32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Remembering Walter

Episode Date: March 5, 2021

Jeff and Elliotte remember Canada’s hockey dad, Walter Gretzky, who passed away late Thursday night at the age of 82. They also touch on Calgary’s coaching change with Darryl Sutter taking charge (12:00), Trent Frederic’s sneaky toughness (29:30), the hiring of Sean Burke in Montreal (21:00), Jarmo Kekalainen’s confidence in John Tortorella (36:00), the Leafs’ […]

The greatest feeling that you have as a child playing a sport, doesn't matter what it is, is whether it's a practice or a game, to look in the stands and be able to see your mom and dad there. And I don't think that ever changes. And I still have the same feeling today when I look in the stands and see my dad there. It reminds me of when I was six years old. And one of the greatest rides I ever had in my life was the very last game I played for the New York Rangers.

Going to that game, knowing it was my last game, I rode with my dad. It was like my first game when I was six years old. Elad, I want to read you something that a friend of mine, a gentleman by the name of Brooks Robinson, sent me. I met Brooks when he used to work at the Hockey Hall of Fame. He's now a manager at Pro Hockey Life in Whitby. Sent me this at 11.49 after finding out the news

that Walter Gretzky had passed he writes me walter was a guest speaker at one of the clarington sports hall of fame dinners back in 2006 or 2007 my dad's junior c eagles were being inducted after the ceremony was back near the bar it happened to be my mom's birthday as well. She introduced herself to Walter. She wasn't used to meeting famous people, but she wanted to meet him. I was with her and told Walter it was her birthday. Without being asked, he sang to her. Not happy birthday, but a real song. Had his arm around her.

It was such a genuine, special moment. It made her cry. He was a wonderful man. moment that made her cry he was a wonderful man walter gretzky elliot canada's hockey dad passes away at the age of 82 it's so fitting jeff and you're going to hear that so many places over the next little while walter gretzky canada's hockey dad. And it's so true. I don't know if there's a better nickname and a better way to say it when people are talking about Walter Gretzky. And I was thinking about the first time I remember kind of noticing him, and it was in a dad moment.

It was in 1979. I was eight years old, and Wayne Gretzky signed the massive contract at Center Ice with the Edmonton Oilers. And right there watching were Walter and Phyllis, Wayne's parents. And I remember reading in the aftermath, and you have to remember it was 1979. The world was such a different place, much less internationally sophisticated as it is now. And here is this great player signing a 20-year contract right on the ice before a game. Now, he admitted later that it had been signed in advance, but this was a big show. And I remember reading that Wayne was unsure about signing that contract and walter said

yes uh it's a good idea we come from a humble background this is something we've never seen before you you do it and i always remembered reading that story that the next day or two and and reading about it and being interested and And then as Wayne's star grew, Walter's kind of went with him, friendly, what a father is supposed to be, the way that people reacted to him, the way he reacted to people. And I remember the first time I ever interviewed Walter Gretzky

was at the morning skate of Gretzky's final game at Maple Leaf Gardens. Gretzky had at the morning skate of Gretzky's final game at Maple Leaf gardens. Gretzky had done an interview the day before, like it was actually a video conference call because they were worried the crush at the morning skate would be so big that they did it the day before. And so Walter was walking around the gold section, the lowest section closest to the ice that day.

And we saw him and I was working for, I don't even remember if it was Headline Sports or The Score at the time, Jeff. But we went over and we said, can we interview you? And he said, sure. And he was so friendly. And, you know, I was nervous talking to a parent. That's how crazy it was. And I wish I still had the audio because it was so funny we joked about it for years how earnest and funny it was he said i hope

wayne gets a hat trick tonight then he stopped himself and he says no no i hope wayne gets two hat tricks tonight and uh it was really nice And then people saw us interviewing him so everyone ran over to interview him and he was so gracious and so friendly with his time. He loves people, Elliot. When I think of Walter Gretzky, I think of a guy that genuinely loved people and I'm sure you've had this exact same experience.

I've had it a few times being at an event with Walter Gretzky and as the people around him, maybe organizers of the event or handlers or whatever, tried to drag him away because he had to go somewhere else. Walter just stayed, took photographs and did autographs and shared stories and laughs. Like we've all seen people leave events where they're the center of attention. I don't know that I ever saw Walter Gretzky leave until everybody got what they wanted from him. He just seemed to be someone who gave and gave and gave. And I hope that everyone listening to this podcast right now can spend some time today. Maybe you already have today. The next couple of days, as Elliot mentions, this will be going on for a while now.

And just go to Walter Gretzky's name on Twitter and read some of the stories and look at some of the pictures. You know, part of his legacy is almost everybody that I know has a picture with Walter Gretzky. And a lot of these are all showing up on social media. Almost everybody has a story. I just shared my friend Brooks's story off the top. Almost everybody has a story about an experience with Walter Gretzky and everybody's sharing it right now on social media.

I really hope everyone listening right now can spend some time, you know, a few minutes out of your day. You can really go down a, you can really go down a wormhole with Walter Gretzky stories. And I really hope that people do just to get a snapshot of what a wonderful man Walter Gretzky was.

And when you hear the name, I'll still think of, you know, that guy in the stands who's just been introduced and is waving to the crowd in that Team Canada roots jacket with a big smile on his face. And it's just this, Elliot, just this outpouring of adoration that everybody had towards Walter. And I always wondered, and it just sort of dawned on me a few years ago, what's the attraction? Why are we so attracted to Walter Gretzky, specifically here in Canada? And I think it's because he allowed us into his hockey dad or hockey family life. Like the Gretzky family, specifically Walter, whether it was inviting people over to see the rink where Wayne skated, inviting people indoors, like into the house to go to the basement, to go to the

trophy room, to see all the awards that Wayne Gretzky had won. He was someone who was an open book to everybody, loved people, and wanted to share his experiences as Wayne Gretzky's father with everybody. What a wonderful man. What a wonderful thing to do for hockey fans to give them a peek inside you know his life and the life of the greatest hockey player well and he shared his time as you said jeff i think that's the thing too like there are parents out there of famous athletes who get major face time tiger woods father earl was i don't know if a big star is the right word but he was a big presence and he clearly shaped his son to be something special so i don't think it's unusual for the parents of huge stars to become big celebrities too.

I think what really made it for Walter Gretzky was that he was friendly. He made you feel like you were important, as you said, when you were around him. He was a good hockey player himself too. That's one of the things that gets lost, I think, in the Walter Gretzky story. Now, he never made it. He was a smaller hockey player, but as I understand it, playing junior B-level hockey in Woodstock was a real impressive player.

The Gretzkys are Eastern European, and a lot of the style of play was sort of borrowed from the Soviet tradition. And Wayne Gretzky would always talk about all the drills that his dad taught him, the backyard rink and the way to play and the way to think. And we always think of Walter telling Gretzky would always talk about all the drills that his dad taught him, you know, the backyard rink and the way to play and the way to think. And we always think of, you know, Walter telling Gretzky, you know, don't go where the puck is being, go where the puck is going to dad. Like that was his father's training. That was Soviet style. When everything in North America was table hockey and everybody had their lanes and everybody stayed in their lanes and that's how you played hockey or up and down the

wing and center carried the puck over the middle of the blue line wayne was different and wayne always talked about how that was dad and that was dad's training and you know he would look at you know the soviet drills when the the teams would come over to play nhl teams or international tournaments and he'd say i've done all these drills before this is nothing new to me i've done all this before skate to where the puck is going not to where it it is. Yeah, that's Walter. We can't disassociate Wayne Gretzky's performance and all those records from the lessons that his father taught him. And he was a profoundly different hockey player, just as, you know, Walter was a profoundly different person. Loved people, certainly loved Wayne, obviously Wayne obviously loved all of his children you know love Phyllis

as you mentioned who passed away in 2005 this is a sad day this is a sad day for not just the Gretzky family to which we we offer all of our condolences but but the entire hockey world I think one of the greatest compliments you can pay to anyone is when people say your name, do they smile? And I think when you say the name Walter Gretzky, Elliot, doesn't everybody smile? Absolutely. So we had Peter Mansbridge, former host of the National Chief Correspondent for CBC News. We had him on Hockey Central the other day. And we were talking about the William Allman Arena in Stratford.

and we were talking about the William Allman Arena in Stratford. And Peter brought up the point that the first goal that Wayne Gretzky ever scored was at the William Allman Arena in Stratford. And I can only imagine how Walter must have smiled when he saw his son Wayne score his very first goal. And how many times Wayne made Walter smile over the years and if you could today just think of all the times that Walter Gretzky made all of us smile on behalf of everybody here this podcast our condolences to the Gretzky family family. Welcome to 31 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra AT4.

Elliot, we have another coaching change in the NHL. Jeff Ward relieved. Nobody's going to bed on Thursday night. If you think you're going to bed on Thursday night, you're not going to bed on Thursday night. I know. The stories are going to keep on coming. All we're waiting for now is a St. Louis, Colorado trade

at 2 o'clock in the morning. Some people will get that reference. Jeff Ward relieved of his coaching duties behind the bench with the calgary flames interestingly enough after the flames beat the ottawa senators seven to three uh ward is out and daryl stutter returns as calgary's bench boss elliot what happened here well first of all we should let everyone know this is not an interim job um daryl sutter has been given a three-year deal including this season which ties him to brad tree living the general manager they now both have the same term and i think that this is something the flames have kind of kicked around the return to Sutter as a coach.

And the reason I think that is that in the off season, there was a gap between when they were eliminated and when Jeff Ward was officially hired. And I think that the only person who was potentially going to leapfrog Ward for that job at the time was going to be Daryl Sutter. And I think also last year when they had to decide what to do after Bill Peters was out, I think the idea of potentially going to sutter was there too so i think it's something they've considered at times they didn't do it and now i think tree living has looked around and said all right i can't make a move with the team but i have to change something because it's not going very well. So he's gone to a very demanding but very good head coach in Daryl Sutter. I want to get to Daryl here in a second,

but he just mentioned something interesting, the inability to make trades right now. Normally we see before there is a dismissal, the general manager at least give the coach a trade. Now you might argue that Jeff Ward got his new players in Jacob Markstrom and Chris Tanev and Josh Levo, et cetera. But how much of this is Brad Trilliving, you're just quite frankly,

not able to get anything done to jumpstart this team because making trades right now is difficult, especially if you're trying to get someone in canada that's going to help you right away well i think that's a factor i do think that look the calgary flames are two points back of montreal and the canadians have two games in hand for the final playoff spot in the canadian division if they make a trade with a team from the United States, they not only subtract what goes off their roster, but they can't add what they're putting on their roster for what?

Two and a half weeks. Cause the other thing that scares people is not just the quarantine, but seeing Dubois get hurt right after the quarantine in Winnipeg. So you're sitting there and saying, we're going to have to give up on the season almost if we make a big deal. Not only could he not make a move, I think he just also didn't like the idea of making a move

and shorthanding himself. Obviously, they haven't played great. They've had some really ugly results and Sutter's a guy he grinds the best effort out of you I know that there were a lot of people in Calgary who felt that Sutter was hit and miss as GM but they felt very strongly about him as a coach but they felt very strongly about him as a coach. And he's a guy you bring in when you want an immediate jolt. He will give it.

And the thing about Sutter is, if you look at his last coaching job before this one, he was out for six years as a head coach. And then Dean Lombardi, who had him in San Jose, brought him to LA and they won two cups. He was out after 2017, so he's been out for almost four years and now he's back in. And he will have an immediate impact on that team. And he will demand they play hard.

And I think he's going to grind the best they can grind out of them. That's what he does. Are the Flames, as you see them right now, however, a Daryl Sutter team? Were the Kings a Daryl Sutter team in 2011? He turned them into a, well, on the one hand a possession monster and two a very straight line dump it in uh face up against the glass not the fastest but the most deliberate team in the nhl also were the flames a daryl sutter team when he got there remember a year and a half after he got there in 03 he had them in the stanley cup final yep he did and that was led by a very daryl sutter

type player in jerome mcginla yes again like the accent with daryl sutter has always been big strong tough players yeah that play a very simple yet effective game. And I think about players like Johnny Gaudreau. Does that scream Daryl Sutter to you? They do have one guy who's very Daryl Sutter, and his last name is Kachuk. I know that he'll like the style of play. Will he like all the extracurriculars for Kachuk?

He'll figure it out. But what he is going to do is he's just going to push them. He's going to say, I expect a lot. I remember the Kings players telling me it was like when Sutter showed up. It went from Terry Murray, who was no shrinking violet, to Daryl Sutter. Right before a game when Daryl Sutter would stand in front of you, hands on his knees and be inches from your face and going, are you ready? Are you ready?

I think he's changed a lot in 20 years. He realized that some of the things that he probably said as a coach 20 years ago, you can't say now. But he would get to the Kings and he would push them still but he found a different way to do it it was be that intense guy who could demand the most out of you and i don't even think there's a lot of guys in the league anymore who are like that jeff yep never mind just the calgary flames but. But I'll tell you this. I think he demands a lot out of you

and he finds a way to squeeze it out of you. But it's like a short-term thing, right? Like he's not a guy who's going to be your head coach for six years, I don't think. Right. He's going to be your head coach for maybe three years right now and see where we go.

You know, we just had this conversation about Dom Ducharme taking over from Claude Julien last week in Montreal. We'll have it now with Daryl Sutter taking over from Jeff Ward in Calgary. Who does this help on the Calgary Flames right away? Because the first person that springs to my mind is the guy that was scratched on Thursday night. And that's Sam Bennett. Sam Bennett to me feels like a Daryl Sutter-type player.

Do you think this could be the rejuvenation of Sam Bennett on the Calgary Flames? He's going to get a chance. I remember when Sutter took over in Calgary, I'm pretty sure they had Denny Gauthier there. So Gauthier, he had a reputation as being a guy that could hurt people. Oh yeah.

And I remember that something controversial happened in a game and I remember working that game and Sutter was asked about it after the game. You know what he said? At least this guy has an identity. There's a lot, we don't have an identity here. And I think that that's what's going to happen now

is he's going to say who's got an identity. And Sam Bennett has one. He hasn't been very good this year, but he's got an identity. And Sutter will dial into that. Is this the Elliott kick-in-the-pants move for the Calgary Flames? Oh, yeah. This is, look, they've gone Bob Hartley, Glenn Gullitson, Bill Peters,

Jeff Ward, Daryl Sutter. This is an organization feeling that the players take advantage of the guys who are too easygoing. No more easygoing guys. No more easygoing. It's time for rough and tumble hockey and the first order of business, Elliot, is

the Battle of Alberta Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday. Jump right in with two feet, Daryl Sutter. Let's turn now to the team that dismissed a coach last week, the Montreal Canadiens. Eric Ingles. Thanks, Paul.

I have two questions for you, Kerry. The first one is, in your long experience in your career, we've had a lot of interactions with you. It's changed over the years where I think you would probably agree that the less you say, probably the better it is for you. But at times, it's also led to the perception that you don't care enough about what you're doing. How do you feel about people taking on that perception? It doesn't matter to me anymore. And my second question is, there's a lot of drama that unfolds when a coach gets relieved and you just came off a win how do you make sure that doesn't affect you and your approach and and what

are the positives that you can take away from last night's game that you can build on moving into the next one yeah it's the mindset you have to have it's uh it's been a it's been quite the week, but last night was a good step forward. As far as our team play, I feel like we're moving in the right direction. Just a few more questions, Gary. That was Eric Engels with the question, Cary Price with

the response. I should add, a very defiant Cary Price in that response. This is coming off the news earlier on this week, uh, that Stefan Waite had been fired as the, uh, goaltending coach of the Montreal Canadians

fired in the second period of the game against Ottawa. Sean Burke hired as the director of goaltending, but Elliot, your thoughts on the answer by Kerry Price and how he answered Engel's question. So I thought this was very revealing. You know, some people took it to make it that

Carey Price doesn't care anymore. And that's not accurate. That's not what he's saying here. He cares a lot. Nobody gets to the position that he's reached in hockey and really in life, if you think about it, without caring about what they're doing a ton. He's competitive.

He understands the responsibility on his shoulders. He takes a lot of pride in it. And I just don't think anybody should believe that he doesn't care about the Montreal Canadiens. If you think that, you don't get it in this particular situation. What Price is saying here, and it's something I've learned myself, and it's advice I give to people breaking into journalism, young people now, anyone ever who asked me for advice,

this is the social media generation. And the difference is, we always used to say everybody has an opinion, but right now, everybody can hear the opinion. There's no filter. Used to be a letter to the editor, and if it didn't get published, you didn't know about it. Or there was a general email box at your station or newspaper's website, and if it didn't get published or put on the air, you never knew about it. But now it's Twitter, everything else, Instagram, the responses are right there, and you can see them.

And I tell people you can't listen to everybody's opinion. You can't because you will paralyze yourself. You can only worry about the opinions of the people who really care about you, your partners, your significant others, your family, your close friends, even some of them you have to limit and the people who employ you because their opinion matters. And that's it. You have to keep it to a small group so those people who are saying that he doesn't care that's not it it says to me that he's realized that he has to limit what he can listen to and the way he reacted it's obvious to me it bothers him that people think that he doesn't care he's clearly bothered by it and that's why he reacts the way he does to eric's question

but he also has to say i can only worry about what my wife thinks my parents think his close friends think uh mark bergevin thinks and the canadians that's it and other than that you can't worry about the noise. You have to shut it out. You know, I tell that to young journalism students all the time. I tell it to anybody who asks, you can't take every opinion to heart. You paralyze yourself. I think that's what he's saying.

He probably did take all those opinions for a long time, and he can't do it anymore. I think the success of the Canadians means a ton to him. He doesn't need to be told he can't do it anymore i think the success of the canadians means a ton to him he doesn't need to be told he isn't playing well he knows it and it tears him apart because he knows what's at stake you know there was an interview in quebec uh earlier today where it talked about how carrie price and stefan weight met uh after weight was, for them to talk to each other. And you don't do things like that if you don't care. And he cares a lot. He just realizes he has to limit to what he ingests.

And Montreal's fortunes in a lot of ways are tied to the performance of Carey Price. We've seen now two coaches fired. Well, three really. We throw in Kirk Muller as well. Claude Julien and now Stéphane Waite. Marc Bergevin as we've talked about countless times here on the podcast this is the moment for the montreal

canadians in his mind and in the organization's mind as well what did you make of the news earlier on this week about stefan wait i was surprised no question about it just because i figured that once they did what they did last week, maybe we were in a position where this was going to be the group, right? I don't know, if you weren't necessarily expecting anything else. I mean, the whole thing was interesting. Bergevin saying that Waite was fired during the second intermission because after the second intermission, he doesn't talk to the goalie anymore,

and he said that was the right time to do it. You know, saying that Carey Price didn't make the decision or didn't influence it at all Bergevin says that it was his call now I think some of that is protection but it's not necessarily like Carey Price overthrew Stefan Waite or anything like that you know Bergevin has enough intelligence to know he's not making this move if things are going well. And he's also not making this move if he knows it's going to make Price unhappy. Price admitted in his conversations with the media that there were some technical and philosophical disagreements. But it doesn't mean that he was angling for weight to be fired. It just means that they were disagreeing on things.

And with all the pressure on Bergevin right now, it gave him another reason to say, I've got to do something here. I do wonder if there was maybe an internal debate about does Jake Allen get a run? I have wondered about that. I think it was something that came up in the organization. I don't know who's on what side, but I did wonder if there was a disagreement there. Don't know who's on what side, but I did wonder if there was a disagreement there. At the end of the day, though, what it comes down to, Jeff, is that this is Mark Bergevin firing all his bullets and he knows if it doesn't work, I'm going with the people who I think most represent my philosophy because I think we need to win right now.

That's it. The person they hired, and again, this is a director position so no one expects you know sean burke to okay every day carrie here we go we're working on our reverse vh and here's how we're going to seal up the post in this situation this is a director position for sean burke now it is director of goaltending uh we've known for a long time the position that sean burke is most interested in around the nhL is general manager. What did you make of that hiring? You know, Sean Burke was a guy for a while, didn't want to do this anymore. He didn't want to, he wanted to be a GM. He didn't want to feel typecast in the same role,

but obviously it wasn't trending in that direction at this time. And no question, Bergevin undoubtedly calls Burke and says says i need you and burke knows the position really well he's a great teacher of it he's an expert bergman needs him for this and he's in that situation he's not going to say no he's going to come back and he's going to say all right and you know i think there's upside for burke too if it works and straightens itself out you know i always say a rising tide floats all boats, right? It's never a bad thing if you're there when something works. Especially when your position is goaltender and that's the ship that you're like that.

You want to talk about rising tides? A performing goaltender raises the performance of everybody on their team. So Trent Frederick of the Boston Bruins, Elliot, is sure making a name for himself around the NHL. And Wednesday, we couldn't take our eyes off of him. As we're doing the Toronto Maple Leafs-Edmonton Oilers game for Wednesday night hockey on Sportsnet, we get back into the green room and we're watching Boston and Washington. And Frederick's out there always doing something.

And in this game specifically, he's trying to get into it with Alexander Ovechkin. Well, he did get into it with Alexander Ovechkin. And he did get into it with Ovechkin and he got it from Alexander Ovechkin. And then Ovechkin got dinged $5,000 for the spear, which by the way, I think the last time we talked to George Peros here on this podcast,

we were lobbying, or at least I was was to change that officially to cowbell i don't know if i'm ever going to get that change there's one of my little pet crusades to call that move the cowbell but we'll leave that for now what did you make of frederick and ovechkin on wednesday well first of all while we were watching that because we're working the edmonton-Toronto game for Wednesday Night Hockey, but when we were watching that game on the side, what did you say to me? Where's Tom Wilson? I kind of wondered about that a bit too.

Yeah. You know, I wonder why, for lack of a better term, Washington was allowing it. Frederick made it very clear. He was going after Ovechkin the whole game, and that's what he's paid to do. That's what he's asked to do. If you're Trent Frederick, I've got no problem with it.

I was kind of surprised. Again, I don't know if allowed to happen is the right phrase, but nothing was done to say, okay, if you're going to do that, we're going to do this. Ovechkin's trying to win the game right it's it's a huge game yeah and you want him on the ice you don't want him fighting Frederick he faked he was gonna do it at one point he baited Frederick a bit but he's not gonna drop the gloves it doesn't make sense for the Capitals you don't want him out of the game I was kind of surprised that the capitals didn't drive another boston

player crazy or something like that or have someone run over frederick just to end that frederick's distinguished himself here early already even even with washington i don't know how many guys would go out of their way to knock on tom wilson's door but trent frederick did you know in a couple of different Washington-Boston games. He's a, to me, Trent Frederick is one of the more interesting young players in the NHL right now. I can remember the draft. It was the Buffalo draft, the Austin Matthews draft, the Boston Bruins take Trent Frederick in the first round. And I remember talking to someone in Boston after the first round, asking why you took Frederick and was told that, you know, well, we had Intel that Anaheim was going to take them, uh, with the 30th pick.

They ended up taking Sam Steele and we wanted to make sure we, uh, we got him. He was the next guy on our list, uh, centerman with that type of skill. And, you know, there's going to come a time when David Krejci isn't with the Boston Bruins anymore. And that guy's going to slot higher. Like eventually he's going to. Charlie Coyle then. Yeah. And he's going to slide into a center spot.

Like he's going to slide into a long-term center spot and he is tough. Like he's sneaky tough, right? For a lot of people that may not know Trent Frederick, he's a sneaky tough guy. And, you know, one of my favorite Trent Frederick stories is one from the American Hockey League. And it's a, it's a pretty funny line. So in the AHL, they have a 10 fight rule. So in case

our listeners might not know, the 10 fight rule is essentially, you can have 10 fights where you just get the fighting major. But after that, you start to accrue suspensions for every fight you have, generally making sure they don't have guys, you know, with 30 fights on their card at the end of the year. They want to get those guys out of the league. So Tommy Cross, this would have been Springfield. Tommy Cross takes a run at Cameron Hughes of Providence and knocks him out with, I think it was an elbow to the head.

It crosses out and Frederick goes right after him. And then afterwards, I'm not sure if it was that game or the next game, Frederick had already had three fights that season. So he goes up to Tommy Cross and says to him, buddy, I've got seven fights left this year and I'm using them all against you, which goes down for me as one of the best lines in hockey in the past couple of seasons. But that's Trent Frederick. Like I know that Wednesday it was, you know, what do you think you're doing?

You know, there's no way Ovechkin is going to drop the gloves with you. You're cross-checking him. You got speared down south. Shouldn't come as a surprise. But there's something to this Trent Frederick kid with the Boston Bruins. What say you, Frege? Well, one of the things I look at it and think of it is if he does it, Brad Marchand doesn't have to do it, right?

A lot of guys don't have to do it. Marchand's getting a little bit older. He's an important player for them. You don't want him doing that all the time he's not timid and he's not shy but they need him to score they need him to win he's part of their biggest line so I look at that for Boston and not only is Frederick improving as a player he's making an impact and it means that Marchand doesn't have to worry about that as much an added bonus for the bruins i also wanted to talk about the fine i saw some people they were upset that ovechkin got fined five thousand dollars and why aren't the fines more and whenever this happens i feel obligated to remind people that there was a time just before gary betman

became the commissioner so almost 30 years ago, where the fines were higher. And it became a big CBA issue because Gil Stein, who was the president right before Bettman took over, it got to a point where they weren't being suspended for games, but they were being fined and given days off on practice days. And the players fought it because they said, well, teams will never face punishments for just the players solely. So they fought for limits on fines,

and that's why it is the way it is. Correct. That's why the fines aren't that high, because the players fought it about 25 years ago so that it wasn't just them getting punished, the teams would get punished too. Elsewhere around the NHL this week, the vote of confidence,

Jarmo Kekulainen to John Tortorella. What did you make of this one? Because the Howells, as you well know, are out there, Elliot. You know, I'm not going to lie. I kind of thought Columbus might make a coaching change as they were in the middle of that. The rumors were certainly out and around there.

And the one thing I do want to say about this is that Jarmo Kke kakalainen sometimes you say things publicly and they don't say the same things privately and kakalainen has been a public and private defender of tortorella for quite a while now and someone told me that even within the last 10 days he's continued to do that and he's been consistent in his stance and i thought that was pretty interesting because if I wondered behind the scenes even Kekelein was saying boy maybe it's time and obviously you know he didn't so I admire that in its face that he's sticking to his values even in a difficult

time you know the math is difficult for Columbus they got a big win Tuesday night or rather Monday night that they absolutely needed and it stabilized, got them off the schneid, very important. But it's just going to be a huge challenge for them because the math isn't good for them right now. Something else we should probably comment on, and by the time you hear this podcast, the Vancouver Canucks will have already played

the Toronto Maple Leafs. We don't know the outcome of that game as we record this, but the three-game shutdown of the Edmonton Oilers by the Toronto Maple Leafs really does need a remark or two from this podcast. I don't know what the most interesting part of all of it was, whether it was the bottom six performances, whether it was the Zach Hyman performances, whether it was, you know, Hall, Muzzin, TJ Brody, Morgan, Riley performances, shutting down Connor McDavid and Leon Dreisaitl,

Dreisaitl only with the one lone assist. From that three-game set, I don't think anyone looked at those three games before they were played and said, someone's going to sweep here, but someone did, and it was kind of spectacular fashion, Elliot. That was as impressive a performance as i've seen all year i think everybody listening to this podcast has the same questions about the mapleys are they going to be able to do what they do in the postseason well they sent a message like this

now i don't like to get too carried away we're only at the beginning of march there's two months until the playoffs even start a lot of things can happen between now and then. But I thought they sent a big message that they are capable of doing it. That was as impressive a performance as any I've seen over three games this year. They completely dismantled two of the NHL's best offensive talents and didn't let them get on track. They played high IQ hockey. You know, we highlighted TJ Broding's great plays with the stick,

but as a team, they were all where they needed to be. And you know what's funny? You know, the other thing you said on Wednesday before the broadcast, you said if you wondered if it would be a trap game because Matthews and Anderson were back. And I'm not always right. I'm rarely right. But I thought they would be fine because

those two guys would be dialed in yes but i'm telling you that i was talking to someone this morning an executive from another team and he thought the same thing you did he thought it would be a trap game for toronto didn't happen and to me that's a really good sign for them you had some strong thoughts and opinions on jason spezza after the game on wednesday three assists for the veteran you want to expand on that here well you know he's approaching top 100 scorers of all time what a season he's having fantastic he's got 15 points yeah and a three assist performance in that uh that third of three games you know i do think jeff the overall attitude of the team has been improved by having Spezza and Thornton and Simmons.

They're guys who just love playing. They've been through a lot, ups and downs, and they still love the game. I don't want to go back and revisit history, but I think it's relevant. The last few years, all the talk in Toronto has been dominated by contracts. The business stuff is gone. It's gone now. It's more fun. And those guys add to it.

We don't get, you know, three game sweeps in hockey. This is a bizarre year. Yeah. So I texted a friend of mine who works for a major league baseball team and asked about sweeps and what that does to a team. And here's what he texted me back this morning. and asked about sweeps and what that does to a team. And here's what he texted me back this morning.

He said, series sweeps in baseball are so uplifting. You feel like a god, but getting swept is debilitating. How you respond both ways is everything. Again, we don't know what's going to happen as we record this between Vancouver and Toronto. But Edmonton next faces off against the Calgary Flames on Saturday. That is their next game.

Those are going to be two surly teams. Those are going to be two miserable, cranky teams that get to the rink and complain about everything starting with the coffee. What do you expect out of the Oilers after getting swept? You saw them in the postgame conferences. Hi, Leon. Just a general, what are your takeaways from this three-game series? I think it's caught a lot of people by surprise, and maybe even you guys.

Just what are your thoughts on the three games? It's just not good enough. Speaking of not good enough, your top players didn't produce much of anything in this series. Does it add to the frustration that you guys really didn't hold hold up here in the department no we love that we love going without a point in three days for sure it's great i know that dry saddle thing is getting a lot of attention with what he said oh yeah i've asked good questions i've asked terrible questions i'm no better than anyone at asking questions and i might be worse but i'm no better than anyone at asking questions and i might be worse but i'm no better than anyone else and how an athlete or coach or anyone handles a question like that it's totally

dependent on their mood yeah so dry sidle i'm sure he's been in that situation before and he's thinking this is a terrible question i'm fine i'm just going to give a fluffy answer and just ignore the fact that I don't like this question, but they were so annoyed by the way they played and the butt kicking. They just talk that you don't have the patience for it. You know, I've been on the receiving end of that before. It's different now because it's on zoom and everyone sees it. But when I've been on the receiving end, I'm like, oh boy, I deserve that one. That was a bad question.

I totally flubbed it. So to me, the mood of the Oilers is shown by how players like Drysaddle handled that question because there's plenty of other times you'll just say, I don't like this question, but I'm in a better mood. So I'll just deal with it. Okay. On that, we'll pause. On the other side of this quick break,

you'll hear from Jared Spurgeon, defenseman for the Minnesota Wild. We talk about a number of things. The Wild, Caprizov, the jerseys, and the 2008 Memorial Cup. Just to please me. You can almost imagine Elliot's eyeballs rolling back into his head

as I ask him junior hockey questions, but that's next on 31 thoughts. The podcast returns. We are very pleased to welcome to the podcast for the first time, defenseman for the Minnesota Wild, Jared Spurge. And Jared, first of all, thanks for doing this. And one of the things that, and this really is a trait of hockey players, is they're generally shy to talk about themselves. So we're going to warm you up by getting you to talk about someone else.

When I say Jared Spurgeon, the name Kirill Kaprizov, what comes to your mind right away? He's just a happy guy. He loves being in the rink. He has a great sense of humor, and he just loves the game of hockey. I think the one thing that surprises you the most is when he came over, how hard he works. He competes. He's physical, and at the same time,

he can make all those plays that only special players can. Like I said, every day he comes in, he's smiling, he's happy, he's joking around, and he understands English and speaks English better than he puts off. But he's a fun guy to be around and he's always joking. Is the language only a problem after losses, but never after wins? He's a pretty happy guy no matter what. I think it's a good thing for our room.

He's just a youthful kid that enjoys the game. And like I said, he's always smiling, always laughing, but he's just a youthful kid that enjoys the game and like I said he's always smiling always laughing but he's he's always looking to learn as well so that's a great thing to see when you come over when it's your first year coming to a new country and obviously different circumstances than obviously he expected them to be when he was dreaming of coming to play in the NHL but he's handled everything in stride yeah, he's having fun. One of the things I was curious about with him, Jared, is what I've seen in situations in sports before where a team drafts a player, players from a foreign country, and for whatever reason, they can't come over right away. The team hears about this guy. Oh, this guy is

coming. Oh, this guy is so good. And there's a bit of, all right, let's see what we really got here. And maybe the players are skeptical that this individual is worthy of all the attention they're receiving. Was there any of that with Kaprizov or, or any of you guys saying, okay, we're going to find out if all this hype is really true. I think we're all excited to have him over.

And obviously last year, it didn't work out with him getting over to the bubble just to, to practice with us. But you see what he did over in Russia and the Olympics as well. And to be able to have that sustained success is pretty crazy over there as well. So you knew he had the skill and the effort. But at the same time, the first couple of skates that he did come over, you could just see the talent he had. And like I said, the work ethic

that he has, he doesn't like to be pushed around. And there's been some games where guys take a run at him and then they sort of wake him up a bit physically and he's taking runs back at other guys. So the compete level on him is really high and that goes with the skill that he has. What's the story with the t-shirts? Well, we've had a couple of t-shirts in the room before, but Dumbs came up with the skill that he has. What's the story with the t-shirts? Well, we've had a couple t-shirts in the room before, but Dumbs came up with the nickname, and our team service guy, Andrew Height, has a connection with the t-shirt company.

They've made some good ones for us before, and obviously he's been having a good start to this season, so we decided to give him a shirt for himself. And I told him I've been in the league 11 years, and I decided to give him a shirt for himself and i i told him i've been in the league 11 years and i still haven't got a shirt and he got one in his first 20 games we'll get back to the wild and their great start in a couple of seconds but there's a couple of questions i want to ask you about yourself number one you're represented by eustace king and dean grillo and dean grillo has a daughter named Piper

why does Piper have a Jared Spurgeon jersey on it with a Scott Hartnell autograph that says Scotty loves you more I think one of the games he was up there and I got up there obviously a couple minutes too late and he signed it before I got up there so they have a great relationship with Scotty as well and I think with Eustace and Deed and all of our clients we're just a big happy family we want to see everyone in the in the organization or the the clientele do well and whenever we're on the ice together there's always a friendly hi or after game. So I think that's what Eustace, Deed, and Matt, and Steve, and all the group do such a good job of is bringing people together and just making us all a big family.

Because one of the stories I'd heard here, Jared, was that there was a game where you were playing against one of Hartnell's teams. I guess it was Columbus at the time. And Piper wore a Spurgeon jersey instead of a Hartnell jersey. And is it true he ran over you in the game because of that? I think Hartsy always tried to run me over. He must have been a little mad maybe changing of the guard of jerseys when Piper came wearing mine.

So maybe it ticked him off a little more than usual. But no, it was always a good joke whenever he played him. And like I said, Dean and Scotty have a really great relationship. And then learning, just like I said, just by talking to them and after games or in certain cities where you get to know each other after games, it's always some good ribbing going back and forth. You know, you've been an outstanding defenseman in the NHL for a number of years now.

But it seems as if the last couple of years, specifically people have finally started to take notice. Like you've always kind of been a stealth sort of, you know, Norris candidate. When in your mind, in your opinion, people finally start to notice how well you play. I'm not too sure. I don't really think about that.

I think you just try and go about your game every day and try and contribute to the team, whether it's contributing offensively or just being a solid guy on the back end that can be trusted. And I had a lot of great coaches coming up with Rick Wilson, Daryl Sador, and Mike Yeo, and then continuing on from there. But those definitely, my first couple of years pro took me under their wing and just taught me the little things about the game that make you sort of invisible, but at the same time are big parts of the game, whether it's, like I said, just a simple breakout pass or knowing when not to take a chance at the right time. Some games you're going to have maybe four or five opportunities

to jump up in the rush, and then there's other times where you might only get one. And I think that was one of the main things learning when you're a young defenseman coming into the league that you don't have to force it, that they're going to come and come in bunches. And like I said, some games you're just not going to get those looks, but you can't force it.

And you're a defenseman first, and that's what you're there for, is to back up the forwards and let them do their thing but be able to contribute at the same time. I find that conversations, Jared, around defensemen are the most interesting, and everyone sort of has a different definition of what a defenseman should be doing when they're out there. So I'm curious, what is, in your mind, as a defenseman in the NHL for the Minnesota Wild,

it may seem like a dumb question, but welcome to my life, what is your job? Well, obviously defending first. That's what you're out there for is to create, have it for the other forwards. But at the same time with hockey now, defensemen and back checkers are so well that you have to have that fourth guy in the rush and jumping up and creating confusion

so I think it's been evolving and there's a lot more active defensemen now in the league where you get into the ozone and you see it's not just a d-man standing at the point anymore there's guys roaming all over and it's more of a five-man cycle than what it used to be where you'd get the puck down low and just try and grind it out into the front of the net and get those chances and but at the same time i think you you're a defenseman so you you're back there for a reason and you're trying to prevent goals first and foremost j Jared, your story is very impressive. And you know, one of the things that happened this year, obviously, was you were named the captain of the wild.

And before training camp, Bill Guerin, the general manager and your coach, Dean Evison, showed up at your house to officially let you know. Did you know that when they said they were coming, what was going to be happening? Not exactly. I knew there was a chance of it. There's a lot of great leaders in the locker room, and we had a lot of people that were worthy of having that letter on their jersey. And when they phoned, I wasn't sure if they were just coming to explain

their thought process before camp or anything like that. And when Bill phoned he said he was just wondering if he could come over and then when he showed up with dean i sort of had a little bit of an idea so it was a pretty special moment for sure and one that you don't take lightly and um like i said we have a lot of great leaders in the room and you, you don't take that lightly, but you bounce ideas off a lot of people. And it's not just a one man crew for sure. Everyone is in it together and we all want to get to the same goal as well. So it's not just one guy leading the charge. It's everyone in that room. Your wife is Danielle. Did she know in advance? Did they tell her or anyone tell her no i think she asked me more than

i was even thinking about it every day after practice she was asking if i talked to billy or talk to dean or anything like that like no like just leave it it'll happen if if it happens but no she was very excited and i owe a lot to her as well like i've we're talking before we have four kids at home and she's non-stop busy I don't know how she does it and she holds the fort down very well and lets me on game days be as relaxed as possible and especially with early morning training in the summer she takes the brunt of breakfast and mornings like that so whenever I can give her some time off I try to do that that's for for sure. Well, I'm curious about it, Jared.

You and Danielle have been together a long time. As you mentioned, you've got four kids together. You guys have shared this journey. And in the last year, you got a big contract, which you totally earned and deserve, that will set you guys up for the rest of your lives. And the C on the jersey. And no sport does the C mean more than hockey.

So I'm just curious, when they left the house and the two of you sea mean more than hockey so i'm just curious when they left the house and the two of you kind of sat and looked at each other everything that you guys have been through validated on an enormous level and i wondered what the conversation was like and what that meant to both of you no yeah it was like i said it was a special night i think we sort of just looked at each other and sat in silence for a couple of seconds and then honestly I think we just both just smiled and first thing we did was tell our family and that's the big part of what has helped us with Danielle and myself we're family oriented and we have both great family support and she supports me as much as anyone she's the biggest fan and biggest counselor

for myself when when times aren't great and but it's uh we've been through a lot together and there's no one i'd rather have by my side and she's pushed me to to get to where i am and there's only one thing we both want uh left on this journey and And as a team, we're working towards that. And for herself as well, she enjoys sort of getting more in the mix, whether it's charitable things with the team now that she has that opportunity and that voice. So obviously a bit different right now with limitations with what we can do, but she's very excited about taking on that role as well. she's very excited about taking on that role as well.

Right. I do wonder what, you know, leadership and captaincy means now in hockey in 2021. Like once upon a time, you know, the Boston Bruins, for example, you know, would always have a rule that after every practice or every game, you all had to go to the same bar or restaurant and have one drink with the team together. And then if you want to stay great, if not, you're free to go on your own way. Now we know that's different in the NHL now, but what is being a captain and being part of the big leadership group mean in 2021 for you? Like, what do you do?

Yeah. Like I said, it's a bit tougher right now with what you can do, but we're trying to do as much as possible. We're fortunate enough that our team has been able to get a team lounge while bit tougher right now with what you can do but we're trying to do as much as possible we're fortunate enough that yep our team has been able to get a team lounge while we're on the road so a lot of the times we're just ordering post-game meals together and just hanging out whether it's playing cards or just hanging out watching tv or highlights like that and i think the teams that go the farthest are those tight-knit teams that you can trust everyone and everyone's working for each other.

And to be able to spend a lot of time this year on the road together and really have no excuse because you can't go anywhere. You're either in your room or the only escape is on a walk with each other or in a team lounge. So I think that also helps with the new guys that we brought into play and just meshing together. or in a team lounge. So I think that also helps with the new guys that we brought into play and just meshing together. And so far our team has been playing well and we have a long way to go.

But at the same time, I think we can credit that to just having a fun time together. You have to have fun with the game. Whenever that gets taken away from it, it makes it a lot harder. So I think we're all just trying to have fun, like I said, and smile at the rink every day. There are some teams where there's a lot of card players i know the

avalanche have guys who play risk joe thornton is a big risk player what's the game of choice for the wild when you guys are in the lounge or on the plane uh so far it's been poker and then a lot of fifa soccer with the euros so oh yeah we got the playstation going with that and i just sit back and watch whenever those guys get done then and a couple of us north americans try to get on there and just see what we can do but there's a couple guys zuccarello and carill have some pretty entertaining matches on fifa and um zuki is a good guy to get it in into with he's pretty clever good jokester with everything so he gets the guys going so who is the biggest sore loser and who's the worst card player for sore losers it's probably I haven't

seen many for the cards but for FIFA probably Fiala but like i said i think it's zuccarello just getting in his head so um he's probably the biggest sore loser and card player i don't play a lot of cards so i wouldn't be able to tell you that i'm more around the gaming system watching those things so they're always at there i'm sure greenways he's so slow with what he's doing that guys probably get pissed off at him i hate slow card players too i totally get that i completely understand yeah he likes to take his time i don't think he pays attention too often either so i want to ask you um a couple of questions. One about your past and this one about your future. I know it's a year away, but do you ever think about you and the Olympics? No.

Like I said, I just try and stay in the moment. If that were to happen, it would be awesome, but I'm focused on the team here and what we have to do to get to that next level. Every day is different. There's different challenges every day with yourself and the team included. So, no, that hasn't crossed my mind at all, actually. Okay, and now this is the part of the podcast where it turns into a junior hockey podcast and Elliot rolls his eyes. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Before we go to that, let's talk about the Wild a bit this year. We'd started, but we talked about Kaprizov at the beginning. All right, fine. So there was a point on Saturday night before Vegas beat Anaheim in overtime where you guys were in first in the Pacific Division. I think it caught a lot of people by surprise that you guys were where you were, but I would bet it didn't catch you by surprise. So tell us, why have the wild taken

such a big leap so far this season on the inside it's just we're playing as a team we have four solid lines and six great d and two goalies every single night whether whoever you have in the lineup and I think Dean's done a great job of spreading the lines out and rolling them over and just the work ethic I think as a team we have some skill but at the same time most of the stuff that we're getting is from working hard and getting in on that four check and not giving other teams time and that's what we pride ourselves on is every line being able to contribute and whether it's an offensive zone or defensive zone being able to throw anyone out there and trying to be a selfless team,

whether it's one guy scoring 10 goals in 10 games, and then it's the next guy that we don't really care who's doing it as long as the team's winning. And from years past, I think we've turned into more of a four-man, six-D-man, two-goalie team than we have been in the past. That is a very thorough answer, but with all due respect, Jared, that is the wrong answer. The real answer is the reverse retros.

Yeah. Could we just be on the same page about that, how awesome they look? Yeah. We think they're one of the best-looking ones out there, especially with the pants we got with the stars down the side. Yeah.

We enjoy wearing those ones too. I know we get a lot of jokes about looking like a subway team, but we'll take it. They look, like honestly, like this is just the three of us, right? Like no one listens to this podcast. Like seriously, you won't get in trouble if you give the wrong answer here. You don't want to go back to the regulars, do you? You want to just wear the retros, right?

The retros are awesome. I think the color scheme that they have and i wasn't sure the logo that they're going to use if we're going to use the old minute i think we had them on the green third jerseys a while ago that just had the minnesota similar to what the north stars had with the big m but they ended up going with the the barehead but yeah honestly when i first got to minnesota i didn't even know what the logo was until someone pointed it out to me. So I think some people still don't know that it's a big bear head, but we love them.

I wanted to ask you about Bill Guerin. He made some changes, a lot of changes, and he clearly is not afraid to do it. How has that changed the mentality or makeup of the team the way that Guerin has come in and said, there's nothing I'm going to be afraid to try here? Yeah, it holds everyone accountable. And you have to perform.

And like I said, we're trying to be a selfless team. And if you're not going to be in that position, I don't think he's going to put up with it very long. I don't think many teams win just with one line or anything like that. Maybe in the regular season you can have some extended success, but as you go into playoffs, then you get into those series and it gets a lot harder when you're just trying to, one line's trying to do it all. So he knows what he's doing.

He's been through it as a player and obviously in Pittsburgh and management as well. And he's an intense guy been through it as a player and obviously in pittsburgh and management as well and he's an intense guy and on and off the ice and he knows what he wants his team to look like and like i said we're just a hard-working team right now and if you're not pulling your weight you're definitely going to be they'll let you know and but at the same time he he understands the game from being a player that some nights you might not be at the best of your ability, but at the same time you have to play within the system and get through that game and try and be a factor at the same time still.

All right, Merrick, you want to hit them with Memorial Cup? But first, I have another frivolous question in my stash here. You play hockey in Minnesota, so I don't know if you do or not, but do you now call hockey pants breezers? No, I will never call them breezers. Never. Whenever I hear Zach or

Breeze call them breezers, I just shake my head. I don't know how you get that, but no, they'll be hockey pants to me. It's the weirdest thing, right? For anyone who's not from Minnesota, did you know they were called breezers before you got there? No idea. In Minnesota, that's what they call them. The first time I heard it was major double take from like, what are you talking about? Yeah. And no, it's only as soon as you cross the border,

they're not called breezers anymore either. So I'm not sure how they came up with that, but yeah, I still shake my head at those. Okay. I got the hard hitting questions. I got the breezer question in fridge. I'm good. Okay. 2008 Memorial cup Kitchener, your junior team, Spokane chiefs run the table. You guys were, you know, outstanding. Drayson Bowman, Jared Cowan, yourself, Tyler Johnson, Dustin Takarski, like a real, real good team. But the one thing that that squad will always be

remembered for is the Memorial Cup breaking as the Memorial Cup is handed to Trevor Glass the captain Chris Bruton to accept the trophy Chris Bruton

was handing it to Trevor after he had been there the year before and lost. And the base just fell out of it and the looks on Chris and Trevor's face was priceless. Where were you when that handoff was happening? I think in the video you can see me sort of just bury my head in someone's shoulder. It was a pretty interesting moment and i was like especially an american team in canada and the memorial cup we win win the trophy and then it snaps in half but i'm not sure who won it the year before but we're blaming it on

them i think they just silly puttied it back together after they broke it, but it's definitely a fond memory to win it, but then to have everyone remember you as the team that broke it is something else as well, but for that night, they just let us take it, and I think they put some sort of putty in the bottom of the cup, so

it was actually easier to drink out of, so it worked out that way. The trophy presentation that no one will ever forget. That's awesome. Now, did you ever have a chance to speak to George Brett, who owned the team? So Bobby was around most of the time. He was right out of Spokane, so he was always around.

And then George actually did come to the final. So I think the only words we got were how happy he was after he won. And that the tab was on him for the families and the rest of us. Oh, that's awesome. We were pretty happy for him to be there for that one. But Bobby was always around. And he was very not involved with the team. But he was always around and he was very not involved with the team but he was always around one to know his players and I can't say enough about the the organization there with Tim

when I was there with Tim Speltz and a great GM and just a great person and being away from home when I left when I was still 15 and that's the first time to the United States and they made you feel as comfortable as possible and whether it's your parents coming down or just always asking you about how you're doing how your family was doing um they're very personable and I kind of thought of going to a better team that's for sure well I'm glad to hear George Brett is like that because he was my favorite baseball player growing up and I'm so glad because he always had a reputation as a great guy so i'm glad to hear he actually is a great guy no yeah he was that was the only time we met him but he was he was pretty happy to say the least when you look at that squad i mean uh you're still playing in the nhl tyler johnson playing in the uh the nhl

i mentioned cowan mentioned to Tokarski as well. Who are some of the other players, in your estimation, on that team that we should probably take note of? They may not have made it into the NHL or pro hockey anywhere, but when they played junior hockey, they impressed Jared Spurgeon. That was one of those teams that, at the start of the year, not many people really thought we were going to do much. I think my first year in Spokane, we pretty much had the same team three years later when we won.

But other than obviously the 20-year-olds who would age out. And we had a great captain, Chris Bruton, and Judd Blackwater and Dave Rutherford were our other 20-year-olds. And they were great they're skilled players but they just played the right way and we had Mitch Wall as well who was a high draft pick but he's over in Europe now and Justin Falk on the back end he played quite a few games in the NHL as well and I think we had Andre Roman he was great for us in that tournament as well, as long as Stefan Almer. And as not everyone made it to the NHL,

but everyone went on to have great careers, whether it was in Europe for a couple of years or even in college or university hockey back in Canada. And I think everyone went on to play for years after that. And like I said, no one really expected it, but we were just a team and it's sort of similar to what you want to see a team be now there's one game it was our third line scoring goals I think the first game of the Memorial Cup it was it was Tyler Johnson

Levko Koper who scored the overtime goal and then the next night it was maybe our first line and then it was the second line and we just had a deep team and we all enjoyed being around each other and I think going to that tournament not many people thought that we even had a chance of winning with the likes of Kitchener being in there and I think it was Belleville with PK and the teams that they had and even I think Drew maybe set a record in the playoffs for points or something like that. And I don't even think anyone was really talking about us. And then we just came in and worried about ourselves. And like I said, it was a full team effort and we were fortunate enough to come out on top and even being able to beat the home team in the final

there, that was pretty special. Last question, junior question for you here is, you know, in that term you mentioned pk suba and he was on on belleville nazim kadri uh would have been with the uh with the kitchener rangers uh at that point uh claude geroux uh would have been with gatineau the olympique at that point like who are some of the players you can remember either they went on to do something in the nhl they didn't but they really caught your attention as a great hockey player. Pretty sure Byron was on with Drew as well, a linemate of him, Paul Byron.

Yeah, Paul Byron was on that team too, yes. Yeah, I just remember he was just as fast as he is now and he was a tough guy to play against and then Bodker I believe was on Kitchener as well, right? Yep. Their forward group was definitely the toughest for us to go up against.

And that's the thing about juniors, that there's so many good players in that tournament when you get to the final that, like I said, we just tried to take it in. Fortunate enough for us, a lot of family was able to come down. My brother was back from his season and was able to fly down to watch the final game with my mom and auntie. So it was fun to celebrate with them and share something with my brother who had won the Memorial Cup a couple years earlier as well.

So that's something we'll always have in common. That's all. Okay, Freed, I got my Memorial Cup fix. I'm good. I was going to say, I want to ask you about Tyler in a second, but when you ever play against, say, Montreal or Philly, do you look at Byron Giroux and say, hey, remember when we beat you in the Memorial Cup? No, they probably don't even know I was on that team.

So they're doing their own thing. I'll just keep the ring and stay silent. I wanted to ask you a little bit about Tyler. You're 31. Tyler's 34. He loves his hockey too. He's playing this year in Germany and he's played pretty much the last decade overseas

with a couple of stops back in North America. So you're in year one of your new seven-year deal. When your deal is finished, Tyler will be 41. Will he still be playing? I think if his girlfriend lets him right now he'll play till

he can't move anymore uh he's in such great shape and he takes real pride in that whether it's on the ice or off the ice with nutrition and i've learned a lot from him growing up and just looking up to him even since i was a younger kid um it was a great role model to have and he's a great player unfortunately for him. After his entry-level contract with the Oilers he had a couple injuries where he missed a full year with a concussion and now he had a shoulder surgery beforehand and he just didn't quite get into the system the way he wanted to. And he had an opportunity to go play in Europe with a coach from Edmonton, actually. So I think that made it a bit more comfortable for him going over there to try for the first year. And he ended up being on a very good team and winning a championship within the first three years he was there.

So he's a great player. He's one of the really smart hockey mind. And we bounce a lot of things off each other we talk every day and but no i think if he could play till he was in the grave he would wow you guys still talk every day even though he's overseas yeah well sending messages back and forth every single day so yeah well there's a little something every day obviously being on the west coast right now i think i got up and he was going right into the game. So I watch whenever I'm able to and catch the game.

But yeah, he's a great person to talk to, great human being, great professional. And like I said, couldn't have a better role model growing up than your older brother that was committed to the same love and passion that you had. That's awesome. Jared, this has been a lot of fun. You spent probably more time than you imagined with us today. We really appreciate you taking time out of your schedule. Best of luck individually and with the Minnesota Wild the rest of the way. All right.

Thank you, guys. Stay safe. You too. Take good care, Jared. All the best to your family. Thank you. Bye, guys. That's Jared Spurgeon of the Minnesota Wild.

We thank him for his time this week and also thank Aaron Sickman of the Minnesota Wild for making that happen. Taking us out is Grammy Award-winning artist St. Vincent. She's set to release her seventh studio album, Daddy's Home, which is due May 14th. Here's St. Vincent with the first single from that album, Pay Your Way in Pain. 31 Thoughts. We'll talk to you again next week. You got to pay your way in shame

I went to the store, I was feeling kinda hungry But didn't have the money and the shelves were all empty So I went to the bank to check my check And the man looked at my face, said we don't have a record Oh no, you thought we had forgotten The show is only getting started The road is feeling like a puddle Sit down, stand up, head down, hands up and Hey, you're weighing

Hey, you're way in Hey, you got to Hey, you're way in Shame