Barn Burner: Boomer & Pinder with Rhett Warrener - Brian McGrattan (FULL INTERVIEW)

Episode Date: July 29, 2025

FN Barn Burner: Boomer, Pinder & WarrenerBarn Burner is your go-to daily NHL show based in Calgary, hosted by media veterans Dean "Boomer" Molberg and Ryan Pinder, alongside former NHL defenseman Rhett Warrener. With insider insight, unfiltered takes, and plenty of laughs, the crew covers everything from Calgary Flames news to league-wide stories. Trades, chirps, chaos — if it’s happening in the NHL, Barn Burner’s talking about it.Rhett and Boomer are joined by former NHLer Brian McGrattan as they dive into his hockey journey — from life as an enforcer to the evolution of fighting in today’s game. They also chat about his time in Calgary, his role in the locker room, and much more.SHOW TIMESTAMPS ⏰https://youtu.be/XrplFj3cRAQ- Intro Banter (1:00)- Leaving The NHL (4:00)- Fighting Today (10:00)- Dennis Bonvie (19:00)- Fighting Domi (32:00)- Coaching (36:30)- Getting Back In The NHL (46:00)- Playing On Different Teams (48:30)- Playing In Calgary (50:00)- Questions From Fans (54:00)- Sutter (55:00)- Red Bulls (01:03:00)- Amazing Goal (01:05:00)Subscribe to @Flames_Nation on Youtube🚨➡️ / @flames_nation 🔥 After Burner ➡️ • FlamesNation Afterburner 📲 Follow us:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fnbarnburner/X (Twitter): https://x.com/barnburnerfn?lang=en🎧 Listen on:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/be/podcast/barn-burner-boomer-pinder-with-rhett-warrener/id1648562889Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Mc6Qd5U22R2zbMlQ7RxIiBARN BURNER BLONDE https://originbrewing.myshopify.comFLAMESNATION MERCHhttps://nationgear.ca/collections/flamesnationBARN BURNER SHORTShttps://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:NATION. http://www.bet365.ca/ 👍🏼 McLEOD LAW https://www.mcleod-law.com/👍🏼 VILLAGE HONDA https://www.villagehonda.com/👍🏼 OUTDOOR DENTAL https://www.outdoor.dental/👍🏼 ORIGIN BREWING https://originbrewing.ca 👍🏼 Crystal Waters Plumbing Company https://crystalclearcalgary.com/👍🏼 BON TON MEATS: https://www.bontonmeatmarket.com/index.html👍🏼 GRETA YYC: https://www.gretabar.com/locations/calgary#games 👍🏼 Calgary Stampeders: https://www.stampeders.com/Reach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!Producer: Jack Haverstock#NHLPlayoffs #Hockey #HockeyTalk #Playoffs #StanleyCup #EdmontonOilers #StanleyCupFinal #NHL #CalgaryFlames Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You're enormous. I mean, you're in great, are you planning to come back? What is going on here? You know what? Look at this guy. I saw Bertuzi's making a comeback to AAA or something. So I'm wondering. Or did you ever stop?

You just been over hiding somewhere. You know what? I have played more hockey this year than I think it would be comparable to like an NHL season. I think I played around 60 games. Really? What are you doing? And I'm a better player. Well, you're more relaxed.

You're more relaxed. So you're playing to your strengths. I'm allowed to show those soft hands off. That's right. Still have to lay down a life less. Let them know. In these tournaments and these men's league games, someone needs to. Yeah.

Where are you playing a message? I play, you know, I do Flames alumni. Yeah. Sends alumni. And then hooked in with a bunch of charity groups. Easter seals, heart and stroke. Cocky helps the homeless. So play all year and charity tournaments.

And it's cool. Do a bit of traveling. And, you know, I think the coolest part is getting connected with guys throughout different eras and generations and stuff like that. And, you know, being in the Toronto area, I grew up a leaf fan. And, you know, a lot of the events you do in Toronto, you know, Dougie Gilmore, Wendell Clark, Daryl Sittler. Yeah.

Like, super cool. Yeah. And so that's been the fun part of that. And obviously, the hockey stuff's fun. And, you know, got more of a niche to play the last couple years. But I feel like I'm playing more than ever. Because there's some guys they put that gear down at the end of their career. And I was one of them.

I was going to ask that. Yeah, I was one of them. It's like. Too fresh hurt too much to be around. Yeah. Like, you know, you put in a lifetime of work of from when you start, whenever you start skating, three, four, five years old. And then the grind of, you know, making it to junior. And, you know, the long pass up.

And when I finished playing in 2017, I just looked at that gear. was right to the back of the garage and honestly didn't touch it for at least a year, a year and a half. I think I was five. Yeah. Slowly started, you know, when I was working with the flames here, we had staff hockey once every couple weeks.

I slowly, I slowly started coming back on the ice with our staff at the flames and then, you know, kind of. And once you started, you feel good about yourself. Reinvented my career as a, as a superstar

men's league head front specialist too yeah you get a lot of space you get a lot of room I still do yeah I still do it's good good for the playmaking

eh big boy that's right like you would you say you had a pleasant end because we've talked with you plenty it was not

it was not a great end there's not how you wanted it was an end that was an end it just you never expected or want it and you're like yeah

sitting on your ass body's breaking down can't get can't play you go to You go to Europe, it's probably not to stay in the NHL, but you went to Europe. You had that last season. Would you say that was kind of an... You know, it was a great...

I really look back on that decision. I think it was one of the best decisions I made in my career because, you know, the ups and downs of a long career, and those of us that are fortunate enough to do that, it's very hard on the mind, body, family. You know, I wasn't a guy that signed five, six, seven-year deals. I played a 15-year career on one-year deals, so never not knowing where you love to negotiate. That was a July 1st specialist. But, you know, the long taxing haul of that. And then I signed in England.

And who brought that to you? Team kept calling me. They called me two or three times over the course of like legit a month. Yeah. And I was 35 years old. and obviously the NHL window has completely closed of, you know, I finished a year in the minors in San Diego.

I knew I wasn't going to get anything, maybe an American League look, and I would have done that, where I would have went to an American League team and been kind of an older guy mentor. I would have fully have done that. This team kept calling, and, you know,

I've known guys throughout my entire career that I went and finished off in Europe and said, if you ever have the chance to do it, do it. Yeah. life experience different you know going over to england i had no idea what that hockey was going to be like i thought it was awesome yeah and uh you were called hero over there yeah the team i played for i played for the nottingham panthers are um you know our rink i think that rink holds around

seven thousand ninety percent full every game uh the team i played our team qualified for a european cup championship so we were traveling in and out of europe all year playing in different countries And the guys I played with on that team were awesome. Like, I'm still in a group chat with like at least 10 of them that I still talk to. And of all the guys I played with in my entire career, these are the guys I talked to the most. And we had a fantastic group of guys there. And it was a great way to finish it off. I left the game with a little less bitter taste in my mouth.

Yeah. Right? I think you hear that a lot. As you guys know, you guys are around the game a lot. There's less than the 1% that go out the way you want to go out. Everybody else, it's. It's life, man. I mean, that's life in pro sports.

It's not fair. And, you know, like guys like Rhett and some guys go out, they never really get to play again because they're hurt. Yeah. Right? And they have these nagging injuries and they want to get back so bad, but their body won't allow them to and that sucks. Well, then you think two years later you think, why didn't I go?

And then there's guys like me, it's like, okay, it's August 31st here. Like, right? I guess nobody's calling me anymore. still working yeah yeah he's my agent on vacation how many guys have you known that have gone to europe and disliked it like the odd russian story yeah the russian story where he's a bit of a different animal but not very often the guys go to europe anywhere yeah from italy to england to france yeah and there's so many leagues over there and i and i highly recommended to any guy that i talk to that's kind of getting into those later days of their career if you have the

opportune team calls go and do it i saw the video of 35 year old brian madratton getting into it with 36 year old jim van der me oh my god okay so belfast or whatever it was i'll tell you how that happens so so jimmy and i we've had some wars in the and and and pete too and in in the minors because philly when i played in binghamton philly was like our arch rival yeah and um those were the days where there wasn't one heavyweight and one middleweight and it kind of felt like there were three heavyweights and two middleweights in the team and and we had a pretty epic brawl against the philly phantom's um one year i fought jimmy and pete i think i fought pete twice and jimmy once in that line brawl and then um

you know played against jimmy a long time in the nchl anyways fast forward we're 35 and 36 playing in england and i got stuck out on a legit a two-minute show all okay and and we signed this little latvian guy like legit two or three weeks before and he's cutting across the middle of the ice and jimmy absolutely murdered him head down and and i'm just like oh fuck so i go over and grab jimmy against the glass i'm like jimmy what right and and and i have never done this in my career it looked like he dropped his gloves right oh yeah so i dropped one glove and sucker me look at me he's like fuck are you doing right so anyways we just said fuck and then we just went it was a great i've never seen two guys that really had no interest in going like we had no i had to go but but i have never like

dropped one glove and suckered a guy in my entire career but it looked like he did so bang and he's like fuck rat's his helmet and his vice and and and anyways it was a good fight we tow to toe rate at the bench you go to the box and and there wasn't much left in the game and in england shake hands after games so we're getting down i see jimmy come i said he didn't even shake his hand he just gave him a hug i said sorry bro man i didn't need to do that yeah yeah that is still kind of the i mean it's the i don't know i and i don't know how you feel about it i think there's some guys yeah i was a i fought a lot in the n hl and that's all anybody ever wants to talk about like you get sick of talking about it or you enjoy it because you were you were one of the guys

you kind of enjoyed your work not many did yeah i i did yeah and like you said there's not money that i did and rat were played with guys were maybe guys were like me that liked it and there was guys that there was two guys paul lous i think liked it in florida uh i don't even know if razor liked it in buffalo i think before i got there later on he's he stopped liking it as much it gets harder as you get older yeah yeah i think at the start of his career he enjoyed it but by the end he was Work got harder for me was you start getting to know everybody. Oh, you make your rounds and yeah.

And yeah, you somewhat form like a brotherhood with these guys. And, you know, you start seeing a guy that has a family and kids and stuff like that. And your thinking starts to change. When you're thinking starts to change like that. And who can relate to them more than you? It gets dangerous for me. Yeah. because when I was younger, I was like, I'm blood thirsty.

Yeah. I would fight anybody. Yeah. Ten guy, I don't care. Care about you. And you start getting older and stuff. I think when the thinking starts to change, it gets a little bit more dangerous for us. Is it leaving the game or is it going to stick around?

I think I would like to see it gone. Yeah. Yeah. I think it had its special time and place. I think there's just so much dangers around it now. Because I wonder about that. How things, oh, maybe this is different, obviously. But some things are so cyclical.

And we see what Florida is doing right now. It's a form of intimidation. They're the rats. And they get, it's not that. What if it's a little bit more than intimidation? What if it's now more physical? And teams are becoming more truly afraid to play you as opposed to being imposed upon by you.

I don't know. Yeah. My thoughts, I don't know what yours are with Florida's. I think they're a great team. Love them. I'm an alumni and I'm happy to cheer for them and I love how they play. But if I was playing against them, I would not be worried. I wouldn't be worried.

I would just go play. I wouldn't be worried. Why am I? Those guys play hard. They play honest. They play. You got some guys like Chuckie plays on the line. But those guys at the end of the day, they don't strike fear.

You know you're going to be in. it with how hard they play and stuff like that but on a fear level yeah but doesn't it feel like they've gotten into the other team's heads where we have to respond to this it's like no just get just beat them you know how you respond to it is fucking play hard score more goals grow a set of balls and play hard yeah right worrying about getting hit you don't need to bring in a six foot four heavyweight from the miners to play against florida panthers no work your ass your balls a tug And, you know, you're going to be in one here against a hard team and a hard game and show up. Do you like the hockey nowadays?

And I'm not, we're not trying to make this about fighting or this. No, you know what? I hear. But the skill level, you go and you hear about the kids and if you talk to guys, you said it just before the show started. The second first round of the flames picked, there's a speed level and then there's hip. Yeah. Like, some of the stuff these guys do is pretty special. Yeah.

And I'm with you. I'm a huge hockey fan. And, you know, there's certain things that come in and out of the game, I think, as the eras and generations go. And, you know, they're just going to get the kind of the fight fans and the physical fans saying the game is lost. It's not like the game we grew up watching in the 80s and 90s and stuff, but that's not the full game.

They're fighting and the hitting and stuff like that. It's certain parts of some games. games, right? I think the skill level now of someone that's been in this sport my entire life, I am wowed sometimes when I see what these guys and these young kids can do that are closer to the level you get that are coming in at 19 and 20 years old and having an impact right away with this elite high-end skill set. I'm impressed. even guys that aren't considered high-end skill have high-end skill the one thing i think our game has lost is the you know the very intense the intensity of me i worry about that the um

the thing that people love that's one part that i that heart and soul yes that the rivalries the i yeah i yeah so the intense we saw we saw that we saw We thought we had four nations, right? It was like finally, finally we're engaged and we have something to be emotional about. That brought every, that brought every hockey, lifelong hockey fan. Right, like those, the Cichuk boys and all that. Finally, we care about a game. And that game where the fights happened, I think the fights were a bit of a bonus.

That game and the intensity of that game was what every hockey fan has been starving for. And I think it carried on into the playoffs. I think the playoffs are amazing. I think the playoffs were fantastic to watch, really. I do. I always love the playoffs. I was not excited about the four nations. People know that listen, I'm like,

this is a made-up tournament. It's going to be, and after game one, I'm like, this is the best hockey. Maybe we've ever seen it. And it was on the players. If the players didn't give a shit about it, that's that intensity that was in, you know,

that passion and for that desire to win and that heart and soul that the hockey player has always been known for to the sports fan. I want to see that in the, a flames oilers game i want to see that in a leaf sends game of a sends montreal leaf game you don't see that yeah a lot or any i don't sorry i was going to say you look at that florida team and it's guys that hey to look well there's kachuk and there's bennett there's marr shans like yeah those are those are the guys that their give a shit meter is always always regardless uh um i was looking at your

And 100, it's funny because we talk about Commodore all the time. It's like, no one gets more publicity and played fewer games. So you would, you would have think commie played here for 15 years. Right. What did Commy play 19 or 20 games? Like hardly any, hardly any games. You 137 Flames games over four years. You actually played more as a senator.

But it's like 137 games. There's 82 in a regular. That was over four years. But like, you're a Calgary Flames. legend it's what you accomplish how reflame for life the impact you have in those right because i i never really thought about that what's the reaction to you back in ottawa it's it's great you know i go back i'm starting i go back i went uh three times this year our alumni is starting to really grow obviously a bit of a younger organization than most right so getting more connected doing more

alumni events with them. Unfortunately, my little guy, Gabe, is a Sends fan. He likes Ascends and Flames, but he's a Sends fan. They're a team to cheer for coming up. And I, you know, they are. They are going to be from what they're building there. But that's where, you know, I started my career. I played six years in that organization, three in Binghamton, three in Ottawa.

And, you know, it's nice to see the direction and where they're going. And, you know, Stevie Steyos, X Flame, my boy from Hamilton. GM doing a great job there. The new owner's great, too. New owner's awesome. Another Hamilton area guy. I took a couple of Hamilton area guys. Took a couple of Hamilton area guys to write the shift here, right?

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is your crystal clear choice for home comfort. And we're back with more Barnburner. I've heard you talk about it, but I've never been in front of you and formally talked about. Dennis Bonvey, a huge impact in your life. He had the greatest impact on my career. And from what everyone talks about, I've met him twice.

Yeah. And everyone. What a guy. Awesome. And, you know, with Dennis, when I signed with the Sons, or I didn't even sign with the Sends yet, I went to, I was the last minute fill in for rookie camp. And I had a really bad knee injury as a 19-year-old. missed over a year really hard overage year played for but traded three times was on the fence legit on the fence both quitting and retiring and um kind of spent that summer not really knowing

what i wanted to do i signed an east coast league deal with the toledo storm and uh i think it was for three or 350 bucks a week yes a little bit of scratch right maybe i'll do that maybe i'll do this for a year and see where it goes. The Sends, Peter Shirelli, was the GM at the time, or sorry, assistant GM at the time in Ottawa called me legit a week before the Sends rookie camp and invited me to come. And the tournament was in Hall, I think it was a four-team tournament. And that's the decision I made to take this kind of heavyweight path. bigger guy. I was a fourth-round draft pick, 20 goals

score, and, you know, the NHL and, you know, kind of maybe had that projection of a rugged power forward. I fought, you know, here and there and never really fought any of the heavies in junior or anything like that, but

I made the decision going into that rookie camp that I'm going to have to stand out here. This is my last kick at the can here. And, you know, fortunately, I went to a really soft organization, right? Like, they were fucking embarrassing how soft they were. Chris Neal.

Right. And like, but not. That's about it. Right. But, but just the way the Leafs really embarrass them a couple of playoffs in a row. Like, like, like, like really embarrassed them. And I felt like what an opportunity here. If I can stand out somehow here.

And I did. I fought every game. And, um, at that time in Ottawa, actually they were the only team that did this of any of the NHL teams I went to training camp with. You had to make Maine camp. They didn't invite all the rookies. Oh, it wasn't just. You had to make it.

So, you know, obviously we know who's going to make it as your first round picks. And, you know, maybe a prospect from Europe and stuff like that. And when the tournament was all said and done, I was one of the guys that got to go. And the other guys where it was Jason Speza, Anton Volchenkov, Antoine Vermat, you know, Chris Kelly. Different players. Like all guys that ended. up playing in the NHL all very different than me I was a you know walk-on trial and then I went to main camp I was I wasn't there long I was only there for four or five days not that you were

the days that training camp wasn't two days and then it was preseason games training camps were training camps were roughly around 10 days to two weeks before a before you got into the game because did some pretty hard hey those old training camps we used to do. You know, a week straight at conditioning and working out before you even, you know, they even decided who was going to be, you know, minors here, cut games, all that stuff. So I was there for a short time, went down to Binghamton. And where I kind of lucked out is over the course of the time that I went down to Binghamton,

three guys on the Sons got hurt preseason. So obviously three guys getting hurt. Three guys had to stay up. and it gave me a spot to work for. And I fought every single game in preseason for Binghamton and made the team, signed an East Coast League deal, American League deal. Had a really good rookie year.

Like I had 20 points, 25 fights, and signed a two-year entry-level deal with the SENS. But going back, throughout that rookie season, Dennis really took me under his wing. And I wasn't, I don't even know, I would, I would say I was a really shitty fighter, right? I, I, you know, because fighting guys in junior is a lot different than coming into the American League. And, you know, now I'm fighting guys that are 27, 28, 29 years old that have either played no East Coast League,

American League, a long time in the NHL, long time American League guys. And it's like, when these guys grab you're like, oh boy, so much different, right? Yeah. So I went through a long losing streak. A very long losing streak. And Dennis was in my corner every time, you know, teaching me about the mental side of it, the focus side of it, kind of teaching me what my strengths could be, should be working with me after practice.

And a year and a half of that. And for a guy to do that, you know, Dennis is, I think, around 30 years old, knowing that I'm going to be the guy that's going to come and take his job. Yeah. Yeah. But he taught me everything I needed to know. know and and and I've said this before if I never played with Dennis Bonvey I would have never played in the NHL and and he was one of the cornerstone pieces of my entire career

and to this day we're very good friends yeah and and actually when we when when we traded Dennis to her she ended up fighting him two times and all that stuff and that's kind of a unique part of friendships in hockey is that sometimes you might have to fight but um he is he is arguably one of the the the the the like I said the the biggest um influences and as a mentor and as a friend and and and and how and why I made it the and he's still working in the game he's director of pro scouting for Boston box yeah yeah because you strike me as one of those guys that you kind of studied how to do it it's like some guys I thought I'm going to get into some fights or whatever.

You were, like there was a tactical approach, almost UFC-esque, of how to do what you did. And I really learned the mental side from Dennis and how to train for that, how to really study guys and watch and learn. And at the end of the day, like, you guys saw the guys that was fighting. like yeah legit heavyweight and and how am I going to be better than them preparation so with anything in life the more prepared you are the better you're going to be and I really took it serious and it became an art for me and how I prepared and um you know that's why I became it help you with the mental state of it because that was an issue for a lot of the guys and the calmness of the nerves, right? And the calmness of your nervous system and, you know, focus and

breathing and rest and the right way to visualize and prepare and prepare your body. And, you know, I knew I had guys in warm up. I look, see guys looking, because they always see them looking down, right? Peking down. It was a fucking new right away I had you, right? I could see in their eyes I had them. But I've already fought you 500 times in my head the last three days. And, you know, and that's why I became one of the best. And I became one of the best because I was very humble. I was very humble when I won. I was very humble when I lost.

And when I lost, I used it as a lesson in a learning lesson. And how can I learn from this? What did I do wrong? He didn't fucking beat me. What did I do to allow him to beat me? Yeah. And, you know, in saying that, I was never one of a winner and a loser. Because if you have the balls to stand up or fight in front of 20,000 people, another couple million on TV. Yeah.

For your team and your teammates, of all the respect, you've already won. Right? You've already won. And any guy that has ever done that role in the history of that role and the guys that I've ever played with that, have the utmost respect from it. Every time I see a guy now in retirement, big hug, handshake. And, yeah, there's a brethren there, right? Like, there's a brotherhood too. Of course.

And there's the odd guy, I think, that irks the rest of you, or it's like, you're a dick. Oh, yeah. You're kind of not part of this. Yeah. Yeah. But for the most part, most guys are good about it. They're kind of have the same approach. It's like, if I'm going to go through a hundred fights in my career,

Probably I'm not going 100 and oh, so I best have a little bit of humility to it. Humility is the biggest piece. And I, the biggest piece of their, is respect. There was a buddy of mine who played for the blades. And it was like, oh, he's tough. He's like, that's not tough. Tough is dropping them in the first place. And if you do get bested is coming back to do it again.

And I think what guys knew about, I think my guys kind of didn't like to fight me. I'll come for you a hundred times to get you once. I mean, I mean, so that's why maybe guys were like, you know, if I fight them and I get them or if I get the upper hand on them, it's like, I know I'm going to have a long light because it's a three fight rule. I'm going to keep coming back. It's kind of like, was it Cox? It got proby the one time. And it was like, oh, that's a bad idea. And now everybody's coming for you.

Yeah. And you did engage with a lot of guys. You know, talking about the mental side, you had always the head, a lot of the time, most of the time, the hands in the knees kind of bent over kind of side. Is that you preparing? Is that a psychote kind of thing? Me preparing and then and lining up the line I want to go in on, right? And how I want to go in and deep breathing. Really, really, really, really deep breath.

Because the more you breathe, the more you're calm or the more energy you're going to have. Before when I was a younger fighter. Yeah. Hold my breath. Yeah, exactly. Like I put you in the box. I kind of hunched over. So throughout the course of, you know, learning and stuff like that and learning how important breathing is.

And I think if you can see some of my fights, how long those are. Because I had so much energy because I learned how to breathe right. So is Dennis Bonvey teaching you that? And who's teaching him that? No, yeah. No, I, that's something I kind of learned for myself. That feels like a pre, like a real early thing for Bonvey to adapt. Yeah, no.

That was a long, that was years of learning and stuff like that. Obviously, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, right? There's, there's, there's a nerve for the game already. There's, there's a nerve that, you know, at home games, you're all jacked up and, and stuff like that. So, it's calming everything, and that's why those kind of longer square-offs were, we're breathing and then I always pick a line on how I want to go in and where I want to grab and stuff like that so and at the same time I was like oh what's what's this guy doing oh it's like you're getting ready like what is this wild animal getting ready to me is there might have been a mental aspect from the other guy's point of view he's like oh fuck he's getting so I don't know what we'll take a look at this one here I believe this is October so it's early in the season. I don't know if it's your first, and I don't know what your breathing technique was here,

but it's it's for nothing. You're taking on the Leafs and a legend in Ty Dom. And a legend. And so this fight was a big fight for me. Obviously growing up a lifelong leaf fan. Tie was one of my heroes. And I got them good here. But for here, right there. So, So back to the mental mindset and focus and studying and all that stuff. So I knew how Thai fought. I'm a massive Thai domi fan. I mean, my buddies have like 10 fight tapes. Tapes all these guys, right?

Watch my whole life. And where Thai is so skilled, right, he's 5 foot eight, five foot nine. Unbelievable. Right? Is he likes to spin the big guys. And I knew he was going to get in tight on me and try and spin me. So these are back in the days. Our jerseys are a little bit tighter now.

But these jerseys had a lot more room in the sleeve. Yeah. So I practiced for a week of different tie-ups and pulling my arm out of my sleeve. And that's what I did. I knew he was going to come in and get inside me. I knew he was going to do that. And got inside and grabbed me right in the right spot. And I know I'm like and then right out the jersey and then boom right across and um um

tie to this day is one of my my good friends and uh we actually uh the the night the leafs knocked the sends out i was i went up for the sends game and you know it was chris neil and chris phillips and i we did some stuff around the rank with our jerseys on and stuff like that and they actually put that fight up on the big screen i didn't know tie was at the game and i get a text he's like i'm glad i made you famous yeah and i often wonder for some of those too it's like maybe it's a passing of the torch and you would have faced it a little bit later where of course and i did i got to cut my teeth i'm going after the big dog that's we all do yeah but out of respect for tie um

we pounded the Leafs, the Leafs were shit that year. We pounded them eight games. We were first place team, right? And that game, I asked Ty, right? He said, no, not tonight. In order to respect,

I'm not going to chase you and ask you anymore, but in my head, there's other ways. So I took a run at Matt Sundeen. Now I knew I got him. He's coming for me. I took like a 15-foot run at Matt Sundeen. Now you have to.

There's always ways, right? So perhaps you'll reconsider. Yeah. But that was not only a big thing for me and my early career, because at that time I was living at the hotel kind of on, right on the cusp of, am I in or am I? Am I on or are out? Yeah.

Am I on the bus or I'm on to play? So, and we were nine, ten games into the year. So it was kind of getting right to. And how big that, and I didn't think how big. that and I didn't think how big that was for our organization because of the beatings that the Leafs used to give them. So the tide really shifted with that and then coming to the rank the next day I had the letter in my stall to get my own place. Find a place. No kidding. And that really put my name on the map too, right? As a as an up and coming and for a certain league and and and I kind of

kind of had a hit list already of guys. Okay. We got here. I got Philly next week with with Donald Bershear, okay, Pittsburgh's down here, George is the Rock. Florida is here. I already had the list going, right? And I know in that clip, Wade Belak was on the bench in a bubble because Colton Orr had broken his nose and broke his face the night before. You had a rich history of like seven, I think, times with Belak. Yeah, we had, I probably thought Wade probably the most of when he was in Nashville.

We thought three or four times, he's in Toronto, three or four times in Nashville. I played with Beaks and Saskatoon. He was a really good day. Yeah. Yeah. So, and that kind of sparked that battle of Ontario. Well, and you had to have it, and that's, because I'm hypocritical. I'm like you.

I don't really, I've got kids coming up in hockey. I don't want to see them have to go through that. No. But then on the other side, God damn it, my, I have some fond memories of when those battles take place and it's about winning, you son of a bit. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

So you catch yourself a little bit. Yeah, yeah. You told me, are you still doing it? Are you helping Chris Grattan this year? I am. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'm going to help out with the junior B team. Is that the OJHL?

Yeah, yeah. So, and then assistant coach. And that's right in Hamilton? What's the name of that team? Kill TV's. And then the U-11. Ooh. Oh, boy.

Juggerna. The best thing is, I got my ass handed to me in bag skates for 15 years in my life, and I cannot wait to skate these little bass. Line of us in September. Need your chase. Yeah, but I'm really looking forward to it and having five years of NHL development under my belt.

Yeah. And, you know, having, and then still having that connection, too. I'm, you know, the flames are my second family. And, you know, coming back here and still feel like I am really part of the organization. Like I come here and every time I come back, go to the office, see Connie and the guys. And, you know, just having that relationship, I think will really help me. And I've never coached before. Oh, you love it.

And coming down to the, you know, I come to Calgary very often. And, you know, ask the coaches. for some insights and basic drills you can help me out so just having that is is pretty cool want to line up um just being in ontario want to line up a tournament for the kids in in in ottawa at some time during the season when the sends are at home so they can have a full full day with the sends and get that that opportunity and that experience so um yeah the uh um looking forward to the bit of the challenges that work with the younger age groups and stuff like that.

So, you know, I have always felt it's so important to get back of, of, you know, a long career that I had on the playing side, a bit of a career on the development side. And to come back and give back to a community that I grew up in. And maybe I can have an impact on the next generation. that comes out of Hamilton and to have a kid that's 21 22 years old saying you know the reason one of the reasons i made it was brian mcgratton had a big impact on my life when i was 12 13 years old and taught me this this this and this like me with dennis and i would love to see more kids from hamilton make it and we had our first overall pick from our city um go last week so pretty

cool really amazing story yeah and uh it's nice because He's more likely one of the more skilled guys to come out of our city. It's me, Zach Rinaldo, being... Got a mayor. Darnal Nurse is a good. Darnal Nurse is a $9 million player, but, you know, more of a meat factory. And to see a first overall kid come from our city, it's pretty amazing. I mean, you talk about that two-way street where it's, well, I'll give back to the kids.

And then, I mean, I never played. But being around kids at the rank and coaching and just seeing teams get better and the evolution, it it's the juice that you get off of that yeah watching the younger players it's awesome especially if they'll listen that's really yeah if they're coachable and listen there's always coach okay oh man you're gonna fucking wine but yeah but uh yeah these these kids are great and it's a you know it's single a and um you know we'd love to see and work with kids that can progress to maybe double a next year and then see them in triple a in two or three years right yeah give themselves as an opportunity and stuff like that and that so village Honda day one an OG

partner of barn burner and of course a proud presenter for whatever reason of the pinder report coming up august 23rd it is the fifth annual Honda and accurate show and shine they've got awards for best in show best modified best classic people's choice best off make and while you're there you can check out the demo clearance it is on save thousands maybe up to four thousand dollars on specific demo models. Just give them a visit. In the Northwest Auto Mall, they're your dealership for life. It's Village Honda and VillageHonda.com. Don't miss any of the action at WinSport from your C-EBL's Calgary Surge. Two seasons in, they've been unreal. Another great year shaping up as they look to get to championship weekend. Here's a look at the surge summer schedule and note that final home

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You've heard me talking and seen me in action at ACCO, supporting Cavalry FC. But if you've never been, here's the deal. Producer Jack and I and the Elephant and Castle are teaming up for the first ever. Barn burner bus to the calves. Love it. September 20th, we're going to be taking in all the sights and sounds of Atco Field. But we're going to meet at the Elephant and Castle right off 17th Avenue on 4th Street.

Before we go, here's the deal. September 20, 45 bucks gets you. Transportation. to and from the game on bus from Elephant and Castle, share plate at the Elephant and Castle, Pine of Carlsberg at the Elephant and Castle, not to mention a seat in the Barnburner section with producer Jack and I to check out Cavalry FC against Valor.

Those turkeys from Winnipeg. It's going to be a ton of fun. Here's how you get involved. Go to elephant castle.combeight.com. Search through, find the September 20th game. Purchase your ticket there. Again, transportation. food, drink, ticket in the Barnburner section,

and we'll go cheer on the calves. An incredible experience to get out there, the Bratworths, the fans, the crazy supporters with the drums and the flags and the smoke, and hopefully a big CavsW at Atco Field against Valor. Join us for that, and also while we're at it, here's a look at Calvary FC's summer home schedule. Let's get back to another summer edition of Barnburner.

So you start out in Ottawa, run me through the career. Go to Ottawa. How many years in Ottawa? I should know. Six. Well, six in the organization. Six, three with the Sends. A year in Phoenix.

Yeah. How did that come to be? Because it was, what, five games for the Coyotes? One in San Antonio. Yeah. So that year started off, I'd really, that's when I was right at the end of my days with my drinking, drug use and stuff. Like, that was the darkest days.

of possibly my life, right? And coming to terms with, that I needed help. And I went to treatment for three and a half months that year. So I left in dark November, came back in the new year. I didn't even really know if I was going to come back and play hockey, to be honest, because I needed to get so many things right internally, lifestyle, life. You know, obviously that was an escape. for a lot of things in my life too, right?

Yeah. And playing in the NHL and high pressure, hurt all the time and finding ways to self-medicate and escape and disappear. Well, I didn't have that escape anymore, man. Right? So how am I going to deal with all of that moving forward? Do I want to deal with it or do I just want to maybe create a new life and a new path for myself without this?

Was it hard when it ended in Ottawa? That's the team that kind of put so much faith. you yeah i mean yeah i mean and then i mean and then i got traded i think i got traded at the draft for like a fifth round yeah i was kind of kind of choked a little bit i would like to kept playing there but felt like you're a guy that gave everything yeah right right but you've come to the realization that yeah even though you did and we appreciate me and and then a hundred other guys think you're going to be in the you know these these these these coaches and management and people in their organization love you and then the next day you're

gone. It was very valuable learning lesson for me for the rest of my career, right? And so yeah, so that year in Phoenix, I played five games. I played one in San Diego. So when I, when I got out of treatment, like I said, I didn't know if I wanted to play anymore, but I got myself in such good shape. And Don Maloney was the GM at the time. So when I came back to Phoenix after being treatment. I called Don and we met for a coffee and he walked in and kind of gave me like, he couldn't believe

how good I looked. Yeah. Right? Couldn't believe how good I looked. Holy shit, Gratz. I'm like, yeah, man, I've been really working, man. And I said, Don, I would like the opportunity to come back and play in some fashion this year. And I said, I don't even care if I go to our East Coast League affiliate. I just want to see if I have it.

I just want to see if I have it. If I can get back. So he's like, so let me organize some things. And I'll get in touch in the next couple of days. So he got back to me and I went down to San Antonio who was a farm team on conditioning. Actually, Ray Edwards is the head coach as a director of player development here. So I went down to San Diego or sorry, San Antonio for like a two-week conditioning. He still only played one game.

and then I got called back up. And I fought Jody Shelley in my first game, and then George Peros, my second game. And like me, I think George was a guy that really studied guys. And he blocked one of my punches, and I completely blew my shoulder out. It was surely shitty. And I was an eight or nine-month injury,

but over the course of that off-season, I had one team that called and was Calgary and it was Darry and Darry and Darrell and my agent had a long chat and Darrell said you know I've had players like Brian in the past that have gone down the dark path and reinvented their life and their career and dealing them as special people and we'd like to give him a second chance. Yeah. that's the main reason of the second half of my NHL career was Darryl Sutter, gave me a second chance. The legend got to live. Yeah, yeah. So, and then I signed in Calgary in 2009-10.

I was here for one year. Didn't get any looks after that year and went played in the minors, played in two teams in Providence and Syracuse, and then plucked off waivers and training. camp Nashville for a year and a half and then came back and finished off here for a couple years yeah yeah the old roller coaster ride of you know i got i got a good tour of north america i got to see a lot of the country yeah a lot of shit hole minor league towns and some pretty cool cities and stuff like that is there a minor league town that stands out as being good and notoriously bad or notoriously good any of them i think san diego is the best city in hockey Yeah. That was an amazing minor league city.

And then you go right to the other end to Binghamton, New York. Bingo? Where that was three long years. Yeah. Dark and cold and wet. The East Coast League American League cities are not like the West. Not as good. And now they have Palm Springs, Palm Springs, San Diego, like, right?

Not bad. Yeah, guys dying up in Syracuse and. that same route that everyone's gone through up there too right i think i think i think you have to go experience playing in those places i only got to do it i did it for nine games i think it was all on the road in those towns to kind of get that taste of playing in the mires and playing in some of those not so great places and because it gives you that extra kind of umph never wanting to go back yeah this I don't need to see Syracuse. But, yeah, I played in a bunch of small towns in upstate New York and, you know, Syracuse and

Roch and Binghamton and Rochester and, yeah, Wilkesbury. Like we had quite the loop there. But the thing with all these teams is they all had three, four, five guys, too, right? So it was not only being a long year of being a non-sum-so-great places. You weren't getting nights off when it's like, fuck, I'm fighting four times a week, too, right? We'll show the salute. Did you get fined to the salute? I got a 10.

You got a misconduct for it. I got a 10. But I didn't get, I don't know if I got fined. I couldn't remember. So with this one here, back to the hating the Canox because I cannot stand them. And this is my first.

How do you come by not liking to Canucks? I just always, you know what? I've always felt this bunch of arrogant. Hey, I'm not taking their side. It just feels like an awesome. As you can see all the games we played against these guys were really.

Tom Sostito was on the receiving end of that hate. It seemed more often than us. Here we go again. And the funny thing is, right, the pregame skates against these guys, right? Come back in the room. We're getting undressed. And someone always yelling at the room, hey, Big Errin, how's Tom Sistito is pre-game nap going to be a day?

But, and I was never a big guy for celebrating. Yeah, I know. But I came back and I love playing here in 2009-10. I was actually choke. They didn't resign me. Right? So this is my first game back after being in Nashville for a year and a half. And again, kind of going through the shit, I just got sent down to the miners.

I got put on waivers. The flames traded for me. And this was my first game back in Calgary. And I pounded Tom's Estito here. Well, I like that one. But the thing is, I turned it. looked and I'm looking at the entire grandstand everybody's going you're like you I'm like shit I got to do something yeah and and that's why I did that and I only did it once it's awesome

yeah whatever it was it was because I'd seen an interview you you kind of felt maybe bad about it because you prided yourself and not sure yeah the other guys yeah major respect but it was just I'm back I'm back in Calgary and it was this team yes I decisive win the crowd it just kind of everything and it's not the most outlanders celebrate we've ever seen it was very cool like we've seen people have it tattooed on their leg and stuff yeah it's crazy right and we kind of started that way 137 games like over two stints but and there have been some tough guys that have played for the flames over the years and certainly during your time yeah but there was something about big urn yeah that you were kind of in that that next level

you were an absolute fan favorite yeah i just came in no i think because I came to the rink. I felt I represented the city and that flaming seed, the best I could with everything that I had. And when fans can see players that do that and not necessarily fighters, those guys stand out. Like, look at Ryan Lomberg. That is all fans.

Ryan Lomberg is the same. Look at how much pride and passion he plays. And he's a fan favorite too. And that's all that fans ever say. It's all they want. Show me the passion that I have for my team. Yes. Play with that, Pash, because I care about the team.

Can you? You're on the team and don't care as much as I care about the team. How does that? And, you know, like you say, there's, you know, fall down a couple of times along the way, off the ice. Hey, I'm back up. People can so relate with people that are prepared to put in a little hard work and give a shit. And I would be surprised of a lot of fans because they're knowledgeable in Canada and around it, recognizing that, you know, it's kind of the end of an era. They can see the writing on the wall, you know what I mean?

Like, okay, there used to be five tough guys. And then there were four and then there were three. And then it's, and you're like, oh boy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And last of a breed.

Yeah. Maybe there's a few. And that was a hard part as a player seeing that too because I'm, and you know your time's coming when the numbers are dropping for a year. Yeah. Wait a minute. I get two games off in a row here. It's like, wow.

I can't wait to bank scape for the next six weeks because I don't see anybody else on that in the thing here, right? I don't want to throw anybody under the bus, but I did need to get my phone because I reached out just to ask, again, just anonymous people. I said you were coming on if they had anything. I should ask you. Are you guilty or not guilty of putting cheese or ham in guys' gloves before practice? So, as you know, in the flames room, right, we have, like, there's a breakfast buffet and all that stuff.

and yeah i i would you know put put cheese and guys in their fingers in their gloves and and uh and the inside of their helmet right here or on the back of their helmet in their in their clothes in their wallets like colby or not um um um um um um uh joe colburn went to pay for his pre-game meal and and went to pull out his credit card and a piece of ham flow because i put so that was that was a long joke in our room of you know guys putting food and and equipment and stuff yeah but I was the main culprit gotcha yeah uh did you ever get in shit from uh maybe your coach darrell sutter for talking to a player on the other team in pre-game skate oh this was unbelievable this one was unbelievable so I was on I was on the team here and I think I was still recovering

from my shoulder injury because I didn't do I did a bit of training camp I had the bright jersey on at the last stuff like that right and I don't even think I've played a game for the flames yet and Ottawa came into town and uh course I was out there bag skating away

back and forth and Christoph Schubert the German guy played them for six years came out he said hey Grads how you do it or me right I legit you can respect all I know right so I go over to Shuby right it's this me and and and and it was dave lowry or assistant coach on the ice and christoph schuber the only three people

in the entire 20,000 seats so i go over to shuby hey bud how are you good good not playing tonight it was legit man it wasn't much longer than a minute and uh i came in the room and brent's waiting for me i'm walking down the hallway into the room and brent's like uh got this kind of hands like this, he's like, Darrell wants to talk to you. He's all right. So he's going to my office.

I go in the office. Darrell's not there. The speakerphone's there. Just the speakerphone. Brent's like he's here. I'm like, hey, Darrell. He's like, you're our tough guy. I'm like, yeah,

I'm your tough guy. He's like, you're our tough guy. And you're out there cutting fucking deals with the other team. Cutting fucking deals with the other team, pregame skate. And you're our tough guy. And then I didn't know how to answer.

I look at Brett. Brent's just looking at me like this. He's like, you're cutting fucking deal. And then he just went off on me. I didn't get a word out. I'm just sitting there. Basically,

I'm looking at Brett's cell phone right now. And I was so confused. And I went back to, and got undressed. I couldn't believe it. Yeah. Daryl's, that's Darrell. a big no one, Darrell, but nobody told me.

I was warned. I didn't get the warning. So I got the full on lamb basting about cutting deals and that's stuff, right? So, so, um, I was on, I was on Nashville. Reggie got traded to L.A., right? Darrell's coaching L.A. And Reggie stretched out the fucking red line, right? I flew out there, slid on my knees and stopped right beside him like, hey, Reggie,

how's the beach? going how's that lady you love it and he's stretching there he's like fuck off bigger he's on the fucking bench get the fuck out of your bigger yeah yeah but that's a big no-no with darrell is talking to the other team so i learned a valuable day of game you day of game you can't even you can't even look down the other way i love that no one's in the building but darrell saw but darrell saw it and he and he and he right over to speakerphone in brett's office yeah Shocked he wasn't on the mic. No.

Hey, crap. Fogging deals. Uh, bag skated day of game because you're not playing, but then finding out that you are playing with Bob Hartley. Oh, yeah.

Brutal. And that's the part of hate. That's the part I hated a will being kind of an extra player. Sometimes. The bag skating is, is you didn't really know. if you were playing a bit of Bob too

he's a fucking we'll leave that alone I didn't have to be called the way you don't know the first not the last just the way he operated with some things I did not agree with but that was one of them where

sometimes the extra players because they would write on the board they would have right the first three lines and then question then there'd be you know the left winger center and then there'd be

my name slash someone else's name yeah i want to you had no idea i'd like to prepare right well you should prepare it you always got to be prepared oh that stuff so coming to the rank in the morning at pregame skate you see that i don't know if i'm playing then i get rinsed in a bag skate well then you prepare for the bag skate because a bag skate sucks it's bag skate sucks it's not Skaid sucks because you have to have an extra like more mentally strong for a bag because you know what's coming right and and you go to the rank in the morning you're like you're kind of you're a bit down and you don't want to be down you got to put the fake face on around your teammates sometime because you don't want to be the guy that's salking in the

room because you're not playing because nobody but at the end of the day we're all we're all human yeah Right. And so the harder part of bag skates was being mentally engaged for them because you got so low of energy because you're so down. You're tired because it's morning. You're not as a way. You haven't had two Red Bull or a coffee or as many. Yeah. Because you're thinking you might have an afternoon nap because that you've got to be ready for the game.

And Bob's bag skates were hard. Bob's bag skates were hard. They were the hardest I've ever done in my career anyways. I get rinsed in this bag skates and they get a text in the afternoon you're playing tonight. I'm like you fucking kidding. right now right but yeah so that's that that was some of the challenges of being kind of that fourth-line extra player yeah there was mental anguish that you had to overcome the mental side and and and sometimes and and there are certain coaches Bob was one of them that used to

would would pray on fourth-line guys and extra players because at the end of the day what if I say something back I'm gone yeah there's a position of power there so and and he's not the only one there's other guys that have done and do that stuff and that's one part of the the i don't ever agree with but anyway so that was kind of the shitty part of did you find typically that the coaches that did that were guys that didn't play do you know what i mean like yeah i mean the game there's always game playing darrell was hard as hell on guys you just told a story about it but there was uh there also wasn't usually a take advantage of you situation yes right like it wasn't a just a i'm going to shit burger you just because i can't

yeah but bob did that all bob guys like keenan did that yeah so and saying that yeah maybe that that's part of it for sure yeah yeah you know i don't want to blow anybody's cover or go no go ahead well i'm going randomly all over yeah were you here when gully was here i was in player development oh okay because i was going to ask he gets the job in dallas so much did he did he take it yeah he's the guy yeah he's the guy yeah he's the guy yeah Well, good, good for him. Yeah. And, you know what?

I like Gully a lot. Almost killed him in the hallway if he'd behind him. That's right. That was our first kind of, yeah. That's the first time I've ever met him, actually, was in the hallway. And then, and then, you know, work in development here when he was the coach. And, you know, every time in passing when Edmonton came when he was in, but I always went down and said, hi, I have a lot of respect for him as a person and a coach.

And I'm glad that he got another opportunity. And I hope he does good things there. Yeah. You were talking about your mental preparation. and how it would let you kind of. Yeah. Before games, I don't want to blow anyone's cover again. This is just random, Gratz.

Before games and every period, Gratz would down a Red Bull as fast as I've ever seen anyone down anything. Get him ready for his one shift per period. Uh-oh. But still, he has the ability after games. All of us are wired. Gratz would fall asleep on the back of the bus

while the rest of us are amped for hours. Guys, they couldn't believe it, right? And, and, you know, chug a Red Bull. I always had one. I think I had one before warm up before the first and before the second. I never really played in the third that much, so I never really needed one for the third, right? But we get on the bus and the boys are all, you know, cracking some beers and all that stuff and going to the whatever airport or wherever we were traveling.

There's me in the back seat just hunkered in. Ask him about the game in Chicago. when he had to play far more minutes than he was used to. Roman Trevenko pulled the shoot after his first shift. Bob rolled three right wingers the rest of the game. I played, I played 17 minutes. Was that your most ever, ever. Rats was dying.

I was dying. I was so pissed at that, that, that little check. He pulled the shoot last player outside of the NFL. It was the end of the season. Oh, yeah. And I was legit dying, like, like, I mean, coming into, you know, off the first and second, just tits up. I play, I play like five to six over the course of a whole game, you know, not, not eight a period. Yeah.

It was a whole week's work. And this was also the game. We've heard the story from a couple guys about Joy McDonald, the goalie. Oh, yeah. When he was, he got collapsed and Kipper had to go on. He was so out of shape. They traded for him. Yeah.

Brought him in. Really? Oh, yeah. They had to stretch him out because he was out of gas. Out of gas. Stretching him out. Well, I was almost a close stretcher. They had another stretcher.

Piled on top. Yeah. Yeah. So. Yeah. Joy McDonnell, I guess it was full red furnace face. He was just. Ivy bags.

Everything. Yeah. Yeah. It's a tough way to go out. Um, and we have some video to support this one. Ask him about the. goal against Eddie Lack in Vancoe.

Oh, what a goal, huh? Yeah, we'll show it here. It's a goal scorer's goal. Like you're saying, junior, you're 20 goal guy. You had the touch. Like legit, how many guys are you guys in the NHL have scored from center of ice? That's a good shot, too.

That is a fucking fucking laser. That's a 1988-84 slaver. Do you have a, there's another angle? Yeah, there is another angle. and and my buddy they're my buddy torts and uh there's my buddy look out a little one hopper right here pick the corner and the seven hole and uh so we we played these guys again like like two weeks later right and uh i got the puck same like this

and we were in calgary and i bombed one from center ice and he saved i escaped by the bench and daddy lock goes go fuck yourself yeah the story that he scored uh from setter against vancouver except he thought it was such a good play and not horseshit lock the next two months of the season every time he got the puck in the neutral

zone on a rush he took a slap my signature move yeah go back jack can you pull that up real quick just when he gets the puck this is what size and toughness gets you If you have the start of that clip, because Gratz is circling the zone here. Look at it.

He's heading to his wing spot. And it pumps up. Now, 99. Stop. 99% of the time that defense was going to stay in on that guy. Ray, Raida, that sports net sign when I got the puck.

If that's anybody else, that D-Man steps in a mother. Exactly. I was coming like, like, like, yeah, you could have timed it out. If he timed that right, he could have knocked me out of the head.

Instead. it's oh it's erred i better back it out oh just i just picked a corner you're fucking your co-picked is what you did yeah oh the boys would be just loving it jack a it's you and b it's from center i mean it doesn't get much better boys in the team didn't hear the end of this one for a while too let's art you're buddy look at omay it's like this fucking guy i think i'm a curse with him you know i went to i went to philly this year and and legit I went down for a Philly Flyers event with their alumni and I wanted to go down and and talk to him and just say you know what's up and both that brawl you know he got fired that

morning is that right yeah he got fired the morning I flew there and I was going to go legit wanted to go down and say hi and kind of you know it's hard to say because he would still be in that coach mode but I feel like he'd be everyone has said the torts has changed immensely. You know what? I think I would like, like, would love to play for it. I would have loved to play. I think that you're, I wouldn't, a guy like John Tortorella, I, guys like myself,

we never have an issue with testing torts. We, we do what is asked. We play our asses off. And we don't bitch. We don't complain. And you're going to get the same every day. Yeah. Those guys love guys like us.

And you do some heavy lifting that other guys don't want to do. If you're soft and you're. A lot of these guys He's got to draw it out of you. He's got to start the perimeter guys. Good luck. Go play somewhere else. He's got to pull it out of you.

He don't want it. I wonder if that year in Vancouver did some of that. Because you remember he had the issue with Lack and Lwango at that outdoor game. He didn't play Lwango. He took shit for that. I think he was the brawl. Boots being too much of the hard ass to be quite honest with you in Vancouver. I think he was trying to live up to that reputation a little bit.

And then he realized, well, because it was one year, right? Didn't he get fired at the end of that season? I think he fired himself. Yeah. And it was the press conference.

It was a press conference the week before I got there. Basically, he fired himself. Well, you would have had seven goals against his goaltending because they were awful. Just terrible. Maybe a couple more center iceers. Yes.

That's your spot. Gretzky behind the net, bigger and from center. It's your office. It's the office. Well, dude, thanks for coming in.

Yeah, great. It's, we were laughing before about Joe Rogan, what he, well, you'd have to have some stories to tell. You'd have to have a personality and so, you know what? Get knocked down, get back up. Colorful guy.

It's you. You would be the guy to tell the, you know, rags to riches, NHL story for sure. Yeah, yeah. Well, I really know, knowing you guys a long time. And thanks for having. And this is almost like Rogan. This is, yeah, we're the stepping stone. We're the minor leagues for next year when you play in the majors.

you'll be unbroken. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Put an word for us maybe. Good to see it. You look great. Hey, did you win?

Sorry. Did you win the poker tournament? I didn't win. What the hell's wrong? What are you doing? I know. Come on. But those tournaments, those are the two, I think.

Those are my two favorite tournaments all years. The Flames poker and the Cowboys on. Did you win? Champ. What one? The Cowboys are four boys? No, shit. Yeah.

Probably a decade ago. Oh, no way. How at all. Cheat. Oh, no way. Definitely cheat. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

But really appreciate you guys having me here. You're great. It means a lot. Come on any time. Whenever you're in town. Awesome. Come down. Hopefully the construction will be done.

Not likely. No, you'll, because you watch all the games and stuff. We'll get you in the season. We'll talk. Of course. Yeah. Yeah.

All the time. Awesome. Amazing guys. Thank you. Good to see you.