Empty Netters Podcast - The Hilarious 2025 Winter Classic Adventures

Episode Date: January 6, 2025

The boys are back from the Winter Classic and it was a doozy! Well, not the game necessarily, but Chicago delivered despite the weather. There were some epic NHL alumni meet ups, a tour of the city from Nick Foligno, and of course the iconic Wrigley Field didn’t disappoint. Plus, Canada is out early at the World Juniors Again! Is hockey a USA sport now?? ENTER OUR SWEEPSTAKES HERE! https://try.gooddaymood.com/sweepstakes-1/ NEW EPISODES EVERY MONDAY & WEDNESDAY! PRESENTED by BetMGM. Download the BETMGM app and use code “NETTERS” and enjoy up to $1500 in bonus bets if you lose your first wager! SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS: BAUER. Bauer is the go to destination for all your training needs. Head to http://www.bauer.com/training to explore tools like the Digital Reactor Danger for stickhandling or the Reactor Slide Board to add strength to your stride. CASHAPP. Download CashApp and take control of your finances! https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cash-ap... RIKI. Head to https://rikispirits.com/ to find out where to get RIKI near you. Follow @friday.beers and @rikispirits to stay up to date with upcoming RIKI contests and giveaways FUNKAWAY. To check out the full family of FunkAway products go to http://www.funkaway.com to learn more funk’in cool stuff. And head over to Amazon right now and grab FunkAway products with just a few clicks. FIREBALL . Fireball’s iconic cinnamon flavor tastes fire and goes down easy, making it the ultimate crowd pleasure. Go pick up some from your local liquor store and join us in drinking Fireball during our game days this season! #IgniteYourRivalry EVERYMANJACK. Give Every Man Jack a shot today and go to http://www.everymanjack.com and use code “NETTERS” at checkout for 25% off your first order CBDMD. Visit http://www.cbdmd.com to explore their extensive range of products and find the perfect solution for your needs. Don’t forget to use code “FRIDAY” at checkout to get 30% OF + Free Shipping. DOLLAR SHAVE CLUB. Dollar Shave Club products are now available everywhere, so you can order from their website, Amazon, or get them at your favorite retailer near you. Visit their site right now for 20% off $20 or more, and get your products delivered right to your door. Visit http://www.dollarshaveclub.com/netters and use promo code NETTERS for 20% off $20 or more CHOMPS. If you are looking for the PERFECT on the go snack that has zero grams of sugar and packed with high quality protein, then Chomps is for you. To learn more about Chomps, click here! http://www.chomps.com/emptynetters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, we are breaking down the Winter Classic and all of the shenanigans that we got into in Chicago. And breaking news, Canada sucks at hockey now. Ice is ready and we are back with another episode of the MT Netters podcast, brought to you by BetMGM. We are back from Christmas, back from New Year's, back from the Winter Classic. We are back in the studio and I am hitting the table right now, baby. I'm feeling juicy. I'm feeling good. I am your boy, your host, Dan Powers, along with me. As always, my dearest only brother, Chris Powers.

Worst brother. You are my favorite brother. You're also my least favorite brother. Yeah. Figure that up. Yeah, there's a real puzzler for you. Depends on the day, my friend. I, I'll tell you, I've got the post-Christmas blues.

worse than I've had them in a long time. Yeah, you're right. I get them every year. Yeah. And it's, I am. You usually get it on Christmas Day. Yeah.

Like Christmas night rolls around and you start like heavy drinking. And like getting real sad. Dude, you're right. You're right. And I, for those of you that know me, and I feel like I know all you. But for those of you who really know me, pretty upbeat guy. Rarely am I having a down. in the dumps day. Can I caveat

that? Yep. The people who think they know you would say that. The people who really know you know what a sick man. Yeah, a sick thoughts. I used to have sick thoughts but you still have them. You just hide them from 99%

of the world. Point nine. You know who became, I think he became aware last Stanley Cup. And now after getting back from the winner classic, who is aware, and has pulled me aside a couple times and he's like, dude, your brother is a demon. And like you told me that, I didn't believe you, but

now I know it's true. G. Yeah. Yeah, I knew you know he knows, dude. Because he gets mad at me now. G knows. Like, he's like, you are the problem. Yeah, you are. I act like I just go around, go along with it. Yeah, yeah. Oh, I'm getting dragged into this, but I'm the cause. You are, you are a sick fuck, dude. And you're fueled by hatred

and like vengeance. But dude, you want to find me down in the dumps. You come find me on Boxing Day. Yeah, yeah. Boxing Day is a bad day for you. Oh, dude. It's, you know how Happy Gilmore's like 365 days till next talk season? That's how I feel when Christmas is. I, yeah, listen, it doesn't hit me as early, but I brought it up. The post-Christmas blues are real this year. It was such a good Christmas. It was so great. I got to get away from here and all of these people. Yeah. All of you. I,

no, I'm kidding. No, I'm kidding. No, but like it was a, you know, it's been an awesome year. It's been a grind, done a ton of stuff. And I was super excited to get home and enjoy Christmas. And it was just a good Christmas. We got a nice snow. Yes, dude, right before. Oh, that was huge. Had a great Christmas day. Shout out, Mom, Dad, Sandra Alice. Just a great time. And I was loving it. And now it's over. Dude, now it's over and it's a year away from ever having that much fun again. Dude, it's just like, it's so brutal how summertime's great. You got summer Fridays. There's usually fun shit going on in the summer.

Wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding. Weddings, events, trips. Then you get to the fall. And you got holidays. Yep. A few more weddings. You got the high holidays. Yeah.

You've got a few fall weddings. You've got Halloween. You've got Thanksgiving. You've got Christmas. After Christmas and New Year's, it just, it does feel like, what are we working for here? What are we, what are we, what do we have the sites locked on? Dude, there are some sneaky days off, I will admit. Yeah. MLK Day comes right up. Yeah, but. Shout out the doctor. Thanks like, thanks for hooking us up in January.

But it's really Memorial Day. It's kind of it. You're on just a grind till Memorial. Like, we are on a crash course for Memorial Day. Like, it's like, that is the only thing gets you through. And ski season. Ski season's big. Yes.

Huge. Dude, can I read your IG that you sent me? Yes. Because this was a killer. It's so true. Dude, I didn't even like reading it. That's when you know it's a good one. This says, should I say who's?

who it is. I don't know who this person is. No, I don't know who the person is either. It's just so funny. I have never come back from any holiday feeling relaxed, refreshed, and reinvigorated to get back into work. I come back with the taste of freedom still fresh in my mouth, a renewed hatred for work, and a strong suspicion that this is not what I should be spending my life doing. Bro, it's the most accurate thing in the world. That hurts. It's the most accurate thing in the world. That hurts bad. You know what's funny, man. In Europe, you get paid 2X December at a lot of companies. They pay you twice your salary for the entire month

because they want you to be able to have money to go on a nice vacation, a nice holiday. And then you come back and everyone's like, tell us about your, like, this is awesome, tell us about your holiday. I believe it exists there. Yeah. Here, you bankrupt yourself just to fly home for the holidays. And then you just enjoy your life for the first time

in 11 and a half months. And then you come back to your missing. Existible existence and go, why am I here? Dude, you wonder why Boxing Day is the worst day of the year for me? And that's why. That's exactly why. It's insane. Because I know it's over.

Some of the good things that happened over the holidays, of which there were many, I want to talk about Christmas Day. Now, credit to you, you are the best gift giver I've ever met in my life. I'd like to say that I am a good gift. You are, you are, you are. But you are, you are an idiot savant when it comes to gift giving. Like you, you have, you have, your autistic superpower is gift. It's called special interest, by the way.

It's your special interest. Yeah. In the A community, it is called special. Your special interest. It's my special interest is gift giving. You as a member of the A community, your special interest is gift giving. And it's remarkable. Like this guy will fucking go to the greatest lengths

To come up with the most unique and personalized gift And here's the thing dude A lot of times it's a useless gift Oh it's most of the time I will use it for absolutely nothing Yep But it is incredibly thoughtful For Wags for just for your edification

And the listeners here My favorite movie of all time is Gladiator And this fucking psychopath got me a Like handcrafted miniature wooden box that when you open up, there's a stenciled photo of the Gladiator poster and then a hand crank that I can barely pinch with my two fingers that when you play it, inside a music box plays a small bit of the score to Gladiator. It's an incredibly thoughtful gift that I will literally never use.

Like it has been displayed on my bookshelf in my bedroom at my home where I will always go like this. Look at that lovely gift from Chris. I will literally never use that. It's been cranked for the last time. Yeah, probably, probably. And I assure you that years will go by when it's not cranked. Like every now and then I'll be around that bookshelf and I'll be like, I'll give it a crank.

I'll crank one out. Yeah. But I promise you that'll go away after a while. Oh, for sure. And then it will just sit there. Does not take away from the fact that it's a lovely gift. So all of that preamble to say, it is a tradition amongst the two of us that usually when we're opening gifts at Christmas, Chris likes me to open his last

because he's got a sneaking suspicion his gift will be the best. Yeah. It's been a long day. We do a lot at Christmas. We wake up, we go to our Uncle Al's. Great time. We go to our family friend, the Hughes's,

have an amazing time. Then we come home, having also amazing time. There's a lot of drinking. Yeah. It's Christmas Day. We've got Christmas songs on in the background. We've got Christmas movies. Christmas story.

Christmas story on repeat. It's like flying. The altitude will get you. The Christmas spirit will get you. Yeah. It's emotional. Emotional Day. A lot of emotions,

good emotions going on on Christmas Day, while opening presents. Chris gives me a Christmas present this year. I think it was the last present of yours that I opened. I might have been. If it wasn't, it was the second to last. And this fucking idiot in his like Grinch PJs at 37 years old. That I got at 35.

hands me a box, a lovely wrapped Christmas box. I open the Christmas box. And keep in mind, Chris's lovely girlfriend is sitting right next to me on the couch, who is a member of the family. I open this gift and inside the box is another box and I pull out the box. And I flip the box over to see that it's a, you know, a cardboard box that has like a little opening that I then pry open. and fucking Chris is hovering over me as I'm sitting on the couch opening this box

just like hands on his hips smiling at me like oh I can't wait to see it like see the look on the face it's a look on their faces I open this box and I pull out a singular baby shoe a Nike panda dunk I'm a fan of Nike dunks

I'm wearing them right now and I just pull out a baby's shoe and I, in my opinion, which was confirmed by Sandra, confirmed by other people in our lives, I, in the very quick moment, suspected the only thing was that this was Chris's way of telling me that he and his girlfriend are pregnant.

And I'm holding this baby shoe and I looked up at you, again, full of wine. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tyrion Lannister over here. And I was like, oh my God. And this fucking idiot is just staring at me and I'm staring back at him and then I look at Sandra and she

is like texting. She's watching TV. Yeah, yeah. She's watching the Christmas movie. She then looks up and looks at me staring at her like, oh my God. She looks in my hands and then she's like, what the fuck is that? I think she literally goes what is that? Yeah. And then I look up at Chris and he just with that dumbass smile looks at me and goes, it's a putter cover.

So like, this fucking deranged Christmas monster gave me a baby's shoe and assumed, and I want everyone to know, we'll post a photo of it, I'll make sure that this gets in the pod.

This is not like, oh, it's clearly a putter cover with like Velcro on it and it's made to look like a shoe. It's literally just a baby's sneaker that someone took the soul out of as if that makes it more appropriate for the putter cover.

It's just a baby shoe and you couldn't fathom that maybe I would come to that conclusion. conclusion. When you, when I saw your face, I knew. I was like, oh, and then it made perfect sense to me. What? Then I could see, dude. It was like a magic eye. And I was looking at, you would finally, yeah, and then I was like, oh. And I was like, oh. And dude, all I want to say is this. First of all, actually, there's two things I want to say. This better be good. One, the, you are 100% right. Everyone on earth reacted the way you.

did except for Phil Niggis shout out Niga shot out Niga shot me a text that was like I knew that was a putter car what he wasn't there he wasn't there come on dude and then two I saw dan's when I was looking for gifts for Dan your Dan's golf bag has he has a sick bag and he has cool head covers on all his other clubs except for a potter he does not have a potter cover because he was kind of going through a bunch of different putters and I was like oh a like swaggy potter cover would complete the ensemble that is his bag. Great, great gift. I got to give it to you.

And I went down a hole, as I always do in this, because I don't know what I'm going to get you, I just know a putter cover. So I start looking up like Bruins' putter covers, which took me to like, one of them had Happy Gilmore on it. I was like, oh, maybe there's like Happy Gilmore putter covers. I was like looking for those.

And I was just deep in the weeds of the internet of unique custom putter covers. And then I saw a site that makes Nike Dunk putter covers. And as Dan said, he likes Nike Dunk's. And I was like, oh, that's a good. great one. Like what a cool. And I was like, that's kind of gas. Like a little Nike dunk on the putter. I'm here to say that company are fucking frost. Dude, agree. Because all they do is buy baby shoes. Take out the soul and then go look at, look at our custom made. And Dan, I don't know how

in the moment I didn't think it would just be a small dunk. Like in my mind, I was like, oh, it's going to be like maybe more shaped to a, I don't know. I don't know what I thought. But I was like Nike dunk, putter cover. Sick. And I got it. I got you the panda one. And then when it came, because I shipped at home, so when I got home, I was like opening boxes to make sure all my gifts had arrived. And I opened it up. And I kind of did react to myself like, oh, wow, this looks just like a miniature shoe instead of like, I thought there might be like a sleeve on it. You know, like a driver cover has the sleeve on it. I was like, well, whatever. So I also reacted like, oh, that's funny. But I didn't at any point, Glock that you guys react that way. And the only other defense I have is that, Sandra was tuned up with us all day.

Yeah, but dude, I was tuned up too. I'm not thinking about that in the moment. Come on. You're like, is she pregnant? Yeah, I'm like, this. Sandra is like two bottles of wine deep with me right now. What is going on? I was like, that is ridiculous.

Oh, fucking A. I got lampooned for that by everybody, dude. As you should have. For days after, I couldn't escape the Potter cover saga. It was remarkable. It was truly remarkable behavior from you. Not in a good or bad one. It was just like, it was stunning, stunning stuff.

Yes, dude. Yes, that's exactly that, Wax. That's it. It's a baby shoe, dude. Because wax, it is a baby shoe. It's a baby shoe. It's very clear. That is a thing. It is literally a baby shoe.

The guy who started that company was one day, like, sitting in his house and he had his putter in his hand, probably watching the masters. And his little kid ran in from outside, playing around. And he was like, oh, dude, like, you know, he takes his shoes off. His kids, like, sitting around. And he was just holding both and was futzing with them. And then he was like, and it was a Cinderella moment. He was like, oh my God, I'm rich.

This fits perfectly. Yeah, because I have a good idea. Yeah. The guy then goes to the local coals and buys every set of baby shoes and then goes custom putter covers. Dan, I'm actually pissed to myself that I didn't just go get a baby shoe at Dix because How much did that cost? I don't want to tell you.

Tell me, tell me right now how much that cost. I think it was 150. You're shitting me. Maybe, maybe 100. See if you could find that. out online. No. How much are baby shoes?

Baby Nike, I literally just typed in Baby Nike Ducks. The first hit is a Nike Panda Dunk for $55. You fucking idiot. See like, You've been had, dude.

I've been had. You could have had one of yourself. You could have given, anyone with a blade butter. Anyone with a blade butter. I've got two. Unbelievable, dude. Yeah.

I don't love that. I don't love that at all. Maybe it was 100. Maybe it's 100. There are some of these. There's an even better one here. It's a green and white Nike dunk. It would have been better

than the pandas. for 39. I could have gotten the Travis Scott Air Jordan won retro lows for 123. Would have saved money. Yeah, but you don't want Air Jordans. You don't want those. I would have rather the Travis Scott baby shoe putter than the donkey. Let's return it, Dan. Let's return it. Let's return it. I am like, this is insane, Chris. I got to find the receipt, see how much I said.

This person is getting away with highway robbery. I've potentially blown up someone's business right now. Dude, because we got to return it. unfortunately. A hundred percent we return it and we buy a new pair of baby dunks. And I get two, dude. Yeah. You have one, I have one.

I couldn't believe when it just was the shoe. It's literally just a shoe. I was like, oh. And it's so funny because, like I said, the soul has been taken out and it's so apparent that the soul is taking. Yeah, yeah. It's not like they try. They didn't like paint it or anything. Like it's just, they just took the soul out, which like, I don't know.

I guess that creates a little bit more space for the putter, but. Yeah, maybe they could get wet. Absolutely. insane. That killed me, dude. Funny enough, that was not the most insane thing that happened over this break, in my opinion. Oh, I know what you're going to say. I am more worked up about this than you are. Waggs was there for this. But we got to discuss this. Wags, you were there for this. So, for many people over the Christmas New Year's break also coincides with fantasy football playoffs and or championship games. If you're lucky. If you're lucky. If you're lucky enough to make it there, Dan.

I was in a fantasy football championship. I lost. You were in one as well. I was. You have been in this league for how long? Oh man. Fifteen years? Um, yeah, probably, dude. Probably close. Yeah. One of the more longstanding leagues of all time. This is a 10-person league with guys from our hometown. And I would venture to guess of the nine other guys, you have seen any of them maybe four times in the last 15 years? No. Or no, let's call it in the last 10 years. I bet it's more than that, but it's low because it's like summer.

I run into them at Cape Ned Country Club, you know, like I've seen Tyler a few times. So you don't see these guys. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's my point. And they like draft, they do the draft together. They all golf. It's actually sick. I'm so jealous of it.

It's Labor Day weekend. They do a golf round together. Yeah. And then do the draft like live. with each other. I'm the on the remote. So you are very much the outlier of this league. And from my perspective,

it feels like you being the outlier has bit you in the ass a couple of times. Feels like maybe they don't appreciate or respect you as a member of this league like they would another guy who's around all the time. But that's neither here nor there. What we're here to talk about is this. You get into the final.

Yes. Championship match. and you go up late. You got Debo Samuel going. The guy your plan had who gone? No one, Dan. So that was the thing. It was actually, shout out to the dude I was playing,

an absolute slug fest of a final. Like one you dream of. Every player on both teams absolutely going off, throwing haymakers, touchdown after touchdown. It felt like for three straight days, you would like walk in a room to be like this unfucking believable. This random guy has the best game. has 100 yards and two touchdowns.

Adam Cieland is the best game of his fucking career. Yeah. Out of nowhere. And I was like, oh, Chris is getting smoked in this game. And then we're in Chicago for the Winter Classic. And you were like, dude, Debo just like caught a touchdown or something and I'm winning. So yeah. Debo was doing jack shit.

It was going into Monday night football. He was done. And I was down, you know, 7.6 points. Yeah. No. Yeah. 7.6 points. And I had Debo left.

Yeah. So then Debo catches some balls. May he scores a touchdown. Chris wins. Then Debo fumbles a kickoff. With like a minute left. Like why are you returning a kickoff period? You fucking idiot, Debo Samuel.

But he fumbles it. And the Niners recovered. And in most leagues you don't lose points for that if your team. Yes. But our league does lose one full point if you fumble and even if they recover. Which is some bullshit. Which is what happened. But though, but you know.

Those are the rules. Chris, I was going to say, that's some bullshit. But you know what? Those are the rules. Yeah. And in society. we follow the rules. So Debo fumbles

turns out even with decimal points you and this guy tie. Dead heat. Now, in the regular season and in playoffs or not playoffs. Okay, I wasn't sure if it was just the final. But in the regular season,

this league, a tie goes to the bench. But in playoffs, per ESPN fantasy football, rules that you cannot change. The winner goes to the higher seed. Now, whether you think that's fair or not is completely irrelevant. There is. Completely irrelevant because those are the rules set by your provider.

You don't like it. Play fucking Yahoo! Fantasy. And what happens? But poor Christopher wakes up the next morning to see the fantasy group chat up in arms. They can't believe it because Chris has been declared the winner, which he is. Because you battled all season long to get the highest seed because you knew that it had value. You worked your ass off on the waiver wire, setting your lineup to make sure that you had the highest seed possible because there's a chance in a tie in the playoffs or championship game. It would make you the winner.

Now, it turns out that no one else in Chris's Fantasy League paid attention to this. So on the group thread, they lost their collective minds. Understandable if you didn't know the rule. Now, learning new information that you may not agree with is a bummer. But these fucking spineless cowards, not all of them, some of them, declared without speaking to Chris, the winner of their fantasy football league, decided that they should go to a vote and decide who should win. because in the regular season it's different. Got news for you guys. If you don't like something,

you don't like the result of something, you can't just vote on it. You can't just go, oh, you know what? I didn't like how that went. I didn't like that so-and-so got a raise over me. Why don't we all do an office vote? You fucking rats, dude. Now, I will let you defend your fantasy group

because it sounds like you came to a lovely collective agreement. And some would say, good response, I still think it is fucking hogwash. Because let me tell you one certain fact. You won your fantasy league and anyone complaining about it is a fucking sore loser bitch boy. I'll say this. What was crazy is that Monday was the 30th. So we were in Chicago already.

And we were out at some events we'll talk about in a second. But watching that. game at the bar with everybody. Because I told all the boys that I need to do-bo. Watching him get that tutty and us going crazy together and then having him fumble but me checking and knowing that the tie was a win and everybody was like, oh no dude, dude. And I was like, no, we're good. We're fucking won't. Oh, dude, he was insane. Like he fumbled and we were like, no. And then he recovered and we were like, oh good. And you were like, we still lose a point for that. And we were all like, and then you were like, dude, we tied. And we were like, what are your bench points? And

you were like, it's actually not high or C. So I was like, he just nothing bad and just he can't do anything bad. And then the game ends and we were like, Great job. So we all celebrate together all night. And especially a couple of my other buddies who, you know, you always have a few advisors who are in the weeds with you all fantasy season. Oh, yeah.

I'm texting them like, dude, we did it. Thank you for all the advice all year. I fucking won. And then I to wake up to a million texts of like, Chris should lose, right?

I was like, what the fuck? Fucking insane. It's the most loser behavior I've ever heard. Like literally you wake up and you don't like the result. But it made sense like why. No, no. I get go.

If the text thread was filled with, it's fucking insane that ESPN says it's the higher seed. That's bullshit. If those are the text, frankly, I agree. I'd be like, dude, I agree. That sucks. Like, why is it one way all season and then not in the playoffs? But unfortunately, that's that.

Like, you can't then go like this. Oh my God, this is crazy. We should change the result, right? Which, by the way, you can't even do. Like, ESPN doesn't let the commissioner go in. And they were about to be like this. Let's go against something that is fixed in the system and give the money to something.

someone else. So yeah, that was a crazy, because dude, we woke up and we had a busy day on the 31st. It's like, I wake up and I'm like, oh, fuck, we had a late night. Now I got to like get to work mode. And I just see like 80 texts declaring that I've lost the fantasy title. We're ripping around, we're ripping around Chicago doing a video with Nick Folino on the day of the winter classic trying to get shit done before the game. And then you told me this and I couldn't do anything the last of the day. Like you had somehow kept it bottled for like four hours all morning and then you were like, by the way, dude. A lot of shit going. A lot of shit going. I'm a lot of Uber.

And I almost jumped into the front seat and crashed the u-de. Oh, bro, it was crazy. But I will say the logic, you said this, the logic makes sense of like, oh, wow, I didn't know that was the tiebreaker. So it was a crazy ordeal, especially because I guess we didn't say this, but he had more bench points. Yes. The other kids. So, like, that's why there was even confusion. Yeah.

And they started to put it to a vote, which I was very rattled by. Because I was like, so we're just going to vote on this. And then... It's pure anarchy. It's the most sore loser behavior I've ever seen in my life. There's a rule already. We don't need to vote. There's already a rule.

But the kid I tied with hit me up on the side and was like, yo, dude, I don't want everyone to vote on this. Which, like, so much spot. Especially, dude, because it probably wasn't going to go my way. You know, I know every one of these guys personally. Yeah, yeah. Love every one of these guys personally. But the man you were going against in the final, honor.

A man of honor. Especially because the vote was probably going to go his way, to be honest. Yes. So he was like, dude, let's not vote on this. Let's like hash it out. And he was extremely nice. He was like, I don't want you to feel like you're getting screwed. Which you were.

Yeah, but. Which you were. Yeah, okay. There are rules, dude. There are rules that were set. If they didn't know those rules, that is their fault. Not yours. You fucking won.

The fact that you agreed not to jump the gun here. But like, the end result was you guys split the money, which is fucking insane to me. Like you are a good man, he is a good man. But the fact that there were people in that group chat that were making a stink about this because they didn't know the rules and then they didn't like it.

Are you fucking adults in your 30s, dude? Grow up. Well, that's it. I was gonna say, I really appreciated the side text. We both had, and dude, I said at the top, this was such an epic matchup. So I was like, you know what, dude? Two worthy championships.

I get why he felt bummed because he was like, he woke up being like, I win. It's bench points, even though that wasn't the rule, but I understand why he felt that way. And I was like, you know what, dude, let's split it. Like we tied. It was an epic final and all good. And that would make, that would make this go away frankly because I was like, all right, enough of this. Yeah. It's fantasy. I will reiterate. I love every single one of these guys, but you're all,

every one of you that was going to vote against you, you suspect. Like I, like you are a fucking rat. You're a like, I can't believe it. And I want people, I want listeners to hit us up in DMs. Like, again, this was a rule from week one. Nothing was changed. These are the rules. You battle to have the highest seed. You won. ESPN declared you the victor because you were.

Yeah. And then the members of your fantasy football league went like this. We're going to change this. No. Fucking insane. Dude, honor prevailed. Everyone has a kind heart and good will won out at Christmas time. If you don't have some good karma coming your way in 2025 for surrendering half your

winnings because of this, I don't know what the world is. Oh, my God. We've teased the winner classic. Let's tell people about it. Okay. Taking a quick break to talk to you guys about our amazing deal with BetMGM. If you don't know it now, you must be a crazy person because it's all I'm ever talking about because that's how cool it is. So what I want you to do is download the BetMGM app and then use promo code Netters.

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Sometimes longer, by the way, we got there later than we usually do this year because we had some much needed, important family stuff going on that we did. and then we got in. So we got in on the 30th. And pretty late. And we're at the JW Marriott. So Dan and I and Wags, you actually kind of got it at the same time.

So we all check in. And some of the boys that we hang out with, everybody was there, was at, pretty much everyone was at the Marriott this year. Sometimes it's pretty spread out. It was like everybody was at the Marriott. That was huge, which wasn't that close to Wrigley,

but it was well worth it to be there. and so we head up to the bar because you know we just landed we're like I need to drink let's let's get into some stuff here head up to the hotel bar and who was there who was there that that first moment we ran into like g memesy wit uh g memesy murrell we saw army first because he was army first army I'm so glad we got to run out to arouse we got to meet army's family unbelievable so army got the call that he had to go on on set for the game in Atlanta like he was supposed to stay through the winter classic and then he was like dude I literally have to go the morning. I can't even be here for New Year's Eve anymore. So we run into Army so luckily,

see him for five minutes, meet the fam, and then we run upstairs and like you said, it's G, memesy, Yans, Witt, Murals. Yeah. Anyway, so we run into them and so anyone, anyone listens to Chickless heard this story, but Dan and I had this idea at Christmas to make these very important business cards. Very important. And all the business cards says in and Dan Dan helped me talk to the people who made this shout out Etsy dude I fucking love Etsy so much you are a big Etsy guy

Also Etsy is gas Etsy is gas Dan had them make the same font from American Psycho It's like the same business card From American Psycho And all it says on the front of the card is tonight is the night period

And to fill in people Whenever we get together with these guys it is the greatest thing in the world like they are truly I've never had more fun with a group of guys immediately so the the whole chicklets boys the game notes boys

everyone involved memesy fish whole gang posh obviously we all try to be strategic about what night we go out and like what night we have the green light because listen it's a grind we got a long time we got to work we got to be up early

to record we got to be up early to record We got to be up early to do interviews. You can't send it every single night. Not at our age. So we're always very diligent about being communicative with each other on what is the night. Like when is the go night? And it feels like we're always like, it's not tonight. It's not tonight.

Like we got to save, we've got to save it. And then sure enough, almost every single night. It actually is that night. It turns out it is the night. And it's always someone. One person goes too hard. Like sometimes it's a G, sometimes almost all the time. It's you.

Rarely. It's me. But sometimes one of us will get too drunk and will rile up the rest of us and be like this, dude, tonight is the night. So we needed these business cards made to give to everyone to know that like it could be any night. And you need to be prepared. Here's the good news. When you, when someone receives a tonight is the night card and it becomes the night, the next night, they feel like, thank God last night was the night and I have tonight off. But unfortunately, tonight is actually the night.

You turn that business card over and the best. back of it says, it is actually tonight. Yes. So there is no rest for the weary. The beauty is because who buys like five business cards? The world doesn't work that way. We have about a thousand of these. So all the boys got one.

But it means there are extras out there. And what's going to happen is these are going to get cycled. Yes, distributed. Distributed around. And if you think some of the boys aren't going to get hit with this, like Toff's going to get hit with this, Dewey, Juice, Moorsy, all these guys. They're going to get hit with them for sure. I'm hitting Q with one of these instantly.

They will get spread around. So if you're in the hockey community, if you're in the hockey world, if you're just a fan, don't be surprised. Head on a swivel. It's like a golden ticket. If you find,

tonight is the night card, A, take a picture of it, send it to us and tag us. But B, you have to respond. It's now the night. Like, you, this is ironclad.

You will see the LLC of all of our brands on the back. This has been doctored up with lawyers, with doctors. Yeah. If you get a Tonight is the Night card, you cannot deny it. You cannot turn it down. It is now the night,

and you need to fucking turn up. So, you know in the prestige, Dan, when he drinks at last of his pint of beer and there's a card stuck to the bottom of the glass? I sure do. My dream is to do that to somebody. Like, they're just alone at a bar, like, ah, just on a work trip.

And like I said, dude, there are a lot of these. Dude, boom. So, you're staring at tonight is the night. The boys, as the bar. they should be, as they are members of this LLC. Yep. We're given the first cards, but beware hockey community. It's coming.

It's coming. Tonight is the night. Next up T-shirts. These cards will be snapped around in a big way. So we have a great little quick team dinner and then where I never eat enough, dude. You know, like, and it's not not because we're not getting food. We are. I always get there late and I don't eat enough.

But we go right from there to the House of Blues event, which was the thing that Chelly and Roanick put on that had a ton of NHL alumni. Like when they called everyone up on stage. It was amazing. It was like the 30, 40 dudes there, right? It was unreal. Yeah. Absolutely unreal.

Shout out mad men. Shout out the town. Yep. Shout out bridesmaids. John Ham. John Ham. Big blues guy. He was there.

Unbelievable stuff. But yeah, JR. Chelly was there. Panger was there. Yeah. And then you see the whole, you know, JD. Yeah, God. Running into J.D. was awesome.

Just like all the gang was at this event. And then it was, you know, like you said we didn't eat enough we get brought into this back room yeah right kind of after after this like unbelievable i don't know if that's like open all the time but this room in the house of blues in a establishment holy holy fantastic so we get pulled back in there boys are absolutely buzzing um yans dude the guy i just like don't know i don't know how to hang out with him and not my stomach hurts from laughing and then also I just like

I don't have an off switch with Yance like he's just so fun that I'm like yeah I'll have another drink and Yance is like Scotch on the rocks and I'm like what I was Robert to say that dude he's doing late scotches on the rocks I'm like bro what are we doing here keep it light Mick Ultras yeah like we gotta stay light on our feet

you're gonna be quick and what's crazy is Yance fucking left and then thought he was gonna have a nice chill New Year's Eve. He didn't even stay for the game. And then he ended up having a black tie event. Yeah. Like the man is an absolute special. No off switch. No off switch. But yeah, he passes on the no off switch. But beautiful first night. So we wake up the next morning. I go to the gym because I was like, I need to sweat it out, got a little too, got a little drunker than I thought. And Wags, by the way, has told us that he's like, yo, I'm going down to get some breakfast if you guys want to come. I was at the gym. So I was like, I'll meet you up after.

And I was in fantasy football. Hell. We didn't even hear from you. Yeah, you guys thought I was dead. So I was like, CP is maybe sleeping. I don't know. Dude, I'm at the gym for at least an hour. At least.

And I'm starting to head back. And then I get a text from Wags that's like, yo, good thing you didn't come to this breakfast. I'm literally still sitting here. I haven't even got my food yet. And this is like at the hotel, dude. Our nice hotel that we had a lovely time at. But like the, I mean, Wags,

you sat there for how long before getting your food? And how crowded was it? I would say I sat there for like a solid 45, 50 minutes before, like at least the guy was coming out and he was like, oh, like I'm sorry for the wait. You know, everyone just came in at one time and placed their orders so a little bit backed up. And there was like five people there. It wasn't like it was like a massive packed breakfast. And it's breakfast. Yeah.

And it's a massive hotel. Yeah. The Marriott. Did you at least get like a drink? Did they bring you your like OJ or whatever? It was. I got an iced coffee and you could like. You know when you get an iced coffee,

and you can tell they poured hot coffee in the ice. Oh, yeah, yeah, like the glass is sweating. There's like this, there's a half inch of ice at the top. So it was literally like you were drinking it, and it was like lukewarm and then cold and then hot. And I was like, yeah, fuck this. It was like a, and there was like four things on the menu too, but it was like an hour wait to get my food.

Dude. Unacceptable. Acceptable, dude. I can't, nothing. Well, some things, but few things annoy me more when I'm at any restaurant, not just a hotel. and they, it's just like, I can't get the waiter, waiters to come by, the food's taking forever, when it's empty.

Like if it's a slammed joint, I'm like, yeah, yeah, whatever. But when there's no one there, and I'm like, oh, what is going on, dude? And when they have the audacity to look at you go, like, sorry, we're really backed up. And I'm like, how, dude? We're the only ones here. How? It's absolutely insane, dude.

I was once with a friend, and that was happening. and my friend got up, went to the bar. We ordered like two Coors lights. He went to the bar, jumped up on the bar, leaned over, slid open the cooler door and grabbed two Coors lights from it. And I was like, you were gonna get a fucking arrest. Yeah.

I was so appalled, but at the same time, it just showed how like... Don't get caught ball watching, dude. Adobe Acrobat Studio, your new foundation. Use PDF spaces to generate a presentation. Grab your docs, your permits, your moves. AI levels of your pitch gets it in a cruise. Choose a template with your timeless cool.

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So absolutely unacceptable. Don't get caught ball watching. No. Do not. So Wags goes through absolute hell. Dude, everyone was in hell. You were sweating out the night before. Yeah.

Wags is in breakfast hell. I'm in fantasy football hell. We got a midform to do. So we got to get, we had to get right into it. And I do want to tease the midform. Yes, me too. And it's going to come out, I think, next week.

Yeah, plan is next week. Or actually, maybe if you're listening to this on Monday, it might be that Thursday. Yeah. So look out for it. And also while you're listening and watching this, please pause the pod right now and go subscribe to the, YouTube and then you'll get an alert

because the videos come out and then you'll be able to watch it even easier. All you need is a Gmail. Just subscribe. If you have a Gmail which I'm certain 90% of you do, just subscribe to the YouTube. Subscribe to YouTube. It's so impossibly helpful for us. Yes. Subscribe to the YouTube. We get to make more cool videos like this. Where you'll get to watch a cool video like.

Yes. All right. So we're doing a new series called Game Day Routine. It's going to come out this week. First ones with Nick Filino. Basically what we're going to do is every city we go to, every new city. We're going to team up with a player on the team of that city. And they give us their recommendations for best food spot to grab a bite before the game, best pregame hockey bar to grab a drink at,

and then a game day can't miss activity, whether it be something in the stadium, around the stadium or something like that. So we teamed up with Fliggy. He sent us to Happy Camper. Gas! Oh my God. Bro, by the way, I don't want to sound like an idiot because I, listen,

I've been to Chicago several times, absolutely loved it every single time, but I haven't been all over. Dude Happy Camper has got to be the best smash burger in the city That was fucking insane Dude good that burger was And the fucking nachos

The naches were nuts I am actually Well shout out Kyle Shout out Kyle Shout out Kyle Shout out server Kyle Yeah recommend Like very off book recommendation

They got things on that menu That are like that are colored Staff picks He's going nah dude Kyle goes Get the mozzarella cheese bread Yeah And I was like

Are they mozzarella sticks Because you know I love Of mozzarella It was just It was just the bread sticks With cheese all over it And I almost fucking nutted in my pants. It was insane.

Actually, we, Wags will back me up. We were doing such a good job, oozing over the food in our commentary that the table next to us, when we tried to leave, asked us if we were food influencers. Wags, true or false. That's the funniest thing ever.

As soon as we sit up, they were like, wait, what's your Instagram? Are you guys food influencers? Two awesome guys. Come on, dude. That was big. We were doing a good job, clearly. God, that was sick.

So we went there, unreal. We then went to the barn hockey bar, which you would walk in, it's the best, I won't even, I'm not going to bear the lead here. It's the best hockey bar I've ever been to in my entire family. That's a fact yet.

It's fucking insane how nasty that bar is you walk in and you go, surely this place has been here for 80 years, it's like two years old. Yeah. If you live in Chicago and you haven't been to the barn yet, it is hands down the best bar I've ever been to and then all time, like listen,

this was at Riggly. Yes, yes, yes. So that was a little bit of a cool switch. So you're not a nice, Center next time, you know, we might have to do another one in Chicago, but at Rigley, we went to Sluggers, obviously. iconic Rigley bar. And like, God, I love that smell.

Just like wet wood. Yeah, yeah. And it's just so cool to see, dude. Yeah, it's nasty. We are spoiled because we go to Fenway all the time, or, you know, we used to go to family all the time. And I take it for granted, but Rigley is like right there. You know, it's just such a sweet venue.

Such a time. But that video will come out. Check it out. Game Day routine with Nick Falino. It's going to be a fucking blast. But then straight into the game, dude. Straight into Winter Classic. Regular feel.

Amazing view. It wasn't, it got cold late. It wasn't that cold at first, but it was still raining. Like, man, I hated that for everybody, for all the fans. Yeah, it was kind of a bummer. And the tricky part with the baseball stadiums is always, you can see those people on the front row standing. Yeah.

Watching the Jumbo Tron because I can't see. So that's kind of a grind. One thing that was killing me this time is with the, press credentials, you can go a lot of places, right? Like, there's like a press seat in like the 100th floor. But there's only like a few foldout chairs there. So then you can kind of just like walk around. There's like standing room only places everywhere.

You can sit where you or sit or stand where you want to go. And the ushers at everywhere we've ever been, which is normally arenas, but in this case, a baseball stadium, are very good at their job about saying, do you have a credential? But then they go right this way, please. And at Rigley, since it's an older park, there aren't a lot of sweet areas. Because listen, if you follow us on IG, you see us in cool seating areas at many of games we go to.

But it's because people invite us into those for the most part. It's not like I'm just like, we don't buy sweets. Extra seats, stuff like that. So, Wrigley, there aren't a ton of those areas. And it's Winter Classic. It's so popular. So we were kind of on our own for most of the game. And there was this cool area right behind the goal high enough that you could see everything

where we were posted up most of the game for Winter Classic. And it was great because there was like a bathroom, an easy bathroom to use in the sweet area, a sand to get a beer, and we had a good view. And there was this one usher dude who was like, he'd be like, do you guys have credentials? And we were like, yes, and showed them to him. And then dude, every five minutes, probably about like 10, every 10 minutes, he would come back out and like be like, hawking me and then be like, do you have credentials? And I was like, do you literally already forget me?

I'm like, do you have dementia, dude? You've talked to us six times. Bro, we haven't moved. It's not like I went somewhere else and came back. I'm just still standing here. He would do a laugh and then just see us again and be like, do you have credentials? God bless him, dude. Like, guys on the ground, he must be an ex-FBI.

Oh, my God, dude. It was truly nonstop. Merles was shook, dude. This guy says one more word to me. I'm leaving. It was unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. I do want to say, quick, one shout out.

Got to see the Montgomery family. Oh, dude, yes. Monty's fan, the boys. I just like, I do not. have the space to say enough good things about that family and those people. But just unreal seeing the boys love those guys. Got to see Sully and Shmoopy as well. Obviously, just beautiful time.

Getting the whole hockey family together at Winter Classic's amazing. Dude. Bit of a dog walking by the Blues, though. Yes. This, which is a bummer. Yeah. Hate seeing the home team lose. I know.

But if they do, you'd like to see like a good game. And that was just a... It was pretty, you could tell early. I'm pumped for Cam Fowler. Most people will probably know, but got his 1,000th game at the Winter Classic, first time has ever happened and gets the first talk of the game. Scored two, but had the first one of the game. So sick.

But right away, you were like, oh-oh, this could get ugly. What an all-time moment, dude. Like, your 1,000th game, such an achievement, doing it outside, how cool, score and two in the game. Yep. Like, that's a dream. Absolutely. Truly a dream moment.

That's got to be a top three moment in Cam's career already. For sure. No doubt. Yep. So, yeah, kind of a beat down. I'm glad for the Chicago fans a few things happened. Like, Bedsie got a point, which I'm sure he's happy about. Want some people some money, not name and names.

I was about that parley. I was about that parley-a-cuffing up, dude. I was cold. I was cold over the break. I won't lie. I had some brutal beats. Sorry everyone who followed me. But if you followed me on that one, we want some cash-ish.

Yeah. Like, that was a great. Actually, two funny Merle's things. One killer. He, Merle's bet. And if you guys saw the prediction, I put on the story. He can't get out of his own way, dude. Merle's bet exact score Blues 5-2.

Not Blues Money Line, not Blue's puck line, literally Blues 5-2. And it's, dude, when it went 5-1, I was like, you've got to be kidding me. Hawks score on the Power Play with like four minutes left. And I was like, dude, you did it. It's literally going to happen. And the Blues score a completely irrelevant goal with two minutes left to make it sick. Who scored that goal? Do you remember?

I think it was Cairo. Was it Cairo? I can't remember. I can't remember. either. If you find it, tell me, but whoever it was, Merle's texted Monty. Because they're boys. He texted Monty and he was like, someone has to Venmo me for this. Yeah, like that is, it's just, it's a crime. It did happen. Like, I can't believe that. And then, I was textier. Oh, yeah, yeah. And then two, Dan, do you ever find yourself in, um, well, I know we

all do, but sometimes you're just in the most awkward situations that have nothing to do with you, it's another person and you're feeling such secondhand embarrassment that you're like, I need to peel my own skin off. Absolutely. Dude, You were maybe with Monty's family, actually. And Merle's had to do some man on the street interviews, and he was doing Winter Classic trivia. And I started talking to one of the staff members at this event. You weren't even here for this.

I even know if you know this story. And she, and I hope to God, she's not listening to this, but I doubt she is. Because she was lovely. She truly was and was telling us fun stories and asking if we were having a good time and all that stuff. But she works for the Cubs, but is, per her, a massive hockey fan. So begged to work. this event. Oh, oh, sick. Okay. And she was like, please let me work the Winter Classic. Like, I know I work for the Cubs, but I'm the biggest hockey fan, you know. And she had a winter

classic Beanie on that was custom for the employees. Like she was like, they don't even make these. Oh, Wags. You said, remember, you were like, I wanted yours. Like Wags tried to get the black one. Yeah. And she was like, dude, they're not even for sale. Like that's, and she's like, I'm going to keep this forever. She was so pumped. And Merles was looking for one more person to do a hockey trivia with. And I thought it would be a great gesture for her. I thought she would have a good time. Of course. So I go, Merle's, come here and do this with her.

And she goes, oh, okay. And I'm like, yes, I've made this girl's new year's. And Merles goes, and the trivia is like kind of hard, you know, but it's not that bad, but basically, it's like where were certain winter classics and what's people's records. And she just wasn't getting them, you know? And I was like, oh no.

And then Merles goes, okay, who is the king of the winter classic, having scored a goal 20, seconds into the game. It's fastest goal in winter classic history, which is a very hard trivia question. But it's our buddy, Colby Armstrong. So we know. And she's like, oh, I don't know. And Merles goes, it's Colby Armstrong. And she goes, oh, okay. And then Merles goes, do you know who assisted that goal? And she says, I don't. And he says, he plays to the penguins. And she goes, I don't know. And he goes, been there a long time, one of the best players in the league. And she goes, I don't know. And he goes, where's number 87? And she goes,

I don't know. And he goes, rhymes with Lindy Bosby. And she goes, I don't know. And I was like, so just to be clear, you hate hockey. You are not. You do, you have never seen. This is in fact, the first hockey game. You didn't know this was a sport in this country. And dude, it's like being filmed and I was, and I did this. I did this to her dude. And I was like, oh my God. And then there's just like the longest awkward silence ever in versus like, Cindy Groh. And she's like, oh yeah, you know, see, I wouldn't have got it.

Wouldn't have got that one. And I'm like, yeah, you wouldn't have got anything, dude. So you're not a hockey fan. You need to leave. You're fired. You're fired. Dude, that woman might get fired. Oh, dude, it was so bad.

That is insane. Lidney Bosby, dude. Don't know it. Wouldn't have got it. That is outstanding. Feel my skin off, dude. I do want to give, you know, obviously we were just talking about him, stick taps to Fliggy

Dude Teams getting speedbagged And then him and Schenner just have a chat I think Schenner wasn't even supposed to be on the ice And he popped on the two captains agree To just get in a tilt at Wrigley Field Like that's a no brainer It's so sick

But like in that game I was like Just get out of here But Felino was like I'm gonna give the hometown crowd something to cheer about And great fun And I think they said after that Schenner asked him Which is amazing because they were up five two Or five whatever at the time

But I actually think it must have been And they actually through, dude. Like, that was a good tilt. It was a really good fight. But I was going to say, minus how much it must have hurt getting hit in the face, kind of a sick feather in your cap. For both of them to be like, absolute brawl at center ice and Wrigley.

Also, how often do we see captain on captain fights? Like, I think that's lost on a lot of people. Great point. Great point. Yeah. Captain on Captain fight at the Winter Classic. That was fucking sick. But dude, great time. You know, tough game, but still a great time. And then, you know me, like Homebody, Dano here.

Nothing could have made me happier than we all just went back to the J.W. lobby. There was the NHL party going on. Popping over to the NHL party, cool, all good stuff. But after that, everyone just at the JW lobby, like the whole squad, the Pete and DJ were there. Lucas was there. Evan was there.

Chaz was there. Just the coolest gang with us, the Chicklets guys, were watching the World Juniors. Well, dude, first was one of those players. games. I forget which one. It was like Penn State maybe. But there was like a call. As soon as we got back, like we were finishing that football game. And then G brought his laptop down because the Marriott doesn't have. Dude, so G literally brought his laptop down to the box. Like we're, we're getting banged up in that lot.

I think I drank two tequila Red Bulls. I've never done that before. Oh, you did. Dude. That was insane. Rocket fuel. I go, what is this? And you go, Julio and Red Bull. That was like, what? Like my brain couldn't process. I knew, I know what those two things are. don't know what that is together. So I assumed that was a different drink that was made up and you were like, oh no, it is Don Julio and Red Bull.

And this is my second. Dude, a Julio Rojotoro. For favor. That is a drink, dude. You have to start saying that. I was joined Joe Bar and asking for a Julio Rojotoro, por favor.

Dose. Dose. But we're getting banged up in that bar. Gee brings his laptop down, gets on the world juniors like a fucking hero. And half the people there are Canadian, bro. Yeah. It was a war in the line. I went to dinner and I'll just, we're just dishing out shoutouts here.

I feel like Timothy Shalomey, but I will give a shout out to Hampton Social River North. Phenomenal restaurant. Phenomenal restaurant. The oysters? Tremendous. I loved everything about that place. It was fantastic.

They couldn't make me a Vesper Martini, though, which, was a bummer. Yeah. But I should have asked for a Julio. I should have asked for a Julio Rojoto. But great restaurant. I come back like two hours later. Laptop's still there.

So many more people in the bar. Laptop's still there playing the game. I was like, wow, boys. Dude, and it was hilarious because it was, everyone jokes like, New Year's is such a shit show. I just want to hang out with my friends. I don't even care where it is. And we lived that.

Like we, someone showed up. This is way. later someone showed up around one post ball drop everything yeah to join where we were all in the lobby and they they are coming from a extravagant party she was dressed to the nines you know looked amazing and goes where did you guys do and i go oh i have been sitting in in this booth for seven hours dude like literally i've been since six 30 is amazing um shout out rath birthday yeah dude Raft turned 12th. I was sick.

Great night. Perfect night. Perfect New Year's, dude. Just with your friends. Just sitting with your friends. That's why I said, like, literally my dream. Dude, we ordered fucking deep dish. Yeah.

To the hotel. Like a deep, it's one of those, the Lou place. Chicago people are pissed me right now. Luminatis. You ordered Luminati's to the hotel. To the hotel. You got some wings to. Yeah.

To the Merriottie. It is literally my dream. Like, the home body vibe with all the friends. It's all you need, dude. All you need is the pals. And that's what we have. I do want to just say my, the highlight of my New Year's, you for God knows what reason, left the bar, went up to your hotel room.

Yes, yes, yes. And then came downstairs looking like a character from Night at the Rocksbury. Yes, this is correct. Like you had red pants on and like a black and white striped shirt. Navy blue. And your hair slicked back. And I was like, what is, where are you going? And you were like, nowhere, dude.

It's New Year's. And dude, I was super comfy before that. And I'll tell you what. It was an all-time movie. No dude, here's why. Memsy came down right before dinner because he was also, we were all in our winter classic stuff.

Like just like hoodie, because it was cold. We were like jackets, hoodies and all this stuff. Memsey came down because we were discussing just sitting in the lobby. And then Memsey disappears,

comes back down and he is in like sleek pants, white shirt on button boots. And I was like, oh shit, are you going to a club or something? And he's like, no, I just, you know,

I thought to dress up for New Year's. And I was like, that is gas, dude. And I had the intention of just didn't he wanting him to be the only person. Fucking beauty. And then I kind of forgot, and then it was 11 all of a sudden

and I was like, oh fuck. Dude, because you came down in a huff. Like, I almost, I almost killed panger coming out of the elevator. I took such a hard you, you remember those what the elevators were? I took such a hard you that I come around the corner and panger's right there,

he's not a tall guy. Yeah. And I go, oh, and I slide step my muck. He has a brick wall though. I know, yeah. I was sorry panger. And he goes, oh, they're big fella, look sharp, look sharp.

I was like needed to hear it. So then I came down and I couldn't let Memsey be the only one rocks burying. Correct. So I had to do it with him. Tonight was the night. Yeah, that was the night. That was unbelievable. We battled back, got back to L.A., here we are.

But just phenomenal trip. Great trip. And it's, it's the beginning, dude. It's the start of the madness. Yeah, because it's hockey season now. Before we let everyone go, we're talking about Chicago. Let's just hit some quick hitter bits of news before we get into our regular news episode on Wednesday that'll come out, but we're talking about Chicago.

What do you think about this GQ article, Johnny Taves, talking about maybe coming back to the league? Dude, nothing. Well, actually, it would overjoy me to see him play again because I hate the way his career has ended currently. You hate that for anyone, really, but just a great Hall of Famer such as him, I'd love to see it end on his terms. Even, Dan, even in the Andrew Ladd interview, when he was talking about trying to get to that

1000th game, when he was limping across the finish line, puking on the plane, it was just, at least it ended the way on his terms. He could say, I want it to end now. And I would love that for Johnny Tate's. And the same way I want it for Landy. You know, like ignoring, well, Landy has actually like playoff implications, but even ignoring that, I just wanted to end okay for Landy. I wanted to end okay for Jonathan Tays, one of the greats the league has ever seen, too.

100%. It scares me, though, because having the mind of a sick athlete, not necessarily the skill of one, but the mind of it, you know that you'll chase that hit even if you don't have it. You know what I wonder, dude?

So for those who don't know, Jonathan Taves has been on this really awesome journey. He's been traveling all around. He's been in like India, Southeast Asia. He's been surfing a ton, getting his mind right, getting his body right. He's been on this cool, like, holistic journey. And we shot him a message.

So anyone who knows Johnny tell him to hit us back because we would love to have him on the God share his story because he's been through this really cool journey. So, like, truly, I mean that. If anyone knows him, tell him to hit us up because it would be an honor. He turns 37 in April. Yeah. He ain't that old.

But he ain't that young, dude. I know. Yes. But my point is, if he feels like his body's right, if he's gotten through this, dude, I, you know, I'm not sure. It's one of those things where how could we ever think, or suspect maybe he could, like, help a team win a cup. But you know what I could see is like,

it sounds like such a ridiculous thing for me to say, but like, go to the Bruins, dude. Yeah. Bruins could use a center. And him getting in, playing with an awesome vet, like Brad, doing one more playoff run. Getting one playoff series and retire, playing in the playoffs. Like, it would be amazing.

That would be fun. And that's the storybook, of course. Yeah. But dude, you know what I wouldn't even shake my nose at? Is that an expression? Fist that probably, but like turn my nose up. You know what I wouldn't turn my nose up at? The Detroit Red Wings.

Oh, dude, well, that would be awesome. Play with Cain. Oh, wow. That actually would be, that would be so sad. Just like the Bruins. Another original 16th. Just go to Detroit, dude. Go to Detroit.

One more time. That would be incredibly sick, and that's now what I'm rooting for. Yeah. But I wouldn't even turn my nose up. Let's him wear 19 for that one year. Can you imagine? This is it, dude. I wouldn't even turn my nose up at, especially if you didn't feel like he was,

not that he's going to be like an 100-point guy again. Even if he didn't feel like I'm a very. very productive guy who was just like, I can go out there, but I'm not going to be impacting games that much. Playing in Chicago, and I'm not saying, turn Chicago around. I'm saying they're trying to surround Bardard with guys that know what it's like big time guys. I'm like, you don't have to win in Chicago. I'm not saying Johnny Tays, go turn the pox around. I'm saying, go take one more lap with the town that brought you there. You won three cups for, be a mentor to Bader for one season and then hang them up on your terms. That is actually completely fine to me.

Yeah. Not making playoffs. I'd storybook him in the playoffs. You're right. I don't love it because I don't like how it ended there. And maybe that's more of a reason for him to be like, I'd like to go back and have it end well. But what if it doesn't end? Yeah, yeah. But what happened again?

He just got... They kind of just like released him or like didn't bring him back without even talking to him. Yeah. They were in that fucking disaster era. Things, they're a mess right now too. I know, dude. Like we kind of skated by that. Like the Blackhawks fucking suck.

They stink, dude. They suck. And like this year is this last year. You know what's interesting. Let me, I'll give me quick on this. I want to know if you agree with this. The San Jose sharks are in Dead Last in their division. The Chicago Blackhooks are in Dead Last in their division.

Just watching games, the vibe on the ice, the vibe with the players, the vibe with the team, the vibe with the fans. Dude with the players. Good call. Like, the sharks are so fucking fun right now. They're having a blast. They're clearly having a blast. Vets like Toff and Ferraro. They're having a blast. last building this new culture, building up this new team, this new wave of stars, the young guys

in Macklin and Smitty. And like Chicago just doesn't feel like it has that. Like they are a genuine mess right now. And I don't think, like I would love Blackhawks fans, a bunch of them have. Hit us up. Like tell us how you're feeling because Sharks fans are loving life. Yeah, yeah. Habs fans. They're not in last, but like they're a young team up on the buildup. They're like, look at us. They've won a few in a row here. Like they're looking good. Linae's back. Like Chicago just feels like they're spinning their wheels. They fire the coach.

Like, Bedard seems pissed all the time. It's like, it's a bummer. So I don't know that I want Taves. Yeah. In that. Fair point. Fair point. I think I'd have to sit with it.

But either way. Sagan's hurt. I'd love to see him. Lace him up one more time. There are so many teams. Me too. There's so many teams that if I were them, I would give him a PTO. God.

back if he's like, I want one, I'd be like, you got it. Sick. You got it. Another guy who's back, Ovi. Four games, three tucks. Dude. Can he do it? Actually, yes, dude. It's not even waste time. Can he do it? And I thought as soon as he got hurt. He was 24 now? Yeah, that sounds right. As soon as he got hurt, I was like that I'll do it. But dude, the, I saw somebody make a comment that was like, and this is a very true comment that said, OV, I'm sad for the young, young hockey fan. who really only know OV as a dominant goal score, but a guy who just hammers in one T's from the off wing,

because he used to be one of the most dynamic goal scores in the league. Go watch his early highlight tapes. They're moronic. And that's just age. You've got to adjust your game when you get older. Crosby's game's different too. Barely, but he's a freak. But he's a...

But he's... almost now, Dan, just, it's almost like he's accepted that role where he just goes, all good, dude, just I will be right here hammering in one-timers. And because of that, and it's still such an effective play that I think there's a chance he could make a bit at it this year. And God, would that be sick? Because I just don't want him to be hung on, call it three, four goals going into next year. You know, that would suck. Obviously, he's going to do it as going to be cool, but how sick would it be if they're chasing down a one seat and he does it in game 82. Oh my God, dude, I'd die.

So put me down for yes just because it would be sick, but I'm saying yes that it's going to be a Herkulean effort. I think he needs 24 or 25. He's got three and four. There's 42 games left. I know. He kind of can go cold. Yeah, but he hasn't been cold at all the season.

I know, I know, dude. And like he hasn't been cold at all this season. He comes back after a broken like he's not cold. You're right. You're right. Yeah, dude, you're right. Let's go yes and comfortably. If he gets it this season and then they win a cup,

he literally has to retire. He literally has to retire. What's crazy, though, is you can't. It's like the... No, you can do. That is the thing. I want guys to know. No.

Yes. You're wrong. You can because it is the most badass. Like, look at Mark Recky with Boston. Yeah. He won that cup and literally on the ice. They were like, Mark, like you were a massive contributor all season and in this playoffs.

Are you going to come back? And he's like, nope. Got my one more cup and I'm gone. Because here's the thing. Ovi, dude, he can go back and play in Russia. Pull a Yager. Yeah. Fair, fair.

Having the most iconic final season ever, breaking the all-time scoring record, winning a cup, he goes like this, peace out, dude. You are fucking go-ed. Can I ask you any? Can I ask you one thing? Yes, because you kind of got me back on your side,

even though Yager himself has said, why would you ever stop if you're sick at something still? Like, when Brady was about to retire, he was like, you just won a Super Bowl. Keep playing. This is ridiculous. If he, let's say he breaks it by, you know, four or five goals,

wins a cup, retires. I think that, record is in jeopardy. Yeah, but like whatever, dude. Like, not anytime soon. Agree, but I'm just saying like, you need to put some miles on that thing. Matthews is coming. No, dude, Father Time. McDavid and Nate are coming. No, not Nate, but McDavid might be coming. Is he though? No, he doesn't score that many goals. Well, he had that one 60 year.

Like he could do it, but like he's not coming. Yeah, Matthews is coming. Father Time's undefeated, dude. Yeah. I thought Tom was going to defeat him, but he didn't. Tom got defeated by Giselle and Father Time. No, just Giselle. Unfortunately. True. Unfortunately. But, like, he's undefeated. And the only way you defeat him is this.

Yeah. You don't even, you don't even come back in the ring for the last round, dude. Bitch. I'm already home. Go like this. I got my cup. I'm gone. I like that.

I like that a lot. Two opposite of comebacks. First up, krill. Chris the last four games, lower body injury. Now he's on IR. This is the greatest disaster of all time for me. I'm just crushed. me check this. MVP season, like just solidifying everything I was saying, this guy's fucking

elite, he's going to sign a fat contract, which he still is. Yep. And just like on IR. He's now 14 points behind Nate. Nate's kind of running away, to be clear. Yeah, Nate is out of control. Like he's only six points behind Leon in second. We'll talk about it later this week, but Nate is out of control. And he's now four goals behind Leon. He was leading the league. And I just... I needed to just be like one week, two weeks, come back. I know. But the IR scares me.

And I think it's not, they're making it sound like he's not that bad. But it's just, this could have been in, could very well still be an MVP season. And I just had my sights, do we talk about this all time, but his... And this was a real, like his first year he played 55 games, so that's not nothing, but he scored 27, 40, 46. He only scores 40 goals. Dude, he's amazing.

And this year, I was like, he literally could go 60, and I wanted it for him so bad. Now, I don't know. It's going to be tight, but it just is such a dagger for the guy and the wild to be having the year they're having and have this be anything serious. I know.

And it's not. Let's not even speculate yet. They lost Eric's an X for a spell. Now they're losing krill for a spell. This happens. This happens. It's okay. And the silver linings, dude.

It might be what they need. Dan, it could be just what they needed. Rossi has exploded. Could be just what they needed. He's been fantastic. He still looks fantastic with Ericsonac back. You'd love to see it. The other one that you hate to see,

Austin Matthews has missed his six straight game. And now he is saying he's not even sure he'll be ready for Four Nations. Well, he made that quote, like, I wrote it down. He said if he's not even going to recover this season. I'm not sure I'll get fully past this injury this season. So I'm like, dude. And now, Dan, listen to this. bro. I am actually, and no one is more excited for Four Nations than us in seeing this team USA

play and it's going to be so sick. I am now legitimately, or put it this way, I understand the concerns if I'm the Leafs now of even letting him play, even if he's a go, he's healthy enough to play. I'm now like, yeah, if they have a say on that in anyway, we're one of the best teams in the league. Yeah. What are you going to get fucking hurt at Four Nations? And dude, I love Four Nations. I love the Olympics, I want this shit to happen, and I cannot wait to see this U.S.A team at full strength. But I'm like, dude, this is the exact problem with the tournament.

Yeah. Where Matthews has a lingering injury, and you needs the fucking rest. To stir up some classic empty netters drama, Austin Matthews has missed six games. Trauma Maple Leafs are now and first in the Atlantic. They're better without them. I'm just saying. They play better without them. Do we need to reopen the discussion? They play

better. I'm not saying you don't need an Austin Matthews. Of course you need an Austin. You can't play him. You can't play him. You need them on your team, and then the team has to rise up for him. Patrick Ewing effect. It's the Ewing effect. It is the, they always needed something to avenge.

Yeah. The Leifes are the Avengers. Just saying. And that's all. It will be a... Wait, Dan. So we need him to sit out of Four Nations. Well, we don't know...

Well, we don't know that TM USA responds the same way. We'll play better. They need to avenge him. Wait, dude. he's about to win us a gold from the bench? He might. This is genius shit for him. It will be so upsetting if Austin Matthews does not get to play in Four Nations.

However, if he wins us a gold from the bench, worth it. Speaking of gold. Yep. We're going to close out this episode quickly touching on World Juniors. Who's not going to get a gold? Oh, and let's say, for the listeners, the Wednesday episode, like, by the time this episode comes out, the championship will have been played. Yes.

We're going to record immediately. after that game and you'll hear all that on Wednesday. Correct. You're listening to this on Monday. Yeah. You're listening to this on Monday. We're recording this on Friday. So those games will happen. Canada's out, dude. First time they've missed the top four back-to-back since 1980, I think. I think it said. Yeah. They lose to Chequia.

Brutal for them. Great for Chequia. They look fantastic. It's a tough matchup. That's us. That's us in the semis. Yeah. You know what's interesting is the final four of the world juniors is the four nations. No, because it's Czechia. Oh yeah, I'm an idiot. It's sorry. But who did, um, I'm an idiot. Uh, what I meant to say is if Canada had won, it would have been. It would have been. Yeah. It's Finland, Sweden on the other side. Hey, good feather in the cap of expanding four nations. Yes. That, sorry. Uh, what I meant to say was Canada won. It was going to be, now that it's not, it's checking, which is like, hey, check you. Let the boys play.

They should be here. Let the boys play. Um, crazy stuff. Team USA juniors, like, like, Ryan Leonard definitely bank lead in this charge. Gay Parole leading this charge. They have embraced the villain role in a big way. If you remember playing in Sweden last year, riling up the Sweden hometown crowd, now they're doing it again. People are booing him.

And they love it. They love it. So you know that the nation of Canada is going to be rooting against USA heavily. Big time. But chance to go back to back here for USA. Man, I, this happened last year. it never makes me not laugh how Canadians are the nicest people in the world

except if you joke about Canada hockey. Correct. Like, dude, hockey Canada, we'll get into it on Wednesday. I won't waste too much time. But like hockey Canada with some insane decisions on their roster, leaving guys off the roster. Their coaching decision was bad. Now they're the most penalized team in the league.

I think some of those penalties are bad calls. And I'm also going to, I'm here to tell you Canada, some of them are undisciplined plays. Like those all weren't bullshit. But, you know, they lose last night, and I tweeted, like, a hockey America sport. Put it on the IG. Holy moly, the DMs. Yeah.

And it's so funny because it's like, get fucked, buddy. And I respond, I'm like, sorry, all in good fun. Like, I thought it was a friendly, right? And then immediately, like, no, sorry, I'm just, I'm pissed that we lost. And I'm just like, yep, you guys are the best. Yeah, yeah. I literally have nothing but love for Canada and everyone from Canada. But it is funny, like the nice Canadian goes away quick.

Dude, Dan, not only that, I will say, bud, but also two underperforming Canadian players. Like literally, they ruthlessly attack children on their junior teams. Bro, if you go to Ethan Cowan's like Instagram page, the comments are like

absolutely suering the kid. It's horrible. It's wild. Like the nicest nation on earth. Yeah. It's like, guys. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. So yeah, that that was a bummer. And I will say I am slightly

bummed. Not totally because I think it's great for the Czech team to do what they're doing, but I was looking forward to the semifinal rematch in Canada. Yeah, you know, at least we got the one game. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Great game, good win by USA. Obviously, you would have loved to see it.

But I do, you know, I do like, you know, this is big for the checks. Like it's, you know, the fact that they're not in four nations, they'll obviously be in the Olympics, but they're not in four nations. It's cool that they're in this. You don't want to play any of these teams. Yeah, all great. Get tough here. So it's going to be super fun.

We'll dial into that. Like we said, we're recording again on Monday. You'll have that on Wednesday. Can't wait. What a fun episode. We're super glad to be back. We'll love all of you guys. Happy New Year.

And until we see you next episode, 2025 is all about one thing. Skating Hard.