32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Sunday In The Patch

Episode Date: October 3, 2022

The 32 tour continues as Jeff and Elliotte stop in Peterborough, Ontario. They kick things off by talking about Peterborough’s rich hockey history (00:20) and then the guys get into some news from around the league including defencemen that are off the market (6:45), Mark Stone (9:55), Dale Hawerchuk statue at True North Square (12:50), goaltenders on the move (17:20), takeaways from pre-season (19:30) and the latest on Jason Robertson (30:40).In Peterborough Jeff and Elliotte were joined by Pete’s head coach Rob Wilson, Sportsnet’s Greg Millen, former NHLer Steve Larmer and musician Hawksley Workman. We play a snippet from each of these conversations in the podcast.Music Outro: Hawksley Workman - BattlefordsListen to the full track hereThis podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman. Editing support by Mike Rogerson.Audio Credits: Sportsnet.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.

And by the way, Roger, hilarious, wrote Roger was here all over Jeff's notebook. So I already am a big fan of this mascot. Welcome once again to 32 Thoughts to Podcast. Jeff Merrick alongside Amil Delic and the aforementioned Elliot Friedman. We are in Peterborough Pete's country. Now, as I was mentioning a couple of weeks ago, Elliot, here on the podcast, in Steve Smith's great book, a great book, Puckstruck, is a great line where he says, Peterborough is a hockey word. Before we get to what's happening on the podcast

today, do you have a thought on being here in Peterborough? And wow, what a quiet crowd it is here tonight. This is like you can hear a pin drop. It's a bunch of church mice. There we go. That's a lot nicer. Quick thought on being in the patch, Elliot. My memories of Peterborough, not so much in Peterborough, but I grew up going to a lot of Marley's games at Maple Leaf Gardens, and Peterborough obviously was a big rival. One of the fun stories I heard was Bruce Boudreau was a great Toronto Marley, and they won a huge series against Peterborough,

and he always loved to tell how Bob Ganey didn't score on a breakaway. So Peterborough lost that series to Toronto. Boudreaux always loved to tell that story. I also remember as a teenager, you know, we had in our high school, there was a player who played for the Marleys, Rob Cimetta. He was drafted by the Boston Bruins in the first round, and I I think I can't remember if Rob was on the team or not but he might have been Toronto played Peterborough in the playoffs and Terry Martin was coaching the Toronto Marlies and of course Peterborough's toughest player at the time was Ty Domi and the

Marlies had a mandate that you were not to fight Domi they just thought that the Pete's fed off that and they weren't supposed to do it and there was one game where Domi was driving the Marlies crazy and there was a Toronto player I believe it was Sean Boland if I remember correctly and he just said screw it I can't tolerate this anymore. And I'm going to fight Domi. And it was in Toronto and he did okay. Like a lot of people have done a lot worse against Ty Domi and the crowd went wild, but Domi had this big smile on his face. Cause even though Boland did a good job against him, he knew what he'd done. And a bunch of Toronto guys got thrown out, and Peterborough wiped them out of the game.

And I just remembered that night. The other one I do remember was covering Jamie Langenbrenner a little bit when he played for the Peets. I loved watching Langenbrenner play here. I loved watching Langenbrenner play in the NHL. And there were times when I was just starting out my career where I would come up to Peterborough to watch Langenbrenner play. So that's one of the guys I always associate with Peterborough is Langenbrenner. You? Yeah, well, for me, you know, I can't come to Peterborough

without thinking about Roger Nilsson. Like, I just can't. And I know there's Roger, the mascot of the Peterborough Peets, with a round of applause. And, you know, it's interesting. Greg Millen's going to join us a little bit later on. And Greg and Steve Larmer were just talking a little bit and bringing up the name Roger. And, you know, one of my favorite stories of Roger Nelson, and, you know, how many rules did Roger have changed? This one's my favorite one.

And, you know, in Peterborough, I'm sure you've heard this one before. You know, Roger, when he coached the Peterborough Peets for penalty shots, he would pull the goaltender and put defenseman Ron Stackhouse in nets. And when the player grabbed the puck at center for the penalty shot, Stackhouse would skate out, meet the guy at the blue line, poke the puck, and the penalty shot was a... I think Stackhouse, who later went on to be a first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins, had a pretty nice NHL career.

Greg and Steve are nodding, so you've got the right guy. right guy okay I got the right guy I think he went seven for seven Millsy can you give me was he seven for seven that one yes seven for seven and he got that rule of change Roger was the guy who you know end of the game if he was down on a five on three he kept throwing players over the boards figuring it's gonna to stay a five on three so i'm just going to eat up the clock like frege you knew roger and we all loved roger one of the more creative coaches you know we think of captain video in toronto not the first one to do it but to really take advantage of it in a significant way i can't come to peterborough without thinking about roger nelson how about you well that's a great call, Jeff. It's an excellent call. And at Hockey Night one year,

we came to Peterborough to do a piece on Roger at his place here. And you talk about things that he did and things he coached. A couple of the stories I remember from that was he was a dog person. He had dogs that he really loved. And when they passed away,

he buried them on his property. And he told a story about one of the dogs that a defenseman was behind his own net or a forward was behind his own net and the defenseman would chase after the forward and the forward would come out and create a scoring chance so he put his dog on the ice and after a couple of times the dog sat in front of the net and didn't chase the forward and so he would say to his defenseman how come my dog can figure out not to go behind the net and you can't that was one of the stories I really liked the other one was early in my career

I hosted the Roger Nielsen's coaches clinic which continued after he passed. And one of the coaches told a great story about one time that they were watching film and he walked in and he looked at the screen and he goes, hmm, I never noticed that before. And all of the coaches wanted to know what it was he never noticed before. And he said, I can't tell you because I might coach again. And they were all frustrated that he wouldn't share that one little bit of wisdom incredible person and i mean the other thing you know jeff too is you know people don't realize how crazy this was but when he was

quote unquote fired in toronto and harold ballard wanted to go back in the next game with the bag over his head and reveal the bag that he wasn't fired. Like, you think about that story, and in today's world, the idea of anyone even thinking about that, that's how crazy it was in the late 70s and early 80s in Toronto. His influence still exists in the NHL to this day. I'm sure every time you watch an Anaheim Ducks game and you see Dallas Aikens behind the bench for Anaheim, you think about

Roger Nelson and he'll wear his, you know, Roger Nelson tribute ties every now and then. You know, I spoke on the way up here, I spoke to Jeff Toohey, who ran the Peterborough Peets for a number of years, now scouting with the Florida Panthers to see if he would pop by tonight. He's scouting, he's in Oshawa. Didn't want to see you, eh, Jeff? Any chance he gets. No, no, no, I'll go see the Jennings and the Frontenacs instead of seeing you, Merrick. But Roger's influence is still very much alive and well. Anyone who had any passing with Roger Nilsson has great stories. I want to start the podcast here, Freed,

with a conspiracy story or a conspiracy theory. Okay. There was a belief that as three defensemen were signed over the weekend, turning their PTOs into contracts, all right, Nathan Beaulieu of the Anaheim Ducks, Calvin DeHaan of the Carolina Hurricanes, and Scott Harrington as well of the San Jose Sharks. One of the theories out there was the teams signed them quick because they thought the Maple Leafs were on the prowl for a defenseman. True or false?

Partially true, partially false. I think the teams might have thought that maybe Toronto was going to be looking around. And I think as Toronto had some injuries and before Rasmus Sandin was signed and in camp, yes, I do think they were looking to see what was out there but I'm not convinced Toronto actually would have done it I still think the Maple Leafs want to sign Zach Aston Reese who's in camp on a PTO so you know they don't have a lot of roster space and room to add further bodies now I think it's possible they might try to deal or move one of their surplus forwards

for a defenseman who's either waiver exempt or has already cleared waivers but as opposed to just bringing someone in without moving somebody out I don't think they're going to be able to do that with all the moves they need to make the other thing too is Engvall started skating today so if he's ready to go at the start of the season, they still have to make sure that they know they have the ability to fit him in on the cap. So I'm not convinced they're signing anybody unless anyone goes out. I also heard they were happy with Kroll and Mete and how they'd played. So while I do think they are potentially looking at some depth defensemen, I don't think it's happening unless they can move somebody out. What did you make of those

signings? I'm always curious about players that turn their PTOs into contracts. The one that jumped out at me was Nathan Beaulieu with the Anaheim Ducks. We've talked plenty about Anaheim and wanting to get tougher and wanting to get snarlier, and Trevor Zegers is day-to-day right now with the upper body. We all know what happened last week against the Arizona Coyotes. Did you see how much Aikens played him on the weekend of that game was it saturday 26 minutes i'm thinking

to myself like when was the last time that he played 27 but it's been like when he was in saint john maybe maybe akins is getting three percent of the salary he wanted to make sure he was getting signed no i that that happens sometimes in the first week of the preseason. You don't want to burn out your veterans. You don't want them to get hurt. So people get an opportunity. And you're right. You know, Anaheim is looking to toughen up. Also, you need eight, nine defensemen in this league these days. You don't go through a season without using that many. And I think also the teams on the West with their travel, they really worry about stuff like that. So it makes sense. And DeHaan's a good player. That's a really good signing for

Carolina. I'm not surprised at all about Harrington and San Jose either. Okay. Mark Stone and the Vegas Golden Knights. So Stone is back for Vegas and there were a lot of rumors in the offseason that maybe Mark Stone's career was going to be over. I reached out to the Golden Knights and asked if I could talk to him. And one of the things I heard was that there is a picture that people have seen showing exactly what was taken out of his back. So I spoke to him and I said, I heard there's a photo and I could see he was kind of like, where are you going with this? But he said, yes, there, there is a photo of what was taken out of my back. And I want to tell a story here. A few years ago, Ed Jovanovsky had a big hip

replacement and he kind of wanted me to put the photo in my blog. Hang on, hang on. He wanted you to do this? Yes. I was kind of like, he says, you should see this picture of what they did to my body and what it looks like. And I said, I'll put it in the blog if you want me to.

And he goes, I would love that. And I remember I sent it to the editor, and the editor said, I am not showing this. People are not going to be able to handle this. And I said, how about this? I write that here is a link to a photo of it, but click at your own risk. And so the editor agreed to do that. I had people writing to me like that was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. And I threw up my lunch. I can't believe you made me do that. To which I said, I didn't make you do anything. You had plenty of warnings.

I explained the same thing to Stone, but he was like, no, I'm not sharing the picture with you. He joked that it was like a little piece of crap, kind of gross. He basically said it's the size of a quarter. It was hardened fluid, an extra chunk on one of his discs in his back, and it was pressing on the nerves.

And he said initially they didn't think they were going to need surgery on it, but then the doctor looked at it last year at the end of last season and said, we better do it. He said it wasn't that big a deal, and he said he laughs at people who thought his career would be over. He said he feels great. He's fine to play. He did say he stopped playing golf. He said that's one sort of thing he conceded to at this point in time until he gets healthy again.

But he was never worried that his career would be over. He heard the rumors. And he just couldn't believe that people were talking like that. But, you know, these are the things that we try to do for our audience, Jeff. We tried to get the photo, but Mark Stone, he wouldn't clear it. But he said he feels great. You asked for very personal, sensitive, private medical information and asked the hockey player to make that public.

I don't have a university degree, Jeff. I never said I was a genius, but you try. We try. Dale Howarchuk. Yeah. The statue unveiling yesterday at True North Square. First of all it's gorgeous. Yeah. Second of all everything around it was perfect. We've talked plenty about Dale Howarchuk and how we feel and how we felt about him, not just the hockey player, but the coach and the person. And as more and more stories come out about Dale and his career, and also, you know, Dale in his final days making phone calls to everybody, you know, and we know how challenging that was for him. I texted with his son, Eric, last night, just saying

like how beautiful it was and it was really special for his family. What did you think last night when you saw that? Oh, I thought they hit it out of the park. I thought they really did. And the statue looks fantastic. I was talking to someone about this and he said that one of the things you really worry about with a statue is that if you don't feel it looks like the person. So you're always worried whenever you order something like this, you could put it in the hands of quote unquote, the best statue maker. I guess the word is sculpture, the sculptor that you could ever find in the world, but you never know if it's going to work. That moment where they pull it

off for you in private and you see it for the first time in private, it's one of the scariest things because you're the Winnipeg Jets. This is an important night for you. Everybody's there. You've got to get this right. And the thing you're talking about too is the Jets have had a tough offseason.

So this is an opportunity for them to sort of flip the switch and give them a real positive push forward. So you're always worried about that first moment when you see it. But obviously, privately, they were happy. And publicly, it was a great ceremony. Everybody who spoke just rose to the occasion. And I just thought the Jets hit that one out of the park.

And they did the Howarchuk family proud. And it's great that they felt the way you mentioned. But I think also it just puts a nice, good feeling as they start the season when they really needed it. That's really true about statues, too. I mean, there's two different kinds of art, right? Like a painting is art by addition. A statue is art by subtraction right like a painting is art by addition a statue is art by subtraction sculpture is art by subtraction i've always felt that it's harder to do art by subtraction than addition you really walk that fine line but i think they nailed it with howard chuck and you know during the game yesterday hearing mark shif... So the first time I ever met Dale, I was playing in a Junior A tournament in Huntsville,

and my rights were a few weeks before traded to Barry, where he was coaching. And he came and watched the last game. I was committed to Cornell. I was going to go to college, and then he asked if me and my mom would stop by on the way home to meet with him, talk to him and the GM and the owner, and just pick my brain a little bit. So, you know, we stopped at the Barry Molson Center.

And within five minutes, I knew he was the guy I wanted to play for. You know, he was, you know, I could just tell the love, the passion. You know, it just came out of him. And when he spoke, I just know how genuine he was. And it made my decision really easy. And when he spoke, I just know how genuine he was. And it made my decision really easy. And it was the best decision I ever made to come play for Barry and Dale. But this statue, what a reminder it is for me as a guy that played for Dale.

I drive down Hargrave every single day to the rink. So every day I get to stop at this stoplight and I get to look at this statue and remember all the lessons that he taught me. I get to remember all the fun stories that we had of winning games, losing games, learning lessons. Him yelling at me for not back-checking, which now I know why. And now I get to look at this statue and think about him and think about that he's up in heaven looking down on me. at you and think about him and think about that he's up in heaven looking down on me. And I get to go to the rink and go with that love and that passion that he instilled in me when I was 17 years old. And what an amazing honor. And all I can say is thank you, Dale.

We talked about the influence of Roger Nielsen and how we see that in the NHL right now. I'm sure you're the same way. I see Howarchuk everywhere. Tanner Pearson. You see him at Andrew Maggiapane. You see him at Mark Scheifele. You still see Dale Howarchuk's influence all over the NHL. It's just a reminder that maybe your playing career is over, but that doesn't mean you can't still make an impact.

And he absolutely did. I want to ask you about goaltenders. Okay. A couple of things here. So Jonas Johansson gets claimed from colorado by the arizona coyotes he'll back up karel vamelka that's going to be the one too for the arizona coyotes and then sunday on waivers and it's not exactly a surprise uh we see malcolm subban of buffalo oscar danskin calgary dustin tokarski in pittsburgh zach Fucali with the Washington Capitals. The one that I think I'm most curious about is the situation in Seattle

and what happens there. There are some goaltenders you see on waivers and you say, yeah, they'll clear. If we see Joey Decord on waivers, I'm not so sure he clears. Do you think they'll even put him on waivers? Well, the other option is to waive the veteran. I assume you're not talking about Grubauer. No, we're talking about Martin Jones.

Like that's a really interesting situation right now. I know waiver wire talk's not always exactly exciting. To me, I'm most intrigued by what's happening with Seattle here because the timing of who they put on and when they put him on, to me, is fascinating here. Well, that's always the key is when you do it, right? You try to rush people in, like with a thousand others, so maybe you can sneak them by.

Yeah. But I agree with you. If the court goes on waivers, if Seattle's legitimately concerned about losing him, I would be worried about that. That Johansson, like, whatever you feel about him as a goalie, I almost feel like it's internet pile on time with him like i find it a little bit distasteful like by this point in time we all know what his career

is and what he is but i just find that whenever he goes whenever he's on twitter i just think it's too much it's like you've reached a point where the pile on is obscene yep and i think we're at that point now i don't disagree so we're at a point now. I don't disagree. So we're at a point right now where we're under two weeks away from the season kicking off and this is going to be a week where rosters start to tighten up and we start to see the composition

of a lot of teams and what they're going to look like and who's wanted on the voyage and who's not. Is there a team out there or a couple of teams out there where you're really curious to see what happens?

The number one thing I always say is that the first weeks of exhibition games doesn't matter because I think that the players who really matter, they don't care that first week that much. That's for people who are either rookies trying to make an impression or players who know they're most likely going to the American Hockey League. They have to make an impression or players who know they're most likely going to the American Hockey League they have to make an impression I think week two is when the veterans really start to show up and stretch and get themselves ready so I put a lot more stock in this week as opposed to last week and so I'm always looking like who's the young player like we talked about him last podcast I bet you people are getting sick of him already hasn't played yet Jake Sanderson in Ottawa this week

I am really curious about that kid because I'm looking at Ottawa's defense and I'm saying is Zaitsev not going to be on the opening night roster and what does that mean for the Senators what are they going to be doing here? So Jake Sanderson is definitely one guy I kind of look at and I say, what are they looking at here? Like I think Calgary, some of their forwards, I wonder if Calgary is still looking to go out and get another forward. I wonder if they're looking at their guys on PTOs and saying, unless those guys really show us something this week, do we feel we have to go out and get someone else I wonder if Minnesota is going to look out and see is there another scorer out there we can

find like I think there are some good teams still thinking about some stuff you know a big one the last signing last week was Jake Allen I think Montreal wanted to keep Jake Allen but I think if he hadn't signed they were going to start to look around at some point and see what else is out there now I think it's much more likely he stays but I think some of these teams are going to be looking around like you know we mentioned Toronto you know we mentioned Calgary I wonder if Minnesota is going to look for a score I think in the early season there's a lot of teams that say hey we want to see what we have see how our kids play I don't know I, there's a lot of teams that say, hey, we want to see what we have, see how our kids play. I don't know. I think there's some teams this year that could be a little bit jumpier.

And those are three of them looking to see if they could fill some holes. Let me ask you a little bit about Jake Allen, too. And Martin St. Louis referenced an old saying that's been out there for a number of years. And I'll paraphrase it here. Society only grows when we plant trees we know we will never sit under. I don't even know what that means. It means that Jake Allen is not going to be there when the Montreal Canadiens are a good team, but he's doing this heavy lift right now while the Slavkovskys of the world develop. He's not going to be there when this team actualizes. Like, we know we've talked about teams existing in two states. You exist in a state of potentiality or actuality.

Like, the actuality teams are Colorado, are Tampa, are these teams we know, the heavyweights that compete for the Stanley Cup. The other teams exist in this realm of potentiality. We don't know what they're going to be, but whatever they're going to be, they're not there yet. And I think that's a pretty intelligent statement

by San Luis. He knows that Jake Allen's not going to be here when not there yet and i think there's a pretty intelligent statement by san luis he knows that jake allen's not going to be here when montreal is good again and this is like to your point this is a jake allen decision i still want to be here i still want to help the other thing is when you're a young team and you're growing you need somebody who can make saves i think there's a real thin line between rebuilding and allowing your young players to think it's okay to lose. And I think in games like that, you have to have a good goalie, your Greg Millen, to pull out a couple of big victories for you when you don't think you deserve them. Because it makes your younger players feel better about themselves. You know, it's interesting, too.

We've talked about this before, the idea that when you're on a rebuilding team, if you're a team that doesn't know what it's like to play a full three periods because you're out of it before the second period is over, that doesn't do anything for your kids. Or your team's out of it completely by January. Like, how do you think Detroit felt this year? How do you think Steve Eisenman felt? That's why they got all those new players. That's why they got all those new players. And listen, a couple of years ago, I may have said it tongue

in cheek, but part of me really meant it. Like I wouldn't have been surprised if Detroit went out that year and used every single pick on a goaltender at the draft. Like when Greg Mellon was drafted in 1977, the Montreal Canadiens took seven goalies, seven goaltenders. Now, Richard Sevigny was probably the only one that really worked out, but seven goalies went. I was looking at Detroit two years ago. They ended up taking Sebastian Cosa, but I thought maybe, you know what? Knowing how much you need goaltending when you're redeveloping a team, I wouldn't have been surprised if they would have used every pick on a goalie.

Why not? They're lottery tickets. I don't know if you can do that anymore because where are they all going to play? That's an issue. I really love shooting down Jeff's arguments. It's fantastic. Well, you don't have to sign all of them. Just one more thing before we wrap up the formal part of the pod. You know, Jeff,

they're overseas games this week. Yes. The European Series. Global Series. Okay, Global Series. I love correcting Elliot. That's right. He's right on that when I'm wrong, the global series. You know what I'm hearing? Possibility of Norway in the future. Matt Zuccarello lives?

I haven't heard. Why Norway? I don't know. Someone just said to me this week, like, that one could be on the radar. And I didn't even specifically think of Minnesota at the time, though. It would make sense. Excellent. Let's bring up our first guest here.

He is the head coach of the Peterborough Peets. You know, Elliot mentioned Ty Domi a couple of moments ago, and I believe when he was playing with the Peets, both Ty Domi and Mike Ricci would have been on that team as well. He's the head coach of your Peterborough Peets. He is Rob Wilson. Peets are good this year. No pressure, coach.

Please join us up here on the stage. I was told to ask you about one name. Bill LaForge. You know, it all started, I guess, in the 70s, but the 80s, it kind of took a different level at times. And Bill LaForge, I can remember my first game, and we went into Hamilton. And I'm throwing out names, but you guys will know the names.

But I remember I'm looking across, and I'm a young guy in the league, and they started, I think, Troy Crowder, Mike Ware, Dennis Vial. Tough guys. Johnny, like just, yeah. And then the worst was the next five came out after that and they were just as tough and it was Corson and you know it just went on and on and on so he loved his tough teams and Bill LaForge was a guy that made sure that his teams played a certain way and the things that he did back then or have his

players do you would be in a lot of trouble for today. We played here in the playoffs against them in the final they had that great team with Fogarty and they had all first-round picks and and actually Dick Todd wouldn't let us come off the bench at the end of the game I think it was game three we beat them there might have been game five and had beat them. It might have been game five, and we had beat them. And they had attacked our goalie twice, and that police had to come down to the bench. And he had the players trying to come in. It was nuts. It was mayhem.

So let me see if I can jog some memories here. So one of the great LaForge stories was when the OHL made visors mandatory, Bill coached in a number of different places. And he coached at Vancouver Canucks briefly as well. Briefly, yes. So when they made visors mandatory in the OHL, well, the Forge series, he had his trainer, because Bill didn't want any of his players wearing visors. He was not about that at all.

And as you mentioned, always had rough and tumble, really tough team. I think Alex Stoyanov might have been on that team at that point too. He was one of them. Was he after? So they make visors mandatory in the OHL. And what LaForge has the trainer do is take all the players' helmets with the visors and file them down to a sharp point. So if you were fighting one of his players, as you punched the face and hit the visor, it would slice your hand open.

And like the screws of the helmet instead of outside in would go inside out. So if you glanced on the helmet, you'd rip open your hand. Like Bill did not miss a beat. I know, like the horrified faces here. Like Bill did not miss a beat. These were the 80s, everybody.

We don't do that anymore. It was a very different time. And at that time, everyone was like, if you went to fight, and unfortunately I had to do it. Most of us didn't want to do it, you know, but it was part of, you know, okay, well, you're pretty good at it, so that's what you're going to do. And when you go into Hamilton, and like I said, you're fighting really, really tough guys that they had,

and a lot of them went on to the National Hockey League and were heavyweights in the NHL. And, yeah, they weren't allowed to take their helmets off and we at that point take our helmets off. I remember the one game we went into that they just moved from the mountain to the mountain arena to the cops and it was like, oh, this is amazing. And I looked over and we were already intimidated as it was and I looked over, they were up here and we were already intimidated as it was, and I looked over. They were up here, and we were down there. He had filed the legs off our bench, and their bench was, they put the extension on theirs.

So Crowder was already 6'6", or 6'5", or whatever, but he looked about 7 foot tall, so you look over at the bench, you're like, so it wasn't fun. So you come over here in 1989, and that Peterborough team wins the OHL and goes to the Memorial Cup. Just what do you remember about that year and some of the great players that you played with you know just a really good connected group Ty was the only guy I knew actually uh Ty was uh already here and uh I grew up in Toronto grew up in Etobicoke and uh used to drive Ty to the gym and uh so I think he

had part of that trade and uh with with uh trade with talking to Dick or whatever at the time. And they had lost guys like Dallas Eakins and Chris King and different guys, so they wanted another guy to come in that could handle himself or whatever and support Ty in that role and stuff. And I still talk to Reach all the time, good friends with Reach. And I didn't wait at Mush's funeral, but we were all buddies that grew up. Bolin and Mush time good friends with reach and um i didn't wait at mush's funeral but we're all buddies that grew up like bowling and mush were good friends and reach like so it's all connected for for the area you're playing

elliot here we are in pborough. It's after the event. Great time, full house, pictures, the whole deal. Met everyone, shook hands. It was a wonderful time. So now we do a little bit of cleanup. So now we do our janitorial work and talk about the things we missed out on while we were doing the live event here in Peterborough.

And by the way, coming up on the podcast in a couple of moments, Juno Award winner Huxley Workman will talk to us about a great story involving Mike Boss. It's a hilarious story, actually. Greg Millen discusses his best game ever, and Steve Larmer wonders, where has my Stanley Cup ring gone? All that is coming up in a couple of moments. That was really funny.

Let's get an update on a couple of things that we're looking forward to this week. You always wonder in contract situations where annoyance turns to frustration, turns to anger. Where are we at with the Jason Robertson-Dallas situation right

now? Are we on that meter? Yes. We're on the frustration meter i wouldn't want to say there's anger just around the league this year i've heard that the the temperature is turned up on that one and i think because it doesn't sound like they're really that far away that there are deals to be made here. And I think there's frustration, particularly on the Stars part, that it hasn't happened yet. It just seems to me like we're getting closer and I'm hopeful that this week we'll get a resolution.

But I think there's some people who feel here that it's too close for it not to be done already. Okay, so we're at a different place than we were at the last time we spoke. There has been some movement from one side, both sides. Do we even know? I don't know specifics. I've just been told that there are people who feel

that there's been enough traction made that it should be done or close to it. It's just not there yet. Okay, a couple of other names nick haig vegas golden knights last time we talked about vegas needing to do some things or maybe maximizing ltir what's happening there yeah again uh like uh that's i don't we didn't mention that on the podcast but i did have some teams suggest to me that they're wondering if the golden knights are kind of playing this to maximize ltir a bit in terms of where they sign them. I also think that this is going to be, like,

I just think this is going to be a big week. I think my sense is, like I said, from what I'm hearing, there's no reason Robertson shouldn't be done this week. I'm not as sure about Haig, but I just think this is a big week in general. And the other one I think, Jeff, is Uyghur. I think there's a chance we could find out that if Uyghur is going to get done, it could potentially happen this week. Any idea what that could involve or what is being used as a template for any kind of deal? I've said it before, Lindholm.

I think that is still around the benchmark okay with that let's get to Juno award-winning musician Huxley Workman and whenever I mention Hux I always want to mention one of my favorite songs of all time which I think everybody should check out if you haven't already we played it on the podcast a couple of years ago and that is Battlefords. I hum it every single day. Anyway, Huxley joined us on this Sunday in Peterborough, brought in an autographed jersey of Mike Bossy and there was something written on it from Bossy as well. We'll let Hux tell the story. The Bossy jersey. Yeah, let's get to this.

So bless him. Hux brought in a prop. There you go. We should hold this up so people can see this. jersey yeah let's let's get to this so bless them hawks brought in a prop there you go i love you should hold this up so people can see this so this is an autographed mike bossy new york islanders 22 jersey and there's a little extra blurb on the bottom and there is a blurb on the bottom which we'll explain shortly now it was bossy your favorite player or i was an orlers guy i was a i was a i mean i was at school the road hockey days, I was a Denny Savard guy.

I thought his style was the most musical, fluid, odd, kooky. He was my guy. I thought everything he did was really spectacular. So what's on the boss? So what's on the boss? So I wrote this song called Warhol's Portrait of Gretzky. In the early 80s, Andy Warhol had Wayne Gretzky down just as he's becoming a mega superstar and does a series of paintings.

I think it's incredible. At the very same time, I have a poster on my wall from the menswear store in Huntsville, Ontario of Wayne Gretzky in a tight pair of GWGs. In the same kind of way, there's this... That was a big poster. I know people are laughing, but that was a big deal. Oh yeah, it was a big deal. That was a big poster. I know people are laughing, but that was a big deal. Oh yeah, it was a big deal. That was a big deal at the time. And of course, it did have some sensuality to it. And the Warhol's portrait of Gretzky also has some sensuality to it.

And of course, as a songwriter and somebody who's interested in words and culture and cultures colliding, I think, well, I was obsessing over Gretzky at the very same time as Andy Warhol was obsessing over Gretzky, but probably for slightly different reasons. So I wrote a song about it called Warhol's Portrait of Gretzky that goes on in the refrains about how effing sexy the portrait is. I needed some lines. I knew a lot about that era of hockey, and I just tossed something off

because I needed something to rhyme that it said, and Mike Bossy shoots it wide. In 1984, in the Levi's that you wore, with more immortal eyes, Mike Bossy shoots it wide. In playoff time, we never saw you smile, but everybody knew that you'd know what to do. The song is released weeks later, a couple of months later.

I get this given to me, and it's, of course, Mike Bossy's signed jersey. Dear Huxley, I never shoot wide. Oh, my. You know what? I got to tell you something. When you were starting to say where this story was going, I didn't want to interrupt, but I was going to say, I bet you Bossy was mad you said he missed the net

well again when you're the songwriter you're basically you can write history however you see fit so the bass player in my band who I was mentioning to Jeff earlier is absolutely encyclopedic about sports and he just thought it was idiotic

the lyric from the beginning and when Bossy sent me this he was like of course he was going to just like you. He's like, I mean, this guy never missed a shot. So here's the thing about Bossy's shoots of Y. That's a wonderful story. So Kelly Rudy told me this.

Kelly played with Mike Bossy on the Islanders. And he said that after practice, Bossy would work on a shot. But he'd have a bucket of pucks in front of the net, and he would shoot it right at the middle of the net. Every shot was going right at the middle of the net, right at the, mostly you would figure like elite level shooters, I'm going bar down, I'm going tucking in the corners, all that, right? And Kelly was like, he just kept shooting it right in the middle, right in the middle, right in the middle, right in the middle. And after a while, he said, he went over to Mike,

and he said, hey boss, I hope you don't mind me asking, why are you shooting in the middle of the net? Like most shooters are like picking corners, going around goaltenders. He goes, no, I hope you don't mind me asking, why are you shooting in the middle of the net? Like most shooters are like picking corners, going around goaltenders. He goes, no, I want the puck to go through the goaltender. If it goes past the goaltender, ah, goalie can shrug it off, ah, it's a great shot. I want the goaltender to feel like I've put the shot right through him.

I want to break him mentally. And if you go and look at like, honestly, go and look at like, honestly, go look at some of my, you guys know this, like go look at Mike Bossy's great goals, five hole goals. Like, and Millsy can talk about like what happens psychologically. If it's a great shot, you're all over my shoulder. It's just a great shot, man. When it goes through you, I always thought that that was part of like that, that hockey genius of Mike Bossy, the art of the five-hole goal. No one was better than that guy at the five-hole goal.

Well, I misrepresented him egregiously in a piece of pop music, three-and-a-half-minute pop music. This is really my apology. That is fantastic. That's how you know you're making an impact, when you don't even have to say anything, and that shows up on your doorstep you know another story about bossy and how demanding he was kelly rudy said another story

told was bossy was he was demanding of himself he would ask no one what he didn't demand of himself but kelly said he was at a practice once when bossy had a great chance to score and the pass was bad. And he said something to the player. He said, look, I'm expected to score from there. If you can't put it on my tape, we'll find somebody else who can. And that's why Bossy was as great as he was. He was that good. That's fantastic. You know, Elliot, you cannot do an event in peterborough without bringing greg millen

captain peterborough the head of the peterborough mafia to some along with you and one of the things we talked to mil we talked a lot of things with milsy tonight but one of the things was his best game ever let's have a listen. Millsy, what would you say is the greatest game you ever played? I remember you shutting out Toronto in the playoffs and my friends curse you forever because of that. I guess the one that I remember the most is our first child was being born on a Friday night and general manager said, my wife at this point, Peterborough girl by the

way had dilated and we knew that she was going to go sometime that evening our first child in Hartford so I went to the coach after practice and I said I got to stay back and he said well no you're not you're coming to the island and I said what are you talking about he said well I never got to watch my child born and so you know you know we, we need you Saturday night. Could you imagine the fiasco that would be now if someone said you can't go watch your child get born? So I said, well, guess what? You don't have a goalie and you want to send me to the Myers?

Do whatever you want. I'm not going. So the long and the short of it is that Annie delivered about 2.30 that morning. It was the largest snowstorm, probably one of the legendary storms they still talk about in Connecticut and New York. So I get a call that you better be in New York for the Saturday night game. So I thought, okay. So to make a long story short, of course, when you have your first child, you're up all night, you're excited, you're calling all your friends, your family, and so on. So I had zero sleep in the hospital, got up, they did get a car service for

me to get to New York. However, all the bridges were closed. The team, in fact, didn't make it to New York, they busted and they ended up in Rye, New York at one of the players golf courses there, Doug Sullivan, a former player played in New York. And so that's how bad the storm was. Well, I got in just during warmup and they said, hurry up and get dressed. I got dressed. And the next thing I know, the coach says, well, good, you're playing. Who was it, Millsy? I'm not going to tell you. Who was the GM? I'm not going to tell you. Was it Baz? I will not do that.

Was it Baz in Pittsburgh? I will not do that. So anyway, no, it was not. So I played that. We're just going to keep guessing Millsy's GMs. It's always general managers. Was it Ron Caron? So the long story short, Mike Bossy, Troche, Gillis, the whole works,

and we were the Hartford Whalers and we ended up winning the game and again, that's what the, you know, you talk about the mind hawk and what things do of course you're on a natural high and I had one of those nights where it decided to hit me for a change How many saves did you make? I don't remember and then we played an afternoon

game the next day against the Edmonton Oilers and I can't remember. But beat them, too. And I had to play that game. So, again, it's the mind over matter. I had no business playing that night. But, you know, as anybody that's had children and know the thrill that you go through and the high you're on,

I guess it really didn't matter about sleep at that point or how your body was. Way we went. So that's a memorable game, I guess, of all of them. By the way, Jeff, I was doing a little bit of research. So here we are. They were just answering texts. No, I was not doing that. February 12th, 1983, Hartford at New York,

four-two whalers, 28 saves, four of them off Mike Bossy. February 13th. How do you find this stuff? 1983, Hartford 5-3 over Toronto. Toronto, wow. Yeah, 28 saves, six of them off Bill Derlego. So those are your back-to-back wins after. How do you find this stuff?

Now, is that son or daughter? Allison. Allison. Allison. Yeah, there you go. Who now lives in Bracebridge, by the way. Yeah, there you go. There's a connection for you.

Steve Larmer. Now, a couple of things about Steve Larmer. One, should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. And two, should have his number retired by the Chicago Blackhawks. Do you agree with one, both, or neither? Both. He should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Number retired by the Hawks, too?

Yeah, well, I mean, if you're in the Hockey Hall of Fame and get your number retired, I think one goes with the other. Okay, now, we all know he made it to the Stanley Cup Final with the Chicago Blackhawks, but ended up winning it with the New York Rangers in 1994, and one would think, like, Elliot, if I ever won the Stanley

Cup, I would know where my ring was at all times, probably because I'd be wearing it nonstop. I would wear it and show it off everywhere. Steve Larmer, he's not me. Steve, Stanley Cup ring, do you ever wear it? No. Out of curiosity, any particular reason you don't wear it? Well, it's uncomfortable to wear.

It's not a style. It's a thing. Because sometimes for events like this, people will wear them or things like that. Who did we have the other night who was wearing Stanley Cup ring? Paul Coffey. Paul Coffey. He picked one of his. Well, he has several.

He has several. Yes, yes, he does. He has several. He has several. Yes, yes, he does. He wore the small one. Yeah, he wore the... He did. He picked it because it was the small one, 83. No, I... Or something like that. I think we had the 25-year reunion in New York

when we won the Stanley Cup a couple years ago, and I think that's the only time I've ever worn it. Really? Yeah, and there's, like... There's sometimes it's like, I don't even know where it is like because it'll be years like where did i believe this too yeah where did i put that i totally believe so it's like oh geez i better start going through drawers and you, I need post-it notes.

I really do. Clues. Yeah. But no, I never wear it. Never. Okay. Yeah. That story is unbelievable.

Like, it's just unbelievable. Like, I would disagree with you on one thing. I wouldn't wear it everywhere, but I would know where it was. If you're not wearing it on your ring, do you turn it into a necklace, Elliot? Would you not want to have that as part of your body for the rest of your life? No. An earring, perhaps? Elliot, how do you feel about nose rings?

And taking us out, it's one of my favorite songs. Seriously, I mentioned this to Huxley during the interview. I have this song going through my head at least twice a day, if not the whole thing, at least a portion of it. And I will listen to this in my head for the rest of my life. It's one of my favorite tunes. This is Battleford from Huxley Worker. Enjoy. in the battle furs on a banana seat bike with the hockey card in the spokes

a friend of us who stands off his car by to say that he better get home he said you're gonna get a beating you're gonna get the beating of your life. Whoa, Nutrisuite and Fresca and Pop Shop and all the best of what a babysitter could afford

with enough negotiation and a freckled smile.