Shaun Newman Podcast - Ep. 32 WHL - Chase Wouters & Rhett Rhinehart
Episode Date: September 4, 2019In this episode sat down with the current captain of the Saskatoon Blades Chase Wouters & NHL draft eligible defenseman from the Prince George Cougars Rhett Rhinehart. We discussed: - Prep schools...| - Bus trips - Tampa Bay Lightning camp - NHL Entry Draft
Transcript
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Welcome to the podcast.
Pretty excited to announce Boundary Battle of Alberta,
which I've been talking about now for the last, oh, a couple months almost,
is almost around the corner.
It is now September, which means September 28th is when the Boundary Battle of Alberta
comes to Lloyd Minster at the Civic Center.
You're going to see the Oilers alumni versus the Calgary Flames alumni,
and they've been announcing names as they go along.
And this week, the Oilers must have been listening to me
because they've been announced a tough guy after.
tough guy after tough guy.
And now they brought in Rob Brown, which I had to chuckle.
He didn't play for the Oilers.
He's in the Oilers Radio Broadcaster, but he played for the Pittsburgh Penguins back in the day.
Put up 49 goals, 115 points in 88, 89, playing on the wing of Mario Lemieux.
And I know we all argue.
If you put me on Mario's wing, I probably could have done that.
Well, here's something you couldn't have done.
In Camloops, in his W.HL days, he put it.
put up 212 points in one season.
You heard me correct.
$212 in one season.
He's going to help the Oilers.
The Oilers also announced that they're bringing in Ethan Morrill.
He served as team captain for three years.
He was in 1994, 14th overall draft picked by Chicago,
and I love going back through the trades on how he gets to the Oilers.
In the trade, the Oilers acquired Daniel Cleary, Chad Kilger, Christian Laugham,
Ethan Morrow.
In exchange, they gave up Jonas Lofsen, Dean McKeelellan.
Cam and Boris Miranoff. Yes, old Boris Miranoff. There's some fun names for you today.
Tickets are still available, $25. All proceeds, go to Project Sunrise. If you want to get a ticket,
head down to boundary, Ford and Lloyd Minster. You can still pick them up there.
Thanks to our sponsors this week, T-Bar-1 Transport, 2013 Lloyd Minster's Business of the Year.
They got everything, guys. Heavy haul, winch trucks, oversized, tank, moving pickers, and, of course, the pipeyard.
If you're looking to get something moved in town or it's got to go a long ways, talk to these guys, they can get it done for you.
They pride themselves and figuring out any job.
Just last week they were moving a giant tank, absolute behemoth.
And I was looking at the route and I'm going, holy crap, I couldn't figure this out.
They just seem to make it easy and get it to where it needs to go.
So thanks guys.
Give them a call, 780, 205, 1709.
Tell them Sean sent you.
Next up, Factory Sports.
Last week I announced they just hopped on as a sponsor
And I said, yeah, they've been in business for 23 years
I'm like 23 years 1993 to 2019
Sean can't do math obviously
26 years 26 years they've been in town
And I just found out that they decided they're going to stop
Taking Sundays off
They're back to their regular business hours on Sunday
So they're open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. That starts this Sunday
Make sure if you are skating in town or need to
to get the blade sharp and a new stick. They're open now leading in the hockey season here on
Sundays. And guys, they got it all. I was down there again today. Just kind of poking around.
And I mean, they're starting to switch the store over, which will be cool. Hopefully by the
end of this week, next week, you walk in and it's going to look like a completely different store
because they're going to have all the hockey gear back out. But I mean, if you're looking for
anything, ball, curling, bikes, hockey, you name it, they got it. So head on down to 4903,000.
It's the 49th app.
That's downtown Lloydminster.
And talk to the boys, talk to Mully and Holt and the crew.
They'll get you hooked up.
Finally, looking for sponsors.
If you're interested in getting on the podcast,
just hit me up, Sean Newman podcast at gmail.com.
Sean's spelled the right way with you.
Newman's spelled the right way, any WMAN.
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I love hearing from you guys.
You guys have been fantastic.
I'm excited for the guests that are coming up here in the next couple months.
It's unreal, so I hope you guys enjoy,
which leads me to today's guests,
who is the current captain of the Saskatoon Blades,
which is Chase Waters,
and then the big young defenseman of the Prince George Cougars,
Rhett Reinhard.
I had a lot of fun with these two guys,
and I hope you guys enjoy the next hour,
in a little bit and so without further ado.
Welcome to Sean Newman podcast.
Tonight with me I got Rhett Ryan Hart and Chase Waters.
I said those both right. Hey fellas?
Yeah, that's right.
I can never tell if it's Wooters.
Yeah, I've heard pretty much every possibility.
So when I have multiple guests, guys, I usually get you to introduce your name,
what team you're currently playing for.
And then I was thinking probably your favorite quote from
a movie off the bus, if you like.
Or your favorite movie from the bus.
How is your favorite movie?
I won't put you on the spot like that.
And we'll start with Chase.
So my name is Chase Waters.
I play for the Saskatoon Blades
in the Western Hockey League.
And my favorite movie on the bus
would probably be the Hangover.
The Hangover?
Yeah, it's a classic.
Part of the Wolfpack, all right.
My name is Brett Ryanhart.
I'm currently playing for the Prince George Cougars
in the Western Hockey League.
And go-to-movie on the bus
has got to be Step Brothers.
Classic.
Another classic one, yes.
Well, boys, this is, you're becoming a long list of dub guys I've had in here.
So I like to, if you've, most people are probably getting tired of me saying the same questions over and over again.
But I like to start right from the beginning.
I like to know where you got your starting hockey because you guys both come a long way.
Now you're both playing in the WHL and I'm sure you have your eyes set on something even bigger as the future progresses.
So I was wondering if maybe we could go back to the beginning.
And I'm just curious if you, you know, if you're, what age or where specifically?
Was it outdoor pond?
Was it skating with siblings?
Was it your dad pulling you're out?
Or, you know, maybe it was just, well, most guys go, well, of course it was the pond.
And I was this or that.
But maybe you can shed a little light on that.
We'll start with you, Chase, as you are the eldest of the two.
Yeah.
So I was born in North Balford and I moved to Lloyd,
when I was about one years old, but we had a cabin out of Jackfish Lake.
Oh, yeah, Jackfish.
That's a beautiful spot.
Yeah, it is.
It's not too far from here either.
So I think my first memory would probably be out in the lake with my family and lots of cousins.
And, yeah, probably just playing some shinny out there.
You guys still got the place of Jackfish?
Yeah, we do.
So that's where I spend most of my weekends in the summer.
Yeah, it's a nice spot.
We went camping there for the first time last summer.
Oh, really?
Yeah, yeah, it's a beautiful spot.
Yeah, and for the people who don't know where Jackfish is,
that's just north and North Battleford, what?
Yeah, probably 20 minutes, if that.
Yeah, yeah.
And you, yeah.
Born and raised here in Lloyd.
First hockey memory dating back would probably be Can Skate.
My dad kind of forcing me out there.
I was never the biggest fan of it when I was younger.
You had to drag me out there, but pretty thankfully did back in the day.
Frigg, uh, did you ever do Can Skate?
Because I did Can Skate.
I don't, I don't even know what they did.
When I was like three, four years old, I think it was when I started that.
I had speed skating growing up.
Did you do?
Yeah.
Well, I did hockey on speed skating.
What did you think of speed skating?
I kind of liked it.
I don't know.
It was a little different.
Yeah, because on a speed skate, the heel doesn't connect.
Or is that just on certain speed skates?
I'm not sure there's like a really long blade.
I know that.
The blade's super long.
Yeah, the blades, like twice.
Remember in high school we used to take speed skating lessons.
or in gym class or whatever
and the back of the blade
was never connected to the boot
but I don't know
maybe I got to interview a speed skaters
so I can get the download on that
how long do you do speed skating for?
Probably four years
three or four years
probably until I was in
I'd say grade four or five
what did they make you work on back then
do you remember? I can't remember
much
but I always think of like
you guys I'm
positive you've done power skating, right?
Yeah, in big time.
Well, you're probably still doing power skating.
Who am I kidding, right?
Yeah. Yeah.
And they always focus on edgework, stride, et cetera, et cetera, right?
I'm assuming power skating hadn't have been, like, painful.
Because I highly don't they just let you race every practice.
Yeah, I wish I could remember, but I remember there's a lot of stuff about the starting.
There's a lot of, like, get your first three strides, whatever, as quick as you could.
I'm curious, you always wonder if that translated over to your game or not.
Yeah, I don't know.
I mean, it's probably so early on, who knows, right?
Yeah.
Did you boys always just play hockey growing up?
I always have the question for guys about, you know, dual sport or just specializing and playing hockey year-round.
Growing up, were you ever playing multiple sports or maybe every sport?
What do you guys remember about back then?
How about we start with you, Rhett?
I played multiple sports.
I used to be big into baseball.
I love playing baseball.
My dad also got me into that one.
Then it kind of just came a time in my life where I had to pick one or the other.
I'm curious, what time in life was there an age?
Do you remember what time it was?
Was it a certain age group?
Like, Peewee, Bannum?
I'd say it was Bantam age.
And there's also spring hockey and stuff that we'd be playing.
And for the baseball team, I'd be playing on.
It'd be missing games, missing practices,
for spring hockey, and by that time, they just kind of told me it wasn't okay that I'd be missing
all these practices and stuff, so I kind of just transitioned over to just hockey.
Over to just hockey. What position did you play?
I was a first basement and pitcher.
First basement and a pitcher.
Wow.
That's a different combo.
Did you hit the long ball?
I usually, yeah.
How about you, Chase?
I was kind of, I was big into school sports growing up, so I kind of played volleyball.
volleyball, a little bit of basketball, and then I was bringing to Bammerton track.
So I did those all the way until I graduated because we came home a little early in my first two years.
So I was able to, you know, come back and can continue in those.
Man, badminton's a fun sport.
Yeah.
Oh, and I like golf.
I do lots of golf.
Yeah, I forgot to say that.
Not that good at golf, but I like to go.
Yeah.
I don't know how many of us are that good at golf.
Yeah.
But I've also fallen in love with golf now, so.
It's fun.
straight. That's my thing. I have an attraction to the water when it comes to golf. Yeah. I'd like to
find the water holes. I don't know everyone does. So you both stick around here in Lloyd then playing
your minor hockey. I always start with you Chase. I mean, you played on, and I've had several guys
come on and talk about it, but you hit the mother load of groups that came through Lloyd and got to be
on that midget team that goes to the Tellis Cup and plays in the math.
tournament and maybe we talk a little bit about that group and and your time with it.
You said you were one of two 15 year olds on the team.
Yeah, so I think it kind of goes back to the year before.
My first year, we had a pretty good team because it was that same age group.
And then we actually ended up losing in the Western finals that year.
So then I had one year, it was my second year bantam and that was the draft year.
And then my first year midget, it kind of guys kept coming back and coming back.
And we ended up putting a pretty good roster together.
and yeah, we went to Quispampsis and do New Brunswick, I think it was.
So we went there for a couple weeks.
And I mean, that was a pretty good experience for me personally and for our team.
I mean, we worked hard.
We deserve to be there.
And then I guess on the max, I mean, that's a fun tournament over Christmas,
but we ended up losing in the final that year to Calgary, I think it was.
Yeah, we want that one back.
But, no, it was a pretty good year that year.
You remember playing in front of the crowds,
and like, is there any fond memories from that year that just stick out?
Yeah, for sure.
I remember we, so after when you're league and midget, you play the BC League.
Yeah.
So the team from West Valley Hawks, they were called, they came to Lloyd,
and it was kind of like they're kind of a Vancouver team.
They come in to Lloyd, and they weren't really sure about the rank and things like that.
And then we show up first game for warm-ups,
and it's packed in warm-ups, and we're like,
holy man like we're looking around like it was christmas morning and i just remember here and we
can't even hear thinking warm oaks it was that it was that good of a feeling and then you go on and win
those games yeah and then we won those games so yeah and the place was rocking yeah that was a cool
cool atmosphere what was it like uh flying out with your team and midget out east yeah it was
different it was i mean you never really do that and midget kind of thing it's it's it's more of a
junior junior thing but we i mean it was a pretty cool experience
and all the guys kind of, we knew from the start of the year that we had a good team,
and that was definitely one of our goals, and we were able to get there.
It was pretty cool.
Now, Mr. Reinhart, you're a little different, and I was saying the off-air,
you're the first guy who had come in that's gone.
You started in Lloyd, but then you go to prep school out in Abbotsford.
So I guess I'm curious, what put the prep school on the race?
to start with.
Kind of on the radar, I'd say, that year in Lloyd Minster, we weren't going to have the best
hockey team, and I knew it was a big year for me, like the Bantam draft year, and the Yale
Hockey Academy team, actually, they were projected to be like the top team in Western Canada,
and we ended up, there's a spring hockey team called the Vancouver Selects.
Okay.
They used to always be the best team growing up, and that's pretty much what the Yale team was.
And we ended up playing them in a Winnipeg tournament in spring hockey in the semifinals.
And not even two days later, the coach called me and asked me to come out.
And I thought it was a pretty cool opportunity, you know, prepare myself for junior hockey as well.
You know, living up billets, basically living the junior life.
And, you know, I was pretty happy that I took that route going to Yale.
It was great for my development.
Playing against top-end guys.
Like that year, I think we had 12 or 13 guys drafted in the Bantam draft.
What, how many, like, where do you play in that league?
Like, is it, like, set up like an actual, I don't know,
ban of midget league like around here, Alberta, Saskatchewan?
Or is it a little bit different?
Well, at the time, there was less teams.
As the years go on here, they're expanding more.
So at the time, we were going to, like, the island, Victoria.
Vancouver. The longest trip we had to make was Calgary for league play, but there was an
Edmondson tournament. But nowadays, they travel all the way to Winnipeg. There's teams in
Edmonton. Bussing? Yeah. Well, some places, some teams might fly, but... I mean, in the
dub, you guys, yeah, there's a lot of bus. Some teams might fly, but we would always bus
everywhere we went. That's, uh, yeah, that's interesting. So it, uh, both you guys,
went in the dub uh the uh the badam draft sorry right yeah what uh what selection did you guys
uh i was 19 19th 19th yeah 13th 13th he's got the young kids got you beat he's got me a little bit
i guess so um what uh both you guys would have been very young going away from home for school
correct yeah what grade were you uh well what yeah what grades did you start away from home
I started in grade 11
I think Greg was a little earlier
I was in grade 9 I was 13
Holy crap
I think if I
racked my brain I interviewed Dwayne Perilett
that's a while ago now a few months ago
and I think he might have been 13 when he first moved
away from home too but maybe
maybe share like both you guys
that's young to move away from home right
I mean in hockey and sports
competitive sports that happens an awful lot
but what was it like moving away
from home at a young age, and then moving to a different school and different province,
you'd have a different, I assume, curriculum compared to what we do here.
Like, what was that like at 13?
You know, I was a bit nervous going in, but actually my billets in Abbotsford were awesome.
Their names were Jared and Lorraine Craig.
They had two young boys, Reese and Sterling.
They were at the time three and one.
Okay.
Busy house.
Yeah, very busy house.
but I mean they were awesome to me like wake up every morning breakfast is sitting on the table
lunch is packed come home dinner's ready I mean they were over the top that was probably the main
part that made it the best for me and then just this tie into the schooling stuff just the guys on
the team I mean it was a great group of guys and made me feel at home everywhere I was
yeah for me I was uh I was really nervous moving away when I was 16 I kind of because I've always
been at home kind of thing and I didn't really know what to expect moving to a new school and a new
city, a bigger city especially than, yeah, Saskatoon. And I mean, in Lloyd, there's, what, two high
schools. I think they're in Saskatoon, there might be seven or eight. And it was, it was definitely a different
perspective, kind of walked in with my eyes pretty wide the first day, not in it route and really
knowing what to expect. But, I mean, like Brett said, I had, I had amazing billets there that kind of brought
me in his family there when I was 16. And the guys, obviously, it was good to have some classes with them.
We weren't out school for too long, so it was kind of, it was a little bit, it was hard to make friends at the start.
But, yeah.
How big a high school is, sorry, we'll start with you, Chase.
Like, how big of high school did you go to in Saskatoon?
It wasn't crazy big.
I think it was similar to Lloyd, but there was, like, there was one, and then there was another one right down the road.
It was kind of, there was like a public and a Catholic right beside each other kind of thing.
And I'd say there would probably be 200 grads, kind of similar to what, Lloyd, 250?
Okay.
Yeah.
And when you moved in grade nine, Rhett, were you going to high school then?
Was it grade nine through 12?
Yeah, that school actually was nine to 12.
It was actually one of the biggest schools in BC, apparently.
I don't quote me on that, but I remember someone telling me that.
Like, in every class we'd have, there'd be 30, 35 kids in a class.
It was big.
Hmm.
Just like 13.
Cripe, that's young.
How did your families deal with you guys moving away?
I think it was, I mean, my parents dealt with it pretty good.
It was definitely hard at the start because my sister, so she graduated.
It would have been 2015 or 2016 it was.
So she moved to Sastoun the same year I moved to Sastoon.
So my parents were able to come in and watch games and see both me and Allie kind of thing.
So it was good for that way, but I mean, it was definitely a change for my parents going from having two kids in the house to none in the house and after one summer.
But they handled it well and they've always been there for me.
A nice thing about Saskatoon is that they pretty much probably don't have to worry about missing any home games, right?
I mean, like, it's right there.
Yeah, I honestly think my parents have maybe missed two home games in the three years I've been there.
So, yeah, they like to come wash.
Even when I was hurt, they came and watched.
Yeah, well, it's super easy, right?
And it's, I mean, you guys' rink is on the right side of town, right?
Yeah.
It's right there for them.
Yeah.
Have you been with the same billets then all your years?
Yeah, I have.
I live with Tim and Tina Gavrocks, her name.
They have three kids, Emily Gunner and Tova.
So I've definitely, I'm the oldest.
I mean, they're younger than me.
So it's pretty cool to have some younger siblings in the house.
And, I mean, they're great to me.
They were family friends before.
So I kind of knew them, but it's definitely been really good for me.
Probably made the transition a little bit.
it easier knowing where you're where you're going to yeah absolutely that's been great for me yeah
cool um do uh how's the how's been moving over to like um i want to go back to the schoolwork for a second
just flip flopping because when you go to the dub which we'll get to here at some point
you guys are on the road a lot and i assume with the prep school you're probably on the road
somewhat as well yeah um how do you guys balance school
travel. I'm out of it
so far, guys. It's a long time
ago. I mean, in Lloyd here, we always traveled.
So if you played your minor hockey, you're always
You're always gone. You're always gone.
And I always
recount the stories of going to Fort St. John when we used to play
those guys, and that was like a 12-hour one way.
Yeah, that's tough. Like, you'd leave at 6 a.m.
Friday morning and
play a game that night and an afternoon
game Saturday and then an afternoon game
Sunday on the way back
in, like, I don't know. It's called
Grand Prairie for all I can remember, and then get
home at like midnight and trying to walk.
That's right.
Right?
So like Lloyd were kind of this unique spot where we've always, no matter what you do,
you got to deal with that because there's nothing really close to us in proximity, right?
So what was it like going away from home and then a new school and then long road trips
and trying to juggle school?
And then coming back home for like the end of the years, right?
Because you guys would come back.
for the last three months
four months of school
yeah yeah
I don't know it was definitely hard at the start
but I don't know
we have a in Sastoun we have a good
school counselor there that helps us out on the road
and then we we have study halls on the road
so when we're gone for over
I think it's over a week we'd have two or three
a week or two or three in that week so it's
I mean everyone's kind of going through it
and in Sastoon we uh it's mandatory
to take a class no matter how old you are
so like last year I was graduated
but I took a nutrition class
so it's kind of i don't know everyone's kind of on the same page in that way but uh yeah there's
definitely some long road trips i remember one time we were actually it's probably happened a couple
times honestly but we were we played in calgary at four o'clock so then the game's over at seven
or no maybe it was just seven o'clock on a sunday in calgary so the game was over at 10 and then it was
like seven hours home so we got home and i think would have been 630 around there whatever
give or take and all the high school guys we just went to denies and ate breakfast and then went
right to school after that so i mean that's happened a couple times but i mean it's kind of fun in
the way and cool when you were in prep school ret did you uh did you stay there for the full year then
um you had the option to stay the full year if you wanted but both years i went home after hockey
season um for the school part it was pretty good our actually the guy who run the academy billy willms
his name was.
Yeah.
He was also a teacher.
So he had like his socials and Englishes.
He would teach us those.
So that kind of worked out well because he'd come on the road with us and stuff.
Oh, yeah.
That'd work well.
Yeah, cool.
So like even if we missed a class on Thursday, Friday, and we're on the weekend,
say on the island, and then we have a couple hours.
He'll sit us down and do some of that stuff.
So, I mean, that part was all right.
But then some classes, I mean, it was a little bit of a struggle trying to catch up.
I always think of, like, chemistry.
I was in the class.
for chemistry and I struggled with it, right?
I can just imagine missing, like, apache chemistry
and then trying to re-teach it to yourself
out of a textbook, which is dry.
Yeah.
I mean, unless you like chemistry.
Yeah.
When I was in grade 11, we went on our 12- or 13-day road trip,
so we went out to BC that year,
and then we came back.
I think we got back a Sunday night,
and then I had Monday at home,
and then Tuesday morning I flew out to the under-17 tournament.
So I think I was gone for,
I didn't go to school for it would have been like three and a half weeks and I was taking chemistry.
And when I came back, I actually had to drop because I was that far behind.
But I picked up, I took it online.
I ended up taking it online.
But I mean, it's, yeah, there's a lot of work.
I got a story to tie in with that one.
Sure, fire away.
So when I was 16 and Prince Albert, we had the U.S. road trip, which was like 15 days, 15, 16 days.
So we did that road trip.
and no wait actually scratch that no so i went to under 17s originally which was kind of a week
and a half thing and then after that was over i joined pa on the road trip and i missed over a month
straight to school which i don't know well then you actually there's more not even like three
four weeks later i got trade to prince george so then i wasn't even caught up yet i
I was going to have to take my classes completely through the year.
So I ended up transferring my classes from PA to PG as well as I could, different curriculum.
I tried to do the best they could.
So I ended up taking the same three classes the whole year.
Could have messed me up for credits.
You know, you guys do a lot of work in a really unusual way, right?
Like that's got to be hard on the old brain to like bounce around and like, I don't know.
Yeah.
Right?
Like, it's different.
It's different.
Very different.
When you got, what was your first training camp like going to once you're on your way to Saskatoon
and your first one would have been PA, but even going Prince George, like, what was your first
memories like of going, you know, the big time out of midgett?
Yeah.
Ban them.
Well, so like the first training cap, you know, you can't make the team yet because you get drafted as a 14-year-old and then you
make it till you're 16.
Right.
So you have one training camp in between that.
So, I mean, I didn't really know what to expect kind of thing.
I knew from other people that have went to camps, kind of what they would be like and what it was like.
But I don't know.
I think it's Sastun.
It's been really good for me, and they kind of welcome me right in right away.
And the older guys were super nice to all the young guys, so that helped for sure.
But it was kind of, it was a pretty starstruck feeling, you know, your first time.
And all the nerves and your parents are there.
and it's just, I don't know, I can't really describe it.
Probably a little intimidating, I would assume?
Yeah, just a little bit.
It's your first time you're out there with 20-year-old's kind of thing,
and you're 15, and they're all wearing visors, you're all wearing cages.
It's definitely a different feeling.
Would you guys get to participate then in any exhibition games, anything like that?
Exhibition games?
Yeah, actually, my first exhibition game was in Lloyd Minster.
It was the first time there was like a W.HL game in Lloyd,
and it was, so Edmonton came halfway, or Saskatoon came halfway,
and we played each other in Lloyd, so that was definitely cool.
But then I just stayed home after that.
So I got to play one fishing game when I was 15,
and that's definitely something I'll never forget.
And there's a lot of local kids on Saskatoon and Ementon,
so it was pretty good.
Like Kobe was playing on, Hamilton at that time.
Oh, that's cool.
Yeah, it was pretty neat.
That would have been a pack, barn, I bet.
Yeah, it was pretty full.
My family bought a couple tickets.
How much you read.
What was your first training camp like?
I'd say similar to chase.
I mean, pretty nerve-wracking but also excited.
I mean, you're a 14, 15-year-old kid going in and playing against almost grown men that are 20 years old.
Just, you know, they're 6'4, 220 pounds.
You're 5-11, 150.
It's a bit different.
5-11.
5-11.
Boys, I've never.
been 5.11. I've never been 511.
Yeah, that's okay.
I mean, you enjoy it still, but pretty nerve-rocking.
Yeah, just the older guys being young, I think was the biggest change for me coming from playing
second year bantam against kids younger than me and then going and playing against kids five years
older than me.
Just wait until you get to your next stage.
Yeah. Right?
Yeah.
Like, I mean, you think 20 is big.
Wait until you meet a 25-year-old, 30-year-old, 35-year-old.
That's right.
Joe Thornton.
That's right, yeah.
We were talking off-air about you guys suiting up for, I think you both said you suited up for Canada, right?
No.
You both worn the Maple Leaf?
I got to ask, first off, A, I've never worn the Maple Leaf.
How was it putting on the Maple Leaf?
It's pretty surreal.
I mean, you grow up watching the World Juniors.
I mean, it's not quite the world junior.
Yeah, sorry, and I should clarify,
under 17s you both played?
Yeah.
And then Chase, you've played under 18.
Yeah, I did.
Yeah, okay.
So we'll start with under 17, since it's a common denominator.
What was, I don't care what level it is.
You still got to put on Canada's jersey, right?
You're representing Canada.
What was that like?
It was unbelievable.
As I was saying, just like watching guys at Christmas time,
you know, that was a ritual every year,
just kind of thinking like, wow, it'd be cool to do this.
that and then kind of it came to real life kind of but i mean where where sorry where do you under 17s
happen are they are they in are they in canada yeah usually i believe yeah oh okay so both of ours were in
can where'd you guys players dosson creek and fort st john i was in uh sue st. maria Ontario Ontario
yeah frig what was uh what was fort st john and dawson creek
like? It was a bit chilly. We had to wear winter jackets everywhere we went.
Yeah, exactly. When the under 17s happen? What part of the year?
No. I want to say November? Early November. Early November? Okay. So you start the year with your
like CHL team. Yeah. And then you leave, what is it? I think it's, you maybe get 15 games in and then
you leave. I don't even know if it's that many. Yeah, I think I maybe play 12 and then I left.
And a pretty cool experience, right? Who would, what, uh, what, uh,
How many teams in that tournament?
Eight.
There's three Canada teams, yeah.
There's eight in total.
Three Canada, U.S., Sweden, Finland, Russia, Czechs.
Yeah.
And how'd you boys do?
We lost in the gold medal game my year.
You lost in the gold medal?
Yeah.
Same here.
We lost in the gold medal.
Both silver medalists.
Who did you guys lose to?
I lost to Sweden.
Sweden?
US.
US.
And who were the big guns that were on the opposite side?
Do you remember?
Jack Hughes.
Ooh, yeah.
Cole.
He's okay.
Yeah, lots of those guys that, what was it, seven or eight guys in that team went in the first round this year?
Yeah, okay.
My year would have been Adam Bokefast.
He was drafted to Chicago.
I don't know, they're from Sweden, so I don't really remember many names.
Who are you playing with on your teams?
I'm assuming there were some big names on our side then, too, besides Chase Waters and Ret Reinharm.
I had Ty Smith on my team.
He was our team captain.
in there.
Okay.
Yeah.
And then there's, I mean, there was a lot of guys that got drafted the year that, like,
my draft year there that went on the team.
And, I mean, there was probably 10, 15 guys that got drafted.
So, I mean, everyone's pretty good.
How long did you guys go to your respective spots for?
How long did you say the tournament was?
Ten days, maybe?
It was a couple of practice days.
Between 10 days to two weeks.
That must have been a really cool thing to be a part of, eh?
Yeah, it was.
It was different for sure.
I remember the one thing is they, like, take.
your electronics away kind of thing for the tournament so you get them an hour a day to reach
out to family members and whatever and i don't know i think it was i think it was kind of cool that way it
was the first time i've ever been really a part of that it's definitely different what did you think
not having your phone or like electronics you just mean your phone or do you mean like phone computer
ipad whatever you brought kind of thing yeah anything that you can text or anything like that so
and then that i boys i come from like a time where there was no phone and that makes me
sound like really old and I'm not that old but um you're both I mean you you pretty much
only know on the internet and I mean pretty much a cell phone attached to your hands
you're probably 10 so what was that like not having that stuff because did that happen for you
too right then you know technology was taken away exact same thing yeah at camp they do it too so
that's kind of I don't know I think at team Alberta I think they do it too um for like um the
Alberta Cup, we had our phones taken away, but for like the Western Canada games,
we never got ours taken away that time.
It's different for sure.
It's, I mean, it's kind of an everyday life now.
And then you go without it for two weeks.
And I don't know, by the end, it's kind of nice.
It's kind of get to know people a lot better without phones.
You're normally used to.
You actually have to have a conversation.
Normally used to just pulling it out of your right pocket.
Yeah.
So what did you guys do with your timing between games?
games then? Have odd conversations with people?
There's a lot of study hall for our team.
I guess you're still in school.
Everyone was in high school.
But I mean, we had board games.
We had an Xbox to play and there's a lot of recovery time too.
So it was good.
Lots of sleeping.
What was, where was your under 18s?
It was in Magnetagoras, Schencellubens, Grush.
No frigging.
Yeah, it was quite the travel we had.
What did you think of that?
It was cool.
I didn't really know what to expect again.
I remember, I think that team, you never know if you're going to make it
because people can't always kind of come and go from that team.
So I think it was the start of April I got the call.
And yeah, I guess, and then I had to go get a Russian visa or passport kind of thing.
Yeah, a visa to get in.
Yeah, so that was definitely different.
And, yeah, it was, I remember we went to Toronto for two days before,
practice there, and then it was,
It was an eight-hour flight to London,
and then a five-hour flight to, I think it was Moscow,
and then a four-hour flight to Chelubensk,
and then he busked into Magnetogor.
It was a long day of travel,
and it was an 11-hour time different,
so it was definitely different there.
And how long did you go over there for?
I think it was three and a half weeks from the time we're in Toronto.
Frigg, that's it.
That is...
Yeah, three weeks maybe, women, but it was fun.
Yeah.
What were the ranks like over in Russia?
There's a country I have not played in.
The one we played in was really nice.
It was the KHL rink.
Okay.
So it was like a professional league in there.
And that rink was really nice.
And it was,
they were cheering for Canada.
Like,
it was,
it was cool.
Really?
I remember we played the Americans the first game.
I think we had the crowd on our side for that one.
Did you get lots of fans there?
Or was it?
Well,
it was packed every night just because it was kind of an event.
Yeah.
But it was,
yeah,
it was cool.
How many,
any idea how many fans would have been in the rink?
How many you know?
It'd probably hold 8 to 10,000.
Jeez, that's not bad, then.
Yeah, it was cool.
Especially when we played,
I remember we played Czech,
and they were just,
every time Czech touch the fuck,
they were screaming.
Like, in Russia, too, obviously.
What, uh,
did you have any cool chance?
I don't remember.
I don't think so.
I don't think there was much of that.
No?
No.
How about, uh,
how did you do in that tournament?
We, uh, we,
we,
we won all four round Rock.
So we were seated first out of the round robin.
We beat the States, which was an upset, and then we beat Sweden in overtime.
And then in our quarter final game, we were playing Czech, and we lost, I want to say,
3-2 or something.
And it was a big upset kind of the tournament, but it was still a cool experience.
Did they have you go touring around Russia then?
Did you go see some?
Yeah, we did.
What was maybe one of the memories of being around there and what you saw?
I think it was Magnitogor's school.
was known for like it's iron or something like that and we got to go see this big iron statue and
that was pretty cool it was even cool just driving down and kind of noticing like what that side of
the world is kind of like so that was my first time being overseas so that was that was really cool
have you guys been back overseas since then no i haven't i went to england when i was young one time
just for a family family trip but that's about it yeah okay fair enough um you'd mentioned in
a little questionnaire we do, that you guys won the John Reed Memorial Tourney.
That's a pretty, is that not a pretty prestigious tournament?
I'm sure.
I think it was like, biggest.
Well, it's going like 40, I think this year's 42nd, 40 second year.
Yeah, that was.
Let me tell you, any time anything goes that long, they're doing something right.
Yeah, that was a pretty cool experience.
I mean, our team was projected to win us, but I think we kind of just went,
above and beyond that tournament actually.
Our first game, we won like 7-0, then like 9-2.
Like we were upset victories, like not close.
And then in the finals we played Delta Academy,
which was the second best team in our league and like kind of the next best.
And we actually held them to only 14 shots and beat them like 6-1.
So is that, a tournament like that would be where academies would play?
Not academies.
Or, yeah, yeah, right?
You have to get invited to the tournament.
So I remember my first year band, we got invited.
Then my second year, we didn't get invited.
So that was kind of the time where you kind of seen who was the better team between academies.
And so, well, let's hear it.
Right?
You both have played in it.
Brett, you've won it.
Of course, you're going to lean one way.
I can feel it.
I can't, honestly, I don't really remember much about our year.
I think we lost, I want to say we lost in the quarterfinal that year.
I think we lost to a team from Winnipeg.
I remember I got kicked out in the quarterfinal.
I hit one from behind with, I think, 10 minutes left.
But I don't know.
You go.
Yeah.
It doesn't happen really.
When we played, we actually played the two Alberta teams.
Okay.
Vannum teams that made to the final, Sherwood Park and Lethbridge.
Okay.
So we played Lethbridge in the round Robin, and we beat them.
They won the league.
We beat them five or six one.
And we played Sherwood Park in the semifinals.
and we beat them 9-1 or 9-2.
So you're going to lean the way of a prep school?
The only reason that it's like that, though, is where Short Park,
they only get kids from Short Park.
And then our academy, we only had two out-of-province kids,
me and Harrison Blaisdell from Regina, Saskatchewan,
and everyone else was close to there.
But, I mean, any of those academy teams can take kids in from wherever they want.
Anywhere they want.
So, I mean, that's an advantage for sure.
That is definitely an advantage.
Anytime you have no borders and you can grab them wherever.
Yeah, exactly.
I mean, in theory.
Mm-hmm.
That's a super team.
You still got to get them to play together, but I mean, in theory.
That was the struggle for us actually at the start of the year
because we just had so many guys that have been used to them being the guy,
and we actually lost our first five, six games of the year because of that.
Jumping back to the dub.
I was curious.
Well, I know Saskatoon's been in the playoffs.
I can't recall.
The Prince George is not?
Well, then we're going right to chase.
What was the playoffs like this year?
You got to play against PA.
You guys had a series there.
Yeah, we played Moostov first round there.
I mean, it was a good series.
There was two overtime games and two one-gold games,
and we ended up beating them in four.
And then PA swept Red Deer the same night we swept Mooste.
So we knew it was us in PA and the second.
round and we both had the same amount of time off and I mean they're they're a good team and
I mean we're a good team we battled hard and it was a crazy feeling I remember I don't think I've
ever seen seen I heard that building that loud and with that many fans in it so you're talking PA
or you talking Saskatoon and both I mean I remember when we went out for for game one in PA I don't
think you could hear you could hear it couldn't hear anyone and that was cool and then and then it came
right back to Saskatoon and we
basically filled the barn for
games 3-4 and then game 6
so it was pretty cool both ways
it was I mean we fell short at the end but
I mean it's something I'll never forget and learn lots
from it I have
I talked to Corey Cross on here
okay and he played in Tampa Bay and then he played in
Toronto and I always gave him the question
on that podcast of well he knows the answer
would you choose warm weather or crazy fans
You think at this point you'd take crazy fans over warm weather?
Probably.
The fans kind of, they bring momentum both ways.
I mean, either whether it's going good or bad, kind of thing.
How is Prince George looking this year?
We don't lose much, but, I mean, we'll be older.
Like last year, I think we had seven, 17-year-olds.
Yeah.
So, I mean, that's just kind of everyone's get a year more development.
We'll be better than we were for sure last year.
We weren't bad by any means, but we didn't score very many goals, and that hurt us in the long run.
Yeah, if you don't score goals, you can't win games.
I guess not.
What's the bus trips been like in the dub, right?
You guys have mentioned a couple long ones, and I mean, at times I have a hard time understanding how you can be gone as much as you two have been from even where you're playing hockey, from school and everything.
But one thing that I'm always amazed at is how much you guys are on the road.
And, like, I mean, how far the WHL spans, right?
So, like, what's life on the road?
Personally, I kind of like it.
I kind of get, you get into a routine on the road where, I mean, you wake up, you have breakfast,
you go to the, it's a game day.
You wake up, you have breakfast, go to the ring.
This is us, at least.
And then you go back, have a pregame meal, you have a nap,
and then you head to the rink for the game,
and then eat on the bus after, or eat.
eat at the rink but i don't know i kind of like it i kind of got used to it over the year and
sleeping on the bus and things like that i can't be playing with that take your phone away
take it all your little toys away and you still find one i know i know twiddling um what's your
favorite pregame meal uh well when i'm at at my billed house i guess i like to have wild rice and chicken
with broccoli so that's kind of my specific yeah i mean i guess i asked the question how about you
how about you um me have two things i have my bill at place how they're just chicken rice and
caesar salad or like um a chicken fried rice with caesar salad those are the two things
uh quite uh how are you guys that can eat close to a game or you got a like a certain time
it has to be done by three o'clock three o'clock really well
So Prince George is a little different from the road, but at home every time nap from two to three, get up, eat, and that's my thing every time at home.
But on the road, we vary the time that we eat.
Like sometimes we'll eat at 12 o'clock and we play at 7 or sometimes we'll eat at 2 or 3.
Kind of varies on that part.
Yeah, we were on the road, we were always at 1 o'clock all year.
We ate at 1 o'clock.
and then at, I don't know, I kind of started pushing it back more and more,
but at the start of the year I would eat at 3.45,
and then I'd eat in my suit and just go right to the rink after that.
But I kind of started eating at about 2.2.30 by the end of the year.
2.30.
A little more light.
And what time was the average game time start?
7.
7.
Yeah.
About 5 hours.
And then I'd get to the rink.
I have a snack, a orange, whatever.
It doesn't matter.
No, a little bar.
Oh, God.
I love hockey routines.
You got a weird...
Are you guys weird in something you don't wash
or you have to put on your gear a certain way?
What's your weird routine?
Oh, my God.
I don't really have any, honestly.
I have a couple of handshakes with the guys going out,
but besides that, that...
Do you sit on the bus and go,
okay, we got to work on a handshake?
How does that start?
It kind of just come along.
You don't really plan it.
happens. I guess I always stretch on the blue light and warm about maybe that's my thing.
Okay. I'm not going to go through mine, but I probably got 15, 20 little routines I do before
every game, like a ridiculous amount, like little handshakes or like little things and warm up.
I had to be the last guy in half moon. I got to shoot third and three lines.
Oh, you want to know. I got to stretch at like one minute left and just little things like that.
and then for getting dressed, I always put my left skate on first.
Actually, you know, I'm sitting here, and I'm going, you're one of those guys,
but then I think about my own self, and I always like putting a puck in the opposing team's net.
I'm one of those guys.
Those guys.
Yeah, right?
The other team's looking at me going, who is this guy?
What is he doing?
Who is he doing?
I don't know why.
It's a mental thing.
Yeah, for sure.
Everything is going to be all right if I sink one in their net first.
Who's every game?
Who's got the best rink to go to?
And don't say Emmington because Emmington's a cop-out.
Well, I have one exception for that one.
Well, this is one of my favorite games I played in when I was 16 with Prince Albert,
and we played in Emmington and they had their teddy bear toss.
We had 19,000 fans.
That's crazy.
19,000?
19,000 played in front of it.
I'll give you that one.
Yeah.
I don't know.
In our division, I'd probably say, rejection.
It would probably be my favorite place to play.
Okay.
They were pretty nice rink and it's pretty bright and things like that.
Probably out of division.
I like Everett's rink.
It always seems loud.
I've only played there once, so, but it's always seems to be pretty packed.
Once in three years?
Yeah, we go there.
We alternate.
Every second year you go?
Every second year we go.
So this year we go again.
Okay, okay, yeah, that makes sense.
And then, yeah, Spokane's a really nice rink.
And they got a funny thing when they score a goal.
They're in Seattle too.
Yeah.
They always like ring this gong.
So like I don't, I don't play there very often, but the one time we went there, I think
they scored seven on us.
So they ring it once.
And the second time they scored, they ring it twice and then three times, four times, five times.
So at the end of the game, we ended up hearing it quite a bit.
I just, yeah, that was a pretty cool, pretty cool.
And what is it a gong?
It's like a, yeah, it's a big gong.
And they all the same guy hits at every game.
And he's always on the, they don't have a jumbotron there.
She knew they just got one.
They don't have one.
It's on the end.
It's like the end of the ring.
Because I have like an indoor football team, I guess.
So they don't have a jambotron, but they have a huge screen on the end of the rink.
And he's always on it ringing the gong.
It's funny that you kind of say that because the first three times they played Spokane.
We got outscored like 24 to 3 in Spokane.
It was like 9-1 the first game.
You just get sick of hearing the gong every time.
And their fans all chant chiefs at the same time in their goal song.
So, yeah.
pretty sick. Yeah. I mean, if you're the home team, you're absolutely loving it.
What's, uh, what arena has the best fans?
Probably for me, PA, just because we, it's kind of a rival between us. So I think if you
have a raider here, he'd probably say our fans, because, I mean, they kind of, they kind of,
they kind of go hand-in-hand with each other. But whenever we're in Saskatoon, they have a bunch
of raiders come, and wherever we're in PA, we have a bunch of blade fans come. So it's kind of,
I don't know, that's a pretty, it's a pretty good rivalry both ways. It's only an hour down the road.
So, yeah.
I'm going to have to go with the Prince George Cougars just because, well, they're pretty loyal for us.
I mean, some nights not the best, but lots of road attraction.
Like our closest game is over five hours away, which isn't very good.
But still, like, you'll still get, you'll see 30, 40, 50 fans at almost pretty much every road game.
But then the best fans outside us, I'd say ever, it.
every night you go in and there's not a seat open
every night
yeah we had a really good fan support
the three years I've been in Saskatoon which
which has been good too
yeah I love your guys as uni's
I don't know what it is about
Louis yellow you'd normally
you'd be like I don't know
we threw it back a couple years ago
yeah man and they look good
yeah they're men
um
is there a rink or a team you just love playing
like you just it just for whatever reason you go play them and you put up six points
probably not six but you know what i mean
Seattle for me just kind of the way i like to play like not so much like just a hard to
play against physical kind of and that's pretty much just all seattle is and i just a team
that like playing against because matches up well yeah i'd probably say pa i kind of we kind of
It's always an intense game against them, and I kind of feel like I probably play a little better when it's kind of rough and things like that.
And that's probably the best team like to play against.
Sticking with you for a second, Chase, you got, you wear the sea now.
Yeah.
What, 59th?
59th captain in Blades history?
I want to say that.
I think I read that.
Yeah.
I got no idea.
What has it been like putting on the sea for the blades?
Yeah, it was really cool.
Last year, last year is my first year.
And when I was 17, we traded Leibor Hayek is his name.
He's from Czech Republic.
We traded him to Regine at the deadline.
And so that year I wore an A in the second half.
So I kind of, I learned lots that year.
And then we had a really good kind of support staff around me and the older guys that were kind of the leading leadership group there in Saskatoon.
And I mean, it's, it was a pretty cool feeling for me.
and I think I've worked for that, so it was good.
Yeah, it's cool.
I mean, it's always an honor to see wherever it is.
Yeah, exactly.
I mean, to get it and do it for the blades, that's pretty cool.
Yeah.
It's kind of a dream come true, yeah.
Yeah, and I got to ask, you wrote on yours that you get to,
well, A, we were talking about an off-air, but you went to Tampa Bay for their...
For the development camp.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then main camp, correct?
Yeah.
And I first got to ask, you got to meet Steve Eisenman?
Yeah, yeah, I did.
That was kind of, what was that like?
Did you pick your job off the floor or was just stuck there?
I was pretty speechless when I walked into the room and he was sitting there.
But no, that was definitely probably one of the more cool, the cooler things I've got to experience in hockey.
And, yeah, I can't really explain what it was like.
But he was there at development camp and he was watching every skate and then he came back for the rookie
tournament and then main camp so that was cool for sure did you introduce yourself at least yeah
i think so yeah no i did i reason i got to ask about stevie why a it's stevie why it's like
one of the legends of the game but he ranks number one on my list like that that'd be a guy
you imagine the stories that come out of stevie why's mouth i'm currently reading bob probert's book
which is okay interesting he'd be in that line
little bit eye opening, but it talks about Stevie Y every once in a while coming in and like being
the voice of reason almost, right? Which you can imagine. It's Stevie Y. Yeah, right? What was going
hopping on a plane? Well, I don't know, maybe lead us through the process because we were talking
about it once again off air that you're undrafted. Yep. Was that, I don't know, how did you,
obviously didn't feel great about that, but how did you deal with not being taken in the draft and
then getting called by Tampa and going down there.
What's all that been like?
Yeah, it was definitely a little bit of a disappointing day,
the draft day when I was 17,
but I know there's lots of different ways to get to the next level,
and kind of just kept my head up,
and then after the draft, I got a call from Tampa,
and it felt like a great opportunity to go down there,
and I was able to go down there for a week.
It would have been end of June,
and then I think I played pretty good there
and then I got asked to come back to the rookie camp
and the main camp which would have been at the start of September
so it was definitely different hopping on a plane
going to Tampa Bay a different little different than Lloyd Minster
and Saskatoon so it was hot and it was pretty cool
but again like the whole playing against older guys kind of thing
I didn't there wasn't much of that at development camp
but then when I played we played Nashville and Washington
in the rookie tournament and then
and then the next week was when all the older guys showed up where, I mean,
there was stamp goes to the headman and those guys.
Yeah.
I mean, it was definitely different hockey for sure.
And it was pretty eye-opening, but it was a cool experience.
Did it bring you coming back this way going, okay, I need to do this, this, this, or?
Yeah, you definitely got some feedback from their, from their player development guys.
And then from their GMs and coaches and things like that.
And you got, you always have stuff to work on.
I think that's kind of what's been really good.
for me is I've had lots of feedback from them.
That's a cool, cool experience.
Like, did they just call you out of the blue and say,
hey, we'd like you to come to our camp?
Yeah, it was kind of, so the guys that don't get drafted,
you kind of get a lot of calls kind of right after
and kind of have to choose an area that you think
would be the best option for you.
Yeah, that's cool.
Damn, Bay, man.
Yeah, it was pretty cool.
Right, like.
Yeah, I'd go back if I go.
It was cool.
For anything, yeah.
Hoping off the plane and shorts carrying your hockey bag.
Is there anything better?
Seriously.
What was the, where did you, did they have you at the main building or were you at a different rank?
There was, they just finished building their practice facility in Brandon.
Okay.
So Brandon, Florida, I don't know where about it is.
And then at Maine Camp and Rookie Camp or Hotel was right across from Amelia Arena.
And then we, yeah, we got to go there basically every day.
And then right before I went home, so we all knew we were going home the next day.
And then there was a game that night, and it was Tampa versus Carolina, I think it was.
So we all got a box at the rink and all the guys that weren't playing.
And it was pretty cool sitting up there.
It was a nice rink.
Yeah, pretty cool experience to go down and get behind the scenes, kind of look at what goes on.
Yeah, exactly.
There's a lot that goes on.
How about you?
I mean, it's your draft year coming up this year.
We've kind of talked about it briefly.
Is there things you've been doing?
Well, actually, I can give this question to both you.
Like, is there things you guys have been doing in the off season right now?
What are you been doing to prepare for that,
to try and push yourself up the ladder, so to speak?
Well, the biggest thing that I've changed this summer is I've actually went on a nutrition plan
just to kind of help with like the physique and just work on conditioning and stuff,
putting fuel into your body more.
So that's definitely been the biggest change.
And then still working out lots, skating lots,
and nutrition's definitely been the number one.
What was the biggest surprise when you started looking at your nutrition?
What did they tell you to do?
Stop eating tacos?
No, it depends what you're going for.
So like right now I'm trying to lose body fat with this thing.
And it's been working pretty well since I've did it.
It's like 3.5% or something.
I've went down, which is in like.
six weeks is a lot.
And so it's the main thing is proteins, protein and good fats where it's like nuts or avocado,
those kinds of things.
And basically a little bit of carbs, but not that much carbs.
You actually get your fuel from the fats.
And so I guess they make you eat so much protein that what it does is the protein basically.
Once you've reached your certain amount you can take in your body,
It starts taking up fat, and so you just replace your fat with protein,
and that's been the biggest change for me, probably.
So what food are you sick of at this point?
Is there one?
About every day.
I have the exact same thing for breakfast every day.
It's Greek yogurt with half a cup of berries, three tablespoons of hemp seeds,
and yeah, that's my breakfast for about two and a half months.
Hey, I'll say this.
I like Greek yogurt.
Greek yogurt is the ball.
It's like the plain one, though, where it has like no food.
No flavor.
Yeah.
I'm a vanilla guy.
Sometimes I can have a little vanilla in there.
I put the sugar-free maple syrup in there, which is allowed, so that makes it a little bit better.
But if that wasn't allowed, I don't know if I would have made it two and a half minutes.
You know, I should just have like a guy who played in like the 60s or 70 sitting here when you guys are talking about this going.
That wasn't the thing.
That wasn't the thing.
We were smoking Marlboro lights in the back room or something, right?
Like, it's crazy to hear you guys talk about how extensive it is.
about what you guys are doing.
I mean, it's really cool.
I mean, I wish I would have done maybe half of what you guys are doing, right?
But at the same token, I don't know if it was all around the way it is for you guys right now.
I mean, you guys have all both done a lot of different things to keep yourselves where you are.
So, kudos to you guys.
What's been the biggest sacrifice you guys have had to make to stick where you are,
compete at the level you're competing at?
I'd say the biggest one, probably moving away from family.
I mean, even still nowadays, my mom, even my dad, my sister, well, my sister lives away from home now,
but my mom and dad, they're sad every time I leave.
I mean, this is coming on year five now away from home, but, like, you know, that's probably
the biggest sacrifice I've had to make as well as them.
I mean, letting me go at 13 because they believe that it was the best for me.
I'd say, yeah, by far the biggest sacrifice I've had to make.
Yeah, that's the same as me.
I've been pretty fortunate.
I've, Saston is definitely the closest place I could be in the Western League.
So, I mean, that part of it is nice.
And they understand kind of that my family,
they understand that I kind of had to do this for myself and for my hockey career.
So, yeah, they've supported me the whole way.
And, yeah, that's been good.
What do you think the future holds for you boys?
Like, where are you looking, is the NHL the next step?
That's where you want to get to?
Is it pro?
Is it Europe?
Is it, what, where do you think, I mean, both of you are going back to the WHL this year.
Yep.
You both have eligibility to stay in the dub for multiple years.
Where do you see yourself going here in the next couple years or in the next five?
Yeah, I kind of want to just play at the highest level I can.
And I mean, whatever that is, if I get a pro off or somewhere, I'd love to take it.
and if anything falls through, whatever,
I always have school to back on to.
But, I mean, I'd like to play hockey for as long as I can.
And, I mean, start out, start out anywhere.
There's lots of different ways to get to the NHL eventually.
Obviously, that's a goal of mine for sure.
And just like anyone playing in the Western hockey,
everyone wants to make it to the next level.
And, yeah, I think it's kind of just wherever I can play, I'll play, for sure.
And so the same thing as Chase.
I mean, it's most kids' goals growing up.
not just playing the NHL. But I mean, if you look at how many hockey players there are to
NHL players, it's a very slim ratio. But I mean, you know, the dream's not over. If you do not
make the NHL, I mean, there's tons of different pro leagues all over the world, you know,
Sweden, Russia, all over there. But I mean, overall goal is to make it to the NHL.
But if that doesn't quite go through, I mean, there's for sure lots of different ways to go
through. I mean, Chase at school and other different pro leagues as well.
What's the best lesson?
I always like hearing what you guys have,
what hockey's taught you guys so far.
What's the best lesson you guys have learned?
Yeah, I think it, you don't even hockey on my part.
My parents have always kind of told me to never quit
and to work my heart.
I know it's pretty cliche,
but it's definitely something I follow to to this day.
And definitely hockey's kind of taught me to persevere through
when things get tough and moving away at a young age.
It's hard, and there's lots of,
Lots of different stresses that come with moving away.
And yeah, it's been good, though, and I've learned lots throughout my three years living away.
Yeah, nothing can replace hard work.
Yeah, that's right.
It's pretty cliche, but it's true.
No, but it's true, right?
Yeah, mine's along the same lines as Chase.
It's something that my dad has stuck in my brains since day one.
So the two most important things for, well, really anything in life is hard work and doing consistency.
Consistently.
Yeah, consistently.
I love the word consistent, or consistently.
He said, no matter what you're doing, you bring those two things to the table and basically do the best you can do,
that you can't be mad at yourself basically.
You know, even if that's going to make a hockey team, you do those two things, you don't make the hockey team,
you can't get mad at yourself for it.
I mean, you did everything you could.
So those are basically two things that kind of live by everything I do.
That's cool.
That's really cool, boys.
Well, I think we just smacked over an hour.
One, two, three, four, five quick hitters.
Sounds good.
And then I'll let you get out of here and go back to, well, I guess you work tomorrow, Chase.
Yeah.
Who knew?
Yeah, start at seven.
Big work guy.
Yeah.
Yeah, we're going to throw out the time machine.
Everybody knows the time machine one by now.
If you had a time machine, you could go to any event.
And I was just listening to Kenny Morrison today, and I was like, I should specify.
You don't have to stay there.
You can just go, or you can stay there, right?
It's your rules.
You got to tie a machine where are you going with it?
Probably for a sporting event.
I'd probably say that.
I think it was in Vancouver and Crosby scored that goal.
Yeah, that's a good one.
2010.
That's probably the time I'd go back to for a sporting event.
Speaking of which, where were you when that goal went in?
It would have been 2010.
Probably at my home watching it.
Probably with family.
or not with family, family and friends.
I mean, kind of get together for those.
I was in Wisconsin.
Oh, really?
Surrounded by Americans.
That's not good.
It was awesome.
Yeah.
Got to rub that in hard.
Yeah.
For me, I'm a big Pittsburgh Penguins fan.
People don't say I'm a bandwagon.
Your bandwagon jumper, I'll say it, yep.
I've been a, I've just always been the biggest fan of Sidney Crosby.
So, I mean, they've been my team year after year after year.
So my favorite moment I would want to go back to
I think it was 2009 when they beat Detroit in game seven
When Flurry makes the save on Lidsstrom
Yeah that was
That was pretty good too
That would probably be my go-to moment
Yeah Krause was pretty freaking good
Have you seen them play live?
No I
Funny story
Well not for me
But one time my dad used to get like
Tickets to work the odd time
to go see an oilers game, and one time you get one ticket from some, one of the, was it
work, whatever, and it was Edmonton versus Pittsburgh.
Uh-oh.
And I wanted to go see it so bad, but nope, only had one ticket.
And he went by himself.
He said, sorry, son.
You're going to have to sit this one out.
Yeah, that was funny.
If you could pick your line mates, well, I mean, defense partner line mates, can be anyone.
It can be current, past, whatever you want.
Who would you play with?
If you had pick of the litter.
We go first. Yeah, we'll throw it at red first.
I'm going to throw a couple here.
You can't pick out a couple.
You can't have the smorgas board.
You're on a forward.
I have it between two right now.
All right.
We'll tell you which one you should play with.
You give us two, and me and Chase will let you know which one.
Scott Stevens.
One guy.
He doesn't fit in today's game.
You just love watching him play.
You know, big hit, stand up for team.
teammates, solid defense.
I mean, a guy made a living, just playing defense pretty much.
But another guy was going to say, Scott Niedermeyer.
I mean, the guy could do everything.
I think we can say this one safe, but you'd take Scott Niedemeyer, when you?
That guy was a gazelle.
He did everything.
He was, I'm a D-Man.
And he is like one of the very few D-Men.
I never got to watch Bobby Orr.
Bobby Orr was well before my time.
Well, he was before all of our times, right?
It's hard to say a guy that you never got to watch, right?
but Scotty Needamire.
He's like one of the very few defensemen that I've ever watched
where he jumps in on the rush, plays in the zone,
and is already back first, right?
Like that is a talent.
Workhorse.
Yeah.
And he's won everything, every known championship except for the Allen Cup, I think.
Oh, really?
For all the major chances.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure.
That's cool.
Yeah, for me, I don't know.
One of my favorite players growing up was Taylor Hall.
but I'd probably have to say him.
I know he wasn't the most likes player in Edmonton,
but he was still my favorite player.
Yeah, he had a good year.
I don't know, probably play with Crosby, if I could.
Crosby?
That's where it's at.
It's kind of hard not to choose the guy like that.
I'll play wherever.
Those two on my line.
I'll play high forward, just make sure they don't get scored on.
Yeah, it don't matter.
I may have asked this already,
I'm going to throw it out again.
Best player you've played with and against?
Probably for me, the best player I played with is probably Kirby Doc.
He got drafted the Blackhawks this year, third overall.
Yeah.
And I played two years with him in Saskatoon.
So, I mean, yeah, he's a great player all around.
And probably the best player I've played against,
uh, maybe Sam Steele.
Sam Steele.
He was in Regina, so we played against him.
I would have played again eight times each year.
We played Richard Gine.
In both years, they had a really good team.
So he had lots to work with.
And, yeah, he was a really good player.
Like when those guys were on the ice,
were you just like, oh, God.
Oh, no.
Like, look at these guys go?
Yeah, it's pretty cool.
And then even in practice with Kirby, he was a pretty good player.
Cool.
There's quite a few guys that I've played with that have been, like, top level.
So Bowen Byram and Dylan,
Cousins.
Two guys I actually played midget with at the Yale Hockey Academy.
Really?
Yeah.
Bowen Byron played there.
Yeah.
Bowen and Dylan Cousins.
Or Bowen.
Yeah.
Bowen.
Yeah.
So we played together there.
Played together at under 17s.
Also, Alexei Lafrenier.
Oh, yeah.
He's supposed to be like the number one pick next year.
Where is he from?
Quebec.
He plays in Ramoski.
Oh, okay.
Okay.
Yeah.
And what is he supposed to go?
Number one next year.
He's supposed to go number one next year.
And where did you play with him at?
U-17s.
U-17s.
He was on that team in Russia too.
He's on a, like,
he could have went first overall this year,
possibly.
And then for against,
I'll keep that in mind.
Fantasy owners are scrambling right now
if they're listening to this.
They're writing that name down.
For against,
it's not so much off the map,
but a guy in Spokane,
Jared Anderson Dolan,
and he was one guy that, who's he drafted by Chase?
LA.
Yeah, LA Kings.
He almost played there last year.
He played a few games up there,
but just one guy that he's the definition of a workhorse.
Like just doesn't stop moving,
plays with grit, plays with skill.
He's got it all.
Cool.
I did this question with Springer and Morrison.
if you could pick one celebrity famous person to go party with for a night.
Who would it be?
Jeez.
So many options.
I don't know, maybe Quy Leonard.
Oh, yeah, Raptors, when he was, when he just won with the Raptors kind of thing?
Yeah, he seemed like, yeah.
What a do, baby.
Yeah, probably him.
I don't know.
It's hard to choose, though.
I mean, there's just so many options running through my head right now.
Well, you're only 17 right now.
You can't even party yet.
But when you hit of age, right?
Who would be the one guy?
Guy.
Gore.
Or girl.
Sorry, girl.
Gore.
Girl.
Can't pronounce a word tonight, it seems.
There's one guy that I've always found amusing.
Kevin Hart.
Yeah.
Kevin Hart?
I think he just seems like he's got that fun attitude.
And I think it'd be a pretty fun guy to be around.
Worst case scenario is going to make you laugh all night, right?
Seriously.
Exactly.
Have you seen the trailer for the new Jimaji?
No, I haven't.
No.
Did you see the first Jammaji?
Yeah, I did.
What did you think of the first Jammagy?
I liked it, yeah.
That's one with the Rock, right?
Yeah.
Well, I should say that's the second Jambagi in truth, right?
It's the remake one.
Yeah, it's a remake or whatever.
Or the kind of.
Not a ream.
I don't know.
Yeah, whatever.
But they're bringing out the second one.
And the second one actually looks pretty good.
Do yourself a favor.
After you leave here, just watch the trailer.
Jumanji's getting a little free publicity on the Newman podcast here at the Sean Newman podcast.
It looks pretty good.
It looks pretty funny.
Have me laughing.
All right.
Last one.
Play a little game, side trade, bio.
I'm going to pick on Rett first because I know he's a Pittsburgh fan.
We already know who he signed it.
I almost should have just, I thought about just scratching it off, but then, I don't know.
After they traded Kessel, I was like, he was going to be on the game,
but now Kessel's never, he's gone.
So you got Crosby, Malkin, and Lattang.
I took their top three.
Who are you signing, given?
Who are you trading?
Who are you buying out?
Signing Crosby.
And then I probably trade Malkin
because he's got a high salary, like over 10 mil.
So you don't want to buy that out, that's for sure.
And I'd say buy it, Le Tang.
Yeah, that's a tough one.
I mean, at the end of the day, those are three.
You've got to keep pros people.
And Mr. Chase, you're an Eminton fan.
Yeah.
And as you can imagine, being an Emmington fan base, we get this question a lot with it.
So I've had to come for a creative one.
And we just got James Neal, so I threw him into the game.
Okay.
James Neal, Sam Gagne, Chris Russell.
Oh, no.
I'm going to make a little more difficult on you.
Okay.
I've probably seen.
Oh, I don't even know.
Maybe
probably trade James Neal
Signed Sam Gagne
He was there in the good time
Didn't he put up like seven points
One game or something
Yeah
Eight points
He holds a record
I was watching that game
That was unbelievable
I remember I saw it on Twitter
I'm like that's not real
And I like watched the video
And he had eight points
How can't you sign that guy?
And so you're then
buying out
Chris Russell.
Yeah.
I like the way he plays.
I just,
I don't know.
Don't got room
for him on the squad.
Yeah.
Had to make a choice.
Okay,
boys.
Well,
that's it.
I'm glad you guys came.
I hope you enjoyed yourselves.
And thanks for coming.
I look forward to watch
from what happens here
as you progress.
And,
uh,
I mean,
as the summers go on,
if you're around
and you want to hop back in,
love to have you,
and we can chat about where you're at
and how things are going.
Yeah.
Thanks for having.
Thanks for having.
Thanks for having us.
It's awesome.
Yeah, cool.
Thank you. Hey, guys.
Just wanted to say thank you to Chase and Rhett for hopping on the podcast.
They'll be by this time at their respective teams.
So just want to wish them best of luck here in the upcoming season.
Look forward to hopefully catching a game or two, actually,
and looking forward to seeing what they do.
Next week on the podcast is Mason Shaw.
He was a Minnesota Wild draft pick in 2017.
He was taken in the fourth round, 97th overall.
He is originally from Wainwright, and we sat down and chatted with him for about an hour
and just about getting taken in the draft and everything up until that point,
and now obviously on into his career.
So here's a little sneak peek.
Enjoy, and we'll see you next week.
What was the actual draft floor sitting in that?
You mentioned earlier, I kind of took you down a different role,
but to go back to going to the NHL entry draft,
sitting there through the first day and kind of taking it in,
And now you're on the second day and there goes round two, there goes round three.
You're getting a little nervous.
Like, what was that like?
Yeah, I know my, we talked a lot about going and not and whether to go or not.
And I had a good idea I was going to go on the draft.
So, I mean, my dad did a good job of trying to take some pressure off me
and keeping it as light as it was.
It was in Chicago, a great city.
My family had never been there before.
So the activities away from the rink were awesome.
So, and then when I realized I wasn't going to go on the first round, and then when day two came, you know, the name just started getting spit out really fast and, you know, the second round and the third round went through.
And I remember that was probably the most nervous and frustrated I'd felt in a long time.
You're almost wondering if they even think it's your draft year kind of thing.
And then when Minnesota called early in the fourth, it was a big relief and was a pretty cool experience.
