Games with Names - 2001 Stanley Cup Final: Game 7 with Ray Bourque | Devils vs. Avalanche

Episode Date: June 3, 2025

Ray Bourque is in studio and The Cup is in the building! We're back in Boston to relive a moment 22 years in the making: Game 7 of the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals between the Colorado Avalanche and the New Jersey Devils when Ray Bourque won the Stanley Cup. Ray joins us in studio (02:45). We dive into these teams (41:21). We get into the game (01:01:06). We score it (01:11:34). Phil Pritchard joins us in studio to break down what it's like being The Keeper of the Cup (01:20:02). We hit The Chill Zone presented by Coors Light.  The Stanley Cup Final starts June 4 on TNT. Support the show: http://www.gameswithnames.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Explore the winding halls of historical true crime with Holly Frye and Maria Tramarchi, hosts of Criminalia, as they uncover curious cases from the past. The legend of the Highwayman suggests men dominated the field. But tell that to Lady Catherine Farrers, known as the Wicked Lady, who terrorized England in the mid 1600s. Her legend persists nearly 400 years after her death. Highwaymen are in the hot seat this season. Find more crime and cocktails on Criminalia.

Listen to Criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So all the people I talked about that I brought to Colorado, I had this big 15 passenger van with a cooler inside that was picking them up, bringing them to the game, they're gonna bring them home. Well. The cooler full of Kool-Aids?

Oh yeah, yeah. So we win the game. I'm about to leave after the party in Pure Lacroix. Our general manager says, Ray, bring the cup home with you. I'm like, holy ****, alright. So now I got it in the van. Now forget it, everybody's coming home with you. I'm like, holy **** alright. So now I got it in the van. Now forget it. Everybody's coming home with me. So now 2, 2.30, three o'clock in the morning, I turn

on my street, start beeping the horn. I put the cup on the sidewalk, the cool in the street. We're there till 5.30 in the morning. Wow. It was amazing. And then, you know, then you go to bed with it. And if that thing could talk, man. Welcome to Games with Names. I'm Julian Edelman. They are Jack and Kyler, and we are on a mission to find the greatest game of all time.

On today's episode, we've got hockey royalty in the building. That's right, Stanley Cup is here in the Nuthouse. I can't believe, I just can't believe it. Kyler's on cloud nine today in 11-12. And we're covering game seven of the 2001 Stanley Cup final Devils versus Avalanche with hockey Hall of Famer, Bruins legend and Stanley Cup champion, Ray Bork.

And we get into talking what it's like winning a championship after 22 years in the league. On his last game ever. 21 years of chasing it. It was an amazing, amazing time. The feeling of lifting the Stanley Cup. Then Joe grabs a cup and just passes it on to me.

And then it's just like, what a relief. And what goes into a playoff beard? That's when the Allenders kind of started this beard thing. Mullets and everything, you know, it's a hockey thing. And then we wrap up the show with another guest, the one and only, the keeper of the cup, Phil Pritchard. If it could talk, it'd have its own podcast. I'd produce that. I'd produce that. There's just so much aura in the building tonight. Let's go, you got to stick around to the end. Let's go. Games with names is a production of iHeartRadio.

June 9th, 2001. Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado. Game seven, Devils versus Avalanche. The cup is in the building. And after 22 years, Raymond Bororek, this is game seven of the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals. I was there for the first Super Bowl New Orleans. I had just retired. Yeah. I was in there where Veritek kicked the field goal. Venturi. I know but you weren't there when Mayor Menino was you guys remember that? Yes. No. Oh my God. I forgot about their Bobby or statue in front of the garden. Yeah. So Maryma Nino is there talking about the the iconic moments in sports in Boston on

Barrett at kicking the field goal. The captain. Well, we are looking at game 7 of the 2001 Stanley Cup final, Devils versus the Avalanche with a Boston legend, Ray Bork. Welcome to the NUT House. Ray, I got one question. We'll dive into the game plenty. But in one sentence, why this game?

Because I won the Cup. The one thing that was pretty much left for me to accomplish in my career. You know, I never thought I would leave Boston, but things were where they were at that time. And I was 38 years old and never thought I'd leave to win a cup. But I had to leave to kind kinda see if I had any more, any more juice in the tank for me and to compete again, cause it had been a while. You know, I went to two finals with the Bruins

and 88 and 90, and after that we had a couple of good runs in the early 90s, but after that we were kinda not that good, so it had been a while, then I was always one to bring energy, passion and you could just name it whatever to the rink and I was really having a hard time at that point. So I came to the conclusion that I had to go somewhere else and ended up going to an amazing place where I was part of a team that was the best team that I've ever played with. I got there in March of 2000. That first year, we we got to the semifinals against Dallas,

lost in the seventh game, and I knew that I was going back for another year. And that's why to compete and to go on a team where I knew I was going to be able to compete and to get to that seventh game. Playing for this thing was just an amazing feeling. Now, is this the greatest game of all time? Uh, for me, um, yes. Uh, it's the ultimate. I mean, you know, um, you know, you've won.

Three, five, three, went to five. One you weren't around that long. Not that well, three, five, three, went to five. One, you weren't around that long. Not that well, three. And it is so hard to win. I don't care what sport you're playing. So many things have to go right. And you got to go through so many ups and downs and so many different emotions.

And regardless of your favorites or not, it's there's no guarantees and it's so hard. So, and I had played, you know, in 88 and 90 with the Bruins favorites or not, there's no guarantees and it's so hard. And I had played in 88 and 90 with the Bruins. We lost to Edmonton in four games in 88 and then five games. And so you're playing for the Cups in the finals, but you're not really playing for the Cup. So playing that seventh game, you know that you're now playing for the Cup

because you've got three wins. And now the next one, whoever wins this, gets to pick this thing up. And, um, so it was just an amazing run. Um, and for me, um, going back to, uh, you know, Colorado, I got there March six, we got to the semis. I knew I was going back for one more year. So I asked the general manager, I said, just give me the same amount of money I was making last year. I'm

coming. I'm playing one more year. He says, No, I'm giving you a two year deal. I'm like, I'm only playing one more year says I'm giving you two years. So I'm like, all right. So I knew that I told my wife, the only people that kind of knew was my wife and I that I'm only playing one more year regardless of what happens. So game six and seven for me was an amazing experience because we go to New Jersey down 3-2. Nobody's given us a chance to win that game against the defending champs. And for me, I got to live it like to the fullest because I had my siblings, my dad, my wife's siblings, her dad, my best friends at game six in case this was going to be my last game.

I wanted those people there. So the last pregame skate in Colorado, the practice rink, you're looking around, you're taking everything in. Then you fly to New Jersey the next morning, pregame skate, pregame meal, pregame nap, you're really sucking it all in. As you know, this, you know, this might be it. Then we go out, first 10 minutes, New Jersey's just storming us and Patrick Walsh standing on his head, making saves after save. And then 10 minutes in, Adam Foote scores a goal right inside the blue line and from that point on we take over the game go on and it went for nothing so now everybody that

had game six all I brought to Colorado for game seven knowing that's my last game so just that thought that you know that this is regardless of what happens in game seven. This is it. I have the people that are important to me that are going to be watching me and then closing a deal and winning it. I mean, I don't know when you want to hear the story after we partied. Yeah. So it's just amazing.

And that's why that game. I mean, there's so much that went into that game, you know, 21 years of chasing it. And finally, after 22 years, being able to hoist it. So it's the game, you know, they asked what what are your there's so many big moments that it's really unfair to kinda, when you're asked what are the special moments, well, I look at bookends. I look at my last game where I was able to hoist a cup

and my first game where you finally make it, you play your first NHL game, where you dream as a kid to play in the NHL and then it happens and then you end up playing 22 years and you go, holy crap. And it goes like that happens. And, you know, then you end up playing 22 years and you go, holy crap. And it goes like that probably. Now, who's your first game against?

Winnipeg Jets. Last game was against? New Jersey Devils. You knew for sure this was going to be your last game, no matter what? Yes. Yeah, for sure. A hundred percent. I had six million reasons to go back for the second year,

but I was like, regardless, it wasn't going to happen. I thought just, I was 40 years old. And, and, you know, that last year I averaged the most minutes played out of anybody in NHL. I average over 27 minutes a game. I was up for Norris best defenseman that year, but just mentally and, um, you know, to get me to where I needed to get to, to play another year, I just didn't think I had it in me. It's one of those things, they say as a professional athlete, when you start thinking about it, you're out.

Yeah. Because that means you're not all the way in. You gotta be all in. You know, and I told my dad I was gonna retire. I needed his validation. He goes, son, you finally smartened up. Yeah, because you gotta be crazy to go out and with your sport as well.

I mean, you gotta have. Those two sports, I mean. You gotta flirt with crazy. It's like a fighter pilot. You know, you gotta be willing to die in your combat to go out and flirt with that line to have your best production. And the times you start thinking about like,

you know, I don't know if I, that's when you gotta get the fuck out because that's how you get out. And I knew, I knew, you know that, I mean, you know how you gotta prepare the off season for the next season. I mean, I, and I was, you know, committed. I, you know, my training in the off season

was so important to me. And I met somebody very special in my life that really helped me with that. Took me under his wing at the age of 16 until I retired. Was my high school gym teacher that I met at 14. That was a track and field team for the Canadian Olympic team. He had his own track and field team in Montreal. That four of his runners went to the Olympics. But he was like this genius training guy that, you know, I

was always a really good hockey player, but he made me an athlete that allowed me to be even better hockey player. So to this day, he's one of my very best friends that I talked to every week and I'm very lucky. And I knew that, you know, if I was going to play again, it's another three months of, I mean, it's, it's. Getting your teeth kicked in. It's tough. People don't realize that when you're a pro athlete, it's not just seasonal.

Like you have to, especially for a man who played as long as you did, you have to constantly re-evolve yourself every off season. Bring something new, work on your deficiencies, but also bring something new. You know, you have to build something into your game that you may not be comfortable with. That reinvention is like, people don't,

I used to get a lot of anxiety after the years that we would win the Super Bowl, because you knew how much harder it was gonna be the next year. Yeah, well, you guys always had a target on your back because you were that good, right? And everybody's trying to bring it down. Not only the teams you're playing against, but the media around the country.

And, and the same could be said about the Boston Celtics because you guys are a cornerstone organization for, you know, the NHL, like a lot can be said. What did I say? You said South Texas. But I mean, sorry. Icon, Bruins. Yes, yes. Iconic, yeah, yeah. No, let's jump into- You got him on that one, right?

There's just so many iconic franchises in Boston. There really is. But it really starts with the big three. Like ours were, we're like the slappies of the Patriots. Now in the last 20 years, we've, but like when it comes down to it, the origin of the pro sports, it goes, you know, Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics.

Okay, Jules, you want, do you want to know the real story? How that two decades started? Yeah, let's hear it. So I win the cup in Colorado, right? My agent calls me, says the mayor's office just called me asking if you'd be willing to bring the cup back to Boston they want to celebrate you at City Hall. I'm like Steve Friar was my agent I said Steve I said I can't do that I don't want to embarrass the Bruins. He says what about if the Bruins sign off on it. So

Mike O'Connell is the general manager Harry's sending the president so he calls Mike and says you know Ray's been asked if he could come back and you know, they want to do something for him at City Hall. Says, Yeah, we have no problems with that and all that. So then I come back with the cop City Hall 10,000 people are, are there. It was like, it was crazy. It was amazing, amazing day. But what happened after that, the Patriots win in New Orleans against the what? St. Louis, the fastest, what do you call it? Greatest show on turf, baby.

Greatest show on turf, right? And I'm there. I'm right there in the end zone where the military kicks her in. kicks the field goal. I'm there with my son. You mean Veritek. Yeah, Veritek. Yeah, Veritek, exactly.

And then from that point on, I mean, Pat's went two out of three. The curse is broken with the Red Sox. The Celtics win, the Bruins win, the Patriots keep winning, the Red Sox win again. It all started after the Cup came back to Boston. It's fucking rain. It's rain. Let's go.

Let's go, baby. Fuck. Yeah. Now you grew up in Quebec. Yeah. Montreal, Montreal. You've been to Walenskis. What's that little salami spot? It's it's in Montreal. I went to it once. Well, if you're talking smoked meat. Yeah, it's a smoke.

Is this a pastrami on steroids? No, it's like a baloney sandwich that they make and they gave me, I went to Montreal, it's like a baloney sandwich with cheese that they like grill in. No. And all they make is that and like homemade sodas. No, you go to Schwartz or Bansk.

Schwartz, was it Schwartz? Schwartz maybe. And then I went to the Highline or what's another, or there's another deli I went to. Fuck, I love Montreal. Yeah, it's great. You ever went to. Fuck, I love Montreal. Yeah, it's great. You ever been to Quebec City? I haven't.

I mean, Quebec City is one of my favorite cities in the world. Yeah, I gotta check it out. Now, what was a young Ray Bork like in Canada growing up? Were you just playing hockey all fucking day? Hockey and baseball. I loved baseball as much as I liked hockey. I was very good at baseball. Growing up somewhere, yeah, my dad always says I could have played for the Expos someday.

Very proud dad. But I was a very good baseball player. Played up until I came to Boston and played junior ball in Montreal. Growing up somewhere else, maybe baseball could have been an option. But I just, you know, a kid growing up in Montreal, I mean, we were so spoiled. When I got into the Hall of Fame, I thanked the Montreal Canadiens for making a young kid dream about playing the NHL someday because, I mean, every kid's dreaming about playing the NHL and growing up in Quebec just because we're spoiled.

And back then they were winning cups after cups. And you were a big Canadians fan. I was a big Montreal Canadians fan. I'd miss school, I'd go to the parades with my buddies. And then it was just a path that just took me as a young kid, just going through the ranks. But as a very shy, quiet kid, you know, always, always a leader on the ice and how I played and how I approached the game. I don't know how you felt about being on that

field. But for me, being on the ice is where I felt the most comfort in my life. Just that's where I was meant to be. And I just kind of, I was always a really good player. I was never like this elite, can't miss kid as a youngster. I started separating myself at the age of 13 from my peers. So I would play forward, I played defense, I played forward, I played defense. Every year it seemed like I played, you know, the different positions and that I think allowed me to be creative as a player and allowed me to be offensive instincts as a defenseman as well as a good defender. But at the age of 13, I strictly played defense and that's when I started separating myself

from my buddies and I was 15 years old Playing with guys that were 16 to 20 years old driving their cars and The strip joints aren't bad and but I'm freaking 15 years old Yeah, so I Grew up pretty quick You know, that's a hockey life though, right? A lot of these young kids, they gotta become pros

because you guys go ship each other to other houses and live with different families. So I get drafted into the Quebec Major Junior League, it's called the Q, when I'm 15. So now I'm a couple hours away from where I grew up. So you're living with a billet and now you're playing with guys that are 16 to 20 years old and then you play there for the next four years and that's where the NHL are looking to draft all their

players. Back then it was mostly those leagues, you know some US kids out of the universities but mostly it was Canadian kids playing in those junior leagues that were drafted. And so then 1979, there was another professional league called the WHA, World Hockey League, that merged with the NHL. So there's four teams from that league that ended up merging with the NHL in 1979. I was Winnipeg, Edmonton, Hartford and Quebec. So that year they allowed the underage draft to come back.

So I didn't have to play four years. I was 18 years old. I was drafting. I came to Boston when I was 18. So and the draft was not in June. It was in August because of all the stuff that they had to sort out because of the merge coming together. Um, and, um, I was eighth overall, uh, coming to Boston and there's

no two biggest rivals then. Oh my God. No, but I was, I was so happy to go to a team that was established. I could have gone to Minnesota, Colorado. I could have gone to these teams where they sucked for like 10, 15 years. And I go to the Bruins where they just lost to Montreal in the semifinals in the seventh game.

And overtime that was established and tradition and one of the original six teams. I couldn't have gone anywhere better. Five hour drive from Montreal. It was great. So a lot of my friends and family followed me to Boston, but it took us forever to be able to beat Montreal in the playoffs. Like it was 45 years before Boston was able to beat, not that they played 45 years in a row, but it was that amount

of time since they had won, then we ended up beating Montreal in 1987, 88, in the playoffs that, but I'd go back to Montreal every summer, my wife and I are both from there. I've known my wife since I'm 11 years old and we hung around with the same group of friends, but every time I'd go back in the summers, I'd get all kinds of shit like, oh, you guys friggin' suck, you lost again,

and this and that, and I'm like, fuck. So, 87 was the quietest summer so 87 was the quietest summer. 88 was the quietest summer I've ever had. Going back to Montreal was awesome. Now, when you were a kid, when you look at the American players, like, oh, these guys are secondhand.

They're secondhand citizens in our sport. We got, like, because it's kind of like me. If I saw a white DB, if I saw someone white trying to guard me, I was like, all right, this is fucking joke. Well, I think it could be any color. It was even more. It was even more, you know, like you can't have this guy. I mean, what are we doing?

Yeah, no. Um, you know, and then, then I come to Boston. So I, we, we used to have an exchange in Montreal, uh, like every year we'd come to Ludlow or a Chicopea that, you know, is around the Springfield area. And we're like, oh, we're going to play in Boston. You know, it was the furthest thing from Boston. It's like two to three hours Springfield. So, so we'd play against them and we'd kill them.

You know, we were like, it was like 12, one or, you know, but I don't think we were playing against the best teams. But when I got to Boston to play with the Bruins, then I got to know and find out about, you know, Boston university, BC, Harvard, Northeastern, all these great college programs that were developing great hockey players.

And, you know, my first year is the year that, uh, the, the, the miracle on ice, us beats, uh,, US beats the Russians and go on and win, beat the fans for the gold medal. And that was like, now it takes off, right? But all those great players that played for the US in the 1980 and so I knew that never disrespected the US player. And then it just grown from that part.

What they did for hockey in 1980 in the States was phenomenal. And then after that, and just years after that and more, and now you look at the US program and they just won the world's championship. They won the gold medal in the world the world's championship they they've won the uh they've won the gold medal in the world juniors last two or three years my both my sons played for the us team uh you know in the world juniors we do see we just we just take the canadians we we have my kids here

my boys are not canadian and they'll tell you. I might be Canadian, but they are not. So when it comes to my kids, I mean, I'm walking around the Olympics. My son, Chris, played for the Olympics in South Korea last time around. And I'm walking around with a US friggin' hoodie. And it's like, guys, people are looking at me and they're like, what's going on with that?

I'm like, hey, it comes to my kids, man. I'm US, I'm dual, I'm dual. And when it comes to the kids and their skating, man, for the US team, I'm chairing US and- No one can question you for going for your kids. And when they're not involved, I'm strictly Canadian, but so it's kind of fun to play defense like that sometimes. I got a question.

Who's the Mount Rushmore French Canadian hockey players? Well, for me, Mario Lemieux, Guillaume Fleur, Jean Beliveau, and Rocket Richard probably. So we're going back, you know, and you probably don't know, uh, Bellevue or rocket Richard, but if you're talking French Canadians, that would be Mount Rush for, and if there's a fifth one, Raymond Burke, hell yeah, you can put 15 up and it'll be worthy. You guys have such cool names. Patrick.

Why it's Roy. Why? Yeah. Isn't it Roy? Patrick Roy. Patrick Roy. You call him the king. You know what? You know what? Why isn't French? No. King. Is it? Yeah. I got to get work on that French.

I've been yelled at it a lot. What was Boston like as a sports town in 79 when you got here. Amazing. The old garden was just a phenomenal building. The upper deck was like almost right on top of the ice. So the, I mean that national anthem sometimes you just, you'd feel the vibration in the building. That's how loud that building would be. And it was a small ice surface. So teams hated coming in there.

What does that mean? What's ice surface smaller? Because most ranks are 200 by 85. That was like maybe 190 by 80. So there's different size ranks back then. That's crazy. Now, every rank now is the same size. But back then you had Chicago Stadium, Boston Garden, Buffalo, Buffalo Auditorium was maybe a touch smaller as well. And you felt

it. Oh, you felt it. You felt playing against the Bruins because you were quicker. Was it faster? Things happen so quick, but you get, you get killed. Like you had a lot less time to react to stuff and we were a big, heavy, tough team. And, um, yeah, teams weren't that excited about coming to the garden and play us. And, but when you're talking about sports town, it's like, I mean, the passion, uh, of, of the fans supporting all their teams here is just, um, second to none. Uh, you're so lucky. It's when I hear that, you know, Oh, he's not meant to play in Boston. Are you frigging kidding me? Why would you not want to play somewhere where expectations are high and and the fans are passionate and you know that

if you just go out there, work hard, give an honest effort and play hard, they don't have a problem with you. It's when you don't do that, you have a problem. And you know what? If they have a problem with you, I I probably do too. That's the honest truth. Now, like, how was it playing in the wake of like Bobby Orr? Did you feel that legend? Because, you know, being a guy that played on a second part of a dynasty, I mean, we felt the Teddy Bruskies, the Kevin Falks, the fucking Vinatari's, the very like we and we

heard about it all the time. The Veritex, the which for me as a young player, that motivated me to like I wanted to make my own fuck. Like I'm sick of Bill Belichick talking about these fucking other guys. Let's make our own shit. Like did you how was it playing in that

wake? I mean, one of the greatest player of all time. Some people are you but that it motivated me exactly But that makes you because you know what's come before you and it's important for you to yeah move that ahead and and pass that on to The young guy the the young Julian that's coming up that is watching you and how you do things, how you prepare, how you play, how you speak, how you act, and you feel that. You come into a team that has history and expectations.

And for me, when I came in, of course I knew Bobby Orr. And I think Bobby Orr is number one, all time, in the history of hockey. He changed the game and nobody played it like he did. And, uh. And what made him special? Everything. I mean, he just, you watch highlights of Bobby Orr.

Yeah, a little bit here and there. Well, it seems like he was. But like the inner talk. He was playing like with, with 10 year olds. Yeah. That's how good he was. But, um, so for me, I was, I came in my first year, I scored 17 goals, 65 points.

I won rookie of the year, first team All-Star. I had an amazing year. So when people would come up and I was, you know, offensive, I was gifted offensively, nothing like Bobby, but you know, the press would constantly come it up and comparing me to Bobby Orr. And I'm like, I always said, believe me, if I could be half the player that Bobby Orr was,

I'm gonna have an amazing career. And that's how I looked at it, how I diffused it, because I knew I'm not Bobby Orr. I play my game. I'm not as explosive and dynamic as Bobby was. I mean, he was just so spectacular not as explosive and dynamic as Bobby was. I mean, he was just so spectacular and so much fun to watch. I was more, my subtleties in my game were a lot different.

Wasn't like, I wouldn't raise you out of your seat by watching me play, but if you watch the subtleties and how I played my game, how consistent I was, you'd really appreciate how I played the game. And I knew that, you know, I knew, I knew my game. I knew how I had to play. I think your career ended okay. Yeah. Yeah. 22, 22. Sounds better though. But it was, yeah, it just, I mean, for me, playing in Boston, that's, I'm so happy I ended up here because like we talk about the passion and the city

and the suburbs and everything that comes living here. I mean, I knew, it didn't take me very long that I'm like, whoa, once I had kids, I knew regardless, this was gonna be my home. Yeah. And fans were amazing. Now, did you ever cross paths with Larry Bird? You guys were in the-

Great, great, great question. Cause I've, you know, I've got to know Mikhail, a few, Reggie Lewis I've met, I've kind of run into, and a few other Celtics. Larry Bird, we came in the same year, in 1979, we both won rookie of the year. I did not meet Larry Bird till after he retired. Dale Arnold had us on WEI for one hour together,

was the first time I met Larry Bird. And it was great, but it was so weird that we didn't cross paths before that. And now I winter in South Florida. I play hideout once in a while. Every time I'm there, I see him. Yeah. He's one of the founders of that place.

So yeah, and I got this great picture. That day, Larry and I, they gave me a 77 Celtics jersey, and they gave him a 33 Bruins jersey with our names on it and all that. I looked like I'm 12 years old, and I'm like 33 at the time, I think, 34 years old. And he's got, yeah, probably nine inches on me. Those boys are tall. They're trees, aren't they?

Those basketball guys. And you don't understand it because when you watch them on TV, they're all the same height and shit. And then you see them in regular life. You're like, that's a fucking dinosaur. Holy schnikes. No, but that's it's understandable because you guys are in the grind of your careers. I would always see Bruins. I became close with a couple Bruins through charity events. Yeah. Or you know I'd see

Celtics out here and there. But it you know you didn't always see certain guys because everyone's caught up in their career. Especially you guys, you guys are playing at the same time. So yeah. Mikhail, Mikhail I got to know like he would invite me to his Christmas party. Mm-hmm. Don Warden was our physical therapist. I was really good friends with Kevin. And from that relationship, like Kevin would come to our game and he'd stand right by our bench where the Celtics would enter and come out to the floor

and off and on. So he'd watch the game right there, right by our bench. And then he'd come in the room after the game. So he grew up in Minnesota. He knew what hockey was all about. Not like you from California. I grew to like it. You went to the second half of a Sharks game.

Four quarters. Yeah. Cal Palace was awesome. I went to the Cal Palace. I was telling Ray, you know, my hockey. You could still smell the elephants. You know, we thought we were going to catch the second half being football people. We missed the first two periods and, you know, me and my dad after the third are like, yeah,

at least we got the fourth. There's no fucking fourth. Learn that short, quick. No overtime back then either. We'll be right back after this quick break. Explore the winding halls of historical true crime with Holly Frye and Maria Tramarchi, hosts of Criminalia, as they uncover curious cases from the past. The legend of the Highwayman suggests men dominated the field, but tell that to Lady Catherine Ferrer's, known as the Wicked Lady, who terrorized England in the mid 1600s. Her legend persists nearly 400 years after her death.

Hear the story of the gentleman robber, the romantic darling of the ladies, and a tale about a wager over a sack of potatoes, but you'll have to tune in to learn who won that one. Some highwaymen were well-mannered or faked it. People were concerned about the romanticism of robbers, but most were just thugs. Highwaymen are in the hot seat this season. Call them robbers or bandits.

Some are legendary figures. Listen to stories about historical crimes on Criminalia now, plus the cocktails and mocktails inspired by each. Listen to Criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Now, can you explain to us, how'd you go from seven to 77? So out of anything I've ever done in Boston, people will come up to me and talk to me about that. Like out of anything I've ever done in hockey, that's the number one thing that comes up most. So I wore number 29 in training camp,

had a great camp coming up for my first game. Number seven is in my stall. And I'm like, I mean, I knew that Phil wore that number. So before I go out, Bobby Schmutz, a veteran comes over. He says, Ray, if you hear any hecklers, don't worry about it, just play your game. And I'm like, great right so I have an amazing first year never hear nothing about it other than the press asking me every once in a while what do

you think about Phyllis Bozzito's number being retired I'm like he's a legend an amazing broom he's done great things here one two cups and everything I said of course I said I was given that number. I'm like, it's not up to me. And so what happened is the Bruins traded Phyllis Pizzito. And once that happened, Phil and Harry really, Phil was really pissed at the Bruins, never wanted to go. The story goes when they traded Phil Esposito

that Don Cherry was the coach back then, Grape's. So Harry tells Grape's, says, go tell Phil that we just traded him to the Rangers. So Grape's, yeah. So Grape's gets Bobby Orr and Wayne Cashman. Phil's two best friends to go tell him. It knocks on the door. They're staying at the Bay shore in Vancouver.

It's right on the water, beautiful place, Vancouver. So they walk in and Phil's like, you better not fucking be telling me I'm going to the Rangers because I'm going to frigging jump out that window. Says, Bobby, get in front of the window. So after that, it was like, so Harry was like pissed that Phil for being pissed at him and I get the number and now I'm killing it and doing great.

So then they kind of patch things up and they decide that they're going to retire the number December 3rd 1987 so I've worn it now since 79 eight years and But nothing has talked about Anything up until one o'clock that afternoon Terry O'Reilly is our coach calls me from Harry's office and he says Ray What do you think we should do with the Jersey? That's how great the communication was back then. Right?

So like my, it sounds like a bellacheck system. Yeah. Well, yeah. Dinosaurs are talking. I'm like, geez, this is crazy. I said, so we come up with, I'm going to go off for warmup with number seven, come back in, go in the back room and train his room, put number with number seven, come back in, go in the back room, in the training room, put number 77 under seven, go back out, call Phil up,

and then I'll take the seven off, reveal 77. And it was so messed up how it was, but it ended up being the best because no press, no fans. I drove in with Keith Crowder and Glenn Wesley that day. They said, Ray, what the hell? You could have told us. Nobody knew, other than my wife, coaches, management,

and ended up going, I see Phil's face is like, I joke about this, but it's really true that it was the first time Phyllis Pezzito was ever speechless in his life. His face dropped, I was like, wow. It was the perfect thing. Nobody should award that number after Phil when he left. There was no doubt that that number was gonna be retired and it's up where it should be.

You know, I stand up guys. It really is noticeable with the hockey guys. You guys, I feel like your guys' respect to your teammates and to tradition and to the guys before you, I mean, it's in your trophy. You know what I mean? Look, you see everyone who's put the blood, sweat, and tears

into getting this trophy. It's just really cool to see because you don't see that in all sports. I'll tell you that right now. And how about this trophy though? This trophy's pretty bad ass. It's just really cool to see, because you don't see that in all sports. I'll tell you that right now. How about this trophy though? This trophy's pretty badass. It's the best. And your name gets on it.

It's there for over 60 years. 60 years. Over 60 years. Before this gets, so this, when this is full, this comes off. And they straighten that out, they put it in the vault in the Hall of Fame. So this, before this gets up here, it's over 60 years.

So your name, so your my my grandkids, kids could go to the Hall of Fame someday and look up, you know, that this was my grandfather. And so it's it's an amazing trophy. It is it definitely has an aura. And I think, you know, it's going to be a hot take, but this probably is the best trophy because the imperfections and-

Oh my God, if that thing could talk. Exactly. I don't know when you want me to talk about a few of the stories that I have. Yes, please. I'll have a cup after. Yes, please. So we win game six and Joe, Joe Sackett,

our captain was an amazing player, but even a better person. Yeah. An amazing Mr. Sackett. Sean, so classy. So we went game six. All Joe wants to talk about is Ray, how are we going to do the cup thing? I'm like, Joe, let's win the friggin' game first. Let's win the game and we'll worry about the friggin' cup after we win the game. But all he was worried about is like he wants, Ray says, okay, right, right next to me, right next to me.

So he gets the cup from Betman, and he doesn't even want to, he just wants to grab it. And then Betman says, no, no, we gotta take a picture first. And then Betman says, no, no, we got to take a picture first. And then Batman says, somebody who's been waiting for this for a long time. And then Joe grabs a cup and just passes it on to me. And then, then it's just like, what a relief.

Like finally- Can he make you skate it too? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. He says, here Ray. That's a fucking- So now, so, so the captain's a guy that lifts a cup every time. Like Joe took me out for lunch before I came back my second year

and he like, Ray, I don't feel comfortable wearing a C with you on my team. I'm like, Joe, forget it, buddy. I said, you are the leader of this team. You saw what I did last year. I don't need an A or a C or whatever I'm gonna be talking about. I'm an ally and Joe, I'm here, man. I'm going to do what

I need to do. And class, it comes twofold with him. But so, so we win the game, we go party at the Chopp House across from the Pepsi Center. And we're, you know, we're there till 2 30. So, so all the people I talked about that I brought to Colorado, I had them in hotel rooms and some stayed at my house. And I had this big 15 passenger van with a cooler inside that was picking them up, bringing them to the game. They're gonna bring them home. Well-

The cooler full of Kool-Aids? Oh yeah, yeah. Good Kool-Aid. So I'm about to leave after the party and Pierre Lacroix, our general manager, says, Ray, bring the cup home with you. I'm like, holy shit, alright. So now I got it in the van.

Now forget it, everybody's coming home with me. So now, 2.30, three o'clock in the morning, I turn on my street, start beeping the horn. I put the cup on the sidewalk, the cool in the street. We're there until 5.clock in the morning. I turn on my streets, start beeping the horn. I put the cup on the sidewalk, the cool in the street. We're there till five 30 in the morning. It was amazing. And then, you know, then you go to bed with it. And if that thing could talk, man, if that thing can talk

full with you that night too. No, I had nobody with me that night, but, um, but then, you know, that the thing, the city hall, uh, you know, that the thing the city hall uh you know doing a thing in city hall so then two days later i come back with the cup a buddy you know sends a private jet for me and my family and buckled up the uh cup again and then we have the day at city hall come back and then it wasn't phil that was with me for that. I think guy's name was Steve back then. He was with the cup and following me around. And then I ended up having in my hometown

for like two hours. And then I had it for three days in August. It was like a wedding. I invited 250 people to this ceremony that we're going to have with the cup It was an amazing amazing time Wow Jackie let's jump into this game. We can sit here and talk all day. Oh, yeah, let's get into these devils real quick 52 16 10 and for led by legend Larry Robinson Scott Steve, this was a star-studded team defending champs I

mean you got to talk bro door Scott Gomez Elias Scott need a my just to name a few all Hall of Famers Ken Danica it's a it's crazy man this was a this was a wagon of a team allowed the second fewest goals in the East with broader, more Gilney. He's not in the hall. That's crazy. Yes. Yeah. Any more? Guinea, more. More. Gilney.

Yeah. He he'll get there. He's got to get there. Yeah. Like certain guys, I can't believe more. Gilney's not in there. Keith Kachuk's not in there. Oh, yeah. With Middleton's not in there. Kachuk's the Kachuk, the dad.

Yeah, he was. How a player. I heard. He was a monster. How about his boys? Oh, they're awesome. That's, I mean, that's a cool thing about being a pro athlete.

Like I'm starting now seeing the guys, the little kids that are in the locker room are now like at Notre Dame and shit, playing at Ohio State. That's great. That's so fun. I think that's the best thing about pro sports, seeing the boys, kids.

Like my son played 17 years pro. Yeah. With Chris and had his retired. They retired his jersey in Hershey where he won three Calder Cups. Go Bears. He was playing 50 something in neutral games. And then Ryan played 11 years,

mostly in the minors, but he played one NHL game, Madison Square Garden for the Rangers against the Ottawa Senators. If you're going to play one game, the garden is where you want to play it right? Oh yeah. But it's fun but these kids grew up in a locker room right and they see they watch and they just that's what they want to do. I went to that LA skate so we did So we did a charity event after those fires. You skate? I can't skate.

But you try, right? I try, yeah. Okay. I'm all right. Slippery, huh? I'm telling you, if I went out with you and you gave me three techniques I could figure, like if you just taught me how to do it,

because I don't feel uncomfortable on the ice. I mean, I grew up rollerblading. Yeah, yeah. But rollerbladingading skating is a lot shorter stride. Without a doubt. I would work out a lot of my workouts I'd do rollerblading around the track or some long distance stuff. Then the first time I was on skate I'd be tripping almost. I'd be falling forward because it's such a shorter stride because rollerblading you got to really take it out. Yeah.

And it's like longer. Then then you got on the ice. It's like, oh my God, so awkward. Yeah. But we did that skate. And I only bring that up because all the kings and there's a bunch of former kings and their kids were there. And these kids, they couldn't walk. But then they got on the skates and they're fucking

flying around me doing laps and shit. Little girls doing finger skating this I was it was a base and he coped his kids can really skate remember remember that kids were skating Yeah, he had little little hockey haircut. Molly this little badass Yeah, we all had my let's but my my grandson's three and a half is gonna be four and gotta get him on right He's got he's already flying Like I'll show you a video. It's like, it's crazy. I was sent something like two days ago.

I was like, wow, amazing how he improved. And then I got a 13 year old grandson that plays a really nice level. He plays really good hockey. So yeah. Yeah. Let's jump in. So what do you think,

what'd you think about this Devils team when you first, about this era? think about this Devils team when you first, about this era? What was this Devils team era? What was your thoughts about the team? Well, this group, I think they won two cups, if not three. And they were, you know, they were on a verge of winning another one against us. And that's how good they were.

Just strong in all areas, you know, they could score, they had great defense, they were tough, skilled and they had a great goaltender. So they were not easy to solve and they really played a nice system that they're really hard to penetrate and to get some scored goals They were always among the best defensive teams in the league by how how structured they were so It was quite a challenge. Let's do a word association with certain guys You give me one word. I'll say a name border a wall wall

Stevens Keep your head up. Niedemeyer. So skilled and fast. Robinson. My idol. Your idol. I grew up watching Larry Robinson's search of Art and Gila Point in

Montreal all those years, those three guys were my idols. That's who I looked up to. And playing against, Larry was coaching then, so shaking his hand in line, the words he had for me were amazing. Yeah, what'd he say? He was just so happy that I finally got to experience this. As pissed as I am right now that we didn't win,

if there's one guy that I wish could win this, is you. Wow. Wow. That's an ultimate respect. He's on there, I think 10 times. Yeah. He had his share, but I played with Larry in Canada Cups in the 81 and 84, Just amazing player and better person. Like

so so funny. Such a good team leader. Yeah. Kept things loose. All right. Let's let's jump into the Avalanche, Jackie. The the number one scene, the West led by Captain Joe Sackick. This was Ray's first full season with the Avs coming off. Of course, we alluded to a little bit earlier that Western conference finals loss game seven to Dallas the year prior. Um, we got to talk about some of these, these ballers on this team. Sack, Yick, Forsberg, Wah, Ray. I mean, just to Hall of Famers to name a few.

Rob Blake, Chris Drury, Tange, Alon Heydo. Heydo. Now I want to go to the year before when you got traded. How was that experience? Now, was that a mutual? I asked. How'd you ask? Yeah, so like I was talking earlier how the struggles had been, you know, for quite a while. And it was the hardest, hardest thing I ever had to do in terms of my hockey career. I was asked to leave Boston, call Harry Sendin. He was at the general manager's meetings in Florida.

And I called him and I said, Harry, I said, you know, I've decided that I've got to go somewhere to compete, to put myself in a different environment, to see if I, you know, first of all, if I still got it and to try to win again or to compete to win, to get somewhere, to have hope that a team, you know, we could get somewhere. So I told them I wanted to go to Philadelphia. I didn't want to go into Western Conference. I was at the time we were building our big house here in Boston and I wanted to be able to commute, come back when the schedule allowed me to and I thought Philadelphia looking at the Eastern Conference had the best opportunity and I made that very clear to Harry and he was like, okay, I hear you and I knew Reggie Lemelin was a goalie for the Bruins that is one of my best friends that he was goalie coach

for the Flyers. So I knew everything that was going on on their side. And I thought I knew what was going on on my side. And it just happened that there was more teams involved at the end. And I knew this because I'm having dinner one night with my agent and my wife and Steve Casper and his wife and René Angélil calls me Céline Dion's husband

back in the day. I don't know if you remember how he spoke. Hey, at the moment, come and say hello, Céline. Do you remember me? We played golf together in Montreal, and I'm like, yeah, yeah, Rene is, yeah, I remember, because him and Pierre Lacroix, the general manager for the Avs, were best friends.

They grew up together. They talked every day. And he says, Pierre does not know I'm calling you. He says, I hear you might get traded. Colorado would be an amazing place. And so I'm like, yeah yeah, right Pierre doesn't know you're calling me, right? You talk every day So anyways, I knew Colorado was involved Dave Elliott played for st. Louis back then that had played with the Bruins He called me says st. Louis would like to know if you come to st. Louis. I'm like, that's not where I want to go I knew New Jersey was involved. Detroit was involved. So I knew there was other teams

involved. So we're playing the Flyers some after Saturday afternoon game, the last game I played with the Bruins. And I read you Lemlin in the morning says, Ray, it's a done deal. You're going to you'll be coming to Philly. So I'm like great. So the puck ends I'm on the ice the the end the end of the game and the pucks just rolling right for me and the buzzer goes off So I pick up the puck and I'm like, okay, so I got the puck for the last game I play with the Bruins and all that stuff. So then after the game, I'm looking for Harry Sendon I think it's a done deal. I can't reach Harry ended up calling me later that night says sit tight. There's other teams involved. I said, you know where I want to go? Says yeah, but we'll see. He says don't come to the rink Sunday. If it's not done by tomorrow if it's not done by the next day. Don't come we're playing Ottawa on the Monday says stay away from the ring till it's done. So he calls me. I got a call later that night at the end of the Senator's game telling me that I'm going to Colorado but and warm up that that night

Dave Dave Andretruck Was pulled off the ice and warm up and he calls me says Ray. They just pulled me off the ice I'm probably going with you. Where we going? I said I, I have no clue, Dave. I haven't heard nothing yet. So we both ended up going to Colorado together. So it was, but it was an amazing, I've never played with so many French guys in my life in the whole, because, you know, Quebec Nordiques are,

that's a team in 96 that moved to Denver to become the Avalanche. And they won the cup in 96, the first year they were there, they were ready to pop. When they moved from Quebec, they were frigging ready to roll. And so they won the cup there, then they competed, they got to the semis pretty much every year, but could never really get over the hump till 2001. So that's how the deal went down. So you get traded and earlier in the interview you go, you know, this was the best team I ever played for. How is that dynamic going when you're a fucking legend, everyone knows

you as Mr. Bruin, you're the Boston Bruins, okay? You're the captain of the Boston Bruins. How was it going in and recalibrating yourself to a new locker room? Because that's tough. I don't know if I could do that. I didn't leave after like 10 years because I didn't want to go and learn new people. I didn't want to learn new system. That's a very big thing, especially when you've been in somewhere for 20 plus years. You know what you're doing. You know what I mean? That's like being a rookie again in a little bit of a facet which is completely different because you're a Bork and you know But you're learning guys for the first time in an uncomfortable environment that you've never been in. How was that dynamic? Walking into that room

First of all was really weird. I are you like banks when you had joined Mighty Ducks really weird. I, uh, are you like banks when you had joined mighty ducks from banks? I was asked to play in that movie just to come, you know, they had a cameo of a, I think Luke, Luke, Robbie tie. And, uh, I don't know who the other guy was, but there's two guys and I was asked, I'm like, I'm not flying a LA. So, um, but I but I got to Calgary. So Dave and I took the plane at 7 a.m. on the Tuesday morning.

We're playing in Calgary that night. So they sent a plane for us. It couldn't have been the smallest jet that you've ever had. We had to stop in Kansas City to refuel. And we're both in like, he's 6'4 and I'm like, I'm 6, but we're like this in a plane, all friggin' bundled up with our equipment. We had to stop in Kansas City to refuel and we're both in like he's six four and I'm like I'm six But we're like this in a plane all friggin balled all up with our equipment our sticks our clothes and it's like It was so uncomfortable. We get to Calgary around 2 2 p.m

Their time and then we have a little press conference a quick bite to eat I try to sleep for maybe an hour or whatever. I can't sleep, so I end up at the rink at four o'clock. You know, I'm the first guy at the rink. I walk in and right there is 77 and an Avalanche Jersey. It was so friggin' weird, man. It was weird. And then as the guys come in, I greeted everybody at the door and introduced myself.

But they got me for my play, but they also got me, I think, more for leadership and what I brought in other areas as well. Because talent, they needed maybe another voice in there as well. But when I talk about talent, I mean this team, the first game I'm playing, I'm behind the net and I'm like, okay, so I come out, Milan Hedu comes across in our

zone, I friggin' rip a pass right on his tape. Now he gets it and all in one motion, he rips it to Joe Sackett going up the middle on a breakaway scores. I'm like, geez. It's fun. I think this is gonna be fun. But then I get to Colorado. We go, so we play in Calgary, we play in Edmonton

and then we go back to Colorado. And I got like three friggin' suitcases and luggage and all that stuff. And I'm staying at the Marriott Resonance Inn. I'm on the third floor, no elevator. So I'm walking three flights of stairs. I thought I was gonna die. I'm in the elevation and I'm like, holy shit,

this is gonna be different. But you train there, you play there, you practice there, and what an advantage to be able to play there, and then you go to sea level and play some of these games. Was it 5'2", 80? It's about a mile, right? Yeah. They'd always have those little altitude meters.

I hated going to Denver. Yeah. Not just me. I didn't feel the altitude. I just hated fucking Denver. Oh, you could never win there. You could never win there. Except for that one game.

So I go to a Patriots game. I'm in a box with a whole bunch of... You got to get you at every fucking game fucking game. I go to the game with my two boys that are huge Patriots fan, right? So Chris is 15 and Ryan's 10. And, and Patriots killed them. That game. Wait year. This is 2001 yes So they they kill him and every time Patriots score my kids are going nuts and I'm like Jesus boys now

They sorry like they're down there they're getting 15 the kids Let's do word association with the avalanche and we'll jump into the game. Let's do some dude talk. One, I'll give you a name. You give me one word. Joe Sackett. Heart trophy. Heart trophy. Most valuable player that year. Heart trophy. Amazing.

Patrick Hwa. The best. Is he really as crazy as he seems? Like Patrick, like you would love this because I just tell people be careful what you ask because he'll answer sometimes. Like he puts his balls on a line like he'll say shit that but he needs it. That's how he rolls, right? Like he challenges himself by some of the stuff he says, because he, okay, now I got to freaking back it up, right? And he does. And that is, that's not done by many.

I was never that kind of guy either. I wouldn't even, I mean, I think you could. No, I would talk during game, but I would never before game ever like give fuel to fire because you never, you know how there's always, there's so many variables that take place in a team sport. Like I wouldn't even friggin yap much. Cause I'm like, I know it's going to come against me. Yeah.

Like there's this one kid that come to me every time I play him and he'd be right in my face. He says, Bork, you're so fucking overrated. I'm like, holy shit. I'm like, what does that make you? I said, I'm overrated. Who are you? Sounds like Sean Avery.

I was just going to say, it was probably Sean. No, it wasn't. Friend of the show. What about Peter Forsberg? A Viking man. Oh my God. He was so stubborn. Like Peter would like, would try to, and he could sometimes like beat three guys.

And it's like, and I go, Pete, I said, move, move the puck. I promise I'll give it right back. You don't have to take that physicality, get hit or hit guys. She's not our races. I love it. I love it. I got to do this. I'm like, okay, but he was just, man, what a, what a moose, but you could get under his skin though. Cause if you're like, I remember playing against him and you, cause I knew how he played and then you're like right on his face all the time and he

he'd go cuckoo. What a player, what a player. Psychological battles you guys have. What about Rob Blake? A monster, monster defense defender and a great offensive talent. Rob, you know, his physicality, if he, when he had you lined up, man, I played in the Olympics, and he was my partner in the Olympics, and I'm stepping up on somebody. What's that mean, partner in the Olympics? He, so we're defense partners.

Okay. So we're playing together, like he's on the right side, I'm on the left side. We're defense, twosome, you know? So there's two D three forwards and a goalie. But, uh, so he was my partner and I'm stepping up on a forward coming to me. And I'm, I'm, I got my stick out like this. All of a sudden I see him, he's coming and he's got his ass is coming right.

I get my arm out of there. My arm would have snapped and like this, if I don't see him last second, but he would like Scott Stevens would hit guys in the middle of the ice, Rob could do that and he had a bomb for a shot. Um, and, and a classy guy, such a good teammate. Wow. What about Chris Dury? Chris Drury, a gamer, Gamer. Always scoring big goals. When it was in porn.

Not cutting time. He was a guy scoring it. Like always at the perfect time. Little League World Series champion. Little League World Series champion. Out of what city? Trumbull, Connecticut. Yes.

We'll be right back after this quick break. Explore the winding halls of historical true crime with Holly Frye and Maria Tramarchi, hosts of Criminalia, as they uncover curious cases from the past. The legend of the Highwayman suggests men dominated the field, but tell that to Lady Catherine Ferrer's, known as the Wicked Lady, who terrorized England in the mid 1600s. Her legend persists nearly 400 years after her death. Hear the story of the gentlemen robber, the romantic darling of the ladies,

and a tale about a wager over a sack of potatoes, but you'll have to tune in to learn who won that one. Some highwaymen were well-mannered or faked it. People were concerned about the romanticism of robbers, but most were just thugs. Highwaymen are in the hot seat this season. Call them robbers or bandits. Some are legendary figures.

Listen to stories about historical crimes on Criminalia now, plus the cocktails and mocktails inspired by each. Listen to Criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, Jackie, let's build this game up. Lead up to this game. We talked about it earlier. The Avs go out and take game six, four-nothing in Jersey, head back to Colorado for the third finals, game seven in 30 years.

Crazy. in 30 years. Crazy. And we got history on the line here to go on up against Ray's guy, Larry Robinson, who was eight no in Stanley Cup finals before this. So pretty crazy. And we're without Forsberg second round and we win seven in seven games. And Peter plays the game. We all leave after the game and Peter goes out for dinner and all of a sudden not feeling well. He goes to the hospital. He has emergency emergency surgery middle of the night and we have a meeting the next day. We don't practice because we're playing the following day to start the finals. And Bob Hartley, our coach, comes in, tells us that Peter had emergency surgery. He's done for the playoffs.

And I was like, wow, really? Maybe our best player. So that's the stuff that you go through, and injuries and just the ups and downs and the emotions. You guys are one game and done. For us, you gotta win four games, and sometimes it's go sevens. The mood swings and the highs and the lows at you,

and try to stay even keel and to keep that belief. It is so hard to maintain. And now you got 20 guys that you gotta work with to keep them up or not too high. Hey guys, that's one, that's one. We need three more. Or hey guys, we're down to nothing, but we're going back home.

We're going back home, we'll be okay. We're good, we're good. It's it's crazy the thing that we always pull from hockey basketball 80 plus 162 with baseball the games we always talk about your guys's competitive stamina Because you have to the focus levels like we break our game down into quarters You guys break your games, your series down into games.

You got to have that competitive stamina, that short memory, whether good or bad. And I remember vividly, you know, Belichick would always reference hockey. You know, you know, you guys, they got to do it for this. You guys only have to do it for one fucking Saturday. So, you know what I mean? It's different, but it's the same. But that competitive stamina, like that's hard to like go in like a six game slump. And then-

I think all good, really successful players, they have short memories. Short memory. For me, when I look back on my career, I was looking for perfection, knowing that I'm never gonna reach it, but in a constructive way. I play with guys that are looking for perfection,

and if they don't have it, they're frigging screwed. You lose them for a period, you lose them for a game, you lose them for a week. For me, I was looking for perfection every single day, let it be practice, games, knowing that I'm never gonna reach it, but it made me the best I could be every single day. And I brought that, and I brought that.

And when I look back on my career, that's why I was so consistent, because I never sat on nothing. You know, if I have an amazing game, it's like they're in your, okay, so Ray, you're freaking amazing tonight. I'm like, yeah, hey, I did my job, man. But I don't care, because tomorrow I'm trying to be better.

I gotta be better tomorrow. And I never really sat on nothing that I've accomplished. I said, I'm gonna look back when it's all over with, that's when I'm gonna look back and kind of analyze, and I go, holy shit, I did that. Yeah. But I know why I did it because that's how I approach it. My glass was always half full, never half empty.

We're going to find a solution. We're going to get better. That's how I approached everything. As a leader, a captain, that's how I approach things. Always in a constructive way. If there's criticism, I was always part of it because we're a team and it's like, Hey guys, you know, I might be talking to you right now, but I'm part of this and I got to be better. We got to be better. Now I approach my leadership skills and all that stuff. That's how I approach

everything in life. And that's why you're the fucking captain. Oh, capitan. Oh, capitan. That's like Titanic. Capita, Capita. What makes Playoff? We could kind of hang. This is kind of like the Titanic. You know what? I could stand right behind you. We could just.

It's kind of a re-bring is. Celine Dion song. When I first got this place, we got a lot of Titanic. And then the elevator reminds you of the Titanic elevator. Oh yes, yes. You know with the sliders? That's why when I first got this place,

I was like, man, it's like a Titanic elevator. Holy shit. We're going all over the place today. Yeah. Can you break down the playoff beard for us? Where does this come from? That started, Cause I stole it.

Way back. Yeah. It was, it was something that, you know, maybe the Islanders might've started that when, so the Islanders won their first cup in 79, 80. They beat us in the second round. Like we finished first overall. The Islanders were coming as a team.

First game, I remember at the end of the first period, we had a big brawl that probably lasted a half hour. And I think that right then and there kind of made them who they became. They went on to win four straight Stanley Cups. Wow. That year. And I think that's, that's when the Allarders kind of started this beard thing. You know, we're not going to shave. And so then it just like mullets and everything, you know, it's, it's a hockey thing. It became a hockey thing. Jackie, break down the game. The Avs never trailed in this one.

Got up one, nothing. Two Tangway goals got up to nothing. Then Saki had another one, got up three, nothing. Jersey finally got on the board. Uh, the end of the second up three, one heading into the third, uh, survive a bevy of power plays shots when this thing three to one. So when did you feel it was coming? Are you, because you're the cap,

and I just heard how you were, boys, hey boys, we still got, we got a period here, boys. That was, you know what, like, I'm sure you've worked with, like we had Fred Neff, that was our mental coach. Psychologist, sports psychologist. Sports psychologist, right? So we would have classes when, uh, when Tara Riley coach, she was really big on this.

So we would actually have class that we would work on, you know, staying in the moment, staying present about the process and breaking down all those things. And it worked on our visualization and, and all those things and working on visualization and all those things. And we had a pretty veteran team and the older guys were like, what the fuck is, what the shit is this? What kind of shit is this? Come on, I don't want to do this.

But I bought into it. I really enjoyed it. I liked it. And staying in the moment is such a hard thing, staying present and about the process and staying right here and not thinking about the outcome or the past, whatever. It's like, it is so hard.

And that game was the biggest test of staying in the moment. We're up three nothing. And I'm like, holy shit, I'm gonna win the frigging cup. Then I'm like, Ray, come back, come back. Shut the hell up. Play the game, stay right here. What a test that was and staying in the moment. And then the last few shifts, I was trying to stay alive.

I always thought I was gonna faint and I had a hard time breathing. I'm like, Jesus, this is gonna happen. And they got my big face on the jumbotron and people are going frigging nuts last minute. I'm trying to get off. The guys are pushing me back on the ice. They want me to be on the ice

for the last second of the game. Man, it was crazy. It was nuts. What a feeling. And when it hit zero, what's the first thing you think about? Going to see my goalie, Patrick Wah. Good goalies make good coaches. Great goalies make great coaches.

And Patrick made a lot of great coaches out there. You can't win without it. So he was amazing. And we were like this. We had so much fun playing together. I'd pick him up for all home games. I'd pick him up to go to the airport. We sat together in the planes.

We'd go out for dinner every time on the road. So really close. And we always joked about playing together someday when I'd go back to Montreal in the summers and Patrick was playing for Montreal. I was playing for the Bruins and we were members at the same golf club and we'd always say, yeah, you know,

you gotta come to Montreal. I said, no, you gotta come play in Boston. And we ended up in Colorado together playing a year and a half was amazing, amazing. Relationships you get in sport. Yeah, you probably know that guy forever. And then it comes full circle. You guys go different path and then it leads you back.

That that's so like I get a call. So Sean Poudin was on this team, one of my favorite teammates. Every June 9th at the exact time we won the cup. Hey, Mr. Bay, how are you? Happy anniversary. Oh, yeah. ya? Happy anniversary. Hell yeah. You guys are always. So then we got a text train going around

with a few of the guys. Cause you win together, you walk together, right? There's nothing. There's nothing like it. Forever. Forever. And then Jackie, let's go see the aftermath of this game. The Avalanche become the first team since the 1971 Montreal

Canadians to rally from a three, two deficit in the finals. When this thing Ray retires and rides off into the sunset. His number 77 is retired by both Colorado and Boston. And he'd be selected to the hockey hall of fame 2004. All time leader in points assisting goals by a defenseman too. Yeah. Those are pretty good numbers there. Pretty good career. Is that good?

That's me. Not too shabby. That's more than half of Bobby, you are. Just a little, just a little French guy. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Bobby played 10 years, 10 years in his last year might've been on one leg. Bobby plays 22 years. Forget about it. Let's name the game. These are some names we came up with. If you have a specific name that you come up with,

we'll use that. After 22 years game, this one's for Ray game. Mission accomplished game, Avs in seven game. Aves and seven game. Mission accomplish is I had T shirts made up and hats. It was Mission 16W. Mission 16W. And the exit for the where we played the metal lands.

The exit was 16 W. I love that. We're going mission 16 W game. That's awesome. That's what it's called. Score the game. Is this the greatest game of all time? Let's score it.

Ray Stakes, 0 to 10 of this game. Seven Stanley Cup. Oh, 10, 10 big time. Do or die. Yeah, 10. Yeah, 10. 10. Big time. Do or die. Yeah. 10. Yeah. 10 for me.

9.1. 9.6. 9.6. Star power. Star power on your team, who was in the building, were there celebrities in the building. The other team. Coaches, Hall of Famers.

A lot of good. If I go star power by who's on the ice, I'd go 10 again. A lot of Hall of Famers. We'll go 10. I'll go nine, five. I like it. I went eight, nine. I went nine, one. The gameplay of the game seven finals game. Three to one.

Three to one. But after a long series, the gameplay though for you, this is for you. So it's 10. 10. I'm going to go though, for you. This is for you. So it's 10. 10? I'm gonna go 3-1 battle. You guys were sitting in this friggin' chair, I think, it's easy.

This is friggin' easy. I wish Go was this easy. Played more than anybody. We had Mark Cuban come on and he gave everything 10s. It's like a Mark Cuban owner, but you know what, for you? 10s. Well earned. Gameplay for me, he's gotta go 7-1.

Had an 8-1. I also had an 8-1. The the game the mission 16 W pretty strong 11 That might break the algorithm I love it I gotta go with the 9. Yes for the curve I had a 9.0 as well. I had 9.2. Where is this gonna put us? This can be the highest game. Nine point two, three. That puts us all baby. Our new fourth just behind the Malcolm Butler game Super Bowl 49,

Seattle versus Patriots and just ahead of Miracle on Ice 1980. We did with Jim Craig. Yeah. Holy. Strong. Worthy. Wow. All right. Man, Miracles should be higher. Not just this game, just in general. Well, Ray even said the miracle brought it to the States, basically. He said that match right there. Grew the game.

I mean, big time. Ray, did we miss anything about this game? No. When I watch the replay of the game and all that stuff and the ceremony of the cup and all that stuff, it's so cool to see my two kids in the background that is and my 10 year old is friggin crying like a baby. Yeah, just that's that's you know for me. I that that is kind of wraps everything up. You know Everyone go out there and check out the Borg family foundation. Ray does a lot of great things for the community He's got the captain's Ball to fight ALS

September 23rd at Aganus Arena. Tickets at the Borgettgala.com. Check them out. You know, we met. Many times. Many times. But the first time we met in 2009 at a, what was that you said in the Cape at that event, I really didn't know.

Like I like like I was California can really know who Ray Borg was. You know what I mean? Being I didn't know hockey and getting to know you more over this last hour and a half. I mean, I would have loved to get to play with you. You just seem like a captain. Every answer that you've had, you can tell you're a standup dude. You love your family, you love hockey,

and you did it the right way. And it's an absolute honor to have you here with the Stanley Cup. We thought it'd only be suitable. This is amazing. When I heard that, I was like, Jesus, you are connected, man. No.

Well, now we got to do our homework. The Stanley Cup final starts June 4th on TNT. Oylers versus Panthers. Conor McDavid. Oylers versus Panthers. Quick question for you. Have you talked with Brad Marsh on it all? Yeah, I communicate with Brad.

Quite, I mean, I text him after they won, but during the trade stuff and all that stuff, of course this season Brad might reach out or whenever. I have great, great relationships with these guys, you know, Berge, Shara, Brad, all the captains and the coaches of the Bruins and then with our foundation They've been so supportive and some of them show up on my golf tournament That is August 18th And then a lot of them they've supported our captain's ball like there's at least you know eight to twelve of them that come up You know I was great relationship with butch Cassidy Bruce and then Monty, you know, they were great and we try

to have it just before camp starts but I know everybody's here so I always kind of hope that we get a good turnout that makes it so special for people that attend the ball and they've been so generous and with their time and so through and I'm a huge fan, you know, I get to the garden pretty much when I have to now to watch games, but I watch, I watch as many games as I can. If I'm, you know, and I'd rather be in my chair at home watching it. I get to watch a game because you know, when we're out watching games in a luxury box or whatever it is, you don't, you don't see it. Oh shit, they scored. Okay. Let's see the replay on TV. But, you know, I, and I, I'm a, I'm a big fan and I, uh, I really admire these guys

and, and we've had such a great run, you know, those two decades we talked about where, you know, the Patriots, the Red Sox, the Celtics, the Bruins, they were just, you know, title town, right? It was, it was crazy. So, um, get to know them and having relationships with them and, you know, title town, right? It was, it was crazy. So, um, get to know them and having relationships with them and, you know, sending them a little text when they're doing something great, knowing that they could always reach out if they have a question or they need anything from me. Uh, it's, it's, it's been fun.

No, this has been extremely fun. It's been an absolute pleasure. And thank you so much for coming and doing the show. Thanks for having me. It's time for the Chill Zone brought to you by Coors Light. Get Coors Light delivered straight to your door. Visit CoorsLight.com slash GWN and celebrate responsibly. Really good show. Don't worry. We're getting back to it. But what's the chillest thing you guys done lately?

I got poison ivy back home. Oh, not chill. That's not chill. But I keep it chill by putting in calamine lotion. Yeah, by putting calamine cold cores light on there and you're good to go. I think cold compress. I think it would. I think it would. Now you're East coast poison ivy guy. Big time. Yeah. Big poison note guy over on the West coast. If it's three, let it be. If it's hairy, it's a berry. It's one of those kind of days. I never heard hairy. It's a berry. Well, usually because they kind of look similar to the berries when they're all bushed up. What have, what have you been doing this pretty chill? Ah, I've been golfing a little bit. Nice. I went golfing. It's a soccer game.

Little how to soccer game. Love that. Killed it. Love that. Great effort. That's pretty chill. Effort and attitude. That's so chill.

I was so chilled out after watching that. Doesn't get much chiller than that. Jack, what's the chillest thing you've been up to? Man, I've just been grinding, baby, up hanging in Boston. Yeah, we were in Boston. Being in Boston is pretty darn chill. That's chill. June, May, June in Boston.

It was really muggy. It wasn't that muggy. It was pretty muggy. No. Saturday was the worst, or Friday afternoon. It still got cold at night. It did. Yeah, it did.

It's not hot yet. Still get to put on a little pullover action. When you gotta throw the AC on at night, that's when it starts getting hot. Let's get back to the show. We have a big show. We don't need the key. That was the Chill Zone.

Thanks to our favorite beer, Coors Light. Get Coors Light delivered straight to your door. Visit CoorsLight.com slash GWN and celebrate responsibly. Not only do we have. The Stanley Cup with us. We got the keeper of the cup, Phil Pritchard, here in the studio. Welcome to the Nutshell. Jules, this is this is awesome.

I feel way overdressed. I mean, you have an image to upkeep with this bad boy. Anytime you go around, it's like you're like Secret Service. I feel like that. I told the audience already, there's like six cars outside just waiting, waiting for something to happen. If anyone wants to come around this frickin Lord. Yeah, it is pretty nice, though, isn't it?

Like, it's it's unbelievable. It's it's really cool because of I think because of. The imperfections of it, when you of the imperfections of it. When you see the imperfections, what that shows me is that this thing's been around for a very long time and having, you know, all the names of every player that's got to hold this cup on. There's just a lot of tradition. This is, this is a pretty damn cool trophy and we've seen them all.

Yeah. It's amazing. What started off in the 1890s as that little bowl, what it's become now and how hockey has grown. And you see where the countries that it's played in and the names on it. I mean, if it could talk, it'd have its own podcast. It would definitely have its own podcast.

I'd produce that. If it could talk, what would be a fun story it would say that you've been around? I think one thing that's really cool that not everyone realizes, nowhere on there does it say Stanley Cup. Wow. The Dominion Hockey Challenge Bowl is the real name,

but Stanley Cup sounds way cooler. Yeah. So this is Dominion Bowl. Yeah. We've been... You've been blessed with the Dominion Bowl this is Dominion Bowl. Yeah. We've been you've been blessed with the Dominion Bowl, the Dominion Bowl. Now what's a question you wish no one had ever asked you about the cup? Is this the real one? Every, every where we go? The first question is, is this the real one? Because people

can't believe that it's here or whatever that always gets asked. Is this the real one? Yeah. Can you take us through the origins of how you became the keeper of the cup? You know what, growing up in Canada, I played hockey just like all my buddies, everyone did, road hockey, street hockey, ice hockey, whatever, we all wanted to play in the National Hockey League and lift the Stanley Cup.

I think I was either smart enough or dumb enough to realize that when I was 15, that I wasn't going to be playing pro hockey, my face got in the way of the puck. Whatever happened, I had to do something else. And so when I went to college, I had always grown up collecting hockey stuff, sports stuff, football, everything. I was a big sports fanatic.

So I took a sports administration course in college and it ended up being a co-op internship thing. So where you volunteer, you don't get paid. Mine was with the Ontario hockey league. And for whatever happened, I must've done a good job because my boss is there thought, this guy's, this guy's okay. Let's see how we can help him.

So I went on to the Canadian hockey league and then I got a call to go to the hockey hall of fame. That was, that was 88. That was a long time ago. Yeah. I went to the hockey hall of fame, but I didn't start off as traveling with the cup. That took, believe it or not, four days. My first week on the job, someone needed the cup up in New Market, Ontario, which is a small town, Connor McDavid's from there.

Sam Bennett's up there. There's a bunch of players from up there. It had to go up to a minor hockey tournament. And I'm the new guy on the block and our boss said, does anyone want to take the Stanley Cup up on Friday night to Newmarket, Ontario? And I look around the office and nobody says anything. And I'm thinking to myself, I don't know if you put your hand up in this place, but I put my hand up. So I put my hand up and I said anything. And I'm thinking to myself, I don't know if you put your hand up in this place, but I put my hand up.

So I put my hand up and all right, Phil, you wanna go up there? I said, that'd be great. What kind of car you got? I'm thinking, okay, what kind of car do I got? I tell them what I got. Will it fit in the back of the car? Well, we'll make it fit.

So I drove up, we did this minor hockey event. And when I came in on Monday morning, uh, my boss said, I heard it went well on Friday. Yeah. Want to go to Dallas this weekend? And it just kind of went from there. I don't want to say I applied for the, I didn't really apply for a job. I put my hand up.

So what I tell people everywhere is, hey, you never in the wrong spot at the wrong thing, you never know what's going to happen is. You know, I was I was expecting like a conclave or like there was a bunch of coming out of shit. I thought there was going to be like a selection of Cardinals type hockey people that make a vote. I guess you just got to say, put your hand up. That was it. But you know what? Believe it or not, in 88, obviously hockey was a lot

different than it is now. Wayne Gretzky had just got traded to the Los Angeles Kings. Hockey in the South began to boom pretty quick. California, Florida, all of that Dallas area, California, Florida, all of that Dallas area. Uh, Phoenix San Jose and San Jose, San Jose, Anaheim, Los Angeles. But you look at where hockey is now compared to where it was then. Everyone in the world that puts on a pair of skates and holds a stick, arguably wants to play in the national hockey league was just like me when I was a kid. But ultimately they want to win this and bring it home to mom and dad and say thanks. And that's the stories that

it can't tell. Which it could. Yeah. Now what's your favorite place that you got to bring it to? For me, I love going everywhere to a new place. I love the people in Finland. I love going everywhere to a new place. I love the people in Finland. Uh, in the summer, it's 24 hours sunlight. So they have a lot of celebrations going on in the winter, 24 hours of darkness. It's a bit tougher. Yeah.

Uh, but yeah, the Finns they're all in on hockey, but regardless of where we go, whether it's across Canada, US, over to Europe, into Russia, wherever. The reaction of hockey today is growing all the time. I think the last set I saw, it's played in 96 countries around the world now. Hell yeah. And most of them don't even have snow, but they can make ice now and that makes it work. It's pretty crazy in this new information age,

how all the sports are just booming, it seems like, because of the social medias, the streaming services that are creating these deals with the leagues. I think sports are just on a way up, because it's our real only reality TV that's real. Exactly. You know what I mean? Like there's reality TV, but that ain't real.

This is real. It's funny, you said that? Like there's reality TV, but that ain't real. This is real. It's funny. You said that my my wife loves reality TV. And I always tell I always tell her that's not reality TV. And Canada reality TV started with hockey night in Canada. Exactly. That's the real stuff. And and it's growing, obviously, and then Monday night football and all that baseball. But that's reality. That's reality.

Now, what's the most intense superstition you've encountered? I think there's a few of them. One of them is the beard in the playoffs. Yeah. Hockey is right into that. The guys don't shave throughout basically two and a half months if they're still playing in that. But the other one is they will not touch it

until they've earned it. And I, I love that respect. Yeah. Like whatever Lord Stanley brought to this game back in the 1890s, when he purchased this in London, England, it has grown and grown the respect of it and all of that. And that could have a lot to do with the way the game has grown in social media and all of that. But it's, it's our white gloves.

We wear, uh, the guys understand how hard it is to win. They know they can't do it by themselves. Their family is part of it. So when they touch it, they want to have earned it. And you gotta love anytime respect as part of a sport. Yeah. You feel that. You feel that. when they touch it, they want to have earned it. And you got to love any time respect is part of a sport. Yeah. You feel that with hockey, you feel respect, tradition.

That's something that like that locker room, out of all the sports I feel has like the biggest respect for the people that came before it. And it's probably because this has something to do with it. You get to see every single one of their names until they have to remove one and add a new, but you get to see the guys that put the work, the blood, the sweat, the tears to be able to hold this thing. It's so true. The night, the cup is one to be in the dressing room and the guys are looking

on past names of, Hey, I remember watching that guy or whatever to hear that. Yeah. It brings all the magic together right on the spot. And then you ask them, so what do you want to do with that on your day? And it's just, the emotions are, I got to thank my mom and dad. I wish my grandparents were here.

I got to take it to the cemetery. I got to go to, it's it's unbelievable. But they know they can't do it by themselves. Yeah, they had somebody tying their skate when they were young and they don't forget those people. And that that's a that's a respect in itself. You you wear white gloves every time you touch it. Yes. So like, are we like Willie Mays Hayes

posting up our white gloves after every time we touch? How many white pairs of white gloves you gone through? I've got every pair I've ever worn. How many is it? Wow. It's probably four to five hundred pairs. Holy schmoly. My wife wants me to throw them out. I've got them in my drawers at home.

I don't have sock drawers anymore. Andy George, I have white glove drawers. You know you should do. You should sell them to fanatics. Honestly. We should sell them to fanatics, make you a couple of shekels there, buddy. But you know what? I mean, it's funny. We talk about the white gloves.

I work at the Hockey All-A-Fame Museum in Toronto. Every curator in any museum in the world wears white gloves. Our fingerprints have oils in them. We don't want to get it on the artifact, whether it's a trophy, whether it's artwork, whether it's a trophy, whether it's an artwork, whether it's a rock gallery, whatever it might be. All curators wear them.

We kind of brought those white gloves from behind the scenes to the forefront. When we carry the cup, we wanted to carry it with, we don't deserve to touch it either. I mean, I've never won it. So I shouldn't be touching it, but by carrying it with the white gloves, I think we're, and I hope we're paying it the respect it deserves. Wow.

And I hope fans and players in that understand that's why we do it. It's not, not for any, not to glamor anything. It's to respect what this is. We'll be right back after this quick break. Explore the winding halls of historical true crime with Holly Fry and Maria Trimarchi, hosts of Criminalia, as they uncover curious cases from the past. The legend of the highwayman suggests men dominated the field,

but tell that to Lady Catherine Ferrer's, known as the Wicked Lady, who terrorized England in the mid 1600s. Her legend persists nearly 400 years after her death. Hear the story of the gentleman robber, the romantic darling of the ladies, and a tale about a wager over a sack of potatoes, but you'll have to tune in to learn who won that one. Some highwaymen were well-mannered or faked it. People were concerned about the romanticism of robbers, but most were just thugs. Highwaymen are in the hot seat this season. Call them robbers or bandits. Some

are legendary figures. Listen to stories about historical crimes on Criminalia Now, plus the cocktails and mocktails inspired by each. Listen to Criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Now, what's the cleaning technique of this bad boy? It's every day. Every day, so we're using like silver polish or... Well, no. What are we using?

You know what's amazing is because this is all hand done. So it's not a computer generated names. It's a silversmith out of old Montreal, generational silversmith. And she engraves each one of these names on here. And it does it letter by letter. So when we're cleaning it, all we're trying to do daily

is take the fingerprints off of it. Basically in our hotel room, I can use the shampoo that's in the hotel room and warm water, and that'll get rid of the fingerprints. Louise St. Jacques is the silversmith. She professionally does it twice a year. So it looks outstanding.

And as you mentioned earlier, when you see it from a distance, it's unbelievable. When you see it up close, you see the imperfections in it, then it's got a story and that's, there's the story it can tell. The story is everything. Like that's the best part about this trophy. Sometimes when you get a perfect trophy, they're brand new, you know, and it's like, this is like been through it.

Only being cleaned by like hotel shampoo, hockey guy, hockey guy move through and through. Love it. I don't know about that. Like what it does in my head. You do like you and then the cup. Now, Phil, what's the Stanley Cup mean to you? To me in sport,

I think it's the greatest trophy in the world. To be able to be part of the greatest sport in the world and to be able to be part of the greatest sport in the world. And to be able to walk out on the ice and play a small role in that whole presentation process. It's amazing. I, growing up, like I said, I wanted to win the Stanley Cup to be able to walk it on the red carpet and be part of the commissioner's presentation

and that it's pretty amazing. Wow. I think on their day, because every player gets a day with a cup to show up on the day of, and first of all, congratulating them and meeting their family, but being a fly on the wall, listening to the stories of how they got there, that to me means. All of it. Yeah. That's priceless right there.

Now, how the hell did you end up at the bottom of Mario Lemieux's pool? I saw this. Yes, I didn't end up in the bottom. I was, if you saw the photo out there, you'll see it in the corner. Did you go in there? I didn't have to, no.

We had, we actually had some police officers there one time, it's, Mario's pretty superstitious guy. And well-deserved too. I mean, a two-time Stanley Cup champion as a captain, three times as an owner, he's earned the rights. But yeah, it has been in Mario's pool a few times. And again, yeah. And again, that's the superstition side because it went in once and then

they won the next year or so that's gotta be, that's the superstition kicking in. Look at that. Yeah. I don't think you can see my feet in that one. Well, now what's the worst has been damaged and who did it? Uh, sadly, I mean, again, we go back to the imperfections and perfections. When someone looks at it closely, see scratches and some dents. Sadly, it has got scratches and dents.

A few years ago, it was dropped on the ice right after the presentation. Oh, man. That was a tough one because the whole world is watching then. But players will do whatever to make sure that doesn't happen. But as you can see on there, when you look close, I think you will, is when you and I are this old, we might have some dents and scratches on it, too. That's what they say.

The bumps in the road or what make the journey fun. Yeah. Well said, brother. There you go. I got a question. So I've heard like recently that there's a lot of like superstition around the ownership and having the cup in the building or not in the building, like when it's like during the Stanley Cup final. Is there any like, how do you deal with that or any stories from like having to like jostle superstitions while also being present for the Stanley Cup final? It is. I mean, there are there are superstitions and it's pretty amazing because I use Colorado,

for example, Pierre Lacroix, the old GM and president of the Avalanche, he did not want it in the building until it could possibly be won. So we're there doing our job with having the cup have to be in the building because it could be won and Pierre Lacroix doesn't want it there. So you have to kind of hide out of the way, but at the same time, respect his wishes and his superstitions. There's a lot of teams that think the same way. Boston was the same way, Montreal, Toronto.

Uh, but in today's world of social media, everything else on camera. So everybody knows where it's at in that. But I can really appreciate why they don't want it in the building. They don't think they've earned the right to have it there until they've actually done. And then once that's happened, those superstitions are gone and they become part of the legacy

of a Stanley Cup champion. Well, Phil, it's been an amazing treat to have not just the Cup here, but you, because of your countless stories, and you're part of the tradition, man, and it's really cool to get to pick your brain for a little bit. Thank you for coming to the NUT House.

Is there anything you wanna plug? Does your wife have something that she loves? She loves reality. What do we wanna plug? I know happy wife, happy life. Yeah, that's a good one. I like that one. Hey, you know what? That's a good one. I mean, she's become a hockey fan over the years. So Stanley is part of our life and part of our family, I guess. So for my kids and my wife and Diane, it's another story on the day of the life of Lord Stanley. Oh man. I love it.

Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Phil. Really an honor. Thanks, Phil. How awesome is it to have the Stanley Cup here? Still can't believe it. It's unreal. Absolutely unreal.

Shout out to the NHL. You know, they've been listening. They've been listening to the fans. You know, the four nations shit. This, like, I feel like hockey's got buzz right now. Hockey's buzzing, and and it is because it's playoffs I mean playoff hockey you always feel it. Well, we know what the Stanley Cup final is right now It's the Oilers versus the Panthers Oilers versus the Panthers June 4th on June 4th on

TNT great pregame coverage McDavid McDavid Chuck Chuck Brad Marshawn It's killer. We love you. Let's face killer. Let's go. Snow's face killer podcast. We like dogs and thanks everyone in the NHL for for letting us see this thing and experience this and everyone there. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I go back to not to be too sentimental.

I go back to last year around this time. We have Larry O'Brien in the trail, which was huge. Jack's a big basketball guy. And I never really thought having a trophy at our studio or on our show would be possible. And then when Larry O'Brien showed up and Larry was super cool, Larry can hang, Larry can hang, I can hang. Thinking to myself, oh, man, Stanley Cup.

Man, that would be crazy. And now almost exactly a year later. It's right here. Lord Stanley Cup into existence, we got to say, though, color as our resident hockey guy, how are you feeling? So I was never going to win a Stanley Cup. Look at me.

It's never going to win a Stanley Cup. Right. I chose media. But you know what? This is the closest I'll ever get that this cup is here because of us. My dad's here. It's very sentimental. I'm about to cry.

Did you touch it? I haven't touched it yet. I don't think you're supposed to touch it. Oh, I'm not gonna win it. How do you know? What if you direct a crazy movie by NHL team and then all of a sudden you think back to your life, I touched it when I was doing

that little podcast we were doing and now I'll never win it when you're like 78 years old. You know what? We'll see. We'll see what happens. Don't don't fucking touch it. I might touch it. I'm going to touch it. Don't don't touch it. Don't touch. I'm going to touch it. Wait, wait. You're he's such a fair weather fan. Wait, who's your hockey team now? You're you're you're bolt up with fucking the Chargers in L.A.

Are you an L.A. king? He doesn't wear. I know he wears his L.A. king shit all the time. Well, he's a penguin guy because I live near Korea town. Oh, yeah. He's penguins guy. Yeah, I'm a penguin. First of all, kings and penguins, they don't have any bad blood first and foremost. Okay. So you can have a West Coast team like you're a 49ers fan. You might as well have an East Coast team, a West Coast team. Let's get a South team in there.

Mostly rep in Korea town because it's got the cool Korean Kings thing. It is pretty cool. And when they're doing the harmonica, I thought they were going to take that all the way to the Stanley Cup. Turns out they lost the lawyers, but, you know, that was fun vibes. Those vibes are incredible. Hey, those ladies got the juice. Yeah, they do have the juice. And they yeah.

So but you notice I'm not wearing any payment stuff here. I don't want to jinx any of that. Really? Yeah. What do you mean? What jinx? I don't know. I think Crosby and Malkin and LeTang,

they got one more in them. Would that be a jinx you think if you wore pen stuff? Not really, but you know. Have they been close? Not recently. No. But they're like, Get that out of your head.

Gotta believe? Gotta believe. Gotta believe. Kyle DeMoss turning around next year. All right, let's get out of here. Let's get out of here. Thanks for everyone at the NHL, this is awesome. Go watch the Stanley Cup final.

You don't need to hear it from us, but Oilers, Panthers, it's gonna be awesome. June 4th. Let's go. June 4th. It's gonna be a TNT. And shout out to Ray Bork, the Ray Bork Foundation. Ray Bork Foundation. With great words. What an episode, let's go.

What an episode, and thanks again to Ray Borg, Phil Pritchard and the NHL for letting us have Lord Sir Stanley, Mr. Cup. Thank you, Lord Stanley. Thank you, Lord. This is I can't put words together. Well, that's not anything new. Well, as I definitely not a word, I never really could. Well, that's been another episode of Games and Names. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, wherever you listen

to podcast, comment a game you want us to do. And remember, rate and review. Leave us a five star review on Spotify while you're there. We'll read the best ones. Oh, no, that's our YouTube stuff. That's our YouTube I know but there's comments in Spotify now, too You see how a Stanley comes I start I start talking Canadian Well, you are

Is your Canadian coming out? It's a little it's a little coming out 50% of you getting all tingly. I guess you Yeah. I was gonna say you're stealing Valor, but no, you're good. You passed. Yeah, my mom just got her green card. Really? Yeah. Shout out Angie. Congrats. It took her like 50 years. Man, better late than never. She married my dad so she didn't technically need it. She got her something. I don't know. It used to be a blue card. I don't know. But remember to follow Games with Names on YouTube, Instagram, X, TikTok,

and Snapchat. Leave a comment on the YouTube full episode. We'll read the best ones on our future episodes. And leave a message on that old hotline. Those are always fun at 424-291-2290. We'll see you guys next week. Games with Names, a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio for more podcasts from iHeartRadio.

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