Empty Netters Podcast - Make Mason McTavish Captain & Put Ivan Demidov On PP1 w/ Michael Del Zotto and Jason Demers | EP.218

Episode Date: August 7, 2025

Coming to you from the BetMGM Sportsbook in the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City, Michael Del Zotto and Jason Demers hop on the pod to have a good old fashioned hockey hang session. The guys talk new schedule and what teams are going to shock the NHL this year. Grant Brandell from Under Oath takes a break from their rock n roll tour to talk his one true passion, the Tampa Bay Lightning. And Dan almost stumps Chris with this new connective tissue. NEW EPISODES EVERY TUESDAY & THURSDAY! 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: STATE AND LIBERTY. Premium menswear crafted from performance stretch fabrics and cut with our signature modern tailored athletic fit. USE CODE "EMPTY10" at https://stateandliberty.com/ FACTOR MEALS. Get started at factormeals.com/netters50off and use code netters50off to get 50 percent off plus FREE shipping on your first box. 00:00 INTRO 02:08 MICHAEL DEL ZOTTO 14:09 JASON DEMERS 46:32 GRANT BRANDELL 1:22:00 REUNION TALK 1:35:52 CONNECTIVE TISSUE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Dosato, Johnny Lazz, two guys' connections to the New York Rangers in their own ways. That's an honor. Yeah. Yeah, can you believe you deserve to be? You're out looped in with him. You're looped in with me, DZ. You guys are the same? Yeah.

Bye, man. Wow. Ice is ready, and we are back with another episode of the Empty Netters podcast brought to you by BedMGM. I am your host, Dan Powers, and with me, a man who told me yesterday that he was busy with meetings, and then I got a DM from a fan that said, said he saw him on the golf course with our father. He is a liar and a rat. Chris Powers. There's no way that that happened, as always.

I assure you it did. That's crazy. Got a DM from a random person that said, saw CP and his old man on the golf course yesterday. And I went, oh, that's funny. Chris told me he was wrapped up in meetings all day. Did that kid say he was a snitch? Did he go?

And I'm a known snitch. Well, he didn't know that you were a liar. It was also 8 PM. A liar and a rat, dude. The fuck. Anyway, got a nice little twilight round, Dan? And yeah, almost as nice as the incredible chop session that we had with Michael Delzato and Jason DeMERS at Dan, the BetMGM sports book inside the Borgata. This was prime real estate.

Fantastic. I'm surprised you didn't say almost as good as our Twilight. rounds with them because we did that as well. True. True. Yeah. We rolled the putting contest. We rolled this, we rolled this pod right into a, into a twilight putting contest. Fantastic stuff. I mean, listen, you guys, if you're loyal, or long time, rather, I should say, Empty Netters listeners, you know that we have had DZ and J.D on the show before. However, having them in this setting at the Borgata, at the BetMGM sports book, six set up, and the boys just snapping it around, having a couple pops together.

There's nothing better than hockey talk in that setting. So we don't want to waste any more of your time. We're going to kick it to that conversation right now. Please enjoy. Michael Dosado, Johnny Las, two guys' connections to the New York Rangers in their own ways. That's an honor. Yeah. Yeah.

Can you believe you deserve you're not looped in with him? You're looped in with me, D.Z. You guys are the same? Yeah. My man. We. How does Jersey in high school? We're discussing Johnny and I were talking earlier about the

teams that are kind of tanking in the league or were tanking in the league that are now trying to make their way back up. The ducks were one that we were talking about in the drive here. We're at the beautiful Borgata here in New Jersey and Atlantic City. And we were saying like the ducks, in our opinion, legitimately have a shot at playoffs this year. And then you look at teams like San Jose. Okay. But hold on. Well, now what are the rumors about with McTavish? They're like, oh, like are they going to trade them? Which is such a factor, right? Yeah, of course. Like for now and their future. Yeah. So I just don't know what I'm not even sure they know what their direction is.

I agree. I just think that they're, and I was there, it was five years ago, but it's still even at that time, like, oh, we have all these, I think a lot of teams do it. And sorry to cut you off, but now I love it. Now I'm going. All our teams, like, they're like, oh, we want to develop picks. We want to develop picks.

We want prospects. Yeah. Prospects. When I was there in Anheim, they, I think it was like three or four first round defensemen, two of them, three aren't even in the league anymore. Yeah. And at that time, they were like 20. Yeah, yeah.

Like, they were like, okay, these are, these are going to be our top four defensemen for the next decade. Yeah. This, I've talked about this before, and this is why I love what Tampa's done. And they've won, but they're competitive year. Picks are, like, you're predicting, you're hoping that all these picks pan out, right? It's a complete gamble. Get rid of the picks. Who knows what's going to happen?

I'm taking proven commodities. Yeah, yeah. Every year, they're training for two or three guys. Like, oh, they're third line guys elsewhere. They come in and like, wow, these are a playoff. These are X factors coming in the playoffs. So that mindset, I think, it's just, it's proven. It's not, oh, one GM is trying it.

Like, he's done it year after year, and he's been successful every single time. Yeah. So these teams that keep, oh, we want picks or we want prospects, like, oh, now it's a seven-year rebuild. Who wants a way to route for them? At all, dude. It's ridiculous. So I just don't understand. So back to Anaheim, okay, yeah, they've gotten some good players, and they're starting to what we think turn the corner.

But then there's all these rumors, and yeah, rumors aren't always true. but it seems like there's quite a bit of smoke there. This is your future captain in my, my guy. This is your future captain. Wow, okay. And how are you even letting rumors like that circulate? Like, that should be put to bed immediately. How does he not have a deal yet?

Well, it's insane. The thing that I think is so confusing is right. It's like we see Zegris finally moved to Philly. And it felt like for two years we've been talking about, is Zegris going to get dealt? Is Zegra's going to get dealt? And I think so much of the validity behind those rumors was the fact that McTavish was there. Because it's you draft Leo Carlson.

That's your center of the future, right? That's the guy people compare to Anjikopatar. And then you had Zegris, who in his heart of hearts is a center, but things just weren't working out the last couple of years. And then you have McTavish, who's, you're talking about proven commodities, is proving himself as a commodity. But now they're like, yeah, we don't have him signed. And we're hearing all this shit.

And it's like, are you seriously about to lose both those guys in the same summer? Like, that would be a nightmare. Yeah. But explain more why future captain. Like, do you know him pretty well? Yeah, I know. I know of him. I know guys that are there.

You know, Goody is what, yeah, he's my D partner in Philly and one of my favorite team has I ever had. That's awesome. Yeah.

Ultimate team guy. Love that. But he's, he doesn't have that many more years. As a defenseman, as a guy who plays, especially his style of game, have as physical as he is

and plays, you know, wears his heart on his sleeve every single night. It's tough to play that role, 35 plus. Sure. Very tough.

And the games continue to get faster, continue to get away from the physical style. At some point, I don't know, two years, three years, fours, I don't know what the timeline is. I'm not him and I'm not putting words in his mouth or making decisions for him. But there's an expiration date. He's not 25. He's not 28.

There's an expiration date there. So who's the next guy who's going to take over? And you look at a guy that plays both sides of the puck, has he's a heart and soul guy. Who would be the other options? There. As captains go? Yeah. I don't know.

I just don't see there's even a 1A1B. There's not even a 2 or a 3. There's an argument for Terry, but I hear you. Terry's more of like the... He's a skill guy. He's not really a vocal leader. He kind of sticks to himself. Perfect alternate.

He's a perfect alternate. He's a great guy. I would have... He just signed a deal. Frankie feels to me like I don't want to say a caretaker, but he feels like a perfect alternate as well. Like he is, you know, and especially when you're talking about the trajectory of that team, you want to name someone to captain who's going to be there the next eight,

10 years. You know what I mean? I want guys that every two, three years, like, oh, they're retiring. Leo is the only one. I don't say. But to your point, when I think about vocal leaders, it's, yeah. Yeah. I like McTavish.

There are leaders out there who aren't vocal, but from what I know with, or I see within the organization, I'm not involved anymore, but I think it's, it's pretty clear to me that McTavish is the next guy. And that's my personal opinion, that's the way I see it. I love, first of all, I love how this has turned to. to Ducks talk. Yeah, yeah. Like,

I teed up the range of things. They're a fun team, though. They're so fun. So I was actually thinking about this the other day. I used to make jokes about this team. You look around the league at great defensemen in the NHL right now. There are guys like Brandon Montor, Hampas Lindholm, Shea Theodore, all these great defensemen who once were. Josh Manson.

Yeah, Josh Manson, who were once on the Anaheim Ducks. Camphal. You go down the list. There's a long list. So many. And I used to make fun of the ducks for it. And to an extent, they deserve a little bit of flack for it still. And now you look at the ducks and down that left side specifically of Lacombe, Minchikoff and Zelwiger, and they're just stacked again.

And I'm like, who is the defensive scouting department in that fucking franchise? Yeah. Give that guy a race. It's serious. And Minchikov, I think, is the third parody. He probably is. Gross. And just to back to the McTavish conversation, Lecombe is a guy.

who I could see potentially being a leader on that team. All those guys. So all those guys were prospects when I was there. I was playing in San Diego. Oh, wow. Oh, we have, you know, this guy, this guy, this guy. And I wasn't studying the young guys coming in by any means. Like I knew I was at the end at that point.

But there's only, they're all, I believe they're all, it was like WHL defense in the year, OHL defense in the year. They're all up for CHL defense in the year. You only have one first power play. You only have a second. And every power play now is four, four, four, and one D. Yeah.

You're not seeing powerboys out there with 2D. So you only have so many minutes to spread around for these guys that want to get their touches in. So if I'm them, like, okay, let me, like their values at here,

right? These are the next big prospects. Let me get a number two center or maybe a left wing, you know, top line winger or maybe I'm getting two pieces. Well, they did just go to the Crider and they signed Granlin. Yeah.

But I mean, you know Crieds better than anyone. Yeah, he could produce, especially on the power plate. Is he a top line winger? No, no, no. No, he's not.

I'm saying as far as those older players experience. Yeah, for sure. But why not get rid of, not get rid of it's a terrible way of putting, but why not trade and bring in something that is a 26-year-old winger? And maybe you're getting a third line checking side. A guy who's into PK and do, like, play that veteran role as well and get numerous pieces for a defenseman that you just know isn't going to get the minutes

that you want for him to develop. Yeah, sure, sure. It's a luxury to have that many defensive move, but then you go through it. You're like, oh, shit, well, we need a guy who's going to defend and all these guys just want their touches and want to be able to work the power play and want to get confidence that way.

If you don't play the power play, you maybe get four or five opportunities to jump in the rush or make a play as opposed to 10 or 15. That's a completely different game. Yes, dude. And you're looking at the scores, like, oh, my K played 15 minutes or 14 minutes, no goals, no assists, even, like a zero hit, zero blocks.

Cardio. Yeah, yeah. There's a workout. Yeah, seriously. So I think there's other ways. There's better ways to use those minutes and to use the value that you have now as opposed of waiting two, three years. And he's just a third pair of defenseman that's now learning how to defend and learning

Yeah, yeah, yeah. As opposed to using his strengths and now his values a little bit less. Because it stunts them a little bit even, right? I'm like, you're stuck on third pair. And you're like, fuck. And if you do that for four years, you're like, You hurt his trade value because you stuffed him there the whole time because you had no choice. Exactly.

Yeah. That's fucked. So again, it's a luxury to have, but at the same time, you have to know when to let these guys lose. Yeah, absolutely. And find a better opportunity for them. And also something that makes more sense for your team too. It's true. But in that sense, too, though, like sometimes don't like injuries happen.

Then that guy gets his chance. And then he, like, I've seen that happen so many times too, right? Unless it's a career-ending injury, that guy's going to come back. And it's a short-term solution. But if you're keeping these guys in there all, 21 to 22 years old, you have their rights for another six, seven years. You're going to run out of that problem for that long. Yeah, injuries happen.

But you're banking on injuries happen every single year. I mean, injuries do happen. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. But to that point, it's not that long. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But so it's like we're talking about this. I mean, look at how much we have to talk about this team because of the rebuild they're doing.

We talk about all the time San Jose has the best vibes of any rebuild. To finish, you know, second to last place in the league. and be as positive as they are. In that locker room, in that fan base. It's 20 games. Truly, it's crazy. Like, they love it there. And then you have a team like Chicago,

who is like the vibes are in the basement. But we're looking at these teams. Zero vibes. Like it's awful. But we're looking around to these teams and Johnny and I were talking, how much longer can Pittsburgh go before just pulling the ripcord and blowing it up?

Okay. I'm going to answer your question with a question. If you're Sidney Crosby, Oh, dude. Do you... Adobe Acrobat Studio, your new foundation. Use PDF spaces to generate a presentation. Grab your docs, your permits, your moves.

AI levels up your pitch, gets it in a groove. Choose a template with your time this cool. Come on now. Let's flex those two. Drive design, deliver, make it sing. AI builds the deck so you can build that thing. Acrobat. Learn more.

at adobe.com slash do that with acrobat. In your mind, does it ruin your legacy of going elsewhere? No. Okay. No, I love the question. There's no wrong answer. I love the question. There's no wrong answer.

So I go back and I'll relate it for you. If Hank played a game in Washington and he didn't have his heart problems, would that ruin his legacy in New York? But Sid won three cups. Hank never won it. If Hank went somewhere else and won the cup, he'd be like, oh, my God, I can't have you did somewhere else. It's different. It's different.

It is. But at the same time, a guy that's played his whole career. somewhere and gone else. But also, the personal accolades, the personal accolades, the team accolades. It's just, like,

you're like, Pittsburgh Bankwoods, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, the narrative for fans was, Hank would have fucking gone if the power play came up.

Hey, yeah, you're right, hey, you're right. You're not wrong. Hey, but, but DZ, DZ, here's a question. Let me answer, let me answer your question.

with a question when, because I was right about to make the joke, it becomes a trivia question, right? Like Sid played one year wherever. It's like Bobby O'R. You know, they're like Bobby O'R left,

dude, played one year. Yeah. So if it went that way, I would agree with you. But what if Sid, just for shits, signs with Colorado for three years and they win a cup?

Isn't that like cool? Because you're like, oh, Marshan just did this. Hold on. Time out. Yeah. Okay. Yes, but there's still

Marshawn, incredible player. There's still a couple steps to see. Sid is in a league of his own. So what I'm going to say to your question is, you're right, there is no wrong answer. Yeah. I personally don't think so at all, especially because of the unique circumstance with Sid. And I look at it like Ray Bork.

Okay, quick intermission between interviews here because some of the DZ file got corrupted, but fear not because now we're kicking it to the JD interview. The league's in such a good spot. Why would you add games? That's maybe the reason why will it work? I'm sure guys, you know, we're in such a great league where guys don't complain. So, you know, I'm sure that whoever was part of the committee that was dealing with the PA directly agreed to this. Yeah.

I think the Four Nations, it really compacts the season. There's a lot of injuries. Sure. There's a lot, you know, and you never want guys going into playoffs hurt, guys that are superstars being hurt because they have to do all these media tours. They have to do all these events. Now they're doing Four nations. and the Olympics. Now you're adding two games to the season,

which at times could be irrelevant because now the season is set. I'd have much rather seen a adjustment to the playoff format or an adjustment to the point system within the standings to potentially go down the avenue of European style of three points, two points. Yeah, P-dub's doing that. Yeah, yeah. It's fantastic.

That's college, too. I love hockey. Yeah, right. It's great because, you know, I played in Europe. and you don't, you know, you want, you get to overtime and team guys now, or you get to the last two minutes of a game and guys will hold the puck behind the net. And I was a guy that did it because I'll find anything, any way to beat the system. Yeah.

If I can find a way to get a point for the team, I'm going to do it. If I don't think our team's good enough, I'll hold the puck behind the net for the last two minutes. And we did that when I played in Phoenix for, and you get a lot of chinty points and be like, hey, it's a crap shoot and overtime and a shootout. But when you take that away, teams now have to push in the last two minutes. It's more exciting hockey. And then it's more exciting hockey and overtime and shoot it

because guys want those points. And the parody ends up being the same. I think every year on the network, we play that game where we kind of show the standings if it was 3-2-1. And like the difference sometimes is like not that crazy, number one, But the teams that sneak into the playoffs will be out because there's teams that aren't getting that row or they're not getting those extra points.

So I'm in agreement that they should maybe try it for a trial run. But again, it's so tough because you don't know what's the right way to go and anything in the NHL right now. Everything's working. So why would you want to mess up a good thing? Yeah. Because it's so popular. I know. God.

And I really feel like it was popular at the start of the year, but you guys can agree with me like four nations. Dude. It took us to another level. It was the best thing ever. It was the best thing ever. And it was the best thing ever. And I feel like don't make mistakes. But you can't do it every year.

That's it. You can't even do it every other year. You're going to kill guys. And don't make mistakes by tweaking the system because all of a sudden we're so popular because, and let's not forget that it's that popular because of a brawl between Canada and U.S. It's a country thing. Okay, so hold on. I want to go back to that. You just mentioned we can't do it every year.

Can't do it every other year. You don't think we could get into a good rhythm of every two years. We've got Olympics, or then we've got four nations, six nations, whatever it turns into. It's too much, I think. It takes away from the, you know. Oh, everyone says that. Wait, what do you mean, last? He's the allure of it.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. I disagree. Think about the buildup for this game, though. It was because it was 10 years. Like, 10 years. People say that about the World Cup, too? Oh, for Olympics?

Just that we hadn't had best on best. There's a reason, but again, think back to that tournament and really like pull out from that Canada-U.S. game. Yeah. Okay, pull out. Hot take here. Finland could barely. Sweden, Canada was a great game in the first game. It was great.

But Finland could barely field a decore. Dude, it was every Finnish defenseman in the league. They didn't have enough eligible guys. Let's be real. Sweden was the dark horse. Yeah. Who underperformed, in my opinion? With Sweden, yeah.

Sweden was a better team and could have been after watching game one. But again, with four teams, you're not going to, if you do it every other year, to his, to Johnny's point, you're going to lose the luster of it. And you're going to have some down years. It just, it's natural. Listen, I think it's a great take. Go on. And think about, like, if your team is in the playoff hunt doing well every other year and your best players

trying to beat the shit out of Canada or USA or Sweden or. Like, it's like, all right, I'd rather the Stanley Cup than a four nations win, like, 10 out of ten times. Yeah, no, for sure. For sure. Obviously, yeah. But, like, you know, it's like, look. It's a lot of hockey. It is a lot of hockey.

But, like, the Florida Panthers, they won the Stanley Cup and they had a lot of players at four nations. Yeah, because they sat out. No, that's not true. They sound the rest of the year. The most of the year they were injured and they weren't playing. But here's the thing. Do you think you hinder the longevity of star players by doing it every other year? That's the thing you have to think about.

And that's a great question. Longgeity. Personally, I don't think so. Maybe. what, four more games if you win, four games. Yeah. And four games at the level, four playoff games. Four playoffs games is worth

20. I think if you do it. One playoff games worth five regular season. Yeah, so true. I think if you do it every two years, the intensity will go down. The intensity this year was so crazy because of the 10-year gap. No question. Yeah. So I think the intensity

will drop, but the passion will still be there. And to me, you know this. We talked about this. I don't think it will lose the allure that you were mentioning because no matter what, getting picked to put on your fucking nation sweater is always going to fire guys up.

Can I say something that might actually piss people off? I don't mean to do that. Let's do it. We're here in the Nogesm sports club. You can't say it. You can't say it. I know it's going to piss people off. No, no, no, wait.

You can't say it unless you're okay with pissing people. I want you to intentionally piss people off, but I know this will pissing people off. I know this will piss people off. You do. We were all the games. We were you? We were all the games too?

No, I was working from studio. Studio. Yeah, I wasn't lucky enough. The energy in Montreal for the exhibition or whatever you call, the round robbing game was still 10x in the atmosphere of the championship game. So if you do it every other year, you might have to do it in like Montreal. Like the place where like every, Boston is a great sports city, but there was nothing like that game. Oh, no. It wasn't even close.

Canada. And here's another hot take. May I, though? May I? Here's another hot take. Oh, that's a hot take. Nobody in Canada or U.S. gives the shit other than Canada versus USA.

True. Oh, yeah, that's correct. True. Nobody gives you shit. There's a reason. I think we lost to Sweden. Yeah, we did. We did.

We did. We did. We already in. But I will say during that game, literally, I was on the national broadcast with my in-laws because they were the only Swedish people in the barn. Settles.

Settled flecks. subtle flags Who's this guy? They did a Swedish girl for the first time Yeah But you guys With the Canada

Contra's country Okay I will agree I was gonna say I will agree But I have another question for you Well hold on let me get this out Get this out You are right

That that that vibe in the Bell Center Was always going to be better than the garden But But They got Extra oomph of it being the first U.S. Canada matchup. But this was the championship game.

It doesn't matter. And you know it doesn't matter. That being the first time U.S. and Canada had played in a decade, that game was always going to be the buzzier game. It was always going to be the buzzer game. I promise you. Listen, tariffs be damned. You're not going to out cheer Canada. Ever. And that's what I said.

I said that. But they do get extra points because of it. I'll award them extra points, but I still think the Canada game was going to be a bit louder, period. And that's what I said at the beginning. But I'm just saying we need to acknowledge that that first matchup was extra spicy energy. But can you expect, here's the thing, group chats, Brandon Hagle, Brady Kachuk, can you expect that Brady Kachuk and Matthew Kachuk can provide? Because it was large in part them. Yeah.

Can they provide that spark every single year, every other year doing this and not hurt their own personal performance for? their team. You can't. I wouldn't want that as like a... Brady's not going to have that same crazy mentality. Dude, he was like a battering ram in those games. He's not going to be able to do that again and maybe he will and he's going to say he will. But at some point

again, it goes, it bleeds into my point with Matthew Kachuk. Like, at some point somebody needs to tell these kids like, you need to play a long time. You need to make some business decisions. Yes, you've won two cups. It's great. Brady. But like

you also hockey's better when you're in it and not injured and but that's where it's like it's so many questions yeah yeah it's such a good question and now Olympics you just think Olympics now you got these teams

that weren't in four nations having somebody in the proof in the Olympics it's going to be another level in Milan and then you're going to ask next year to go back down a level to four nations to four teams but now you've had all the countries in and you're going to expect guys to have

the same oomph, to your point, because it was 10 years. I think we do it every 10 years. I think you wait. Bring the next generation. You get one shot at it. Yeah, question is. I think I agree. I think you wait. I was kidding, but I kind of like that, actually. No, but I think you just pull, you pull the reins back on it, and you

make a surprise decision. You go, you know what, fans, after the Olympics, we think that the players, we might be putting him in danger physically. There's going to be no four nations. We're going to pull it back here. We're going to wait a year. So here's a question. Let's not even get into the the business angle of

how do you possibly go back to the interminable dross that is the All-Star game That's a great sentence by him horrendous I've never heard that word before He's practiced out in the mirror Intimitable?

We're gonna have to factor Yeah I don't know if those words are rare It's a line from forgetting Sarah Marshall Yeah Intramanable Interminable A movie quote on top of it too Jesus Christ

That's pretty good Do you guys know what that word means? So No no one knows what they mean My... My... No one knows either those words mean. My question is...

My question is... We obviously can't go back to the All-Star game. Yeah. And I know it's way different. But we can all agree that there's going to be no lack of excitement going into Olympics because we had Four Nations this year. Oh, it's more teams. So we always bring up things like the World Cup

and now things like Four Nations where you go... Everyone goes, God, I wish this was every year. And people always say what Laz said of, yeah, but if you do it every year, it won't be as special. Why don't we feel that way about the Stanley Cup and the Super Bowl and the Champions League? Don't roll your eyes at that. It's a question. Different format, different timing. You know, those tournaments, the Four Nations is like four to eight games with Olympics.

So it's like it's a much more of a sprint knockout style country. Stanley Cup is It's more about the city You know what I mean? So like the city Sometimes the nation But like And you don't see the same teams every year

I know obviously this anomaly Edmonton Florida And it happened with Tampa But there's always There is a lifetime potentially Yes So it's There's always going to be exciting around it

It was winning the Stanley guy And the length The length of the Stanley Cup The length And also the length of the Stanley Cup Even more so Yes No, the Olympics is fine to me

Well, you're fucking Head rolling out like this. Well, USA just won the world championship for the first time of nine in two years. Yeah, so that's what a lifetime. Once in a lifetime. Listen, that was sick. Did you watch those games?

I sure did. Jeremy Swam and shut out. I'm all for loading up everything. Yeah. Let's just make the guys play 365 days. Yeah, yeah. Sorry. 36 and a leap year.

120 games in the regular season. Fuck them and let's ride. Could we go back to the original question as the 84 games? Like, you as a play. player like we whether you're playing junior hockey college hockey youth hockey at some point every player gets burnt out of course so what time of the year for you is it like just get me to the end of the season like when did you first feel that in your n-h-l season well it's always the dog days which is

kind of you know if you want to put a number on it it's always that right it's right before christmas and then you know you kind of have a little surge to get to christmas but it's always that like early december and then it's february march is always the dog days. That's when it's like you're kind of fighting through injury or grinding, you know, it's wins losses before that like final push. If you're in it, you're kind of just trying to hold Pat. That's where you see a lot of the standings hold.

There might be a team that makes a push that struggled early, but for the most part, it's teams just trying to hold their position before they get healthy for that final push because it's always, there will always be like a weird road trip. You know, you're on the road for long and things are just a little squirly. You're playing the same team. now for the third fourth time and you're like get me out of here and you know you just came off the high of the break and the high of um christmas and seeing family and now you're like kind of on back in this again you know and practices you're sore you know games you're hurting um so that's always for

me it was always the time for and you know i always had my first coach was uh and the minors was roy somer and he always says the dog days that's just like games 40 to six It's just the shit games that like, there's some good ones, there's some great ones. But it's the majority you're just kind of like, it's just that routine. You know, you get up, you eat breakfast, your morning skate, you nap, you have your gruel, your pregame meal, you've now had the same thing 45 times. You three and four nights. You're like, what city am I in? You're getting at two in the morning.

You're waking up. Yeah, it's great. It's glamorous seeing in the best hotels. but it's just the monotony of the routine. It's hitting. And it happens for anybody in any job, any industry. If you do monotony routine, it's like just the clocking in and the, you know, it's the Truman show of it all where you're just like, what the hell's going on.

Yeah. It's only two games, but do you care about the records at all? Oh, that's right. For the two games? Yeah, it's like, Matthews. He's going back to the 84 games. Matthews score 70, probably two years ago. I almost brought that up with.

That's a good point, too. Just something, you know. I agree with the shortening it. And then I do wonder, like, if you made it 72 games, like you mentioned. Yeah. Yeah, but that does drastically change. Yeah, but the initial. 72 is a stretch.

76 is probably better. The initial records, you know, the goalies were barely going in the butterfly. 3-0-T now in our generation. You're scoring on the ice. Yeah, you're scoring on the ice, and there are six teams. Yeah. It's a little bit different now. Roder was playing 72 games a season.

Yeah. Yeah. It's so hard. You're really, it's so personal to your experience and what, fans think, you know, down to their core of what they really want. But, you know, I don't think that scraping a couple hundred thousand dollars for two games really moves the needle. Yeah, yeah. And they might argue that the league that, well, two games doesn't really make a difference.

So why not if it doesn't make a difference? But I'm like, yeah, I think it does. Yeah. I think it does. And I think if you're going to say we're going to go two games that way, why don't you go two games the other way and go to 80? Yeah, yeah, yeah, fuck off. Yeah. You know, so it's like, but, you know, there's recovery's never been at a better place.

Guys take care of their bodies. There's a lot less doing what we did when we played a weekend and having a couple of Manhattons on the side of road. At the Borgada. With the Borgata, the MGM sports book. Damn, man, you're right. But then the ponies. Yeah. Come on, six car go, run.

Yeah. Mother was a mud. I think you're thinking of old fashion, old fashion. Yeah. Which a cherry is often in that as well. But it's muddled with an orange. Good for you. Hey, I used to bartone.

Big words guy. Yeah. At Buffalo Wildlings in Crenshaw. Yeah. Fact. True story. So much discussion and smoke around a few guys in particular. Jordan Kairu, Jason Robertson, and now Kyle Connor.

I want to go through them each. Let's start with Kairu. Why do you think with this blues team that when you add Jim Montgomery, all of a sudden surges into the playoffs, has great young players, Cairo's on a long-term contract, should have won that series. Why would they give up a guy like Cairo?

Some could argue that St. Louis took a pound of flesh off of Winnebec that they couldn't recover from. Yeah, I would agree. Because I thought they were a better team, and yeah, they pushed him to the edge. Yeah. Why Cairo? Why would you get rid of a guy like Cairo?

I mean, you could argue Robert Thomas is there, Dylan Holloway is there. I hated that they traded Zach Bullduke. Yeah. I didn't like that trade either. I didn't like that trade either. I didn't like that. In the bumper like that.

They can play that position young age can play second power play. Yeah. Plays hard, mean, fast. I know Logan Mayu is a touted prospect, but they have a lot of good. Let's not forget Jimmy Snuggs is a great, great player. He's good. Well, it's going to be remains to be seen. Yeah.

Probably the rookie of the year. Wow. No. No, he's not. rookie narrative. Demadov is going to have a year. He set up for a lot of success. I'm going to, Demadov's going to be interesting because I watched and

it's going to depend who they play him with. They have to keep him away from Patrick Lainick because that will kill his career. And I just think that I don't know where you fit him and if he needs to fit in the right spot with the right players. Yeah, you talk about, you mentioned like

high end prospects, knee tops. Like if you don't play Demetoff first or literally at the worst. He's not playing third line. Of course. He's going to be first. You got to put Cole Cawfield and line his position and put Demadoff. And you've got to take Line A off and put him on the second. Yeah, and go, sorry.

But how does he respond to that line A? Probably not well. Probably not great. Comacazi. Yeah. But you can't put line A, even though he had all those power play goals, that power play hummed when Demmeadoves control in that puck. Yeah. So.

Was I a scratch in the playoffs or am I making that up? It's interesting. I heard some stuff. Anyway, we'll keep it at that. Yeah, we're going to move on. So you think Kyru is possibly expendable on that team? I don't, I actually really love his game. I think if you're going to trade him,

you better get a fucking haul for him. We're talking like, I mean, not the same level. You better get, you better be, you better not be trading him for picks. Yeah, right. We're talking like Matthew Kuch. Because if you're trading for a fourth and a first. I don't, yeah. You're making, it's, it's a Hubert O Kichick's situation where,

you're getting somebody that is going to make you win now and change the culture and fabric of your team. Yeah, but Hubert Oak Shuck was 200-point guys. 100%. Yeah, but, like, Kairu is a young, on a great contract, multiple 35-plus goal guy. I said in the beginning, it's not the same level. But if you're trading Kairu, yeah, you're right,

especially with the fabric of that Blues team, you're not trading him for picks. You're trading him for a top-six fucking, like, 70-plus point guy and stuff. probably or like a one for one. Yeah. I actually mentioned... Robertson, Dan, just training for Robertson. I actually mentioned all three of these guys I said,

like, if Kyru were to be like, I'll play in Winnipeg and Kyle Connor is like, I am not resigning here, that is a like one for one or maybe some add-ons. Hot take and I'm not the highest sum, Jason Robertson. Oh, really? Fuck. Can you explain that to me? Can you explain that to me? Like, why don't people like... I'm kind of with you.

You think all of Dallas. this fucking depth is Fugasey. Yeah, I think they have too many of the same player. I think they're good enough and they draft well enough and Jim knows what he's doing. I want to call out that comment shocked me so much. I spilled my drink everywhere. I was really good. I was going to take a sip and you said you hate Jason Robson.

I just don't think he's a good player. I just don't think he's what people think he is. People think he's the 100 point. You believe the 109 point season was an outlier. It was. That 109 point, if you look, 380 point years. If you go back to the goals he scored in that 109 point season,

a lot of the goals were like goals that if you have one off season, you're scoring 20. Yeah. Because there's a lot of like on the ice, off the stick, off two skates, that stuff, it wasn't pure goal scoring. Okay. People say pure goal scoring. If you go look back and go sit back and watch that season he had,

watch all of his goals, a lot of it. was luck. Not saying he's not a great player. Still credit to him. He's a 70 to 80 point player consistently on a team. But with what they have on that team, and now they're getting, they got a lot of fins now and they got a lot of Europeans and they have a lot of guys that are very

talented, but Jamie Ben can't do it all on this team physically anymore. Mason Marchman's gone, who I didn't love that getting rid of him. I think he's a huge integral piece of that team. Jamie Ben's almost done. He's got a year two left. Sags is almost done.

But Sags, again, I'm talking about like the grit, trick guys with size. They're getting very small and very light. And what did Edmonton do to them in the playoffs? They push them around and they push them out of that series. And if I'm any team watching, if you're trying to win a Stanley Cup and that's your goal, who is the most bully team right now that's the standard,

the Florida Panthers? If you're going to get to the finals and lose, what's the point? Yeah. What's the point? You've got to change something. So that's why I think Robertson to me is expendable. Now, I'm just saying like, I'm not blaming him.

But I think guys who take it are still tough. The depth. But then Colin Blackwell. Who's else on their fourth line? Navvick Bork. Borg. Like you're going down the list. There's nobody there that can enact anything.

And you look at Edmonton. You look at the Florida's. You look at Winnipeg with the Lowry's. Like, there's a lot there. So I think that's for me what makes Robertson expendable. Whether acceptable or not, I said on our live show after the nurse slash, I was like, next game, someone should Todd Bertuzi, Darnel Nurse. Yeah, yeah.

Like that, like, you. No, not nurse. Connor Leon. Connor Leon should have had retribute. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or that. Or that. Yeah, like you, you have a guy who very intentionally, knowingly, and clearly breaks your

second line center's foot. and you did nothing. Is he not first on Santa Ana? First second. He's fucking good. He's nasty. He's good. And you,

Donald Nurse went out and broke his foot. Here's the thing. And then Evan Bouchard goes out and slat. Like, how do you not murder someone on that team? But they did it and they did it too late. No. But they did cost Edmonton the Stanley Cup or a chance at it.

Because Mason Marchman taking a run at Zach Hyman, him is so kidding his wrist, is what turned, is what gave Floyd. Florida the opportunity because as that series went on, Hyman was such a big missing piece because he had over 100 hits at that point. I know. Yeah, he was throwing the body around.

But that was too late. They lost the series and that was retribution. Yes, they ended up having the last laugh, Dallas, because Eminton doesn't win. But that hit should have been done way earlier. Yeah. Do you remember the sad I told you today? Yeah, this is actually crazy. I want to share this with these guys.

Since 2020, 2020, 2021, the second most goal. in the playoffs, Zach Hyman. Wow. He's a stud. Crazy stat, though. After Leon. Some of that is Toronto, yeah. The greatest trade ever made.

Isn't that wild to think about it? Last five years playoffs? Easily a top three contract in the NHL. Yeah, right. Contract in the NHTS. What's he making? I think like five and a half million. It's something crazy low.

That might be insane. Did I just make that number up? I generally don't know. Hold on. Let's look that up. So yeah, we did what we talked about, Cairo. talked about why Robertson.

And who else did you think, Dan? Oh, Kyle Connor. That's insane. I haven't seen Kyle Connor. I haven't seen that one. I think that one's only because he said he might not resign. Oh.

I mean, it doesn't shock me. The mechanic. Yeah. I could see him going to. Yeah, 5.5. Nail it. Kyle Connor, we don't have to spend a lot of time on. I think he's sick.

I love him. He's one of those guys, though, for me. It's like, yeah, there have been rumors that have started to swirl that he might not be convinced of resigning with that team. and for me, the shape of Winnipeg losing

Elers, I'm like, you've got to figure that out quick. And if he's out, if he's out, I love Euler. I would trade, I would trade Kyle Conner sooner than later. Like, I wouldn't wait for the deadline. I would be like... One of the, if not the best perimeter player in the NHL. Yeah, wow. Cool.

Kyle? Yeah. He's incredible. Understanding space and time. There's not many. guys awesome matthews is another one that's that good probably you could argue the best i'd say connor is is second yeah very close he understands how to get in and out of space how to create space that is so hard to do what he does at his size and never get touched it was a super smart move to scratch him in size you're like how did he get there this little fucker that face off goal they scored

i think in game one against st louis where i forgot who rims the i remember he shreifely picks it up Kyle Conner pops out to that far dot, one-timer, bang-bang goal. That was so poorly played, too. I broke that down on NHL Network. That was a poorly one? Defensively, it was. What a sick play by Winnipeg. Oh, no, it was amazing play by Winnipeg.

I always from, as a D. Yeah, as a D. Any goal that goes in, I think there's, I always, there's any goal that happens, no matter how nice, there's a defensive mistakes. I was going to say, that's probably correct, though. Long mistakes. Three mistakes lead to a goal, right? Yeah, yeah.

There's a breakdown every time. You know, when you have the Connors and McKinnons and Leon's, it just takes one, but there's always that one somewhere, like a detail's missed, and that's just the nature of the beast. So I, it's always funny because you guys are like, oh, what a sick goal? I'm like, what a bad way? Yeah, what a fun of bad way. I'm like, I can. No, no, I cannot. Yeah. That's hilarious. Yeah, it is like, but that's what makes like playing the game, you know, again, I only played college, but like you do see the, like for you, I'm sure that's just your, the way your brain is wired, like you're seeing this happen

seven seconds before the goal even happens you're like oh this is going in that's how your brain works and like oh that's missed here it comes here it comes I mean it's easy to watch up top and it's easy to watch on video yeah no it's true all right boys we got a long weekend of this

we got to pack it up so we can get out in the mixer and then get ready for tomorrow but until we get back on the sticks Sims ruled Sims Ashley Larry here you're going to start slinging the dice.

Yeah. I figured let's pack it up because the car is coming in 45 minutes. Okay, hell yeah. Always fun. Huge shout out to DZ and J.D. Two of our best buds in the game. So much fun we had at that weekend

with the pro athlete golf tour and then also just at the Borgata. Shout out Wolfie taking care of us as he always does. But such a good setup. And I mean, God, man, those chats, those hockey talks are. I mean, that's what this show is all about. Dude, it feels like when we get to do that with them,

and like you said, massive thank you to pro athlete golf tour, massive thank you to par four app, massive thank you to caliber golf, everybody that was there, Borgata, BetMGM, hooking us up. Those chats are what it feels like when you're just sitting around with your hockey buddies having a beer, like being like, dude, like I can't believe they changed this rule

or I can't believe, I don't think this team's good. It's just those are hockey guys hanging out and talking. That's what you get to wait. It's not like, and I love the guest interviews we get to do. But that was literally just a hang with a bunch of hockey people. And it makes me feel like I'm in my buddy's basement and I love it. Truly. So, so good.

We are going to take a quick ad break and then we will be back and have some more fun with you. You know what time it is. It is BetMGM time. We have an epic partnership with them and I need you to get involved. So what you do is you download the BetMGM app. and you use promo code netters. That's N-E-T-T-E-R-S when you sign up. Then you can bet on whatever you want.

You think cock season's over, don't matter. We got golf. We got tennis. We got baseball. Football is back. Football is basically back. So time is now to get involved. Because when you sign up with the promo code netters,

you can get up to $1,500 in bonus bets if your first bet loses. And while you're bored in the dog days, don't worry about it because they have unbelievable tokens and parlay boosts and promotions going all over the place. My favorite one is Big Fly Friday. You pick someone to hit a home run on Friday, and if they hit a home run, you win. And if they hit the longest home run on Friday, you get your share of 100 G's in bonus bets. Caching. So find out who's playing in Colorado.

They stink. The ball goes a million miles. Pick someone there. He'll hit the big fly. You win big. Unbelievable. So download that BenMGM app and use that promo code netters right now. Gambling problem?

Call 1-800-8-Hope-N-Y or text Hope NY for New York. Call 1-800-327-50-50 from Massachusetts, 21-plus only. Please gamble responsibly. Call 100 Next Step for Arizona. 1-800-Bets off for Iowa. 1-800-1-80-0-2-3 for Puerto Rico. First bet offer for new customers only. Subject to eligibility requirements, bonus bets are non-drawable,

in partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. See BedmGM.com for terms. U.S. promotional offers not available in New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. We are back, and we've got a little bit more unique fun for you guys, because we are about to be joined by Grant Brandel, who is the bass player of the band, Under oath, who is currently on tour, and a massive lifelong Tampa Bay Lightning fan. So we had to have him on to, he's promoting the tours, promoting their new album, and we got to dive deep into the clown nose boys and their lightning obsession.

So let's kick it to Grant, enjoy. Little Bolt's talk. Well, ladies and gentlemen, we teased it earlier, but now we are here. We're very excited to be joined by Grant Brandel, the bass player on the band Under oath, who is actually in a little, you're in like an intermission between tours right now. You're just out and you're headed back out. So we caught him. He's back home in Tampa.

And we have a massive Tampa Bay lightning fan on our hands. Grant, thank you for joining us on the Empty Netters podcast. 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. A 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. Thank you guys for having me. Yeah, I've got a summer off for the most part, which I haven't had in probably 10 years. Like every summer I'm gone. So it's been cool. It's very hot, but cool. Are you gone because you're touring all the time?

What's the deal? Yeah. Summer is usually the hot time to tour. I mean, we did warp tour for back in the day. Like, probably 10 years in a row to some format. And now it's kind of become

oversaturated with like festivals, obviously. So it makes almost more sense to not be out unless you have like the right move. Yeah. Tour to tour. We're also like in our 40s. So we're not doing that anyways. Yeah.

Are you touring mostly around the U.S. Or where some of the crazy places you're going? This year got U.S. next month, Pop Roach and Rise Against. And then October, we're going to South America and Central America. Sick. And then December will be in Europe for like three weeks. So, yeah, man. Not bad.

It's all over. Yeah. It's fantastic. Dan, Dan, as Grant just said, it's the tours with Popper Roach and Rise Against. Oh, yeah. The tour is called The Rise of the Roach. I saw that. And it's truly fantastic stuff.

It's also, you know, knowing that you were coming on and seeing that you're touring with Papa Roach made me dabble back into like the early 2000s days and just like listen to a couple of Papa Roach songs that used to make me put my head through a brick wall. So I really appreciate that, Grant. You did that. No, they're actually playing that album that cut my life in the pieces. Wow. Yeah. It's like 25 years. They're playing a lot of the whole album and a lot of those songs.

So it's honestly, I didn't grow up really a big Poparoch guy. Now that I know the guys, they're literally the nicest. dudes I think we've ever toured with and they treat everyone so well. Isn't that funny? I feel like it's like so often these guys who play that kind of heavier music like that end up being the sweetest people in the world. It's like it's it's hysterical. It's I wouldn't say everybody, but yeah, there's a lot.

There's a lot of good guy. I'm not going to like tough shit on people. But yeah, there's definitely, uh, the majority I would say, especially at this age in your career, like you understand the ups and downs and you're just grateful for people being good people, you know? Yes. Oh, for sure. It's, uh, there's, there's this funny, uh, viral clip that went around a few months ago

that was like someone being like, say the controversial thing. And this guy was like, uh, metal heads are super nice people cosplaying as intense people and hippies are super mean people cost playing as nice people. Yeah. And all the comments were like, that is 100% correct. Yeah. But, um, but, um, dude, uh, so, you know, as we, we got put in touch with you, we, we hear that you're a huge

Bolts fan. Give us the origin story of that. Are you a Florida native? Have you always been a Boltz guy? What's the whole step in? It's kind of a weird.

So my family, everyone but me, I'm from Tampa, but the rest of my family is all from Pennsylvania. Erie. So they were a big... Erie PA.

Wow. Nice. Yeah. Yeah. So they were big Steelers. Football. My dad played high school, college, coached. And I don't really know

how i mean i i can't explain i i no one liked hockey in my family no one does like hockey in my family i'm the only one and i remember when i was a kid i had a uh a lemu jersey i was a big lemieux fan um mario yeah yeah yeah um oh not clode yeah um but uh you know i i grew up in florida i played you know ball hockey roller driveway nothing big like that and then uh i didn't even touch the ice till i was like 26, 27. It just wasn't even a thing for me. You know? My high school didn't have a hockey team.

They had one later on after I left high school. When did you move to Florida though? No, I was born. Oh, you were already there. Got it, got it, got it, got it. Yeah, yeah. My mom, dad moved down. She was actually pregnant with me and I was born here.

But yeah. And then, you know, I remember, this is so funny. I was thinking about this last night because it was going to be on the podcast. And I was like, when I was into Roller, I somehow forced my dad. to buy season tickets. I don't know if you remember this because I barely do, but there was like a national roller league.

And we had a Tampa team. Tampa Bay Tritons. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Wow. And so we had season tickets. And every game, I don't even remember how if the hockey was good at all.

I just remember every game was a full brawl. Yes. It was just like a line brawl every game. And that's what you went to see. And it was like, it's funny because we played the venue. It's, uh, USF,

the college is like, it's a, you know, small arena. but we play there. And I just remember like going there and being like, this is all that hockey is people just brawling every game, getting pissed off.

And then later on, obviously, I kind of realized, oh, there's actual game to it. Yeah. Yeah. And I was like, oh, okay, this makes a lot more sense. But yeah. Played roller, outdoor. Used to play the super ghetto rink.

Actually, the bolts have redone since then. In the ghetto, like kids would run by and throw rocks so we were playing hockey over the fence and stuff. Like very like... Classic car. Where was it, Grant? Because we're down in Tampa. We've been down there a bunch.

We have a pretty good sense of it. It's off of Florida and Sly Avenue. It's, uh, I don't know if you know where that is. It's literally, there's a boys and girls club there now. Like it wasn't before. Yeah, Dan.

I think we went by there. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I know he was talking about. Yeah. Yeah, it wasn't like that when I used to play there. And it was like, it was, you had to watch your car.

It was super sketchy. But, uh, like a face group guy, a bunch of guys ran it. three hours a night until people couldn't like walk anymore. And I had a buddy that I played with and he's like, you want to come play ice? And I was like 26. And I was like, I've never been on ice skates, but I can hold a hockey stick.

So let me get a shot. And my second time skating was in a game and it was terrifying and awesome. I loved it. I couldn't even figure how to get over the boards. I literally had a line change. I was like, I don't know to get back on the bench. Yeah. Yeah.

And now you're playing for 15 years. Yeah, I was going to say, now you're, you know, 15 some odd years later. and you're just ripping up beer league all the time. Was it before or after you got on the ice for the first time that you got dialed into the bolts? It was, I think it was right around the same time. I think really like the bolts were not a good team for a long time. And right around like the caveat days was like when I kind of jumped in and stuff.

And then, you know, obviously 2004 it was big. But even then I was touring so much that I wasn't really like tuned in. Yeah, yeah. And then once I got. Once I caught the bug personally to play, then I got more into like the league and stuff like that. So it's like it's funny like when I talked to guys about hockey that obviously grew up like high school like, you know, phantom everything. And they're just like, yeah, I remember this guy back then. I'm like, I know who you're talking about.

But I also, I wasn't watching back then. So it's a weird like dynamic. Yeah. Oh my God. So what was it like when you were you because, you know, hockey fandom is an intense thing. Right. So were you like, the one person in your family and you were like, listen, I'm, I love hockey and this is what's

happening and I'm fine with this. Is that your sport? Because I know it's like, it's a football town down there. It's a lot going on in in South Florida. Were you all in on hockey once you made the commitment? Yeah. I mean, it wasn't even like I, I didn't even, I stopped watching football for the most part. Like I just watch hockey. I would literally be doing, I'd run fantasy leagues. Sick. I'd be watching, you know, Ciner Ice or NHL Network. And I'd be literally like just looking at my computer. Same guys, guys with fantasy and stuff, but just like doing that whole thing. And then yeah, when I was home, you know, when I started playing and the good thing about being in a band is when you're home, you don't work. You're at work when you're home. You're not. Yeah. I was

single and I'd be skating like seven times a week. Oh, that's the best. Yeah. I miss it too. It's not like that anymore. It's so funny. We always joke. It's like when you're playing beer league, even at our age, if you have a good skate, you just want to go back out the next day. It's on. We even, we play in a league on Wednesday and Thursday. And if you lose on Wednesday, you want to go back Thursday even more because you want to get that taste out of you. Yeah. It is a very contagious, contagious men's league sport. And I don't think all men's leagues are like that. I think it's like, you play men's league soccer, you get a run and you're like, yeah, it's good. It's a good little workout. But it's rare that you're like, I want to play a game

again immediately. And hockey totally has that effect. Yeah, I've never played a sport. Like, I've done like, you know, the co-ed stuff and like the soccer and the soccer and the, and the kickballs and the flag football or whatever you want to call, all the, all like the, the rec league stuff. And there's just not the camaraderie that there is with hockey. I know if it's because there was a bar at the rink after that's huge. Oh, it helps. That helps.

But like even the, even I, so I play at the lightning like practice facility. Oh, beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure you've seen it. And like, I think we have one of the biggest like beer leagues like almost maybe in the country, definitely in the southeast. Like every night of the week besides one night, which is high school, there's beer.

League games. There's like over 100 teams. Wow. Yeah. And dude, I believe it's so popular. Hockey general has become so popular down there. Florida's huge, man. I mean, honestly, Grant, we were talking about, um, we, we, I don't know if you've seen or you're up to date on all the new college rules with guys from Canadian junior are allowed to play NCAA now, but when you're talking about the expansion of college hockey, Florida and those team, those ACC teams are one of the first that comes up in D1. That's like, there's so much youth hockey down there now. There's so much Beer League hockey down there now. It's like it feels like the next logical step. So it's so sick that Florida, I mean, let's call it what it is for the last, what is it,

six, seven Stanley Cups came from Florida. So it's like, there's a reason it's getting there. I want to do bolts first. Bolts first. The talk us through, you know, 2020, 2021 was that epic? Because like that one you were more invested in, I think. Yeah. Oh, yeah, for sure. I mean, it was an obvious a weird time. I hate, I hate hearing Mickey Mouse Cup, which I'm sure you've seen online all the time. Of course. Of course, yeah. Um, yeah, it's a bubble cup, dude. It doesn't count. Yeah. Yeah. She's seething right now. I know. I'm like, I'm on Instagram. Just ready to comment back to some guy

somebody I'm stranger. But, uh, no, I mean, like, yeah, I think for me it was so cool because obviously it was COVID, so you had nothing to do. So you were so much more invested. It was awesome to league still made it happen. I mean, that one of you just in general. But yeah, I mean, the runs were, I mean, the team was just so stacked. It's like, it's like one of those things where, like, I think now, like, look in the team now, like, we still have a lot of core pieces there. But, like, the depth that we had was just untouchable. And I don't, I mean, I'm sure it's for anyone that's a fan, like, if you're a Detroit fan anywhere else, you're like, you're going to look at those runs.

Pittsburgh back in the day. Like, you're going to see that team. And like for me, that was like a, like almost like a lock in of like, I was already a fan, but that was like, this is my team for ever kind of thing. You know, so. Did you get to either of those parades? Those looked epic. I did not.

So I had, just to be clear in that time period, I literally had no job and my wife was pregnant with both of our kids. So it was like, it couldn't go to the games. I wish I could have. I wish I could have. I wish it kind of a parade. But it was just like, I. was like,

yeah, got some real stuff going on. Because it's all real quick. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then, what was it like for you, you know, because I haven't actually had to ask

a Tampa, true Tampa fan about this yet, during the Stampco saga. Like when that was all shaking out and look, you're staring down the barrel with him going to Nashville. I'm like,

what the fuck? Like, were you bummed or were you like, he's asking for too much? Because I'll tell you, Grant, from our perspective, you know, doing what we do.

So many of the fans in the comments, when we do, you know, we do and ask me anything every Sunday. It felt very much like the fans that engaged with us who are a lot were pretty split. There were a lot of people who were like, listen, man, like, it's a business, it sucks. Time was up, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then there were others who were like, that was fucking crazy. How could we not give him a deal?

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, so I have probably, I have mixed feelings, but probably more on the, it was a good move. You know, he's a huge part of the franchise, obviously. like, um, I think my issue with him was he is so good at what he does, which is he's like a novetchkin. He stands that spot and he ripsed. He hammers one time. Yeah. Um, I had a lot of, not beef with him, because this is going to sound bad. Um, but like, I feel like everywhere else he was just kind of slacking. Uh, like he'd go in the corners, the boards. It reminded me a lot of like, Lecadiv when he was kind of toward the end of his career. Sure. Sure.

Great with the puck, but off the puck, just not really doing much. And I was like, for four to five, I could see that working out. But I think they were talking seven to eight. I know, dude. It was just like, it's going to be a rebuild eventually anyway. So like, let's get the pieces moving now. So I think it was the right move. It was a bummer.

Obviously, I think there's a lot of people that are like, oh, we screwed him over and stuff like that. But I think for what he was contributing, which just sounds bad because he had a great year the year before right yeah i know it was crazy yeah good 40 goals yeah but what he was contributing to me on the ice as a full as a full as a full like full ice it wasn't it didn't match up and it was kind of like i think it was going to probably start leaning pretty quickly down which natural is different structures from team you can kind of see what's happened um so i can't i can't say it's not it's not part for the course but yeah i was bombed but i was also like this is the right move for the franchise sure i bet there's a

part of him and i don't know i know people that know him spoke to his family, but there's like, and things could still work out in Nashville. Sometimes it takes a year to get acclimated to the system and gel with the boys and everything. But I'm sure there's thoughts have crossed his mind where he's like, fuck, I should have just made it work in Tampa, you know, especially seeing you guys have such a competitive year anyway, where people are ready for a dip. You know, you guys were a really strong team again. Yeah, hindsight's a bitch, you know, I mean, Nashville's a great city.

I'm sure he's loving it there too. but yeah, I mean, like, it's a hard. Man, that would be the hardest thing ever. I can't even imagine, like, being in that situation. That's brutal. Dude, he came in so young, too. Like, it's not like he's, your Tampa's all he's ever known in this country, you know. So it was a huge move, huge move.

Now, if we talk about the team now, I know you don't want to talk about the Panthers, but if you talk about the team now, they had that amazing finish to last season. A lot of people picked them to beat the Panthers, us included. Yeah. They just looked so good. Yeah, they just looked so good. And Florida seemed like they might have been hurt going into the series. But, you know, then obviously it shakes out how it does.

As a, you know, a tried and true fan here, how do you feel about the state of this team? Because you obviously have, you know, a great influx of young talent that's kind of like the new guard. And guys like Hegel, Point, Gensel, obviously, you sign. And you've got, you know, geeky coming up. But if you look at the team, you know, Hedman's getting a little bit older. And then you've got Cooch, who is without a doubt, the top three, top four player in the league. The most frustrating but best guy to watch ever. It's going so crazy, dude.

So, you know, you go into last couple of years in playoffs, it's just really falling off a cliff. So, you know, as a fan, are you as confident as ever? Are you like, no, we could win the cup any year when you've got guys like Hedman and Vassie and those forwards or are you like something needs to be done here? Let me just add Cooper into that question. Yeah. Like, are you happy with, are you like, Coup's our guy? I don't care, or are you starting to ask questions because of playoffs? I mean, I look at it this way.

I think that there's, it's impossible to keep a team at top tier level, you know, for five to ten years. Like, it's just like the way the league is run, the guy's age, things, people come in and out. Like, I think that our team could go far in the playoffs, but I think it's a lot of young guys stepping up right now that haven't proven themselves. So if that works out, that's great. I think the guys that are there can step up. the headmins, the kutraub, the points, all those guys. You know, defense's defense depth is definitely a little bit of issue for us. I think when Vassi's on, he's still the man.

But his on-off is a little bit more than it used to be. Sure, sure, yeah, yeah. But you're so right. I mean, I feel like it's like every year when that with a players poll thing comes out, he's always the goalie that everyone votes. If you need one win, what goalie do you want in that? Players are still like Vassie. I feel like I'm a very realistic fan where it's like

the you know they won two cups I'm happy for the next 10 years if they if they do this for you know all a Blackhawks whatever like I'm still a fan I still appreciate what they did I understand how competitive the league is I get it I'm not like you've got to be in the playoffs and like the long runs every year like I understand the ups and down so like for me obviously I would love that I think we have super talented guys obviously some of the best guys in the league. It's possible. Am I like bending the house on it? Probably not. But we'll see. Yeah. I'll be watching. Dude, you, um, you said, uh, well, actually, we share this because I was going to say we're New England boys. So we are, uh, Tom Brady guys. And,

you know, he came and blessed you guys with a super bowl ring too, which was awesome. But we have so many Pats fan friends here who were so mad when the Pats got bad after Brady left. And I was like, what are you talking about? Like, this is like, like, yeah, like literally, we, 20 years. We are supposed to suck for 20 years now. That's how this works. And I'm fine with that. Like, who cares?

I had the best run ever. A quick tangent, though, Grant, were you, like, are you a Bucks fan? Yeah, I mean. Does your family hate you? Like, you guys leave. You're like, I don't give a shit about football. I like hockey. And then also, when I do watch football, I watch the Bucks.

Fuck the Steelers. No, because I'm always, so I always play the card that I have a backup team. So, yeah, okay. Out of the playoffs and the Penguins are still in. I'm reading for the Penguins. If they play each other, I'm running lightning, then Penguins. So, yeah, no, that works. That works.

I like that. I like that. I'm a huge, like, Crosby, obviously. I mean, who's not. That's my boy, dude. I love him so much. Such a sick player, yeah. Yeah, it's incredible.

That happens to us with the Bruins and the Kings, you know. It's like, we grew up Beast fans, but like we're up with the Kings all time, you know, and they're so nice. But I get nothing wrong with a backup team. I like that. I like that a lot. I like that a lot. I like that a lot.

Yeah. Yeah. So when you're on tour, you know, you're obviously bouncing around to a lot of places. Are you making a point of going to see some other barns in the league and other teams? Because I imagine you're like getting, you guys are preparing and you're getting ready in some of these locker rooms and stuff like this at some arenas. So I've tried to. It's been hard. I've been to a couple that have been really cool. Philly, Montreal.

The lineup, you know, having an off night on tour when there's a game in that city is very tough. Coolest thing on this last tour, the first leg at the Pop Roach Tour is we played a lot of NHL arenas. Yeah. And I got to go into some locker rooms. I saw these pictures. It's so epic. Like, because they don't let that happen usually ever. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Usually it's, I mean, you can go, you can see like the displays and the hallways and stuff. But yeah, they let us go in a couple of them, like sit down and take pictures. And I was like, I'd be like sitting here. I was like in the car and like. Yeah, I was going to say tell everyone where you were. Yeah. Yeah, I was in. I did Colorado.

We did Minnesota, which nicest people ever. Yeah. One step above beer league on their locker room. It is the worst locker room I've seen in a long time. fuck that's hilarious Dan because dude we were there for the Minnesota tournament and we weren't even in their locker room right like I think we went into some other ones so funny you say that you guys are down here so like the Wesley Chapel rink they have the big one down here the four sheet one like yeah I would say those lock rooms are as good if not as the wilds isn't that insane it's listen it's a fair ricochet shot it is insane when you see some of these reports that come out about like the state and quality of some of these places facilities their locker rooms things like that their wait rooms and you're you're you look at it, especially in a state like Minnesota, and you just say, what the fuck are we doing here? I mean, this is the state of hockey. You're not going to give your pro team a good locker room? I mean, it's, it's, when you go from, like, the abs to the wild, it's like, it really feels like I went from, like, a pro team to a, like, club team.

It was rough. Yeah. And I'm like, I'm, like, sitting in flurries, like, spot. And I'm like, this feels like I'm in my home locker room at home. This is terrible. Yeah. But, yeah, I mean, still very cool. Like, all the people that work there, like,

told the stories, like equipment managers and stuff when they were there for, like, the abs and stuff like that. So it was, I mean, when I go in a locker room like that and I start looking around, you start getting the vibe, like, I get goosebumps. I'm like, this is so sick. These, where these guys are at. I'm sure anyone would. That's a fan.

But, like, yeah, it's, hopefully, I don't think we're doing anymore really arenas. This, this, this, this, this, it's all empathy or is the second half. But, man, I will say that we're not headling that tour when, if we, if we, if we, get to a stage where we're doing that, like arena tours, I'm going to be pushing for that every night inviting all the players and trying to hang as much as I can. Turning their lockerers into the green room. You know, you're like, we prep in here. For the boys after the show. Exactly. Grant, also looking at some picks you've posted, it appears that you've handed down the hockey fan disease to your children. Yeah, how's that

going? Okay. Yeah. We're still a little bit. They're still young. I get that a lot. My son, he's turns five in December and I get like the you know you're at the rink and like oh is your son skating yet I'm like kind of like me where it's like he has not he is to be fair that picture that you're probably talking about a lighting picture with us yeah we did like an NHL dot com thing or whatever that was cool it was cool um but he has no idea I'm gonna just belong with you I'm not gonna I'm not gonna fake it he has no idea he doesn't even know I play hockey he just goes like He's like, Daddy leaves for hockey because I always go, you know, after bedtime. Yeah, yeah.

It never works. I love them to come see me, but the time just doesn't work with their, like, schedule. And it's, like I said, it's like 45 minutes away of the rank for me. So if he, I'm kind of on that path of, like, if he, like, finds out about it or if it stumbles upon him and he wants to do it, I'm all for it. Right now, he's just, like, loves comic books. And that's all I guess about characters and stuff.

Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. That's awesome. Talk about football. Maybe he wants to go play. football, I don't know. Yeah. You know.

And then my one other hot question for you is you're a bit of an NHL video game guy. They ruined the new one. Dude, we were just talking about this, like the changes they make to the new games. What do you hate about it? The one-timers. Yeah. They're like, you're like going to score a 40 to 45% chance. And it's like if I'm going into that, because I played, I played all of them since like,

what, 14? I'm a big gamer guy too. And like, they always do something that makes the, they try. trying to make it better. And, you know, there's adjustments you can do, but I feel like with the new one, it's like, man, anyone can do what, like, I'm getting scored with like some guy hitting a point shot and the guy has a stick three feet wide and you're just like, what? This isn't, and it happens all the time. Yeah. It happened once in a while. I'd be like, okay. But it's like, you can't defend that. So frustrating. No, no, it's so frustrating. Dude, totally agree. We were laughing that it's like,

there's been some misses in the franchise, like, some years where I'm like, how did this game get so bad. Yeah. But yeah, I love that you were playing it and posting some of that. Did you, did you create a Randy Marsh character? Oh, that's my, that's my club guy. Yeah. We have like four or five guys with the country that I played with for like six years.

And we just, you know, when we're on, we play. But, uh, yeah, my guy's Randy Marsh. So funny, dude. I was dying. The celly, the flow. It was perfect. A funny story about that is, uh, they did a tournament at the rank where I play. One of the, one of the refs so randomly.

Didn't the NHL tournament. Like an online tournament or you guys went and played? Like in land, like in person, whatever. Yeah, wow. Hell yeah. That's awesome.

And I was like me and my buddy, we're like, oh, let's go play. Let's roll through, yeah. I'm like 30. I roll up and there's like kids that are like 10 years old.

And I remember the first game I played some kid, I played the lightning. Some kid was in his Boston jersey, playing as the Bruins. And he was with his mom. And I like, Ato just spanked him. Yeah.

And he literally looked like he was about to cry. Yeah, I bet he did cry. He went to his mom and he was like, I guess I'm not that good. And I literally, I left the facility and just went home. Yeah, that is, that's horrible. I felt so bad. I was like, what am I doing here? I'm 30 years old.

Yeah. I think the prize was like a $100 game stop gift card. Like, dude, you got to find that kid and get, buy him the new. Well, the new antichel sucks buy him the next one. Yeah, all right. That is fucking hilarious, dude. I love that. My God.

Just killing. dreams. Yeah. So good. So good. Well, I love that. The NHL is a great, great, um, wind down game for me too. I, like, I love getting into getting on the sticks and just having it out of the wind down. I would say it's a 50-50 for me. Sometimes it's a wind-up. Yeah, you get fired up. Depends if you're playing online, I guess. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's amazing. Well, Grant, tell us a little bit about Under oath because you joined and, and I think, well, you'll let you tell it, but there's been a bunch of members. You joined in 2002, I believe January 2002 and there's been several iterations of the band and there was even a little

break so kind of take us through the timeline on all that for you yeah so we were you know typical like local band very metal like black metal spikes gauntlet thing met eye makeup like this is before me um and i was playing other bands in the same like local scene and then a friend of mine they played with joined and then i ended up joining and you know the kind of like the the downhill spiral not in a band, but just like of getting to know people and getting in the band. Went through like four or five members. 2004 we pretty much hit our stride with like our current lineup. And, you know, I had a couple things where a couple guys left and came back.

But yeah, I mean, from 2004, it's that 21 years now. Like, it's been pretty much the same deal. We had a little hiatus 13 to 16, but it's been the same guys doing the same thing for that long, you know. Like guys like, I basically grew up with guys in my 20s, like in a van. It was awesome. I mean, a lot of, obviously, I could, I have a laundry list of stories, but, you know, it's like, it's, it's a thing where it's just like, I think we just put in March, we put out our ninth album. Let's say, eighth or ninth album, I think. And, you know, it's still something that we all love to do.

It's still something we're passionate about. You know, I think it's at this stage, it's one of those things where we kind of just ride the quote unquote legacy act if we want to, but we're not there. to keep creating, want to keep pushing, making new fans, and just growing. So for us, I think it's, uh, we're in a really good spot right now. That's awesome. Well, we just, we had just had, um, the guys from OAR on. I saw that. Yeah. Actually. And, uh, it was really cool to hear them. Because similar story, honestly, where it's like guys that grew up together, you know, local band. And then you kind of hit that inflection point in your life like you were talking about earlier with your lightning fandom where it's like, yo, I'm about to have a kid and get married,

have kids and I'll do adult stuff. Are we still? doing this. So it's really cool that you guys also still love it that much and, you know, wanted it to be a thing moving into that era of your life. Yeah, I think it was, you know, even when it's been like that kind of like, you get to the question of like, oh, because when we broke up, it was like, I remember we were in Europe and we were playing and we were just, we were just grinding, grinding. It was just like grinding, grinding, this was before I had kids even. And we just leave each other like, we just need a break. Like, I don't know what this means if this is it or whatever and then we decided we're like we were done we were actually we're done

and i remember like a year went by and you know had to get a big boy job for the first time which sucked yeah and then suddenly somehow the group texts it's always the group text like somebody says something stories start popping back in you know i'm at my job just like oh man this is great you know we're talking again and then it was just like we should do something we had uh an anniversary or somebody coming, or a drummer that left and wanted to come back and he was like a key member. And, yeah, it just like everyone started talking like, let's, let's do it again. We were like, let's do one tour. Five weeks.

Our guys had jobs. We crammed like 30 some shows in five weeks. Yeah. And just grinded across the country. Yeah, it was. And we were playing two albums back to back. So it was like an hour and a half set, which is for us, we're pretty active on stage. That's a lot.

And then it just did so well. we're just like, yo, let's just keep going. Let's make a new record. Let's do this, you know. So, yeah. Well, like you said, the new album just came out, the place after this one came out in March. Can you tell everyone, because I saw you guys just like the theme of the title of that album, I thought was really cool.

Can you tell everyone, you know, the kind of the messaging behind that and a little bit about the new album? Yeah, I think it's, you know, I think that album, one big change we had before that album is our guitar player that joined after me, second guitar player. he ended up leaving the band. We parted ways. And I think it was a really tough thing. It had been 20 some years,

but it was also like a really refreshing point because at that point now everyone was on the same page where they wanted to go, how they wanted to work together. And this, the vibe was really good. So I think, you know, I'm not going to say it's word for word with the title means.

That's all interpretive to a degree a lot of times. But I think for us, it was just like, you know, when we started writing, we got in this position, we're like, man, this is so much fun. I love doing this. I love doing it with you guys. Yeah.

Let's keep going. And like, let's do a new album. It was like, that's kind of where our drummer actually came with that title. I think that's where it kind of came from was just like, we've done this for so long. What's next? We're all in a good spot. I can't wait to see what's next. Yeah.

That's awesome. That is really, really cool. I love that. It's not about death or going to have your ghost. I know a lot of people who I think that. It was like, no, that's not it. Yeah. No, that's great.

And it's like, I mean, I'm sure you feel. it's just hearing it. There's some cool similarities between, not to get corny here, but, you know, the vibe of playing beer league hockey laid into your life. It's like as long as you're still loving it and having fun and,

and like, you know, figuring out what the next iteration of, it can go on as long as you want. And it's, it's so amazing that you're, you're being able to do these two things that you love and bring you so much joy.

It's the best. It's just like what you said earlier. It's like, you know, I'm driving home last night at 1 a.m. after a loss with seven guys. And I'm like, why am I doing this?

And then the next time I step on the ice, which I think I have a game Thursday, they'll be like, oh, fuck yeah, let's go. This is right. Yeah, because I love it. Yep. Amazing. When does the tour kick back up, Grant?

Where are you guys headed? It's mostly, I think, East Coast is half, but it's September, like, 9th. I know we're, you know, we're hitting up, like, New York all the way down to Miami. So just winding kind of through there. Dates are online, you know. Amazing.

Yeah. That's so awesome. That's so awesome. Well, dude, we can't thank you enough for joining. We love a fellow lightning fan in the building. Actually, before we end, how threatened are you by the Panthers right now? You've got to answer. Oh, I mean, they're breaching dynasty level here.

I mean, it's scary. Yeah. You want to hear a funny story about how much I don't like the Panthers? Yes, please. You'll be like, what the hell? During the run, the last run, my wife works for a company, and they got, they basically got a vacation in Fort Lauderdale. And it was, I think this was the conference finals. I went to the lightning series where they got, the game they got smoked Haggle with Elbow.

I was at that game. Oh, you at that game? Oh, my God. Yeah. So that was already just like, oh, we're toast. They were just, they smoked us that game. But we went to this vacation for a lot of they were staying at Margaritaville, ironically, on the beach with the kids. Been there. Oh, yeah.

My wife's boss was down there with her, with his family. And she's like, hey, there's a game tonight. And I think it was like, I don't remember a game. I think it was, it wasn't the finals, but it was like the conference finals. Probably Carolina. Yeah, and she's like, Carolina. She's like, do you want to go? You can get a ticket.

You have to go by yourself. You can go. And I was like, nah, I'm good. Pass. I'm past. Passes on the conference final game. I love it. Hey, you're a real lightning fan, you know?

Now we're a real lightning fan. We're a real lightning fan. Well, Grant, this is awesome. Thank you so much for taking the time. But before you go, can you just one more time, pump, let everyone know, plug the album, plug the tour, where they can find you and everything, where they can buy the album and all that good stuff. Yeah, I mean, the album, if people buy thems, go ahead. Nobody has. Yeah, yeah, right.

Spotify, Alp Music, everywhere it streams, place after this one. And we're on tour this fall with Papa Roach in the States and Rise Against. And yeah, that's pretty much it. What do you will find you guys on, like Instagram, stuff like that? Yeah. Under oath band, I think, is our Instagram tag. I should know that. Yeah, Under oath band.

It is. Under oath 777.com. Yeah, all the normal stuff. You just search. You'll pop off. Amazing. What's your favorite song on the album? Devil is my favorite song, which I'm trying to push for a video somewhere down the road.

Nice. We'll see. Yeah, let us know if that happens. I'd love to check that out. Definitely. Thank you guys so much for having me. It's been great. Oh, awesome. Grant.

You're the best for coming on. We really appreciate it. Huge thank you to Grant Brandel. and wishing massive success to all of Under oath on this tour because if you're Bolts fans, if you're Bolts fans rocking some guitar soloing sessions, then you got my vote of confidence. Getting musical artists on the show recently has pumped me up so much because I'll tell you what, there are a few things that I think is cooler than when I see a musical artist rocking an NHL jersey at a show. You see it a lot.

Shout out our girl, Tate McCray. She rocks them all the time. But, you know, we had those great, great shots of Ozzy wearing the blues jersey. We have that sick shot of Tupac wearing the Red Wings jersey. It's just so cool when people do it. It shows love to city. So knowing that this gang is ripping the bolts jerseys all the time, pumps me up. Sick.

Pumps me up. Well, Dan, I wanted to ask you something. Okay. Wanted to ask your opinion on something. While we were at the pro athlete golf tour, I missed an event. Nothing I could do about it, at a work event. But I missed my 20-year high school reunion. Okay.

Do you expect, are you expecting me to have a reaction to this? What I'm curious about is this. I got tons of messages about it before, being like, can you come? and I was like, well, even before the tournament date we said, I was like, I'm going to try, I'll try, you know. And then tournament date got set and I was like, oh, man, I'm not going to miss that. And then I was like, in my head, I was like, who cares? Not who cares, but I was like, whatever. I'm going to miss it.

And then, dude, the messages I received during and after that were like, I cannot believe you missed this reunion. What was flabbergasting to me to the point that I thought maybe I, maybe I, I'm not appreciating this enough, not valuing this enough. Where do you shake out on that? Will you be going to yours? Absolutely not. How come, dude? You couldn't, you couldn't pay me.

You literally couldn't pay me. You have to pay, by the way, Dan. The message I got, they were like, it's like 25 bucks. And I was like, excuse me. You actually couldn't pay me and you would have to pay me. you would have to pay me a lot of money to go to that. And let it be clear. I had a great time.

I had a perfect high school experience, and I love those people. But, I mean, this goes into, listeners know, this goes into my nostalgia thing. Like, I just don't give a fuck. Yeah. And it's ironic because we just had an unbelievable interview that's coming out next week that you'll all hear

where someone said one of the coolest quotes I've ever heard about not forgetting your roots. Here's the thing. I don't forget my roots. I water them. I water my roots. But I also don't need to go hang out with my roots. It's like, do you water them? I water them. I water them. I mean, listen, man, it's like I spend plenty of time in our hometown. I go to our hometown a lot and I talk to the people that I want to talk to. Are there people that I'm sure I would see that would be like, oh, fuck, I haven't seen that person in a while. That's cool. Yes. But I think school reunions are the first. fucking dumbest shit in the world. It's like you keep in touch with and you see, you know what, man, you know what it is? These things were cool 50 years ago. Yeah. When you didn't have the means to keep in touch with people. I have conversations with our dad talking about college buddies, high school buddies that he would have gone to war with. And then they went off in their lives and moved different places. And he's like, I just didn't have his number. Like, I didn't know what I'm

supposed to fax him? I'm just to shoot him a fax? How would you, how would you, even do that. Do you know his fax number? It's like you'd have to go and get, you'd have to find out through talking to people where this person lives and then get the phone book of their fucking town and then call the person. Like, it's easy to keep in touch with people now. So what do I need a reunion for? The people I want to see, I'm probably already talking to and see. So I hear that and that's usually my take because I especially feel very lucky in that a ton, a huge percentage of the pie of my close friends

are people I grew up with and the so I'm like who cares I see them all the time but is there a chance that there are people there that you're like oh my God

that's awesome that I'm getting to see you because I don't get to see but you are someone I would like to see because there's definitely a lot of people there that you don't want to see I hear you there but I bet there's people that you're like that you're like oh wow I actually don't even think that's the case

with York I don't think there's a single person that I got. Because no one I'm like, oh no. I'm like, yeah, I'm like, yeah, I would love to see everybody. Yes, there's absolutely that. There will be people that I'm like, oh my God. But at the same time, it's like,

if I needed to see them, I would see them or talk to them. So again, it's, and you know, here's the thing is like, I will go to my Andover one. Yeah. Because I fucking love Andover and I also don't. So now this is, now this is personal, dude.

Now this is, hold on. I don't go to Andover all the time. I don't get to go there all the time. If I didn't go to York, Maine all the time, it would be way higher on my list. But my fucking parents still live there. Like I am fine. I don't need it.

I don't need it. Do you think that there's a factor of success? Let's say that you were a, Formula One driver. I wouldn't go 10 times. My desire to not go would be multiplied by 50. Would be higher. Yeah.

Oh, I thought it was going to be the reverse. I thought you're going to be like, well, dude, I get to come back and be like, yeah, I'm a three-time world champion. Here's the thing. I'm Lewis Hamilton. In this scenario, in this scenario, let's say I'm me. Let's say I'm me.

And let's say I'm on the Formula One grid. And I've been on there for, what, 15 years? Well, actually, yeah, I guess. Maybe you went right out of high school. That's cool. Do mom and dad still live in our hometown? Because you're not a good driver. Then, yeah, I'm no, I'm not going.

You know, it's. So it's, there's no level of success that you could have right now that would make you want to come more. No. To be like, look at me, look at me. I, I, I already get questions about what I do that I don't want to answer. Yeah, I wouldn't, I wouldn't need that amplified. I don't need to be more famous. Like, it's, it's terrible.

You know what, though? I did hear a story, and I have to confirm this via the person who I know well, so I will. But they ran into someone who went to school with me. I'll tell you later. I just don't want to say their names right now, but they ran into someone who went to school and graduated my year. And the my year person was talking to our dear friend who was a year behind us behind me and was like, yeah, God knows where Chris is. or like if he would ever want to speak to anyone from this town again. And our friend was like,

he loves it. I'm really good friends. I see him all the time. I'm really good friends with him. And they were like, oh, really? I was like, wait, what? I now feel like I had to go, Dan, to just put out the fire.

Yeah, you got a bad rep all of a sudden, dude. You got too big. Dude, you're getting too big. You got too big for people. They think you don't give a shit. Like, what the fuck? Jesus Christ. God knows what they think about me.

There was probably a fucking dartboard of me at the, the after party, dude, at the reception. And I didn't know, dude. And now I have to go. I think that's the other thing with a high school. You know what? There are two things that just pop into my head. The other thing about a high school reunion is, what the fuck do you do?

Yeah. Especially in a hometown like ours, which I love, by the way. But it's like, do we go to the same bars that we all go to already when I go home in the summer? It's like, oh, cool. Let's go to In on the Blues. And I'm like, yeah, I was going there anyway. Yeah.

I don't know what you do that makes it special. and there also opens the door to a 20-year reunion, man. Some people are going to look real bad. Yes. And that's always sad. Okay. There's a feather in the cap of not going. I didn't want to do that to them.

I don't want them to have me see them like that. Yeah. It's, I mean, like the five-year, I mean, I didn't go to a single reunion. So surprise, surprise. But it's like you go to a five-year reunion. I did go to my Andover five-year. Five years are. a clown show, dude.

Five year, I'm fucking, I was, we just, we're all having lunch together already and we're like, oh, dude, it's our reunion. Should we go? I agree. I'm like, but, like, the Andover five was so gas because it's like we all, we all just graduated college and like everyone was like still in party mode and it was a cool like, how was college thing. Anyway, but like the five year, I think you actually start to see the beginnings of

some people looking tough. Like they've been, they've been to college, a bunch of the dudes let themselves go. they're like, oh, you're kind of fat, bro. Dude, Dan, what happened? And then the 10 year, man. Some people are unrecognizable. Well, they give you the name tags. You need the name.

I used to think that was so stupid, but now I'm like, you need that fucking name tag. Because it's like, I'm not trying to embarrass myself. You see some of the name tags, and you're going like this. John? You're like, dude, if you have to, dude, the degree lean is how hideous. And if you squid?

It's how, is how, is how, changed you've become like and then you get the like you see you see something they go and they go hey john yeah and they go like this john not bad john oh terrible yeah terrible that's so good and i mean i can't even imagine i can't even imagine 20 i mean like that's depressing dude like you're old as shit bro yeah dude can you believe that 20 years 20 years 20 years special you are you are double your age you you you you Yeah, I've been out of high school longer. Correct. Than I was alive in high school.

That's fucked. Absolutely savage. So I missed it. So you've got to go to yours. I might go to yours. There we go. You know what? That would be on brand for you.

I'll go to yours. I'll be like, what up? DP, he couldn't come. I'm here. He's an F1 driver. Yeah, he's on the grid. All right, let's close this episode out. Let's take a break.

Let's take a break. Let's take a quick ad break. Then we'll close the episode out. All right. I want to talk to you guys. about Factor because this has been awesome and awesome development in my life. It's summer. Everybody thinks, oh, summer, it's hot season's over. You're probably chilling. Incorrect, sir. I'm flying all over the place. I don't have time for anything. And that usually messes up my routine.

But Factor helps me eat smarter because I get delicious chef-prepared meals. They're approved by the dietitian. They're delivered right to my door. There's so many choices. I think there's over 65 weekly meals, okay? The way I want to live, the way I want to eat, this is a game changer for me, okay? The variety, like I said, is fantastic. There's like salmon and shrimp, you know, I love seafood. I'm a main boy. You can get all that with no extra costs.

They've got everything that you want from GLP1 friendly meals, Mediterranean diets, essentially whatever you're going for with your goals in food, they can handle. They've got Asian-inspired meals now because I love that and awesome flavors. 97% of customers say that Factor help them live a healthier life. So if you want that difference in your life, I would go check this out because I'm using it right now and you should too. It's amazing. So go to FactorMeals.com for 50% off plus free shipping if you use code Netters 50 off. That's N-E-T-E-R-S-50-O-F. Okay? Factors.Factor Meals.com. slash netters 50 off.

Use that code. You're getting delicious. Ready to eat meals delivered right to your door. Game changer. Babes, it's time to talk about one of my favorite things in the world other than hockey and that is fashion. So you know that I am talking about State and Liberty. Founded in 2015 by friends Stephen Fisher and Lee Moffey.

Lee Moffey was a professional hockey player and he noticed that there were no great high quality clothing that fit a hockey body, an athletic body. And that is where State and Liberty comes. comes into play. They are delivering you high-end, high-quality suits, formal wear, casual fits, golf attire, anything in between, all with that athletic performance fit style. You can have some of those stretch fits. I have a bunch of those. I have them in short-sleeved button downs. I have them in really nice dress pants. But then you also go up to the high-quality suits where they just look unbelievable. They look like you're wearing Armani, like you're wearing Tom Ford,

Paul Smith. It's as good as it gets. You've seen guys in the national like Gustav Forsling, Dylan Larkin, Sebastian Ahio, and your boy, I'm not in the national, but you've seen us wearing this stuff all the time. It's truly amazing. You look like a billion dollars, a zillion dollars, and you feel even better. I cannot stress that enough. I love dressing up. I go to weddings all the time, as you all know, I go to high, high end parties and things like that where I need to be fitted just right. And so often you just feel so uncomfortable. The shirts are choking out your neck. You can't move your arms up and down. And God forbid, if you're on the dance floor at a wedding and you bust the seam of those pants open, all of a sudden, everything's hanging out.

It's happened. It's happened to me multiple times. Not anymore. Not with State and Liberty because truly they do have that athletic fit. It fits your body. It stretches with your legs, with your movements. It's fantastic. So what you were going to do, because I know that you have weddings coming up.

We're in the beginning of August. It is heat, heat wedding season time. We've got events, we've got work, we've got the new school years, if you're in college, whatever. There are moments where you're going to need nice dress clothes, suits, good business attire for work, things like that. You're going to go to State and Liberty site. You're going to use the link on our Instagram and you were going to use promo code empty 10 and you're going to save 10% off your next order. Don't wear that crummy old suit you have stuffed in the closet to the next wedding. Don't wear the same work clothes you've been wearing for five years.

go get restocked with high quality stuff that isn't going to break the bank and overcharge you. Save 10% with that code empty 10 and get the best feeling clothes, dress clothes, suits, golf attire, whatever you need that you have ever worn from State and Liberty. Get it done now. Thank me later. Great word from our sponsors. Now let's just close this episode out with a fun game. We're going to do connective tissue.

For those who don't know, this is a game where we take two players combined their names where it sounds just right. A good example would be Jeremy Roe Nick Lidstrom. Yes, Eric Lindross Colton. Fantastic. So I've got one for CP. I'm ready. Here we go. This player's bio.

An undrafted player, after impressing in junior, he earned a contract with the Nashville Predators, where he led all rookies in goals in his first year with 24 tucks and finished third in Calder voting. After playing for two other teams, he then signed a five-year deal with Boston, where he then became the second youngest player in team history at Boston College

and then was drafted fifth overall. He became an NHL All-Star before being traded to the Vegas Golden Knights where he signed an eight-year deal. Okay. Can you meet the second half again? Yes. Where he then became the second youngest player in team history at BC.

and then was drafted fifth overall. He became an NHL All-Star before being traded to the Vegas Golden Knights where he signed an eight-year deal. Okay, good, that's good, that's good, that's good. So that's, and you didn't say a year, right? Nope. But I know he's recent because it's Vegas.

So like he's got to be, he can't be that old. Well, okay. Super old and, you know. He's 40 and signed an eight-year deal with Vegas. Vegas is crazy. with money. Vegas be crazy. Vegas be crazy. Okay, give me the first half again. An undrafted player after impressing in junior, he earned a contract with the Nashville Predators, where he led all rookies and goals in his first year with 24 tucks and finished

third in Calder voting. After playing for two other teams, he then signed a five-year deal with Boston. So he was an undrafted rookie on Nashville, third in Calder, then played for two other teams. Yep. and then signed a deal with Boston. Yeah. A five-year deal. Yeah. You just said everything that I said.

And it's currently... How much more do you need? Well, I'm asking if you said that. I want to know what you said. I just read what I said. Read the Boston sentence again. After playing for two other teams, he then signed a five-year deal with...

Boston. Okay. So no, no help there. No help. So much help. Nothing. That is a horrible clue. I can't believe you don't have this already. Third in Calder, there are 24 goals for Nashville and signed a five-year deal with Boston. Must be a forward. And is he on the Bs right now? Bum, you bum, needed another hint. He's on the B's right now, dude. It's on the B. Oh, two other teams. Nashville, two other teams.

You got it. I think I got it. He's got it. I think I got it. Who did you have first? I was pretty sure I knew the back end. I'm pretty sure the back end is Noah Hannifan. Okay.

And I thought that because of the young B.C. thing. I remember talking to you about him, And I think I did like a trivia thing about him and I said that and you knew that. And I was like, oh, that's crazy. So I may be confusing people, but I thought that was Noah Hannafin. And then the national one threw me, but I think I just hit it because he played for the lightning and the kings previously to the five-year Boston deal. Who is our player, Chris? Our player is Tanner-Janoa-Hanna-Hanna-Tan.

Noah-Hanofin. Noah Haniffin. Tanner Jeanoa Hanofin. Tanner Jeanoa Hanofin. Great one, Dan. That's a really good one. Shout out one of our listeners who recommended that one to me,

which is fantastic. That was awesome. Tremendous. Really good one. Really good show. Shout out to all of our guests. Beautiful stuff. We've got an unbelievable episode for you guys coming next Tuesday.

We will tease that this weekend. You do not want to miss it. Just like you don't want to miss anything. So make sure you are following us on all of our social. make sure you subscribe to the YouTube. There are about 200,000 of you following on Instagram and there's not that many YouTube subscribers. So if you follow us on IG and you don't follow,

subscribe on YouTube, go do that right now. Buy some merch, guys. We've got some great new stuff coming out soon. So make sure you don't miss out on any of the stuff we've got on the store right now. It's all beautiful stuff. Five-star reviews on everything. You know the drill. We love you guys.

We will see you after the amazing weekend for this great new episode. we just teased, and until we see you, make sure that you, skate hard.