Empty Netters Podcast - Scoring The Biggest Goal in Franchise History w/ Kevin Bieksa

Episode Date: November 25, 2024

Kevin Bieksa stops by from his wood fire cottage as the guys make him relive all the pain from that 2011 Stanley Cup. He drops a few untold stories that had everyone rolling on the floor laughing. College adventures, one punch knockouts in the AHL, and wearing a C for team Canada. Plus we have the first hattrick in Pass Shoot Score history!  PRESENTED by BetMGM. Download the BETMGM app and use code “NETTERS” and enjoy up to $1500 in bonus bets if you lose your first wager!  SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS: BAUER. Bauer is the go to destination for all your training needs. Head to http://www.bauer.com/training to explore tools like the Digital Reactor Danger for stickhandling or the Reactor Slide Board to add strength to your stride.  CASHAPP. Download CashApp and take control of your finances! https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cash-app/id711923939 RIKI. Head to https://rikispirits.com/ to find out where to get RIKI near you. Follow @friday.beers and @rikispirits to stay up to date with upcoming RIKI contests and giveaways   FUNKAWAY. To check out the full family of FunkAway products go to http://www.funkaway.com to learn more funk’in cool stuff. And head over to Amazon right now and grab FunkAway products with just a few clicks.  FIREBALL . Fireball’s iconic cinnamon flavor tastes fire and goes down easy, making it the ultimate crowd pleasure. Go pick up some from your local liquor store and join us in drinking Fireball during our game days this season! #IgniteYourRivalry  EVERYMANJACK. Give Every Man Jack a shot today and go to http://www.everymanjack.com and use code “NETTERS” at checkout for 25% off your first order  CBDMD. Visit http://www.cbdmd.com to explore their extensive range of products and find the perfect solution for your needs. Don’t forget to use code “FRIDAY” at checkout to get 30% OF + Free Shipping.  DOLLAR SHAVE CLUB. Dollar Shave Club products are now available everywhere, so you can order from their website, Amazon, or get them at your favorite retailer near you. Visit their site right now for 20% off $20 or more, and get your products delivered right to your door. Visit http://www.dollarshaveclub.com/netters and use promo code NETTERS for 20% off $20 or more  CHOMPS. If you are looking for the PERFECT on the go snack that has zero grams of sugar and packed with high quality protein, then Chomps is for you. To learn more about Chomps, click here! http://www.chomps.com/emptynetters  1:28 Kevin Bieksa 5:40 Bowling Green 13:35 One Punch Story 18:27 Team Canada 24:53 Rick Rypien 29:59 2011 Canucks 45:06 Hockey Night in Canada 49:43 Pass Shoot Score Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

And Gary Bettman came down to the dressing room. I can't remember what game it was, like four or five. And he goes, enough. Enough with the fingers in each other. He's like, I'm finding the next guy who takes his glove off and sticks his finger in someone's mouth. Like, it was becoming, like, embarrassing, right? Ice is ready. And we are back with another episode of the Empty Netters podcast.

Brought to you by BetMGM. And we've got a great Thanksgiving week interview for you. Our good buddy, Kevin BXA, joins the podcast. NHL beauty, and now a media darling. Media darling, Dan, winning awards, taking hockey media by storm, frankly. Oh, my gosh. It's a rise that fires us up because it's inspiring, it's exciting. He's making hockey fresh.

He's making hockey cool. And what a pleasure it is to chat with him. 100%. We'll keep it quick. We met Kev last year during the finals, have become quick friends. Just a testament to how awesome of a dude he is. Don't want to waste your time. Jump into the interview.

Enjoy Kev. He is the best. We are joined today by a Grimsby, Ontario native, the 151 overall pick of the 2001 NHL draft, played his career for the Vancouver Canucks and the Anaheim Ducks, represented Team Canada at the World Championships, a man so jacked, his nickname is Juice, and the winner of the best hockey analyst in 2024

for his work in Hockey Night in Canada, Kevin B.XA, welcome to the Empty Netters podcast. Let's go. What an intro. I'll take that. That's exactly what I wrote on Wikipedia when you searched this. When he edited his own Wikipedia, that's exactly how it goes. I need every time Juice walks into a room to hear that from now.

Yes, agree. That'll really get the juices flown, if you will. And Kev, before we even really get into it, we did get a text this morning from a little birdie that said, ask Kev about how he saved Eddie Lack's life on his rookie party from Kessler. Oh my God. He texted you that. I don't even know if I want to relive that story.

I'm surprised he's not, he's not scarred for life. Yeah, I mean, there was a lot that, there was a lot to that story. But like the gist of it was like Kess and Eddie Lack, we used to have the same age in all three of us. And then Eddie left.

But there was always a little bit between the two that there was something going on there that didn't like each other. And I remember the one warm up. Eddie's glove came off in warm up. And while he was skating, off the, you know, out of the net when his glove came off. He had a bare hand and guys are flying around and warm up and they were shooting pucks in the empty net. And he kind of reached his hand out just to kind of like, as a joke, save a puck. And Kes shot a puck at his hand. I think broke his

finger. Oh, no. So anyways, fast forward, fast forward to rookie party. You know how we make the rookies go up and do a joke. Most teams do that. And Eddie goes up and to do a joke and I maybe prompted them and told him something to say about Kess. And Kessler did not like it. And, And he threw, I think he threw a steak knife at him. And then he came up and he dumped his glass of wine on him. And then I remember Luongo said something. And then he threw something at Luongo and missed Luongo. And he goes, or no, I hit Luongo in the shoulder.

And Luongo's like, what are you doing? He goes, that's the first save you've made in two months. So Kess was on the warpath that night. And Eddie was the one who got him going. It was your fault. You got him. You planted the joke. Yeah, I was going to say, Kev, you started this clearly.

I mean, Jesus Christ. You almost got Eddie killed. So my shirt says mind check. And I was playing mind games with everybody on the team that night. I was the mastermind behind all this. That is so good. I just love the idea of Kev sitting there at the table, like doing this while everything is devolving around him. That's amazing.

I mean, my intentions, my intentions were good. It was to give everybody a laugh and get Eddie a joke. But I didn't realize, I did realize. I knew when Kess walked in, he was on the warpath. And I just encouraged it through Eddie. I used Eddie as my pawn. Yes. That's what he's good for.

Well done, honestly. Well done. Am I mixing up this story? Is Kess the one that got pissed at you when you were fake limping, walking on the ice behind him because he was limping and didn't talk to you for like three weeks? Oh, yeah. That's a true story. Yeah.

Kest, you got pissed at me a lot of times throughout our career. We had a very sibling-type relationship where, you know, you hate your brother. You guys can appreciate that. You fight with your brother, but he's still your guy. Yes. And Kess was my guy and we went to war together. but we spent so much time together. We room together for six years on the road, like every day, every night,

went to breakfast, every day, every dinner. So you can imagine after a while you kind of irritate each other. So, you know, like we went at it. Whenever he would do something, I would call him on it. And he didn't like being called on stuff. And the limping thing, yeah, like he, that's a real story. He didn't talk to me for a good three weeks. And I remember Burroughs, who was the other guy laughing with me, was like,

just go apologize to him. Just go, and I go, screw that guy. No, I'm going to ride this out. I'm going to see how long he's going to give me the silent treatment. So sure enough, every day, walk by him in the dressing room at Rogers Arena. Hey, Cass. And just mean mug me and walk right by. Like, see him again, like five minutes.

Hey, Cass. It went on for a while. It went on for a while until I apologize. That's such a good move. You got to just double down with situations like that go on. It's the only way. And I also completely agree. I think that's actually the mark of the best and strongest types of relationships.

Like, you got to go at it. like that you got to call people on each other's shit i absolutely love it um dude going into your career has been such a blast it's so cool whenever we do this get to talk to people and and do a little bit of a deeper dive and i really wanted to talk about college because looking at the player you are and i mean in for me a prolific career i wouldn't have expected a bowling green guy and it's it's cool to see because you were playing junior a in ontario you get drafted in the but in the oh echel by don cherry and the ice dogs by the way which was a awesome thing to learn. And you then decide that you're going to go to college and you go to Ohio to

Bowling Green. So I want to know an Ontario guy, you get drafted in the O HL by a legend. What made you decide that you wanted to go the NCAA route and was Bowling Green the only school or were there a few that were kind of knocking on your door? So really big question and long one. So I'll try to like the opposite of Victor Ortiz. So I'll try to answer every point of this. But so 16 years old, we're on a showcase in Detroit, and our coach takes us to a Michigan University versus Lake Superior State hockey game. It was Mike Comrie's first ever college game. If you guys remember Mike Comrie, like one of the most dynamic offensive.

Like he was the first guy that did the wand. You remember the wand? Oh, yeah, dude. With a pocket and pretend. So he goes out there and we're like standing up in like the general seating area, or general standing area. And he's doing the wand. He's going end to end.

The crowd is amazing at Yost, one of the best college arenas ever. And I just fell in love with college hockey. I'm like, how do I play in this league? Like all the fans are kids basically at college. They're drinking, they're banging their feet on the aluminum stands. Like the atmosphere was just unbelievable. So, you know, I got drafted, like you guys said, I got drafted in the 17th round, actually, for the OHL because I had a broken leg.

And Don Cherry just happened to take me. Go to camp, make that team. And then I had a decision. Like, as soon as you play one game of June, junior, it was different back then, you lose your eligibility for college. That rule has since changed in the last couple weeks, so kids can have that decision to make any more. But my dad and I, we made the decision together.

Like, I want to pursue a college scholarship, played my three years in Tier 2, Junior A in Burlington. And the last part of your question is Bowling Green was the first team that offered me a full scholarship, and then 14 other schools followed after that. Oh, wow. So you get five official visits. Bullen Green was the third official visit I went on. I had two others.

I canceled them right after. Wow. And then I just liked the fit of Bowling Green. It was in the best division in college hockey at the time, the CCHA with Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Alaska, Nebraska, all these teams were in our division. So I thought I was going to get exposure. I was going to play and end up being the best decision of my life. Yeah. I mean, that's a loyalty pick right there.

I absolutely love it. Can you tell us what the two other visits that were scheduled were? well the first visit was niagara university just because it was literally a half hour from my house just over the buffalo border and i trained there a ton one of my best friends that i trained with in the summer was going there the second school was st lawrence university which had just lost in the frozen four that year so they made it to the final four and they told me i was going to replace their senior defenseman that was graduating i had umas lull was one of my visits that i canceled and i can't remember if like ohio state's might have been the last one or something like that or not in Miami of Ohio or something like that but I never got to it. Love that. And you mentioned, I mean, after your freshman year, you get drafted by the Canucks, unbelievable, but then you go back and you finish all four years of school.

Was that always a no-brainer for you in your mind when you talk to your dad, where you like, I'm getting that degree? Or was it a year-by-year thing after every season? Did you kind of have a think about maybe going pro then or what was the thought process there? Well, that was a real easy thought process. I never got asked to leave. Okay, there we go. It doesn't matter what I wanted.

Vancouver never asked me to leave. So I was just like, cool, back for another year. Cool, back for another year. So, yeah, that's another story. Like, I thought I was developing, you know, at the normal rate, but they obviously didn't. And my agent at the time didn't. He stopped calling me and returning my phone calls, my emails. Come on.

So he kind of like fired me because he didn't think I was playing good enough. I mean, her team wasn't the best. We were like a 500 team every year. But, I mean, I thought I was. was getting better. I was hitting the gym hard. Everything was going well, but obviously the NHL, some of the NHL guys didn't, didn't hear from Vancouver for a few years

until my senior year until I went up to the HL. My new agent that I still have now, a good friend Kurt Overhart, he got me to the HL and the tryout and then the rest is history. Fucking A, that's beautiful. I mean, yeah, you're totally right. You were getting a bunch of all CCAA votes. So, like, was that a frustrating period for you

being like, listen, I feel like I'm playing great. I should be getting some phone calls here and how do you just kind of keep your head down in that period knowing that you wanted to keep playing hockey after college. No, it wasn't frustrating at all because I never thought, like at that point, I was asked this question actually yesterday by a reporter, when did you think you were going to play in the NHL? And it was probably towards the end of my first full year in the HL,

the lockout lockout year. Like up until that point, I had no, I still didn't think the NHL was attainable. I was just enjoying my four years of college, trying to have a good season every year, working out hard, you know, hanging out with my buddies, but my grades were really, good. I actually had a job offer after my third year at an investment firm in Wisconsin that my dad was so disappointed that I didn't take. But I'm like, I got to, I got to train one more year, dad. I got one more year of hockey. And then if nothing happens after my senior, I'll go work in this investment firm. So like I was kind of tunnel vision there. I wasn't thinking about the

NHL. I was just thinking about like living in the present. Good for you. That's awesome. Got a degree out of it. Yeah, seriously. I love it. Well, kev, you. Well, hold on a sec. Hold on a sec. I got a degree, guys, but I graduated in 2019. Oh, no way. Holy fuck. Okay, wait, wait, wait, yeah, yeah. We need that. And you want to, and did you leave, like, senior year?

Did you leave, like, right after the season and go to the A? Is that way you didn't get the degree yet? Yeah, so I was, I left for six weeks and two teacher, two professors didn't work with me. And they said, sorry, you missed too much time. So I was two credits short. So, you know, then the NHL starts happening. And I bang out a couple kids. kids and, you know, like, I'm living the dream.

And then I retire and we're sitting around the kitchen table probably like 2018. And we're talking to our kids about how they have to go to college. Like they have no, there's no option. You're going to college these days. Like you have to. And my son goes, okay, like, but after we graduate college dad, you're going to be the dumbest one in the family. And I'm like, and like he's young still.

He's only like 10 years old. I go, what do you mean? He goes, well, mom. mom's got her master's. She's written two in two novels. We're going to both graduate university. Like, you didn't graduate. You're going to be the dumbest one in the family.

And I'm like, I'm going to back to college. I'm going to graduate. Two credits. Get me on the phone with a dean right now, dude. You can't be getting tripped by your 10 year old like that and let him get away with it. That's fucking unbelievable. It's literally what I did.

I like signed up right away for my two courses. And I was doing him online while I was coaching him. So he's sleeping on the road. And I'm writing my final. my final exams on Eastern time. Just to prove to him that I'm not the dumbest of the family. Who's dumbed out? What were the two courses that you needed to take?

One was like some sort of meteorology course, which I really enjoyed. And then the other one was a finance, a specialized finance. Which was almost your career. I was taking him right back to that Wisconsin offer. Unbelievable. Well, that was my major business finance. So I kind of had one. But anyways, it was all in spite of my 10-year-old and my 8-year-old.

Absolutely incredible. Absolutely incredible. Kev, you brought up the moose, which was the AHA affiliate of the Canucks at the time. And truly, we hate doing this to guess when it's a story they tell a lot. But I just know that there are some listeners of our show that haven't heard the Fedorov-Koltz-off one punch. People forget it was a two-on-one fight, by the way. But I haven't heard the one punch outside of Earl's story. So if you would oblige those listeners, could you please just regale us with how you got signed?

Well, I was coaching in a showcase last year in Emmetton, and I brought a bunch of my kids to that restaurant, Earl's Polo Park in Winnipeg. I'm like, coach, is this, like, is this where it went down? And I'm like, yeah, and I walked out right to the spot. I go, well, picture this place guys covered in snow. Minus 20. I'm right here. Federov's over there.

Coldsov's leg kicking me. I go, yeah, that's where it went down. Dude, there should be a plaque. Like, you know how sometimes it's like on this spot. I was about to say this is Kev's version of Plymouth Rock. Yeah. Like, he's just like. It's really the start of like everything.

And then my brother-in-law was saying to me the other day, he goes, think about how you got through that. You thought your career was over and you thought everything was done. Your hockey crew is over and ended up being the start of it. And actually, Ken, while you tell the story, because I've never really heard this part, did you really spill the beer, like, how did the beer spill go down? Like, did you, was it an accident or how did that happen at the beginning of the story? Yeah. So it wasn't a beer spill. I was sitting at a booth and I still remember where it was with Federov and the family he was living with.

So the dad and the brother, the bill of the bill of family. And Coltsaw was like his back was to us standing at the bar, which was maybe like 10 feet away, ordering a drink or whatever. I was just playing with my straw. Like I had a rum and coke. And you know, I'm just like stirring my drink and I'm whatever.

It hits the ice cube and flies out of my hand. Just a tiny little straw. And it hits him on the back. He turns around and he was wound up tight. I don't know why. And he sees me laughing. And he's like, what are you laughing at?

Like he thought I threw the straw on him on his back. And I was like, dude like relax i didn't throw a straw at you like and then he just and then he was trying he was starting to embarrass me because he was making a scene and i'm like so then the college yeah yeah people are like there's no fighting in college i go there's no fighting in college hockey but there's fighting in college like i was in a couple fights in college in the bars and the street and i'm like shut up like you're embarrassing me and then next thing you know fedder challenge me and tough to say no in those situations right and then the rest of history one punch on it

on into my NHL career. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Actually, question. Well, I ate a punch first, though. Okay. So it wasn't, like, I took one first and then I took a few leg kicks and then, but I got the last laugh. The fact that there were leg kicks going on in this is just like from the third man in down. From the third man in.

It's outrageous. Hey, that's like, that's two five and a ten. Yeah. Easily, easily. I had never been leg kicked in my life before and I was like kind of surprised. Like, wow, that kind of hurts. Like right in the side of the leg. TFL.

Oh, fuck yeah. Yeah. That's a hearing. That's a hearing in Toronto, no doubt. Was it outside of Earls that you mastered the Superman punch that would win you many, many in NHL fight? No, that was a college thing again. Yeah.

Yeah. Thank God for the college thing. I was a college thing out of self. Oh, Bull and green taught me so much. I mean, they might not have given you a degree right away, but they certainly gave you a lot that you brought into the league, which is great. The Superman Punch started at like self-preservation and a fight. that I wasn't going to win and I needed to land the first one. And then once I worked there, I'm like, wow, this is like,

and like UFC started George St. Pierre and he used to throw it a little bit, a little bit different than I did. So I started like kind of like learning about it and practicing it. Just like, I don't know, maybe this will come in handy again one day. Yeah. And it did. So funny. I want to jump ahead.

Can we talk about, I got a question for you guys. Yeah, hit us. So we met at the finals last year. Atminton Airport. at the airport. Yeah. And I found out you guys live in Venice Beach. Yeah,

that's right. So you guys, you guys are 50 miles away from my house that I live at. And so less than an hour drive. However, we're doing this pod now while I'm in Toronto, 2,600 miles away. That's a great point.

Over a sketchy Wi-Fi. Like, why wouldn't I have just come into the studio? Dude, I asked you this summer and you said you needed a break from hockey. That's true. Then, yeah,

then. but I mean if like if you guys invite me back I will come into the studio. Oh dude, I was about to say this is going to be the first of many appearances on this podcast because there's a seat right here for you buddy and it's real real close. Is that a lion? Yeah, it is. That's the bed MGM lion. It's the bed MGM lion taking holding your spot for you when you come up here.

Because they're absolutely, you have to get up to these studios. No doubt about it. Dude, I want to jump actually ahead in your career a little bit because I think it's a perfect transition from what you were talking about in college and you know not being sure what the next step was. to the world championship. I am such a sucker for hearing stories about guys playing for their national team. And in 2014, you go to Belarus, represent Canada, and, you know, you have a great tournament. You guys dominate the group stage.

Tough loss to Finland in the quarter, sure. But the thing that I think is the most special about this for me, you know, looking at your career is you got to captain that team. So what was it like for you, you know, having an amazing NHL career after a crazy path in college, doing four years, not being sure if you're going to make it, then you do. Next thing you know, you have the C on your sweater playing for Team Canada. How much did that mean to you? One of the greatest honors of my career by far.

And up until that point, I think I was asked maybe once or twice, two other times to actually play in the world championships because we made the playoffs every year in Vancouver. We were a good team. So I was fortunate that way, I didn't have many chances. And I think the one other time or two other times I was asked, I wasn't healthy enough. So I'm like, I said no. And so when that one came about that opportunity, I was like, oh, great, yeah. Like, I've never played for my country.

Like, this would be a great honor. And I ended up going over, and we played a friendly game in Switzerland first. I got so many stories about this tournament, but we played a friendly game in Switzerland. And we go over there, and as soon as we land, I think I travel with Jason Garrison and maybe Erica Branson. So we show up, and the whole team's there where the last three to get there. I walk into the lunch room. we walk in the three of us and I walk around the room and I shake everyone's hand and just

kind of introduce myself even though you kind of know who everybody is sure well Dave tip Dave tip it makes me the captain because of that basically he thought like oh wow like what a mature thing to do and blah blah blah so you know that was part of the decision who would have known such a small little gesture just going around like introducing yourself what it meant so much but anyway so we play in that exhibition game in Zurich and uh Nathan mcken's a 19 year old You just played in his first NHL season, lost in the first round of the playoffs. He gets hit really hard. Either him or Sam Reinhardt, who was an 18-year-old.

I can't remember. One of them gets hit hard across the middle, like Suey. Right? So Burroughs is on their line. Burroughs jumps the guy, and there's no fighting in Switzerland. Certainly in an exhibition-friendly. It's called a friendly game. Dude, there's no fighting in Switzerland, period, in the country at all.

Forget about hockey. They famously do not fight. So Burroughs grabs the guy by the head. I'm like, he's got him taking care of. I'm going to go grab somebody else. So I'm on the ice. And I'm playing a one-on-one while there's like kind of a brawl happening at the other end. Well, like now there's no referee.

So I just mall this guy on the one-on, right? And I whip him to the ice. I take my gloves off. I'm trying to fight him. Next thing, you know, whatever. We all get kicked out of the game. The fans are booing us and throwing stuff on us. We're in the locker room.

Just a bunch of Tomleros. Oh, Steve Stales comes down, who's now the GM of the Ottawa Senators. He was like the assistant GM. He comes down. And he's laughing. He goes, you two idiots. Like, can't take you two guys anywhere. You got the whole country, the whole neutral country of Switzerland hates our guts now because of you two.

So that was kind of the start of the tournament. Takes the sea off. He's like, that's enough of that. No, they were loving it. Like, the video was like, oh, this is our captain, like going after one of their guys sticking out for whatever. So anyways, we get to, so we go, we try to go out that night and bond as a team. Can't find anywhere open. Everything's closed.

So once we get to Belarus, It was the same thing. We land and I'm like, I'm the captain. Like I have to bond these guys. So let's go out and like go for a drink somewhere. Let's hang out as a team. First place we go to, nobody speaks English, right? So we can't even order.

We're like vodka. So they bring us to like a big picture of vodka. No chasers, no like anything. Just a bunch of little glasses and vodka. So picture like 20 NHL guys sitting around. And it's like I don't even know what kind of place it was. It was like a family restaurant and there was like kids there. We're drinking vodka straight.

Like no chasers, anything. So we're like, okay, like, we got to find something better. So we go to the next place and we finally find a guy who speaks English. And he's from Vancouver, ironically enough. And he goes, come in here. This place is going to be unreal. So we go in there and we have a night and he's like, what song do you want on? And somebody says, we are the champions.

I haven't played a game yet at the World Championships. And we have, We Are the Champions playing and everybody's singing it. Two nights later, we lose to France and a shootout. First time Canada's ever lost. Yeah, like literally the first game of it. Oh, God. On my watch, and we're singing, We are the Champions two days before in a bar.

So that was a tough start, but then we rattle off seven wins in a row. Yeah. Dude, that is so awesome. I mean, you talk about one of the greatest honors, like, where, you know, I always love talking to guys with a career like yours and asking if there are moments

where you kind of just have that surreal moment, taking it in as it's happening. Did you have any of those moments when you were planning in that tournament? Like we said, captaining the team, where you're just like, holy shit. Like, I'm playing for Team Canada right now.

I think, like, in those tournaments, the captains go to the center ice, start of the game, and they exchange a pennet or whatever. With the other team's captain and the referees. And I did it with Yager, the one game, I think. Oh, wow, that's sick. And then after the game, after every game, they select randomly,

one player from each team to do drug testing, right after the game. So I have a good game. and randomly selected along with Yager. So we have to go into a room after the game and we have to do a pee test, right, to make sure there's no performance enhancing. Well, after a game, you're so dehydrated. Like you can't, some guys, like, you can't pee, right?

Plus, I think I might have went to the washroom as soon as the game was over. So now you're sitting there dehydrated. You can't go to the washroom. So they feed you beer. So they bring you six pack of beer each. So me and Yager are sitting in there having a six pack of beers. And, you know, he was in the prime towards the end. but kind of the prime of his career.

And I had two buddies that were flying in from Canada. And they just happened to fly to land right then, came in. And the four of us were sitting there just shooting the shit, having beers. That was pretty cool. Dude, that is an all-time memory. I cannot believe that. Yeah, the fact that your buddies were there, too, they must have been like, Jesus Christ, this is the luckiest situation of all time.

That is unreal. My buddies are like, can we come back when you guys are getting tested? Like, can we just come back and hang out, like in the washrooms? Yeah. They're like, no, you guys are creepy. Yeah. Yager's like, hey, you need some clean urine. I got some of my work.

That is amazing. Fucking unreal. Kev, I was going to ask if you're comfortable talking about this, but you're wearing the shirt today, so I think you are. But I wanted you to say a little bit about the Rick Rippin's story. You guys went way back. In fact, fighting back to back in some of those HL days, called up to Vancouver the same day.

As you pointed out, he outdid you by scoring on his first shot. Rick suffered from depression, and you were there so consistently for your friend, driving through snowstorms, inviting him to live with you and your family, with your son Cole, bringing him food. And after Rick tragically took his life, you since then have become involved with Mind Check CA and among many, many other things. Can you say a little bit about what the promoting awareness of mental health means to you today? Well, like, we're talking 13 years ago when Rick took his life in 2011, August 15th, I still remember I was home in the summer and walking down the steps and got the phone call from Craig Isinger, who's the assistant GM of the Winnipe.

like Jets now. And just from, you know, in 13 years, we've learned so much more and we've built so much awareness, not just our team, but like the NHL and sports in general, where we know so much more and there's so much more compassion to mental illness and maybe understanding that it is an illness and it's not a weakness. So like very proud that, you know, where we are now. And Rick was kind of the start of that. As sad as his death was and tragic and think about it all a time and talk about it often with some really close friends. You always think, like, what could we have done different? What could have I have done different?

Is there something that I could have done differently? So you always have that wing on your conscience. But there was a time where I think, I think my wife and I and the Vancouver Canucks, Mike Gillis, Lawrence Gilman, all his teammates, you know, the NHL, Gary Bettman. We all thought we were doing as much as we could. And it didn't turn out to be enough. So it's tragic and it's sad that way. but there's a lot of good that's come from it.

And I still keep in touch with Rick's brother, Wes. We were talking the other day, and Rick would be proud. I think Rick would be proud of how many lives we've saved since. And if I had to estimate, just for me, just from DMs and emails and messages that I get personally, there's at least 50 people that have told me that Mindcheck and Rick's story have saved their life.

And they were thinking about or tried to take their own lives. And because of some of the channels open now, they went and got help and their life has been saved. So that's the silver lining from this. But, you know, like I miss him. He's my best friend when we were, you know, in that time period. And fighting back to back was so fun. Because we were the same kind of person.

We come in the dressing room after and we're both just laughing, right? Like it was, it wasn't like, like, it wasn't hatred. Like we didn't fight because of hatred. We fought because we liked it. Like we liked, we both like punching guys in the face and getting punched in the face at times, but making sure you win the face. fight. So we had such a special bond because nobody else really thought like us back then. So we had a lot of good times and a lot of good laughs and a lot of good fights.

Dude, the one in the age, I encourage everyone listening to go find it. It literally looks like Batman and Robin. Like you two are like superheroes fighting back to back. It's just like all the bad guys are coming in. It's crazy. And I think it's so important, Kev, that you've shared a lot of those or a few of those DMs and stuff that you have received of people saying, you know, hey, my daughter had a specific plan and it was stopped because of mind check. I think it's just so powerful and awesome. And I agree with you completely that he would be so proud. What an impact everything you guys have been working on since has had.

Yeah, it's just, you know, it sounds like you know it. And we just want to reiterate and hope you know. It's the amount of people that the work that you've done with this has touched and has helped goes way beyond what you even know. And you're so right. It's amazing to see in just 13 years. how much progress we've made in the game because of the work that you've done and because of stories like Rick. So it's really awesome that you get to sort of keep his memory alive with this

amazing stuff that you're doing. It's so cool. Well, I appreciate that guys. And it makes me emotional, like thinking about it and talking about it again. So I try to think about these stories. Like when he got signed with Winnipeg just before the 2011 season before he took his life, he called me and he's like, we should fight at Santa Rice. The first game we play each other at MTS. center. He goes, think about how like, iconic it would be. Like, this is the rink we both started at. We both played our first HL, well, he played his first HL game. He's like,

we should fight at Center Ice. I'm like, no. And he goes, well, why not? I go, because I've watched you fight, and every time you fight, the other guy gets punched at least five to ten times. And he goes, yeah, but you'll be able to hit me. He goes, you'll be able to hit me too. I go, yeah, I'm not worried about that. I'm worried about how many times you're going to hit me. And I think you're going to hit me, you're going to hit me more.

than I'm going to hit you. So like, and plus you're like my brother. Yeah. He would just kind of like laugh and he goes, he goes, we're going. We're going. I just like, oh God, there we go. I also love that that's the first thing he thinks. Yeah, like, signs a new deal and he immediately calls up Kevin.

He's like this. All right, scratch the schedule. He's like, okay, there we go. What am I playing, Kev? Mark it, market, market, yeah. Oh, man. Earlier you mentioned the unbelievable Vancouver teams you were on and you got, you said you guys were in the playoffs.

It felt like every year. And it's just, I mean, I love looking at at that run because Jesus, you played with some legends, dude. I mean, you got the Sadiens, you got Luongo, Kess, like you mentioned, Burroughs, such a stack team. And then that 2011 season was obviously especially really, really strong. And you guys had such a great run. And that playoff run is what I want to talk about because it seemed like you just had

so many demons to battle through. We actually had O'Shawn a little while ago. And he was talking about the Caps Cup. He said that when they beat Pittsburgh in that first round, It was just the first round He was like, oh shit, we're doing it. And you guys had, you know, an insane You went seven against Chicago

And before we even get into the next rounds I want to talk about that first round against Chicago How huge was that moment for you guys? Like when you got past that team in the first round Did you know immediately you were like, we're going to the cup? Or was it just like this? All right, on to the next Because there was such an onslaught you had to fight.

Yeah, it was maybe like a relief when we won that Chicago series but that felt like the Stanley Cup you could see in that celebration. Yeah. Like that's the best celebration I've ever been. That's the most happy I've ever been in my life after a hockey game. And it was built up because the two years before we had lost to Chicago in the second round. And both years we thought again, we had good teams and a good chance.

And we had Matt Sundin and Pavel Demetra the year before. So talk about legends. And we went through it with those two guys, losing with those two guys were like, holy crap. Like we have two Hall of Fame guys. Like we're the better team. We lose to Chicago, they go on to win the Cup. So in our head, we're like, if we can just beat Chicago, we could probably win the Cup too.

So, you know, it wasn't that easy. Like, we're up three games to none playing unreal. Boom. Like, Taves does an interview says, these guys aren't that good. I don't know why they're up three-nothing. And we're like, what? And the next thing, you know, win, win, win for Chicago. And we're in game seven and overtime.

So to get that win, probably saved all of our jobs in Vancouver, to be honest. Like, I'm sure there would have been some changes. We lost three years in a row and up three nothing. But I always joke around about Burroughs. I go, Burr, you scored the second biggest goal in Canucks history next to mine. It's a joke because his was definitely the biggest goal of Canucks history. Slay the Dragon, dude. That was a Slay the Dragon goal for sure.

But you did just mention it. O.T. against the sharks. Talk us through that goal, dude. And literally no one knows what the puck is but you. Yeah. Me and Luongo claims he knew, too, because he had a pretty good view. Yeah, I mean, it was like a goal where like, wow, like what a what a bounce, like a fortunate bounce. And then I was just kind of ready to shoot the puck.

But like that series was so much closer than everyone thinks. We won in five. But that was kind of like other than Chicago, San Jose was our Achilles, man. Like Thornton Marlow, Clow Boyle, Douglas Murray. Like that team was stacked for so many years. And they were so good and so tough. And I remember I got hit earlier in that game by Ryan Clow. He kind of like blindsided me.

Hardest it had ever taken in my career. right like if there's a spotter like i'm gone i'm gone the rest of the game like he hit me so hard and like where everything goes white and you can't see anything and it took took a while for all that to come back so like towards the end of the game like in double overtime like just exhausted playing on fumes banged up so when when i scored that goal it was more like oh my god like thank god thank god we beat these guys and this series is over and these guys are going home because they're they're a good team so shit wait that clow hit was in that game that was in game five Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was at home.

Yeah, it had to have been because it was at home and it was in, it would have been the second period or it would have been the first, first over. Dude, I was just concussed. Kevin BX was concussed during that. Like breaking news, Kevin BXA was concussed when he scored that game five,

W.OT goal. Oh, God. I didn't see the puck either, to be honest. I just swung my stick now. I was, I was in one.

I think it was the first overtime. I think he hit me in the first overtime. Oh man, it was such a good Selly, too. The Selly's insane. The Selly is insane. Oh, Jesus. It was incredible. I was never a big Selly guy.

Like, I always felt like you should Sully with their teammates right away. And that was one where I'm like, I'm going for a skate here. I'm going to go for a skate, you know. Deserved it. Dude, got to do it sometimes. Well deserved. Got to do it sometimes. Then, Kev, you guys get to the cup.

And I've heard, you know, you say with time, you're able to reflect on what a great series it was and all that. But of course it still stings a little bit. We have a couple. And we're bees guys, too. so I definitely don't want to rub it in. But a couple questions we have, and the first one, what was it like mentally

with the way the series was going in terms of you go, you guys go, you can't lose at home, but it's like tight games. You go to Boston, Luongo's getting pulled. You know,

like was that hard to be like, what is happening right now? Or just what was that mental process like with the way it broke down? Causing the pod really quickly to talk to you guys about our awesome partnership with BetMGM.

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Get in on Lucy today. Yeah, well, you think about at that point of the time, you're six weeks in at the playoffs. And, you know, three pretty grueling rounds. So, like, mentally, you're so exhausted as it is. And then that series is a roller coaster all on its own, right? Like, we start off in Vancouver. We play really good, but we win, like, a minute left in game one.

Then game two, it's tie game, all game. And we score 10 seconds in an overtime. So we're up to nothing. But it's like, it's a really close series. but we're we still we feel like we can't be beat right we just feel like it's that that year then we go to Boston and we start off really well in Boston and then next thing you know the wheels just fall off yeah and then we start getting a couple injuries that people don't talk about like the dan hamis injury and game one that lost us the cop in my opinion very true like he he was he was our best

best best I think like we had good defense when that year we had like edler hamus airhoff and myself like and samie sell like that top five was the best top five by far So good. In the world that year. So good. And I thought consistently, Hamus was probably our best D. And we lose him. Like, think about it.

You're losing your number one D. You know, other guys were like, Edler and Erhoff were banged up. Salo was in and out with injuries. So all of a sudden, we're dipping into like our six, seven, eight defense,

ninth, Chris Tanov, who wasn't even on the team all year. Like, yeah. You know, so I'm not making excuses, but we had some injuries.

And then we come back to Van, it's 2, two. We just got pumped in both games. And we just find, a way to win game five same thing score the minute left max lap here and then you just think like okay we got two chances at this and uh boston started really well again in game six and then next thing you know wheels fall off go back to seven and it was like the worst game ever just felt like we

never got going in seven we played so timid and like safe and nervous and one of those where you wish you could have a do-over right like didn't didn't handle that game seven the right way i don't think any of us did. I saw an interesting quote you had, I think it was pretty recently, too, that you were like, we almost wanted Tampa more just for the matchup, you know, because like Tim Thomas was playing crazy. That's that whole playoff run. You know, I guess that whole season.

I think he maybe won the Vesnet earlier too. But yeah, that's an interesting thing for me to think back too, where I'm like, yeah, I wouldn't, I would have picked you against Tampa, you know? Well, like we were watching, I was watching the Tampa series and I'm thinking like, okay, like Chicago, Chicago's a good team. We were like really fast and really physical that year. That was like two things that we were, like fast and skilled and physical.

But we didn't have like that season. We didn't really have like a tough fighting team. Or you know what I mean? Like we didn't have a heavyweight. We didn't have anything like that. So against, you know, Nashville and Chicago and even San Jose,

they didn't have one either. So we were able to kind of like, like physically bully those teams on top of all the speed and skill. And then like I thought we could have probably done the same thing to Tampa, but we get Boston. Yeah. Right? Like Boston has.

the toughest team in the league, kind of like, you know, the Anaheim Ducks the year, they won the cup in 07. They were the, they were the toughest guys. So we couldn't bully them. And they actually bullied us and they neutralized all of our speed and skill because they were just way tougher and bigger and grittier than we were, which we were always the grittier team in the series up until that point. So that stylistically, yeah, it wasn't, and then our power play goes ice cold. So there's like, you're deterrent for them being idiots. And that's kind of where we lost the series. Yeah, that makes perfect sense. Dude, question for you.

Yeah, this is big. After the Burroughs incident, I'll say, were you got, did you guys come to the locker and were you like, did you bite him? Or like, well, how did that shake out? No, like, we knew the answer to that. I didn't have to hear him. We had a lot of, we had a lot of rats on our team. Like, between him and Max Lapier and Kessler, like, like, and I, and I wasn't a

angel myself, but like those three were at a different level. Yeah. We were the most hated team and the world out here. And yeah, like he, he's like, well, what was the guy's finger doing in my mouth? And I was like, good point. Fair. Very fair. Fair. Watch where you put your fingers, Burr. Yeah. It's the no fly zone, dude. Yeah. Hey, you fish hook me. If you fish hook me with your greasy hand from your glove, like, I probably would chomp down on it, too, to be honest. Dude, I've never thought about it from that POV, no joke. Like, I think if a dude stuffed his cocky glove in my mouth, mouth.

It might, I probably would have been down on it too. We maybe don't give Bruce enough credit for the fact that that might have just been a natural reaction. Yeah. Someone stuck his finger in or not, you know? You know what's funny? Like we had, like after he did that and then I don't know if you guys remember, but then it became like a side show where Boston was like fake putting their finger in our

guy's mouth. And then we had guys that were fake putting their finger. Like every scrum, there was like a finger in somebody's mouth. And Gary Bettman came down to the dressing room. I can't remember what game it was like four or five. He goes, enough. Enough with the fingers in each other. He's like, I'm finding the next guy who takes his glove off

and sticks his finger in someone's mouth. Like, it was becoming, like, embarrassing, right? Imagine that needing to be said by the commissioner during the finals. Yeah, stop shoving your fingers into each other's mouths. It's like the parent yelling at his kids, right? Like, stop doing that. You look ridiculous. You idiot.

What are you assholes doing right now? Fuck me, that's absolutely hysterical. It's also kind of funny looking back in that series. You look at now, you know, he's the captain of the team, but that series and those playoffs, were kind of Marshan's coming out party. I mean, it's like he was, he was an unexpected all season long.

And then, you know, you see him like tabletoping the Sedeen brothers and you're like, Jesus, this guy's going to be a pest for the rest of his career. It's unbelievable. Yeah, they had two lines there that we had, we didn't have an answer for. We could have maybe shut down one.

It was like Cricchee, Luchich. Horti. Horton was playing there. Well, he got popped, though, pretty early. Yeah, yeah, for game one, maybe. Yeah, yeah. And there was Bergeron, Marshawn, and Michael Ryder.

Recky, Recky, was the second line. So, and then their third line was like, Ryder and Segan and, like, they had, they were deep. They were deep. Yeah, and Peverly. Like, it was, yeah, like, that was a scrappy third line. You're absolutely right. Well, as you talked about earlier,

we met, you know, a little while ago during the finals in Edmonton, which gets into, you know, your transition to media. And C.P. mentioned earlier, you're winning awards this year, which is so awesome to see. And I wanted to hear a little bit about that transition, because everyone that we've talked to and so many people who have spoke about how great of a job you're doing say that it was just such a natural fit and you would always be great at this. And you've said before that you're always down to try something once and see how it goes.

But you kind of always have to remember you're not in the locker room, you're not in the golf course. It's a very different game. So how do you feel like that transition has been? And are you still loving it? And are you wanting to do even more stuff in media? Because clearly you are a natural. And it's really awesome, you know, as guys who dabble in this world and see friends. like this winning awards it's just it's so awesome to see so we want to hear if you're if you're loving

it does feel like the natural fit it looks like yeah thank you appreciate that and yeah i am really enjoying it for sure i wouldn't be doing it still if i didn't and the transition happened is as naturally and organic as you could think of and i think that's why it was a success like when i started i was asked to do the all-star game in san jose 2018 i just come back from spengler cup and and that was a fun experience. But again, it was one where like I came in and nobody told me what to do, what to say. It was basically, okay, you're going to be on the play by play with Jim Houston and Craig Simpson and just naturally like talk when you feel like it and kind of take it all in. And it wasn't like, you know, sometimes when you go into, I've had a lot of different jobs in

my life, but it's like when you come into a new job and people are like, okay, you got to do this way, this way, this way, and this way. You have to do it. Nobody told me that. So it was basically like, let me just be myself and let me just. instead of trying to be a polished journalist, just let me be Kevin Biazza, who just retired from the NHL, played in the league for a while, doesn't know anything about journalism,

just let me naturally speak and talk about, you know, kind of what I experienced over my career and what I'm seeing when I'm watching a game. So then when I got into the studio, you know, same thing, just naturally, like, and Ron McLean was really good for me early because he knew, like, what to ask me and how to ask me

so I could basically tell everybody, like, what I was seeing. and Elliot Friedman was amazing. I never would have went into the studio if it wasn't for Elliot Friedman. He was the one that talked me into going. Same with Kelly Rudy. I've worked with Kelly now for five, six years. And they made it very, very easy for me to kind of just be myself and talk about the things that I want to talk about.

So like, and then you learn on your feet, right? You learn kind of, you know, and you learn like when you say something, like there's implications. Like you have to be careful when you say something because, you know, you're always going to be offending somebody. like you know Toronto's playing Ottawa and not that I care but you know you say something about one city and that's a whole market that hates you and that kind of comes with the territory I laugh most of that stuff off but like you know you you just try to be yourself and I think I've done a pretty good job of doing that absolutely yeah absolutely well dude I was Emma's last year right with the Edmonton meet comment and it's like it's crazy dude because you're right you say stuff

and you're like I'm being myself this is fine and then people lose their fucking minds online and I'm like, oh my God. So yeah, you've got to learn to roll with the punches on that. So you guys, like you've met me now and we've had enough conversations where I think you have a pretty good idea of like who I am and like am I not this same person on air as I am when I'm talking to you guys at the baggage carousel and like same jokes, same like stupid comments. Like so that's who I am on camera.

So when I say a comment like that, you guys know, well, he just thought of that on the spot because he's an idiot. No, that is exactly right. Absolutely. Absolutely. It's the best way to be, too. It's our whole approach. So many people on the road are like, man, you guys aren't doing an act. And we're like, yeah, no, we just kind of talk and see what happens. I think, dude, that you, you've already got the validation with the award, but I hope you know how awesome it is watching you breathe fresh air, fresh life into hockey media. Because it has been such a great product with you there. Yeah.

You are inspiration for us and everyone else trying to do this stuff. So keep rocking it, dude. And it's needed, man. The game needs it. So it's beautiful. The thing I really love about it is I get to help with the narrative. Like I get to highlight the things that I think are important. Like I love the history of the game. I love the Yager stories, the Merrill Lemues, the Pavol Berets, right? Like even going back before that, I love bringing that up. And I love, you know, toughness and I love skill and speed.

And I love how we can still talk about fighting and the game within the game and all the things that I think are amazing about the NHL. Like I get to highlight those things and make them important. That's the one thing that I really like about it. Oh, it's the best. It's amazing. All right, Kev, we're going to, we play a game with everybody before we let you go. Okay, so all our guests, we play this game called pass, shoot, score.

We have found some things in your life that we think you like. So we're going to give you categories, and then within each category is three things. And then you are going to have to rank them pass, shoot, score. Passing the puck is cool, but that's our least favorite thing to do. Shooting the puck is our second favorite because we love getting pucks on net. And then scoring is the ultimate goal, so that one's your favorite. Okay. Okay.

Okay. Your first category is your pranks. We've sourced this, okay? So your pranks that you used to like to do. Pass chute score, leaners, and for the people listening, that's when you fill a trash can with water and lean it up against someone's hotel room door, so they open it and soak their room. Tornadoing hotel rooms and texting players from the front office official phone.

So you want me to rank all three of those? Yeah, you've got to give one pass, one shoot, and one score. for your favorite pranks. So texting from the front office, pass. Never, never did that. Oh, nice. Tornadoing a room, hotel room, I'm going to shoot. I never tornado personally, but I had guys do it to me.

Once I came back in Toronto, because I was visiting family, my whole hotel room had all the furniture on the bed at the Ritz Carlton downtown. So I was a recipient of that. I thought that was pretty good. And then I'm going to score, score for leaners. I gave Randy Carlisle a leaner the lockout year, and he still doesn't know to this day it was me. Oh, no.

Well, he might know now. He's broke news. I love that. I love to hear that so much. Who is the biggest prank guy you ever played with? Darcy Hortichok, by far. Wow. What was his specialty?

He did all that stuff, but he was, you know, we actually got him back a couple times. We, like, nail gunned his shoes to the, stall in Colorado so when he was trying to get dressed for the bus his shoes were stuck to the stall so we ended up getting him back a lot but he was a guy that was like you know he'd call he called the front desk and he'd have them like send stuff to your room or he'd like call you down to say there's a fax he'd like call everybody and we checked into a hotel and he'd be like like a fax like who that gets faxes right he's like you have a fax at the front desk for you and then he'd sit there and

he'd watch like 15 guys come down and ask the front desk if there's a fax for them like stupid stuff like that just brought him so much joy yeah yeah just those teeny ones The little paper cut pranks. I love that. All right, Kev, your next one is, this is actually been something we've been really impressed to see that you dabbled in, but you dabbled in some TikToks, and we want you to rank some of those now.

So pass-shoots score, your dances with your daughter, Reese, flying on a broomstick like Harry Potter, or dancing with your dog. Oh, that's a tough one. I'll say the score is dancing with my daughter Reese, because that was the start of it all. Yeah.

She wanted me to do one with her. I've got a couple of legendary dances with her. Shoot is the dog, my dog, because he just loved it. And then passes the broomstick was like one where I think my daughter was doing it. And I'm like, hey, that looks kind of cool and real. Like, how do I do that? She taught me. So they're all kind of intertwined.

But that was a fun time. I got to admit they're low-key good. You get a good lean on the broomstick. Like when you're kind of leaning back, I'm like, yeah, I get it. And then when you start going forward, I was like, actually, this is pretty legitimate. looks like my man's flying right now. It's unbelievable. You guys are placating me right now. That's what you're doing. Listen, listen, as guys who've been forced to do a lot of shit on

TikTok these days, I appreciate the craft because it's not easy. Okay, your next category. Your next category, and you put this on your Twitter followers a little while ago, so I want to throw it back to you. Your next category is drinks. Okay, pass-shoots score, a Guinness, a Bloody Caesar, and a Monte Cristo. Oh, God. Can I score all three? No, no, that's why it's tough.

There's no hat tricks in this game. No, so like at my cottage here, like very, very common that when my brother-in-law is a firefighter, he comes here, I'll have all three at once. I'll have a Monte Cristo. Like I'll have a cigar, a Caesar, and a Guinness all at the same time. So, guys, that's impossible. That's impossible to choose. Honestly, given the fact that he has an anecdote where he's had all three at once. I will accept the hat trick ever in the history of past shoot score.

Hot trick. That's a hot trick for sure. I will accept that because of that one anecdote. But when I'm thinking about it, a Guinness and a Monty Cristo feels like a great one-two punch. Agree. I love a Caesar, dude. I'd be scoring the Caesar. Cors are the best.

That is one of the many things that the U.S. needs to adopt more from Canada because a Caesar is just so much better than a bloody. It's unbelievable. Like the bloody, like some of the golf courses I play out make good blood. bodies and but they're very few and far between you got to make it spicy you got to add a little volume somehow with maybe some like food like some vegetables in it but you're right like Caesar is just a a notch up from a spicy a bloody Mary it is all right your last one kev this is going to be indulgent treats and the first one's going to be a little holiday specific so we're going to go Thanksgiving turkey we know that's one of your favorite proteins of choice

no hot chocolate in a Swedish hut after cross-country skiing with the sedans or maple walnut ice cream that your mom gave you as a kid. You guys are unreal with your research. It's impressive. Wow. So you got the ice cream, the hot chocolate, and what was the third? Thanksgiving turkey. Oh, wow.

I'm going to pass on the hot chocolate with the Cidines, cross-country skiing at Cyprus, because they absolutely dusted me. And then we went in and had like a pity hot chocolate. off it after they just and they're like let's go again let's race again I was like shut up this is the first time I've ever cross-country skied and then we ended up doing it often it was fun I'll pass on that um I think I'm going to shoot the turkey looking forward to Thanksgiving turkey this weekend nice I love a good turkey and then I'm going to score with uh the third one which

is it again maple walnut ice cream the ice cream yeah yeah I like I like maple walnut ice cream I love that shout out to my mom um I so you guys have a don't opted Thanksgiving because I mean you and your wife are both Canadian yeah yeah but I've been living in the US for 10 years and I went to school for four there so 14 years out of my that's right old am I like 30 32 years old so almost half of my life there you go so uh if you had to do a quick power ranking what are a few of your favorite Thanksgiving sides yeah like what are the top three staples that we need at Thanksgiving oh cranberry for sure stuff like not really a side but stuffing like a good stuffing

I think is legit. Gravy, like a nice gravy to put over the mashed potatoes and the stuffing and the turkey, smother it. So I like a gravy on my turkey and stuffing and then some cranberry at the same time. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And you're a big sandwich guy for leftovers after, I imagine. Not maybe not a sandwich, but I just, I just read it.

You just do the, you just thanks to me dinner again the next day. I mean, if you're a smother guy, then that that's kind of the move. Like if you just, and that is, when people don't smother, I, I lose my mind. Like you got to go gravy on just everything. Yeah. Just give it a full time. It's like a roller coaster in your mouth, right? There's just so many tastes in your mouth.

Exactly, dude. God, he's making me hungry already. Exactly. God. All right, Kev, we've taken up enough of your time, but this has been an absolute blast, dude. We can't thank you enough. And I am saying, and actually, I'm demanding next time you come on, it's got to be here in studio. You got to make the trip up to L.A.

Yeah, I'll make the 45 minute dry, boys. I think I can do that. It's a real hike. We'll pay for the Uber. Yeah, better than cross-country scene with the Cedines. It's an easy rip. But thanks so much, dude. This has been a blast.

Kevin, anything you want to plug? Anything you want to shout out to before you take off? No, no. I'm just a pleasure of being on this with you guys. Like I said, we met last year, and I've really been following you guys. And I listened to a lot of your stuff and you guys are awesome. You're entertaining. And enjoyed being on this.

Appreciate you, brother. Absolute blast. Massive, massive, massive. Thank you to Kevin BXA. What a time, dude. I'll always say this, but it's just so cool here in the stories. Because we do a lot of research, right? And we find out, oh, I really want to ask him about this story.

I really want to ask him about that story. There's always a few more that we don't know, that we can't find, that he brings up that makes it all worth it. Yeah. I mean, just getting so many genuine laughs out of us. Like, he's such a fucking awesome dude. It's amazing. Huge thanks to Kev.

He's definitely going to be back. We're going to make him come up here to L.A. Right here. Get it right here in this spot. But that is it for us today at the end. 19 Netters podcast. We absolutely love you guys. Happy Thanksgiving. If you were celebrating, enjoy, eat some turkey, eat some stuffing, make a gobbler sandwich on Friday. Eat some, eat some cranberry and stuffing and gravy. Yeah. For Kev. Get the whole top of. Yeah.

It's unbelievable. Truly, have the best holiday ever. We love you guys. We are very thankful for you guys. And until we see you next time. Eat hard, then nap hard, then skate hard. Wow.