Barn Burner: Boomer & Pinder with Rhett Warrener - Brantt Myhres (FULL INTERVIEW) | FN Barn Burner - August 6th, 2024

Episode Date: August 6, 2024

FlamesNation Barn Burner with Boomer, Pinder & WarrenerTODAY'S GUESTBrantt Myhres | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brantt_MyhresTIMESTAMPShttps://youtube.com/live/Ze1rgs43G2w- Getting Into Podcasting (0:45)- Childhood (3:00)- Getting Into Fighting (6:00)- Drafted (8:00)- Oilers (11:30)- Playing In Philly (13:00)- Funny Facebook Message Story (16:00)BREAK (17:00 - 19:45)- Cocaine Addiction (20:00)- Reaching Out For Help (22:00)- Reason To Get Sober (25:00)- Leaving Rehab (29:00)- The Book (32:00)- Darryl Sutter (34:00)- L.A Job (37:00)BREAK (38:35 - 41:30)- Last NHL Fight (45:00)- Justifying Dumb Things (49:00)- Staying Sober (51:00)- Life Now (56:00)BARN BURNER BLONDEhttps://originbrewing.myshopify.com/products/barn-burner-473mlFLAMESNATION MERCHhttps://nationgear.ca/collections/flamesnationBARN BURNER CLIPShttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj_bcGtvvo-cW2DHEDZ6dEO5ePDmlhZc9SHOUTOUT TO OUR SPONSORS!!👍🏼 Powered by @bet365. Whatever the moment, it’s Never Ordinary at bet365. Download the App today and use promo code: FNBONUS. http://www.bet365.ca/👍🏼 McLEOD LAW https://www.mcleod-law.com👍🏼 VILLAGE HONDA https://www.villagehonda.com👍🏼 OUTDOOR DENTAL https://www.outdoor.dental👍🏼 GRETA BAR https://www.gretabar.com/locations/ca👍🏼 ORIGIN BREWING https://originbrewing.ca👍🏼 BeAroused https://www.bearoused.ca/👍🏼 SPRING FINANCIAL: http://SpringFinancial.ca/barn👍🏼 Pro Skate Service Calgary: https://www.psscalgary.com/💻 Website: https://flamesnation.ca🐦 Follow on twitter: @FlamesNation @BarnburnerFN @960boomer @PinderReport @warrener44📺 Subscribe on Youtube: @Flames_Nation💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.comFollow us on Instagram @flamesnationdotcaFollow us on Twitter @flamesnation @barnburnerfnFollow us on Facebook @FlamesNationReach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Well, here we are, Brand Myers. I sent you a text a while ago. I see you're a podcaster now. Now, if you could just, listen, just stay in your own lane, okay? Let the podcasters. Let us do our own thing. You do your thing. But I was, and I was not shocked because I've gotten to know you a little bit over the years. And to see you doing the podcasting thing and kind of getting into some real conversations, deeper conversations was not shocked. And I was really impressed. with your work. I guess we'll start there and we'll kind of get into things. When did you start doing this and why is Brent Myers getting into the podcast space? Well I actually well first off thanks for having me. I thought about it maybe about six months after I wrote a book called Pain Killer and the feedback that I was getting was during COVID so everything was remote I guess and Zoom meetings and all. Anyways, people were saying,

hey, it'd be great if you could elaborate on some of the stories. I thought, whoa, shit, everybody's doing a podcast. Long story short. Anyone can do it. Hey, if those guys can do it. Anybody, and believe me, I have a whole new respect for people in this field.

It is, but anyways, how I got, yeah, and then so when I flew down, I was in the works when I flew down to see Sheldon Surrey in Vegas for my 50th birthday, I just said, as soon as I get home, I'm on it. And I got home and I literally had to start YouTubeing all this stuff, like equipment and setup and lights. And anyways, I have a whole new respect for it.

But again, back to what you've done for however many years, two decades, three decades, about hockey. You have a passion for hockey. I have a passion for my life and what I, I've been through with addiction. And so it's not that hard. I love talking about it. It's actually fun for me.

You mentioned pain killer and we'll get into it because it's, I don't do a lot of reading. I find during the hockey season, you're watching games at night and then you're up the next day doing stuff and you get kids and that. There's not a whole lot of time. Summertime when you get some holidays, you're going to the beach, you're doing whatever. That's my time to get some books in. And I saw you doing the podcast thing and I sniffed around a little. I said, geez, he's got a book out.

So I'm, I, I just finished Pain Killer a couple days ago. What a read, man. You've got a story to tell. You know how they say? Everybody's got a story. You've got a hell of a story. We'll get into it. I want to know about the dollhouse in Tampa Bay.

Molly, Molly Cruz sung about that. Let's go. Yeah, and girls, girls, the dollhouse. Yeah. Yeah, let's go. and it's like a lot of those it's like watching

I was trying to think of how to describe it it's like watching those movies like like rounders where it's like okay you're free you're going to make it just stay away from the cart God damn it you can't stay Bobby Clark gives you one more chance shit oh San Jose is going to give you a chance

damn it you're just rooting for this guy and and you know spoiler alert things work out in the end but what a what a run going back to your childhood. And I don't know how we'll kind of navigate between the hockey stuff and the fun stories. And then there's some other stuff.

But we'll do our best. Childhood, we all had them. And yours, it shaped who you are and the roads that you traveled, both good and bad. From, I guess, stepfather, if you want to call him that, Brad, who was, you know, a terrible person in your life here. this guy physically and emotionally and verbally beating you and your mom and your sister and all of this. What was childhood like for you now when you look back at it? We don't know any different when we're kids. What was it like growing up here?

Well, I don't know any different. It's all I know. What about Brandt's childhood looking back now? Well, I think looking back, I have a three and a half-year-old son now named Kane. and the love and protection I have for him, anybody was to just even look at that kid the wrong way. I mean, it's, I'm fighting right away. So I can't understand the physical abuse from parents.

I don't understand. And I'm still working on it today. And so up until maybe eight years old, seven maybe when we went to grandma and grandpa's and Grand Center, my life changed. And I called them like my angels, you know, and they took me in. And my father came into my life when I was 12, Bob. And, you know, actually, once I got away from the physical abuse, you know, my grandparents are drinkers, but they were functioning alcoholics, and they never, ever hit, you know, I got hit once, maybe. I stole his truck. But other than that, it was it was good my dad was around after i was 12 so we were always going to the rink and

playing hockey every day literally so yeah you know what it was after that it was it was good we'll get more into the family stuff as as we move on because there's when you talk about painkiller there's it's not two halves but in a way there is there's the hockey side and then there's the real life side and they are obviously intertwined throughout the book but we'll talk some hockey i suppose you grew up in northern alberta you're an oiler fan uh you're you're playing junior you weren't and we'll talk about fighting too because that that was one of those things did you was there a time there had to have been a time probably you're you're younger you're in junior where you like scrapping you like

the fighting aspect because you were good at it you had to have liked it i think that's the only reason why i liked it is that i had confidence early on um when i was 15 going to portland camp you got listed back then and I had a couple fights and did did well but if I would have got knocked out at that age, nah, I would have never done it again. Um, and then the confidence just grew. And I grew as a player and as a, as a human, I got bigger. Um, you know what, quite honestly, boom, I think it was my dad. I wanted to make my dad proud. You know, my dad told me, he said, you better put like a tough, tough son of a bitch every fucking game. Yeah. Literally. So I'm like, okay, I'm going to make my dad proud.

And the meaner I played, you know, the more slurpees I got on the way home. Like, that's just how it was. Yeah. Yeah. And you look back and now that you're a dad, you have a different lens that you kind of see it through. But different time back then, everybody's different. We all just wanted to make our dad's proud back. Yeah.

100%. Yeah. 100%. Well, it got you. I mean, it got you to the National Hockey League. And a guy that would appreciate all that. It was Phil. Espozito. He loved that brand of hockey and it's like you almost hear his voice reading reading the book when he's talking to you know, Roman Hammer.

Tampa Bay. That's, it's a little different now. We see Kuturov and Stanley Cups in Tampa Bay. It wasn't always that way. You, you were a lightning before it was kind of cool to be a Tampa Bay lightning, right? Yeah, we had, we had, our camp was out in, oh my God, I carry him. Anyways, our sponsor. was Hooters. And that's literally where we went for wings and beer after practice. So this was 92. And it was amazing. Oh my God, was it fun? We had, I think Denny Savard

was there and Darren Poop. But anyways, so Hooters was our sponsor and Roman was selected first overall. And we just became buddies after we fought. We became buddies. And what a place to get dropped?

My dad told me, though, when I got drafted, he said, son, he said, getting drafted, you know, I'm really proud of you. I'll give you a hug. He said, but the works literally just started. And he was right. And he said, when you go to camp, he said, you got to continue this, you know, playing like a prick. You got to continue. And so that back then, that's the type of players that, you know, we're cracking the lineup from the minors back then.

Yeah. I mean, he wasn't wrong, right? No, no. like it or not, it was it was what got you drafted because you were big, you were intimidating and you were good at it. And that's, especially for a team like Tampa, when you're a new team and you're trying to get a fan base and get people excited about your team, you're the kind of guy that's going to put some bums in seats potentially.

Hammer looks a great player. He goes first overall. But, you know, fans in a non-traditional hockey market, they're not going to be gravitated towards that necessarily. Well, guess who went to the scrimmages and the exit? They wanted to watch the girl go with. That's right. So Phil knew that we needed some type of, you know,

don't get me wrong, Mano was, she was awesome. Yeah. Incredible, right? But my point is, is that we set a record that's never been broken for an indoor game when she played that night. So it's like 28,000 people at the Thunderdome. So, like, it was, you know, that's when we've played in this baseball All arena and they put a...

It was just... It was so cool to look back and actually, like, when I, as you're bringing these stories up in the book that I wrote about, it's cool to like revisit and go back. Think about it. Is this the time I ask about the dollhouse?

Or we do that a little bit later? That's the other thing you look back. Strippers, a big part of the Brent Meyer's story. Yeah. Well, again, boom, you know back then, like, um, They didn't have loonies in Tampa back then or tunis. They were dollar bills. And for some reason, I don't know, it was just something that we, again, the Hooters, you know,

beer and wings, right? Okay, well, we got back from a road trip at, you know, midnight. It closed at 2 o'clock. Well, of course we're going to go to the dollhouse till it closes. Yeah. You know, and that's just how the boys rolled back then. We just, we were always hanging out together. than it was never one or two guys at the dollhouse.

It was like, you know, at least five or six. We all, so, yeah, it's changed. It's, yeah, it has changed for sure. It's, uh, now it's, uh, Xbox in the, uh, in the hotel rooms. It was a little bit different then for sure. So you get drafted by Tampa, you go to Tampa, you're doing your thing. And, and then it's Edmonton, right? It's, and this, this is going to be the dream come true for the Alberta kid,

going to play for the Oilers. Yeah. It didn't end up that way for you, I guess. What happened with Edmonton? Well, boy, oh, boy, was Brant Myers not ready for that one? I was, you know, I was, again, I came into camp way overweight. My body thought I think was 25%, 23, whatever it was. It was insane.

And then I fought right off the bat. I thought, I didn't have a contract. And Glenn Sather was like, well, you want a fucking one way, come to camp and earn it. And I'm like, okay. I'm going to come and show you. Well, I get beat up by Bruchier, and then I don't fight Denny Vial. Long story short,

I just packed up my bags, and I said, I'm going back to Grand Center, and they're like, why? I'm like, I got to get out of here. So I did, and they traded me to Philly. And too bad, but, you know, when you're, I realize now about guys playing in their hometown,

like you have 25 people at the game, You know, I'm getting my nose smashed in. My grandma's crying in the stands. Like, it's a different atmosphere when you're playing in your hometown. Yeah. Yeah. And I have a question for you probably near the end. You think about the things, whether it's mistakes or however you look at it,

it's things that happened in your life that shaped ultimately who you are. And where you are right now, you have to look back and think, I can't change any of it. And I, you almost party you wouldn't want to change it because it's made you who you are. I just wonder of the of the things that went sideways, maybe where the Edmonton being an oiler, where that didn't happen for you, where that sits on your, not regrets,

but things that's like, shit, that would have been cool if that would have gone differently. No, boom. Actually, and then nothing against Edmonton, because I lived here. I love it.

But I got to go to Philly. Do you see our team? I walk in, and the first guy is Big E that comes up to me. And I'm, I can't, then the next guy's Paul coffee. Yeah. Who is like, you know, there's four guys on the Oilers in the 80s that were gods to me. And he was one of them. So here I am playing in the, like it was, Ron Hextall was in, I mean, it was just mind blowing Bobby Clark. So it worked out. Believe me for the best. And, uh, man, oh man, what a fuck. That's the team that I regret.

Yeah. Not Edmont. I regret. I regret. I regret. not not holding up my end of the bargain in philly because clarky said he was going to release me he sure did um but anyway so that that's the team that i really regret you had some times there and i'm kind of just going off of what was in the book but it's uh you and lindross kind of started being running mates and you're you're taking limos into new york you're at letterman you're doing all kinds of i know it was wild right it was just in i couldn't uh i couldn't i couldn't i couldn't scripted it any better to be to be quite honest you know and uh you know biggie was we were both single and um again back then everybody hung out you know so like it was just and that was my first private plane that i

flew on because in tampa we flew commercial and in edmonton so you you were flying commercial so all a sudden i'm so everything was new to me you know new york letterman all this stuff was just coming at me as a 24 and i didn't i didn't know how to handle it other than you know medicaid through that whole thing, right? Yeah. I mean, I got infected with the bug of addiction when I was young, I believe. And then it really kicked into gear with the cocaine in Philly. I was going to ask you because Philly, there's something about Philadelphia that's

I've always, it's a tough town, it's real. There's New York and there's L.A. And then somewhere in the middle, there's Philly. And Philly people, I'm trying to remember Kelsey's speech there after they won the Super Bowl. No one fucking likes us. We don't care. There's something about Philadelphia, that town.

They've always appreciated tough guys in Philly, and you were one of those guys. They always say, a guy, I'll ever buy a beer in this town? I'm guessing there were a lot of free beers for you back in those days. Well, there were, but remember, I was trying to hide in those pubs so that nobody would see me because I was already labeled as a bad influence on the players. So, but funny, I'll tell you about Philly. So there's a story in the book I write about these two girls that come to my house and we stay up doing cocaine. And then I have to get into their car because my tire is flat.

And they're driving me to practice. Well, about a year ago, I got a Facebook message. And this girl, this girl's like, it was, it was me and my sister. And I, as I'm like, oh, my, it was. It was. It was the two girls. Wild. So not just two girls, but sisters.

Sisters. Well done, Brad Myers. Well done. Yeah. There was a few times you were in a one-on-two situation in hockey. That's not good. But other times it's not bad. Short-handed, not so much.

That's okay. We'll deal with it. Yeah, usually it was just me one-on-one, but, you know, Philly was, yeah. Yeah, good times. Yeah, good times. Hey, guys, it's Pinder with the brand new location of professional skates. One of the original hockey institutions of Calgary were just on 42nd Avenue Southeast off Blackfoot Trail. Let's check it out. Okay, guys, we're here.

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Get your tickets at calvesfc.com. Let's get back to another summer edition of Barnburner. Because again, with going out of the book, it did, I was going to ask you, it felt like maybe as great as Philadelphia is, that's where the addiction kind of got put its teeth into you, sunk its hooks into you. You know, in hindsight, was there anything, is there any rationale to you as why it went the way it did there? I think I was, I wasn't used to the notoriety. And then I want, when you do cocaine and you do a line of Coke before you go into the bar and people start noticing.

you and wanting pictures or what back then it was if somebody had a rollie whatever those cameras were or an autograph cocaine makes you feel superior so that even takes you to a different level so the feeling that i had back then um i loved it and um it just became a habit for me when i would go out you know somebody on the miners in the philadelphia phantoms you guys would know who he is but he was the one that had the coke dealer so i just you know i'd get a hold of him and then it got dark. Now I'm not sleeping going to practice. And so that would have been my first treatment center in 2000.

I'm sorry, 1998 would have been my first treatment center in L.A. That had to have been a tough one. When you know you're in a good spot, your career is going well, but you also know, did you know that you were kind of riding a fine line, even though Bobby Clark's telling you, look, you've got to clean this up or we're getting the hell out of here, but you kind of continue down that path? Did you think that the threat's surreal? Did you know how close you were to being sent packing or did it kind of blind signed you?

It really did. Paul Coffey used to call me Knuckles. He called me in the morning and he said, you get the USA Today. I said, no, what's on it? He goes, you're in it. And I go, what do you mean? He goes, they just put you on waivers. Yeah.

I go, you got to be fucking kidding. me and I drove all the way to the rink sure enough because I told you I wasn't fucking around yeah and then the next day I broke down and I called the league and I didn't know what to say other than I think I need help and uh they go we've got a guy named Dan Cron and he'll be there in a couple days and then um from that moment on was my now I'm entering the you know the alcoholic's anonymous drug addiction treatment thing that that went on from 24 until I got out of the game at 33, I think. So, yeah, it's a long time.

Yeah, in and out of rehabs. And you hated the rehabs. You didn't think you were supposed to be there. And I guess that's probably like anybody. Whatever your addiction is, big or small. Yeah. You probably, yeah, I need help. But I don't need that kind of help.

I'm not one of those people. Like you said, I'm not living out of a cardboard box. a bridge. I drink a little too much. I mean, you know, I'm into the cocaine a little bit here, but I mean, come on, this is a small fix. When was it, I guess, that you, even before maybe a rock bottom, and we'll talk about it. But where was it where you probably admitted to yourself, okay, this is, this is not just me having a few too many beers or having some fun on the weekend. when I blacked out my last time in 2000 and it would have been eight early with the police on me because it was the first time boom that I actually don't remember anything and at that time it was

I had the butcher knife out and my sister by her throat and all I remember is just being handcuffed in the snow yeah and you know what's crazy because and reading the book and it's not it sounds crazy that you could have gotten to that point because you'd been through what four rehabs at that point you've been kicked out of the league four times you've been Nashville Washington Boston you've been in and out of so many teams and I but and I think that's how it is but to to have gotten to I guess that because that kind of was your rock bottom to only get to that point then and think I do have a problem is it's hard for onlookers to wrap their heads around which is must, well, it's so hard for people who are around those with addictions

to watch the, what looks to be self-sabotage, but it's not. You don't really know. Well, and I was the lucky one to get it after the fifth one. There's tens of thousands of people dying a year in Canada that don't get it, right? From a young age to old. So I was the lucky that got five chances at this thing. And I'm grateful every day for that, for the league to never give up. But yeah, and I was having a baby boom. Like my daughter was being born, right?

In five days once I got into treatment. So I had a different reason to, not a different reason. I just had a reason to get sober this time. You know, the hockey, I didn't like fighting it. Once you're 26, 27, and he fought 180 times. you're like, fuck this.

Yeah. You know, fucking hate this. Yeah. But now I got a baby coming. And I didn't want her daddy to, or her to know her daddy like that. So, yeah, it was a reason for me. Yeah. February 18th, I believe, was, uh, was the date going into, uh,

yes, 2008. And at, in a weird way, you, you had everything that you kind of wanted. You wanted the, I wanted the house at the lake. I want a ski boat. I want some money in the bank. I want some buddies around. have some, you know, some women along the way. You had it all.

Yeah. And on, in one hand, it damn near killed you. And on the other hand, maybe it did save your life because that's kind of, that's kind of what took you. That's kind of what pulled you down. That I don't want you to go into, it's in the book and I recommend everybody read it, but you kind of touched on it there. Hard to gloss over the, I had a butcher knife and my sister by the throat. That was a tough day.

You don't remember the fine details, but what do you remember about February 18th, 2008? Well, I joke about a cocaine dealer saving my life, and he did, because when you do Coke, you don't blackout. And he showed up at my house every day for the, you know, two years that I text him within 15 minutes. And he never got back to me that night. So I started drinking. And I drank a lot. I drank every bottle in that fridge. And I don't remember, all I remember is I was handcuffed in the snow and I looked back

and my sister was crying in the doorway. And I, I just said, what did, what did that BITCH do? She got me arrested. And the cops were like, no, no, no. She took pictures of everything. You go, what? So I got to a point where I was so scared that I was going to, you know, I was threatening to kill myself. And I go, whoa, Brand, this is way bigger now than, than you realize, buddy.

And so when I went into my fifth treatment center a few days later, as they say, you know, I surrendered. I said, I'm done. So I really need help and I can't continue this way. And when I really wanted to start learning about Brandt Myers, things changed. Yeah. And it's, it was kind of that way with your addiction. And I think it's safe to say it was that way.

with your hockey career too, where it's, your last NHL fight was a devastating one for you. At that, and then, you know, then you get caught again with, with cocaine in your system, and you know, without being told in so many words,

my NHL career's over. Yeah. So you go overseas and you play in, you know, you play in Europe. Yeah. And you learn there, this, this is, this is over. I'm done here.

There were just a lot of things. It's safe to say that, that came into your path that were just clear indicators, this way of life is done for me. Yeah, when my car that was getting put up on a tow truck, yeah, I just finished playing in the NHL for 10 years and, you know, I can't make a car payment. Like, what the fuck am I doing with my life?

Like, Brand, you know, and so anyways, but you know what, boom? was as you, the, the autobiography that you have in front of you, as Dean Lombardi told me in L.A., he said, this quite honestly, Brand, he said, I wouldn't have hired you unless you went through all this. He said, you can't learn this stuff from reading about it. And he was right. Like I, the amount of messages and people I've been able to get in contact with because of this book and maybe save somebody's, not save their life, but maybe help them along on their journey. I had to go through all this shit.

And so I see the bigger purpose now. I didn't see it when I was in stage three or four. I'll tell you that. You know, so. Probably an indicator too. Each time you'd gone into rehab and you'd been to one of the facilities, you couldn't wait to get out. This is BS that I'm in here.

When do I get out? And then the last time you were afraid that they might send you out. Yeah. that you might be done. You're like, Jesus, I don't want to leave. What's that like when you get to that point, I suppose, when you're in rehab and everything has changed where you're almost frightened to be considered good enough to leave?

Oh, boom, you're asking some good questions today. You did your homework. I think I was yearning for family, you know. And so being around all those people and the nurses and everybody that cared about you, It was, it was, it, I just, I needed, I needed love in my life. And, and I was getting it there. And I didn't want to leave.

But I knew at eight months, I was ready to go home. And I had my little daughter that I hadn't met yet. But yeah, a story of point in Oregon, that place was like, I don't even know how to explain it. It really, really, yeah, it was amazing. Yeah. it's here you are your whatever six four two 25 tough guy and the one thing that was missing from you'd had millions dollars and success and all this and the one thing that was pretty obvious is you

you didn't have love in your life and it's it's a lonely place i can imagine um when when things are great there's lots of people by your side running full tilt with you and you feel like you're I'm hugely, but look at it. Everybody loves me. Everybody loves me. And then that goes away and there's no one left. That is dark and cold.

Yeah. Yeah. And that's, I think that's why when you have a baby or I was looking forward to the child, I didn't know what to expect, but I was under the understanding

that this little girl is going to change my life, you know? And it gave me, like I said, It gave me purpose finally other than, you know, me trying to dodge piss testers. It just gave me purpose. And, yeah, it was, it was, man, oh man, those years before that were so tough that emotionally, I'm surprised I made it through it, to be quite honest. Yeah. Yeah, it's a great book.

Painkiller, a memoir of Big League Addiction with Brandt Myers. And this was all you, right? I can kind of, you can tell when some books are written by professional writers and it's very well crafted. And not to say this isn't, because it's very well written and it's well, but I have no doubt it's you who penned this. This is your words, the way that you talk. This is very real. Why did you, why did you get to the point to write the story? Because it's, you reveal a lot.

It's not, it's not flattering in a lot of ways, but it's, but it's real and it's an amazing story. well first off we'll chat about nick garrison who helped me write it so he did all the editing and everything i mean there's stuff in there that that he edited and and and he helped me with and um but he asked me when i sent him the original manuscript did anybody help you with this and i said no and he goes hmm and uh yeah and uh i go i've just been writing for years in this journal and he goes okay So they turned the book down at Penguin the first time. They didn't want another hockey book. And he goes, listen, this isn't a hockey book.

He goes, it's part of his life. He says, but it just let me tell you about it. There's so, and that's how I like to explain it. Hockey was part of my life. But that's not necessary. This isn't a hockey book. Exactly. And so I just took all these years of journaling.

And I wrote it in a way that I just thought, If somebody's watching a long movie, how would they like to watch this movie? And that's how I wrote it right from the start when I was little. And then everything that I could, these stories that I remembered, I just kept writing. And then it, you know, took a year and a half to edit it and get it all ready to go. But that's sort of how I did it. It's like everything else. Every, every, whatever you're going to call a pothole or speed bump along the way, it shapes who we are.

And to get to the end of the book, without seeing the path that got you there, without seeing how many times you found that banana peel, but found a way to get back up. And I'll tell you what, man, I think with like a lot of people who have addiction, have suffered with it, you're a good bullshitter. Yeah. As many, right, as many times as you got caught and got suspended and got kicked out of the game and rehabbing all that. Holy shit, dude, you were a good bullshitter.

Well, you know how kids, you know how kids like with Kane? now like you know hey buddy if you go poop on the potty i'll give you a jelly bean right like that was my darrell sutter so darrell sutter was the guy that always had the jelly beans in the case and he'd say to me you know brand you know i've got a you know the the jelly bean was the contract for me and so um thank god for darrell because like i respected that man so much that when he told me if you if you get your if you stay sober and you stay committed, Brand, I'll sign you to a contract, whether it was with San Jose or it was

with Calgary at the end, I believed him. And and, and, and, and, staying sober for two years, you know, so I'm really grateful I had men along my journey like Darrell that actually, um, believed in Brand. And, and, and then, and then I wanted to go

the extra distance for him, not necessarily me. Yeah. It's funny. I, because back in those days, back in that time, I was at the rank every day. I was working at the radio station and we were doing all the games. And every once in a while, Darrell would pop in. It was the hot stove lounge and we'd be sitting there and the couch was in there.

And Darrell would maybe slide by and just sit around for a while. And we talked about Chuck Wagons or Farman or the weather. You know, we didn't want to talk about hockey with them. But it's, I don't even know if it was official then. But he brought up your name or we knew that something was in the works. And he's not one to. wax poetic and go on a great deal, but he's like, I just remember, tough son of a bitch, guy's been through a lot.

He deserves a, he deserves a shot. And there again, when you go through life and you feel like you don't have a lot of people in your fan club and you don't have a lot of people that have your back, the few that do, it's ride or die with those people. Yeah. Harold's one of those guys for you for me. And it started in San Jose. I was literally sitting by myself in the stands during training camp.

And he saw me up there. And he walked all the way up, said, hey, can I grab a seat? I said, yes. And he talks to me about, you know, alcoholism and his family for 30 minutes. And it was instant for me. I'm like, I really looked at him like a father figure at that point, you know. And then it just continued the whole way, all the way throughout my whole career, you know. And so, yeah, that man to me was just real special.

And then I don't know how tight he was to your landing in Los Angeles. Again, don't want to give away the book, but you get your life on track and you're looking to, you're looking to, here's the guy with the grade nine education, as you mentioned in the book. I got my grade nine. It was Jethro Bodine did he have in the Beverly Hill? He's like he had a grade nine or a grade seven. Anyway, you had your grade nine. Yeah, yeah.

The millions were gone. The running mates, they were long gone. How am I doing us back together? And the L.A. Kings, again, Dean Lombardi and maybe Daryl Sutter, throw you a lifeline, but at the same time, you were the right guy in that spot. Tell us about that job and about joining L.A. Yeah, I wrote proposals to the N.HL.P.A. and the NHL. for I think seven or eight years.

And every year on my sobriety birthday, I'd FedEx them to the league and to the union. Never heard nothing. But I did it every year. And all of a sudden one day in Pantycton, my phone beeped and it was Lombardi. And then he just said, hey, can you get to L.A.?

And it was just so happens that Daryl was the head coach. And Dean, I had Dean and Daryl in San Jose. Anyways. And yeah, it was just, you know, Hey, I had that. He goes, how are we going to do it? I said, it's right here. I goes, I've been thinking about this for years, you know. And he goes, okay. He goes, let's do it. And then, so I did that for three years. They got let go in my third year. And then, you know, Rob Blake put his own stamp on the team. And then I believe the only other team that did it was Calgary

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I guess just to kind of, for people that haven't read the book, so what was it exactly? Obviously, you're clean and you're sober and you're trying to help out teams now that maybe have players that are finding those outer edges of sobriety. Yep. It's literally a basically a, you know, a confidant liaison on that's confidential.

The way that I staged it, as you read in the book, there's different stages to this thing. And, you know, it's just like, hey, what I have used Bob Probert back in the day, when I was playing, you know, Probe or McSorley or any of these guys that were in sobriety that wanted to work with me, 100%. We do it now on Zoom

with all these NHL guys that are on these AA meetings. So of course I would have done it back then. So that's all it is. It's just a support system for these guys that aren't doctors or team physicians or anybody that can X out your million dollar contract. That's when I would come into play. So that's the program we ran there.

And like you say, it's tough for a young guy to be forthcoming and to be vulnerable and to admit that there's something going sideways, it's even harder if it's a guy who's maybe never put on skates or they have no idea what your life experience is or the path that you've walked. It's a little different when it's a guy who's been in the NHL who has had ups but has had plenty of downs and has made it through to the other side.

There's more credence when that guy, when you are in a locker room or when you're having that one-on-one with somebody who's maybe got an issue. yeah i was able to sit and talk with matt green and rob scadere and um who also is a little bit of an older and my point is i was able to chat with guys about when i played in the league you know drew dowdy thought i was a goal score he's like so many goals you know do i i protect the guys like you nobody i did you know so yeah but anyways it oh you you almost need that street credit and i think

that's when Brian, I don't, like, I know that he got hired in Calgary. But I think with Brian being who Brian was, I think he instantly got credibility from the young and the older guys on that team. And there's something about the enforcers, right? It's, it's kind of like maybe why you see a lot of third or fourth line guys become good coaches. They're just, there's, they're just, they're made, closer to being real people, I guess, maybe. I don't know if that's accurate or not, but I think it always,

fans find it a little easier to relate with, with enforcers and with blue collar guys, and I'm guessing it's the same in locker rooms. You'd be an easy guy to kind of feel like you could sit down and have a coffee with, and there's no pretense, no, he's not pretentious or got a big ego there. That helps. Oh, I, out of my whole career, I played on 17 pro teams. I don't know if there was one guy that was a,

so-called protector that was a bad guy you had to be a good guy in the dressing room to get that job you just had to you know it was tough that you've got the one photo in the book after your last n hl fight against george lorak and and you detail in there about just how sick you were to your stomach on one hand hey i'm in the show i'm back in the nchl but on the other hand this is this is the last thing I want to have happen. And I often wonder for guys like McGratton and just tough guys, you don't win them all. And that was, that one went, that was not a good one for you. But there again, how important was that one?

Because it was, there was no debate. You were done. Yeah. But here's a thing too, boom, as you just read, like, I stayed sober for two years because there was a lockout prior to that. Yeah. right for a full year so i'm staying sober for two years i'm praying they don't reinstate me for the edmontonroller game you're gonna fucking put me against the number one heavyweight in the

national hockey league my first game back and yep what do you know darrell walks in and i my heart just sunk i'm like can we wait till anaheim no you're going the fucking you're going the big boy right off the bat so i knew when i went back to the hotel and i started to shake in bed that my head wasn't doing well with the role. And then when I got out on the ice, I just remember him asking me, hey, you're ready to rock? And I said, can we go later?

He said, no, we're going now. And I said, okay. And then I don't remember much after that other than grabbing my eye. Yeah. And then the next best feeling I had is when the doctor said, you'll never fight again. And to me, that was the biggest relief I've had in 17 years, maybe even longer.

I was done. And it took that to happen. But, you know, I guess if you're going to go out, you go out with a guy like, you know, hey, I went out fighting and swinging. I guess, yeah, you definitely did. Yeah, you definitely did. And like I said earlier on, there's so many things that happened to you where from the outside, it seemed obvious that things were heading in a certain direction. But without that final, you know, nail to drive at home, maybe things don't. end up whether it's sobriety you're an hl career being a fighter that whole thing it was very evident

at every one of those mile markers that yeah yeah yeah it was not yeah yeah it was and um you know looking back at it as a 16 year old boy i mean man we're just sort of kids you know and and you know back then we we'd take our helmets off and fight yeah you know and um so but i'll tell you what my son wants to watch Rocky 3 every day now. There you go. Yeah. And you know what? I got him little boxing gloves and we wrote yesterday punching around. So, you know, and he, that's, boom, by the way, that's his favorite picture in the book is the black guy. Oh, geez.

He grabs it. He goes, he goes, Daddy George. Daddy George. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

You know, that was kind of a neat thing too, that there is that code among, you know, the tough guys in that. that George reaches out after he kind of breaks your face. Yeah, that was sort of cool. Yeah. And I mean, I saw George about two, three weeks ago. He was training Matt Renpe. Right. I saw that.

Yeah, yeah. And in Edmonton. And when I told my son that I, he goes, where are you going? I said, I'm going to see George. He goes, oh, no, daddy, no. Not again, dad. I go, no, buddy, it's all good. Yeah.

I just went there and saw those those two gentlemen he was teaching them or not teach him he was just show him a few pointers you know so it was good to see him yeah it's a it's a great read your store like I said at the beginning no one has your story and I it's it's it's just by the grace of God man and it's how many ways that you're here talking to me about it today because there were not there was any spots whether it's a motorcycle accident with with Bob Probert or a car wreck where you go through. And that was the other thing too,

just seeing how something like driving your car through a wall in your house, oh, yeah. Don't worry, we'll fix the wall. What's the big deal? Just how accustomed you get to that. To the insanity. Yes. Yeah, it's the,

you become accustomed to the insanity of the disease because getting in your car naked going to 7-Eleven was sort of, that isn't out what you do. Yeah. Like, you know, like, you know, I got a cowboy hat on. Yeah. I got the, I got the cowboy hat and the cowboy boots.

That's all I need here. I'm from Alberta. Yeah. Yeah. You can justify anything in your disease, really. Yeah. And, yeah, crazy. I did like the one point.

If, if you've never had a phone conversation where you lose a million, $1.5 million dollars, you can't know what that was like. I was with Rich Winter. Yeah, that's right, too. Rich winner, I'll tell you what, there's a unique guy. I've talked to him a few times over the years, and he is a unique dude, but a saint for what he went through with you. Yeah, and he, for him to get me one-way contracts out of my third rehab was, was pretty impressive. Yeah.

I like the one where it's, you owe me and my family, a trip to Disney. A trip to Disneyland. I know. I go, why? He goes, well, that's what my agent fee would have cost. Yeah, I'd have been able to take my family to Disney. If you'd have just kept your shit together, you'd have had a deal in Anaheim. But never mind, that's fine.

That's exactly what he said. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you can obviously, and I, I didn't, you don't realize just where you were that as bad as things were when you were still, you know, on the booze and on the drugs, almost felt more. for you when you were sober but you couldn't yet you didn't have credit you can't get a credit card it's hard to find a job you have no money in the bank almost felt felt worse for you when when you had straightened your shit out but couldn't couldn't get that you know couldn't get traction at the very beginning trying to get uh get back into the real world well for anybody that's newly sober

trying to get sober i talked about this on my podcast a couple days ago that it took a little over two years for me to get my break. And I had to put the work in and I had to, I had to stay sober and I went to 365 meetings in a year because they told me to. Yeah. And I had to stay sober whether I had five bucks in the bank or I had five million. And that's what you learn in recovery is that you, you don't, no matter what. So I got my break at two years.

And I made, and I did what I made good of it when I went to Calgary and started that academy. But my point is don't think that like in the first, it could happen. But most cases, like anything in life, man, you got to hit the pavement. You got to work. And you got to, you know, you got to earn your seat here. And that's what I did. I tried to earn my seat and stay sober, whether financially it was tough, man, because I had the baby. I had no money.

I had to borrow. I had to look for change in a jar to get gas in my car. Like. And then all of a sudden, when. it changed though it's it's i've never looked back and it's been it's 2024 so my life changed in 2000 and uh when i got that job and 11 so it's been a nice run since then you know but it's a rough ride for someone who's coming back from that because when you're used to when you're used to go into the bottle or you're used to getting into the drugs to help like you say medicate when

shit goes sideways, that's, that's got to be the hardest thing in the world, because the only thing, the only coping strategy you have when things go poorly is to get, is to get drunk or get high. And here you are where it's so incredibly difficult, am I ever going to get a job? Am I ever going to be able to get my, my life right? To be able to resist that temptation has to be incredible. Yeah, it was, but it was also, I knew that, I knew, I knew, I was smart enough even with only grade nine to know a couple things. One, if I go back to the way I was, I definitely will not rebuild my life. There's no financial security common.

There's no great dad cards for Christmas coming. But if I stay sober, I have a chance. There's a chance. And I just needed a chance. Like when Darrell had the jelly bean full of, or the jar full of jelly beans, I needed a jelly bean. Yeah. And God was my jelly bean.

Like I had to have faith now that this was going to work out. And slowly, but surely, it worked out. The book, like you say, it's a hockey book, but it isn't. If anybody's listening or seeing this right now and is in that battle, I can't recommend it enough. I'm not someone who's been there, but I've, you know, we've all had our struggles with different things. And there's so much relatable.

You're a very relatable guy. and to read all this. And the other thing, too, is just when you think maybe you're free and you're safe, you're not, right? It's you thought, do I really need to go to the meeting? Do I need to continue this? I'm good. It's tough because you just aren't ever, are you? No, I was, I believe that I was, certain people have certain things in their life that they,

if you want to call them a deck of cards, right? And in my deck of cards, you know, the hand I had was addiction. And that's fine. I've learned how to, you know, I've learned how to play the hand. I've learned how to play the hand. I folded a lot, my whole life, I folded. But I've learned how to play now. And, you know, as long as I continue to, the big thing for me, boom,

is to stay humble and have a gratitude list. because when I start thinking about the things that I don't have in my life, I can get depressed real easy. But when I'm grateful for looking around now and what I've rebuilt back as a guy that was suspended for life from the National Hockey, because of cocaine, how can I not be grateful? You know, so that's how I try to live. The material stuff, the older we get, right?

It's, yeah, that's nice. That's shiny, but that's not really what matters. It's about kids, family, that love that you went without for so long. Having that coming back to you is what gets you through. So as we kind of put a bow on it, what are, as we're here in 2024 and it's summer, what's Brett Myers up to aside from the podcast? And we'll talk more about that before we go. Oh, what am I up to?

Yeah. Working on a sort of a cool special project with an old friend Sheldon Surrey. I was down in Idaho doing some filming for the day. So I've got that. Actually, I got a meeting right after that with these people. And that'd be really cool. So there's that, the podcast that I've started, that I just love doing it, I like it.

And then I've got a three and a half year old that I'm taking care of pretty much full time. So that in itself, man, when I'm. When it hits 8.30 and I want to go to bed and like, you know, whatever, write my journal and just relax. You're like, holy crap. Because now the daycare, they have their summer week off. So, you know, that's what I told you, boom. I said, let's get her done early because he's sleeping. Yeah.

Yeah. Kids keep you young, man. Like me, you got some gray going, but nothing like a three-year-old to keep you on your toes, buddy. Well, when we wake up after the meeting, we're going to a friend of mine named Steve Parsons. I think you know Big Steve. Out of boy. Yeah. Big Parsy.

So we're going to stay with Percy and then stay with him for a couple days and then come back to back to him. Nice. Well, it's good to see you and good to talk to you again. It's been a long time. But I guess with COVID and time passes, it's been a long time since I've seen you. But it was, I feel like it was kind of one of those things. you popped up in my timeline on social media and then there's the book and then we're doing these kind of interviews in the summer. This is a great time to catch up. The book is pain killer.

It's not new. It was new to me, 2021. Get on board, Bo. Get with it. But if you are looking for that read and very seriously, if there's something in your life, maybe it's addiction, maybe whatever it is, but if you're looking for a little bit of a little bit of fuel for your tank, if you need a little inspiration needing a little bit of push uh what brent meyers went through and is back through here on the other side man it's uh it's a great story and something we can all take something from so congrats on the book and the podcast and the kids and the family and being where you're at it's uh it is awesome to see you doing so well pal yeah buddy no i appreciate it it's uh like i said i i love talking to that to the i wouldn't say old boys but i've listened to you for so long you know that like it's this

Yeah, I love it. It's great. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. Thanks, buddy.