Shaun Newman Podcast - Ep. 41 Ottawa Senators - Wade Redden

Episode Date: October 30, 2019

Wade Redden: WHL rookie of the year 2 trips to the Memorial Cup with Brandon Wheat Kings 2 golds with Canada in the World Juniors Drafted 2nd overall by the New York Islanders 2x NHL All Star Olympian 1000 games in the NHL

This is Wade Redden. Welcome to the Sean Newman podcast. Today's episode is brought to you by T-Barr-1 Transport, the 2013 business of the year. I was talking to them earlier today. They are currently hauling tanks from Bow Island to 80 of 11W-5. And if you're thinking, where in the hell is that? Well, Gordendale, north of Dawson, Couric,

that's right in the middle of nowhere. But the amount of effort that goes into getting a tank there, let me tell you, power pilot trucks, all of it. They take care of it for you. And if you need something like that, give the boys a call. 780, 205, 1709, T-Bar-1 transport. If you need any heavy haul winch trucks, oversized tank moving pickers or they got the pipe yard,

just give them a call. Tell them Sean sent you. Factory Sports, they are located 4903-49th-th-thav downtown Lloyd Minster with hockey season in full go now. It is, we had senior hockey start this past weekend. be a full slate of games coming this weekend and we're going to see that just continue to grow all minor hockey's fired up now if you guys need sticks your skate sharpen sock tape you name it right they got it if you need some team apparel i know uh i know the boys would love to help you out there so they're open monday through saturday nine to six p m nine a m to six p m and sundays they're open

through the hockey season 10 to 3 p.m so stop in there the boys can hook you up with whatever you need. Next, Vic Juba Theater. They got upcoming shows November 2nd, a tribute to Alan Jackson, Whalen Jennings, and Merle Haggard. November 24th, The Wall, Pink Floyd, group of musicians recreate the iconic album. Let's be honest, the wall was a fantastic album. And then January 26, a little farther out, Stephen Page, former lead singer of the Bare Naked Ladies, is in town, and that's January 26. So if you're were looking to get tickets for any of those shows. Give them a call at 780872-7400 or look them up on vikjuba theater.ca.

They're fully licensed. They seat 550 and they're located at Lakeland College. If you've never been to Lake Juba Theater, it is a beauty spot. So make sure that you go check them out. Finally, this episode is brought to you by Fountain Tire, where they got a 4.8 out of 5 online folks that's about as good as it gets and these guys are great go see kent staniforth and staff here in town they're open monday through friday 730 to 6 p.m and uh saturday's 9 to 1 p.m and sundays are closed give them a call 780 875 6267 if you uh didn't listen to me in the

previous podcast and you still don't get your winter tires on well now you're reaping it because it is snowing it is awful outside it is cold so uh so uh Stop in, get your winners put on, give them a call 780-875-62-667. All right, this week on the podcast, excited. Wade Redden. And if you don't know a little bit about Wade, Wade is originally from Hillman, Saskatchewan, same place as this guy. And he had a little better hockey career than me.

He was rookie of the year in the W.HL playing for the Brandon Wheat Kings. He played in two Memorial Cups. He played in two world juniors winning gold twice. He then was drafted second overall into the NHL, went on to play a thousand games, suited up for Team Canada and the Turn Olympics. Yeah, he's done a lot. And so have fun with this one.

I certainly did, and without further ado. Welcome to the Sean Newman podcast. I am joined by Holman Superstar Wade Redd. So thank you for joining me. Oh, it's a pleasure, Sean. I'm finally get to sit in this seat. I've heard a few of your podcasts, so it's a good one and look forward to doing it myself. Well, we are closing in on senior hockey starting here.

I mean, we got a card open for you. Deadline is far off and away. If you were wanting to suit back up, I mean, I know Hillman would love that. We'd probably find a way to pay a beer or two if you'd fly in from Colorado. Well, it's all it would take as far as payment. Unfortunately, the time we can't fester any. more of that. And I'm father times paid his dues on me too. So I don't think I'd keep up like I used to. I'd break down too quickly is the problem probably. But I appreciate the offer. It's been a yearly

thing. You've been at me to offer in every year. But I've been keep declining you. So I apologize for being a downer to you. I got an offer, right? I mean, the worst thing you can say is no. True. Yeah. Yeah. How is fatherhood going? Fatherhood's good. It's getting busier. I know you have three now, two, so the third, our youngest is three years old already, and that third really threw a wrenching it. Yeah, but it's all good. I mean, it's busy, three daughters, you know, they're active in seven, nine, and three.

So it's loving it, man. Yeah, they're great and life's good. Well, at least you got a little bit of, like by the time, your first one would have been six. Your oldest one would have been six when you had the third, yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah, six and four. Uh, yeah, six, four and newborn, yeah, four years gap and two gap. So yeah, there, no, we're out of the diapers, but then that was the ranch probably right back into that stage. And so, but yeah, it's, it's awesome.

I hate to talk about kids too long, but I am on week two and a half of the third and we got three under three and a half. And I'm in the trenches. So sneaking away to do this for when I was leaving, my wife's like, have fun. And I'm going, oh, no, I'm having fun. Yeah, I'm going to be out of here. I'll be back in a little. while. I know. We cracked a beer and can. This is the only time though as fathers. It's funny that the kids, man, that's the day right, you're on their schedule. And then finally, hopefully by eight

they're sleeping. Then you can breathe a bit and enjoy a little time. So this is probably the only time of day where we could do this. Pretty much. I mean, I still work full time. So yeah, this is, uh, instead of going out and dressing up in a cape and cow and being Batman jump from rooftops, I come here and sit behind a mic and sit and get to talk to guys like you. Well, you do a good job at it, so it's funny. How was it going on spitting chicklets? I know we kind of talked about it off air, but spitting chicklets in the podcast world for what I do is like the top.

Well, yeah, it was kind of, well, it was really cool to go on there. Actually, I think I don't know how many episodes they would have had out before mine was there because I talked to him. There was a couple summers ago. but as nasty was in Kelowna for a golf tournament or something so obviously there's a bunch of hockey guys out there and he just kind of lined him all up for that week and I was one of them and then but yeah it was a lot of fun and I'd never met Paul before but just sitting there with him he's a real cool guy and and obviously he comes across the same way and when you listen to him and real funny guys so it was it was funny to sit down with him and just hear what he had to say and

and, you know, he can do a good job, like just the way he approaches the interview and stuff. He's a personality. He's got the gift of gab, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So it's, he doesn't, it was fun to do. Well, on this one, I like to go back to the beginning. I like to know how you got, like, for a lot of younger age kids who are hopefully going to listen to this, I always like to let them hear some stories of guys, how they made it, what they had to do to put in the work, what they did in the beginning,

if it was just staying on the ice lots or whatnot. I know Gord was a guy who's been on the podcast, and people around Lloyd know your brother, Bart, and you guys are very active in the hockey world. But initially, was it just getting on the ice at the home on rink? Or was it a backyard rink, the pond, all the above? Yeah, all of the above, I guess. I think, well, Dad played pro hockey, so I think innately.

And he was playing, I guess, when we grew up, when we were born, I guess, more. So I just, that was probably my earliest memories of the hockey rink would be going to watch him. Well, either with the border kings, he played some years, and also with the all-stars. I remember going in the old rink in the old all-star dressing room. That was kind of a haven. They had it locked. Every other room in that old Holmon barn was open, but the all-stars had theirs locked and it was painted red.

So it was like this special place in there. But the odd time would go in there, and it was pretty special. that age and but yeah dad was uh obviously played pro hockey come back and continue to play we just we were into it right off the bat we had sticks in the basement and they've held off from finishing the basement to we're probably in our teenage years because it got beat up for those years there's just concrete and and uh concrete wall basically smart move yeah so we hammered away at that in the early years and we're playing hockey from as early as I can remember. You know, I tried picking your dad's brain on when they all.

He was until we won it in 2000, oh God, hasn't been that long, 2015, 2014, whatever it was. He was the last guy to win Saskatchel to championship with the All-Stars in 78. I know. And he couldn't, he's like, I don't know. Yeah, we must, I don't know. The party must have been good. And I'm like, come on, Gort, give me a little more than that. Oh, I think they would have.

had a lot of fun those guys. I know some of the guys that, I remember him talking about that because he just finished playing in the States and comes back and there's a lot of younger guys, like guys that were younger than him that were playing. And he kind of put a system in place. And all these guys are obviously,

you know, hard working, tough players. And they started playing together. And yeah, they had some great years. And it's funny to listen to those stories. So, you know, I think they ended up, the ice would be gone in Hillmont. So they had to come into the, playing the Civic Center and they'd fill that place and it was really special the senior hockey especially

back in those days the communities were like behind them 100 percent so it was like big robberies when you're playing lashburn or made stone so it's funny to hear those stories and I love here when when gourd gets into it it's pretty pretty comical that's pretty good yeah um your minor hockey you played obviously with helm on but then uh I remember as a kid while watching you play with Midwest, the Red Wings, when it was kind of all the little communities combined for a double A team in Saskatchewan. I assume those were some fond years. Well, all those years, yeah, even.

I mean, so we are Hill Mond, and then I think first off, we started Paradise Hill and us kind of joined forces, maybe an atom or around that age. You know, you're just numbers were low both ways, so you had enough. join the teams together, the towns together, and we're able to get some teams together. And then really, looking back, like we were, I mean, we had some really talented kids. Like, we had, Travis Clayton was probably the best kid at that age. Western Canada, if not Canada, he was just so dominant. And then Bart could, you know, he could put the puck in the net.

And then it was him and your brother, Jason, those three played on a line. And Jason always found a way to get to the net and put the puck in. And then myself on the back in and Marvis McClellan, I mean, these guys, we grew up playing with all those guys. So it was really special teams. And it really went from one season to the next with ball and hockey. So we were really fortunate to have that group of kids together for all those years. And I look back on it as it's funny after playing all these years in the NHL. and you, you know, I had an unreal career, really.

When I look back, I was very fortunate. But we had so much success as kids. Like we'd won provincials. We'd, you know, represented our province and nationals and in ball and stuff. We got to go to Toronto. We were, you know, one of the top teams in our last year, Banham. We got to go to Toronto in a big hockey tournament. And I look back on as much fun or, if not more than, you know, some of my years of pro.

So it was a real special time. And still, you know, I run into those guys these days. It's almost like the same old, same old thing. Again, it's hilarious. I was going to say your ball career up until you were done, you guys probably had more success in ball than you did in hockey at the time. Yeah, we were always good in hockey. We were one of the top teams.

But ball, we found a way. We won provincials. We won westerns. Absolutely dominant. If I actually have memories of you guys, it's being at the ball diamonds in Lashburn. Yeah. Which are still, to this day, some of the nicest diamonds around.

Yeah. And beating, I mean, Lashburn's a town of like 800. Is it 800 people? Maybe even less than that. It's small. It's not very big. No. And you're beating up on teams like Saskatoon and Regina and all these to represent Saskatchewan

and then go to nationals like that. Well, that's what I mean. We were like we had, well, Paradise Hill Hillmon and then Wally Lambert. He was the Maidstone. He was like to do one of the top little hockey players and ball players. He was just a good little athlete. So we had guys like that. Jason Fessick was from Lashburn.

Just an athletic group all around. And we, you know, we had good coaching. Your dad and my dad were both at the rink. And then Pete Clayton was involved too, obviously, in hockey. But in the ball, we had Dave McLean and then your dad. So there was something about the group that we had. We played hard. We were, you know, a great group of friends.

friends and we just loved competing with each other and it was you know it's crazy we're 12 13 14 years old but that was our life is you know look back on it was so much fun did you always want to be a defenseman i think i was always a defenseman yeah you don't ever remember playing forward or no no i think i whatever reason was a natural fit for me i think maybe my personality leans that way too. I'm laid back and I like seeing everything like so that yeah I was just never still to this day I play ford and our little league in Cologne and I just feel lost I mean obviously it's my habits are everything to do with the defenseman so I just naturally that was that's where I fit how number six why did you pick number six that's what dad wore he had a few jerseys he hung he

played in, well, it had been Fort Worth and Port Huron. I remember when they finally did do the basement downstairs, he had a few jerseys, his old ones that they kind of pinned on the wall, and they were number six. Then I even remember I had the choice. It probably would have went one way or the other. When we were, our last year, Banham, I think we got jerseys. It may have been Pewy, but it would have been Banham.

Yeah, we were sitting in Wally Lambert's house and all the dads were. out there kind of having their meeting before the season and all the kids. And they had the jerseys and they're doing the numbers and they asked and I said six. And Gord, I think, was kind of pushing me towards number four. I don't know. That's a defenseman number. And he asked, well, what do you want that? Six.

And I asked your number. And I left it at that. And so six it was. Follow the old man's footsteps. I figured that was the right thing to do at that time. No, there's nothing wrong with that. Dad tried getting me to wear number five for the longest time. It took me until I got back to Hillman to finally put it on.

Is that what Stevie wore or what? Steve wore number five as a four word, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. And the reason he wore it, I found out actually by doing this podcast with him, is because Vern Priest used to wear number five from back in the day. Red. Yeah. The original All-Star. Yeah, Vernon Priest.

They say he was one of the... He was an athlete in his day, too. When he hears this episode, Vern, I'll be talking to you very soon. He keeps dodging me. Oh, you should get him on here. Absolutely, I should, yeah. He's a good pool player, too. I remember he came out to visit him and Lynn, and Bruce and Mary Sutherland came out to Ottawa with mom and dad one time.

Yeah. At a pool table in my house, and then we had a few games in Vern. He was just knocking everything down, but he just had the knack. I think he must, I never seen him play house. hockey but from what I hear you had the hands and the touch so I've seen it on the pool table not on the ice but funny those old names are making me laugh if you could go back and not be a hockey player hockey wasn't an option just throw it off but you could play any sport you wanted would you have stuck with ball or would you have chose something different yeah well yeah looking now

actually I love the team sports. We never played any individual sports. I'm now, I mean, I love golfing now, and I've kind of taken up tennis in the last number of years. Well, two or three years. I'm not good at it yet, but I love it. It's a great sport. So I don't know.

I think tennis would be something that would be kind of cool to go on. I wish I would have played as a kid. I would have been a lot better at this day and age. But I guess as far as, Yeah, I was always hockey for sure and ball. That was all we ever did, so it's hard to say. But I like individual sports or something I never did as a kid, and it's kind of fun to do them now.

Like the pressure you have on, you know, it's just you on an island, right? So it's kind of fun. Well, I do and I don't. I don't know. I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much as a kid, so I'm glad I was in team sports. I wish I would have played more of it, though, at the same time. When you got into Bannam Age, Bannam Draft was going then.

I believe you were taken second, correct? Am I right now? Yeah, I might have been the second year of the Bannum draft my year. Oh, so right at the beginning of it? Yeah. Do you remember thinking, like, now I've had a bunch of young kids come on, right? And they all like, well, I mean, today you got the phone. and so everybody

everybody just kind of falls along the Bantam draft. And so they're sitting in class watching their phones and they have to get permission from the teacher, but the teachers kind of all know what's going on. Back in that time, not to date you, but there's no phones sitting beside you telling you. So like how did you find out you were taking second overall by Brandon? Well, we would have gotten a phone call from Kelly McCriman,

I think called Mom and Dad. We were actually in the middle of, that was Bantam, so we were in prevent. Finchels and we had a game in Martinsville on the Tuesday I want to say it was a Tuesday we're down there and then the Bannam draft was the next day and there was a bunch of scouts I remember dad talking about more than anything I was kind of oblivious to it like I I knew there was a I don't even know I'm thinking back if I knew there was a draft or you know obviously there's some talk about it but I remember there was a bunch of scouts at this game it was right near Saskatoon and they were all

trying to get at dad in between periods. He was so much focused on the, it was like first round of provincials, so we were just focused on that. And to be honest, it was, yeah, I don't know. I didn't really give it a lot of thought. I think I was probably oblivious to it. I was just focused as kind of in my own world,

like you're a young kid and it wasn't talked about it all amongst us guys. But then, yeah, sure enough, I got, we got a call from Kelly. And I don't think we were, well, I was probably excited about it, but mom and dad knew, It was a nine-hour drive to Brandon, Manitoba.

So they were probably hoping I'd be a little closer to home. But, yeah, got taken second there. And it ended up being awesome. Like, it was a great experience. I love my time in Brandon. You played a year for the Blazers before you go there. Is that correct? Yeah.

Yeah. So, again, in those days, like, I guess the option was maybe to go to Battleford didn't play AAA midget, but mom and dad and me neither, like, I had no interest in leaving home. Even going at 16, looking back on it now, like, that's so young to be leaving home. And I know it's probably needs to be done when kids are, you know, trying to pursue hockey and stuff. But I look at a 16-year-old now and thinking, man, I was that young and I left home. What the hell?

Like, I guess you're so busy with hockey and stuff, you know, you're just in that world, right? and every day you're just hockey, hockey, hockey, so that's what you do. But, you know, you miss out on a lot when you leave home at that age too. But so, yeah, so that 15-year-old year, you get drafted at 14. And the next year, I tried out for the Blazers. I get cut by them. And then I went down and played for the bandits, who's, I guess it would have been Brent Dallan, would have been coaching.

It was John Saunders probably there still too. Oh, okay. And so Dad had a good relationship with them. And I would have played with Bart. and I ended up going down 10 games, and then I called up for a few games with the Blazers and played well, and then I ended up sticking there the rest of the year. Is it true that Ken Stanforth was on the team that year?

Stanley was on the team, yes. Was he your D partner? Oh, yeah, Stanney. I heard the story. I haven't had Stanley on yet, and he will be on this at some point, too. I heard a rumor that when you went up, Stanley spread the word that anybody that touched you was going to get the wrath of him.

I don't know if he even had to speak the word. That's probably. But he was pretty nice to have on my right side. I played left side. He was the right side. And yeah, he was just a man, right? He would have been 20 years old, but he seemed like he was 40. Like I was just so green.

And he was such a good guy to be with and a lot of fun. And now I still see him around all the time. He's such a good dude. But we had him. Then we had, so he had played in the Western. League was one of the toughest guys there and came down and then Glenn Webster who had played in Brandon he was a 20 year old but came back to playing Lloyd and he was like one of the toughest guys in the Western League and Mark Ashley was he would have been 22 probably like and he was big and

tough he was our captain but we had a really we actually had a really good team that year but I don't know we we just yeah we didn't put her together we ended up not doing well we lost It's kind of a sad case. Best of nine, we got swept five straight, so. A best of nine? Yeah, we played a best of nine against Fort Mac. A best of nine. Yeah, whatever they had to match up the, I guess, I guess they must have had to,

was there less teams in the north, or they had to kind of equal out the rounds. They didn't want one team playing, yeah, it was a best of nine. You know what? I read that today. I actually read Fort Mac beat you five, zero. And I went, I must have only had a one game. game playoff five nothing oh that sucks and i kept going they their first round was a best a nine i remember the few leagues did that back in that

like for a short time it's kind of crazy best a nine series right but seven's plenty seven's plenty yeah it only took five unfortunately against the barons that year but uh no that was yeah that was obviously good to stay home that year and and that probably really helped prepare you for going to the dub. Yeah, well, for sure. I mean, it's one step down. You're playing against men. I mean, I can only speak for now and what I went through. It's still good hockey. Heck, it's really good hockey. Yeah, for sure. And like I said, there's all these older guys that probably played in the Western League that came back for their last year. So you're learning how to play against bigger guys and stronger guys and actually

Rocky Kyle was the assistant coach so he worked with a D so that was a great year he's a really good guy and well he ended up I guess taking Stanley under his wing and a fountain tire guy too so he saw the value Stanley was a good leader on the ice and now he's one of the top guys with fountain but yeah it was an interesting year to say the least but I didn't have to leave home so that was

probably the biggest bonus. Yeah. Did you, when was your first Tilly? When did you first drop the Mets? Did you do it in June? No, it would have been in one of the spring camps for the Blazers. I think I was 14. Was it spring or fall camp?

But it was funny because, well, Cory Cross probably tells a story better because him and Dean Beattie and Jeff Hill were all the same age and they would kind of run the skates, right? You just had scrimmages and those guys would be out there breaking the fights up, basically what they did. the uh it was a little guy kind of run me or i saw him coming and i guess i took some of gourd's advice

from back in the day if someone's coming at you get your stick up or your elbow up and i did and he was a little guy so i got him right in the chops and then he didn't like it and so that was my first fight and then bart didn't want to be outdone so i think a few shifts later he got in his first fight so but yeah that was where you weren't you must have been wearing a cage at time I suppose, eh? Yeah, I would have. I think we would have peeled those off and then got out of it. That's awesome.

But Corey, he claims that he, him and Dean were breaking it up. He claims that he, they got his arms tied up first and gave me an extra shot or two on them, which I guess I should thank him for. But they knew I was only 14 too, so I think they probably didn't let me get in there and didn't want me getting beat up by an older guy. What was the What was the jump in hockey like going from the blazers to the wheat kings? Well, it was a big jump.

I remember looking back and so green, right? Like I was a joke because I used to wear wranglers all the time when I was a kid around here. I had the skinny legs, skinny ass, and then you go to junior and we were skating every day and at the start of the year we'd always run. We'd have to do these runs. Bobby Lowe's was our coach and he'd lead the brigade around.

It was like two miles to do two laps around the big rink and convention center. So just the strength that I gathered from that first year of playing, I couldn't fit my Wranglers anymore, the tight jeans. But no, it was a big jump. And actually that first year, it was funny because there was me, 16-year-old, and then Justin Kurtz, I think he was another defenseman, and he was taking, I think, six overall in the Bannum draft. So there's two of us, we're two 16-year-olds.

We had a couple older guys, you know, eight and then a few seven, but there ended up being a lot of injuries that year. So I remember a lot of nights we'd have four or five defense. Sven Boutenshan was another one. He was 17-year-old, and he was, he ended up, I'm sure a lot of people will recognize that name because he played some NHL games. He was with the Oilers a bit.

And then he played in Germany for a long time. He ended up playing the Olympics for Germany in 2010 when it was in Vancouver. But he was a big, tall, lanky guy. Him and I played together all year and we were both rookies. He had braces, like a big set of braces. He was 6'6 foot 6 and skinny. And we were kind of thrown into the fire. So here's 2 16-year-old, a 17-year-old rookie.

And I forget, you know, a few other guys that were there, but there was 4 or 5D, and then three of us were those guys. And we ended up having to play and we played well and we had good team. And so we kind of thrown in the fire and really got baptized that way. Like we were just, so I was I guess fortunate in a lot of ways. We ended up having success and got to play lots right away. Well, heck, you playing Brandon, what, three years?

Yeah. And in your three years, two of the years you go to the Memorial Cup, don't you? Yeah. The first, well, we end up, yeah, so the first year we lose to Saskatoon in the East Final. And, you know, Brandon, who had been a team that struggled probably a decade prior, that was a long, you know, that was the first time getting into the semifinals. So what was this fanfare like when you made it to that far? Yeah, well, I remember, so that year, and then we lose to Saskatoon.

But then the next year we play Prince Albert in the East Final. And TSN ended up picking up, they were doing game six. And so that was huge, obviously, like national TV. And, you know, that doesn't happen every day in junior. So everyone's pretty pumped. So they do to game six and PA, we lose the game going back for game seven. I think they just kind of impromptu said, yeah, it was such a good game that they did game seven too. So then they do game seven.

And the Keystone Center was just rocking. Like it was like 5,000 fit in there. But it was just filled. And you could see people lined up on the top. row like standing room right so 5500 or 6,000 probably got in there and we win that and then but it was amazing man like yeah you're 16 17 years old playing in front of this and just having the time of your life like it's awesome and then so we win that series we win game seven and then camloops is hosting the memorial cup so we play them in the final so we're we get an automatic

bid remember um you know we're on the bus right away after i think we had to leave right after game seven we're packed up and gone to cam loops for to start the next series and uh end up losing to them and six in the final and then lose losing the semi-final of the memorial cup tournament and then the next year we win the league and go to the memorial cup in peterborough and uh and again we lose in the semifinal of the moral cup but three good years in brannan we got we got to I got to stop there a little bit. What was the Memorial Cup like? Well, I mean, those short tournaments, it seems like, I mean, it's a great tournament,

obviously huge to go to, but it's just one game winner take all. So it's not grind them down. It's, you got to have your A game every game. Yeah, so we kind of weren't on, I think, at both tournaments. We kind of lost that high. we weren't quite at the top like right and I can't remember exactly those games

I know in Peterborough we ended up losing to them who was the host they beat us in the semifinal and they lost to Granby in the final but and Granby is Quebec

yeah but yeah it was really disappointing especially that the year because we won the Western League and then we get to go to Peterborough and I think that game kind of went sideways on us. I don't know. I know Kelly was losing it. I think there's a lot of

penalties against us and I can't remember the calls, but it was, we end up losing, so we'll blame the rafers there fault. But anyways, but it was, yeah, disappointing, man. You go so far and, you know, as good as it feels to win, you know, the Western League. You know, I think the teams that are really remember it are probably the teams that win the Memorial Cup and if you're able to do that it's it's another notch up for sure and unfortunately we didn't get her done yeah i remember coming watching you guys what years you play with marty murray yes marty murray yeah marty would have been my first two years yet so so it would have been your second year there because i don't i don't think i came your it would have been your second year yeah that was a year we would have uh yeah yeah we would

Because we came and watched it in PA. Oh, okay. When you guys... Yeah. Yeah. And Marty Murray, there's another great name that... Because we had a tight bond. He was a farm boy from Southwest Manitoba,

and his dad was kind of cut from the same cloth as my dad, Ian Murray. And actually, speaking of that, it just reminded me. It was my first year, and the first round of playoffs were in Regina. And mom, she made the drive. Dad must have been... calving or something at that time of year. He couldn't make it to the game. I think it was a best of five and we were up two nothing in the series playing game three and all hell broke loose. And there was a huge brawl after the game. We lose the game. So we lose that game and it's kind of

a, you know, battling. We're kind of down a goal goalie pulled and we were, you know, scrambling and then the buzzer goes and then fights break out, right? And I remember kind of getting pinned under the pile in the corner and I think Jeff freezing got a free shot on me and then he skated off and then it ended up all the everyone was on the bench like everyone was on the ice and our backup goalie

was Craig Hordell and he our coach was like he was by the end of it all our team was standing there all their team was standing and our coaches were kind of picking you're going now you go fight that guy and our coach kept he sent our one

tough kid he didn't play a lot but he fought a few times and then our backup goalie fought their goalie and their goalie broke their hand so it ended up the backup had to play the next night but that same night

I just think of this because Ian Murray was at the game sitting with my mom and they're obviously cheering for us and somehow he ended up getting all scratched up from one of the fans like it was kind of mayhem and fans were leaning over the ice

and we were swinging sticks at them they had their hands on the glass we're trying to hit their face fingers like it was kind of nuts. Oh, the good old days, hey? Yeah, that was probably one of the wilder nights. And then the next night, game four, they had the whole place barricaded. Like there was nothing, they had security, was on top detail.

So we ended up winning the game handily, but it was kind of a funny night. Well, I got to be honest. I remember coming in Washington as a kid and watching Marty Murray. And I'd never seen them before. Obviously, it wasn't like a games were televised and playing him. Brandon, the closest you guys got was, you know, Saskatoon or PA, that kind of thing. And that was the first time ever watched him. And by the third period, he'd won me over.

Oh, God, yeah. He was fantastic to watch. Well, as many games as my dad's watched me play and junior, he says Marty was the best junior hockey player he ever saw. And he was, he was so talented, smart and not a big guy, but he was not big at all, 510, 511, but so still. Big by my standards. I guess it's all relative, right? But, no, he was an awesome dude and still a close friend now.

Did he ever play in the NHL? Yeah, he would have played probably five, six hundred games, four or fives for sure. And he played two world juniors. I played my first world juniors with him. He was actually. Didn't he league? Yeah, he might have led the tournament. The tournament scoring.

Yeah. Yeah. But yeah. And then he played a long time. He played in Europe for a number of years. He got a chance to come back and played in Philly and Carolina. But yeah, one of the top guys out there that I ever played with for sure. Well, now I've got to look it up because I'm like, you know what? I should know this.

Marty Murray. He played 261 games in the NHL. A little less than I thought. For the Kings, Carolina, Philadelphia, and a cup of two. with Calgary Flames. Actually, drafted by Calgary. Yeah,

yeah, you're right. Off and on with Calgary. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Yeah. That's probably why I didn't follow him because he went to the nemesis. Right?

You can't cheer for the Flames. No. No. No, I still. Allegiance us with the Oilers. I guess when, yeah, it's funny.

I was a kid cheering for him. He's still kind of got a tie there. A little tie there to root for him. Well, I'm hoping, you know, not to get your opinion on the Amiton Islands, but with Ken Holland and Dave Tippettin,

they started the season right anyways. Yeah, it is promising. They got a great start, so hopefully, yeah, I think, yeah, after they had that good year a few years ago, right? Yeah. I think the last year was probably a bit of a step back, but I don't think it was kind of indicative of what they got there. They got some really good players,

so hopefully they can put her together. Pardon the interruption, folks. Your IHD innovative question of the week is which player did Wade play with that had to drive the work ethic like no other and even translated into his golf game, tennis, ping pong, you name it, he was good at. If you got the answer, you keep listening,

you'll hear Wade talk about him. Send it to me via email, Sean Newman Podcast at gmail.com. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, track me down, cell phone, give me a call, whatever you want. And by tossing your answer in, by answering it off this podcast, you get your name in times 10 because we put it out on social media as well. So if you just by answering this, your name goes in the draw 10 times, not once, 10 times. And this week's prize is a $250 gift certificate to WestJep. I can get you anywhere to summer warmer than Lloydminster, Alberta, slash,

Saskatch and right now that is for sure. Anyways, back to the show. Now you're retired. Is it hard to watch? Do you miss it or is it enjoyable to sit and watch it? No, I enjoy watching it. I mean, I guess the thing I miss is probably just the feeling of being out there and playing and, but when I see these guys getting running the boards or even the speed

of it having to chase someone down, like it's just, it's fun. to watch. I enjoy watching it. Since the NHL season is nice and early, who's going to win the cup this year? Good question. I think I was on Bucky's radio show the other day and I was raving about Dallas and now they're

one in five. I've seen them play because I was working with Nashville last year and I was there for the playoffs when they're, they beat well they beat them in six games. They should have beat them in four. Yeah. But, you know, they're good, I guess, even though they're had a tough start. There's so many good teams.

Tampa's got to be there. And Vegas, man, I think they're going to be there, too. Yeah, Vegas. Man, what a story. Yeah. Right? Like expansion draft and just the way, I know they gave them a couple of nice rules to help out a new team. But they're a new team.

They're not taking your top players. No. And they just found a way to mesh them all together. and holy crap. Well, I think the way they did it, right? The homework they did. I know they, well, there's Kelly McCrimmon too, right? My old GM and one of the smartest guys around.

And even my old coach is the head amateur scout, Bobby Lowe's. So they got a good group of guys there that know the game and know people too that, I think that was a big part of it too. They got the right people to mesh together. Good character. Hmm. So going back to your career, I, I'm curious. When you got, whether you want to talk about after you got selecting the Bannum draft and you started playing junior A or the jump once you were going to WHL or before your first NHL camp, what were you doing in the off season?

I know for a fact around this area, there was no ice. Yeah. But maybe you were traveling, I'm not sure. No, there wouldn't have been a lot of skating going on. I mean, you maybe got a few weeks beforehand. where there's some conditioning camps and stuff in town. Unfortunately, after my first year of junior in Brandon, we come back and we got to do a physical testing, right?

So a two-mile run, and I was dead last in the two-mile run. It was kind of a good lesson for me. You know, going into my draft year to boot, and here I hardly done any. Well, I shouldn't say that. I think, yeah, I wasn't a runner anyways, but I ended up doing poorly on the, it's a two-mile run. Going into your draft year, you were dead last on the team on the two-mile run. Yeah. No, I wasn't dead last.

Second from last, me and this other chubby kid who was a sprint to the finish, and I beat him. I got passed out in the process, too, and couldn't do the rest of the test in there. But that's kind of an embarrassing story, but kind of learned a lesson. And so I was behind the eight ball and they weren't pleased with me. But it was a great lesson for me to realize like, you know, you got to put the work in in the summer. So, you know, from that time on, you know, you take a little more seriously. I guess through junior, I think, yeah, after that draft year,

I kind of did some stuff with a guy. And so I got drafted by the Islanders and they were. Correct. And the guy there is Chris Pryor was our, he would have been our strength coach or the player development but he was like a hard nose basically navy seal kind of mentality so two mile run again and i think that was after we my second year right so after my second year junior i get drafted to the islanders we go to development camp and dead last and run there another two mile run so that summer i put a lot of time and i lived with my sister in saskatoon and worked with a guy named bruce craven who's a

He worked at the university and was a strength coach. And actually Curtis Decision was there and Rhett Warner and Chad Allen. So I got to work out with guys like that that pushed me and ended up doing really well in the two-mile run at camp in the next fall. So kind of got learned a lot those first couple of years. But other than that, man, we'd help dad on the farm and play ball. Basically, that was there working out. What do you think all these kids skating your round now? I don't mind it, I guess.

I mean, I think you needed some time. I think you need time away just to keep that excitement. Like if I went to the rink every day, I know even in Ottawa when I was there and spending time in the summer, I didn't want to go work out at the rink even. There's a gym that we had a trainer or whatever that I'd go see. And I just wanted to stay away from there, man. Like, come fall, you want to have that excitement to get back in there and get at it.

And if you're going there every day in the summer, I think it's, would kind of be a drag and you'd kind of, you know, you wouldn't want to be there where I, in the season, there's a place I'd love hanging out at the rink and being there all the time and just being in the room. So I like to get away so you kind of have that excitement to be back. Can't miss it if you don't leave it, right? That's right.

That's what I say about the kids too. So that's why you're going to need a few trips away. Looking back on your time in the WHL, there's a lot of bus. trips in that league. Is there any fun ones or ones that, like, did you love hopping on the bus and leaving for a week at a time to go hit the Seldon swing or the Northern Swing or whatever swing? Western Swo. That's right.

Well, I mean, where you're at, you were as boat as, well, now they got Winnipeg. Yeah. But before that, there was nothing past you. No, it was Regina four-hour drive. That was our shortest, shortest jaunt. So we spend a lot of time in the bus, but just like I was talking about being at the the rink like I love being at the rink I'd people didn't like coming to visit me and my parents probably got sick of being at I'd make them wait so long after games because I'd always take my

time but I just love being at the rink and hanging out and you know I'd take my time and shower you know stretch and shower and you know if I had to do rehab like all that kind of stuff so taping your sticks get there early all that kind of stuff and then on the bus it's the same thing it's just hanging out with the guys and it's just I mean obviously you didn't have phones either at those times, but there was just uninterrupted time where you're with the guys, you're on the bus. So this is, you know, we're hanging out. What did you do on the bus?

What was your favorite thing? We spent a lot of time sleeping too. We had an old bus too in junior. I think it was the same age as me or older. It was like 70s bus. Straight out of a slap shot. But they rigged up some, I don't know, whoever went in there and welded a bunch of bunks in the last half of them.

So you had eight on each side. So he had 16 bunks. Oh, that's not too bad. And that first year I said there was some injuries and stuff, so there was some bunks open. So I think me and another young guy, we end up sharing a bunk on the bottom. Guys would throw their trash.

Like, it was messy. Like, I think of a junior hockey back in those days, in old 1970s. I think of junior hockey now. It doesn't matter. No, I think of guys. You got a bunch of kids that, yeah, yeah, I can imagine. But loved it, man.

Like, we get on there. because we'd leave for a game when we'd play, say, Saskatoon, which would be, what, seven-hour drive. So we'd leave, and we'd always have our pre-game meals in this little town called Elkhorn, Manitoba. I think that's actually Sheldon Kennedy's hometown. I just knew that, but I was watching Battle of the Blades here. Anyways, and the local ladies, we'd pull into the arena there,

and we'd have a roast beef dinner and potatoes and peas. and carrots and whatever and then chocolate cake and ice cream with beer so then we'd get out stop at our meal there get on the bus have our pregame nap on the way to wherever we're going and that was the routine back in those days so we spent a lot of time on the bus but man we i look back on it and i don't i i don't i guess i don't not miss it i don't want to do it again but i had a lot of times a lot of fun doing it like there's just time to be with the guys and play cards watch movies and do you have a rink uh in the dub that you loved playing in or had crazy fans that kind of thing i don't know if i would have lost more than one or two games and moose jaw the old

tin can like what do they call it it was like the yeah skateboard half pipe but it seemed like our yeah we had a lot of success against Moose Jaw and as crappy as an old rink it was we always we always seemed to win out of there so that was I remember that rink finally it seemed like we played them lots um and then Saskatoon was kind of the the new barn and it only been around maybe five or six years and it was a beautiful big building so like coming back there too but um and then every year when we'd go on our west coast trip we get t-shirts made up and and uh all that t-shirts made up because yeah just like a west coast 94 i probably might even be in a closet at home still one once some guys had the idea

lock up your daughter's tour so some comical guys but um just it was a fun time right so how many days in a row did you wear the t-shirt well we i mean you just get a sweater you wouldn't wear it every day but just kind of a fun thing to commemorate because there was always a big deal we'd back in those days there's seven teams in the western division so we'd go and do the one swing once a year now I think there's like four divisions in the league so you kind of switch it every year but we'd play every team out there so it'd be two weeks on the road and um get some t-shirts made up have a little bit of fun yeah and we'd always do it it'd always be at the start of the year too i'm sure crimmer would strategically

do that just so we could uh you know great bonding a couple of weeks at the start of the year so no distractions and group of guys together yeah sink or swim a lot of fun yeah what's the worst trouble you ever got in playing in the dub i'm sure you must have broke curfew or done something silly to get your yeah i never got caught breaking curfew you're a little smart about it but uh Yeah, they were, they ruled with an iron fist too. I think it was the best thing for us, obviously. But Krimmer and Bobby Lowe's, they were, you know, they didn't put up with a lot. They were, I mean, I read with some of the best teams in the league too, but, you know,

they disciplined was a big thing. And there's a few kids that, you know, they get, you know, drinking and partying a little too much. And a few kids got sent home on a greyhound to Eminton and stuff like that. So that kind of set a tone for everything. I still feel bad about the one time. There was a whole group of us out, and only a few kind of got busted, and we're all,

I think we all claimed we were going to come and fess up and be a team about it, but I think half of us opted for not doing that. We just might have helped them out with their fine or something. But, yeah, there was, yeah, we'd have fun for sure. There's, you know, junior hockey. But discipline at the same time, like we'd, I'd pick my spots.

Like I was never a big drink or anything like that, but there's definitely times where we let loose and have some fun. Did you guys do shoe checks back in the day? Is that? Yeah. Yeah, that was a big thing. Were you a shoe checker?

Were you the guy who just kind of kept an eye out? Yeah, no, I wasn't the one crawling around too much on the floor. But there's some characters. I still remember it was Peter Schaefer who had a, I played with him in junior, and he played with him in Ottawa too. but he was a year after me and whoever the veterans were,

they got him to go shoe check our trainer and then they told the trainer that he's coming. So anyways, ended up dumping a pail of water on him and stuff. I feel like that... It's just silly things that happened. I feel like if there's something that's transferable across all generations of hockey player

is you pick out a rookie and you tell him, hey, go shoe check that guy. That would be a really smart idea. But before he does it, you walk over to this sec guy and go, listen, that dummy over there is about to come try and shoe check you. Here's a pitcher of water just throw it in his face. Like, that has happened every year I've played hockey. Every hockey player that I bring up shoe checking has had the same experience at some point.

Oh, yeah. Well, you're always going to get the rookie right. Oh, yeah, you always got the green guy. What was the punishment for the guy who got shoe checked? I can't remember. you know what I just had the you had ketchup on your shoe that was kind of the that was the punishment we always had we always had

we had Larry Antoniac who coached now he's in kinderously I think still helping there and then he's been he was my junior coach out in Ontario but he was in oh flim flan back in the day when they hosted the Royal Bank Cup that kind of thing and he always made us tip the waitresses

so we each had to pitch in a buck which is nothing but the guy who got shoe checked always had to do that and then one year we had where had to ask the waitress for a kiss every time so there was always a new way to come up with a little bit of a twist on getting the guy who got shoe checked oh yeah that's great yeah yeah team bonding right just just different ways to pull a group together yeah and getting kids out of their comfort zone and you know doing stuff hugging a waitress geez if I was 15 16 out of been so shy. Oh yeah, you want to see some kids blush. I'm not, I'm one to talk. I probably

would have done too. Yeah, exactly. As soon as I saw what a shoe check was, man, my shoes were under my, my, I was sitting on. I wasn't getting no shoe check. Oh yeah. That was not happening to me. I know. Yeah, that's funny. What was, uh, what was the world juniors like? Because in this time while you're playing a brandon, you also get to play in, uh, two. One in red deer and one in, um, Boston, Boston. Boston. Boston. Boston. Yep. Yeah, the first one in Red Deer, man. That was, again, I was, as my draft year, a 17-year-old, go to the camp and kind of got lucky there, too, like, as far as injuries-wise, a few 19-year-old defensemen got injured, so it opened the door for me to come in.

That was the year of the lockout, too, so there was a lot of guys around that would have probably been in the NHL. So pretty fortunate to make that team, and ended up. up having some success. I ended up getting used on the power play quite a bit, probably the seventh D, but power play time. And early in the, uh, Don Hay was the coach. And he, he was great with me. Yeah, um, you know, gave me some opportunity, got a few goals in the tournament earlier and got to play a little bit more. So it was, uh, the fact that it was in Red Deer too, man, it was such an exciting tournament like fans would have been, fans would have been on going nuts. What was it like putting on the Canadian jersey, like the Maple Leaf?

Yeah, well, that was special, man. I got the chance to do it as an under-18 team too, which was near, like when you play in Canada and do that, it was huge. And the fact that the NHL wasn't going on it, it kind of escalated everything too. Like there's so much excitement around it. And I remember playing, probably the highlight of that tournament would have been in Calgary playing at the Saddle Dome.

And we're playing against the Czechs. I think we were down in the game late. And it was rammed in there. I'm like just packed, right? 20,000 people. And it would have been probably five, six minutes left in the game maybe. And I ended up getting a shot from the slot. Barry won.

Flutter ball. I'd say Barry. I found seeing eyes shut. They all count, right? They all count. But my only recollection is looking up at the crowd. And man, it was just this, you know, looking at the saddle.

if you've ever been in there, but it's huge. Yeah. And, yeah, what a great, great moment that was. I've had the opposite view. I've always been the guy in the stands. So I know exactly, yeah. Yeah, that's... But the energy, man, you feel it.

And then, so we tied the game with that goal. And then Jamie Rivers scores a few minutes later, and we win that game. And it was, yeah, it was a pretty special tournament. It was awesome. Well, you win gold both times. Yeah. And in your first year, I don't know. wrote down the names that I can remember.

There's some names on there that I'm sure if I were to say them out, the listeners probably know, you'd definitely know. But the guys you stick out were Jason Allison, Brian McCabe, Alexander Dagg, Jeff Freezin, Ryan Smith, Jeff O'Neill, Ed Giovannowski, just to name a few. Yeah, I could name a few more. Darcy Tucker was on the team. Darcy Tucker was on the first team. Who else did you say?

McCabe, Dag, Freeson, Smith, O'Neill, Jobonovsky, Alice. Yeah. Yeah, those are probably some of the guys that had the best careers in the NHL for sure. Eric Dazet. He scored eight goals. He had, he got injured. He was doing well in the NHL, but his back, I think, ended his career. He wouldn't have been very old either, but he had a really good tournament.

But yeah, Jason Allison, Ike, him and Marty played together. They were the top two forwards in the tournament. Brian McKay was the top D-man in the tournament. Yeah, we had a very good. really good team, a really good team. Was Jeff O'Neill? You said his name. Yeah, Jeff O'Neill, yeah. Yeah, there was some, that's

some high company. Yeah, I think everyone with the exception of maybe two or three guys ended up having a decent NHL career, so, yeah, we had a really good team. And then the following year you go to the world juniors, there's only

a handful. I want to say, like, I can count them on one hand of Calgary Flames, I can be like, that guy's legit. And you played with probably the most legit. Oh, yeah. In Jerome Gail. For sure. What was it like, yeah, I mean, at that age, was he still Jerome or was he young?

He hasn't changed, man. So I met him at 14. I remember going to a camp in Emmington. And he had just been drafted at Brandon. And he was the first round, Banham draft to Camloops. So, you know, big kid. And, you know, he hasn't changed really since I met him those days. He's a down-to-earth guy and really nice guy and obviously had a great career.

So that was kind of his coming out party, I guess you could say in some ways, like that World Junior Tournament, and he just took it up to another level and was a dominant force there. And then straight in the NHL and whatever, scored 20 or 30 goals for how many years in a row. So 50. 50 as well, the Rocket Richard Trophy, so tough. Yeah, fight anyone. Yeah, competitive, man.

Like he came to play every night and like I said. Love the battle. I bleed blue because I grew up watching the others all my life. I was born when they were winning Stanley Cups. I don't remember watching them. So I grew up in the dark 90s where they were a blue-collar team that made the playoffs.

And when they did, you knew they were. weren't going that far, but man, you didn't want to play him in the first round. Yeah. Or the second round. Yeah. Right. And then, you know, then we meet the flames a few. Well, we don't meet the flames in the playoffs, but I mean, we see the flames enough.

But the flames actually got pretty decent there, and it was under Jerome's watch. And it was hard not like Jerome. Like that guy, the way he played, you're just like, I'd take that guy any day of the week. Well, that year that they went to the final, yeah, it was an amazing display that he put on. Like, every round, it seemed like he had something. different to fight and big goal and just yeah no he was all around great hockey yeah yeah and on top of it throw the sea on his shoulder and great leader right yeah i mean yes no no question about it and played on a few different teams with him and and and yeah real easy going like cool guy too

yeah um but yeah when game on he uh he'd fight you he'd hit you he'd do whatever it takes So that's what's awesome more hockey though, right? Yeah. Your second year, the World Juniors, was in Boston. Yeah. And I heard, well, on one hand you go from hockey hotbed, Canada, specifically red deer, where it is just nuts. And then you go to Boston and the stories I've read about Boston. And I think I even remember back being a kid, there was nobody there.

Yeah, no, it was a big difference. and for whatever. Yeah, I don't think, if it's college hockey in Boston, then people are loving it, right? But I don't think they get behind. It wasn't big at that time at all. I don't know, even if today, if you put a World Junior in Boston,

if you'd get much fanfare for it. College hockey rules there. But at the same, yeah, so the games, the gold medal game, I might have been half full. We were at Boston College. Boston College. And had some games that you. UMass

and there was maybe it seemed like there's five people in the stands or just our families probably but yeah not a lot of

not a lot of fanfare after playing in red deer in front of the Canadian fans and that's obviously around the time where they probably started doing going to Canada every other year

because they you know they'd always go to Europe and they but Canada's where is at for world juniors they just people love it and they make a lot of money

and yada yada but Well, it always goes back to where the money comes out. Yeah, exactly. Right? Talk about it an awful lot on here. Follow the money. Wow, right?

Yeah. I would say every fan, talk about the NHL schedule right now, would love to see, like, that year they played 42 games. The lockout short in year, what was that, 2011? Yeah, yeah. When they played 14, 42 games. Yeah. Yeah, that would have been your last year, right?

Last year, yeah. That year of 42 games, 48 games, whatever it turned out to be, was fantastic. From a fan standpoint. I don't know how it was to play in, but from a fan standpoint, it was unreal. Yeah. But we all know they're never going to do something like that, because you cut out 30 games and 15 of those are home and fill in the building and money and everything else that goes into it.

Well, yeah, you take Monday night in Carolina. not a lot of interest and it's 82 games so there's going to be those games where yeah it's obviously you try to and even as a player your mentality you go into each game

pumped up you're trying to be as good as you can be but there's certain nights that you get up for more than others like a big rivalry on a Saturday night and especially if there's a few days off after you know you got a Sunday off and you win for the boys and you go out and have a few drinks where if you're on the road and you're in Florida

and it's Tuesday night and there's 6,000 people there, it's a little different atmosphere and it doesn't. So, but yeah, you work, I guess that's just part of it. Everyone builds towards the playoffs. And if you could only play 48 games,

I sure, and get paid the same amount. I'm sure a lot of guys would prefer that, but the revenues come in with the more games. I just remember being in, juniors and we played 50-some, I think. By game 30, you're like, all right. Let's get the playoffs going. Let's get the playoffs going.

I'm tired of beating up on or getting beat up or whatever both ways, right? You're tired of playing how many games. Yeah. Too many games. Yeah, it's a lot, man. 82 is a lot of games. And especially now, like every games, it's almost like playoffs now, right? It's crazy.

It gets to the point where you get to the end of the season. They talk about every, all the reporters always talk about them. That's right. America Thanksgiving. I got to ask, did you ever get used to after a hockey game being surrounded by like 20 reporters? And just like the same bloody question every time. Did that just ever see? It's kind of comical, eh, when you think about it, that's the same thing.

I feel bad for the reporter almost too, right? Because, I mean, he's got a job, dude. He's just looking for a sound clip so he can go back. But I'm sitting there, imagine he's sitting on the bike, and you've got five guys or ten guys or. 12 guys, you either scored the best goal of the game, big hit, you coughed up the puck, whatever, and you get in the same question, and you're just like, right? Well, that's why you, like, I was obviously, I kept it pretty vanilla, I guess you could say.

Like, I was never going to say too much or whatever, but that's where it's nice. Even, you watch football players, or they got some more flair and personality. NBA has some flair. Yeah. So, you know, I guess I'm from. the old school, I kind of, you know, you don't say much. You do your talking on the ice type of thing, but I kind of enjoy some of the personalities that are coming out now. And there's a lot more. Some of these young guys are, I think it's great. Then you get a little more entertainment from it.

P.K. Suben, I've got to meet him and be around him in Nashville. And I think he's, you know, he's on the far end of it. Like, he's a lot about P.K., but, At the same time, he makes it interesting to watch, right? He's always got something to say or something to do. He's got some flair. Yeah, he's got the flare. P.K. Cizzle, that's what we called it. That's what one of our scouts called it.

He's just always, likes being the center of attention, right? And I'd rather him do it than me. So it's good to have, you got to have those guys, too. As a bystander, not having to worry about the repercussions of what people say and whatever else, I love it. Like, it just makes, you wake up in the morning

and you're just a hockey fan. Yeah. And you flick on and Ottawa wins, Ottawa loses. Wade comes on. Yeah, you know, we just got to chip the puck in

and get it deep and come out with a great effort or you get P.K. Sue Ben, he comes on and he does a little razzle-dazzle. You're like, oh, geez, didn't mind that. Leagates that, but I kind of like that. Yeah, yeah.

I know. But they're not the same. I guess he's just the way he is. But yeah, I wouldn't want to get into too much controversy and say things. And things drag on where he, I think some guys, they, you know, it's fine. That rolls off their back and they say what they think. And it's great. I think it opens up a lot of headaches to get into that stuff.

Like, I mean. Everyone's expressing themselves, right? Well, I ain't got all this social media. Like, everything is under such scrutiny. all times you step out of line one tiny bit and it just gets magnified yeah and uh what some people thrive off that and i know some people love the attention yeah so whatever yeah it's uh what was the uh n hl draft like because you would have been in attendance for that one yeah that was at northlands call see him so i was right close to home for that one too um yeah that was i mean uh

I guess leading up to it that whole year, that World Junior, Brian Barard and I were kind of won two. Yeah. And there's a lot of hype around that. So we played World Junior against each other. His team beat us in the, he was on the Detroit Junior Red Wings. They beat us in the Memorial Cup,

semi-final. Yeah, I guess. Here's a throwback for you, okay? the 95 draft. You got Brian Barard, Wade Redden, and Acky Bird, go one, two, three. Yep. All defensemen. Now, defensive draft.

I can't remember. I could be wrong on this, but I cannot remember in my time the top three spots all going to defensemen. Yeah, that's a good point. I would have to look that up. Yeah, there wouldn't be many years of that. many years at all where like one goes in the top three let alone all three

sure enough yeah so barard and I were always kind of hyped up against each other and then sure enough we get drafted he's Ottawa I'm new the islanders then we get traded

what was the experience what was the experience like at the draft was it was it all the hype or you had I mean obviously you're a little bit nervous but you know you're gonna go yeah yeah I was nervous

I guess, yeah, I figured I was going, yeah, so auto had the first pick. I was, yeah, I was thinking maybe they'd take me. It was funny because we go to Randy Sexton was the GM and, you know, I guess maybe I was holding out hope that they'd take me. I never really had any meetings with them at all. And then the night before the draft, Randy Sexton takes me and my mom and dad out for dinner

and just kind of sit down and whatever, chat and yada, yada. He must have just been doing kind of lip service because obviously he didn't take us and he never really had many meetings. They must have had their mind made up on Brian. But it was funny because we were Gord's eyesight must have just been starting to go on him because we're sitting at this dark little restaurant and he didn't have his glasses with him. So the weight just comes and he just hands the way, the menu to my mom. I can't read me order for me, Pat or something he said. so I don't know if Randy thought dad was illiterate or what but that might have worked against me at that time

but anyways that was a funny story I always laugh about that and then yeah we and then the meetings so Tampa Bay what they took Damon Lankow fifth I remember doing a meeting with them Anaheim I was kind of holding out hope I'd go forth Anaheim I remember going down and back in those days the team would fly into town and

oh really yeah they'd show you around so I remember going down to Anaheim and they sent us to Disneyland like there's I think it was me and Peter Socorra Shane Donne Damon Lankow they brought all you in at one time we all went at the same time and they they took us out to the nicest restaurants for a few nights and let us go to Disneyland like the fat like took us the private guide and went straight did the whole thing so we were loving it and then that was a cool obviously California was awesome but um and then the islanders the meeting i had with them i was just they were just grilling like i walk into this big board room round table and there's they must have dim the lights like

everyone's sitting in the half dark and all the scouts everyone's quiet and i just freaking grilled you what were they asking i can't remember i mean not to give a specific question but yeah well i know the one mike milberry was a co-restered coach so he was there and like we're even I don't know if I've even told anyone about but they're asking like what kind of player are you yada yada yada you work hard do you do this all that and I was just saying well no I was because I wasn't a big offensive player I had a you know I got points and stuff but I'd consider myself more of a I'd rather play with the lead than down a goal and I think I said something like that and I said well

you know I'm not a super I'm not real aggressive you know I play hard and take the body and I'm not scared and you know I've fought a few times yada yada and and then Mike Bilberry you know this is after me getting grilled for probably 20 minutes and I was just sweating

bullets and then he goes do you have any balls Mike Milberry and like just totally got right in my face and asked me if I had any balls and I was like yeah yeah I got balls I got balls and then Don Maloney was a GM and he walked me out after

and he was almost apologizing to me because my face must have been the color that Hillmond All-Star had there like just bright red and that was a pretty quiet guy already and he heard Mike Bilberry's getting right in my grill and trying to I don't know what he's trying to do get a reaction out of me as

which whatever but And then in training camp, same thing. I'm up against Jim McKenzie, who's one of the toughest guys in the league at that time, like six foot four and wide as a house. And I'm doing a one-on-one drill with him, my first NHL camp. And, you know, same thing. Play it out. Take him out, kind of ride him out. And I don't think he got by me.

Nothing happened. And Mike Milbury just stops practice and just blows the whistle, comes over, just punches me right. in the chest, you got to take him out hard. You run him through the wall. And everyone in the freaking ice was just like, this guy's a lunatic. Here's an 18-year-old kid going against Jim McKenzie. What does he expect?

But that was Mike Milberry, I guess. So that was my first training camp. And when I got back to junior, I had the opportunity actually to, because that 10-game slide or whatever, you got 10 games to kind of, they wanted to sign me and play. And at that point, I was like, I just want to go back to junior, man. Like, I knew I wasn't ready to play in the NHL. So, and I certainly didn't want to be in that situation.

And the team was a bit of a, you know, they've been kind of going through all the shit they've gone through. So I was like, I'll go back to junior. I couldn't wait to get back to Brandon and kind of get started there. And then sure enough, I get traded. GMs kind of swap out when I go back to junior and in February the next year I'm off to Ottawa so. What was the phone?

I mean, because nowadays trades seem, well, maybe more so in the NHL, but it's not every day that the first and second round pick gets swapped. No. No, it's a, it sure isn't. There's a three-way deal, and I always love the old hockey names,

Don Bo Prey. Don Bropre, Bartray, Martin Strachia, Brian Barrett. Yeah. And then so a three-way deal with Toronto. Was Kirk Muller in on that too? Actually, I didn't show Kirkmole.

Or Wendell Clark, one of those two. Might have been, so it was a three-way deal with the Islanders, Ottawa, and Toronto. So I go to, from the island to the Ottawa. Barard goes from Ottawa to the island. Martin Strachia goes from Ottawa to the island. Don Bo Prey goes from

Ottawa to Toronto. Damien Rhodes goes to Ottawa, who ended up being a real good goalie for a few years, my first couple years. Ken Belanger went to the Islanders. And I think it was Kirk Muller. Or maybe it was Wendell. No, I don't know.

One of those two, I'm pretty sure. It'll be somewhere. I don't know where you'd find that. Well, it's... Anyways, three-way deal. And then, yeah, end up going to and then the moment I find out about that

I was at the All-Star game in Prince George, BC, the Western Hockey League All-Star game and almost get thrown in the drunk tank that night because I was underage and I wasn't drunk or anything but we go into this bar, all the older guys go to this bar

and then there's probably 10 of us that can't get in because they're, so we go to this other seedy spot and find out right away that we're in Prince George and everyone wanted to beat the shit out of us to look like so we got out of there but we hit our beer in our jacket and go down the street and the cop just pulls us over and lose it and anyways end up getting thrown in the back of the cop car and plead my case and go and get dropped off at the hotel

to our coach and GM Kelly and Bobby Lowe's but that was the same day I found out about the trade. So I was like, here, all this, making all this news that I'm getting traded and then I'll just crap in my pants. Were you excited for it? Yeah. Well, yeah, I guess like so my agent was Donnie Meehan and, you know, he, yeah, it was a good, good move, yeah, because Ottawa had made a bunch of changes, new coach, new GM, and

I guess by the time I got there the next fall, there's a whole turnover and, you know, kind of a whole new direction for the team. So I was kind of happy to be in Canada and, you know, and obviously things worked out really well in Ottawa. It was, you know, a great, great time there. Sorry, I'm now reading. Can I find the draft? The trade. I've read three different things.

They all say, all they show is what the Islanders got and what Ottawa got. Nothing will show me what Toronto gets. But Toronto says that saw the rights along with Wayne and Martin Strach, Kirk Muller, Ken Belanger, Don Boeh, and Damien Roads. That's the guy. So it was Mueller. Yeah. Yeah.

There you go. You just have to hit enough sites and it's out there on the web. Yeah. Yeah, I was pretty sure it was Mueller. But, yeah, because Wendell would have gone from. Wendell was in Quebec to the island or something or Colorado maybe

when they switched over I think he went from He played That was another Yeah we're getting into it now But I think it was He ended up in the island Was it Claude Lemieux And somebody else

There might have been another three-way deal With Jersey Because that's when Lemieux ended up going to Colorado From No Did he go from Colorado the jersey i don't know no he had to

he had to have gone from jersey to color out frick he won a cup both places somewhere somebody's listening to screaming at the at the radio going you morons this is what it is i'll probably get texts about it yeah yeah yeah i gotta fire the people up the list right yeah we're not we're not 100% right all the time here but uh

yeah they can scuritinizing yeah i don't really care There's a lot of trades that happen. You can't get them all rights. Do you do any fantasy sports? Yeah, I do. Football. Oh, football. Yeah.

You don't dabble in the NHL. No, but the one year we did do a big draft when I was in Ottawa. It's hilarious because probably wouldn't go over too well if anyone found out about it. We did a huge, for the whole season. We sat around one day. Everyone got together and we all drafted our teams in the NHL. when we're playing with Ottawa. And then sure enough, we're playing Florida and Ray Whitney, who's a buddy of mine,

and kind of a local guy too around here. He snuck behind me and got the winner late in the game. It was a high-scoring 6-5-A-1 or something, but I was obviously pissed off that we lost the game, but then I was laugh. Kind of joked with him after that I had him in my draft, so. But I haven't done a hockey draft since then, but football I do.

What did the winner get at the hockey draft? It would have been a pile of money, who I would have been a pile of money, a couple hundred bucks if everyone threw in, and then the winner kind of takes it. Who is your first overall pick? I mean, not really racking your brain. Yeah.

Bernie, the propane tank. Okay, perfect. Geez, I wish you would have kept all those papers, right? but who would have been the top picks? What year would that been? I can't remember all those details. What year? It would have been late 90s probably or early 2000.

Oh, frick. Yeah. You would have had Sackick and Yager and late 90s, Medanel. Yeah. Brett Hall, Stevie Y, Federoff, Lindross. Yep. Am I hitting some? Who was the tough?

What was the toughest? What was the guy you just hated playing against? Well, Lindros was... That's who Corey Cross said too when he came on. Well, I listen to Corey's and I probably... But I remember the game, it was my first year in Ottawa, and Philly was just a powerhouse. They had him and Leclair and Renberg.

Yeah. Legion of Doom. Legion of Doom. And we're just a young team and little guys and no real toughness on our team. team. But he paced Andreas Dackle into the boards. And some people probably remember it, but it would have been like a king, probably

20 game suspension today. But in those glass, remember the gold glass plexi where it's like a concrete wall. And Andreas Dax had just a one of those old Jophaz on and just his face was just a mess, bloody mess. His helmet, I think they said. still have it up in the dressing room they like put it on the top shelf of the trainer's room just to kind of as a momentum because it just squashed his whole head into the into the glass but yeah he and dax was only 510 like in lindross he he was just a bull out there man he would just go

through you and i don't even know if he intended to do it but he was just so much strength just so strong he didn't know his own strength maybe i don't know he was but yeah he was in his prime he was he was pretty unbelievable who was the most skilled guy you ever played with with with wow yeah with i mean by the meaning of the word with i mean on the same ice sheet yeah who was the most skilled guy seen with the puck um i don't know i i'm i guess i mean the what the guys do now with the puck and how they can handle it and stuff. I think it's come such a long way from early in my career because, but I had the luxury, I guess, in my, the heyday of Ottawa.

I played on the left D. And I had, I'd look up the right side and I'd, you know, I'd skate it up and I'd fire it rink wide. Didn't have to be on the tape every time, but if it was in the vicinity, Alfie would get it, Marion Hasseh would get it, or Martin Havlet would get it. and then things would happen and join the rush and they'd find you again. Like those were the right wingers we had. So we had some really talented guys.

Obviously, Hosa is a Hall of Fame guy. Alfredson's right there in the conversation. And Havlet was one of the most skilled guys I played with. It was his speed and the way he could shoot the puck too. So those were, you know, those were guys I played with. I played with Yager just a short time in Boston. Yeah, but the toughest guys to play against were those little guys that, like when Crosby came in the league, he was just, he was so strong and so powerful rate and fast. Like you couldn't, you couldn't check him.

You could go lean on him, but he'd spin off you and use the speed to get by you or he'd outpower you. So when him and Ovechkin came in, they were just, they were dominant right from the sun. start and they were probably the best guys I would have played against. Yeah, Crosby. I mean, so is Obeschkin, right? Those two guys have been going at it now. That's so impressive, man. Every year, since they were 18, they've been the top players in the league.

Me and the brothers were on the other night talking about our predictions for the season. We did a little brothers roundtable, and we were talking about who's going to win our Rocket Richard most goals. And my guess was Obetchen. Because I'm like, I don't know. How do you bet against the guy? I know. The guy just sits in the same spot.

They give him the puck. He rips the top shelf over and over and over and over again. The goalies, they think they'd figure something, but it's... It's just such a pinpoint accuracy, right? It's amazing. It's automatic. Yeah. And then on the other side, too, you got Sid, the kid who just...

You think at some point they're going to slow down. They just keep going. Like, it's super impressive. Yeah. Yeah. What are they, 31, 32 now? Well, no. I'm 33, so they're both older than me, right?

Really? Yeah. Clark played, Clark MacArthur was a year older than me, and he played in World Juniors that had both Sid. Oh, no, Sid would be... He would have been one of the younger guys. He would have been the younger guys. So, Sid's got to be, what, 32 or 31,

and a betchen's got to be right around 33 and 4. Be year older, probably, yeah. Yeah. I know 15 years, they've been the best players in the game. Best players in the game. Every year. What year did it become hard to stay at the top of your game? Everybody always talks.

The media always says you're in your prime and about 27 and then you hit your early 30s and you slow down. 30 was a turning point, I'd say. Wasn't 30 a turning point? Well, yeah. I mean, I guess going to New York, things kind of went south, right? And I was right around 31 at that time and even in Ottawa. And I don't know what it was. Like, I guess at that time, mom passed away, and I don't know, things kind of changed in a lot of ways as far as how I looked at the game.

But, yeah, certainly, yeah, when I hit 30, it just, yeah, things caught up in a hurry. Do you think it was age, though, or other circumstances? You mentioned about three different ones. Yeah, well, I guess everything plays a part. looking back I wish you know I talked about

conditioning earlier on and you know what you learn over the years and I probably as guys get older now I think they got to change what they do like how they train

being healthy I think I was in a position I kept doing the same things that I'd done my career when I was successful and I think I should have changed things up to to stay healthier

to stay more limber and loose and I just think my body kind of didn't move as well as it used to and I think that caught up to me probably more than anything. How old are you now, Wade? 42. 42. So if you're 42-year-old self, you could right now go back and talk to your, how old were you went to New York? 31.

2008. If you could go back to your 31-year-old self when you're going to New York and impart some wisdom that summer. What would you say? Yeah, I would have, so at the end of my career when I started, I did a few things, because I went down to Hartford and had a few years there and then I ended up getting hooked up with this trainer. There was kind of some, some different stuff and really, if I, I feel like I wish I would have found that kind of, that kind of thing, that kind of style of training a little bit. What kind of style are you talking? Well, it was actually, like, Yoga and body movement, that kind of stretching.

It's actually a machine called the art machine. Okay. And it's electric current and it's like, I don't know if you've ever been to physio, you got stim pads and ultrasound. It's similar to that and it's got, so it sends us electric current to you. So I'm a big believer, like I had found some great results in it, hips and shoulders and back. Everything was just clenching up and stuff.

and this, you know, it's a whole other conversation, I guess, but what this thing does is it kind of zaps it, seeks and destroys it, and you send all these currents, you do different exercises and protocols to really break. Because your body, I hurt my shoulder a bunch, you know, you're skating for years on years and years and your hips aren't supposed to move that way, right? So your body just kind of over time, gradually builds this compensation to keep doing what it's doing, but it's not totally efficient. It's not the way it should be moving. So this thing kind of breaks down that old scar tissue.

And I still use it now. I mean, I like being active and doing things and my body feeling good. And after all those years of playing, you're certainly any 40, 50-year-old will tell you their body stiffens up, right? So it's nice to feel good And it's just about keeping with it And doing these exercises And it's never 100% But at least you feel good

Most of the time So if you can go back then to your 30 year old self You basically say Change the way you train in the off-season To make sure you're ready to go from the 100%. What I think would have made a big difference And I think that's what guys do now

I think the way they train And the way they prepare So much about the speed now like after the lockout in 0506 like you didn't have like early in 2000 you're big and you're strong you want to play in the traffic there's a lot of clutching and holding you train to get bigger and stronger but now you want to be faster

and staying healthy is is number one so I think that's the way the guys trained now I think it's changed like that's evolved so much over the years too what do you think of the game now with uh I was watching it there the other night I play senior so I do my fair share hacking and whack and the boys would probably laugh

when they hear that comment because I come from I never thought I was old school because I grew up watching old school right and then you kind of come through it and now I've become old school and I still use my stick quite a bit and I do not think

a one-handed swing slap on the stick the bottom of the shin where you're like I just I don't see it as like this big taboo, but the NHL, that's penalty. And I saw it twice the other night, both penalty calls.

And even the commentators are like, yeah, geez, that was pretty light, right? Like, what do you think of the new way the NHL is going where, I mean, you grew up in a time where a little bit of clutch and grabbing, slowing the guy down, that was just part of the game. Now that is gone.

Gone. And I think it's a good thing. And to officiate that, that's the only way they can do it black, white right like if because there's a few years there when they're implementing it and it's probably was even called even tighter in a few of those years where if you even put a stick on a guy they're calling it so it's really a disciplined thing where you can't put your stick on them right so it ends up putting the onus on the player like what what's what are you doing what's what are you really uh

accomplishing anyways by hooking the guy or like obviously if you hook the guy you slow him down that's an obvious penalty. But if you even tap the guy, why do it? So I guess at the end of the day, yeah, it is kind of embarrassing when some of those calls are made. You know, when you just tap a guy and it doesn't do anything. But at the same time, the guy that does it, you're not doing anything. So why are you doing it? I like to think when a guy has a clear-cut chance and you give him a little tap on the elbow or the wrist or the whatever.

You're just getting his mind off of thinking it's got to go tough show. Yeah. That's what I always think. I don't know if that's what's happening, but that's what I'm assuming it's happening. You're right. So I guess it does have an effect when you do that. And I guess they're wanting to make scoring higher anyways,

so they don't want, yeah, it is. Well, it's not to put you on the spot. No. No. I don't think anybody can really argue too much. The game has gotten way more skill, way quicker. For the most part, the league is not. never been tighter than it has ever been.

Like, I mean, you had a team in St. Louis who was dead last. Yeah. What, January 18th, I think it is. It goes on to win the Stanley Cup. I think that's what most leagues want. They want that parity. They want the ability.

And so whatever they're doing, it seems to be working. Yeah. But across all sports now, it just seems like there is, you touch a guy and he goes down as a penalty. Yeah. It's, you know, his fans are. Well, I was watching Monday night. football last night too.

And there's a lot of hot button issues that head shots uh, yeah, hands like, uh, head shots, rough in the passer. Anything to do with the quarterback. Heck, the one guy tackled Don Brady the other day.

And as he's tackling him, he realizes probably shouldn't be doing this. And his arms kind of go out and he kind of just rolls off. Yeah. And you're like, I'm not a football guy, but if I was a football guy, I'd be probably saying the same thing I'm saying about hockey. Like, that's tough. I know.

I have a tough time watching some of those two. And like I said, there isn't black and white. They're trying to make it as easy as they can to make those calls. But there's always going to be calls that are borderline. Borderline and controversial. At the end of the day, when you get to that level, I like to think or at least like try myself or try and tell myself that they all, they all want to be similar to the NBA,

in that the NBA really protects its stars. Because if LeBron James ain't playing for now the Lakers, but before, you know, whether it was Cleveland or Miami, that's what everybody shows up to see. And it's no different than the NHL, right? Like, Picksburg comes in town. Everybody comes to watch Crosby. Yeah, totally.

And I always go back to when he got all those concussion problems. I remember thinking, like, oh, that sucks. Like, I want to see Crosby play. I want to see if Crosby can break some records. If he can score 50, he can do all these amazing things. And if he ain't playing, he can't do any of that. So I get what all the leagues are trying to do.

NFL is no different, right? Yeah. The heartbeat of a football team is quarterback. And if their quarterback is not playing, and you got the third string in it doesn't make for much of a game, does it? So I get what they're trying to do. But sometimes it feels like they almost go a little far, but maybe I'm wrong on that.

No, you're not wrong. They do go a little far, but I guess that's maybe what the way they have to, approach it so because they at the end of the day they're probably going to lean more on that that side of it and cover their own ass and if Sydney's in more games that's more money more people coming to buy the tickets and more just it's back to the money right so you want the star players to play and you got to protect them and I guess that's a good thing at the end of day but yeah there's certainly a lot of you call it soft or whatever that there's some of those

calls drive you nuts you just hope your team's on the right side of them that's right yeah well we've been going for an hour 45 that's breezed by oh absolutely Jesus I I I said this off air and I hope guests aren't going can you get to Ottawa already can you get to Ottawa can you get to Ottawa. Can you get to Ottawa? Because I approached this after doing Corey, I went, there's no way we can pull together your entire career. In my mind, I want to hear about it. I assume the listeners want to hear about it. So I just call this part one. And we'll see you the next time you come back. We make sure we do part two. Well, we've enjoyed a few of these nice. Yeah, well, we should give a shout out to Fourth Merriam Brewery. We tried a bachelor blonde ale, and then we've been doing the pig launcher

now. What do you think of that? I've been enjoying this pig launcher, yeah. Yeah, yeah, well. Like the bottle, too. Yeah, well, they've done a really good thing here, Lloyd. I've got to be honest, yeah, it's a pretty cool little spot. I'm a beer snob now, too. I got a good buddy in Colonna who's an open to brewery and stuff,

so I've kind of learned through him, and I'll have to tell him about these guys. Do some collaboration. There you go. So next time I'm down in Colona, and we do part two, because I already told Corey, Corey was down for the Oilers Flames alumni game, and he wanted to do part two. And then we had baby number three and that threw everything out the window. But I told him, well, maybe next time I come down to Colonna, we'll just have to do some golfing and maybe a little podcasting and you can show me your new brewery. You can sound proof of room for you and do some.

I'm sure we could do it out. Yeah, absolutely. Well, before I let you go, I got the final five, which is brought to you by Crudemaster. I always got to give a shout out to Heath and Tracy, the great community supporters. And they help them support this as well. So the final five questions brought to you by Crude Master Transport. So here we go. In the media, who is the best to deal with in your career?

In the media. Was there a guy or lady that you love sitting down with or saw him coming into the scrum and you're like, eh? There's a few guys and I still love watching them now. It's the TSN guys. Well, two, I guess I'll say. James Duffy, who's a really nice guy and done a few things. things with him but probably Darren Drager so my first year in Brandon Darren was our play-by-play

guy for the Brandon weakings Darren Drager was your play by? He only last he did a few years before me and I think he'll only lasted half the season then he was off to moving up in the world. No kidding I did not know that yeah so Darren Drager and I've always had a good bond with him and he's a really nice guy and yeah and obviously everyone knows him and what he did and he does a great job on there, so he's a cool cat. If you could pick one D partner, doesn't have to be a guy you played with, doesn't have to be living, doesn't have to be playing, can be present, whoever you want.

If you could have one D partner, who would it be? Oh, good question. I'm going to go with some of the guys I played with. First honorable mention. I never got on the ice with them, though. They'd never put us on the ice together, and we played together. for like my whole time in Ottawa but Chris Phillips him and I and he's a great buddy and stuff but for whatever reason they they never use this together like maybe five shifts

together we'd ever I don't know maybe we didn't play well together I don't know when we're out there but he was he was a great teammate and stuff but I think looking at my career I guess there's a lot you can pick from but if I'm going from like I said guys I played with it big Z Chara like my first we played a lot together his first year in Ottawa him and I played quite a bit together actually

and yeah what a presence man like he was I think I helped him a lot that first year too like he's coming in and you know he was just getting his career going basically when he got to Ottawa so I feel like we had a really good year together,

and then they put him and Philly together kind of from there on in, and obviously he's gone on and been a Hall of Famer ever since. But just being on the ice with him, and even when I got to Boss and just being in that presence with him, he was a pretty special player. He's a beast. Still got that look in his eyes, man, when he's playing. He's 40.

He's my age, and he's still got it, so it's so impressive. You know, we had the question, going back to the brother's podcast, we were talking about 40-year-olds. We were talking about Patty Marlowe, who's come back in Lee for San Jose. Yeah. And we got talking about who are other 40-year-olds that have played right now or in the past that you enjoyed watching. And one of them that came up was Tom Brady, obviously, right now,

and Chris Chelyos, as guys that played well into their 40s, and still at a decent, well, Tom Brady's the top of the epitome, right? But Chelyos up until his end, I mean, still played a meaningful part in every team. He was 46 when he finished, wasn't he? 47. We looked it up, yeah, we looked it up. 47 years old still playing. And man, he still looks good.

Like, yeah, there's something in those guys. Like the passion, I think, is probably number one, but just freaks of nature almost. Like, how do you, just the mental fortitude. to stay with it like that for so long. I was wondering that. I was going to ask you, was there a guy you played with? Could be in junior all the way through, wherever you want, that just had that drive at all times,

and you just couldn't comprehend it. Like, stay out and skate laps or shoot pucks or whatever it is. And you're just like, man, I'm just, I need to get away for a bit. Daniel Alfordson. Daniel Alpherson. Yeah. And he'll say it himself. but he was obviously one of the most talented guys I ever played with,

but also his work ethic was and his drive was what got him, what he claims got him there, and he's probably right. But it didn't matter which sport he played. We'd have a ping pong table in the room and stuff, and he'd kick the shit out of me at that, or he'd be the best player on the team at that. He claimed, I don't know if I believe this claim, but he also said he'd beat any other NHL players,

in a tennis game, but he's really good at tennis. Golfing, he's like a two handicap or maybe lower now. And even we played basketball member one time, and I don't think he'd ever played before, but sure enough, he looks like he's got a great jumper. But he's just so natural at all those sports, but he also at a card table or at a room with him a bit, and we'd even play chess the odd time.

And he just had, and board games. we'd hang out with our families and stuff and it didn't matter what you played he just he had to win like it's almost a sickness he had but he's a competitive guy and just good at everything Is there any stories you have of what he did training wise for hockey?

Like was there? Well I think all those European guys they were a step ahead like in those days and because they'd all train together all summer with their teams and they'd be like they're doing a lot of training in the summer so they they they he was the best fit guy and he squat 400 pounds or whatever and um tree trunks for legs asked like a table like this wide as a

but uh no he was yeah he was just in great shape and so strong he was and had great skill like he he he was impressive guy for sure If you could pick one of these four, the Super Bowl, Game 7, the Stanley Cup Finals, Game 7 of the World Series, or Game 7 of the NBA Finals, which one do you pick? For what? To go watch. To go watch. Yeah, I'm sorry. Well, I've actually saw the, I've been at two games where the cup was presented.

One, I was playing, we lost Anaheim. and then I was in Nashville when I was working for them they lost my first year when I was working for them they lost at Pittsburgh Pittsburgh I'm going to the Super Bowl this year actually in Miami Really? Yeah so that'll be Want to do a podcast in Miami at the Super Bowl? Let's go down there we'll get your media pass

I'm sure we could round that out I tell you what you do it I'll be there I would gladly go to the Super Bowl Yeah that'd be there for the Tuesday That's Media Day right so Absolutely let's do it You can do a week in Miami? Absolutely, I can do that.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay, we'll see what we can do. But, yeah, good question. So it's all the four major sports. Four major sports is what I look at it. Yeah. Yeah.

God. You can't go wrong. Can't go wrong anyway. I guess hockey. I mean, you want to, I don't know. I'll tell you after I'm in Miami this February. I've been. bet you after you go to Miami, you don't pick hockey anymore.

Is my, is my prediction. Yeah, I actually, we went to a World Series game once and when I was playing in Ottawa. And what was that like? Oh, it was awesome. I love going to the ball game too. It wasn't the last game, but there's a group of us. Danny Heatley got a private jet in Ottawa. And we just quietly, there was like four or five of us and we like hush-hashed it. A couple of our trainers came down and we went to, I think it was St. Louis and Detroit, whatever you that way. It would have been 07 or something. Kenny Rogers pitched for Detroit that night.

But we just took a plane down from Ottawa to Detroit for the game, then flew right home after and we're at practice the next day. So I saw that game. But no, Super Bowl, pretty big hype around that. I think the lead up in the week before, There's so much stuff going on around it, just different from the other sports, because here you're working seven-game series. So Super Bowl should be fun to be around.

Yeah, I think you'll enjoy that. It'll be fun. Love the NFL. Well, I mean, I just love the, I love all of them. It's the hype around it, right? Yeah, it's a tough question because I'm a hockey guy throwing through. I think hockey's got the best championship to win. But if you're giving me a choice to go see which one I want out of the four,

I'm not impressed not to go watch a World Series myself. I love watching ball. That might be my answer, actually. I love watching baseball. I didn't even watching the playoff baseball is even better. You see that every pitch means so much. St. Louis is off to the World Series. Not St. Louis.

Washington. Nationals won four straight. Oh, they won tonight. Yeah. Okay, yeah, we're at home. I've seen the Yankees are the Houston one. so they're up right yeah i didn't know that the nationals yeah so yeah that's awesome yeah if you're suiting up for game seven it's down the cup finals you could pick one guy to be in

that room with you it doesn't matter for goalie whatever you want who'd be the one guy and i'm putting not in the spot yeah there's lots you can put seven honors you can put seven honorable mentions that's the guy that's the top of my head is joe sackick and And why? Yeah, he, I just have a vision in my mind to him winning the cup. And that year they won it at home. It would have been game seven against Jersey. And he took that team.

That year they had Forrestberg went down after the West Final with a, what happened, like not an appendix, but maybe something, spleen ruptured or something like that. And then he just took that team on his back. and won it like I don't know and then I got a chance to play with him in the Olympics too and such a cool guy and even met his old man he's a Croatian guy and his dad's got an accent and my dad got to meet him a few times and chat with him and I know just a cool cool old guy but Joe no see the puck jo feel feel but just as the way

I marveled at his wrist shot and the way he snapped the puck. Yeah, he was just a great player. But, I mean, if it's not him, it's probably Mark Messier. But there's so many. Yeah, and there's no wrong answer, right? I mean, exactly. Yeah, no, Sackick, he was one of the best. Okay, your final question before I let you get out of here.

I asked this, I got suggested by Home On Boy. when Lance Caldback was, he suggested this a long time ago. So I'll give him a quick shout out because I've been doing this now, I think you're, I don't know what, you're going to be episode 40 almost. So if you had a time machine and you could take it anywhere, can stay there for the rest of the time or you can just go there for a moment and come back. Where would you take it? Oh, yeah, good one.

well if I was going back in time I don't know I romanticize about the olden days right like I always think about my grandpa and your grandpa back in those days when they're kind of our age or younger and I'd always like to go spend some time with those guys and see what life was like so you're talking the 20s and 30s it would have been a hard life but

I don't know I just I always remember I think even I mean grandpa was 10 when I passed when I was 10 when he passed away but I always remember

he would and mom relay in this story more but he always wished he could take us back because we had a close connection and lived across the street same as you as your grandpa living in the same yard or whatever but yeah just go back in time and be on the farm that's the same land that we grew up on and he kind of started that

you know the family farm and and stuff like that the old the old place where we're just actually I was back for Thanksgiving weekend this this weekend and we were harvest luckily enough started up so I was able to help dad and Bart and Jake were out there and doing the wheat field on the old place we call that's where dad grew up as a kid and the old farmhouse is still sitting there. And I took, I was out in the field with Danique and my wife and just my youngest was with us, but the other girls have been there in previous years, but the old house is still standing where dad grew up and just that time and age where would have toughened me up a lot.

We're a soft generation compared to those guys. What a tough one is all up. Exactly. I always tell the story your old priest. And I assume it's true, but who knows, maybe someone's pulling my leg. But I remember Earl Priest, Earl Priest had these hands that were like from, looked like he had, like, they were just giant meat hooks. And he was on dad's, dad, when he first started playing senior, played on the line with Earl Priest.

Oh, yeah. And when dad first got hit, that's why I love going back to Stanning you playing junior, right? Dad got hit or Ardell got hit. Ardell also, one of the two kids. Yeah. Played with the two kids. Young guys, yeah. And basically, Earl Priest grabbed them, threw him in the boards and said,

you ever touch young kids again, you'd mess with me, and he was a big man. And, well, it turns out the story I'd been told about Earl Priest was in the wintertime after harvest and everything. He would go into Lloyd every day, which wouldn't have been the easiest thing, right? Miles upon miles to. Then they'd dig basements for houses by hand in the wintertime. geez so they'd light a fire soften the dirt up and then pick the axes out and you go I'm soft I don't care what generation comes after that I'm soft right like you can't you can't even get any remotely close to that no no that is for sure there we're not going to dispute

that one no yeah well I really appreciate you coming in I've had a lot of fun having you sit here I hope at some point in the future we'll get to do part two because I can already hear everybody who's going, they didn't get to Ottawa. They did not get to Ottawa. And I can hear all of Hillmond, who enjoyed every single year you played in Hillman going, we've got to talk about Ottawa. So we're going to have to do that at some point here in the future. Well, I'll be back.

And, yeah, it's finally get a chance to sit down. And I know we've been talking about it a while to come in here. And there's been a few episodes you've done in the meantime that I've listened to as well that I enjoyed. So keep it up what you're doing. It's fun to hear about the local guys. and a lot of fun to sit here finally myself so well thanks again you're welcome hey guys thanks for tuning in that was a blast I had a ton of fun having waited in the studio super honored he joined me and I hope you guys enjoyed as much as I did really when I started this

podcast he was right at the top of the list of guys I'd love to to get in the studio so it's kind of a goal checked off I look forward to getting them back in because I know you're all sitting there going, man, I wouldn't like to have heard a little bit more. That kind of thing. Well, we're just going to have to do a part two. And I'm sure the next time Wade's in, we'll get him back in and pick his brain some more. But thanks again for tuning in. Really enjoyed having Wade in here. And right now, I've been running with, for a little bit, I was testing out the snapshots of next week's episode, next week's episode. And now I've done away with that for the time being.

I'm now recording on Sundays releasing on Wednesdays. I'd had some feedback. People wanted less of a gap between when an interview happened to when they actually get published and you guys can listen to it. So interviews are now going to be happening on Sundays and you're going to be hearing them three days later. So there's no preview tonight.

So today, so thanks for listening and we'll catch you next week.