Empty Netters Podcast - From Jagr to McDavid with Andrew Ference

Episode Date: January 20, 2025

Andrew Ference stops by to dish incredible stories about playing with his childhood hero Mario Lemeiux. Making it to the finals in Calgary. Then finally winning the ultimate prize in Boston. You won't believe how he got himself drafted or all the things he's accomplishing after his playing career. In Pass Shoot Score he'll have to pick a favorite between gardening and baking, and name his favorite workout. NEW EPISODES EVERY MONDAY & WEDNESDAY! PRESENTED by BetMGM. Download the BETMGM app and use code “NETTERS” and enjoy up to $1500 in bonus bets if you lose your first wager! SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS: BAUER. Bauer is the go to destination for all your training needs. Head to http://www.bauer.com/training to explore tools like the Digital Reactor Danger for stickhandling or the Reactor Slide Board to add strength to your stride. CASHAPP. Download CashApp and take control of your finances! https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cash-ap... RIKI. Head to https://rikispirits.com/ to find out where to get RIKI near you. Follow @friday.beers and @rikispirits to stay up to date with upcoming RIKI contests and giveaways FUNKAWAY. To check out the full family of FunkAway products go to http://www.funkaway.com to learn more funk’in cool stuff. And head over to Amazon right now and grab FunkAway products with just a few clicks. FIREBALL . Fireball’s iconic cinnamon flavor tastes fire and goes down easy, making it the ultimate crowd pleasure. Go pick up some from your local liquor store and join us in drinking Fireball during our game days this season! #IgniteYourRivalry EVERYMANJACK. Give Every Man Jack a shot today and go to http://www.everymanjack.com and use code “NETTERS” at checkout for 25% off your first order CBDMD. Visit http://www.cbdmd.com to explore their extensive range of products and find the perfect solution for your needs. Don’t forget to use code “FRIDAY” at checkout to get 30% OF + Free Shipping. DOLLAR SHAVE CLUB. Dollar Shave Club products are now available everywhere, so you can order from their website, Amazon, or get them at your favorite retailer near you. Visit their site right now for 20% off $20 or more, and get your products delivered right to your door. Visit http://www.dollarshaveclub.com/netters and use promo code NETTERS for 20% off $20 or more CHOMPS. If you are looking for the PERFECT on the go snack that has zero grams of sugar and packed with high quality protein, then Chomps is for you. To learn more about Chomps, click here! http://www.chomps.com/emptynetters 00:00 Intro 05:25 Draft Day Experience and Challenges 08:20 First Impressions in the NHL 14:20 Transition to the Calgary Flames 17:33 Playing with Legends and Career Reflections 28:24 Transitioning Teams: From Pittsburgh to Calgary 32:58 The Thrill of the Playoffs: Calgary's Journey to the Finals 42:01 Media Moments: The Glove Incident 52:55 Celebrating Victory: The Day with the Cup 57:57 Returning Home: Captaining the Oilers 1:02:05 Rookie Development and Team Dynamics 1:12:12 Career Transition and Continued Impact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

But the only thing I'd come up with, like, on the spot was like, yeah, my glove got stuck. You know what happens. Yeah. Who's a fist pump? You know, you guys play hockey, duh. Ice is ready, and we are back with another episode of the Empty Netters podcast brought to you by BedMGM. And we have an unbelievable guest for you today. And I'm going to tell you, Chris and I got out of the car, headed in to do.

This is true. This is true. It's true. It's true. It's true. It got out of the car, headed in to do this interview. Headed in to talk to this man. And I said, I don't think I've really processed how excited I am for this episode.

Andrew Ferrence joins the pod and we love everybody. We really do. This community is unreal. I don't think you guys are prepared for how wonderful of a person Andrew Ferrence is. And I'll say this, Dan, he even exceeded my expectations in this interview just with how willing and open and personal he was. Because how often do we say we obviously do our research, we have a lot of questions we want to ask, but I can only get out of them the things I know. the things I know to ask about.

It takes the guest to go above and beyond and tell additional stories on top of what we're scratching the surface of. He did that tenfold. He did that tenfold. He also had such an amazing habit. He's so polite. The amount of times he said,

hey, can I tell you a story? And I'm like, buddy, please. Tell me every story. This is the exact platform for such a thing. He's just such an unreal guy. He's doing such great things with the game. Being able to tell stories about Mario and Yager,

about Jerome McGinla, about Patrice Bergeron and Zinauchara to Connor McDavid and, Leon Dresa. What an insane career. Don't want to spoil anything more. I want you all to just enjoy it. When he didn't bird the camera telling the story you all know that is coming, it made me not bird the camera. Me too. And then neither did you. If that's not Canadian kindness, I don't know what is. That's not a be it, dude. We don't want to waste any more time. Get into it right now and enjoy this interview with Andrew Farrant.

We are very excited to be joined today by an Edmonton, Alberta native, the 208th overall pick in the 1997 NHL draft of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who also played for the Calgary Flames, the Boston Bruins, and the Edmonton Oilers, a world junior silver medalist, a 2011 Stanley Cup champion, and a man who I have to say believes in doing what's right for the game and the world around us. Andrew Ferrence, welcome to the Entenetters podcast. It's an honor. There's not even 208 picks anymore, but I know, not even eight rounds. Yeah, I love it. There's not that many rounds anymore. Yeah, I mean, I love that. It's like makes it even cooler. It's a more unique club, dude. There's no more 208th overall picks. That's pretty sweet. Yeah, it's awesome. It's a good fact to have. Dude, I got to ask, you know,

it's like January 13th, do you have any New Year's resolutions that have fallen off yet, or are you cooking still? I don't really feel the need for them. I live in a pretty healthy life. I got to be honest. That's such a flex. No, I mean, really, like, I guess, you know, there's little things here and there that I want to keep up with. But I got a, I mean, I got a kid in college. I got one in grade 10. I'm just trying to pay tuition and live healthy and live long enough so that I can play with grandkids eventually. My goals in life are fairly, I don't know, fairly basic. Yeah, the tuition checks to keep clearing. That's the resolutions. That works. It's a good one to have. I mean, not to mention, you said,

like, you live a pretty healthy lifestyle. You are in that category of guys whenever we see you popping up on TV doing different things. I'm like, you look like you could still play. It's ridiculous. Well, I still play a lot. I live out on Vancouver Island. So I moved out here a few years back for my daughter. My oldest daughter plays rugby.

So she came out to the West Coast. She wanted to play more rugby. Eminton's not exactly the hub of rugby. So we left Emmington for her to come to the private school out here. She immersed herself into the school and rugby culture. She's off at college now, but I followed her out to the island. and started helping coach at the high school. So I'm at Shawigan Lake.

Seanagin Lake School out here in the island. I coach you 15 boys. I help with the girls program. I'm on the ice like four or five times a week probably. Let's go. That's amazing. Yeah. Still buzzing around.

It's like 10 degrees yesterday, man. I was out biking. It's beautiful out here. God, that's so nice. That's incredible. Yeah, that's awesome. Well, we mentioned that, you know, elusive 200-plus draft earlier.

And getting into that day, when you were drafted. You were playing in the WHL for the Portland Winterhawks, one of the great names of all time. And you have a couple great years. You made an all-star game. But then during the draft, Central Scouting doesn't have you ranked.

So you can't go to the combine. You can't prove all those things. And you have said that you felt that that was one of your biggest strengths of your game. So first of all, is it true that you wrote a letter to all of the GMs in the league with all of your own combined stats that you did yourself? Oh, yeah. I got it downstairs.

I could run down and get it right now if you want. That is awesome. But yeah, no, I had a good junior career. But I was five foot, five foot 10 defensemen. You know, like back in the day, like that was the late 90s. Guys were huge. So there wasn't too many of us below six foot. But I had a great junior career.

We had great teams. Like Portland was amazing. When I came in there, Richard Zednik. Oh, yeah. He was just like lightning it up. And then obviously we won a Memorial Cup in Portland with Marian Hosa, Brendan Morrow, myself. Like if you guys, you know, made the NCHL, long careers in NHL. So, yeah, great career.

And that was so frustrating. I remember Central Scouting and like the lists come out. You can't help but like be totally invested in it, right? Like you're going down and checking to see if you're on there or not. And no word of a lie. There was there was one guy in particular. I can't even remember his name. But he was a nice guy, like nothing against him.

But Central Scouting had him, like, ranked, I don't know, like fourth to fifth round. He got cut from our junior team. Like, he didn't make Portland. I was like starting in Portland and like going to the All-Star game. And I was like, what? I was like, but he was like 6-3, right? So I was like, so frustrating. So, yeah, that was like the early days of the combine too where, you know, guys who get

brought in to, you know, do the bench press and V-O-2 and sprinting and all that kind of stuff. And to your point, like, I'm not a skilled player. Like, I never had good hands or a toe drag or anything like that, but I knew how to work. Yeah. So, you know, my fitness tests were always really good, you know, like that was obviously something I needed and continued to need through my whole career. And so at a big disadvantage is not going to something like a combine where it's just raw numbers. It's not skill-based. It's just work. So yeah, there was frustration. I had an agent at the time.

And between the two of us, we're like, well, you know, F it. Like, let's just go do our own testing. So I went to the U of A. I was living in Eminton at the time. Went to the University of Alberta, basically like paid to do my own testing, like all the exact same tests that they did at the combine, got my results, and then faxed everybody.

Because back then, you know, there was not even email. Like, we didn't have email. So I was faxed and faxed. guys. And so that's what I have downstairs is I have a cop. Well, I have the actual facts that I sent to Craig Patrick of the Penguins who eventually drafted me, but the exact same facts went to every other GM in the league. And so it was my results from the testing. And then just a little note like, dear sir. To whom it may concern. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'm playing for the Port Winterhawks. I'm currently not, you know, you know, ranked in the central scouting, therefore can't do

my combine, but here's my numbers anyways. And I guarantee you, you know, something like if you pick me, you know, you'll have an incredible career or whatever, you know, something like that. Yeah. It took some audacity. So, but yeah, I mean, I get a combination of that. So Craig Patrick told me after like, hey, that took some balls kit. And also I had an incredible junior coach, Brent Peterson, who eventually went to Nashville Predators. He was probably my favorite coach of hockey that I've ever had. And Brent went to bat for me. I know that he called people on my behalf and said, like, look, it's the eighth round.

Like, who else are you going to pick? I just pick this kid, take a chance. So, you know, I wouldn't say it was all, you know, those faxes that made the difference, but a combination for sure. Yeah. Was there a, like a notary or something with? the facts or because like in my mind you could just be like did 70 reps on the bench have a 55 inch vertical which was there someone confirming these numbers or they're just taking your word for

it just a monster no it was the u of a so it was like on the university of alberta and like they do like the printout because like they were i think one of the team or one of the facilities that's hired you know if the oilers but when we go to oilers training camp like the u of a people come and do the testing for the yeah yeah yeah so it was like legit but yeah i would have like like hit a wall at some point, like go to training camp and they're like, yeah, you're not six-foot. It's a hand-rigging fact. It's just like, hey, here's all my stats. Did any of the GMs respond?

Or were you just kind of sitting out there floundering hoping someone noticed you? Wow. Yeah, nothing. Yeah. I didn't get anything back. So I didn't go to the draft, obviously. I was sitting at home and got a phone call and just was like ecstatic. And Pittsburgh, too.

I mean, I was probably 12. years old. I have this picture from Christmas morning and I'm just so excited. I was the happiest kid in the world because I got a Pittsburgh Penguins like hoodie, sweatpants and a Mary-Ole-Lamew like a jersey, right? So I was just like stoked because I love the penguins because Paul Coffey got traded from the Oilers to the Penguins and I followed him and then the penguins are amazing. So I went quickly from yeah, being a pretty ecstatic kid, you know, loving the penguins, this and that, getting drafted. And then I was sitting across from Mario in the room because that's when he came back. back, right? Like my first year was 99. He was all of a sudden like the owner of the team and coming back from cancer. And it was insane. Like my, my entry into the league was insane. Yarmu Yager, Kovalev. My partner was Yuri Schlegger. We had Marty Straca, like insane teams. And then like the first year, I really kind of got traction with the penguins. We had a, I think probably in the history of the NHL, the only NHL coach that didn't speak English.

No, which I have in Alenka. So, like, I don't know how that story gets lost sometimes, like, how it's not told more often, but, like, we had an NFL coach that didn't speak English at all. Like, what was that like? What happened on the bench? Because keep going on this, because our next question was literally your intro to the penguin. So, yeah, I was going to say, you certainly made yourself known once you did get drafted and showed up there because we've heard a story that you show up to camp and immediately Daywan fought the first round pick. So. Yeah, of course.

As one does. I was a Western movie. Well, the other part of that story is Kevin Constantine was the coach. And I showed up on a Harley. And so, and luckily enough, Constantine drove Harley's. Like, we're both motorbike guys. Oh, huge. Yeah.

So I roll into the parking lot on a Harley. And then immediately jumped into, like, camp. And, yeah, fought the first round. there on day one in inter-squot games and then probably had a couple more fights and then just ran around like a madman you know doing everything so i didn't make the team the first year but the second year i did so yeah i mean it was you make make a first impression i well and that's another coach of mine uh in junior harold schneps uh he was yeah great mustache but also some pretty good career advice and that was his advice he's like you're an a-throat kid pick are you're an a

your own pit kid, like, you got to do something. Like, you got to, your foot's in the door. Like, was that? You have to stand out. You got to do something. Yeah. It's the golden moment. Triumph on the podium, golden hand. But with Corona Serro, golden moments go beyond the Winter Olympics. They're enjoying sunsets, time outside, reconnecting with nature and laughs shared with friends. For every golden moment at the Winter Olympic Games, enjoy your own with Corona Cero. 0% alcohol and a source of vitamin D. Corona Serro, the official non-alcoholic beer of Milano Cortina 2026. Was that a heat of the moment thing?

Or when you got that advice where you're like, I'm going to fight the first round pick? Like, did you know going in, you were going to do exactly that? Well, I didn't know who it was going to be, but it was going to be somebody. It's going to be Mario. A cancer survivor. Ferens beats the wheels off a cancer survivor, day one again. No, no.

I knew it wasn't going to be him. I think the second year I fought Barnaby as well. Oh my God. Jesus Christ. But it was like, that's how I mean, yeah, we had fitness testing is day one, right, of any camp. And back then it was like, it was almost comical in Pittsburgh because it was probably a little bit more laxadaisical than most teams. But I remember we partnered up. And so I think my partner was Darius Casperatus.

And we had to like record each other's scores. So there wasn't even like a proper like fitness test. things. So I think Casper's like, I did 100 sit-ups. Yeah, yeah, between cigarettes, you know. Yeah, yeah, but it was, yeah, those camps were crazy. But like you said, like if you're a late round pick, what do you got? Like a few days? Yeah. You know, really a camp until you get sent down. Like, if you got an exhibition game, like you're ecstatic. So, yeah, you got a couple days to leave a mark. So you blow it out in fitness testing and be an animal there and try to catch somebody eye and then yeah if you get an inter squad game like you better do something like you've got to

run around hit everything like at least at least make them look at their sheet and be like who's that who's the idiot number 65 yeah who is that who's the guy that just took off his skate and tried to kill someone yeah but wait no affairs i now need to know where did you ride that harley from like you didn't ride from edmonton to pittsburgh on harley did you yeah i did the cross country a couple times but you're shitting me really oh for real yeah that is ridiculous i can't even process that that's what is that like one of the greatest rides of all time i've ridden that hardly everywhere like uh i don't have it anymore i sold it but uh man i did yeah across the country probably four or five times uh and then from north to south a few times like yeah i i i wrote everywhere

um i can't you know what i'm the way to camp though i I probably, no, I would have put it in the back of the truck on the way to camp. But I wrote it back all the way. Wild. I don't even think the boys are allowed to ride motorcycle. So true. Yeah, yeah, right. Now that's the upgrade.

Yeah. There you go. But fair, keep going about just that Pittsburgh run. You with first of all, having to coach that can't speak English. What was that like on the bench? And then second of all, being such a young kid. And you guys had a pretty good run, I want to say, your second year all the way to the conference finals.

And like, you were getting some serious burn in the playoffs there. So, like, what was all that like? too. Yeah, well, it was crazy. Like I said, so first year, go to camp, just try to make a name for myself and did, like, you know, played well and, you know, do the fight and, you know, like that. I can't remember if I got an exhibition game, but I think I did. Get sent back to junior, do the junior year, you know, and that's all good. But then the next year, yeah, I remember fighting Barnaby and be in camp, like good fight, getting games and then starting the year up. Like, so I didn't go to the minors.

I started the year up. Constantine was the coach. He told me, actually. Through a translator. The very, no, Constantine was good. He was, he was, he was, he was an English guy. He spoke English. So we go, we go for a bike ride.

He's like, let's go for a ride. It was at the end of camp. And I'm like, all right, well, I'm either getting sent down or making the team. So we go for a ride. And he's like, you made the NHL kid. It was awesome. It was like out of a movie. And I was like,

oh my God. Like losing my mind. I was so excited, right? Like trying to play it cool. But I made the NHL like out of camp. And so I started the year up. And yeah, it was it was nuts. Like all those players on the team.

Constantine got fired though. So like part way through the year, I don't know if we were 40 games in. He got fired. And then Herb Brooks was our coach. Yeah. So Her Brooks got brought in. and like I was like I was not in his good book so so I ended up getting sent down to the miners I don't know if I was up with him maybe for a few weeks but I got enough for a couple crazy

her brook stories yeah what was that like do you want me to go you want me to tell you oh my god yes but yeah please please tell us some of those I mean yeah and he was he was like obviously you got a you get a movie made about you like he's he's got all the accolades right but the funniest story from her Brooks was Ian Moran. He was an awesome locker room guy, like probably one of the most liked guys in the room. Just had a baby, like had a young family.

And so Ian Moran comes in one day and he was a pretty stylish guy, right? Like he was like, he liked to be a little bit edgy. So he comes in one day with frosted tips. He's got like the nice haircut, right? Like looking all cool. Dave, we have teamed up with Bet MGM for the entire season

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See betmGM.com for terms. U.S. promotional offers not available in New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. And I remember Herb Brooks, like, lost his mind. And he's like, you know, kind of went on a rant about like, you're a father now. You know, you're supposed to be father. You know, it's not, you know, you don't have frosted tips or whatever. He was like mad about the frosted tips, right? And he was going to bench Ian.

Like, so Ian's not playing now. Ian's a healthy scratch until he does something about his frosted tips. And that was basically the message that he was getting. and the all-time best story is Yuri Schleger came in the next day Bleach blonde hair He was our best defenseman right He's like

Yeah It was such a flex Yeah you're like you're gonna health bomb me Yeah man it was awesome like I was like man Uri Schleger's my favorite player now Yeah So I got anyways I didn't have a whole lot of her book stories Because I got sent down to the minors

Um shit I got a lot of stories from those days. So I get sent down to the miners. Alexi Kovalov comes over. He's like, Hey, Ferens, you're going to the miners? Yeah. I was like, yeah. I was like all mad. He's like, yeah. Okay, I fly you. I'm like what? He's like no, no, I'm getting my pilots license. I need I need flight time. So I was like, no, dude. All right. So like Kobe. So Kobe drives me to like this private little airfield. And we hop in this like like three-seater. Yeah.

equipment, he flies me to Wilkespar with his pilot, like, with his, with his, uh, instructor. I cannot believe you got in that plane, dude. Seriously. Something like, you're out of your mind, buddy. No chance. So I got sent to the miners and Alexei Kov flew me in his little plane. Only person in history who can say that, I'm sure. Yeah.

Dude, it was wild. It was like crazy thinking about back in those times and like, would that happen now? Like, probably not. I mean, you, the, you might be the only guy who's ever. loan private down to the miners. That's pretty special. It was a little playing. It was small, but it was a great story. But anyways, yeah, so the rest of that year I spent down. And then yeah, my second year in the league, Ivan Holinka becomes the coach. So Herb Brooks didn't last long. Yeah. Ivan Holinka comes in. We have so many Czech guys. Like half our team was checked. We have

you know, Slovak, we have everybody, right? And then you have Mario. So Mario's there, like, on the team, he's the owner. He's kind of like the coach, right? Like, if he wants the lines different, like he's changing lines. And so, you know, Yaggs was obviously massive star. And so we get Ivan Holinka to be the head coach. And he comes in. And I'm lying. He actually did know English. He knew like three words. I swear he said, let's go, boys. So he'd come into the room every day. let's go boys Jesus and then the neat thing about

about Halenko was that we'd never had like forward lines and D lines he made groups of five and so so the fifth the fourth line kind of got screwed over like you know they didn't play much but we had lines of five and so really like we played with the same forwards

almost all year and like every shift like you'd go out as a line of five so it's pretty cool like you got to know each really well and we never had systems like we had no systems we essentially played scrimmage and just be creative and so like schlegs like i play with your schlegger a lot and he'd come over and draw stuff on the board he's like i want you doing this you know you dive through and then i'll come over yeah and then yogs will see you and and you just kind of made stuff up like you know some of it was drawn by yourselves but we didn't have like a team system like and we're playing

against some guys in Boston one day and I saw them and after pregame skate they came out in the locker and they're like yeah we're watching video of you guys and the coach just gave up after like five minutes because he's like I have no idea what they're doing. You're like neither do we neither do we it's fine. Yeah yeah like yeah it's pretty accurate actually but we yeah so we had a we had an insane team a coach that didn't speak English and we went all the way to the conference finals like we lost to you know broder and the devils I mean they were insane you try to get like 20 shots. against him. It was almost impossible. Yeah. Yeah. You had 20 shots and it was broder.

So we ran into them. It was kind of a brick wall. But man, what an incredible year. Like, Yohen Hadberg, you know, the moose got came into the league that year. We were roommates in some crappy hotel in Pittsburgh, like, just because we didn't, like, we weren't good enough to like get our own place. So we were like living in like a holiday in, you know, and it was just, yeah, an amazing entry into the league. Got a ton of ice. Like you said, yeah, luckily. there was injuries and stuff like that. I was, I'll do whatever, right?

And so basically like, Yogs would be like, parents, like, Andy, we're not paying you to like touch the puck. Like, you're just supposed to get me the puck as quick as you can. I'm like, yeah, I'm timing. Perfect. Yeah, like I had no ego, right? Like, I'm like, I'll go chase it down every time and just pass it to you. Done.

It was amazing. Does that surreal feeling ever wear off? I mean, it's like such a cool story of battling, through not being on Central Scouting, eventually getting drafted by the team that you loved growing up, and then playing with guys like Yager and Mario, where you just buzz in that entire time? Like, I can't imagine that unbelievable feeling ever fading away.

The whole time, man, my whole career. Like, that's one thing. Like, I talked to, we had a tournament up here at Seanigan Lake this weekend, and they asked me to speak at it, right? It goes, like, you 18 guys. And so these guys all want to go div one. You know, they're all trying to go to NCAA. Yeah.

actually Kevin Biazza was up here his son's team was up here so he was playing and so we ended up talking about it a lot afterwards but I said like one of the things I told the guys was like never lose perspective of like how great it is like it's so great like to play the game like even if you get like you know you go through a dry spell or you know you like have frustrating games or you're up and down or whatever it is right like if you really kind of take a step back like God like it's so awesome. Like, it's such a good. If you make the NHL, like, what a job. Like, it's amazing. And that was always something I was really proud of. Like, even in my last year, like, we had some frustrating years in Emmington. Like, our teams were pretty terrible. But, like, I don't know, I'd still walk

into the rink and be like, Jesus, like, this is so cool. Like, you know, like, even when you get, like, the swag, you know, like, you get, like, something in your locker. It's like an oilers, hoodie. I'm like, God, like, kid Andrew is so stoked. freaking out right now yeah yeah dude i love that so much it's such the best attitude to have and you had some amazing stops like chris said uh after the the penguins you get traded to the flames and there's a couple things that i really want to hear about one was there any bit of you that felt like oh shit here i am playing for my you know like you grew up in edmonton now you're playing for the flames but then you also get there after playing with mario and yogs and now you're playing

with another hall of famer in a ginnla what was that whole transition like was getting traded crazy, were you bummed? Were you excited combination of both? What was your time in Alberta like? Well, I mean, I guess there's a few answers within that. Like, A, no, like, I just want to play in the NHL. I play for anybody. Like, and I grew up, like, as an Oilers fan, like, I went to the games and, you know, I saw him win a cup. I actually grew up. One of my neighbors was Peter Clema. No way. Yeah, he played tennis to my dad. And it was my job. And it was my job. job like and I would like mow his lawn like in the summertime when you went back home that's such an emigentin thing yeah yeah yeah yeah so he took me into the locker room like I got old sticks I got

like messy's old sticks and charlie huddy and Steve smith like because clevo would take me into the locker room and like do all the stuff from me right and I'm like god that's sick that was like the payment for like taking care of his house when he was gone yeah so like yes I grew up an oilers fan and it was cool and I was kind of around that. But I also wasn't like a diehard hockey fan. Like I enjoyed it and I watched it and this and that. But like I wasn't like loyal to the oilers. Yeah. I was just like a hockey fan. Yeah. So like going to the flames, there's no real anything. Like if anything, it was like my friends and family that were like, yeah, we're not going to cheer for you. Yeah. Yeah. They were pissed. Yeah. It was more of them than me. But yeah, getting traded wild.

you just kind of I think it's weirder when you look back on it like in hindsight like when you're living it it's just part of the deal right like you see other guys and same thing like you get

up and down from the miners so you're already kind of like you're always you're already kind of a I don't know your luggage is always packed you're always just kind of waiting to like be on the moves you're on road trips

oh you're getting sent down to the minors oh you're not you're coming back up so you never really settled right So at that time in my life, it's like, oh, you're getting traded. It's like, all right, sweet. Like, when do I leave? Like, pack up the stuff. Like, all right, I guess I'm going to Gallaghery.

Hop on the Harley, drive up to Canada. Kobe to take the plane out again. Yeah, yeah, truly. I need another ride, dude. Yeah, right. That was a little far. I don't think his went that far. But yeah, I mean, I guess it was like Pittsburgh was kind of, we were kind of crappy that

year. Yogs, I think, got traded to Washington. So they're kind of dismantling that team a bit And going through a bit of a rebuild So yeah, it was just part One of the many trades that they made here So yeah, went to Calgary The craziest thing about Calgary was was hopping in

And then when Darry was coached right Yeah, wow Coming in and now I'm like Oh, like the Sutter's obviously carry a lot of weight In Alberta and are a bit legendary And you know part of that legend is Is Darrell in those years right like of coaching and what he demanded of us and the type of environment that that he created.

So I went from Pittsburgh, which was coach doesn't speak English. We basically play scrimmage hockey and just like do the thing to like Sutter, right? Where it's like, oh, okay, like now I have to be a professional. So that was like probably the best thing for my career as far as like going under him, you know, coming in every day and like literally not being able to take. a shift off. Like if you took a shift off, you were hearing about it. Darrow was probably the most demanding coach I ever had, incredibly honest. Sometimes it hurt a lot. I hate to hear what he had to say, but as far as advancing my career and making me a professional, like he was insane. And then obviously,

like, you know, your captain's Jerome, you know, he's setting the bar pretty high for work ethic and what it takes to, you know, to battle and compete and practice and whatnot. So, yeah, I mean, I got lucky you'd come into a Canadian city. You know, we had a, like I said, personally an incredible coach, but for the group of guys, an incredible coach who just got every little bit out of every single guy. And, yeah, it took us to the final against Tampa. Yeah, yeah. Second year, man, you guys, bit of a wagon with Jerome as captain, like you said.

And man, I, for whatever reason, when I was younger watching the game, Iggy was my favorite forward in the league. And I was obsessed with that team. So you guys go on that run, get to Tampa. You're up three, two in game six at home. Marty scores a double O T goal. What was that final like? I mean, just felt like a collision course of two teams destined for the cup that season. Yeah, well, it was actually kind of crazy.

Sopsoff was out of his mind. Oh, my God, man. It was unreal. Yeah, like, as much as we were, like, a bunch of kind of lunch pail guys and, like, you know, like the players did the thing and Jellina scored the big goals and you had a game, like, we probably had no business in a lot of games, not for Kippersoft. Like, that I should go back, because my memory is not good enough to remember the Detroit Red Wings in their lineup that year, but like, they were good.

They were nasty. doubled up, you know, doubled up shots on us in a couple of these games, and we snuck out wins because of Kipper. So, like, kind of, yeah, kind of a legend, you know, with it, especially the way that he ran pretty hard off the eyes, too. So, yeah, he did Finland proud and us pretty proud, too. But, yeah, that was a, it was an unreal ride. I mean, when you're the underdog, it's sometimes it's almost easier. You know, people don't expect a whole lot idea. So you just kind of like ride this wave. Yeah. We really were kind of, I think, I feel like we really painted ourselves as the underdog through the entire playoffs and had a complete,

a complete buy-in, I think up and down the entire roster of like who we wanted to be and the culture and what we took pride in. And Sutter had, like I said, he never asked anybody to do something that they weren't capable of, but like, man, if you weren't playing at 95% of your potential or above, like, you probably weren't playing. Yeah. He held us all really accountable. So it was neat. It was pretty cool to be part of that kind of culture, part of, you know, those type of practices

where you're going against each other really hard, demanding it of each other. Like I said, that was my first real professional environment. Totally. Yeah, and yeah, and I tell the story a lot. Like when I ended up going to Boston, like, that's the first meeting I had with Peter Shirelli, the GMs. He's like, I want that. Whatever you guys did in Calgary, like that culture, like, you have to help us build that. God.

So it was neat. Fair. When you were in game six, like Dan was talking about, is it, what's the feeling like when it's overtime and you're the cups in the building? Yeah. Your one went away. Like are you like it's got I'm going to do it like or is it like nervous like how does it feel being in overtime with the cup in the building During the game. It's like not during the game it's just kind of It's weird. I don't know how to describe it like you sometimes you play a hockey game and you actually don't really have much of memory for it

Yeah, like you just things just happen like you're just doing it you know and your your mind is kind of Blank for for lack of better description and so I think sometimes sometimes even watching video, you're like, oh, yeah, I remember that. But like, you don't really process the stuff, you know, in game. You just kind of like get into, you know, get into game mode and just play. But I remember, like, there's certain moments within a game where I think Marcus Nielsen hit a post. And I remember that vividly, like, but more after the fact, I remember it happening and being like, you know, like, you kind of like, one of those moments that, like, kind of takes your breath away. And you're like, and then in retrospect, like, when you're, like, when you're, you're. And then in retrospect, like, when you're. when you're past the game, obviously, and looking back, those are the ones that haunt you, you know, like, after the fact. But the toughest thing, I think, is actually, like, the night before. It's not really the game and even game day. Like, you get into your routine and you're like, boom, like it's business, right? I mean, you're kind of so used to playing and getting

yourself ready. But trying to sleep, you know, the night before is, like, that was insane. That was really, really tough. I mean, your mind is just spinning, like, what am I going to do? What's it and it feel like, you know, you know, all the things about like, you know, lifting the cup, seeing the cup. I don't think I even saw the cup in person like ever in my life. Like so just, yeah, it's like all those dreams and it's hard to turn that off, like, and to stop thinking about it and just get your ass to sleep so you can get some rest. So that was the really hard part.

Insane. For sure. Well, you mentioned you end up in Boston and you successfully did bring that culture and a culture that still exists in that Boston, Bruins Locker and franchise. And we grew up in Boston, big, big beast fans. And that 2011 team brought us so much joy. So, and I had heard you say that you have, you know, a million stories from those boys. And specifically that Bruins-Canadian's rivalry that was really firing during that era.

And I am happy to report on the Emptenetters podcast that I, during research found out for the first time. And to set the stage, I guess, you guys go down two games to nothing, drop two at home to the HABS in the first round, win game three. and in game four were down 3-1, and you score an awesome slap shot goal, high glove on price. And I have found out during my research that the gloves you were wearing were brand new gloves.

I didn't know that. They were brand new that day, and that's a fact for the listeners. And they were very stiff. So that's what happens sometimes with stiff gloves. For the people that don't play, they get stuck in weird positions.

Every now and then. Yeah. Just find yourself in a strange, strange position. So could you just tell us about that series, man, and that goal, obviously? and then of course, because I know not everyone listening will have heard the story of you having to address the media and what happened with the fine after.

Yeah, that's a, that one's got like a backstory too, right? Because before that year, like so 2011 we went, play the haves, but like before that, we had playoff series against them that was wild, regular series games against them that were wild, like just brawls and fights and drama. And like, I mean, both teams were so competitive, right? So, yeah, like all the stuff leading up to that game too, like fans throwing stuff at us, like rocking the bus, parking outside the hotel, pulling fire alarms.

Yeah, like semi trucks parked around the hotel like in like two in the morning like, like, man. Dude, that was really the golden era of the rivalry between the Habs and the Bruins. Like you guys went to war. All of it. All the old school BS of like just like really? I used to walk to the rink with Charah too. So we were on the same schedule for game day. So we'd walk from the hotel to the rink.

And of course, he stands out like a sore thumb. And so it would be like on the way, there's like a dozen like French guys popping their head out of the cafe like, like whatever to Charra. They just chirping them and run around the corner. So it's just like it's funny. Like it's part of what you love because it's like this is the way it should be. Like the world is right when there's this kind of rivalry.

But it was, it was just like, yeah, it was like you, you don't even really hate them. Like, it's not the right word. Like, you just want to beat them so bad. Like, you just really want to beat them so bad. So, yeah, we're down, lost both games at home. This was after the year that we lost. Three-O. After being up three-oh to Philly.

Brutal. So we're already, like, we already have a complex. You know, like, like I said, sometimes it's easy. to be the underdog like we were not the underdog right like we were supposed to all right we're keeping you guys together because we believe in you uh all right you lost you blew a lead 3 o lead to philly the year before but we're basically keeping the team together and then you go down to at home to habs right so we're feeling it internally we're hearing about it externally of course the all the all the fans in montreal are letting us know about it and so it was just like ramp up ramp up wrap up and then yeah during that game like

earlier in that shift I got rocked probably by like Brian Gianta I think like so like I can't find too many guys smaller than me but like he was one he was one and I think he laid me out in the corner and all the fans pounding on the glass and doing the thing and I'm getting up I'm all pissed off skate up the ice and kind of found I think Marchand's like junk or whatever and just got got it just hit the pocket and aim or anything it just happened to go shelf so yeah when it went man, it was just, it's just one of those moments of, like, literally, like, pure, just, like, elation and, like, f-you. Yes.

But they were new gloves. That was an actual, that is a true story. But they do not. That's a fact. Like, I literally, like, I did, like, you know, do the old Tom Cruise, like, top gun, give him the bird. But, you know, I didn't know it was to the camera. It was, like, the CBC was, like, basically perfectly.

Dude, it could not be more perfect. You are literally birding the camera directly. It's the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life. And like obviously, you're talking to you now, it's amazing. But like, as a fan when we were hearing you being like, my glove got stuck. We were like, okay, dude. Because it looks like you find the camera and you go, how about it, boys? It's so funny.

Well, and then, oh, man, there's backstories and backstories of that one, too. So Glenn Healy was one of the color commentators. Yeah, yeah. The year before, I think he was part of the NHLPA, and I was part of the community. that like did the internal investigation and we ended up firing guys like from the internal stuff from the PA and he was one of the guys that left like through that so he hated me yeah so of course of course he's doing color yeah any chance to like dig on me like I was like uh but anyways uh I didn't see the clip until after the game right so like I scored boom we we come back who scored

the OT winner I think yeah I think we want an OT that game yeah five four anyways we come back, boom, tied 2-2, right? Like, the series is on. And so we're in the room all jacked, all excited. And then I think it was Claude comes around the corner. He's like, parents, get in here. And I'm like, walk in there like an idiot. And I think, yeah, anyways, there was the brass was in there.

And they're showing me the replay on the TV in the coach's room. And they're like, what the hell is this? And I was like, oh, shit. I was like, oh my God, I can't believe they caught that. Like, I was kind of embarrassed. Like, obviously, I was like, you don't want that on camera. But earlier that year, was it Wysniewski? Yeah, it was.

It was. Yeah, so he got suspended for, I think, whatever, a hand gesture. But to Avery, I think, or something like that, whatever it was. Anyways, he got suspended. And they're like, so the brass is in there. They're like, dude, you're going to get suspended. Like, you can't get suspended. Like you got to get your ass out there and like figure something out.

And so of course like between end of game and media is like 10 minutes usually. Yeah. And so by the time I come out of the room, I'm like cameras. Right. Causing the pod real quick to talk to you guys about our friends at Ricky Spirits. They are the best alcoholic canned beverage on the market and they just got bigger and they just got better. Because they have a 7% ABV, which is amazing. But they just launched a 24 ounce big boy.

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so you won't miss any of the action. Like talk about thinking on your feet. I'm like, oh, I was like, okay, like don't get suspended. Like priority number one. And so they were new gloves. And I'm like, well, fucking, like, my clothes got stocking. No brainer. Yeah.

No brainer. I should have said my finger got broken or something. I should have put like a splinter or something. That would have been so good. That would have been smarter. Wow. But the only thing I'd come up with like on the spot was like, yeah, my glove got stuck. You know what happens?

It was a fist pump. You know, you guys play hockey. Duh. Yeah. So anyways, that was, you know, it wasn't widely accepted us as a legitimate excuse. So I had a call with the league the next day. Stuck to my guns. I was like, my glove got stuck.

and they're like, really? Like, that's what you're going with? And I was like, yeah, man. He's like, well, we got to $2,500. We got to fine you. I think it was the max. But whatever. Like I said, mission accomplished,

don't get suspended in the playoffs. Playing game five. So, yeah, $2,500. It gets announced. I get fined. I live in the north end of Boston, which is Little Italy, for those who haven't been there,

all the Italians, it is like old school neighborhood. Everybody knows everybody. There's no secrets. And I show up probably one, 30 in the morning after we land from our flight from from Montreal and on the door of my building like you know I have like one of those buzzer buildings where you like buzz up to your room literally taped like in envelopes money just money cash like in the north end of Boston

taped to the front of my door like F the habs go ferns like all the stuff and there must have been a few hundred bucks like it was like actually like a significant amount just like hanging out on my or taped in envelopes. So pretty cool. It didn't pay off the fine, but it definitely took a chunk of off. North End of Boston, step it up, dude. You give the bird to a bunch of Habs fans, the city of Boston will take care of you. That is the story here.

That is absolutely beautiful. The North End is unbeatable, like the best neighbor ever. That is so good, man. Well, obviously, you then go on, play the Canucks in that insane final in 2011. We've got a chance to talk to a couple guys. We had BX on. We've had Luchon talking about that final and how crazy it was. But what were the emotions for you like?

You know, being one of those guys on the team, it was cool to hear Shirelli kind of brought you in and wanted you to carry over that professional mindset. And then being in that locker room as one of the guys who had semi-recently been in a final. And what did you do for the boys? Like going in that game, you know, you lose a couple heartbreaking games, then kind of pull it together. And, you know, you're down going into game six.

What did you bring to that locker room? And what were the vibes like throughout that entire series for you guys? At Desjardin Insurance, we know that when you own a cleaning company, things need to be tidy and organized at every step. That's why our agents go the extra mile to understand your business and provide tailored solutions for all its unique needs. You put your heart into your company, so we put our heart into making sure it's protected.

Get insurance that's really big on care. Find an agent today at Dejardin.com slash business coverage. It was incredible. I mean, just to get back to the final. But yeah, the journey to get there, like building up that culture, building up that environment. I mean, obviously, just a piece of it, right? Like you got like Charra, who was just incredible, a great leader and great at kind of divvying out responsibilities to other guys in the room as well. and, you know, Bergeron, who, a lot like a Genla, like, just raises the level of practice, right?

Like, so everything is, like, ultra-competitive, but in the healthiest way, you know, so we really made each other better. Yeah, we had a good group. Mark Recky, obviously, you know, there's no shortage of knowledge and kind of wisdom, you know, when it comes to big games. So we had a really solid room of just, yeah, guys. And like I said, that. environment that we created.

Yeah, to end up in a final, it was, it actually felt a lot different than Calgary. Like it felt like we were supposed to be there, you know, and not like we just kind of found our way there because I'm a hot goalie and, you know, he just kind of, you know, put it together. And maybe it was just the time of my career, but like it felt like we really deserved to be there. And we, you know, we properly earned it over, over the years that I was in Boston. But dropping the games and, yeah, coming home.

Yeah, I guess like perspective of going through it before and especially being on the flip side. Yeah, just sticking with it, you know, believe it on ourselves. We blew them out at home. You know, so you get that kind of momentum. You go back to Vancouver and drop game five. And I think that's where like going into game six, I think I gave my perspective a lot, you know, to the guys of like how Vancouver would be feeling. Because we were in the same position, you know, in Calgary, right? we had a chance to win.

Yeah. Game six. Like I mentioned earlier in this podcast, like the sleep and like the mind games and like, like it's so hard being in the position where you're going to win, you know, and, and I know like they would have had like a whole flight of family and friends.

You know, all their buddies probably were calling them, talking about how amazing it was. Even if none of that's happening, like even just internally, right, like your childhood dreams about to come true. Like we are.

going to like put the cup up in Boston like this is our time yet yeah right so like I think that was helpful like we talked about that in the room just about like here's what they're going through guys like here's what they're thinking here's what they're feeling like they're human beings they're not going to sleep tonight you know they're going to be thinking about all these things they're dealing with all the BS of like the wives and girlfriends coming down and doing a lot stuff like yeah this game is ours you know like any kind of like raw raw like we have the advantage Like screw these guys. Like we have the advantage.

So it was like that kind of stuff of like, you know, I think very realistically like kind of calling it for what it was like really putting ourselves in the position of feeling like, oh no, like we have the upper hand in this game for sure. Like all the pressures on them. So game six was like that. It obviously played out in our favor really well. And I think because of that, like we're really buoyed by, you know, how we how we played and how we kind of. I think felt like we mentally defeated them. You know, like I said, when you don't sleep, but because you're dreaming about being a cup champ,

bringing the cup back to Canada, like finally, like you're going to be the guy, right? And then when you don't do it, like, man, I guess like popping a balloon, right? And so same thing. I flew down to Tampa with Calgary, you know, after losing the cup at home in game six. And you make that flight down to Tampa for game seven. And I don't care who you are.

Like, you're not going down there feeling good. like now it's like oh shit like maybe this isn't happening like I don't care like how mentally strong you are like the doubt starts to seep in right definitely so I think same thing like that was the message you know like going in going into game seven like all the pressures on that they're at home you know they're Canada's big hope to finally bring a cup home yada yada they lost game six like all the stuff that was going on with their goalies you know like playing bad on the road So, yeah, same kind of messaging, like, of, like, those games are. It's like, we've got it.

Yeah, we saw that you had told the boys going into game six. You were like, hey, I know how shitty that feeling was when we lost game six in Calgary. That's what we're going to give them. That must have been so motivating for the rest of the guys in the locker. I'm like being like, yeah, you're right. Because you're right, man, the doubt, it's, like you said, you're human beings. There's no doubt about it. It does start to seep in.

and to give them that feeling of doubt as fans, we could see it. You know, it felt like you guys were the underdogs, that whole series, and you just kept punching back and winning game six. Even going into Vancouver, we were like, they're going to fucking win. Yeah. This is unreal. Did you guys have that attitude in the locker room a bit of kind of, because I forget what, it was a couple years ago,

Charra gave that interview about kind of like saying you guys had seen the Canucks celebrating and then KBXA was like, we weren't doing that. But was there a bit of a bulletin board material? real, you know, raw, raw thing going on in the locker room of like, listen, guys, we can bully them. Yeah. We can beat them around. You know, they, they think they've got this. Was that the messaging big time for you guys?

I mean, our group, like, and we knew it. Like, I don't think it was any secret to anybody with, with half a brain. But, like, we needed emotion. Like, that team needed, like, fuel to be on the fire. Right? Yeah. So the best, the best thing any opposing team could have done was, like, yeah like not respond right or not like add you know not don't throw stuff on the fire and so like

the biting cheap shots and like the chirping and all that kind of stuff like that was like catnip to us like we loved it and if and if the other team didn't provide it like we would just produce it you know like somebody would say something just so like a little arsonist like just trying to keep the keep the fire burning hot, right? So, yeah, I don't think, like, I didn't see them, like, practicing, holding the cup and something like that. That way to be a bit of an exaggeration, you know,

but if we believe they did, then it fires me out. Yeah, exactly. Somebody made it up to, like, just fire the boys up. Yeah, that's why Z's the captain, dude. The boys needed a push. He makes up a story. Next thing you know, they win the cup, dude. That's how it goes.

We had, like, a bunch of guys that were just, like, professional potsters, you know? Like, yeah, it's like the guy at the bar, right? You know what that guy said about you? Like just the start. That's the line. So real. And then, and then, Fair, we heard that, you know, you had a cool comment about how once you guys scored that empty netter.

It was like, all right, we're actually going to do this. And you get to soak in that last minute of the game, really, of like, we are going to win the cup. And then you, I'm pretty sure were the last guy to get it that summer. So you had a ton of time to plan it. I died at a joke you told that you said you spent more time. planning your cup day than your wedding, which is amazing. Oh, yeah, way more. So can you tell everybody what that day would the cup was like?

Because it's pretty epic what you guys pulled off in Boston there. Yeah, well, yeah, the end of the game was insane. So I don't know, like being a good hockey player, especially in playoffs, like, if you give tips to like young kids, it's like, here's a good tip to be like a good hockey player in playoffs, but it's not like a good tip for life. you kind of have to separate the two and I think like Marcy touched on it I think was it last year or something

he's like no no like you're trying to hurt people and you're trying to like do stuff that's not right like and you're trying to and you are and also you're trying to like completely bury your emotions like you're you're basically becoming like emotionless you know good and bad right

like you lose a game like oh who cares you win a game all right next game and so you're really turning off like your reactions to things and you become just like steady and just you know tough I guess I don't know I don't know what you maybe I don't know what the right word is anyways it's not healthy to do for you got to shut it off once playoff yeah yeah yeah but like that but that's a thing right like when that empty net goes in like up until that point it's like playoff mode like no they could come back like next shift is

the most important shift like you're a robot yeah and you're just like you just go go go go go until that, until that happened, there's a couple minutes left in the game. And I think at that point, it's like, it's like the clouds parted and like the sun came in. You're like, oh, wow, like, this is actually happening. Like, this is real life. And those last couple minutes were just magical, man. Like, seeing everybody on the bench, like, kind of have that realization and come out of, like, this battle mode of just being in the fight. And, yeah, like, oh, my God. like everything that I dreamed about, like those sleepless nights, like this is a thing. Like this is happening.

And it was truly the most, yeah, probably the best couple minutes of my life. Like it was just so awesome. Incredible. Like it's everything you kind of expected to be. Yeah, it goes by quick. You know, the time on the ice when you actually get to touch the cup and lift it, like, it's like the snap of the fingers and it's done. Like in retrospect, I should have done like five laps.

Dude, I always say that. People should laugh at more. Screw it. Like, do more. Like, just do more. Be the guy. Yeah. But, yeah, it goes by real quick.

And we got hustled out of there pretty quick because of the riots. Like, the cops came down in the room. Yeah, the city was burned. You know, we were doing like the celebration in the room and, you know, champagne, all that stuff. And we had our fill anyways. Like, it's not like we needed more. But the cops came down. They're like, yo, the city is burned down.

Like, you guys weren't an escort. let's go because these people know where the bus is parked. So you guys got to go. So we actually hustled out of the room pretty quick and hopped on the charter back to Boston. Landed at rush hour, you know, they shut down the highway. We drove in and did the thing with the cup for a few days, which was amazing. My idea with a bar tab, yeah, yeah, decent bar tab, eh? Yeah, the bar tab was a bit misleading.

Like the casino dude, whoever owned it, like bought that stupid champagne bottle that was so expensive. I don't know who actually. Big as Marchy. Yeah, but that was a fun night, though. It was pretty good. Yeah, throughout first pitch at Fenway, like, yeah, it's just amazing. Like I said, everything you ever dream of being. Truly.

And then I was lucky, yeah, I got the last, I think I was the last player to get my day with the cop, and I had it in Boston. So my kids were both in school at the time. Like I said, I lived in a pretty amazing neighborhood, the North End. and knew everybody and I was like all right like I could go home which I love my home like it's great but like I moved away when I was 16 you know like all my buddies like that I grew up with were kind of all gone like I don't really know anybody there so it's like I could go to my hometown and kind of like do the thing or like I could bring it to like where my home is like this is my home yeah so yeah so yeah so

I had it in Boston took to the kid's school uh went to like a spalding rehab which is hospital like close to their school, which is an amazing place. They do a lot of rehabilitation for people. And then I went through the neighborhood, took it to like all the businesses. You know, like basically did a lap of all the businesses, had an Italian parade.

You know, I don't know if you guys have been to Italy, but like in the summer. All the time, man. Yeah, like all the Saints parades. So we had a St. Stanley parade with the Italian band and everything. And, you know,

took it all the businesses, you know, so the guys could, you know, get pictures with a cup out in front. And then, yeah, just had a good old party. It was awesome. It's incredible.

It looks like the actual cup parade. It's so awesome. It is so awesome. Yeah, if you're in Boston, you guys know Boston, pretty well. Yeah, yeah, very well. Yeah. So Polkary is down to the north end is my favorite coffee shop. So Bobby who runs Polkary's.

I go see him every time still at this day. But yeah, he's got a wicked picture up in Pull Carrey is up that day of his shop. And it's just like a Where's Waldo like down the entire street. And then the cops like, you know, right in the middle. It's just, yes, it was amazing. We got to go see that. Yeah, it's amazing. Yeah, he'll give you a good cup of coffee, too.

Feel free to be amazing. There you go. To flash forward towards the end of your career, as we said, you finish off your career, playing for your hometown team with the Oilers. And again, as a fan for watching us, it was really cool, you know, watching you lift the cup in Boston. Then when you leave the team, to see you go back to Edmonton, it was really cool.

And then not to mention your name the 14th captain in franchise history. in that moment, was there a part of you that felt like, yeah, I wasn't on Central Scouting and now here I am captaining my hometown team? Like, what an unbelievable bookending to your career? And what was it like just like, you know, putting on that sweater buzzing around in your hometown? You get to see the beginning of McDavid and Leon's career just about as good as a bookending as you could ask for. That man, I got to, you have to believe me, like I said at the beginning, like it never got old. it never got old. I love that so much. Every day, man, you walk in, you're like, Jesus, like, this is insane.

Like, I remember one day, like, we're still in the old building, right? Like, and, and so, like I said, I went down to that old dressing room with Peter Clema, like, when I was a kid. And so, like, walking around, I'm like, like, I've been here before, like, as a kid, like, it's just wild, right? Like, to kind of do full circle and, and, yeah, put the jersey on and walk out of the and then look up at where you used to sit. It's just such a trip, right? And after one of the games, like, Messier and Gretzky were both in the room.

I have a picture with them, like, in the locker room. And I'm like, this is not real. This is wild. So, yeah, I never got old. It was just like, yeah, we didn't have great teams. And there was plenty of frustration and stuff like that. But it was always such an honor to play for your hometown, to be part of the Oilers.

I grew up, like I said, during the days where Glenn Sather was a GM. And I clearly remember, like, one of my favorite players was Randy Gregg because he was a doctor. My mom was a doctor. So Dr. Randy Gregg, which just blows my mind that he played in the NHL and he's a doctor. What? But I remember getting like the programs at Oilers games when I was a kid. And Glenn Sather made it like a thing where every guy on the team had to do something in the community. like you had to be part of a board and you had to be like part of something bigger in the community so

you know guys picked their causes right and so like to me that was always a big part of like being a hockey player but also being an oiler so yeah diving into the community and kind of doing all the things and trying to be as positive as you can even if you're losing games you know try to use your position as a as an oiler to do good represent the team well yeah it was it was a great few years man like as many losses as I racked up. Like I had made so many friends outside of the rink as well and in the community and I think did a lot of good things and set a good example. And, you know, maybe it was maybe a longer tail.

But I think installing, you know, installing some of those values and leading by example with like some of those things and like Connor is a great guy and Leon as well. But like I think just showing those guys too. like this is like it's about more than just you know being in the show and you know like yeah you got do things right and you know practice hard and do all this it's little it's little simple things but you know you'd hope that like there's even just like a smidgen of like lessons and things that you kind of pass down to that next group dude there is someday they will be retired and be doing a podcast like this and they will tell the stories that you were telling about this early pittsburgh days

of like these were the veterans on those oilers teams when i was 18 years old who showed me what it was like to be a professional. I think that's awesome that that was you. Can I tell you a funny story about Leon? Yeah, yes. Darnow. So,

like, I was captain, and so they asked me to come out to the rookie camp in Jasper. They had all the rookies, like, and they're going to do a thing and go on the ice and stuff like that. And they're like, hey,

can you come out to Jasper and talk to the guys? You know, we'll set up like a dinner or something like that. You can talk to the guys. And I was like, to be honest with you, like, I don't know, like, if I'm a rookie, like, I don't know, like,

hey, do I want to just hear me kind of drone on about whatever? And also, like, for me, like, I want to just go talk to a bunch of rookies, like, like, get on a soapbox. And I was like, how about, like, can you let me have some fun with the guys? And, like, you know, I have an idea about, you know, just seeing who's kind of, you know, got what it takes. And so I had this grand idea. I had some really good friends, actually a guy from Boston,

Lucas Carr, he's a former Army Ranger, and so he's a real badass. Like, this guy's a badass. And then a couple of buddies I had in the Canadian military as well from Eminton. So I was like, would you let me bring Lucas up from Boston and work with these couple guys from the Canadian military? And I want to set up like a little excursion where we basically like kidnap the rookies and take them out and like run them through some stuff that the army guys do.

and then like have an overnight like out in the wilderness. Yeah. Like can you just let me throw the rookies into a situation that's kind of kind of messed up and just see how they react? Like because I want to, you know, be able to then tell you guys and like have the army guys like point out like these are the players that are going to be like these are the guys that are gamers. Yeah. I want to see who bitches and who's like let's do it. You know, because I think that's really the separation. Everybody's good in the NHL.

like everybody is like everybody's got talent everybody's got you know potential whatever it is but like the guys that you want on your team are the guys that are thrown into weird situations and they're like let's go and then the guys you want to get rid of are the guys are like why are we doing this like why are we doing yeah yeah like and so they're to the oilers credit they're like yeah sure like do whatever you want and so i i don't i spent like a month i like had to get like sleeping bags i was like how many guys it was like 40. I was like 30, whatever. So I had to get all these sleeping bags like rented, planning with the army guys about like doing all these like drills and stuff like that. I had to like call Jasper pranks. So you all spent more time planning this than your wedding

as well. Yeah. Totally. Totally. We had to like get permission to use this land in Jasper like to like camp and like do these army things. And so essentially how it worked out is we showed up. We rolled up in like a couple of bands and these these army guys know how to make these little homemade prank bombs out of like water bottles. So they put like little heating packets in the water bottles. And they're like throwing these things and like bang, bang, bang. And so they're throwing these things and we basically kidnap these rookies, throw them into a van.

They have no clue what's going on. Like they have no introduction. They just know it's like a team outing. Yeah. And so we basically kidnap like this group of rookies, take him into the woods. They're running through like evacuation drills, like playing basically like, capture the flag stuff like doing army army shit and and like with no real context and then after we kind of run through all the drills and stuff like that then we sit around a campfire and we have dinner

which the army guys provided it was like MREs like they're you know the MR yeah yeah yeah like a bag so just this crappy like just this like crappy meals so we're all sitting around a campfire eating this like terrible army food and then they start talking right like the army guys start telling stories and like a couple of them were like yeah we're on a sniper team we're in afghanistan i lived on the side of a mountain for two months uh doing recon and i ate uh chicken with tobasco sauce for two months every single meal like they're running through their experiences or like you know ranger training like living in a swamp and getting foot rock doing all this stuff and like so they're just like telling all these badass stories and like it's pretty cool and my point to

like the rookies was like look like you guys were rookies you're all super excited to be in the league like the first year you make the team you'll all be excited but i said i guarantee you like at some point in your career like you'll it'll either be you or like you'll have a teammate that will be at the four seasons and you'll be at a buffet lineup and you'll be complaining about the dry salmon like yeah and f you if that's you like honestly like screw you like and so it was about that perspective of like don't lose perspective. Like this is an insane opportunity. It's an incredible, like, an incredible job, an incredible lifestyle.

Like, never take it for granted. Like, and so anyways, long story, the guy, the two guys that were identified and like, these army guys aren't like hockey nerds, but they said like both Leon and darn out. They're like, those are guys. Like in our drills and the stuff that we're doing, like, those two guys are like standouts. And like Leon was like all in like. like, let's go, like German badass. He's going to say, I love like this.

The German kid was like, bring it on, bitch. He's like, he's like, he's like, the head off lizards. And they're like, dude, there's food coming. Leon, Jesus. Yeah. So whenever Leon's on the, on it, you can ask him about the Army, Army Day and stuff like that. But like, stuff like that, like, I don't know, like, I don't know. There's so many like old school traditions and ways of doing things.

And like, maybe it's not perfect or maybe it's not like totally well thought out. But like, I love. just the curveball shit you know like stuff that's just out of left field you know just let's try it like let's see what happens and like see how people react and see if this works and if it doesn't like that's fine too like but whatever like I love like the fact of like being in a position to try stuff like that just see what people got it's the best that's awesome that's the best there you had another quote that made us laugh really hard which because having talked to a lot of guys in the league now this so many of them disagree with you but you said a lot of playing playing

golf every day. Probably on a lot of things, man. Sorry, you can repeat it. Yeah. You said the thought of playing golf every day after I retire is my idea of hell. Oh, it is, man. Which I love. But, dude, and it's, honestly, it started even before, even while you were playing when you, when you were a huge part of the initiative to go carbon neutral for the teams, the NHL teams traveling. But since then, man, you have done so, so much across the game, the world. You helped start the November project, Children's Wish, supporting the Pride Initiative, the NHL Street Program, NHL, Director of Social Impact,

director of Youth Strategy, a 2014 King Clancy Memorial Trophy winner. You've got straight A's in sustainability at Harvard, man. So the wealth of knowledge that you've accrued and the impact you've made post-playing has been so cool to see what has all that meant to you and how excited are you with all the changes that are being made already? Well, honestly, man, like we're, like I said, If you don't lose the perspective of the opportunity you have, like, it's not fair.

Like, just because I played hockey, I was good at a sport, I had, like, so much opportunity to, like, meet people, do things, get invited to things. Like, like, you do. You have privilege, like, that's beyond what's probably appropriate. But, like, I don't know, like, when you have that, like, you can either use it for good or bad. So you might as well use it for good. And so I think that's kind of always always the, the, the,

way I looked at it. Like, man, it's awesome. Like, we could do a lot of cool stuff and, like, good things for other people. And selfishly, like, how fun is that, man, to, like, just live out life and, like, do cool shit, meet good people, learn things, be curious. Like, I don't know, like having, I have so many friends outside of the game that, you know, have nothing to do with hockey. Like, being able to have diverse interests and, like, a diverse friend group that are just,

I don't know, it just mixes your life. up a bit. I don't know. I want to be an old person that looks back and like yeah, like just has fun stories and fun memories and like, oh yeah. Like you just kind of this tangled web of life and like all these different kind of paths that you just kind of open up doors to, you know,

through curiosity. So that was another thing I told the guys like at the U18 tournament this past weekend, right? Like I got up and was like, never lose your curiosity. Like, I see it in hockey. Like, and I see it in youth hockey, to be honest. Like it's, if all you do is play hockey all year long, like you're playing spring hockey, summer hockey, winter hockey,

all your friends are hockey players and like all you do is watch the MT Niders podcast. Like, God, like mix it up, man. Like you've got to mix it up. Like it's not healthy. Like you got to do other shit. You've got to have other interests. And like it'll actually make you a better hockey player. Like being like Kovalev and like having like, man, I'm going to go learn how to fly a plane.

And then I'm going to learn how to fly a helicopter and then I'm going to open a business or whatever it is like you got to have other stuff that's going on in your life to like balance you out and to make sure that you're just a more well-rounded human being. But like if you live and die by hockey, like you're just going to be an emotional mess and like and then what happens when hockey's done? You're miserable in a golf course. Yeah, you're much worse at golf than you were at hockey. So it's actually really bad now. Yeah. And then you live in hell. Literally down in Palm Springs or something. I don't know. It sounds. terrible. Oh, that's so good. Has it been cool to find these roles within the league, too? You've always wanted to do this stuff, but now you're having it actual director roles within the NHL. Has that been an added bonus for you?

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And that's what we always say. You look good. You feel good. You feel good. You play good. Yeah, man. I mean, I got to know a lot of people at NHL, unfortunately through collective bargaining. Like, you know, going through two lockouts, being part of the union.

I was always a union guy. And so you're doing the work and you're in these tough negotiations and stuff like that. but you get to know the people on the other side. Doing the carbon neutral stuff, I got to know through the creation of NHL green, a few of the colleagues that I have now at the NHL, and I get to know them as people. And so that was always kind of on my radar.

It's like, these are actually great people. It's pretty cool. You know, the NHL is pretty awesome. And so I was lucky. You know, I could see the horizon on my career and kind of plan it out a little bit better than probably a lot of guys. So yeah, go back to school. get a little bit of education on the bones, you know, make sure that I'm kind of tidied up there.

But jumping into a role where, yeah, I could do social impact. I could get involved in some of the green, you know, NHL green work. Yeah, kind of, I had the creativity to say like, hey, we should really have a street program. And I try to develop NHL street and do stuff like that. And same thing now. I'm like, yeah, how do I try to influence, you know, the fun aspects of hockey and really wrapping around, you know, our aspect around, like, how do we support house league hockey? How do we support rec? You know, how do we, like, how do we create future beer leaguers instead of future NHLers? Like, yeah.

Because really, like, that should be our focus for everybody. Like, there will be guys that make the NHL. Like, that's awesome. And everybody should. Like, if you have a dream to make the NHL, like, you 100% should. But, like, we shouldn't do it at the expense of, like, burning people out and, like, creating, like, anxiety hockey, like, where everybody's just, like, stressed and spending tons of money and super anxious, and then they get to a certain age

and they don't like hockey anymore. And then they don't play beer league when they're older because they're just burnt out or they just have bad memories of the sport or whatever it is. We really need to develop more of that fun aspect of hockey and create, yeah, create like the future beer leaguers. Yeah, I love it.

I love it so much. My work is like, how do I throw ammunition into that pile and make sure that that part of hockey is thriving? Because we don't want to lose it. We can't take it for granted. you know like correct no absolutely it's like we just need more of that mindset across the across the league and across media everything it's amazing um what do we do it you know it's got be fun like it's exactly yes like that's that's that's been our whole thing it's like it's the most

fun game in the world it should be fun all encompassing you know um we're going to close you out fairs with a game that we play with everybody it's called pass shoot score basically it's a ranking system so we're going to give you three things that we know that you really love and you've got to rank them pass shoot score pass is going to be third place because, you know, passing the buck's great, but shooting's a little bit better because then you get to give the bird to everybody. And then scoring is obviously the ultimate goal.

So Chris is going to start you off with your first pass-fute score. Okay, your first category is boarding. So pass-shoots score, skateboarding, snowboarding, wakeboarding. Oh, pass on the wakeboard. Wow. Shoot on the skateboard. and score on the snowboard. Nice.

Is it tough, though, that your wife is way better than you at snowboarding? No, because I'm divorced now. Oh, yeah, there we go. There we go. There we go. So good. So that's easy, man. Easy.

Were you out on the wakeboard with the girls, though? I thought I saw a sick video of you out there doing some tricks. You know what? The reason the wakeboard was so easy to pass on is because we all do the wake surfing now. Oh, okay, okay, okay. Good, okay. That's that. Would that be your favorite?

So much better. Yeah. That's cool. Wake surfing is sick. Did you ever give a shot at like actual surfing? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I went to, I've been to Brazil a couple times surfing down there, down Hawaii.

Amazing. Yeah, man. I'm terrible, but like I'm a gamer. Yeah, it is, it is fun as hell. I have totally the dude thrashing around in the water. It's so awesome. Yeah, yeah. But like, but I can, I'm capable.

Yeah, there you go. Have you hit the slopes yet this year? No. Man, that's the only problem about living out here is it's too nice. I know. God, yeah. Dude, we got to get you to come south. Come south and meet us in Mammoth in California. It's elite.

Places unreal. All right. I can be convinced. Yeah. There you go. That's an easy cell. All right. Your next category, I'm very excited about this one.

But I do have a bone to pick you with you. Next one is Arsenal. I know you're a gunner's fan. Pass shoot score. Patrick Vieira, Terry Henri, Bikai Osaka. Oh, man. Well, I got a score with Henri. I mean, yes.

Well done. Well done. Well done. Which I guess I mean I'll shoot with Vieira. I think. Yeah, I'll shoot with Vieira. I think that's right. Well, done.

How'd you end up a Gunner's fan? Well, because of Johann Hedberg. And so... Oh, fun. Makes sense. Yohan Hedberg was my roommate and you should have included Freddie Youngberg in there because Oh shit, I should have. You know, I was debating.

I was like, who do I put in here? Because, you know, I thought about Burkamp. I thought about Anelka. I thought about Ozil. Like, there was a lot that I could have done. Yeah. I mean, they had some good years. But Freddie Youngberg might have been, him and Henri would have been tough just because

Freddie was so cool. Yeah. He was so cool. And, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, So, yeah, we watched Arsenal all the time in that crappy holiday that we lived in. And then I, yeah, and obviously those are some pretty easy years to love Arsenal. True. God.

Have you, have you been to the Emirates? Have you gotten to London for a game? Yeah, yeah. That's pretty awesome. Oh, that's the best. I hate to tell you. I actually got a jersey from Rosickey, too. We exchanged jerseys.

Man, he was nasty. After that World Cup, he lit the world on fire. signed with you guys and I was like fuck yeah so like we're Chelsea fans I'm sorry to say but that's alright I've been to Chelsea I wouldn't watch the Champions League game there there you go hell yeah yeah wait which one oh man I can't

remember who they played I have to like go back in my memory they won though yeah there you go all I care about yeah the bridge I love the bridge the bridge is such a sick place I can't remember God my memory is bad you'll remember you can just let us know yeah I've done too much cool stuff okay fair your next category is

creative expression. So pass-shoot score, your tattoos, your baking, or your gardening. Oh, man, that's hard. At Medcan, we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation of good health, from the big milestones to the quiet winds. That's why our annual health assessment offers a physician-led, full-body checkup that provides a clear picture of your health today, and may uncover early signs of conditions like heart disease and cancer. The healthier you means more moments to cherish. Take control of your well-being and book an assessment today. Medcan, live well for life. Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started. I think I'll pass on the tattoos. I'll shoot with the baking and I'll score with the gardening. Wow, I thought I was going to get baking,

dude. My guy. I'm a huge gardener. Are you getting into the vegetable gardening? Oh, dude, you should see see his setup. Yeah, it's the best. Like the vegetables, I got fruit trees, I got everything, I got bees. I I spent a lot of time in my garden, man. I've had the funny thing about my mom was a big garden. My parents both grew up on farms. So Alberta, like Troshu and Oak Point. So they're both all from farm families. My mom had a big garden growing up.

It was my job to tend the compost pile like when I was a kid and all that stuff. So I've had these compost worms for literally 20 years, like the same ones. And I've taken them from like Boston to Calgary. Yeah, they've moved. They've been everywhere. They've literally come. I still have them. They've been traded too.

Yeah. So I've got full on like into, yeah, like composting, gardening, all the kind of stuff. But yeah, I got a big, I got a big ass garden. It's awesome, man. I spent a lot of time out there. What's the newest addition? Yeah, it's incredible, dude. I do some good hot peppers out here, like really good hot peppers.

Hell yeah. Yeah, like I love that. I did a ghost last year. They were hot, man. Yeah. Yeah. There's something else. But, yeah, like the staples, you know, I do like my carrots and beans and peas.

Yeah. Yeah. And then I heard you make some elite crepes. Is that true? Yeah, crepes are elite and my sourdough. Like, if I take gifts,

like Christmas time, I was a busy man because, like, I give a lot of sourdough. Lope after loaf after low. Oh, it's just a perfect gift. Yeah,

like you don't want to pat yourself too hard with some, some of that kind of stuff, but I can pat myself pretty good because it gets pretty good. And the tattoos, I guess I pass here, right?

Because like, nobody can get a tattoo. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You got some cool ones, though. Michael Angela's stuff is pretty sick.

up the arm there, yeah. Yeah, but I mean, that's, that's not me. That's the artist, you know? You're right, fair enough, fair enough, fair enough. Scott Ford, he's my Calgary guy. He's the guy I flew down to Boston after we won to tattoo the guys. To do the cup one, yeah, that's sick. Yeah, that's who misspelled Marchons.

Yeah. Wait, is it actually? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's incredible. He misspelled champions, I think, or something like that. Within A, yeah, champions. Yeah, champions. But he knows how to draw Michelangelo, so it got to,

give them a pass on the spelling. Yeah, no letters in that one. It's way better. All right, now Fares, your last one is going to be your workouts. Pass shoot score biking, and that's going to count road biking and your battle bike insanity. Okay. Pelvic floor deep core training. Oh, yes.

And pulling sandbags. Okay, pass on the sandbags. Okay. I'll say shoot on the biking and score with the. pelvic floor. Wow. So for anybody that doesn't know the pelvic floor stuff, like that might sound weird, but it's like my career changed. I had a hernia surgery like early on when I was in Pittsburgh and I did my rehab up in Whistler, BC with this physio. It was like awesome. And her big thing was like, man, you got to develop your core. Like you got to strengthen your deep core muscles and

your pelvic floor muscles. So I was basically doing kegel exercises. So anybody's like, pray, It's probably heard of Kegel, but like some people don't know what that is. So when I explain it to the kids at school, like when we're doing off ice and all that stuff, like it always gets a chuckle. But I'm like, the way it was explained to me is if you can imagine yourself taking a pee, like say you're in the doctor's office and you have to like fill up the cup. You know, like so you're taking a pee and then you have to use that muscle to stop peeing. Like everybody knows what that is.

Like, yeah. Yeah. So like that's what's firing your core is. So like I was doing that for my rehab to like rebuild my core after. surgery. And then she's like, no, no, like you do it all the time. Like when you're doing squats, when you're sprinting, when you're doing bench, when you're doing pull-ups, when you're doing abs. You're firing that muscle all the time. So any of like the rotational stuff, all that. Like, so I spent my whole career like, yeah, doing like the pelvic floor,

the core work. And like, I hardly lifted weights. Like, I was always super fit and strong, but like I didn't lift many weights like my whole career. But I did a lot of like core work and like body weight stuff and all that. And man, biking is obviously helpful for, for, for, for,

VO2 and, like, power and stuff like that, but my career is probably built on, like, strong core. Like, you can be a small guy.

On stopping being able to pee. You know what's great right now is that everyone listening to this is doing Kegles right now. Yeah. I guarantee you that. Tell me, it literally will change your life. Like,

if you want to, like, prove it, like, you try to go balance, like, stand on one foot or,

like, do some kind of balance exercise. And then, like actively like fire that muscle and like contract it and hold it and even your balance is like makes you better man it's like it's insane and so when you're a small guy and you're like hitting guys that are like six foot five and you're like oh how are you so strong it's like dude because i'm firing that muscle my pelvic floor is fucking jacked yeah man like it's just like but it makes a difference like yeah shit's not a joke like it's for real so yeah that's my i love that i love that so much

Dude, that is so epic. All right, Fares, that's our last pass shoot score. We can't thank you enough for hopping on. But before we let you go, is there anything you want to shout out, anything you want to plug? Man, just go do your good things. You guys are fun to talk to. And like, I just like, like you said, like, yeah, I'm like a bit of a different guy sometimes. I don't necessarily fit the mold.

But I think, like, celebrate that, you know? Like I said, for young guys, people that watch this, you know, or listen to you guys. like it's good to be a little bit different. You've got to be a team player and you got to understand like when it's time being part of the team. But like be yourself, man. Like you got to do your own stuff. And especially if you want to make it or if you have big dreams, like if you're just doing everything else that, everything that everybody else is doing, like you're the definition of average, right?

And like average doesn't make it. You know? So like embrace the stuff that's a little weird and stuff that's like a little out of the box and stuff that nobody else is doing. and like, yeah, you just got to be your own person. So I'm glad that you guys like talking with that kind of stuff. Absolutely, man. It's the best.

It's cool. It's amazing. Wow. What a guy. What a day. What a time to be alive, Dan. If it is the last thing I do, it will be getting him to come down to mammoth and go. I want to snowboard.

Well, he'll board. I'll ski. I want to hang with him on the slopes so badly. I can't express enough how much fun I have. with that and I hope you all did too and I genuinely feel moved and touched by the message that he gave to everyone playing hockey at the end there it's like don't don't think you need to just be a hockey person and enjoy your other hobbies enjoy the things that that make you tick and don't be afraid to wave the flag because absolutely right it's just the best huge huge thank you to Andrew Farns we've

got to have them on again I mean that that was about as fun as it gets and man just like I want to be a better person. Same. Unbelievable. So that's it for us today at the Empty Nerves podcast. Hope you enjoyed that. We will see you later this week for some more fun in games. And until then, skate hard.