New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce - Inside the NFL Owner’s Meeting + Gretzky on Ovechkin's Scoring Record, GOATs & NHL Playoffs | EP 141

Episode Date: May 28, 2025

92%ers welcome back another episode of New Heights, brought to you by our friends at Reese’s and their new PB&J cups. Found wherever candy is sold!On today’s episode, Jason walks us through his time “saving” the tush push at the NFL owners’ meeting, the guys debate if NFL players should play in the Olympics, if more teams should do Hard Knocks, and we decide the greatest discontinued '90s snack of all time.  And we have an incredible conversation with NHL legend, The Great One, Wayne Gretzky. We get into everything from how he felt watching Alexander Ovechkin break his career goals record, who’s his favorite team left in the NHL Playoffs, how to be a great sports parent, who is on his GOAT list, the real story behind his barefoot golfing pic with Travis, and so much more! For even more New Heights, check out our New Heights YouTube Membership! As a member, you'll get access to full episodes, bonus videos, badges, and other stuff that will make you stand out. You can also listen to new episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. ...Download the full podcast here:Wondery: https://wondery.app.link/s9hHTgtXpMbApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-heights/id1643745036Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/1y3SUbFMUSESC1N43tBleK?si=LsuQ4a5MRN6wGMcfVcuynwFollow New Heights on Social Media for all the best moments from the show: https://lnk.to/newheightshowThere is still time to vote on the below: Vote New Heights for “Favorite Podcast” https://www.kidschoiceawards.com/vote/favorite-podcastVote Travis for “Favorite Male Sports Star”https://www.kidschoiceawards.com/vote/favorite-male-sports-starSupport the Show:  REESE’S: Reese’s new PB&J cups. What’s your jam? Found wherever candy is sold!   AMERICAN EXPRESS: For full terms and to learn more, http://visitamericanexpress.com/withAmexS.KINGSFORD: Grill with Kingsford https://www.kingsford.com/ ALL STATE: Checking first is smart. So, check https://Allstate.com first for a quote that could save you hundreds.DRAFT KINGS: Don’t miss out on all the action this week at DraftKings! Download the DraftKings app today! Sign-up using dkng.co/newheights or through promo code NEWHEIGHTS. GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-GAMBLER, [phone] or visit gamblinghelplinema.org (MA). Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY). Please Gamble Responsibly. 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org (CT), or visit www.mdgamblinghelp.org (MD).  21+ and present in most states. (18+ DC/KY/NH/WY). Void in ONT/OR/NH. Eligibility restrictions apply. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino & Resort (KS). 1 per new customer. $5+ first-time bet req. Max. $300 issued as non-withdrawable Bonus Bets if your bet wins. Bonus Bets expire in 7 days (168 hours). Stake removed from payout. Terms: sportsbook.draftkings.com/promos. Ends 6/22/25 at 11:59 PM ET. Sponsored by DK. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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I've been hit all over the field on a football field. The hardest I've ever been hit in my life is open ice on a hockey ring. Like you get a hospital pass going where you're looking back and the defenseman can have a clear run at you, man. Oh my gosh. That is going to hurt. That is going to hurt. You never look back.

And secondly, you never have a defenseman that bad that passes a puck that back. Yeah, there you go. Yeah, there you go. Welcome back to New Heights, ladies and gentlemen. Boys and girls, a Wondry show produced by Wavesports and Entertainment and brought to you by Reese's and their new PB&J cups. All right now, those things sound delicious, don't they? Get them in grape and strawberry, Jason. How about that? We're your hosts.

I'm Travis Kelly. This is my big brother, Jason Kelsey Get them in grape and strawberry, Jason. How about that? Nice. We're your hosts. I'm Travis Kelly. This is my big brother, Jason Kelsey out of Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Heights High alumni, baby. What's good? Shout out to the Heights.

Shout out to the Bearcats. Subscribe on YouTube, OneDream Plus, wherever you get your podcasts, and follow the show on all social media at New Heights Show with one S. Jason, tell the people what we got coming up. Ooh, we got a great one for you. We always do.

We're going to have some recap of my time at the NFO owners meeting. Answer some of your not done questions. Hey, and speaking of great ones, we're going to have the great one. Wayne Gretzky, maybe on the episode today, you're going to want to hear that. Stanley Cups are coming to a two of was coming to a forefront, right? We're 14. Yeah. Stanley Cup is almost here.

There you go. It's almost here. Panthers one game away. And yeah, we got a fucking heated battle between Dallas and Edmonton right now. I think that means it's time for a little bit of that. New news. Let's get right to it. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. Oh, wait. New news is brought to you by America Express. Okay.

Now you can go. Let's get right into it. Shout out to American Express. Jason, you saved the tush push. Everyone in Philly has been saved. You're like a fucking hero. You ever felt so heroic? You feel like you matter now? No, I never feel like I matter. Last week, the NFL owners voted

and the vote to ban the tush push failed. Jason, did you stand outside the courthouse with a sign that said Tush my push, like I asked? Tush my push? Push my tush. No, no signage. I was in the courthouse. I was traversing and talking with the other owners

and committees and people that were in the room. What did you do? Threaten them? Did you threaten them with like something you would do if they banned the tush? No, no, I'm I'm I did not want to piss off any one of these individuals of immense power. I was just there to I was just there to offer my frame of reference on the tush, the pushing of tushes. Man, I haven't been in a courtroom since I got a jaywalking ticket when I was in middle school.

Well, how's the courtroom look in Minnesota? It wasn't a court room. It was a conference room at the hotel that we were staying at. Ah, the courtyard. The old courtyard. It was less courtroom and more like legislative room, if that makes sense. Did they put you on the stand and ask you to so solemnly swear? Well, there wasn't a stand.

They they just had they did. I did get there and was able to. So OK, let's fast forward. The reason I was there or flashback, I guess, was because there was a narrative out there that one of the reasons I retired was because of the play or that I somehow felt like the play led to more injuries or was injured because of it. So I was really just there to offer my perspective on that stuff not being true and the fact that I think it's a relatively safe play.

But I did go up there and talk after Jeffrey Lurie kind of started things off and got some things. He kind of opened everything up. And then I kind of dispelled those rumors as well as answer some questions about how the play was run. But for the most part, it was just awesome to witness, honestly, the legislative process of the NFL, how the play was run, but for the most part, it was it was just awesome to witness, honestly, the legislative process of the NFL, how the owners vote on it, how these proposals come about. I couldn't help but think like, I can't believe I'm in this room right now, to be honest with you, like there's just like

hundreds of billions of dollars of wealth just sitting here. And did you wear a suit? I wore a blazer with with boat shoes and slacks. Okay, okay. Okay. That was swagged out. I was dressed. I was looking. Was it a collar shirt underneath or just like a regular? It was a collar shirt, collar shirt, button down, white button down. Look at Jason Kelsey.

Listen, I'm not going to go in there looking like a slob. Anyways, it was awesome to witness. It was awesome to see how those things kind of take place. And, you know, I really did leave the room and the meeting feeling strongly about, you know, how these proposals come about, how the game has changed and the thought that goes into it, the thoroughness that happens between the competition committees and the health and safety doctors and individuals and Roger and the owners, there's a lot that goes into a lot of these decisions that are made. And it was awesome to just kind of witness something that, in my opinion, has made the league better, at least our time in the NFL. So yeah.

When Roger walked in the room, did they all go, all rise? Nope. Nope. Once again, this is not a courtroom. It was not a courtroom. But there was a jury. There's not a jury. This is again, legislative, not judicial. Legislative, not judicial. Oh, I forgot those are different. This is more, you know, they're voting how they wanna proceed in business. So. Yeah.

That makes sense. Yeah, so this is a lot different than a jaywalking ticket. Much different. Was there like one owner that kinda like stood out to others? Like one that was just kinda like, I think the one that stood out the most was Jeffrey because you know, obviously, he's been he's passionate about this. He's this

play has been a big part of the Eagles success. And yeah, you guys don't want to see. I will say the I kid I kid I can the sort of the greatest teams ever played the official proposal was not targeting the tush push, so to speak. It was targeting, they just wanted to add in the verbage that used to be there that you can't assist the runner and push the runner. That was a rule for 60 years. They wanted to go back to that rule.

The reason they changed that rule back in I think 2016 maybe was because it was really hard for the officials to decide, like, you know, is this guy pushing an offender when it's a pile? Is he pushing the pile? Is he pushing the runner? So they decided to just get rid of the rule of pushing and allow that to happen. And that's when the tush push started. So the proposal was to go back to that.

So it's kind of all encompassing any type of pushing. Needless to say, I think that the main reason this is being brought up is because of the tush push and the success of it and the notoriety behind it. And I think Jeffrey was just he's been pretty passionate about trying to get his point across. And I don't want to go into too much of what happened in that room because I don't think it's my place. I think it was kind of crazy.

I was even in the room to begin with. You are the tush push Jason. Yeah, but I'm not an owner. It's not called the tush push meetings. It's called the owners meetings. Did you really make someone cry? Rumor alert. Some NFL owners were reportedly moved to tears listening to Jason defend the tush push.

I don't know what account this is. NFL notifications. Well, it's NFL notifications. Yeah. I don't know how. NFL notify. It's clearly, it's got a blue check. It counts. I can guarantee you that. No, nobody cried. Nobody cried. Okay. I'm the crier. Everybody

knows I'm the crier. So you cried in front of everyone talking about the tush push? I did not cry in front of this because this was not a moment that warranted crying. I think it's cool as hell that you did this man. Obviously everyone listened to your words and the touch push is still in because Jason Kelsey went out there and defended the honor and in Philadelphia's legacy. I don't know if anybody's mind changed at all. They needed two more votes to ban it. So for the proposal, you need 24 votes for the proposal to pass. Yeah, I don't know which of

these teams are already in favor. I mean, I know talking to a few of them with even the day of, you could just kind of tell which teams were kind of in your corner. And a lot of them incorporate the offensive linemen pushing downfield or just don't think that the play should get removed for the reasons that are being stated. But listen, I think everybody has legitimacy in how they voted. I think that the reality is this was a rule for a long time in the NFL that you can't assist the runner. Both the competition committee and Dr. Alan Sills suggested that the proposal pass and the play be banned, one for health reasons and another for competitive fairness reasons.

So I think that there's, you know, a, well, not competitive fairs, more just like they want to see that out of the game. They didn't like the pushing of piles and stuff. But I took away from this meeting that all of these owners have good intentions and not just in this proposal, in all the proposals. You know, there was multiple things discussed throughout the meeting. And it was really cool to witness how this process takes place. The owners back and forth over the proposals, things that passed, things that got tabled, things that didn't pass. I think at the end of the day, it was just

awesome to witness and see how serious each one of these owners take all of these decisions and how it's going to affect the game, what could be byproducts of these changes. It was cool to listen and be in the room with because I don't think that in a million years I'll ever be back in that room. So I don't know. It just kind of felt surreal being there. Until you succeed Roger Goodell as the commissioner of the NFL, Jason. I think we can see by my background that that is not going to happen.

I can't even get the clothes off the floor, let alone- That background. I thought you were talking about your life background. I don't really want to touch too much on it because again, I don't know what's privy to share and listen, mom told us not to kiss and tell. There's some things that in the Eagles locker room, and as a player, you find out what's good to share. And then in this world, it's like, listen, I don't know. I just wanted to go there and offer my perspective on the play and dispel some rumors that have been being said.

Mad Fientist Do you get any cheese curds while you were up there? I did not. I was in and out, baby. Unfortunately. I would have loved some cheese curds, some Sponacow. You're a foodie, dude. You got to go in there and grab some curds, man. Get some Minnesota whatever, dude.

You want a Super Bowl in Minnesota, dude. I know. Listen, I'm not going to lie. I got some good vibes in Minnesota. Dude. Super Bowl. Freaking. All of America. I got some good vibes in Minnesota. Dude. Super Bowl, freaking. All of America.

When in the tush push proposal. There we go, there we go. What else, what else? What else you got? I had a layover in Minnesota once with Delta. Dude. They gave me some service where they drive you to the next gate and I didn't even ask for it.

I don't even know how that happened. That's pretty dope, that's pretty dope. I'm not gonna lie though, like walking through St. Paul airport, I mean that thing is pretty sweet. They've got like a top golf like thing where you can go and like play like simulator golf while you're waiting on your next flight. Eat some wangs, take some hacks.

Did that with my guy, old David Glover. Shout out to DG. David Glover. Yeah. Trainer. Trainer in Kansas City. Legendary trainer in Kansas City, legendary trainer in Kansas City. Nice, nice, nice. Happy that it's going to be around.

But I even kind of said this last week. I think at the end of the day, you know, if it gets banned or not, the Eagles are good at quarterback sneaks. They're going to continue to run those at a high rate. Yeah, I'm with you. I think people make too much of a fucking buzz about this goddamn play anyways. Yeah, it's a good play for you guys. You guys do it well and it will continue It's a good play for you guys. You guys do it well.

And it will continue to be a good play for you guys. Thanks, Trav. For at least one more year. No, dude, then you'll just have to go to the owners meeting again. I feel like the Eagles should just not run it this year. Just to... Oh no, I don't know if that's good for the Eagles.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. We were really good with it with Carson. I'm not saying they wouldn't be like 90. You be sneaks. It's just that much better of a play for you guys. Yeah. But the push, you can really see the surge when everybody gets behind him and pushes him. I don't think so. I think that surge has happened regardless of the push. Usually I will never know. Will we? No, we do know. We can see it on the tape and we can see it in before it was a play.

Maybe because the push never causes the surge. The push just kind of like gets a little bit extra like yardage if it's all piled up. The surge is created by the O line. It is. It is definitely the surge is started by the O line. But then it's got a nice little double surge in there. I don't think so. Yeah. Were you there for all of it or just the tush push? Yeah, well, I was there for all of it. Oh, that's sweet. So you were there for the Olympic flag football

approval. Very much so. Nice. So the NFL is going to allow players to be a part of the Olympic flag football team. Yes. We'll see how teams, uh, individually choose to allow their players. But yes, that is, that is a fact. I think it's going to be embraced. I think that everybody realizes, this is an opportunity for the game to be on a global stage that it usually doesn't get. And, uh, it would be awesome if some NFL players are out there representing the USA. Oh man, I gotta get, I to get hip to the rules, man, so I can start to get get

ahead of the curve. Not so fast. I don't know if you saw this, but the there is already a USA flag football team. And apparently these players. I know I got to get hit to the rules. These players do not think that NFL players should be playing it. They think they should be playing in it. Well, I mean, the may the best players play. That's my thing. Here's a quote. Let me read this conference so from Darrell Doucette, he is the quarterback of team USA flag football This is a sport that we've played for a long time. We feel like we are the best at it. We don't need other guys

Darrell Doucette the third USA flag football quarterback on NFL players potentially playing in the 2028 Olympics. Is this guy afraid of competition? It sounds like it. Just have a tryout and the best players make the team. Yeah, I don't know. So most teams are picked by- He's just boxing out other people from joining the sport because they haven't played this specific style of football?

So I think most other- No other nobody from Canada can come up here. We got plenty of guys. Yes. So I think most other teams in the Olympics aren't tryouts. They are picked by like coaches. They like handpicked the team. So tryouts are like more like individual sports.

So like Team USA women's soccer. I don't think that they hold, I could be way wrong on this. I think that those teams are picked accordingly. I don't think that is as much of a tryout procedure. I gotcha. I kind of am on board with these guys playing. Let's just have these guys play an NFL team that's picked and maybe the best team win and represent the USA. Interesting. Yeah. Hmm. What do you think? I wouldn't even know.

I mean, if you're right, do they have trials for USA teams? I did some perplexity. Doesn't roll with the tongue, but I did it. They do not hold open childs for national teams. Well, this you just did women's soccer. I just did women's soccer. I didn't do all, we do every sport. I just, can we get to a more,

do they have tryouts for teams as opposed to individual sports? I don't even know how to answer that question. I think that's a good, do they have tryouts for Olympic team sports? No open tryouts, no open tryouts. So, yeah, like you're saying. So there's a coach and that coach

picks who he thinks his best team would be. I believe so, yes. Oh, like you have to get the end. So there's Olympic trials, which is what I'm thinking of. You're thinking of trials, which is more individual sports. But that is also it says the US is both individual and team. Hold official Olympic trials. There are high level competitions where the best athletes compete for a limited number

of Olympic sports. For example, sports like swimming, track and field, gymnastics, and wrestling have, see, these are all individual sports that also have team components though. Like a relay component sort of thing. But keep reading, keep reading. The trials are more so for team sports the process is often a combination of performance in trials, training camps and coach selection. So the teams are selected after the trials.

It's not like you do a trial to get into the team though. So it's still whenever it's a team, it feels like it's a pick. But either way, back to what we're talking about, back it's a team, it feels like it's a pick. But either way. Back to what we're talking about. Back to this made up scenario that we're talking about a new house. I think it'd be cool. You've defined the whole show.

I think it'd be, I really do think it'd be cool if we have, let's just have a team of flag football NFL players play these guys and see if they can win. May the best team win. I think if I recall in a three on three basketball for because you know that was an Olympic event this year or this past year. So three on three Olympic basketball I think they they didn't take the best three. They had like a a tournament or something where the the USA team that ended up being like our represented team. Yeah was like the one that won that tournament essentially

How'd they do in the Olympics? Jimmer Jimmer for that guy injured. Let's not copy that money. Yeah, so I could be off again though. This is none of this is Legit research here. All I'm saying is I think I think a coach that is familiar with flag football should select an NFL represented team and that team should just play this flag football team that's been playing for a long time and feels like they are the best at it and they don't need other guys. And then whoever wins. This is like a mystery Alaska.

Pretty much. This is awesome. I think it's the best way to figure it out. Mystery Alaska won. Alaska team won. I do agree. If these guys are the best, they should represent USA. 100%.

But I don't think that I'm pretty, I mean, I've never, I don't know anything about flag football. I feel really confident they're not the best. It's, we got just some crazy, some guys that can do some crazy stuff with the ball in their hands, man. I understand. Even Darnell, watching Darnell's highlights.

He looks good. Darrell, my bad, my bad, Darrell. Or Darrell, Darrell, Doug, damn it. I think it's Darrell Doucet, if I'm not mistaken. All right, my bad, Darrell. Even his highlights are fucking epic. He doesn't look like Darrell though. He does kind of look more like a Darrell.

Right, darn. Darrell's gonna have a little bit more thickness to him. You know what I mean? Darrell's. The Darrells and the Heights definitely had. Yeah, you're a little bit stockier. You know what I mean? Darrell is more.

This dude, he could move around and slide around and you know, yeah No, he's he's he's like fuck he can play when we think of a quarterback though we think of somebody that can really sling it around and I think somebody can do both. I think Lamar Jackson. There's no chance Lamar would be fuck Nobody's catching him. Is that I want to know Lamar Lamar is more of a Darrell Nobody's catching him. Is that I want to know Lamar Lamar is more of a Darrell He's stocky now though, that's I'm saying he's got a little bit of a half to him He's got a little bit of half to him. Like what if we hold like a combine, dude I don't I just think we have the NFL team play these guys and whoever wins goes that's it

I don't even I mean if they're the best team they should represent us But I I feel like if we put Lamar Jackson, Tyree kill. You think it's as easy as putting Tyree kill outside and having Lamar just throw a go ball to Tyree? I mean, I think that alone would probably be pretty effective, but I think that it's going to be also more than that because there's other players too that are going to be out there. Like I'm trying to like, the problem is I don't know flag football that much and I don't

know what skills you want, but I feel like just speed is usually pretty good. I'm trying to like, the problem is I don't know flag football that much and I don't know what skills you want, but I feel like just speed is usually pretty good. And the NFL has speed. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Has a lot of it. Yes.

The flag football game in the Pro Bowl, they kept blitzing. Eli's team just kept blitzing and they couldn't stop it because they couldn't avoid the sack. You don't have to beat a blocker. So you don't have to be big. You just need to be quick and agile. So linebackers aren't going to be on this team. It's going to be it's going to be safety. The defense is going to be very heavily. Damn it.

Well, I mean, maybe not. Maybe a big body receiver is a mismatch for some of these shorter quick guys. Maybe. Do you have to play both sides of the ball? Again, these are questions I don't know. Good point. Let's keep it moving. We have a new award in the NFL.

We do. We do. And Jason, you actually won this award. No, we did not. Nobody's ever won the award because it's a brand new award. No, but you won it. I did not win the award.

You're definitely getting a trophy. Nobody has ever won the award. I do vote on the award. I're definitely getting a trophy. Nobody has ever won the award. I do vote on the award. I am one of the select members of the committee that will decide who wins this award. Dude, you're like two steps away from being a commissioner. Are you kidding me? You're like, you're projecting in that direction. Pretty sure that's not going to happen.

Dude, next is you'll be in charge of the fines. Yep. Yeah. Not going to happen. Kasey doesn't find anybody all year. Yeah, it's just funny. Back to this, the protector of the year. Do you have information on how this all began or how this all started up?

I'm pretty sure it started. So Andrew Whitworth and Roger were on my late night show in season, and we talked about having an offensive line award. And from that, they kind of put together a list of guys, seeing if they'd be interested in helping kind of give this thing some life. There's a lot of icons of the game and the position that'll vote on this and the NFL got behind it. It's going to be called the protector of the year. They went back

and forth on the name. I think at one point it was the shield or something like that. It's very tackle dominant. So they went towards the protector of the year being the offensive lineman of the year, essentially. Very cool, man. So this will now be at the NFL Honors. It will be. The NFL Honor and Offensive Alignment, finally. Yep. Big Andrew Whitworth has been instrumental in kind of like leading the charge on this. So there have been 10 protectors of the year. The last 10 years, they did say who would have won these.

No. Draft Kings just made some weird lists. This is not like an official thing. Well, I think Draft Kings should come to you and give you a fucking trophy because you were the best protector in 2021. I mean, it's not even my best season. My best season was 2017 by far. So now you're saying you were better than Andrew Whitworth in 2017? I'm definitely not saying that. I think this is going to be an award that is heavily dominated by offensive

tackles because tackles are more of the limelight of the position. There's also a lot of people that are going to be making the decisions. Former tackles and tackles just a harder position. Like if you're dominating the tackle, you're getting the job done now. So it's one of the highest paid businesses in the league. It's just a harder position. Like if you're dominating the tackle, you're freaking getting the job done now. So. It's one of the highest paid businesses in the league. Yeah, I mean, it's very difficult and the guys that do it at a high level.

Guys, we're giving these guys way too much money. We gotta get an award for them. Hey, should we give Jason Kelsey the Protector of the Year when he doubled a nose guard with the left guard for 80% of the snaps? Or should we give it to Blaine Johnson who had the one-on-one block? Von Miller, like. Nope. Nick Bosa. Nope, should we give it to Blaine Johnson who had the one-on-one block Von Miller like

the guy that's in the front of the tush push this play is unstoppable why because of big old Hard Knocks news the Buffalo Bills will be featured in Hard Knocks this year on HBO their training camp and it's going to be exciting. Finally, we get some inside access to what the Bills got going on over there with Josh Allen and the gang. And the NFC East will be featured as the in-season edition. So we'll get the entire NFC East. Do we like the picks? Yes, of course. I like all Hard Knocks picks. You can do any fucking team in the league and it's going to be entertaining. Neither of us have done hard knocks. No, I haven't. I don't think I've seen Jason do it. The only thing we did the one year Amazon did something similar and I didn't interact with it

because it was just like hard to really know what it was. So I kind of like stayed out of it. But hard knocks has not done been done with the Eagles yet. This will be the first year. Just so everybody knows each team has their version of what kind of what Hard Knocks is like the the Chiefs have a YouTube series called The Franchise, where they do a season long kind of they they they recap every single week and you get inside access through that. But Hard Knocks is just, you know, the training camp ends and outs. And I remember growing up, it's not as much this now, but

I mean, you see guys get cut, you see guys make the team, it can be a happy and sad story all in one. So Hard Knocks is always, always interesting shit. You get to see the characters that that are the NFL, like some of these coaches, some of these, you know, equipment managers and trainers and stuff you get to see inside these teams from a different point of view. We do not have I don't know what the franchise is for you guys. I would say the Eagles have not had any type of exposure like this in the middle of a season. We have our own YouTube channel and stuff, but this is going to be a whole other level of a look into the inner workings of the Philadelphia Eagles, I believe. It always depends on how open the team is to kind of allowing it.

And I haven't, I'll be honest, I haven't watched a lot of in-season hard knocks. I've always been accustomed to the training camp one. That's what I grew up loving, like the Cincinnati Bengals, the New York Jets with Rex Ryan. I think that the Lions do the first in season. I remember watching clips of that. I'm right there with you. I've never watched the in season one.

I've only seen clips of the in season one. They moved last year to the conference setup instead of just doing individual teams. So last year was the AFC North and this year it's going to be the NFC East. And I think it's a good choice by the league. I think it's going to be a competitive year for the NFC East, even though the Eagles are the favorites coming out. Washington was really good last year. They've improved this off season. The Giants had a really good draft and it's also just four major teams and huge markets that have a lot of history in the NFL and a lot of animosity towards each other. So I'm going to watch it this year. And I haven't watched and I like the AFC North. That's my conference too.

That's what I grew up on in Cleveland, Ohio, but I can't wait to watch this one. I'm with you, dude AJ Brown is already out unfortunately He retweeted NFL Films account when they announced that the NFC East will be a Part of the in season hard knocks. He just said straight up. Nope. What's a period on it? So we know AJ isn't about this kind of he's he's he's very, you know, he's he's not for the flashy inside scoop stuff like right. Like a lot of guys are but I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. He's just not you could tell he's not a part of the he's not about

that. Do you think he's saying nope, because he's out on being a part of it. For the battle for the battle for the East. Yeah, that might be that I feel like there ain't no battle. We're the we're the reigning champs. That's kind of the vibe I'm getting from it, but maybe not. Oh, I don't. What do you think?

I think he both feels that there is not going to be no battle for it. And also that. That's so good. And that's new news brought to you by American Express. All right. Before we get to Wayne Gretzky, the great one, let's get to some no dumb questions brought to you by perplexity. All right. Discover fast and reliable search with perplexity AI today. Holly Halls, if you could bring back one discontinued snack or food from your childhood and it would taste exactly how you remember it, what would it be? I don't even know if I can remember a discontinued

snack or food. I looked up a list. I looked up a list on perplexity. Oh, nice. There we go. Perplexity. Help us out here. Notable discontinued 90 snacks. That's a great question. Butterfinger, BBs, those are good. PB Crisp, I don't remember those. Choco Tacos discontinued? Marshall S. Noo. Sadly. Alistair Dixon I was wondering why they stopped serving them in the ice cream trucks in Seattle. I thought they just weren't selling enough of them. Marshall S. Noo Wait.

Alistair Dixon Why would they stop selling those? Marshall S. Noo Are you talking about the same tacos? Alistair Dixon Choco Taco? The frozen ice cream tree? Marshall S. Noo Is that what it is? Alistair Dixon Yeah, it? The frozen ice cream tree? Is that what it is? Yeah, it's a frozen ice cream sandwich, but taco. No, it's not a Klondike. It's this. Yeah. It's got like a hard chocolate shell and then it's got like chocolate woven into

the vanilla ice cream in the middle. When did that stop? I think that stopped recently because they, unless they had a bunch of them stockpiled in the fudgy wudgy carts in Seattle city. Discontinued in 2022. See, I'm on top of the Choco Taco lore. Jesus. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pies.

Don't even remember those. Crystal Pepsi. I think everybody's happy that's gone. Oreos. Cereal. Don't remember that. Air crisps. Dude.

I don't remember that. Dude, the drink just took me back. Dude, Fruitopia. Fruit me back. Dude, fruit-topia. Fruit-topia doesn't exist anymore? I had fruit-topia every day in high school. In middle school, it was when I was chugging fruit-topia. They said it was discontinued in 2000. Maybe I didn't have fruit-topia.

I thought I had a fruit punch fruit-topia every day. When was it discontinued? I'll go back up. Hold on. It couldn't be 2000. Or was it? It says early 2000s. So it was still there. It was right before it was right before it was still there. Okay. Yeah, I definitely had in high school to dude I'm going for Topia I used to

don't exist anymore. I just had those things like two years ago. Dunkaroos are bangers to gosh damn stopped in 2010. They could have brought I think they ago. Dunkaroos are bangers too. Gosh damn. Stopped in 2010. They could have brought, I think they brought back Dunkaroos for like a limited time. But yeah, they did stop making just the serving of frosting that we used to eat. Planters, cheese balls, Keebler, munchums,

crispy M&Ms, swoops. Mm. I'm not gonna lie, I'm not hating that any of these are discontinued. It's probably as a reason. Butterfinger BBs were really good. They were good but it's not like I'm that upset about them not existing anymore. Well, you're an adult man.

It's not that big. Choco Tacos I'm kind of upset about because I tried to get one a couple years ago and they didn't have them and I was a little bit upset about that. They should bring back Furtopia though. It's got real fruit in it. It was healthy. It was healthy. I remember going to my mom and asking her in middle school because we used to get a school lunch. Going to my mom in middle school and be like, mom, can I get like $5 a week so that I could get a

fruitopia every day because a fruitopia was $1 at the end. They had one like, drink machine like vending machine, you go and get a fruitopia. And instead of like the milk or the water that they were giving us in the lunch line, and it turned into the lunch line. And it turned into me just going and buying 50 cent honey buns, like a ridiculous like $5 worth of fucking honey buns on Monday. So good. And I came home one day with like through my bookbag on like the couch or something. Yeah. Mom was like, What the fuck is in this bag? Mom didn't swear. But she's

like, what the hell is in this bag? She opened up the bag and it was like a grocery. Are you stealing honey buns from the grocery from the store? I'm like, no, I'm using the money. I'm stocking up so I can have these all day every day. That's great. Yeah. And that's when my mom stopped giving me $5 for four for Topias because I was turning into a big boy. Yeah, she's got to love it. Shout out to mothers. All right. Well, well, so what's yours? I said fruitopia was my if they could bring it back. What do you that I could taste right now to I could taste

the fucking green one, man. It's so good. It's like a kiwi strawberry some shit. What are you going with? I don't know. Dunkaroos are a close second for sure. You're going to Chaco tacos. It sounds like yeah, I'll go check on Taco.

There you go. Way to get out of there. That's it for note of questions brought to you by perplexity. Let's get to this Wayne great ski interview Thank you to our partner Reese's and their new PB&J cups and strawberry and grape now for a limited time only Man, that sounds like the perfect candy combination Reese's PB&J Some things just sound right together The only question is what took them so long better late than, Reese's PB&J cups sound like a complete candy no brainer.

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Found wherever candy is sold. Now a moment brought to you by American Express. What is your favorite vacation that you've been on? Let's take it back to the childhood. One of my favorite vacations when we went to Disney and we stayed at the Disney Sports Hotel, man alive. It was a sports fanatic like I was when I was a kid, man. I felt like I was having, they had turf everywhere.

All-star sports resort or something like that, right? Ooh, yeah, and I do, you got a good memory, man. I liked the Caribbean one when we were like on the beach. Because they had the rocks and the waterfalls and the waterpark and everything. Oh man, they had the water guns you could shoot random civilians with. No matter what kind of traveler you are though,

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jurisdiction. Void in Ontario, bet must win to receive reward. Bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see dkng.co. slash audio. This is the longest one I've ever had to do, so just be prepared. Okay. All righty. Our guest today is one of the favorite athletes of all time. Oh, this is a true honor.

15 time NHL all star, nine time NHL MVP, 10 times scoring champion, two time Conn Smythe trophy winner, four time Stanley Cup champion, still holds the records for most points in assists in a career, most goals, assists and points in a single season, and nearly 60 other NHL records. God damn! He is a member of the hockey hall of fame member of the Order of Canada, the first player to ever have his number retired league wide. Goddamn. These are a lot of stats. He is the star of the greatest hockey game Travis and I have ever had the joy of playing. Please welcome the great one, Mr. Wayne fucking Gretzky.

Absolutely epic, man. Exactly. I scripted it. Well done. Well, that felt like it took forever, but it could have taken so much longer. I mean, you the amount of records you hold in the NHL record books is truly remarkable. Do you have one that like you means the most to you? Like which of all of your records are you the most proud of? That's easy. First of all, it's a pleasure for me to be here on your show.

Love you guys. And it's an honor for me to be part of, be with you guys for a day. So thank you again very much. Oh my gosh. The man. As you guys know, being a professional athlete is such a thrill. Anytime you get any record, it's a thrill and it's an honor.

So for me, each and every one felt the same. But if I had one record that I cherish the most record that I think is going to be hardest to break. And that was I scored 50 goals in 39 games. And I think for somebody to get 38 games, as you guys know, the athletes get better every year. Yes, better. The coaching is better. Training is better. It's just sports is better today than it was, but that's not knocking what we did back in

the 70s and 80s and 90s. Twenty years from now, it's going to be better than today. So I'm proud of all my records. Heck yeah. 50 goals and what? That is insane. Oh my gosh. Did you just feel unstoppable that year?

I mean, just everything you sent at the net went in. So the record was 50 and 50. And then Mike Barkley came along and he tied the record 50 and 50. He scored two goals in the last seven minutes in his 50th game to get 50 and 50. Epic. And I remember watching it and seeing his face

and the jubilation and the joy he felt. So I was driving to the rink with my roommate and I had 45 goals and 38 games. I was a little more edgy than normal heading to the arena. And my buddy turned to me and he said, are you OK? And I said, you know, I just thought of this. If I don't get 50 and 50 now, people are going to say I choked. So I'm thinking before the game, I'm thinking before the game, I'm thinking during the game,

I'm like, gosh, I gotta get to the 50 and 50 or I'm gonna look like a miserable fool. There's no way. I got three goals, or all of a sudden I had 49 goals. And I'm like, all right. And I scored the 50th goal, and my buddy turned to me and said,

well, I guess you don't have to worry about that 50th anymore. That's awesome, man. Recently, Alexander Ovechkin, ironically, just around the same amount of games, just passed you in most career goals ever scored. And it was awesome to see you show that respect and that class to him.

When you set that record, or at the end of your career in 99, did you ever expect that that thing could be touched? It was mind blown that anybody is even around that realm, man. We all hope not. But listen, the night I broke Gordy Owes' record, or the night before, I was having dinner with my dad. And I said to my dad, I said, you know, in some ways I'm kind of embarrassed because it's a different era and a different time from when Gordie played and he was such an icon and he was my idol. In some ways, I'm feeling kind of guilty. I'll never forget my dad saying, listen, you just have the same dignity and respect that

Gordie Howe has for you because he's truly happy for you. So when somebody breaks your record, you be as classy as Gordie Howe. And I remember I looked at my dad and they said, well, can I just enjoy it for a little bit? They're already talking about getting, getting broken. I had so much fun. The NHL took care of my wife and I, we flew up there. We were at the game.

I remember saying, gosh, the puns Chicago tonight, he might get three tonight. We got to go. We got two goals and tied it. My good friend is the assistant coach Kirk Muller. Went for dinner after the game and I said, why didn't Ovechkin go on the ice in the last minute? You had the empty net. You're one of the coaches. Why didn't you put him out there? And he said, we tried to and he said he didn't want to break the record on an empty net goal. So showed you the class that he has, which was wonderful. So we tried to, and he said he didn't want to break the record on an empty net goal. So showed you the class that he has, which was wonderful. We got to go to Manhattan, spend a couple of days there.

My son lives in New York, so we spent a few days in Manhattan, got to see him play on the island. And when he did score the goal, part of me was like, gosh, I was kind of looking forward to going back to Washington. They were playing Thursday that week. It was fun going to hockey games, you know, no pressure. We knew eventually he was going to break the record and he's just a wonderful young man and I think that his ownership group, Ted Leonis and the hockey club

and the coaches and his teammates and all the teammates he played with over all his years, he's just, he deserves the record and good for him. He's made so much for hockey in Washington for the NH NHL and of course in his own country Russia. So I'm proud and privileged that he broke it and I'm happy that I can say he's a good friend. Man, that is such a cool story. Just to hear how much class and respect is in the NHL and you guys have been doing it right. I believe his rookie year you were the coach of the Coyotes. Yeah. And Ovechkin he scored the goal in 2006. How crazy is that to come full circle? Somebody asked me the other day they said when did you realize that Ovechkin had a chance to break your record and he said when I was coaching again so I think his first year really went through the whole

team twice and scored on his rear end, on his back. Naked around going, what, what just happened? And not did he beat players? He beat some good players, like some, they beat some NHL guys and he beat a good goal tender. So, Hey, listen, you know, that's what makes sports wonderful, right? When you, you think, Oh my God, can we any better? Then another guy comes along and you go, wow, that guy's phenomenal. And then every sport is the same, whether it's football or basketball, hockey, baseball, and we just sit back as fans and go, you know, this is wonderful. This is great.

We get to watch, we have bleacher seats here and we get to adore these athletes. Look at Caitlin Clark, how she's kept just taking over the country, for that matter, maybe the world, and how she's encouraged so many young girls now to participate in sports, whether it's basketball or soccer or volleyball. My dad used to always say, the greatest thing about sports is that you learn so much about real life. You learn how to be unselfish. You learn how to be dedicated. You learn how to work hard. You learn how to win. And then you learn how to pick yourself up off the ground when you lose. And that's what life is all about. And so I just have so much respect for so many of these athletes that come along now. And as a fan, I just

love it. Hell yeah. Absolutely. And I think we both can speak to this, you know, we didn't really know what hockey was that much growing up at first. And I think what you guys brought in that era, in particular, you growing the game, I mean, it became so much bigger in the United States at that time. And it caused both of us to start getting it. I mean, started making movies about it. Slapshot came out, then they had the kids movie with the Mighty Ducks and all of a sudden everybody's playing hockey. Yeah, you know, hockey has grown so much. I would say this like Gordie Howell and Bobby

Howell and Bobby Orr, they were the sort of the golden age of the 60s and early 70s. And then, you know, the Islanders were so special in New York. And then, you know, I got traded to LA and everybody goes, like, did you go to LA to outgrow their sport? And I really didn't. I went to LA because I thought, okay, this is gonna be really good. I'm really excited to apply to LA.

I wanna be part of growing to franchise and helping hockey. But I didn't realize at the time when I went to LA that Steve Iserman was in Detroit and Mario Lemieux was in Pittsburgh and Brett Hall was in St. Louis and Mark Messier was in New York. I don't know if all those guys are really good players, but they were incredible off the ice too and they had charisma and they loved the game. So we had a big wave that kind of went all at once and it was a perfect storm, right?

And then all of a sudden, the Mighty Ducks came in. I'll never forget Michael, the eyes there having dinner with him were right. And he said, you know, I'm gonna have an NHL team called the Mighty Ducks. I remember looking at him going, you gotta be crazy, right? I think the Mighty Ducks, when I went to Janice's meeting,

he probably is the number one marketing man in the world. I think he knows what he's doing. Yeah, right? He knows what he's doing. Oh yeah. Nothing was better than the, than the nineties though. And seeing you guys, the names you just threw out there, Messier, Lemieux, I mean, you name it, man, you guys had that thing rocking and rolling, especially for two young guys like us out of Cleveland, Ohio. We didn't even have a team.

So we were just fans of the game and the league league wide. Yeah. I played an exhibition game in Cleveland. I can't even remember what year, so we were just fans of the game and the league. Seriously. Leaguewide. Yeah. I played an exhibition game in Cleveland. I can't even remember what year it was, but it was somewhere between 87 and 91. We played an exhibition game. Yeah. The Gundarina?

Yeah, Gundarina. Cleveland Barons. Remember those guys? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. We know the Cleveland Barons real well. Dennis Marook was their go-to guy in those days. That's too good, man. Oh yeah, we know the Cleveland Barons real well. Dennis Maruk was their go-to guy in those days.

That's too good, man. How about the shout out to the Barons, baby? We had we had a coach that actually played for the Barons for a little bit. We got to ask, man, do you have you have so many good nicknames? Do you have one that you just you chuckle at or you like the most or you got the great one? We found out that one of your early nicknames was the white tornado.

Not gonna lie. That's pretty good. Cause I wore white gloves. Oh yeah. I was playing well and I went to this tournament in Quebec city and they drew really well. We were drawing 15,000 people game to watch us play and I wore white gloves and somebody wrote in French, she's the white tornado. My dad hated that one. He hated the gray one. I think my favorite nickname was Doc and the golf world through Dustin and all his friends. I'm known anywhere in the golf

courses, Doc. And one of the things I said was I became an honorary doctor to the University of Alberta. Very cool. I remember I said to somebody one day, you know, Dr. Bus wasn't really a doctor, but he's an honorary doctor and they call him Dr. Bus. Can somebody call me doc? My kid sometimes even called me doc. I love it. So that's probably my favorite. I'll forever call you Doc. For sure. Let's shift to the current Stanley Cup playoffs right now. Four teams left.

We obviously we got Edmonton leading two to one. The Panthers are up three nothing on the Hurricanes. Who do you think is going to shape up into the be the is going to be a finals rematch? Yeah. Listen, I want you to know I'm the only guy at TNT on that panel that picked Edmonton to get to the finals. Are you? Hey, there you go.

Okay. Okay. One right now, I picked Tampa Bay from the East. The part of my pick at that point in time was to Chuck was hurt. And he's such a big part of the success of the Panthers. And I wasn't sure he was coming back, but he's such a great player and such a good team player for that team. Tough guy, man.

Listen, you guys know how it is when you win a championship, it's hard to knock off the champions. I mean, they know how to win. They know what it takes. They focus. They know how to keep the distractions away. Now I will say this, Edmonton learned a great lesson last year losing in the finals. They'll be a little bit different, a little bit more prepared.

And some of the things that won't be surprised is off the ice, but they still got to get through Dallas because Dallas is so well coached, Branton and Draid. This kid is a tremendous hockey player. Their goaltender, Autinger is really good. They're big. Uh, they're well coached. Branton and Draid, this kid is a tremendous hockey player. Their goal tender, Autinger, is really good. They're big. They're well coached. That series, I still think it's going to go seven games. Florida looks like they're in a great position. They win tonight. They're going to get a nice break. As you guys know, you get those breaks. It's more mental than physical sometimes. You get that knuckle break, right?

And so Florida, the regroup, they know what it takes to win. They'll know how many days they have off before they play the first game. Again, they're well coached, well managed. I'd be hard pressed not to think that it won't be a rematch in Florida, Edmonton. The difference is this year, Edmonton would have home-ice advantage, which in the playoffs, four to seven is a big difference. Yeah.

Hell yeah. I'll tell you what, man, that back and forth that they talked about last year going seven games or whatever from Edmonton all the way down to Miami and like that time difference is like a seven hour flight. It's absolutely ridiculous. It's crazy, but I'll tell you something even crazier. Our times have changed in 87. We played the Sanica finals, seven game series, Edmonton, Philly, and we

flew commercial the Edmonton Oilers. No way. The next morning after game two, we flew from Philadelphia to Toronto, Toronto to Edmonton, went to the arena, practiced, but we didn't know any different. We loved it. Oh, yeah. Like, you know, what else are you going to do? We didn't think we were being treated any worse or poorly.

We loved it. We were all together. It was just part of our life, right? We had no complaints whatsoever. And in those days, you'd be sitting in the middle of the airplane, you know, they had smoking sections in those days. I think it was crazy.

You'd have the plane guys in me, like choking, and say, oh my gosh. Smoking their eyes, getting out on the ice. But that was, all the teams did it. That's the way we, we didn't know any different, right? It was fine. I'll tell you what, whenever we go, whenever we go overseas or we do like an international game, a lot of the international like travel, you got to go through international customs. So you're going through the main concourses of a lot of these big airports, uh, overseas. And, um, I'll

tell you what, man, some of the best memories and stuff are after you win a game and you get to go enjoy walking through the concourse, joking around with all the guys. I can, I can, I can see that being a hell of a time, especially if you're in the, if you're playing for the cup, like it doesn't matter how you, you get bused there and back, you know? No, we, we didn't, we didn't complain one second. We were loving it. We're all together. And I wouldn't have traded it into the world. But you're right. Florida, Edmonton is a lot of travel.

It's crazy. It's like an eight hour flight. And not to mention when Florida gets off the plane, they gotta go against McDavid and Dreisaito. That's the fastest guys ever, yeah. Let's go, baby. It's something different watching hockey in person than watching it on TV.

And I'll tell you what I went to a stars playoff game last year and seeing seeing that action and seeing how fast those guys are man. It is it's mind-blowing. It is so unique. I always say the our sport if you watch it one time in person, you're going to sit there, sit back and go, Oh my gosh, I didn't know it was like that. When I retired in 99, we had two more children and about the age of eight, and we were in Thousand Oaks, California, not a lot

of hockey out there. And about the age of eight, my son said, can we go to a hockey game? So I called my friend Luke Robitaille and he got us seats on the ice, my wife and I and my son and a friend and that, you know, on the ice, my wife and I and my son and a friend. And that, you know, on the ice, how big and fast they are, like they run around and it's physical, like your sport. It's more physical than people even see or believe. Oh yeah. My son got up and he turned to my wife and he said, be really honest, Be really honest it my dad really played in this league

Respect the players I don't know if you guys follow the Winnipeg Dallas series really close and it was physical and you had to be a man to play in that series and Unfortunately, one of the players on Winnipeg's father passed away the night before game six. But one great thing about our sports is the handshakes after a series. But the pure compassion that the players had for him and his family was incredible because they just spent the last six games trying to kick the crap out of each other and to see the emotions and the true emotions of, you know, hey, it's a game, but we're family

and friends. That's what's really important in life and in sports. And so it was really great to see and be part of. I was there and I thought it was so emotional. Absolutely. I mean, I can believe it. There's two things you touched on that I think have always been true for me with hockey. And one of them is I've been hit all over the field on a football field. The hardest I've ever been hit in my life is open ice on a hockey ring. Like you get a hospital pass going where you're looking back and that the fenceman can have a clear run at you, man. Oh my gosh, that is going to hurt. That is going to hurt. You never look back and secondly, you never have an

offenceman that bad that passes a puck that bad. I always said this, I never played football, but I always I would watch the games my son played in California and it was always fun because Joe Montana was always at the games his son and my son played together. I could sit with Joe and nobody ever bothered me the games, his son and my son played together. I could sit with Joe and nobody ever bothered me at the games because Joe was there, everybody wanted to talk to Joe, but just to watch the game.

And the one thing that I see the difference in hockey and football, they're both physical, but in hockey you kind of knew where the guys were in football, guys come out of nowhere to hitch it from the side. At least we know where the guys are. There's only four of the guys coming at you, or five guys. You guys, you've had 11 guys are trying to get you.

Half of them, you don't know where they are. And that's what always amazed me about football. That's right. You got to have that head on a swivel. You talked about the guys in the Winnipeg and Dallas series and like hockey has much so such a culture to it that is just everybody is truly I don't even know how to describe it, but I felt like it was like that way even growing up. There's such a tight-knit culture to the sport, to the NHL. You're waiting around

to go to Ovechkin's time when he's going to break your goal. That's something I've always appreciated about the sport. Even growing up the parents, like it feels like there's like just a culture to the sport that that that is inclusive to everybody. And just I don't know. Yeah. You got guys throwing haymakers on the ice at each other than afterwards, shaking each other's hand. There's so there's such a class and respect, but such a toughness to to defending and being there for your teammates.

People ask me sometimes I don't even have the answer because I watch these guys and a lot of them, I'm very proud to say I don't have any enemies of players they played with or against. And I would think that I would help to try to do anything for guys that were ex players. We're all eventually alumni. That's the one thing we haven't called them. I used to do a fantasy camp in Vegas. I had a friend there one day and I had all these guys.

I bring in 14 NHL guys and I put two or three of them on each team so that the campers could get a chance to hang around with them, see how they work, see, get to know them personally. It was just remarkable. And one day I said to my buddy I grew up with, I said, come here, I wanna show you this locker room. And I had Chris Cellius in there,

and Marty McSorley, and Shane Corson, and all these guys. Oh man. So cool. And I said, you know, it's amazing, those guys fought each other for 15 years. Not like one time in their careers, but they fought each other and whacked each other.

Every time I see Chris Cellius, I say, how are we doing? I say, well, good. My wrist isn't as sore as it was last time we saw you. You know, without hockey, you know, you're battling to try to win. When it's all been done, we're all on the same page. We're all trying to help each other, do things for each other and help this person's charity or that person's charity. And that's what makes our sport so wonderful.

But that starts back in the sixties and fifties from guys like Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr. And then they pass it on, right? And the guys pass it on. 20 years from now, their kids are going to be saying, yeah, I remember Crosby and Ovechkin. I remember McDavid. And you know, those guys really showed me the way. And that's the way hockey is. Our culture has always been like that. I'm very proud of it.

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Burgers and dogs. Can't bait it. Throw some ribs in there. I love it. That's pretty much the go-to in our house, and I will say... I mean, it's the go-to in everybody's house, obviously. I try to outdo Kylie, and Kylie me the ribs. I mean, it's embarrassing. Turn your dinner plates into grilling plans with the authentic wood fire flavor of Kingsford original charcoal. There we go. Tag Kingsford and share what you're cooking up. They might even hook you up with some epic supplies because with

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Until May 30th, receive up to $70 by prepaid MasterCard with purchase of four new Michelin passenger or light truck tires. Find your pro at your local Tread Experts. From tires to auto repair, we're always there. TreadExperts.ca. We mentioned that you were the coach for the Coyotes. How much different is it trying to coach and not necessarily have the ability to go out there

and make things happen, but try and just be a coach, be a leader. What was the biggest difference in terms of leading a team in that aspect outside of just not being able to get out on the ice with the guys? Well, listen, first of all, I loved coaching and I had a tremendous group of older guys like my captain Shane Doane and my goal center was Curtis Stoethlick. Oh yeah. And guys like Ed Grobovsky.

They were just wonderful guys. I never one time ever said, gosh, why can't you do this? Or didn't you see that? I didn't even do that with teammates. I had one teammate who always said to me, every time we came off the ice, he said, Gretz, you didn't see me, I was wide open. Gretz, you didn't see me, I was wide open. Finally, I said, if I see you, trust me, I'm going to give you the pot. I started calling him 7-Eleven. I said, he's always open. I said, he's always open every time I come off the ice.

I want you to score as badly as you want to score. So if I see you, I'll get you the puck. So I never really overly concerned about, I wish that guy could do that. I loved coaching. I loved helping kids become better professional athletes and professional hockey players. I truly enjoyed it. I've tried everything in hockey. I was a player. I was fortunate enough to run Team Canada in 2002. We won a gold medal in Salt Lake City. It was one of the great thrills of my life. I played in the Olympics in 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Unfortunately we didn't win, but it was such a great experience. And staying in the Olympic Village, we had so much fun

being with all the other athletes, curling, figure skating. I can only imagine, man. It was like going back to high school, right? Yeah. My point is, if you get asked to be on the flag football team, do it, you're gonna love it. Go ahead. Dude, I got to find it.

Even if I'm just like an assistant coach or something, I got to get in there somehow. It is the greatest thrill being part of the Olympic games you're ever going to have. I mean, it truly, it will be, if you get a chance to play, if they ask you to play, do not turn it down. Trust me. And stay in the village. It's overwhelming. That's awesome.

Noted. All right. We want to start here with you growing up and your dad because I speak for Travis and I our father has been such a huge inspiration for us in our lives and was so impactful in us. Just having joy for sport and competing. He was there step of the way. He was our baseball coach.

He fueled it. So involved in the stories of your dad and his involvement in the backyard ice rink. First of all, how did the backyard ice rink come about? Where did that even come from? Well, it's interesting because everybody thinks and my dad built this backyard ice rink. That's the legend, yeah. That's the legend. Yeah.

That's not true. So, my folks came from, one came from Minsk, Belarus. My grandmother came from Ukraine. They met in Manitoba, Winnipeg, moved to Southern Ontario, and they bought this farm in 1924. And the farm had a river that ran through the back. At two and a half years old, I started skating on this frozen river. Well, my dad would take me out there on Saturdays and Sundays

when he wasn't working, and I would skate all day on Saturday and Sunday. So then as I got a little bit older, three and four, he'd take me to the park, these outdoor parks, and I would skate for hours. And with that time, I'm not in school yet. He didn't start school until five years old or six years old.

So my dad got mad one day, he was so cold that he decided, look, I'm gonna build a rake in the backyard and I can sit in the kitchen and drink my hot tea. And I'm not gonna freak. So every late November, early December, when it first started to snow, my dad would say to my mother, listen,

go over to the local store and buy me a sprinkler head. And my mom would say, you're an idiot. If you think I'm going to go ask for a sprinkler head in December when it's snowing, they're going to think I belong in a home. So right now, we go over and get this sprinkler. And you put it in the middle of the yard.

And it'll go back and forth for an hour. He'd move it, move it around. And he'd yard and it'd go back and forth for an hour. He'd move it, move it around and he'd make the ice over six, seven inches thick. We'd have the best ice and they'd skate all winter on this backyard rink. And it was just- Oh, that's so cool. ... out of necessity. It wasn't to make me a better player or make me an NHL player.

But the ironic thing about it was he was the worst handyman around. We know a guy. We have the greenest grass and the thickest greenest grass. People would stop and say, Walter, how did you get your grass like that? What what are you putting on there? And my mom would just shake her head. And it just comes from freezing in the wintertime. And you're going to I I don't know, for some

reason it works. So that's how I started. Like your dad, my dad took me to every practice, took me to games and he did the same thing. I had three sibling brothers. He took my brothers, he took them to practice baseball. I played box across track and field. I don't think my mom and dad ever missed. They were at some, one of them was either a practice

or a game 98% of the time. That's so good. One of the things you talked about, I think it was in the masterclass thing I saw you do about your dad was not only, you didn't just play hockey. I feel like that's unique to a lot of hockey players now. All they do is they just play one sport, but you played baseball, you played box lacrosse.

You did everything. How much do you think that that enabled you to be a better hockey player? I don't think there's any question without all that I wouldn't have been a player I became. Oh wow. Track and field helped me build my endurance. I used to be a long-distance runner. Box lacrosse taught me how to, you know, avoid body checks and cross checks, a roll after them. Baseball, you know, void body checks and cross checks or roll after them. Baseball, you know, baseball was, was my favorite sport as a kid actually. And you have to be such a thinking man.

If you have to be one step ahead of that pitch, you gotta, you know, if you're playing shortstop or you're playing third base or you gotta know where you're gonna throw the ball if it's hit to you. If you're playing, if you're in first base and you're, your guy's bunting, you gotta know when to go. If you're in first base and you're guys bunting, you got to know when to go. So you're always thinking and anticipating in baseball. And I tell parents this all the time that all those sports helped my hockey. Now in those days, they didn't play as

much hockey in the off season. And I feel bad for some of these kids because their parents are thinking they're getting left behind because their son, their friend's son, is skating all summer. That's not the case. I think all these sports help you. And then when you get to be 15, 16, you say, you know what, I want to be a football player or I want to be a hockey player. Then you make that decision. Absolutely. I don't think you just throw everything away at the age of 10, 11, concentrate on one sport.

I just, I'm not a big believer in that. And I feel bad for some of these parents who can't afford to have their son or daughter play all year, right? That think that think they're getting left behind. Trust me, they're not getting left behind. They're gonna be fine. Yeah, it feels like a lot of times these parents get caught up in the moment. And it's like, no, no, we're building this thing for the future. Really just not. I mean, chances are

nobody's gonna play in the NHL. We're just trying to we're just trying to build the most all around athlete and well centered or human being right? Whoever's having fun doing this. Yeah. My boys grew up in California. It wasn't a lot of hockey in Thousand Oaks area. But my son played baseball, I would go to practice and I you know, you go to the games and you saw these parents and I'd

be sitting there going, oh my gosh, just hope that your son turns out okay. Just hope that maybe he gets a college scholarship. This is one of the hot beds of the baseball country and these are the poor kids that have made Major League Baseball here. Let's not get too far into it. It's hard to become a professional athlete. And I know first hand, I went through it, you guys know first hand. It's hard to become a professional athlete. And you got to learn to be a good person, be a good teammate. And then if you can get a college scholarship, hey, after that, everything's gravy. That's the way I look at it. Absolutely. Man, you keep mentioning not a lot of hockey out there in California. All I keep picturing is the pro beach hockey league.

Do you remember when this thing hit? As a kid, that was one of the coolest leagues ever. They had crazy jerseys. They had the whole arena right there on the beach. It was pretty cool. I got to admit, they did a spectacular job. I had some friends who were actually playing in that league. No way. And we kind of watched a game one day and I said, wow this is pretty good hockey. It's rocking yeah. I was like very

impressed about the whole style of it, the wholesale pitch, the the game itself. I thought it was pretty cool. You know Chris Shelley was an all-famer. He didn't even ice skate till the age of 13. He grew up inline skating. Really? Yeah. That's crazy. I would tell parents, listen, financially it's tough to be a hockey parent. At the age of eight, nine and 10, if your son or daughter is inline skating, it's going to be fine.

You're not falling behind. Trust me. Oh yeah. My mom said that was one of the best decisions I ever made for was in high school instead of continuing to play hockey and her having to buy all this equipment and especially at the rate especially at the rate me and Jason were growing. It was like it was like mid season we we'd change out skates for a new size. You guys would go through two pairs of skates and it's not even just the price of the equipment.

You got to wake up at like five in the morning to go to ice time. You're traveling. We went we went to Canada to go play hockey tournaments. Not many parents can foot the bill for it, but it's a tremendous sport. That's the hardest thing. I see it in Florida because we live a lot of time there. And I see it in California. These parents are so dedicated. These mothers, they don't get enough.

Look at us and Matthews, folks in Phoenix, getting up before the morning and practicing and then playing in the league. Can you imagine at 11 years old, you're in a league in Phoenix that you're playing against Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, and they're traveling more than the Phoenix Coyotes. It's crazy. I'm like, oh my goodness. So the parents, they deserve such credit for like hanging in there and backing their sons or their daughters. And

just, it's incredible, really. Our dad has always credited hockey with both of us, making both of us good athletes. Oh, there you go. Oh yeah, 100%. He's like the leg strength, the speed of the game, all of it, he raves about it. Understanding angles and I mean, you name it. And I will say some of the best football players

at changing direction, because you get used to going on edges on the ice, those guys are always good at changing direction on a football field too. on edges on the ice. Those guys are always going to change the direction on a football field, too. All right. We're going to ask a bunch of questions. This is called We Got to Ask. Feel free to not answer them. Tell us to fuck off whatever you need. All right. All right. Favorite partying with the Stanley Cup story.

Which one you got? Oh, the very first one. We're in the locker room. Nobody knew what to do with the Stanley Cup because nobody had ever wanted before. I was sitting there with my dad and my little buddy, this stick boy, Joey, that's famous now in Canada. Hell yeah. And I said, what to do with the Stanley Cup?

And he goes, you guys want it, take it. And so we took it everywhere. And now every time I see, who guards the Stanley Cup, I said, we got to do that job. Living probably around the world protecting the cup. So that's probably my favorite Stanley Cup story. That's so good. Jason actually had the cup right there where he's sitting in his living room. Yeah, I was so freaking jealous man. Lord Stanley. Even more beautiful person.

Did you eat or drink out of it? Oh yeah, you always take a sip of the Stanley Cup, right? We got to one of the great days I had was, of course, times have changed in the 80s. I called all the fame one day and I said, hey, I'm at home in my hometown. My grandmothers are coming over and my mom's doing a barbecue in the backyard. Can you bring the cup down? And they drove the Stanley Cup down.

And I'm walking up there. Nobody really was around except my folks, my family. And it was actually pretty cool. That was back in the day. It was a little less crazy, right? Yeah. Sure. Should more sports include fighting? No.

We were talking about a hockey is unique in that aspect where it's not going to just take over the game. It's like, it's more of a, yeah, it's more of a out of respect thing and a tone setter than it is. If you add fighting and other sports, I mean guys, it's literally just going to get turned into a You don't need it. Somebody one time asked me is fighting in hockey real and I said well if there wasn't I'd be in more of them You know, we don't need the fighting no

You said you're a long-distance Track and field is that what you said? Yeah. Well, we had this clip. Brandon, we got the clip ready. I know what you're gonna do. This ain't a long distance race. This isn't long distance. And you were out the gate. Look at the white tornado go, baby! Yeah, let's go!

Yeah, baby! Give that man the football on a sweep, baby. Let's see what he can do. Yeah! I tell you a funny story behind that. man, the football on a sweet baby. Let's see. Let's see what you can do. Funny story behind that you had to, if you weren't asking me to do this, it was his charity and his thing. And I said, Oh, I'm awful at that stuff, but I'll come I'll do it. And the other five events, I had no chance. I think there's an obstacle course

and whatever. Yeah, I remember I said to my dad was there. I said, Geez, I better do well in this race, because I'm going to come last in every other event. In every other event, I wasn't very good. I think there was a bike ride and an obstacle course. I can't remember. But that is awesome. Yeah, you smoke them. Well, we got to got to give you a shout out. Have you ever played your at your game? We me and Jason played this game our entire lives We still we still the we call it Wayne Bruce ski now, we'll play it

How did this out of this even come about did you Like were you were you a video game guy or did it just kind of come to your table and you're like, yeah, let's do it. Crazy enough. One of my really close friends, a wonderful man who unfortunately passed away. It was his company. He came to me, we played a lot of golf together. And I said, honestly, I said, Jack, I don't know a lot about this stuff. We, I think we won New York times video game of the year. He created such a cool game. And I remember thinking, wow, this is pretty cool. Dude.

It's awesome. And my boys at the time were eight and six. They loved it. They played it all. Oh man, every day. Oh, I'm proud that it was part of it. But look at the games today. It's incredible.

Oh yeah, no, it's, it's, it's. I mean, I feel like I'm really playing hockey. Seriously. Yeah, the graphics are insane. It's so graphics are insane. Well, we love that one. Oh, yeah. We appreciate you for it. Thank you. We got to know who your greatest of all times are in the NBA, the NFL, and the MLB.

Well, the NBA is easy. 23, that was pretty easy. NFL. Well, I'll go with you two guys. Like one, two. Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! My man. I'll take it.

Major League Baseball, listen, to me, what Jackie Robinson did was incredible. Babe Ruth, how he created the full baseball world. But I'm going to pick George Brett as the greatest player I ever saw. There we go, baby. There we go. Keeping it in the MO, baby. I gave him the phenom and he was such a force and he was so good. And then in your sport, I mean, how can you go against Tom Brady with all the championships, right? Yeah, TB. Yep. You know, the great thing about sports, we sit around and we all argue and debate.

We don't have all the right or wrong answers, right? Who's the greatest team? Who's the greatest individual? Who's the greatest player? We don't know. It's all opinion, right? Yeah, sure. Exactly. You just sort of pat those guys on the back that have made a difference, not only what they did, but how they've helped their community,

how they help charities, how they get involved with their family, their cities. So it's hard to go against that. I'm proud of the fact that I could say that George Brad and Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, and I got Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe in hockey. Those are the two greatest players ever to play. There we go.

You beat me to it. If you were gonna make a Mount Rushmore of NHL players who would be on the Mount Rushmore? So we got Gordy and already out Bobby or on it. All right. Who else is on there? And work messy. See Travis, the greats always leave themselves off of their own mount. What are you talking about? I put himself on his own my rush. I didn't know it.

I take those guys anytime. I always tell people merc messy was the greatest player played with. Mario was the greatest player ever played against and Gordy Allen Bobby or the greatest two players ever to play our game. That's awesome. God, that's awesome. Who owns the quote, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take, you or Michael Scott from The Office? Now I get pushy, it's my quote, not his. There we go. He goes, Dad, you ever left The Office?

I go, I don't even know what you're talking about. It's a pretty good quote. I looked at it and I said, oh my God, no, that's fine. I don't care. No, that's too funny. If he wants to claim it, go ahead and claim it. I think that's all we got for you, Doc. Listen, Doc, I love that.

I really appreciate you guys and listen, good luck to you this year. Don't let them take your jersey away from you until you're absolutely ready to quit. Make them rip it off your back. You're the best. You're the best big guy. Let me ask you though. I got to ask you one more story. So I've since been golfing with my brother and he has the greatest head cover I have ever seen in my life. How did you let this knucklehead get this head cover? What is the story about that is the coolest thing on the planet to

us. So I'll tell you this. So he was playing golf with a couple of buddies and my wife had Troubadour really hot that day. And I said, I don't want to play. I was in watching TV or something with my buddy who lives on the course, Randy Bernard, and my wife texted me and said, we're coming through the hole that he lives on, come on out and say hello. And I said, okay, so I brought out this head cover,

and I brought out this head cover, and I gave it to him and said, here, my son gets these made and this is mine. You can have it. It's so cool too, man. It's very cool, but you know what pissed me off the most about the whole thing? We took the picture and everybody sent me letters

and phone calls, what are you doing golfing in bare feet? How are you golfing? How am I gonna take a picture? I'm not gonna do a nice thing. You're not wearing any shoes. You're not wearing shoes. You got no shoes on. I'm like, I'm not playing golf. He was just hanging, man. He was just hanging.

That's what you wanted, playing the golf, not me. Oh, yeah. Once it's out there on social media, man, everybody's going to comment. You're the best, though, big guy. I still got it on my driver today, man. No doubt. It brings me good luck. I'll get to go.

Good for you guys. And keep it going. Have fun. Thank you for everything. Thanks, Doc. My pleasure. We just fucking, we just had one of those guys, It brings me good luck. I can go get for you guys and keep it going. Have fun. Have a good day. Thank you for everything.

Thanks, Doc. My pleasure. We just had one of the coolest conversations of my life. That's pretty awesome. I could have kept asking him questions. I'm so pissed I didn't have my fucking Gretzky skates, man. You have skates? I have Nike Gretzky skates.

Yes, all white Gretzky skates. The white tornadoes. The white tornadoes, Nike Gretzky skates. The docks. The docks. What a fucking cool ass nickname. It's pretty sick. I'm wearing nothing but white gloves all year. Oh, love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. No, you're not though. That would increase your

chance of holding. Don't do that. Don't do that. You're right. I'm out of there on that. All right. That wraps up this episode of New Heights. Make sure you're subscribed on YouTube to the New Heights channel, follow New Heights in the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes of New Heights early and ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts.

That's right, once again, New Heights, a Wondery show produced by Waves Sports and Entertainment and brought to you by Reese's and their new PB&J cups. Follow the show on all social media, add New Heights show with 1S. Thanks to our production and crew for always making us look better than what we are. And thank you again to all the 92 percenters for tuning in.

Hope you guys enjoyed the interview with the great one. Ha ha! You guys hear that call? Yeah. Can you guys make out what she's saying? I can't. Sounds good though. She's saying I'm all done pooping. That's the call for me to go wipe Elliot's ass.

Do you need to come back to us? Nana just walked up there, thankfully. I'm gonna start doing that at home. That's so good. I'm all done pooping! Lauren! Open it! Lauren!

Gosh, it's the best. She just goes, what? Yeah. You're not gonna wanna answer this call. You don't wanna be a part of this bit. This bit's not for you. Don't worry about it. All right. Follow New Heights on the Wondry app or wherever you get your podcast. You can listen to New Heights early and ad free. Plus, enjoy exclusive episodes of the show by joining Wondry Plus in the Wondry app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify today. Before you go, tell us about yourself by

completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey. Every big moment starts with a big dream. But what happens when that big dream turns out to be a big flop? From Wondery and Atwill Media, I'm Misha Brown and this is The Big Flop. Every week, comedians join me to chronicle the biggest flubs, fails, and blunders of all time like Quibi. It's kind of like when you give yourself your own nickname and you try to get other people to do it. And the 2019 movie adaptation of Cats.

Like if I'm watching the dancing and I'm noticing the feet aren't touching the ground, there's something wrong with the movie. Find out what happens when massive hype turns into major fiasco. Enjoy The Big Flop on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to The Big Flop early and ad-free on Wondery+. Get started with your free trial at Wondery.com slash plus.