recall describe from your point of view what happened it's one of my favorite things

to watch on youtube yeah so we were going i mean we were going into the corner and he stole mine like directly out of my hands um and i i remember going into the corner and battling without, and Corey Perry was in the corner with me. He's like, go get a stick. And I said, he's using it. And I said, there's no, and like we were actually having this conversation in the corner. And there was a few more F words in the, you know,

the 10 seconds that it was happening, but I had no, and then the winger on the strong side actually pushed the stick down to try and get it to Miku because he didn't realize Miku had stolen mine He just put it in a perfect spot for me The puck went up and D to D and I'm my immediate thought was get to the bench and then I saw a left-handed Stick that was upside down and I just said I got to pick it up I don't know what else to do and that puck could not have come off the pads any better than it did

It was right on my tape, but it was like and it was a I'll never forget because it was a it was a heel curve so I had about this much to work with on that shot and I just it was perfect everything went well and then it might have been the cockiest moment of my career uh well you should so if you haven't seen he skates over to Koivu and like puts a stick in his face yeah like to present it to him I don't know what i was doing i don't know what i was doing yeah it was so hard yeah yeah um i'm not taking that one back though he earned it he earned it all right the licorice story um you guys remember neil conway the goalie that was here for a little bit so we were getting uh neil was our backup for a long period of time and it's one of my favorite stories ever about him. But I can't remember who the starting goalie was.

He had played a ridiculous amount of games in a row and he was fatigued. And we were at home ice and he was getting shelled. And we were getting waxed five or six to one at this point. And Mike Stothers goes, Neil, you're in. And you can just see the face go, huh? And he was just terrified.

And I was like, this is, and I thought this is not a good game for this kid to come in right now. We weren't even in the mix, but he gets all his stuff on. He starts skating. He gets about halfway and he hadn't played in so long. He gets about halfway to the bench and a bag of Twizzlers fell out of his pants. I go, I saw it.

I looked over and I said, Trevor Lewis. I said, did you, did you FNC that? Right? And Neil's trying to kick it. I looked over and I said, Trevor Lewis, I said, did you, did you FNC that? Right? And, and Neil's trying to kick it. The ref's trying to kick it. We got three different players now

trying to, trying to, you know, get it so that Stuthers doesn't see because everybody knows Mike Stuthers was not going to let that one go. And it was horrible. So,

you know, he makes a save and more stuff starts, like skittles start falling and we're just going, what in the hell are you doing? So we have, and I'll wrap it up, but we have a Monday morning with Mike Stothers in the video session. You never knew what you were going to get,

but we knew what we were going to get this Monday. So he says, where's Neil? And Neil's face, and he's just about as small as you could get. And he said, I can't wait till your agent calls and says, how's my boy? And I'm going to go, well, he can't make a save, but he's got three cavities. And I'm worried about trying to get back in the game.

I'm worried about this. And I got to worry about effing nibs on the ice. I was like, I just, we just, it was one of the best, best moments of my OSL career. And poor Neil, he took a beating. That's awesome. That's a great story. Are we going to bring Futsal with Bobby? No. Or do you have to punt? He's got to punt. You got going to bring Fuza with Bobby?

No. He's got a punt. You got a punt? You got a punt. Oh, I'm getting kicked off stage. That's good. My next event's in two hours ago. Thanks so much, Bobby. Bobby Ryan, ladies and gentlemen. Hands together for the great Bobby Ryan. That would be like you and me. That would be like you and me.

Although there is sort of a long tradition with goaltenders and we think of our friend john garrett you know the hot dog story with john garrett yes yes hot dog in the pads playing for quebec goes in and relief and first scrum around the net the hot dog jumps out let me ask you something if you were if that was you yeah what candy oh you don't eat candy it would be licorice i do like red licorice oh it would be like yeah that's my oh yeah i got the soap and warm water you've got a young fan asking do you like black licorice. I do like red licorice. Oh, it would be licorice? Oh, yeah. I got the soap and warm water feeling. You've got a young fan asking, do you like black licorice? I do like black licorice. Not as much as red licorice, but I can do black licorice.

Yeah, no, I'm a licorice guy. That is one of my weaknesses. That is one of my vices. Let's bring Mike Feud out. He's an analyst with us here on Sportsnet. You know him. He used to run the affairs with the Owen Sound attack. Stopped certainly with the Los Angeles Kings where he did tremendous heavy lifting and helped build a Stanley Cup champion into the Carolina Hurricanes as well. Please put your hands together for Mike Futa.

Thank you. Thanks for coming. I've been here for a while. You dyeing your hair? Well, it's a Sportsnet thing. I've learned these things from the professionals, but I was actually in the back there, and Bobby and I had been waiting for quite a while, and then we heard...

Hang on, we could not get Les off this thing. Nobody wanted Les to leave. All we heard is, who's going to go out there after Les Binkley, and do we even want these other guys to come out after Les Binkley? So I've been talking to spitting chicklets. And Bobby and I are going to spend a little time on that.

Could you complain any more about how long you had to wait? I'm an own sound. Hang on. It's not a wait. Hang on a second here. It's not a wait. I have a real, Elliot's heard this before. I have such, maybe it's just because I'm getting older,

I love these types of people. I have a soft spot in my heart for grumpy people. And especially, I have a soft spot in my heart for grumpy hockey players. I like the guy that comes to the rink and complains about the coffee, complains about the tape, complains about the gum on the table, complains about everything. Anthony Stewart. Who was the grumpiest hockey player you were ever around? Grumpy, complained about everything. Was that me a player?

Because I guess they just told a Mike Stothers story. That's fine. You can go Stothers. I thought you might say Dean. Oh, that's another level of grumpiness. But that's not a player. That was my boss. Daryl Sutter, I don't know that you've noticed.

He's a pretty pleasant fellow. He tends to get his grump on, no doubt. He knows his press conferences. But no, it's such an amazing, you guys see it, it's such an amazing place. And I want to give a shout out to somebody really quickly because I get a lot of credit with what happened with Los Angeles. And obviously, this was the kickstart to my career. And I was fortunate enough, you know, whatever, the builder, two Stanley Cups, Los Angeles Kings. But there's a gentleman here that went through it. He basically did what I did for the Colorado Avalanche.

And he was let go before he could even get a Stanley Cup ring. But I just want to give a little shout out to Alan Heppel because I don't think he gets. Absolutely. He doesn't get nearly the amount of respect he deserves. Well, he gets it from the hockey people, but very special human. He should have been on the stage taking bows. He should have had his name on it. He's got a big game tomorrow.

We all convinced him that we were playing, and now I'm coaching, and he's stretching for the game. You know, I remember watching those old global OHL games of the week. Like, I'm really dating myself here. But I remember him playing in them. He was a good player. I mean, for me like this place to me was home and I mean It's one of the biggest pride things that I had was when they gave me the opportunity to come up here as a general manager And the ownership group like dr. Bob the McDermott's Brian Johnson

Fay and mr. Coulter Frank had passed along but it But to me, it's like this was like cheers for me. It's like it's a bar, but you come back and you just know everybody. It's home, it's family, everybody. There's personalities, there's characters. And for me, the guy that just left the stage, I was kind of ticked off that everybody had this, we don't report tone and sound. We had a different list.

And this guy, my thing was I've got to knock down that barrier. So I'm going to take this kid and I'm going to go after him. And it wasn't a sure thing. He told you. And I literally, he said he was playing catch after I drafted him. And then I got off the phone, and Brian Johnson said, how is he? And I go, oh, my God, is he excited. He can't wait.

So all these stories, I think they're so true. And we bring him up, and he gets to see a senior B lacrosse game. And I know Whitey brought him up in the limousine. I want to clarify that I don't want any play to fact-check that and he's just saw this community in its best and he's he'd you know There was a lot of mitigating factors that led to it And I know you guys but it's for him to make that with the stuff that he's gone through in the past But he's underplayed. It's pretty special for a kid to make lead and after that it was easy I had you American players calling me Trevor Lewis Bob sangis bob sang and eddie owen sound that's

where we want to be you know i think that's uh it's a pretty incredible thing because i think in those situations uh mike it's easy to say no no i can't win there no they can't win no no players are are going to want to go there but it takes a special kind of confidence to say i'm going to get people to come there and you have that confidence and i'm working with you and dealing with you over the years you're a good salesperson if you believe in something you can sell it and uh why like why did you believe when like tell the story about how owens sound reached out to you and why did you believe that you could do it here? Well there's a gentleman named Sherry Basson that I became really close when I was with I got I was 27 year old head coach at St. Mike's and way over my head and got I thought it was the next Scotty Bowman I get fired and and I end up getting hired by the Oshawa Generals and George Burnett was my

coach and Sherry Basson was running all 20 franchises at that time and he lived in Oshawa so he came in and he believed in me and uh he really pushed me with the ownership group you don't need a big name you need a guy that's really connected I was with the hockey and a guy that was gonna dig in like I had everything to lose if it didn't succeed and once I met with the McDermott's and met the people in the town it just I became so attached to it and And if I, I mean, I know we got not a lot of time, but for me, it was like, it was like this, to get that opportunity. And I hear the best things in my life. My three daughters were born here.

Dr. Bob Severs was in the room for all the births. I didn't accomplish what I wanted to accomplish here but when this team won the championship it was one of the most emotionally gratifying because they got they got it across the finish line not to me when I was fortunate when the Cup, it was right here. It came back and it was right here. And Ray McKelvey was standing right beside me.

Murdoch was still pissing me off. Why did you send Robin Bixnay home? But anyways, it was a great community. I felt like I was able to give back to them. I want my daughters to always know this is home and never. Like Dr. Bob, the ownership group, and every time I had a chance to give back, whether it was Curtis McDermott giving him a chance. Guys, you just believe in him.

When you said, Elliot, the thing, thing i can sell and i know i have that gift but you know what the underlying factor if you're going to go back and what i want to be the most proud of it's easy to pick drew dowdy it's not easy because there's some things at the time there's a little bit late but there's easy to say like if somebody tells you their their history is i drafted austin matthews or i got the mcdavid i picked up mcdavid yeah you did oh good job how many ranks did you beat down for that? Okay. Is that I'll give you three names.

Bobby Ryan, Bill Masterson Award winner. Wayne Simmons, undrafted. We ended up picking him up. Mark Giordano, never drafted anywhere. Okay. Two of those guys in one of my most proud moments were nominated for the Mark Messier Leadership Award at the same time along with Justin Williams.

So if you believe you're selling it to somebody that's just oozing character, and whether they make it or not, they're never going to let you down. And I always used to say this about Curtis McDermott, and I had insider trading. I knew Dermy, and I knew Lane's background. But I watched this kid in the gym and he grew into this massive beast of a body. And if it was the 70s, he'd be a multimillionaire. But he's found

a way. He has a little trouble holding on to the Stanley Cup at parties apparently. But if anybody deserves something like that, so you honestly look at stuff like that, and for me, it always started, Mark Yannetti, who was my other, I would always, and he's amazing, and he's still done a great job, but he said, what I learned from you is, you can't just go skill, you truly have to know the player inside out,

and know their character, and know that, because not everybody's going to make it, and I've had some players that didn't make it, but they never let me down, because they're so successful as people. But the ones that have made it have always just come through that adversity. And those are only three names. They're not like Joey Hishon, special person.

Mark Reeds, I got to become close friends with. And Digger came up to me on the draft door and said, hey, I'm talking to Owen Sam. What do you think? And I just said, get up there. Just get up there. It's going to become your home. And it is. And I always say, I'm not born here, but this is my second home. And I'm so proud of the championship, the same people that I try and keep in touch with. And Bobby and I were just sharing stories

all the way up. And it was hilarious. I realize now that some of the guys went out a little more than I thought after curfew. I realized that just because Brian Johnson said you could only eat at Kelsey's and Montana's, there were other places they found. Teenagers are smart that way. Very smart. I was like, guys, you're fine. It was the same. Bobby used to always eat salad in front of me.

And so that's, he came into my office one day and Brian Burke was like, you know, we got to get this kid going. we got to get this kid going. And Bobby Ryan goes, did you bring me here to go to the Tour de France or be a hockey player? Because Mike Stutter had him on a bike for like 25 hours a day. But anyways, great stories, but it's a great community. And again, coming back in a second,

unfortunately my last visit was for Ray McKelvey. It's so nice to come back and actually be celebrating instead of grieving. But that just speaks to how special this place is. Where does that... Absolutely. Absolutely. Where does that I come from?

I remember once you told me about scouting Drew Dowdy, and you said it really clicked for you, because we all see the scouts, right? Generally up in the corner, everybody's wearing black. Colby Armstrong calls it the scout fit. Oh, look at these guys in their scout fits. Oh, they're all wearing black. It's the scouts.

And you said it really clicked for you when you went behind the Guelph Storm net, and you watched Drew Dowdy from behind the net and you saw what his options were. You're trying to find an advantage, right? There's so much video now and I'm not. I'm learning more about the analytics. But I could never make a decision based on a video and an analytic. I need to know.

If somebody's telling me to make a million-dollar decision, I want to know the family. I want to know the innuences. And we got down to it with that. It was, we had it between Drew Doughty and Stephen Stamkos. And I had actually coached them both. And I had like a little bit of background on them as kids.

Drew was like, what Bobby was talking about, like Drew would play 35 minutes a night and put on 10 pounds with what he ate after a game. So that was his only concern. It wasn't him as a player. And Stammer was just awesome. But we felt that we needed to build from the back end and we didn't have a right shot D. So even if we were picking first overall, we were taking Drew Dowdy over Stammer. But as the media goes, remember that became the Stammer sweepstakes and they announced early. So I just wanted to get

back. And what I tried to say to Dean is I felt like this must be what it's like to be in Tom Brady's backfield. Because you have guys that make one option passes and they see that but Drew could just had that ability as guys went on they just peel off because they whether it was his eyes but he could pick off the second third fourth option and I knew once he got into an athlete's body it was going to be really special and I really I'll tell you this because tell you about who's going to be a scout because Stephen Stamkos will never have to wear the black outfit because i call the scout fit whoever i know and he's and i said stammer here's my choice but you're going first overall drew zach bagosian or petrangelo oh it's got to take bagosian it's not even close

stamko said that oh yeah and i'm likemer, you just keep scoring goals, pal, because you're in trouble. And the guy that I got it with, I'm up on the stage, and Drew, obviously, I've been close friends with him, and he comes up, and we're doing the hug, and he goes, this is so amazing. He did the whole, he had a little L.A. Kings lamp and phone beside his bed as a kid,

just like the Tavares pajamas, and he goes, oh, man, this is exciting. I go, oh my God, Stamkos thinks you suck. And they're buddies. And it was the most competitive right away. Stammer goes, how could you tell him? Drew's like, you took Bogosian? What are you, the dumbest player in the world?

And anyways, they're both turning into Hall of Famers. But it's just funny how players view each other based on a guy that's going to chase you down and beat you up between a guy that's going to chase you down and beat you up between a guy that's going to outthink you and outscore you. Absolutely. I'd be more worried about the guy that's going to beat me up. I have to say that. Okay, so Mike, what's the biggest fight in all your careers of scouting and putting together a draft list? What was the biggest fight you ever saw?

Either you participated in or you saw it about a list or a player. It wasn't so much a fight. It was a process that turned into a fight and it got healed in a hurry. And it's Wayne Simmons. And I mean, because when I went to Los Angeles, Dean Lombardi, who he spoke about, is very gruff. He's like an Italian mobster. And he pulls me in and he comes to a contract agreement

I have to call on sound and tell him I just signed I'm not coming back they were supportive except Brian was pissed at me and and it was it was for the right reasons it was disrespect was first place when you're graduating you're not being fired is a nice thing in a hockey market I just signed a five-year extension and this was my home and I hadn't got the job done here other than some good individual players we hadn't won and uh Simmer who I had convinced to come up I get there and they show me the Ontario list they say you can't talk about other leagues feuds but we want you to do our Ontario list and they didn't have Wayne Simmons on the list so Dean Lombardi says where would you

have him and I said at number two I said right now I'd take Gagné in Ontario Sam Gagné and then he's my number two pick. So Dean brings me out, walks me out of his office into a room that's filled with NHL stars that are now scouts, and says, this is Mike Futa. He's going to be the director of scouting next year, and he thinks you're all effing idiots. And that's Dean. I could totally see him doing that.

And he's like, and he pushes me in and and goes he's got Wayne Simmons at number two and I go in there and I give him the old yeah we can get him the fifth and by the time I've done my video thing he was at number 11th overall on our list so we're sitting in I have to lie to Wayne and tell him I'm not drafting you kid uh you know I'll get you a free agent try out or anything because Dean says if everybody knows how much you like the kid they're going to be all over the kid so I got to lie to Wayne who's no longer talking to me tell him not to come to the draft he's sleeping on a couch somewhere all ticked off

with me and then I get there and I convince the staff there's guys just fuming like you're going to take him ahead of Brian Cameron no offense to Brian but where he fell on the list so we took a second round pick. And then we had a conversation pick at the end of the second round.

And Dean goes, if you don't take him where he is on the list, I wasted my time with you as a scout. You sold the guys. You know them. You've got insider training. And, of course, they just pushed the microphone over to me. I'm like, the Los Angeles Kings take from the own son of Tack Wayne Simmons. And I'm like, wow, that was loud.

There's a lot of people here. And of course. Right away, Steve Spott texts me and says, I hope you didn't sell your home in Owen Sound. Wayne goes down. What did he do? I told him, he just went. And he almost made it as an underage.

And he's turned out, hey, one of my most proud moments in this whole show is Wayne Simmons and Mark Giordano play their 1,000th game two days apart from one another. Does he talk to you again? Just out of curiosity. Similar? He's okay. At his 1,000th game. You say stop talking.

At his 1,000th game. We talk a lot. I tamper away with him now we uh he comes up to me so he invites me to his 1000th game he's actually playing against seattle which they're playing geo which to me again is hockey fate and uh i go up to his 1000th party haven't met his dad who the last time i saw him there was no electricity in his house i had taken him away from bowling green university where he had the same shot of getting in his joey hishon yes she knows that so not very high is what he was gonna be okay and

and it just works out to literally the dad says to me you're the one that cost my kid a scholarship and he's now dressed like he's in a million dollar suit and stuff and stimmer's like he's joking feuds he's good with the decision uh i love draft stories so let me let me ask you so one of the most famous draft stories we've all seen the visuals is bobby clark forgetting claude geroux's name before he drafts him now the player that bobby clark wanted was trevor lewis here with the los angeles kings you draft trevor lewis when you guys drafted Lewis did you know how pissed off Bobby Clark was going to be because I think Bobby Clark saw some of himself in Trevor Lewis I found uh the agent of Newport Sports and I were sitting there and at the time

and I'll tell it really quick is that we had a structured protected list in the Ontario Hockey League but in the west you could just delete a guy, and he's no longer on your list. So I had a copy of a list dated with a time that Trevor Lewis was on the, he was on a list in Spokane, and I get the list, and he's no longer on it, so they've deleted it. So I get the timesheet of what it is, and I run in to the OHL office with the timesheet and say, he's not on a western hockey league list I've got Trevor Lewis ready to leave Michigan another guy leaving Michigan I'm really popular there he's down there so Trevor I've got an OHL signed card with a time on it

file it and what from the Philadelphia was taking him in the first round because Ron Hextall had done all the work and Bobby Clark they were taking Trevor Lewis that's why Bobby Clark thought he was about to say Trevor Lewis, and he got thrown off, and he went up there and went, who are we drafting again? Hey, Homer, who am I taking? Kind of worked out Claude Giroux, by the way. But anyway, so that's how it came down. And then L.A. had taken Trevor Lewis because Ron Hextall had moved over

and had all the footage of what was going to come down. So I've got to pull Ron Hextall off the draft floor and say, is the deal still on? And he went, oh, yeah, the deal's still on. So boom, I go and bang, file the card. Dave Branch said, you haven't broken any rules. He's an Owen Sound Attack member. Spokane finds out. It's like being in one of those Harrison Ford movies without really being as popular as Aaron Ford. And they were rushing to get a time card to show that he's back on their list. And we had already signed him. And I was very popular again. So I couldn't go to the Western Hockey League.

How many cities can you not go to? Where are you not allowed? I am with Sportsnet now. It seems there are limited options. All right. So this is my last one. How do you like TV? You know what? i like it because

conversations like this it may it gave me a whole new appreciation obviously freaks you and i knew each other a little bit but and you were the one that we sat on the first draft show together where i was sammy cosentino threw me under the bus about some russian that neither one of us knew and you would have laughed because that was the draft that's yeager chinikov columbus the first you guys are so good at what you do, and you're also such good people. But I remember the first practice or rehearsal, they said, tell the Drew Doughty story.

And I'm on, like, the third minute. And the guy in my earpiece is like, tell the story in 20 seconds. And I'm like, this is tough to do. But it gives me how much work you do, how much homework you do. I know how hard you go to get your scoops and how you prepare jeff and and for me to be on that stage with those guys for me like i've got so much respect for the game and i still have to pinch myself like today when they brought the stanley cup out and i've got my name on it twice and and uh and he's telling me future allowed to lift it up still you know you're on it you've got none of the rules apply and i'm

standing beside lenny mcdonald who's a childhood hero you know, you're on it. You've got it. None of the rules apply. And I'm standing beside Lenny McDonald, who's a childhood hero, who's saying, you better grab it. Your name's on it one more time than mine is. And I'm like, it's like, and then I have the other side of me that sits there that my favorite players in the world are playing in this game tomorrow night. I grew up with Wendell Clark and Darcy Tucker being my favorite players. I mean, Mike Palmature was my road hockey goalie jersey, but those were my guys along with Doug Gilmore.

And now through the process of hockey and the respect I've got, they're now my friends, right? But I still never forget the fact that they look at it and they never want it. And it's not an ego thing because for me, selfishly, I'm like, those people deserve to be on it. But it also tells how many great players aren't graced to have it and you never take it for granted. Absolutely.

Perfect. Ladies and gentlemen, Mike Futa. many great players aren't graced to have it and you never take it for granted absolutely perfect ladies and gentlemen mike fuda we have to wrap things up uh we kept you longer than you probably thought we kept you all longer than we thought we thank you you so much for hanging in there and coming out to Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada. This is such a huge event for our shop. Like, it's one thing that we look forward to all season. It's great being in, as I like to call them,

real hockey communities, like dyed in the wool, baked in the pie, like bread-in-the-bone hockey communities. You all deserve a great... Oh, by the way, I do want to mention, I love it when we do these things and everybody wears their jerseys. And by the way, Jaws 75. But stand up, stand up, stand up, like seriously. This is my favorite. I'll tell you a quick Jaws story. So I referenced with Dave Bedini a couple of moments ago, my son Brody. So my wife got to name our first son, Trent James. And so she's like, okay, you got a shot at naming Brody.

I'm like, okay, I'm going to really fucking go for it. So he's born and we still don't have a name. And I say, I want to call, I'm totally guessing that she hasn't seen Jaws. I say, why don't have a name. And I say, I want to call, I'm totally guessing that she hasn't seen Jaws. I say, why don't we call him Brody Quint from my two favorite characters from Jaws? And she says, you're not fucking getting two. You can have one or the other. So I took Chief Brody. So every time I see a Jaws, I think of my kid.

So thank you. We're honored to be here. Without communities like Owen Sound, there would be no Hockey Night in Canada. Thanks very much, everyone. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Gracias.