Empty Netters Podcast - Shane Pinto On His Suspension, The Ullmark Trade, And His New Deal | 118

Episode Date: July 17, 2024

Shane Pinto only made it to the NHL because he was tired of being the worst athlete in his family. He’s putting the gambling suspension behind him and is ready to bring the Senators back to the playoffs. He talks 5OT losses, the jealous sibling version of Brady Tkachuk, and Johnny Drama being the best tv character of all time. NEW EPISODES EVERY MONDAY & WEDNESDAY! SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuf52MHW1O7guPMzsMvv2kA FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/empty.netters/?hl=en FOLLOW US ON TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@empty.netters  (0:00) – Intro (3:00) – Family (11:16) – South Kent (16:48) – Draft (20:53) – North Dakota (28:56) – Gambling Suspension (34:56) – Senators Season  (36:55) – Pass, Shoot, Score Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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He chased me through the dorm hall, like got me in a headlock in the hallway and like bit me on the head. Ice is ready and we are back with another episode of the Empty Naders podcast and we're hitting you with an unbelievable interview today. We got Shane Pinto of the Ottawa Senators on the pod. What a fucking legend. Dude, this guy has dealt with some adversity obviously. Yes. But is a shining superstar. No doubt about it.

And I feel like, because don't forget, bro, the cause of the suspension, there was there was contract stuff, you know, because he was like coming off RFA and they're like, what do you want to do? There's just been like so much shit and he's giving it traded, all this stuff that I feel like it's been lost in the shuffle that the reason they didn't trade him, the reason they are making these financial commitments to him is because they're like, he's a, he's a mega star. Yeah. You'll, you know, you could guess it.

But, you know, before we started recording, we were chatting with Shane and we were saying as Bruins fans, we were like when Olmark got dealt, we were desperate for you to come the other way. And it was just clear. He was always untouchable. They know he's a shining star. He is a shining star. One of just the best dudes ever. Another one of these guys that falls in the category of, you know, we've got millions of them now. But we start talking in five minutes and I'm like, yeah, we would be best friends if we'd go out together. He's absolutely correct. So fucking awesome. Can't wait for you guys to hear it. Enjoy. We are currently joined by a Franklin Square native, a New England prep national championship at South Kent, unbelievable, a world junior

A challenge gold medalist, a unanimous all-NCHC first team award winner, an NHL rookie of the month, and the 32nd overall pick in the 2019 NHL draft, Shane Pinto. Welcome to the Empty Netters podcast, finally. Oh yeah, boys. Good to be here. Great to be here. So good to have you. It's been a long time coming.

Oh, yeah. But I got to say, let a little bit of technical errors on ours. Yeah, it's on us, dude. Usually, I'm always dogging the guest for they can't get on Riverside. It's on us. That is completely our fucking fault. I, uh... Yeah, because Laz gave me your number.

I think it had to be two months ago now. Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. And it just never kind of came to fruition. And thankfully, we finally got it done. Well, dude, we had to focus on you fucking getting back in the swing of things, snapping it. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, 100%. You were locked in. So this is good. Summertime apps are the best. Yeah. Agreed with that. Well, Shane, I want to start actually with your start, okay? And a lot of people know most of this story.

But, you know, you were like a football baseball guy. And really the football injury kind of put hockey in the limelight. And, you know, your whole family, I was dying like your grandpa's shitting on the cold weather in the rank. You know, like everybody fucking, everybody hates hockey. He's like, Pinto family. Stop playing hockey. Yeah. What the fuck?

Yeah. Brianna's sick at softball. You guys are playing like the wiffleball game outside. You got the rummy games at Christmas. You know, so just talk to me a little bit. And of course, your cheat of the 10 things, you know. Yeah. So at first, just tell the listeners a little bit about what it was like growing up with that crew

and how they got you to be the guy we're talking to right now. Yeah. Yeah, family, I think, for me, just the competitive edge that I kind of was raised with from my sister, my dad, my mom. It played a big part in kind of my success. I think I always wanted to just winning everything, and that kind of drove my work ethic in a sense. But yeah, playing baseball and football growing up,

I think it kind of, I don't know, I feel like it was a good thing for me because I'm so serious with hockey these past eight years. It would have been overkill if I started out like eight years old with this kind of intensity, honestly. So I think it was a good thing. I started a little bit later on the late bloomer and I think it just rounded out my athleticism. I think it's helping me out on the ice. But yeah, having my sister heard being the

better athlete growing up, she was just always more talented than me. She didn't really have to work too hard to get what she got. And so yeah, it always kind of made me jealous and it just kind of drove me in a weird way because I think when you go out of people you love, I think it brings more out of you. And yeah, so competing with my sister nonstop. growing up I think it just developed that competitiveness in me and you could ask all the boys now that I'm I'm kind of psychotic with when it comes to competing anything ping pong pool call yeah calling you had you and lefty you wouldn't call in white going lefty lefty lefty ping pong dude that's what I've been told so we've had so many battles I live with him my first year so we both got hurt shoulder shoulder

surgery the same like same same timeline we had like four months just me and him together and obviously that's we had a lot of time with each other and we would just fucking play best to seven series of lefty ping pong in the basement of his crib and that's all we had and uh yeah no it gets it gets bad though i get like i like don't i like want to kill the person i'm playing it's a real problem i'm trying to work on it but it's just who i am so it is what it is dude we're all cut from the same cloth the amount of fucking yeah it's like everyone all the guys are like that The amount of ping pong paddles and video game console controllers that I've shattered because of losing a name. Shell is the worst.

Oh, dude. College, Schener, the amount of controllers that I fired off the door of my college dorm room is just abhorrent. It's so bad, especially when you play a guy that's just like a sweat and plays like a loser. Oh, dude. The rage that I feel inside is tough. I'm awful. I've lost friendships over spike ball games. Like we were just supposed to have fun.

and like I don't talk to the guy. Yeah. Yeah, like me and my roommate, I have a roommate now. And we play like the playoff mode in Shell sometimes because we have a lot of free time, obviously. And, dude, we get pretty ruthless. Like, we're, like, coming at each other next with, like, some deep shit. I feel bad.

Yeah, after the game, you're like, oh, yeah, it's awful. Like, dead-ass true story. When we're at parties, I don't play, like, beer pong anymore. because back in the day, we would play, and, you know, it is what it is. Usually, we would both make it to, like, the final or something, or eventually, like, he'd be running the table, and then me and my partner would jump on. And whether I won or he won, it would ruin our nights. You don't want to look at it for, like, the whole night.

And, dude, just the amount of, like, deep cut horrible things that I would say to him in those games. Oh, yeah, dude. Like, we'd be, like, we'd be playing, and I'd be like, dude, why don't you stick a fucking tube of super glue in your mouth and bite down it and almost kill yourself again like you did 17 years ago you fucking lose i'm like i told you that in private dude that's fucked up it's just bro bro it's hilarious it's awful and like the sibling thing it's the best though and then the next morning you wake up you're like okay like it's not that deep yeah but you're right i get what you're talking about with your sister the sibling rivalry competitiveness especially with sports is like you want them to

succeed to the ultimate but when you do see them succeed you're like well now i need to yeah so That's what drove me, honestly. It was weird. Exactly. I was trying to impress my parents because she was doing all this cool stuff, like all county and softball track, going to Division I. I was like, I got to do something with my life there. Exactly.

Yeah. So speaking about it worked out. Speaking of that competitiveness, dude, I know that Crosby was a big guy for you growing up. That was the guy you looked at, kind of how you got into it. And then we've all heard the washing machine story in the basement with Crosby. Did that inspire you to start denting the shit? get out of your garage door at your parents' house

because there's a lot of similarities going here. A little bit, I guess. I think I didn't really mean the dent. Like, I had that net where it's like, you have that protection. Yeah, yeah, we got it, dude. Yeah, so, like, I mean, but I was, like, really bad when I was fifth. Like, I was just ripping pill.

I was fluttering puck and it was going everywhere. But I didn't mean to do it. I owe my parents, like, siding. Like, when they decided to sell the house, like, I have to get them siding. It's bad. It's all ripped up. You're going to have to redo the floors, too, dude. Dude, my living room, I just stick handle for, like, hours on end.

Like, there's marks on the roof. It's disgusting. So I got to take care of my parents when that time. But Shane, this is my favorite one, dude. I wanted to ask you about this. This was number six on your fucking psycho list, bro. Keep in mind, you've already shot Pucks for an hour. But also, you keep referencing it.

Tell the listeners what the psycho list is. Okay, yeah, anyone that hasn't seen it, everybody, please. When Shane, we were what, you were 15? You, you, Yeah, I think I was like going into my 15 year old summer. Actually, do you have a picture of that? Yeah, it's online, yeah. Okay, yeah, I was going to say, send it to me because I want that up on the list of 10 things that Shane needed to do every day to make the NHL.

And number 10 is like, be a good person. So I'm like, fuck yeah. Yeah. Yeah, what a beauty, first of all. So one of them is like shoot a hundred pox or something and then also stick handle for an hour, which you were doing with a golf ball, you know, destroying your floors. Number six is practice passing and puck control for an hour. And I'm like, who the fuck were you passing to for an hour at the house, dude? Like, you're just shooting?

No, I have one of those, uh, no, no, I had like, uh, you know, they suck. I mean, they're really bad. I was using like a green biscuit and they're like the, um, you know, like the passback things that they have? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like the string thing, dude, it would get caught under this thing and like I couldn't, I couldn't use it. But I was like, I had to make flat passes on it to get it back. So that's how I was working on.

Dude, I was such a hardo. Like, it was crazy. Well, it clearly worked. No, it worked. But I had like no life for like three summers. It was bad. Unfortunately, that's what it takes. Damn right.

It does. I mean, it really does. It's a lot of work. It's like, you know, ultimately you're in the NHL. It doesn't matter that you're a weird antisocial freakazoid. You know, it's like, right. But like, if it didn't work out, then I'd have my whole life. What would I be doing?

Yeah, and your whole family would hate you Because they could have been playing. Right, like, I'd be a disappointment. I'm like, I meet this guy, Shane. He works, like, he's an accountant. And I'm like, yeah, we were playing fucking ping pong together and he almost killed me. I'd be working. I'd like be slinging garbage around or something like, wait.

Like, I don't know, I'd be doing something like that. I don't think I'd be, I can't sit at that. You'd be cooking, bro. You'd have your own diner. No, I can't. I don't know why I would say I'd be a shot. That's like so hard to do. So I don't know.

I was just throwing burgers out there, I got to. There you go. Yeah, exactly. Well, so, dude, you obviously have this unbelievable family structure and background, these people who kind of helped you become the person that you are. And we can relate to this a little bit. We're boarding school guys. What was it like when you kind of made that decision?

I really love, like, dude, you look at so many of these guys that were in the league and people are showing pictures and videos them playing when they're six, seven years old. You didn't really even think about hockey until you were eight. And then at like 15, you were like, okay, I'm going to lock into this. what was it like simultaneously sort of making that decision around that time and then also being shipped away to go to South Kent and be away from your family and just lean all the way into hockey? Yeah, I think, like, I was so, like, seriously, like, seriously dialed in on that. When I look back at it now, like, I realize how tough it was, like, to leave my family.

Like, even for my mom, like, for me to leave at 15, like, that's so young. I'm not thinking about it now. It's like you're still, I'm still a kid. and I wasn't grown up at all. But I was just so like, like hockey just took over my life so much. I really didn't think about. I was never sad or like homesick because all I cared about was because I started pretty low on the 16 new team and all I cared about was just trying to keep getting

better and better. And I really never had time to really feel like sad about my situation. It wasn't like a sad thing, but I like would miss a guy. I would never miss home. And I just didn't really think of it. And but now looking back on it, it had to be tough. with my parents. When you're 15, you're just, you're just kind of getting into, I think, 11th grade,

are you in? 10th or 11th? And you're still a kid, so it was probably harder on my parents than it was on me because I was just so dialed in on hockey. But like I said, I don't think, if I don't make that move, I don't think I'd play in the NHL because. Agree. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, you got to, I had to get away from, I mean, Franklin Square is a great place, but they don't really produce many. It wasn't really a hockey town, so I had to kind of get away from kind of everything and just kind of dial it in. And thank God I did it. How far away is campus from home? I wasn't too bad. It's like two hours, two hour drive, so nothing too crazy.

That's not crazy. My parents would come up on the weekend. Yeah, that's why it's not close. I was getting shipped to Shattuck. I wasn't like getting like, yeah. That's like. Yeah. So it wasn't like too bad.

My parents were still comfortable for the weekends and stuff. They would help me out. but I grew up a lot. I had to mature as a person, so it worked out for me. Did you have any moments where you were, like, way too homesick, or you were like,

fuck, this is brutal, I don't want to be here? Was it just kind of smooth skating the whole time? No, I think in the beginning, like, I was,

I was, like, a late ad on the, like, 16 new team, and I, like, wasn't really playing a lot, and I'm like, why the hell did I come here? Yeah, yeah. Like, what, like, what am I doing? So I wasn't playing a lot,

And so yeah, that was probably the only time I really got homesick. And then I just decided to lack of a better word, sack up and just get to work. And I kind of went from there. Yeah, there you go. Yeah. You obviously had a ton of success there. You know, get a national championship. That's unbelievable.

So the game started clicking amidst all that because, you know, we'll get into everything that that led to. But amidst all that, were there any stories that kind of stick out in your mind of just being away, being with the boys playing hockey, living away from home as a teenager, just bullshit you guys got it. What's the dumbest thing you guys did? Dude, there's, I mean, I don't want to say one story because it's like, because all the boys did it. So I'm not going to say that one. We'll hear that one off there. Yeah, I'll tell you guys off here that one.

Fuck, I mean, the only one, the one story I do have, he's actually in the room next me. He's going to hate me to tell him. but I'm going to say it anyway. Like, we still played Chelle. Like, it all started when we were 15 at South Kent. We went to South Kent together, the kid I'm living with now. We're, like, best buds. So that's when it kind of started the NHL rivalry.

And he was, like, so much bigger and, like, a switch where, like, if he, like, lost, he would, like, attack me. So it was, like, best of seven. It was game seven. And it was, like, two to one. And there was, like, four seconds left. I knew he was going to attack me. So I like dropped the controller with four seconds left

and ran out the dorm room. He chased me through the dorm hall, like got me in a headlock in the hallway and like bit me on the head. He probably listened to me right now. Like this guy's fogged. You're going to get a bit again, bro. Yeah, seriously.

Bit again. No, he's gone better. He's still, he's still, is ruthless. But dude, I will never. forget they bit me right in the head and and but ever since we've been boys so it's just funny how that's how competitive it got though did he draw blood i need to know that did he draw blood no but dude i like a good dent yeah yeah he was pissed dude because i do like a stupid like my grin now like i just like i antagonized yeah and i was just like giving him a grin before it's winning in you snap

it's okay it happened i'm impressed with the foresight there i just dropping me too and being like like I'm getting the fuck out of it. Dude, I knew it was coming. I knew it was coming. Yeah, you could feel it. Like you could feel him inching closer towards you. You know, you feel the tension in the road.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. I just booked it, dude. I think you had like a breakway with a second since I booked it, but he didn't score and I just got out of there. Other stories, though, it's more just, uh, I want to say R in it, but I don't know.

No, of course. We did it. Yeah. It's ridiculous. Team mates being dipshits, dude. We all have. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

It's a very real thing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shiner, we got to, we were at the draft, right, the other week and, you know, watching the lucky fuckers this year getting the sphere draft, right? No, no, no, no, Roger's arena, bud. But, but, but, um, you go 30 second, first picking the second round. I heard you say you were expecting early second and, you know, you hit that and you had had a good visit with them and everything.

Just any cool memories you have from the draft, whether it's like a crazy GM combo or like you want to admit how bad you wanted the penguins to trade up and take. you so you could be on the plane with Sid or what do you remember from draft night so yeah like my agent told me I mean I knew I wasn't going like in charge around or anything so I really didn't really care about the first night I kind of just try to enjoy it and not really worry about but that that night after round one Carolina called they had like to pick 34 or 35 or something that year and they were like hey like sheen I'm we're going to pick sheen like right at 34 35 or whatever they had and I was like fuck yeah like that's sick um and then the next day comes so I'm not like I'm not like really too worried like whatever like so the draft starts and like Ottawa comes up and

I thought I had the worst interview with them at the combine like it was my first it was my first one so I was like super nervous and I just felt like I sounded like a pigeon in it and um wait why they said they said tri-city and I thought maybe it could have been Zach Jones, he plays on the Rangers. Now you guys probably know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, he was in that range, too. He's like second or third.

So I was like, okay, it's probably, then they say, Shane Penth or whatever. And I was like, yeah, what? Like, what's going on? And I had no inclination that they were going to pick me, like, at all. And then, yeah, ever since that, I've done,

yeah, I've been a sentence. Yeah, hell yeah. What do you remember from that interview with them that you feel like didn't go that well? No, I just, I feel like my voice was cracking. I was just wasn't confident and and like they were just asked me like I don't know if it was like weird questions I can't remember like four years five years six years ago now I have no idea what they asked me but I just remember coming out of that room I'm like yo they are never drafting me

yeah like that was the worst interview ever I like the other interviews I did pretty well but that one I remember specifically it was brutal so but yeah but they saw something dude yeah I love it I love it a good impression dude you love to hear it yeah somehow Were you just coasting from there? Like you get drafted, you know, first pick of the second round, you're like, holy shit. Like, what a feeling, first of all. What was the rest of that day like?

Was the family there? Did you guys go to a nice dinner? What was going on? Yeah. So a lot of my buddies came from Franklin Square. Okay. For the draft. And they were just straight riffraff that whole weekend.

Because things are legal in Canada that aren't in America at the time. Oh, yeah. And that night at that dinner table, they were, they were, they were feeling it. And they were struggling to stay up. But we got to the dinner and then we went out to, there's just like that one club that everyone goes to you guys, name like three bars. And I'll probably be in the top three. In this Vancouver, right?

Yeah, fuck. Yeah. I don't say anything of any. Roxy. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that sounds familiar. That could definitely. Yeah.

Because that actually rips up there. I think it was called a Roxy or something. So we went out there. So it was a great night. I actually saw Matt Barzell down there too. So I was actually pretty cool. I was pretty starstruck at the time because he was obviously a sick player. He was down there.

All the old ladies were around him. So I was about this to say. But yeah, that's kind of, yeah, I had all my buddies, and they battled through the night. And yeah, that's all I can really remember from that night. It was pretty cool. Then you had to go right to the Valenic game. Yeah, right. It's fucked.

Yeah. Enjoy it. And then you got to get ready to develop the game. and the nerves start all over again. Unbelievable. So before that, you, I mean, like, like we talked about, you know, you're going to South Kent, you decide to lean into hockey, you get drafted and, you know, USHL, all this stuff and all that, and next thing you know, you end up at UND, which is now, I feel like everyone knows,

is, like, such a sick program. The facilities there are unbelievable. But kind of a random spot for you. Like, you know, you're this guy growing up in New York, not really a hockey town. and all of a sudden you decide to play, next thing you know you're at North Dakota. So there's a bunch of things that, you know, I want to hear more about because you have a pretty sick story there with,

you know, the coach comes down to see you play. You don't really play that well on a Friday night. Ends up coming to your next game on Saturday. You bag it, Hattie. Unbelievable. And then also,

mum comes through in the fucking clutch, per usual, shows the coach the list, your psycho list, which also just helps, just like shows how committed you are, what type of person and player you are. what was what was going through your head when you kind of realized north dakota was an option for you

and then you know you've also got like umas providence some of these other schools that are closer what was it about north dakota that you were like i like this program i like this opportunity i'm going to head over there yeah um so at the time like i was just like i didn't care about like party life or whatever you call like social life i didn't care about how big the campus was like all I really wanted to do was playing the NHL one night. That was my main focus. And as soon as I stepped on campus, like, they didn't show me anything but the rink. It was like Thanksgiving.

So it's freezing there. They bring me right to the rink, right? And whatever, they have like a game, and it's Friday night, and it's so sick. And there's no student section, and it's still like 12,000 people. And it was just humming. And the facilities were nuts and everything like that. But they never show me any campus. So awesome.

Really. Yeah. Like, they didn't show me any of the campus. And I was like, and my dad asked him, he's like, wondering, he's like, are we going to see the campus? And like, Dane Jackson is such a beauty. Like, listen, I'm going to be honest. If I showed you our campus, you are not coming here. Like, I'm not going to do that. I'm just going to show you the rig. And that's all we're going to do. Like, that is so fair. And I went to, like, Penn State before that Michigan State, I visited too. So, like, obviously, I was like, like, those places were sick. Yeah. Yeah. Big time football, like everything. But yeah, for some reason, they offered me that night after the game. They brought me in this little room. Zach Pheresey was there during it. I don't know why they brought on there. And I was like, dude, there's no way I could say no to this.

Yeah. And yeah, I just thought like honestly, I didn't really. I was so like oblivious to everything else other than hockey. So I didn't care about anything else. So I just thought that was the best spot for hockey, just hockey. And that's all I cared about. Well, dude, they were, they were. going to show you fucking dining hall, the dorm rooms,

but then when your mom showed the list, they were like, actually, this motherfucker's never going to reach the ring. All he needs is the ring. Oh, man, you have no idea. But yeah, I think I knew right away, like, and the people there, do they. If you ever met Brad Barry or Dean Jackson or any of the people there,

they're just, like, down there, good dudes, produce so many NHL guys just because they're good people and they know their shit. Yeah. And on top of the best facilities in the world. I mean, it's better than most NHLs. So it was a win-win. And I didn't have to do much school.

So that was good. That's great. But obviously, you know, like, you make a great decision. You go there. And all the reasons are there. Like, you guys were favorites to win the Natty. You win rookie of the year. COVID then shuts it down.

Did that have anything to do with you going back for a second year? Or was second year kind of always in the cards for you? Yeah. I think I was, I wasn't ready after my freshman year. Yeah. I knew I had to keep on getting bigger. I'm strong or whatever. All the cliches,

but I knew I had to fill into my body a little bit more because the first couple weeks in the MCAC it took a toll on me. I had a few, I like a tough month where I really had to battle through. See, I kind of knew I wasn't staying for one year, and then obviously COVID didn't help the situation. I think about it now.

COVID really did screw everything up. I didn't get the full college experience, especially that second year, because we had to do the bubble and all that stupid shit. so but yeah i know i was going back my second year we obviously had a lot of guys coming back um but yeah we just lost the fucking minnesota deluth and like five in a five overtime dude that's what i'm at a next dude that was fucking savage

good it was like they had to sub out their goalie the second overtime because he was cramping yeah and we were like dude it's over like we're gonna win yeah like this guy hasn't seen a pill Dude, you had 64 shots, bro. Yeah, it was a- Dude, it was crazy. But isn't it? And that's like, that guy gets subbed out and you're like, we got this.

And then you play a full-nother game. Yeah, yeah. Dude, full another game. Full another game. And I think, like, San-like, I think I play like 53 minutes or something. I think Sanderson, because he was on our team freshman year,

his freshman year. And he played like 62, dude. And he was still buzzing. Yeah, yeah. In the fifth overtime. My God, this kid's not normal. Yeah. What an absolute pervert, dude.

That's absurd. Yeah. Just to still be cooking is absurd. No, I know. And, like, boys took IVs and stuff. Like, we were getting, like, IVs in, like, the fourth intermission, like, drinking Coke. We were trying everything.

And it just, um, it was just such a tough way to live. I know. It was a killer goal, bro. Fuck. Dude, it was like a cold, obviously. Yeah. Yeah. And it's like, our goal, he's, like, dead.

Like, I mean, he's played, like, streaking. Yeah. So, like, his legs are gone. And it's just such a. tough way to lose. And then, we had such a wagon on that. I know. So many sick players came from that to me.

It's crazy. Yeah, you guys are unreal. It's crazy. Two epic rips there, though. Awesome experience. That's amazing. Dude, yeah. Yeah, I mean, it went bypassed.

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Hold the phone. Dr. Locks, glue guy. All in the family. Check it out. So when you jump up to the league, okay, now you're a send, right? Like you said, injury bug, like you mentioned before, shoulder bangs you up, playing some ping pong, but you know, don't get the full season. Then you get 20 talks, dude.

First 82, 20 tucks. Hell of a fucking year. Everyone's going crazy. So then you're going into the next year. And then you get the fucking bombshell, right? You get this huge news. Talk to us about, like, what that felt like when you heard. Did you know before, like, the news broke?

You know, like, how did all that take shape for you? So I got a phone call on the golf course. I got a phone call on the golf course in, like, I think late August, early September, like from my age you, like, hey, like, the NHRA wants to bring you in. They got a call from, like, one of the league partners. just want to bring you in for some questioning, blah, blah, blah. So whatever, we did the questioning, you know, everything was like we would just game everything and whatever. It all, it all kind of, it took like three weeks. I went in like twice just to talk to him and make sure

everything was good. And, yeah, obviously Gary thought that was the right penalty. And we obviously didn't want to cause any waves or anything. So we kind of just accepted it at the time. And so I kind of knew two days before it was going to happen. And I didn't really know who to tell. Yeah. Like I didn't want to, I wanted to tell a few of the boys. Like I told Brady and G, obviously, those in my, you know, the two big dollars on our team and they were super tight with me. And they were obviously super supportive.

But I knew obviously the social media thing was going to be the biggest thing when I came out and everything. Yeah. So I kind of prepared myself for that. I kind of got off of everything because I know it's just how it is nowadays with social media. but I was just genuinely just upset because I already missed like I want to say like two a week or two of games from the regular season or season already started. Yeah. Yeah, right.

And like I was already upset from that whole situation. And then this comes along and it was so out of the blue. And it just hit me like, I was like, dude, this is just like the shoulder injury was tough. But this was like brutal. Oh, God. I had to lean on my family like big time. Oh, man. My mom and dad did so much for me to get me through that.

But yeah, they just did such a good job of keeping my mind off of things. The boys would check in on me, so they made it easy on me. And I just kind of stayed working out in trainings just so I could keep my mind off of it. I mean, I could easily just kind of do the white flag in and just kind of just been a vegetable for two months. But I just tried to stay positive with it. I knew I had that second half of the season coming. and I just did my best with the hand I got dealt with. Obviously, it was a little bit my fault, so I can't really, I'm not going to like pity over it,

but I thought I did a good job of responding from it. Yeah. It sucked, but I had a lot of people around me that helped me seriously. My parents did such a good job. The boys were on my side. And it really did help me on the long run. So I, see, I'm glad it's over, but I learned a lot from it. And, yeah, thank God it's all by.

for you know for sure for sure thank god and dude i mean it's clear that you you know you did a great job mentally of bouncing back and obviously like you said like your circle was super helpful because you know once you came back you were buzzing right from the jump which is just got to be such a good feeling but um on the topic of all dude yeah yeah can you can you tell us like the the bare bones of what happened because i think a lot of people still don't know exactly what happened and what you did that you know got you picked up like that yeah no basically it was was um it was like i was doing like i had my buddies because i was in can just placed bets for me in um in america because um the account like i tried i wasn't a Canadian citizen so i couldn't

really uh use a Canadian sports book so i just had my buddies place bets for me and that's proxy betting so that's obviously a big no-no um so that was kind of the it was like an illegal act so obviously it was a pretty big deal. And so yeah, that's why we didn't want to fight it. And we just kind of accepted it. And just kind of bit, you know, we just, I did what I have to do, you know. And I took the penalty and thankfully, thank God I played a good 41 games. Yeah, dude.

If I did it. No, but I mean, like, dude, it's one of those things. Like, I'm so glad that you can be on here and kind of talk about it and have the good attitude that you have. And also tell people what happened. because I think one of the most frustrating things with shit like this is there's all the hearsay people have one story or another story no one really knows what went down and it's you know Well yeah I think a lot of people thought like I bet on you know the NHL

because it was such a long thing but I think they I mean they said in their press for the NHH that that never happened so I think that helped the situation a lot Yeah definitely definitely but uh but still 41 games it hurt like to be dude But I got down the boys. That's just what it was. Like, that was the worst part about it. Am I, like, I'm just not there for the boys.

Like, we were, we had a tough start too. Not saying it was like a big deal that I wasn't there, but it's just still, it was a big distraction. We had a new ownership coming in. We had that happening. So there was just, it was just a lot of distraction around the boys, and I never want to be that toward. Yeah. So that's what kind of sucked the most about it. No, but, like you said, dude, it's like, you know, you had a great support system with the family,

the players and now we're heading into next season dude you finished with a great 41 games you're absolutely buzzing you got lenis old mark in net which has got to feel fantastic and i mean dude like i don't want to talk about betting here but i've got serious stakes here on you having a big year and fuck yeah i do too yeah i just think like there's so much good shit going on right now it's like you you got brady coming in jealous we were talking about jealous jealousy dude jealous siblings like he's going to come in. He's going to be so fired up. So like you've got to just

Oh yeah. You've got to be buzzing right now like a lot of great things. I feel like you guys are healthy for the first time in a while too. So it's like you got you got the boys fired up. You got jealous Brady. You got you back for a full season.

You must be fired up heading into this year. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we got Josh Norris coming back from his shoulder. We're going to need him because he's a fucking big part of this thing. We got David Peron coming in now. Mikey Amadio. We already talked to all the boys are getting in a little early right after Labor Day. I think it's just the first year where we don't have any bullshit coming into the year where

no one's like we don't have any guys not signed. We could all just focus on hockey, get ready to go and just be ready because this is a big year for us. I mean we got to stop underachieving. It's just there's no more excuses. We can't use that we're young anymore. We got enough guys that are older now that are kind of maturing and we're all so fired out. We got some we do have some with Joe horse. I think Sandy takes a big step this year. I don't think anyone has seen what kind of player he could actually become. I think he's still underrated

for sure. G. still's got it. He's still an animal. Obviously, adding Omar's going to be huge. I think there's a lot of good things to kind of lean on for the sons, and I'm obviously super excited. You almost killed Johnny Laz by missing the playoffs, dude.

He put his life on the life. He legit sent me that tweet. Like, I mean, that's his fault. I know, dude. He did that to himself. It's true. He's in any. I don't know.

I don't know what he was. Yeah, that's his fault. Yep. All right. We'll see, hopefully it's better this year. Shainer, I know we got to get you to a beer league game, but before we do that, we're going to quickly rip you the game we play with all our guests.

It's called pass shoot score. Basically a ranking system. We're going to give you three things. Passing the puck's great. We do it with the little pass trainer. That's good. That's going to be third. shooting's best.

We want to just start fucking ripping some pills at the net. So that's going to be number two and then scoring ultimate goal. That's going to be number one. Okay, so we're going to give you four categories, and there'll be three things in each category, okay? Your first category is rappers.

Pass shoot, score, Drake, future, Lil Uzi. One Uzi. Yep, knew it. That's score, right? Yeah, yeah, that score. Going score first.

I like it. I like Drake Drake's too come on dude me too damn I'm getting killed in the Drake Kendrick thing I'm low on Drake these days

he got killed but like dude he's every song he has bro every time it comes up on my on my like whatever shuffle before I go work out it's a bangor

it's a banger he only makes bangers it's actually insane he makes full albums of bangers I know dude and I Future, I like Future. Like, I actually do, like Future gets me fired up for workouts and stuff.

Those are tough three, but I think, yeah, Uzi one, yeah, Drake 2 and Future 3. I mean, Uzi is just my favorite. I know, what's your favorite Uzi song? Oh my God. Dude, I like this new, I never heard of it. It's from like Lovage Rage 2. It's like how to talk. Dude, I never even listened to this year.

It's a banger. Dude, it's like, it's like talk to me nice or something. Okay, okay, I'm going on to check it out. Okay, going on to your next one. I know you're not, I know you're not a huge TV watcher, but I do know you watch some. So the next category is TV. Yeah.

Pass you'd score, Stranger Things, Game of Thrones, and Entourage. Oh, yeah, I mean, okay, pass, Stranger Things. It's a good show, but I don't know. Well done. Well done. Well done.

It really fell off. Really fell off. shoot, shoot Game of Thrones. Yep. Great show, like, really got going in the last couple seasons towards the end. Like, the last season was nasty, like, with the whole battle and the Blue Dragon and shit. So that's two. And then score is like, entourage, you can't get better than that.

It's the best. Like, I throw it on still when I'm, like, cooking my breakfast. I love it. Me too. Okay. Johnny Drama is the best TV. Johnny Drama and Ari Gold are the two of the best. TV characters of all time.

All right. You just answered my follow-up question was going to be, who's your favorite character? But you just did it, so I love it. And then I also, I got to say,

dude, I have heard you say that Aria is your favorite character in Thrones. And I fucking love that so much because I am the biggest Aria writer of all time. And everyone's like,

John Snow is the fucking man. People like Rob Stark, people like Tiri. And I'm like, yeah, okay. Aria is the biggest dog in that show. No,

she's a killer. She's a fucking dog. She does a fucking dog. Multiple faces. Danaris is hot, though. She's probably my second. Just because she's a rocket. Yeah, which totally, I mean, that makes sense, dude.

That's a good reason. That's fair. Like, come on. It has to be, too. Let's be real. Power went to her head, dude. It happens for the best of them, you know. Yeah, she went.

She snapped. She snapped. I mean, when you have those dragons, I would too, though. Yeah, dude, but you just can't be losing dragons to be knight king. It's like we can't be donating to three dragons. Well, no, wasn't it because of Johnstone got trapped, though? Yeah. Oh, right.

Yeah, she had to go save his ass. Yeah, he did, dude. Dude, that was an absolute fucking pill, dude. Yeah, that was a dart. Dude, he's practicing passing for an hour of day. I promise you that, dude. Just be with that time. Just throwing javelins.

Yeah, fucking hell. Okay, your next category, Shainer, is legends, okay? Pass shoot score, Bryce Harper, Sidney Crosby, Tiger Woods. Oh, no, that's fucked up. Yeah, how to film this is a good time. That's a tough one. I know, dude. Until, listen, Bryce Harper's sick player.

Love the guy. Like, I'll die for him. Yep. He's three until he wins the chip, bro. This year, though. This year, though, dude. This year is happening. Like, we're not.

Come on. We're nasty this year. Like, I'm part of the team. But they're nasty this year. So not yet. Not yet. Dude, I love, like, I'll die for, like, Sid's the man. Like, he's a winner.

I got to go two for Sid. Wow. Jesus, shoot. He's going to hear this, dude. Dude, Tiger, Tiger, when he was, like, at his peak, I mean, dude. Oh, my guys. So, nothing better.

We're not going to. So, yeah, I'd probably go him one. I hate putting Sid, too. He doesn't deserve that, but, I mean, I still play against the guy, so I can't, like, put him at one. Yeah, you can't gas him too much. You're right. Good call.

Yeah, yeah. Dude, we're not going to skate by how fucking random it is that you're a Phillies fan. On Game D, Pain can hit hard and fast. Like the headache you get when your favorite team and your fantasy team both lose. When pain comes to play, call an audible with Advil plus acetaminopin and get long-lasting dual-action pain relief for up to eight hours. Tackle your tough pain two ways with Advil plus acetaminopin. Advil, the official pain relief partner of the NFL.

Ask your pharmacist at this product's rate for you. Always read and follow the label. Well, dude, oh wait, I would go, it was when Jimmy, uh, Rollins, like Ryan Howard, Chase, Soutling. the boys were nasty and that's when I really love baseball. And all my buddies were like diehard Yankees fan. I'm like, dude, fuck these guys. I want to be a Phillies fan. I love it.

Yeah, that's when they went back to back, I think, World Series when they played each other. Yeah, yeah. I mean, listen, it's no less bonkers, but I respect it. Like, I respect three. Yeah. Well, actively choosing to not be a Yankees fan is cool. I'm all on board. Yeah, I mean, they're the worst.

My buddy is like the way they act with the Yankees. I can't deal with it. And what was the alternative? You're a fucking Mets fan? Are you kidding me? Like, what kind of life is that? Awful. Yeah.

I mean, I still, the problem is I'm a Jet fan. So, like, it's the same thing in a Mets fan. It sucks. Yeah. So at least I have the Phillies. Yeah. And you're a bit of a stick, eh? You played Beth Page, I saw.

That's nasty. Yeah. I play, I mean, that's all. I just work out skiing golf. Yeah. I do play a lot of golf. There's so many sick tracks out here. Oh, it's insane.

I'm starting to realize now. Yeah, I'm starting to, like, I finally joined a club. There you go. And now I'm getting invited to like these other sick places. Like there's Fryerset out here. What else? Glenn Oaks.

Like there's a lot of sick tracks out here. How is it up in Ottawa? I mean, we have like one like country club. Like it's called Royal Golf Club. It's sick. But we barely get the plan. Yeah, fair.

True. It's always freezing. Yeah. So we rarely get the place. Don't get him in trouble. You're right. You're right. Yeah.

No, no, yeah. I got to focus. the year this year. All right, Shaneer, your last one is going to be obsessions category. Okay. Number one. Cooking. Anything you want. Maybe a little chicken parm dish.

I know you're partial to that. Okay. Number two, French Bulldogs. Shout out Jet tearing up the place right now. I'm just going to bring him out, bro. Yeah, he is. Oh, come on. Jet right there.

And then also, I want to give a shout out to Urko, the family dog, RIP. Oh, now you're going to put that. You're going to throw that on me. Our boy. Erko. And then last one, the New York Jets. Probably an unhealthy obsession.

Okay. I already got this one, two, three easily. Do it. Hit it. Pass. Cooking. Cooking's great, but like, I'm not trying to do it

every single day of the year. That's three. Okay. Two is the New York Jets until they find a way to get to the playoffs. And then one is this guy. Like, oh. There we go.

I'll take a bullet for this guy. Absolutely. He causes havoc in this house. Me and my roommate, like he just does. This guy legit thinks he runs this shit. But, I mean, look at this guy's face. How could you say no to him, dude? Guess whatever he wants?

Dude, I can't. He's a, he's a legend. He's a legend. We got to get a jet cut out. A jet cut out needs to be made. I got to put, I think I'm going to put jet on my stick. Dude, because we were laughing that when in the bubble that that Urko cut out was really.

was crushing for you guys when he when he was there oh they were loving yeah it was right behind bubs yeah so i just think maybe jet on the stick or something there's there's something we're missing we're missing opportunities here we're missing the little uh mojo he would bring to this end the intangible bro yeah exactly it's fucking beautiful um all right schaner this has been a fucking blast we know you got on the ice so we're going to let you go before we let you pop off is there anything you want to give a shout out to anything you want to plug shot off I don't want to shout out I don't know

I'm really I mean I don't have any I got nothing a shout out I'm on I got no brand deals or anything so I think I'm good

I love it All right We're gonna have to change that though Yeah exactly That's that's our job That changes This is our job I still don't know why

Chipotle hasn't reached out Like what the fuck Because you're running your mouth About cooking dude They're like fuck this guy You're supposed to be order In Cholay every night I actually had it tonight

It was pretty fucking agree What's the order What's the bowl This is how we get it Chain, do this well Because this is how we get you that brand deal So white rice Lettuce

I don't know why I went lettuce That's last White rice White rice double steak Sour cream guac lettuce A little bit of cheese And like if they give me a shout out

On Chappole I'll start eating the pinto beans Wow dude Because I'm not a big bean guy There we go Makes me just hit the bathroom let him need that. We got to keep it clean.

Yeah, yeah, got to keep it tight, especially for this game. I'm going to yak if I eat. Oh, yeah, you're true. You're dead. You're dead. You're dead. All right, Shander, you're the fucking best, dude. This is going to be one of many.

We're going to get you back on here, plenty of times. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. We'll definitely do it again. Your beauty, and we'll talk to you soon, brother. Huge thanks to Shane. What an unbelievable episode.

What an unbelievable guy. How could you not be high on the Ottawa senators right now? I'm going to be. I mean, I picked them last year, so you know I'm going to be fired on this year. But no, I'm so excited to watch him play this season. Me too. Unreal stuff. Sends fans, you got a good one.

Hope you guys enjoyed the episode. That's it for us today with the Empty Nair's podcast. We'll see you next week. And until then, skate hard.