Shaun Newman Podcast - EP. 47 1990's Moose Jaw Warriors - Kent Staniforth

Episode Date: December 11, 2019

Throwback to the days past when you went to a game expecting to see a fight or two and Kent was usually one with his mitts off. We discussed the changes in the game and the current perspective on the old days. Highlights: - Stepping into the SJHL (North Battleford) - WHL and heavyweights - Mike Babcock (Coach of the Moose Jaw Warriors) - Lloydminster Border Kings Allan Cup 2007

This is Kent Staniforth, and welcome to the Sean Newman podcast. This episode is brought to you by Fountain Tire. You're going to hear firsthand all about Kent Stanniforth, obviously, on today's episode. He, of course, manages the local fountain tire here in Lloydminster at 51, 1060.3rd Ave. And you've been hearing me rag on guys now for a couple months that we've been having this weird winter out there where it hasn't been snowing a crazy ton. We've had a couple of slippery days, but, you know, I remember being the college student

and not wanting to buck up for some winter tires, but soon enough here, the snow is going to come, and you're going to wish you had some. So until December 21st, you can save up to $200 on select tires, stop and see Kent and his team. Monday through Friday, 7.30am to 6 p.m. or Saturday's 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Those boys will get you hooked up, I promise.

Windsor Plywood. You're going to hear us walk right in the episode talking about the table. Carly Clawson and team there built us here at the studio. They're at 3605.51st Ave. They're open Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. And the cool stuff that Windsor's been doing is just some seriously cool custom work, barn doors, mantles, and bar tops. I got a buddy of mine who's got...

Just a kick-ass slab of wood from Windsor. And it is unbelievable. You got to stop in there and take a look at some of the pieces they got coming in. They always got new stock. And it is just some unique, unique pieces of wood. I guarantee you won't be disappointed. So stop in and see those boys, 3605. 51st Ave.

And thanks again, Carly and team for building the podcast table, which if you look on any of the social media, you'll see pictures of it. It is a serious piece of work. One that I don't think anybody can come into the studio and not just rub it for a little bit. It is that nice. Factory Sports, 4903-49th Ave. Now, I've been pumping factory sports here for a while. Like, guys, if you need a new twig, anything hockey-related, anything sports-related,

stop in and see Nate Taylor and the boys. They're open Monday through Wednesday. 9 to 6 p.m. Thursdays 9 to 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday, 9 to 6 p.m. And Sundays, of course, through the winter season here, 10 to 3 p.m. I was just, you know, in there the other day. They got the clothing, right? They got gong show under armor. They got all the blazer gear, I-D apparel. They can do custom things for you, hats, jerseys, you know, team apparel, hoodies, jackets, etc. And they're fun to work. with really enjoy stopping in and seeing once again Nate Taylor and the boys so if

you're looking for anything currently hockey because I mean it is hockey season stop on in they'll get you hooked up hockey day in Saskatchewan is coming to Hillmond January 16th to 19th Thursday night is gonna see Wade Redden strap on the skates for the first time and a very long time here in Hillmont it's Wade Redden and Friends game happening at 6.30 p.m. that night then Friday you got the banquet at the exhibition grounds entertainment's going to have the dirt rich brand and and Hillman's own Jordan Pollard you can pick up tickets there all of them Birch and cat salon in town Saturday you're gonna have

midget triple A men's and women's followed by the SjahL North Battleford Stars versus Notre Dame hounds and that's gonna be really cool and that's all happening at the home on rink on Saturday Sunday we'll be all minor hockey. Now, a couple of shutouts. First off, Ryan Sklapsky said, great listen to the Kinger, Chris King podcast, stories about small town living and playing everything,

keep doing a great job. And then Sean Hill had sent a message. Of course, he was the Pink Whitney winner. He said Chris Kinger interview was great. I like it when new episodes come out. Not even a huge basketball fan, but that was a great listen. and it's kind of crazy in competitive sports,

in competitive sports, if you don't win, you're out. He was talking about Chris King, where he said if he did not make the playoffs at one year, he was done, and then he obviously made the playoffs that year and look at what he's done for Lakeland College of basketball today. He said, keep putting them out,

and I will keep listening. And then finally, Grit athletic performance had said, for real, I'm glad, I can't talk today, guys, in the old tongue-tide. Love what you're doing with the podcast because it's the only podcast I can listen that doesn't make me fall asleep. It's really great to highlight our local talent and tell their stories. Keep it up. So thanks, guys, for reaching out.

If you guys want a shout-out, let me know what episode you're digging on. Hit me up on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or Sean Newman Podcast at gmail.com. Today's guest is the one the only Kent Stanoforth, former enforcer of the W.HL back in the early 90s. Yes, we're going back a little ways here to some old school stories. He fought a ton. It's interesting to hear him talk about just the changes in the game. You know, when we talk a little bit about Mike Babcock.

Obviously, Kent was coached by Mike Babcock and Moose Jaw, so he's seen him firsthand. We get to lean on Don Cherry, but just some of the way the game was used to be played and how the optics of how it used to be played are now perceived. And it was a lot of fun sitting down with Kent. We kind of hop right in, so you're not going to get it. When we hit go, away we go.

And we start talking about, well, the Carly Clossin and Windsor Plywood Table. They built me in from there, away we go. So without further ado. It's awesome. It's something you would see. in a nice lounge. That's right. So all your real famous guys should be signing it.

I got a book they sign. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. So far up in the studio, if you're looking around, well, Brant Wheeler gave me the Wade jersey. I'm going to say, frick, that looks familiar.

Yep, and would have hung in Brandt's office back in the day. Yeah, did so. And then you got where I played my Junior A right behind you. Right here. Yeah, so I don't know. You've played a lot of hockey, Stanley. And I don't know. Maybe you guys get alumni games all the time,

but that was the first time Dryden had ever done an alumni game. And they treat this like such gold. Took my family out there, flew out to Winnipeg, and then drove to Dryden. And we spent four days with my old Billet family and played in the game. The game was awesome. It was a full house, right? Had old fans come up and talk to me.

And it was just such a cool experience. I actually have my other jerseys. but that one meant more by the end now because I'm getting older and like, you know, and be a part of a culture that invites you back is like so cool. And so I hung that jersey up in here because it's kind of what I've tried doing at Hillman with all the guys who've played there inviting them back and bringing them back in to watch and try and keep them as close to as part of the team because I know once you're done, it's not like you get opportunities to keep playing,

but if you keep them part of the group, then they get to come back and experience a little, little bit of the excitement in the room, right? They get to have the dressing room, beers and everything else. And then I played in Finland. That's my jersey from Finland. And the far ones where I played college in the States. Yeah, you know, lots of guys have played different leagues in different countries and not kept some old jerseys. Like, how happy are you that you kept these?

Yeah, like, when I left Finland, I begged them to give me one. I just, give me one. I wanted the ones we were wearing. wearing these black ones, they were sexy, but they were their game jersey. They gave me one of their old, old ones, but I mean, still then, like, it's still cool to have the Raha Keiko Hockey Club. I guess so. Right?

And so, yeah, no, Tyler Wyman had Tyler Wyman on here, and you just finished winning the Allen Cup. Right. You should see his, he's got, like, underneath his stairs, he's got this, like, door that opens, and then it's just, like, every woman's fantasy, this giant closet just hiding in his basement, full of hockey jerseys, all his gold. Helmets like everything he's kept it all it's like a little museum absolutely he doesn't know where to put it all because he got so much but the guy played 14 years per all right like

yeah I'm you know I obviously didn't play that kind of hockey but I am a collector in my basement is all framed jerseys and you know people that either I know or that I followed and admired or liked or had a connection with and I've been probably got five more signed ones in my closet that I need framed, but my wife keeps reminding me, you have no more wall space. What are you going to do with that? But it's a real bad, expensive hobby of mine.

Yeah, well, I got bare space in here. I got a couple different ideas. I want to do, A, one of them is one of the teams we're looking at. Like, Blazers, I grew up watching the Blazers, grew up in minor hockey playing all through the Blazers. So I really want to get, I think actually Troy Clark has one sitting there for me, an old Blazer jersey to get put up and framed and stuff. Because like, to me, what's more Lloyd than the Blazers or that, you know, Bobcat,

Lancers, any one of those will be perfect, right? Like, I mean, that's another one's like maybe Border Kings jersey, right? Because, I mean, the Kings, when they were in their heyday, what other national champ do we have? I don't think we do in hockey. Yeah, not locally for sure. Right, we've had a midget team that went to, uh, Went to the national tournament.

Yeah. We probably, you know, probably a couple other teams, maybe, but nobody who's won it. And I think, what is it, 01 or 07? 01. 01.01's in Hall of Fame, aren't they? Well, both teams, the Hockey Hall of Fame each year has a section for Canadian national champions.

And interesting enough, in 08, we go back to Brantford for the 100th Allen Cup tournament and one day off we go into Toronto and of course we want to go to the Hockey Hall of Fame and we didn't know this

but we learnt every year they have this section for every national champion at virtually every level so we go into the Hockey Hall of Fame and we're touring around and all the sudden I can hear the guys hooting and hollering and come

the corner and there was pictures of them winning the Allen Cup the year before in Stony Plain so they had a little shrine of the 07 winning team which was really cool for some of those guys that had played the year before and were there real would that be right it was awesome it was really cool what do you think about the Allen Cup where it's at right now with uh well even like the schnuck league now or whatever they're calling it the west allan Cup or I can't remember what that Alberta League's even called anymore. Oh, you know what? I'm so far removed from that now.

It's a shame, first of all, that the Chinook League isn't what it used to be. But the Allen Cup Championship and the road to get there was getting so close to a semi-professional route that was really tougher. you know, some of the good small town teams to try and compete for that. So I didn't like the way it was going, you know, unless you had contacts with some pro teams or ex-pro players or coaches, you didn't have a chance. Every player playing in that league for the most part had played somewhere.

And when they're coming back from their European career or East Coast career, college career, their buddies are all in Calgary or Edmonton or whatever, and they just all, you know, land at the same spot and made it tough for the small teams for sure. Well, it must have been special winning in 07 with a bunch of local guys. Because, I mean, when you look back, and I always think back to the 01, like the Mervyn Morg man and that group, Ray Nelson and Nielsen. and I don't know you were talking about Clint earlier here there's just a group of guys that are from this area and I think 07 was very similar right

like you had the Ryan Rivet and who also had been on that team Aaron Foster Jordy Dugan well you still had Merv Man you still had Razor didn't you we did yeah like 01 I think the O1 Border Kings really kick started the whole romance for the senior AAA and the Allen Cup championship. Before that, you know, you get a handful of teams that thought, oh, we'll play a couple of games and go to a tournament

and see if we can win the Allen Cup. After they won in 2001, the interest level, especially in Western Canada, just skyrocketed. Absolutely. So moving forward to 07, you know, we were lucky enough to have a, pretty solid handful of affiliates from the Lorburn team. But other than that, it was all locals, like he said. And most of them had played minor hockey in town,

played junior B in town, some played Junior A in town. And then you'd have a couple guys that either, you know, had a quick stint in a college loop or some semi-pro like Aaron Foster. But for the most part, local junior B hardworking guys and the guys that we brought in from Lorburn, you know, when that tournament was done and you saw where it was going from there as far as recruiting and compensating and not buying a championship team, but it changed the whole dynamics after 07. and having won that in 07 knowing that we weren't paying players

knowing that all we did was pay Lorburn's gas to get up here to play buy them a couple sticks like to win knowing that that's how you did it was pretty awesome and I know guys like Merv and Dally and Hood and you know all the guys involved then

OB the guys that were involved knowing that we just did it the good old-fashioned way. They take a lot of pride in that. And the game, that Allen Cup game from that point on, in my mind, just, you know, it changed dynamics. Teams were getting X NHLers and X, everybody. And we don't know for sure what they were paying or if they were paying, you know, lots of speculation.

but the game changed after 07 for sure. Well, you can assume in 2019, the Lickome generals were paying. Yeah. And, you know, you would interview their manager and he'd sit here across the table from you and tell you they weren't. Yeah.

But like I say, when they were playing out of Bentley, a town of 300 with a rink smaller than Lashburn and Hillman's old one, What's the allure for someone to come out and play there on a Saturday night when it's 30 below? I guess it depends who you got going there to begin with. Yeah. Let's talk about Lashburn. Since you brought Lashburn up, you're a Lashburn boy from early on.

You know, since I started this bloody podcast, I've probably interviewed like, I don't know. You're episode 46 or 47 now. And it's a crazy amount of talent that has gone through Lashburn. What is it about Lashburn that has, was there something set up there in the beginning when you were young that just drawed athletes in? You're talking about people coming out of places. Like Lashburn has a ton of people going back to older than you like Gordredden ran through, you know, billeted in Lashburn and then went and played for the way of places. Red Wairn's, back when Lashburn's Junior B program was an affiliate of the Wayburn Red Wings, who were an affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings, right?

And that's Lashburn. Yeah. Well, God. My dad's told stories of back in those days when, you know, Gord would have been playing. Reggie Leach, I believe, had a real short stint. A very short stint. And Gord talked about that, yeah. Yeah.

But really, for me, growing up as a kid, the fastball was what it was all about. That ball, diamond, and Lashburn that seemingly every weekend was full. We had the Lashburn Bluebirds, of course, and Lashburn merchants. And those two teams always seemed to do well. The bluebirds, of course, were very, very successful. And I had an Auntie Brenda that played on that team that went on to play for Team Canada. Canada many, many times and actually was a coach with the ladies' Olympic team one year.

So that's a pretty neat story in itself. But the Lashburn Bluebirds, Lashburn merchants, as a kid growing up, couldn't wait for the weekend to come, so you'd go hang out at the ball diamonds all weekend long. Hockey, you know, I was a rink rat. Lashburn Flyers were the big ticket. And, you know, as long as mom and dad would let me go to the rink, I would go at every game. If dad was going to go on the road and watch a game,

I would try and sneak him with him and go. But yeah, it's pretty neat looking back, idolizing just local, hardworking citizens of Lashburn that played for the Lashburn Flyers. But, yeah, as far as, you know, for any community, what's the secret? We were lucky enough to rink was open all the time. If we wanted to go skating, we could skate.

You've heard that story a million times by every guy that's ever played in a small town. But what can you pinpoint it on other than having that accessible to you? Yeah, and that's how we were as kids. Dad had keys to rink and we'd flood it because Holmoy used to have natural ice. Right. So as he's flooding, we got to skate until he caught up to us with the water, essentially, right? Right. Which was always a lot of fun.

what uh everybody around town and i was saying they're off air i listened to your fourth line shout out the fourth line because they uh he went really in depth he knew all the guys that you know you tussled

with the dub and everything else but growing up like in midget hockey before you go to north battleford was that your game were you a big i mean you're standing you're big guy were you in the fighting before you you got to the SJHL?

No, not at all. I, you know, growing up I was bigger than most, and I was a pretty decent skater back then. And I was, you know, just a good, strong hockey player, not even remotely interested in fighting. I would hit somebody if I could. because that was part of the game, and that's what you're taught to do.

But I like playing. I liked shooting the puck. I like skating with the puck, and that was fun. So really, fighting was not part of my game or even something that I enjoyed watching on TV at that point. I guess my first midget camp was when I had my eyes open, not by myself, but just being on the ice watching. I'm at a midget AAA camp in North Battleford

and remembering some of the guys, some veterans, literally lining fights up before sessions and fighting twice on shifts. And all those midget AAA and junior A camps back then, they would have wily old veterans from the teams before, out running the sessions. Well, you know what they wanted to see happen. So they were encouraging physical play.

And there was a lot of it. So I didn't even really get involved at camp. I was still, I still thought I was a good offensive rushing defensemen that could play physical. And for whatever reason, I didn't feel like I had to. I didn't have anyone tell me to. but our first exhibition game against the PA Raiders, me and one of their big defensemen get locked up net front and he didn't ask me.

I didn't think twice. It was just, it just happened. And I did really, really well in that fight without ever having done it before, without ever thinking about it, without, you know, never even being on my mind. after it was done, uh,

it was just no big deal. Stan Dunn was coaching our team back then and Stan was just a, an old school physical coach, but not, not a goon coach. He's not someone that wants you to go out and fight, but definitely you want to stand up for your players. So I had a handful of fights that year in the midget, AAA league.

It was a year after that going into camp with the junior, your North Stars as a 17-year-old where expectations changed. And they changed because of the league. They changed because of the coach. And the coach had seen me play the year before, obviously. And I didn't want to come in there and be a fighter. Never really even thought about having to again. Pretty naive back then, really, now that I think.

about it. But things changed. What do you think of the game now then? Now that fighting is almost non-existent, if you could have played in a game like today where you could have just strolled in a junior A camp because what you're talking about with the vets running the sessions and lining up, I grew up through that. I was still going in my time. I assume that is still not going on. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. But I remember vividly that. how it was going on. My difference to you was, is I was five foot six. Nobody was worried about me scrapping. If I scrapped, they gave you a pat on the head for essentially having the nuts to do so. Right. But, you know, when you look back at it, I mean, you made a career as a guy willing to

drop the Mets. Do you wish he could have played in a different time era where, I mean, that's not even an expectation anymore, I don't think. No, I definitely don't think it's an expectation. and that style of game, you know, I miss watching that. At times I miss playing that. But when you sit back and think about it, it was pretty barbaric. Absolutely.

Like it was when you sit back and envision some of the altercations or some of the fights or hits or two-hand. It was not easy, but that was what was expected. Yeah, absolutely. So what better way to get a team tight knit than having line brawl or bench clearing brawl or something. When any one of us get touched, the other guy's sticking up for you, right? It's very raw, raw team camaraderie.

Yeah. You're in a war every time you're on the... You step on the ice. And the only buddy that's with you is anyone that's on your team and anyone that's not on your team, well, they're the enemy. And it was just, you know, as a young guy starting to play, you didn't sit back and think, oh, geez, I really want to play this game of hockey. But it's too rough. I might get hit. I might have to fight.

Like, you just, you didn't think that way. No. Just because, you know, whoever was coaching you had come up through the ranks playing that way, being coached that way, being taught that way. And so that's how they were going to teach you. Did you ever, I'll rephrase it a little bit then. Do you ever think, you know, I'll probably fight my first year, but as I earned my stripes and I get a little, you know, more veteran status,

I'm going to maybe moving on to being a little more like the offensive guy, like working on that side of your game? No. once I not so much in in Battleford in tier two I was a 17 year old kid that was fighting everyone and anyone

and was having fun with it our team was tough so they encouraged that they embraced that they enjoyed having a young tough guy on the team as well so I probably

got a little off track there that year even by my own doing. Because first exhibition game, I fight a tough guy from Nippewan and Gimilikin in front of our home crowd. Yeah, now they're expecting it. Yeah. So a little bit of hype there, a little,

I'm still in high school. So all the high school kids are there. I go to school the next day. They didn't know who I was the day before that. But after that, I had a lot of friends at high school. and there was a couple guys. Every game day, I don't know what it cost them to get in, like five bucks maybe, but every game day we had a deal where they would ask me

if there was going to be a fight that night. And if I said, yes, and there wasn't, I had to pay him his five bucks back. And I don't remember ever paying him his five bucks back. So I got a kick out of it. I had some respect coming to me as a young kid. Remember what your parents used to think? Did they care?

Oh, yeah. They were business people in Maidstone, so they would try and rush to Battleford to catch a hockey game. For you to get... Yeah. And literally, they'd come in five minutes after the game started some nights, and I'd already be in the stands. So Storm and Norman Johnson,

it took them a while to try and show me or tell me that, hey, you just can't fight the second someone looks at you or calls you on. Like, there's some hockey to play here too, so just bide your time. But, you know, I was just... Fired out. Oh, yeah, young and dumb and ready to go. And sometimes it happened quicker than others. And mom and dad never minded what I was doing.

They just would say, you could wait until we get there. Pardon the interruption, folks. Here's your IHD innovative question of the week. I asked Stanley later on in the interview who the toughest guy he ever fought was. And instead of listing off one name, he lists several names. Give me one of those several names via Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. Email me at Sean Newman Podcast at gmail.com. And you're entered 10 times for a $50 gift card to Three Trees here in Lloyd Minster.

Huge shout out to Jim Spenrath, who, uh, him and Three Trees, them up so really appreciate that jim and uh now back to the show you you probably have well it's got to be a hundred plus fights i guarantee probably between the dub and junior and everything else but for my junior career i can count them on two hands i think i thought seven times but well i can count my goals on one hand so there you go my when i was playing in dryden we used to go to thunder bay i don't know every third weekend whatever it was and my my mom flew in from Eminton to watch us play. And the first game she got there, I was booted out in the first five minutes for fighting.

I'm just a kid who only, and the next night we played him again, and I fought another guy. And I got booted both games, and I'm sure she was going like, what the heck did I just spend a thousand dollars on her, whatever it was, to get down there. But that was two of my seven was in the same weekend. She flew to come watch. So I know all about parents racing to come watch you play, and then you're sitting in the stands beside him talking to him instead. actually playing the bloody games. You just told your mom you wanted to spend more time visiting. I think I actually did use that line on her.

With some of the, you know, going back to Battleford, I was listening to your other podcast. You're becoming a little bit of a legend on the old podcast circuit. But you're talking about if you guys lost in Flynn, flan, you got no food on the way home. You know, it's funny just shortly after me and Southpaw hooked up for that conversation and talked about the good old days and what that was like. And that was an example I used.

Norm Johnson, you know, he's a guy finishing midget hockey. I had another year midget eligibility, which is exactly what I wanted to do because there was no way I wanted to go play hockey for Norm Johnson. You go watch all the games as a midget player. You see what goes on. You hear stories. He was someone that frightened me. So I had no intentions of wanting to play for him, but we're at camp,

and he basically called me out weekend of camp saying, kid, don't think you're going back to midget and just going to float through the year, you're staying with us. So I kind of had to, back then, you wouldn't say, no thanks, I'm going to go play midget. You had an opportunity to play. You went and play.

You went and play. So that's what I did. but Norm was not sure how it ever happened or what it cost him, but Norm was the president, the GM, the treasurer, the secretary, the head coach,

the trainer, like he was everything for this team. So when things didn't go well on the road, you just knew you weren't going to get fed. And it wasn't just you weren't getting fed, but don't try and walk on the bus, with a bottle of coke or a, I don't even know if they had Gatorade back then, but don't try and walk on the bus with something in your hand that you could digest

because he was taking it from you. So the one time, yeah, up in Flinflon, after the game that we lost, everybody, like nobody even shrugged a shoulder at it. You just knew, okay, get on the bus, we're going home, no one's eating. We pull in the KFC, and the guys were just, like, they couldn't believe what was going on. And Kate boys scarf that down. We're like 10 minutes out of town and everyone's eating for the first time after a road loss

and then recognizing that we had no fluids to wash that down for the next six or eight hours, whatever it was back then. And that wasn't an accident. That didn't happen accidentally. That was, hey, you guys, you don't get fed when you lose, but maybe this time I'm going to feed you but not give you something to drink. That was intentional.

But nobody went home that night and phoned home and complained and whined of your billets. You're playing junior hockey in the SJHL. You were pretty happy to be able to do that. And that's just what you did. And I think it might have been, I'm trying to remember if it was Dersinsky on here made mention of when you're going out to eat. One of the coaches had you leave a looney or something for a tip. We were talking about shoe checks and different things like that with a tip

and the waitresses. But yeah. Yeah. Well, that made me think of us that year because Norm would make you leave a dollar. Everybody had to leave a dollar. And I don't think it was him trying to teach you how to be, you know, appreciative and respectful.

I think it was him trying to have us pay part of his bill. for the meal. What do you think of today's world we're sitting living in with all the... It is just any... I mean, right now we're right in the middle of if any kid wants to, any NHEL wants to.

I'm not sitting there saying, you know, there's going to, you just mark my words, there's going to be some awful story come out and I'm going to say it right now. I'm not talking about the awful stories. There's awful stories that come on. You go, oh man,

somebody should have stepped up and said something with that. But then there's just stories like the one you told me, and I don't know, in my book of things I went through in hockey and probably other people in different sports. Like, there's just trying to, there's different lessons to learn through the game and different ways coaches implemented that, I guess. I don't know. Right now you see the stuff coming out about Daryl Sutter has been the latest one or one of the ones,

and then Peters was the one who had to step down from Calgary from things he said. and now stuff is coming out all about Mike Babcock from way back in the day. I mean, what do you think about all the different? I mean, you're a guy who coached a ton of hockey. As a coach, are you at all concerned? Like, man, there could be five kids. Maybe there's no kids. I don't know, but every kid looks at different things that coach did

because I'm certainly in my career could sit in a dressing room and be one of 20 guys and a coach says something. I take it one way and another guy takes it a different way. And then that one guy comes back 10 years later saying, whatever. Yeah. And, you know, I can only speak for one sport, which is hockey. And the problem, obviously, in today's world is their ability to use social media and different platforms to say what they want to say, whether it's true, whether it's valid,

whether it's whatever the case may be, they have that ability to get it out there. And like back in the day, as a player, as a fan, as a player, and then as a coach, whatever happened, first of all, just discussed being a player. Whatever happened being a player, we talk about that together now with ex-teammates and ex-opponents, ex-combatants, guys I used to fight and get, like, we discussed things that

happened back in those days with, with some pride and never with any negativity. It was stuff that, it was like wearing a badge of honor, hey, we survived playing junior hockey back in the day, which was pretty tricky sometimes. But it wasn't, you know, somebody yelling and screaming at you or kicking a garbage can at you. Like, we didn't take that stuff personal. We knew like, hey, if we're not playing well or we miss curfew or there's repercussions. We expected that. And our parents expected us to expect that.

And it's just, it's so different now. I feel bad for some of these, well, some of the players, you know, we're a coach's whipping boy. Everyone says every coach has a whipping boy. I don't believe that they do those things to pick on someone. I don't believe they yell at their team because they don't like them or they don't want them to do well. That was just the way motivation,

preparation and adversity was handled in the game of hockey back in the days I played. And those coaches were bringing what they learned as a player from their past coaches to them being the coach now. They didn't just all of a sudden turn into being a coach and wanted to go on a tirade and start beating up kids because that's not what happened. Norm Johnson would hit Trevor Converse over the head with a clipboard. Trevor Converse was the toughest guy in the SJHL. Connie would sit there and take it because he knew he coughed up a puck for a goal at the end of the second period. Like for as crazy and goofy as that sounds, us 20 guys in the dressing room, you just accepted that.

And I don't think we need to feel bad for having gone through those. battles and those goofy punishments and tough times we shouldn't feel bad for having gone through that we shouldn't feel like we need to hold someone accountable for that 20 years later I've been called a lot of things by opponents by coaches by fans like 10 15 20 years later if that's bothering you then there's probably some other troubles Yeah

But you know Mike Babcock for an instance Like since when is being an asshole A crime Like I just don't get that part And he's been the same guy His whole coaching career So the year he had

Because you would have had him First, your second year in Moostraw Yeah? Yeah he was That was his first year in major junior hockey Ian Moose Jaw. And from what I see throughout the years in his coaching career, he looked the same, he moved the same, he would talk the same, he act the same.

He's just a guy that has incredibly high standards, wants everybody to meet his high standards. He's cocky, extremely confident. He's condescending, but like I say, since when is that a crime? He obviously was, well, even back then, you know, all those negative characteristics you want to look at. He was the most organized, prepared, intense guy I had ever seen in my life then and just watching him on TV throughout the years. it's the exact same guy. So he's, you call him whatever you want. He's not changed.

He's not trying to be someone he's not. That's who he is. And it's been pretty neat. I've had a couple friends in the media. One old Moose Jaw Warrior media celebrity texts me after Mike got let go. And we've had some pretty interesting banters back and forth. and him and I kind of agree. We think he's a certain type of guy,

but don't, you know, for teams to say no one should ever hire Mike Babcock again, like give me a break. Yeah, but that isn't teams saying that. That's media saying that. And if you go back to media a year ago, three years ago, seven years ago, they slowly change at the times of society.

It's essentially what they do, because they have to appease the viewer, even though I say that and then I'm going to contradict myself even though the people you want to listen to the most are the ones that actually explain it the way you just explain it right like well it's a shame some of these guys

aren't allowed to say what they want to say ever and if we want to back that up a bit you ask what do I think about the game these days let's back it up to Ron and Dawn Ron and Dawn with what happened with grapes say what you want to say you love them or hate him,

uh, for all the good that he's done for hockey and for, like there's no one more pro-Canadian than grapes than grapes. Absolutely. And the thing that upset me about that the most probably is the fact that everything is so, uh, easy to say what you want to say and have it heard by the whole country.

It wouldn't allow any, hockey players, current hockey players, to stand up and actually say what they think of Dawn. Nobody could come to his side because, yeah, then the whole world would be saying, oh, Sean Newman thinks what Grapes did was good. Well, Sean, you're, you're now blacklisted. But ironically, the only one that I did see that somewhat stepped up and supported grapes was Nazim Kadj. Yeah, I did see that. That was fabulous. I thought that was so good of him.

I just wish there would have been more support from the players. And then, of course, Bobby Orr. Yeah. Well, Bobby Orr came out. What was that? Like day one, day two. Yeah. That's time, you know, I feel bad for grapes, right?

The thing with grapes was is he probably, I don't think anyone sitting here and going, his segment was the greatest thing since sliced bread. It's just becoming a pastime, right? Right. If you're on Saturday night, oh, grapes is coming up. I remember as a kid. I can recall as a kid, like racing to the TV or making sure my mom's yelling it for supper. No, no, grapes is coming on.

Just give me five minutes. No, give me five minutes. But now he's, what they should have done is what they did, what was it for Bob Cole? Bob Cole just had his retirement tour last year. Yeah. They should have done the same thing for Graves. Right. That guy should have been parade.

down the street, walked off into a sunset. Everybody knew the day was coming where Graves was going to... Probably one of the two things is going to happen. He was going to go out in the guns of blazing. Because he always walks a line. Right. Or Don Cherry's old. He's not like he's 50 years old.

It's not like he's 40. He's 85. So at some point, like, as an executive of that, you've got to have the foresight to go, you know, maybe we should give him a farewell tour here. Yeah, people are going to be upset. but at least everybody gets to say goodbye them. Now everybody's choked at them because the way they, like, for that,

and then to let them go on remembrance day? Yeah. Like, give me a break. Yeah, you're right. They should have planned something long before this because even though, you know, I wouldn't stop everything on a Saturday night to watch it. If I was home, like you say, you would watch it. But it was at the point now where you love that old guy so much,

you don't want to see him embarrass himself on TV. That's right. And you're starting to call guys wrong name and screw some things up. You just don't want them to embarrass himself. So I wish they would have done something sooner. But, yeah, the way that all went down was unfortunate. And, you know, what's happened since then. It's just been a freaking...

Well, now the door is open for anyone to come forward and just say, X, Y, Z. Now, like I said, 15 minutes before, there's going to be some awful things come on. I'm just mark my word. somebody's going to come out with an awful story and everyone's going to go, oh, that shouldn't happen, right? Those stories should never happen. You should never allow the awful things to come out. But there's going to be a lot more stories that come out, just like you said.

Somebody kicked a garbage can and... Like, I think about awful stories in hockey. And to me, awful stories in hockey are Graham James stories. We just looked at Graham, yeah, yeah, Graham James. That's an awful one. Yeah, like that's physical, sexual, mental abuse, like, that shouldn't be anywhere, any sport, any country, like, that's just offside.

But some of the things that Babs did, that's just him trying to be in control and have power. And that's what being a coach was in certain eras. Did you hear what he did to, did you listen to the spit and chicklets, um, Chris Chalios? Did you hear about Chris Chalos? What did you think of him, not playing? or playing them for the outdoor game. I had read that in Shelley's book before. Okay.

So what do you think of that? It doesn't shock me at all. But I'm like, even though you want to be that guy, you still think you'd have some compassion and love for your players and recognize the significance of certain events. Yeah. So that's ridiculous. He's done some ridiculous things.

but I remember when he took the job in Toronto and everyone's saying, I just took it for the money, just took it for the money. And I said, you know what? He took it because he knows nobody's had success in Toronto

for the last however long and he is so confident he thinks he can be the guy that'll have success with Toronto. That's why he took the job. And it's, It's, he's got a pretty nice bank account right now, but I don't think it's about the money for him.

And when he's had so much leeway and control with teams over the years, it's pretty tough when someone wants to pull some of that control back away from you. But, yeah, I've read stories in Shelley's book and, you know, Commodore, obviously, is a big. Yeah, it's been very outspoken about it. vocal. And then they're talking about Mark Crawford. Yeah, that's another one that's come up, yeah.

You know, what really sucks about that is you got these guys that want to say what they want to say. You probably saw Sean Avery pipe up about him kicking him in the ass and should have done it more. Well, you know what kind of a crazy man, Sean Avery is. Well, anyone who's watched the NHL and any amount in the last, last 20 years should know who Sean Avery is, right? Like that guy.

Yeah. So for him to say what he said, he wasn't trying to send Crawford to the electric chair. He was trying to make light of the fact that, hey, this is what happens and it's not all bad. And then he had to come out a couple days later and have another rant on Twitter basically saying, hey, leave me alone. I was just stating what happened. I'm not looking to send Craw to the freaking. electric chair, this is what happened.

Like, do you think it hurt me? It's just, but yet, Patrick O'Sullivan, I remember reading his book a few years ago and he was a coach that Patrick called out big time. So he jumped on this that's kill Crawford

bandwagon. Bandwagon right away. And without Twitter and without Facebook and Instagram and all this, it doesn't give some of these guys, the platform to, you know, I'm only on Twitter. That's my social media thing. And it's so freaking negative now. I hate even opening it. That's all social media. Oh, it's just, it's a game that I love and I love the memories and there's some hard memories, but none that make me feel.

Well, I just, I always go, I always lean back to my experience, Stanley. I always go back to one of the, well, heck, I'll even do, I'll even do a Lloyd guy. I had. I had two of my best coaches was J.P. Kelly, who's a Lloyd boy, and the year we were in Bannum, we went to provincials, and then were parents still pissed at him, like hated them, because their kid wasn't playing it up or this or that or whatever. But I can safely say he was like fantastic coach. And then Larry Wintoniak had him for two years in junior eight. Fantastic.

But to this day, if I meet 10 guys over a year who play, played for Larry because Larry's coached a lot of teams through a lot of different provinces. Probably 50% of them love them. Like we'll go through a brick wall for him. I'd go for a brick wall for him through him. Ah, for him. He was fantastic. taught me a lot about life, the game, everything.

And then the other five, hate them. And probably just what you said about, like, Twitter or platforms have given them, you know, to talk about whatever. And it's crazy because those guys are really good coaches. I mean, once again, I mean, You can't speak to everything bad that's ever happened to a player. There's probably been some pretty crappy things. But, man, there's some good coaches that are getting the short end of the stick right now.

It feels like it. And I'm a hockey guy through and through you. Look around the podcast. I'm a hockey guy. So every time I hear it under attack, it just feels like it's an attack day on the hockey world. And it sucks because it's like, well, hockey is a great sport, right? Like it was, what was it, CTV there like a month ago where the lady has a rant on why Don Cherry and white privilege. and it's a rich man game and they should be doing different things and you're like,

what is going on in our world? Like hockey does a lot of great things for the world and for people and for society and for little communities and people that don't know the game, never played the game, weren't involved in the game. They want to have an opinion on this. Yeah. You don't have an opinion unless you're involved and have been involved. Like I think back to Norm Johnson, a year with Norm,

I think back on those stories and chuckle. I'm like, oh my God, that was crazy. You want to hear a great story? Yeah, this happened. Well, yeah, I just, it was the way it was. And going into it, we knew that. So that's the part that gets me too. It's like I wasn't blindsided by the fact that you might get not fed.

You might have to run two miles to Melville, hotel with your equipment on when it's snowing out and then not get fed. Like things like that, they're legendary and we tell those stories and chuckle at them. Yeah, with a little pride on your shoulder. But, you know, someone getting kicked on the bench. I don't want to mention names, but I'm going to. A good buddy of mine, Scott Hood, when he moved to Red Deer, he played for the Bentley generals.

while Brian Sutter was coaching the Bentley generals. And I remember talking to Hutter one day after a game. They had lost, and they didn't lose too many games. And Hutter was wearing an A on his sweater. He was a big part of that team. And something happened on the ice and Sutz didn't like it. He kicked Hutter right in the ass on the bench. Hutter said, I could barely sit down for two days.

So that's senior AAA hockey. Scott Hood didn't need to go get counseling. Scott knew it was a passionate coach, old school coach, that that was the way it was. That happened to him. That's how he coached, and he didn't care. It was senior now and not NHL. He treated it like it was the NHL. And there was not one guy on that team that would have looked at that and thought that was over the top or inappropriate.

It was fairly isolated. at that state, but yeah, it's... Did you see Scottie Bowman's got a book out right now? I have. Scotty Bowman, to me, is not someone that I'm really intrigued about. Really? Why is that? I don't know. Here's a guy who won multiple cups,

and what's the thing I always hear about him? His first cup and his last cup were 29 years apart. And so what they always point to is he was able to win across, generation differences and player type, game changes, etc. Yeah. So you'd think at the start of that book, he'd have stories exactly like the one you just told. And then by the end, he would have different ways of trying to figure players out.

Right. But why doesn't that, I'm curious, why doesn't that interest you? I don't know. Maybe a good buddy of mine, Skip doesn't like the Easterner team. So he was getting all the success with the Montreal Canadiens, and Skip hated the Canadian. He just wasn't someone that I was growing up watching. Like, I was watching Glenn Sather and, you know, guys like that.

Yeah. So just wasn't someone that I was, like, I've got a lot of books and I've read a lot of great books, and they're all hockey related. What would be your best book then? What's one of the ones or maybe even not even, you can, a couple of them? You know, for me, the books that I've liked reading are Bob, Probert book was great. Yeah, Bob Probert was good. Man, when you talk Bob Probert, if that guy wouldn't have gone off the rails so many times, how good of a hockey player could he have been?

He had no idea how good he was. Yeah, right. But it was back in the age where you didn't do anything other than show up to the ring and play hockey. True. He was just naturally talented, big and strong. And, you know, if he was playing in today's game where there's nutrition, and fitness and psychology and all that kind of stuff, it'd be pretty interesting to see. But back then, he was just naturally that guy. Who would go drinking until 4 in the morning, get up and go out and score a goal and fight a guy

and then go do it again. Which so many people did. And some of those people that partied like that would go out and score a hat trick. True. But that book was interesting for me. The Clint Milarchuk book was awesome. Clint Milarchuk?

The Crazy Game by Clint Milarchuk. And you know with the mental health awareness at the peak that it is right now, he's someone that's on a mission touring around speaking on mental health. And he's someone that I've mentioned a couple times that I'd love to see the June race have as their guest speaker at one of their banquets. He's the goaltender that had his neck. Oh, yeah. And then, you know, he dealt with some anxiety and things through his whole life.

And then after that injury happened, it just really skyrocketed. Yeah, amplified it. Yeah. It's called The Crazy Game. And it's just a... That's one I haven't read. But my shelf's full of the Bougard book. McCarthy, or McCarty, I mean.

uh the old flurry's book of course like i just like real live stories of guys that you've seen or watched and let's talk about you going to the dub because you were you brought in some things um the old the card book we're kent for the listeners brought in a what would you call it every player's card it was a full uh western hockey league player card set. So you can flip through that and you can imagine the names that pop out. But you weren't originally with Moostra. You originally started or were carded by Prince Albert?

Yeah, when I was playing in Battleford, you know, for a crazy guy like Norm, who everyone thinks was just there for himself, you know, he got me some exposure with Prince Albert Raiders who Terry Simpson was coaching. Terry Simpson is a god up in PA country. And so we, Norm actually took me up to PA a couple times that year and watched the game and met Terry. And so when our season was done,

you know, I was somewhat excited to go up to PA because I felt like I had a relationship with Terry. But through the summer, Terry took a coaching job but the Winnipeg Jets, and they hired Rob Dom to coach. So when I got to camp in PA, you know, I totally felt like I didn't know anyone. I didn't have any kind of connection there. And I had mentioned you, it just felt like everyone on the team was either drafted or about to be drafted.

And, you know, my self-worth was not very high walking into that dressing room. So I was there for about a month. month and literally hated every minute of it. Do I dare ask what you did to train for that? We didn't train back then. Like literally back in those days, we worked all summer, so we had to work hard. Do you remember what we were doing for work back then? I think that summer I worked with one of my uncles, he's a, he is a, with plumbing and

heating, we were, I can't remember which project we're on. You know, we'd work eight or ten hours a day, and I'd go for the odd jog on the weekend. But literally, you know, no one was sending you out any kind of workout schedules or anything. You just literally, you'd go to the rink and you'd play. And it was just kind of on the cusp. You know, the next couple of years is when fitness was starting to be incorporated. but it was very low on the... Totem pole.

Yeah, for sure. Which is crazy to think about it now. Like, it's hard to remember that far back to when you just didn't do... For me, the workout side of it was somewhat there. I was there. Yeah. But the nutrition wasn't. Right.

Like, when you say the nutrition, like, I always tell us, like, after every... We practice every single day. After every single day, us morons would go eat, like, subway, pizza hub buffet. Like, you just name it. We just put it in our body just complete and absolute junk. Yeah. And you always think, I wonder if a guy would actually, like, ate properly what would have happened, right? Now every kid I have in here who's playing Doug, Juner A, et cetera, I'll talk about, like, their pregame meal is pretty, it's almost standard, right?

I have rice with chicken and whatever it is, right? It's just different. You look back at your career. and you wonder, man, if a guy would have had a training program along with a new nutrition, et cetera, et cetera, what you could have done differently. Yeah, like those are some real good life habits that these young kids are learning through sport now. Yeah, absolutely.

You know, how to eat properly and, you know, their physical workout regime for these guys to feel like they need to be at the gym five times a week just to feel good, that's fantastic. That's a good habit that will be with them the rest of their life. We didn't have those habits. Okay, where were we? PA. Yeah, I was not loving being in PA. And I remember getting ready for a road trip.

Coach calls me in. It was Rob Dom. Calls me in as the buses packing up and said, we've traded you to Moose Jaw. Well, first thing in my head was like, thank God, I am packing up and going back to Battleford, and I'm going to be something to reckon in the SJ. In the SJ.

Yeah. So I already had my bags packed ready to go, and I was heading to Battleford. Before I could even finish that thought, he hands me the phone, and he's got Moose Jaw's coach on the phone, which are, yeah, I guess it was Coach GM, Greg Quizley. hands me the phone in this grouchy old farmer.

He was a farmer in Moose Jaw, was a coach and GM of the Moose Jaw Warriors. He says, we play in Swift Current tomorrow night, be there. So, just like I had said before about some other things, you already wanted to head back to Battleford and go play their buddies in a league where you have a reputation and some comfort level, but yet this guy's telling you know you're driving to Swift Current.

Well, I didn't think screw that. I'm not going to Swift Current. It was like, yes, sir. And down to Swift Current, we go. Swift Current and PA were two totally different teams, and PA was a bunch of studs. Moose Jaw was just a bunch of good guys that wanted to work hard and try hard and be a team.

So the minute I stepped into the dress room there, It was just a different feeling. It felt like home. Yeah. Plus I had a good friend on the team already, Travis Thesson, which put me at ease. And, yeah, it was a good switch for me for sure. You know, I like having, so I get all these young guys that are on them, both the, come on and are currently playing in the dub, right? And I like to bug them about the road trips and shenanigans.

And I'm always curious about a guy who played years ago early. 90s. What were road trips like? Did you guys do, did you have any shenanigans in the hotel? Or were you in bed by 9 o'clock and lights off? Anything like that? You know what? For the most part, we behaved ourselves on the road.

I remember a New Year's Eve, we played a game in Portland. And Lauren Mulligan was our coach, and that was back when Mooner was partying. And so he gave us the night, but, you know, guys were in the room by 1 o'clock or whatever. It was no big deal. So for the most part, we were fairly serious on the road. You'd have the odd leaner and, you know, the toothpaste on the phone, stuff like that. But this one. Toothpaste on the phone?

Oh, yeah, you put toothpaste around the hand set and then you'd go to your room and then phone back to the room. But one time I remember. Lethbridge in the playoffs. I was suspended, so I was staying with, I don't know why they'd put a suspended guy rooming with Kevin Smith, because Kevin was a big horse for our team. But we had an adjoining room, and there's me, Kevin, and maybe Peter Cox, I can't remember who was in there.

But the adjoining room had three wily old vets. so they're knocking on the door and they're like, Stanley, just play some cards. And I'm like, yeah, okay, I'm not playing tomorrow, no big deal. Well, Kevin Smith had a girlfriend down there and he decided he was going to sneak out and go see his girlfriend. So about an hour later, coach is banging on the door. Well, me and Peter B-lined into our own room and jump into bed and pretend like we're sleeping. Coach comes barreling through there and he's yelling.

at the other guys and he comes in our room and we're, you know, head on the pillow thinking we're sleeping and he's giving us an earful, keep it quiet and he leaves. And I'm sitting there thinking, holy shit, he didn't even recognize that Smitty wasn't even in the room. He leaves a room. Door isn't even shut for a second, comes barging back in and he's like, where the hell is Smith? So that night kind of went a little sideways and Kevin didn't. end up playing the next game but that was about the only time i can really think that we weren't good on the road you mentioned portland lots of the boys talk about the best fans are the american fans in the dub specifically i'm talking was that the same

back in the day when you went down for the the state swing the western swing where was that some just crazy barns to play yeah we were pretty excited to go out to Seattle, for one, was well known. It was called the zoo. And their song was rock and roll by Gary Glitter. So when they score a goal, the whole ring stands up and they start building this song out. It was pretty impressive. Me and my buddy Travis looked at each other one time they scored, or the first time they scored. And we're like, wow, that was fun. Like, we wanted them to score another one because it was pretty cool. But Tri-Cities

We had a goaltender named Jeff Kelvert And It was during the anthem He didn't take his mask off during the anthem So we didn't think anything of it No big deal We come back the next morning to pack up to hit the road

And Callie's mask was missing So we find out later on that The locals didn't like the fact that his mask was on during the U.S. anthem and they took his mask. Fair point. Portland had a beautiful facility. I think it was called the Rose Garden.

And that's where they play NBA. Okay. So the first time we walk in there to unload our gear, it's set up for basketball. A trail players game. So for us, hillbillies from Saskatchewan, that's the first time we'd seen something like that. And it was cool because by the time we got back for game time. It's all rink. It switched it all over.

Yeah. So that game, you know, it was big barns that would only have like four or five thousand people instead of 15 or whatever. So it wasn't crazy atmosphere, but there was some excitement. And late in that one game, I think they just scored a goal, empty netter to go up by two, maybe 40 seconds left. They had a big screen replay screen there too, which was neat. because not many did. And I remember Quisley looking at us. I was playing with Kevin Smith at that point

and looked at us and kind of said, don't start anything. Well, that's all he had to say because I went out there and we started something with about 30 seconds left. And it had a five on five, no big deal. But what I remember, as I'm getting escorted off the ice, I better back that up. Kevin Smith was from Briar Crest.

So he was going to a Bible school before he came to the Warriors. And he was probably 16 or 17, maybe 17 then. Anyways. And he'd be Ryan Smith's older brother. Older brother, yeah. Line braw's over. I'm getting escorted off the ice. I turn back and look at the big screen.

And all I can see is Big Smitty's skating off the ice with both hands. hands in the air giving the bird to everybody in the rink. Well, the big joke was here, here was our big Bible boy skating off the ice after a line braw flipping the bird to everybody in the Rose Garden. Who was, who, uh, who had the best fans? For a guy who dropped the mitts several times, who, what did, was it, if you fought at home in front of the Moose Jaw fans? Or was there like, was there somewhere you just enjoyed playing?

And if the Mitz came off, they just went nuts. Well, the only place that would happen would be in Moose Jaw. Everywhere else, you were like enemy number one. But was that cool, like, was that fun to walk into? You know what? I didn't really pay a lot of attention to it. After games, I felt bad because I would hear stories of what my parents would have to. endure in the stands.

What are some stories that your parents have to endure? Oh, just, you know, people heckling and yapping at me, not knowing that that was... Oh, yeah, their kid. That goon's mom and dad sitting next to him. So that probably wasn't that much fun, but Moose Jaws fans were absolutely awesome. Back in the day, if you were a physical player and could fight and do okay, well, they loved you. So they really embraced me whether I was at the rink or away from the rink. It was fantastic.

Everyone else hated me. But if I had to pick one, I remember going to Seattle for the first time ever. So this isn't, you know, there's no internet. There's no check the web, see who's coming to town. It's the old hockey news or the Western League monthly newsletter. Yeah. But I stepped onto the ice. and there was about 20 guys kind of hovering over the entrance there.

And I'm thinking, oh, this is cool. Out in Seattle, nobody knows who we are. I step on the ice. These 20 guys are all over me like white on rice, calling me by name, asking if I'm fighting Turner Stevenson that night. And I'm like, these fans are, they know what's going on. I'm not even on the ice yet, and they know that this is a guy that would likely be the guy

to fight their tough guy. So they were pretty engaged in that And wanting to see that happen But most of the other rinks You'd get guys You know Yapping but I was more engaged with On the ice

I was a big Yapper on the ice I was good at it and What was the best chirp you ever used Or ever had come back at you Or ever heard maybe on the ice Was there one that sticks out? I don't know if I could say it on here

But I would get yappen so much that I hardly even remember what I would say, but Regina Pats was a big rival of ours, and we had a little scrum after a whistle, and this one guy kind of gave me a poke, and I asked him what he was doing there, and then I reminded him, oh, yeah, you're the only one on this line that I haven't beat up yet, so wait your turn. So it was just intimidation back then was huge. Such a part of it. And it worked.

It worked for you and it worked against you. Because there was some big, tough, I showed you that picture of Jason Prasofsky. Yeah. Like if you see that guy today, you wouldn't even recognize it's the same guy. But back then,

you know, he's six foot five. He's got a mustache like a 40 year old. He was scary. There's a lot of scary guys there. So you had to, if you were, scared.

You couldn't show that you're scared. You had to take the offense. Who is the toughest fighter than you ever fought? Who, like, who is the guy that you dropped the miss with and after, either before it's done or after it's done during, that you're like, holy crap, that's one tough ombre. There is lots and, like, I wasn't a guy that would drop the gloves. I'm not knocking anyone out. I'm not, while not knocking many out, I'm just a guy that could stand in there and go and go.

I could take a punch, I had good balance, I could switch hands, I was just lucky enough to stand in there. But there was guys that after the fights, I'm like, holy shit, it took everything in me not to go down in that one. And Clayton Norris and Medicine Hat, Chuck Norris, they would call him, of course. Glenn Webster, who I ended up playing with in Lloyd. Lloyd, right? Yeah. Glenn was probably, yeah, Glenn was the only guy that didn't knock me out, but knocked me down.

And luckily, whether he let me get back up or I was just able to get back up, that was the closest to me being knocked out. But, you know, Kerry Topperowski hit like a truck. Chris Rowland, who was an absolute unknown in the league. And you could talk to a million guys that played in that league that year and throw that name out and they wouldn't know him. But he was one of those guys where going into the fight, I was kind of thinking, who the hell is this guy?

This is going to be a cakewalk. Well, he was one tough SOB, and it took a lot to hang in there with that guy too. Years later, I met a buddy of his that actually played in Lloyd with me, Cal McConnell. And we had this chat about him because he said, oh, you remember Chris Roland? I said, oh, yeah, I sure do. And he said, yeah, he was just a under the radar guy, not mean, not aggressive, but tough. But they're all tough. There is no easy fights.

Yeah. Well, you came from the time of like two lines of tough. tough guys. And then even your skilled players were tough guys. I was, I'm in the midst of the Stu Grimson book, the Grim Reaper. Oh, yeah, the Grim Reaper, yeah.

And I just read a quote of his, which would sum that up. And he said, you know, I'm playing junior in the time he's talking about playing in the NHL. And he says, back in those days, teams drafted for and traded for toughness. Yeah.

Absolutely. Absolutely. So. The one that's stick, the guy that I've just, Casey was born, my son was born two months ago, and I was supposed to interview George L'Rock.

Right. And which is, you know, neither here nor there. My son will hear about it all his life now, right? But I was supposed to sit down on him, so I was like, you know, going researching a little bit of his career. That was the first overall draft pick back in the day.

Big George. Right? And I'm not knocking George. that he was one of my, like, growing up watching the audience, he was fun to watch. Yeah. All right. He could, not many guys wanted to throw down with that man. No.

But crazy to think, you know, now, Kailor Yamamoto is a first round draft pick, right? That guy comes up to his ankles. Yeah. Right, how the game is, and I mean, maybe not the same, but the fact that he was once a first round draft pick, not a first round draft pick. Like, that's pretty, that's what it used. used to be. It's unbelievable. I remember when Kail McCar got drafted and the picture floating around Twitter of him on his draft day and Wendell Clark on his draft day. And Wendell was my guy.

Like that's who I really liked watching back in the day. You look at those pictures and you're like McCar looks like he's 14. 14. Clark looks like he's 24. And yeah. So, you know, it's all good that things are changing, but it's just, I like reminiscing about the old days. George LaRocque, I was not a huge fan of George LaRoc. But after reading his book, became a fan. And he didn't like fighting, didn't want to fight. Actually, even Stu Grimson, he calls himself the reluctant warrior. You know, he didn't want to fight either.

he just had to and was big enough and good enough to do it and allowed himself to have a career. But, yeah, there's some big men. And even though today's age there's bigger men, those big men don't have to fight. Yeah, well, it's almost frowned upon now. Yeah. I mean, what was it? We were talking about the week. Can you see Big Joe Thornton punch Marasda?

Yeah. And everyone's like in this outrage over and I'm like, he gave him like a quick jab. And he folded like a cheap 10. I was like, yeah, but big Joe throws pretty hard. I'm like, yeah, but it's like a quick little jab, right? I mean, it's not like they're in the middle of a fight and he just cold caught. I mean, like, what do the goal he expect? Like he walks into it and he just gives a little pop and down he goes.

It's interesting to watch the NHL these days. Like there's never been, I don't think anyone can ever argue that it's the fastest it's ever been the most skilled it's ever been. Absolutely. But it's different. The culture of the game is just way different. Well, you played defense. Correct.

So you were taught to what? Stand them up at the blue line. Do you see an open ice hit ever? No. I'm a small defenseman. I am five, seven, if I'm on a couple of phone books. Like, I'm a short defenseman, which back in the day was pretty rare. And I hated, you know,

then can stand it forth, the big for it comes and stands in front of my net. But what used to be able to happen was I was allowed to use my stick. And if a big guy was coming in, he was the funnest part of my job back in the day when I had to deal with the big guy was he'd come stand in front of the net, he had to earn it. And they knew they had to earn it. So they'd come stand in and the way we'd go at it and we'd do this little dance. Now you watch, now you've been now even playing it's senior. You can't do half the snow. Right? So you just kind of like stand there and hope you don't get hit by a puck now, right? Like. Yeah, you would have been, you know, a rarity on the back end back when you were playing.

But you look at how many... Little guys are making it now. Talk two guys on each team. It's crazy. Yeah. My brothers always used to say, oh, if you were four inches or six inches taller, you would have made the show.

And I always used to laugh about it. I'm like, nah, probably not. Yeah. But, like, the guys now, it's fun to watch the small guys come in because, I mean, like, they're unbelievably skilled, but they just don't have to put up... They don't have to be that rough and tough front of net anymore

because that part of the game just isn't really there. anymore. And they're not worried about hooking or even body contact or even body contact. But that's why they always point to Pat Maroon in the playoffs last year because then when the playoffs get back going, they kind of allow a little bit of that to go on. And then, you know, the softer players get a little bit exposed to the old way of the game, right? Because that's the only time right now where the old way the game kind of comes in as a playoffs. Plus, the rules kind of get loosened and they let them play hockey, which everybody gets mad about, but that's kind of playoff hockey, right? I think back to when Central Scouting,

NHL Central Scouting, would send their guys out to each team once a year. And I remember the day when they were coming in. It was, all it mattered was how tall can you measure and how heavy can you measure. Guys were putting pucks in their pants and, you know,

wearing an extra pair of socks. And like, that's all that mattered. Like, big, big. And luckily for me, you know I was naturally big and people took notice and that was way back in the day when they had what 10 or 12 rounds in the draft but a guy like me playing very little but playing the game that I did to be ranked in central scouting would be people today are like are you kidding me I can't even skate but back then teams drafted and

traded for toughness. It was just, if we couldn't outscore you, we were going to beat the hell of you. That's right. Yeah. Let's talk about coming back to Lloyd. I mean, you play for the Warriors for two years. Yeah.

Your second year is with Undermanc Babcock. I assume there was ability to go back to the Warriors next year. Yeah. Was that a choice or were you? why did you choose Lloyd or I guess curious on the story well you know we

chit-chatted a bit about Mike before correct yeah he's coming from college hockey to the Western League and didn't really know how to utilize the tools in the toolbox for that league

so I was wearing an A on my sweater excited for that that I was excited for you know a little bit bigger role but still wanting to be the gunslinger and and play that role too but Mike didn't we got beat up that year and he didn't know how to utilize toughness when you had to so as that year progressed my relationship with him digressed and year-end exit interviews. I told him, I said, I don't know if I'm going to play as a 20-year-old,

but if I do, it won't be here. And he traded me to Spokane. Oh, okay. Which right now could not have been any better for me. Brian Maxwell was coaching the Spokane Chiefs. They had just won the Memorial Cup. The year before.

And they had Kerry Topperowski, who's the most, well-known tough guy in the Western League. Like, the guy had over five or six hundred minutes. In a single season. Yeah, every year it seemed like. So a big tough guy, and Brian made him a player, got him drafted, he played pro hockey for, I don't know how many years.

So my type of coach. But, you know, mentally I was beat down from that year, and I came home for the summer. that summer the phone rang. I got a summer job at Fountain Tire. Okay. Rocky Kyle hired me. Nice.

So I got a summer job at Fountain. And the phone was ringing. Like Maxwell would call every other week. I had Doug Sauter, who was coaching the East Coast at that point was calling. John Brophy from the East Coast was calling. If my mind would have been in the United States. different state back then. I could have either went and played in Spokane and

finished out my junior career, or I could have went and played East Coast. I had a free agent trial with the Oilers, which I just mentally knew that I wouldn't be able to get myself in a position that I could go there. So you didn't go? I didn't go. You didn't go?

I just knew at that stage that what it took to get to where you needed to be. I just didn't have it in me then. So my 19-year-old season really... Sucked a lot of life out of you. And like I said earlier, coming back to play my 20-year-old season in Lloyd was probably the worst decision ever

for me and for that team because I didn't help that team at all. We had the ability to have a decent team, but, you know, I didn't come in as a 20-year-old... Looking to lead. Yeah. So that was unfortunate, but We were looking at it.

You brought in the picture of the 91, or 92, 93, Lloyd Minster, Junior A Blazers. I'm just laughing at some of the names here. Jeremy Plemondon and Tyler Scott, a couple of local boys, Wade Redden, that would have been one season he played that he actually talked about earlier on on this podcast, a few episodes ago. You can probably rattle off more of these names than I can, but there's Glenn Webster you talk about.

Mark Ashley, Chad Hartnell, Terry Lorenz. Yeah, we came out of the gates. Smoking hot, I think we won 12 or 13 in a row at home, but couldn't win anything on the road. And there were some real good hockey players on that team. And like Cody Botel, got a scholarship. Terry Lorenz had a, I think he went to, I want to say Princeton.

Really? Chad Hartnell had a scholarship. had a scholarship. So I've heard this story, and I was telling you before we came on that I was going to ask you this question. Wade Redden's playing on this team, you become his defense partner, correct?

Yeah, we played together. Was there at any point in time the message said to you, if anybody touches Wade, you had just beat the living snod out of him? Well, you probably don't know who our coach was back then, but we had Pat McGill as our coach.

And, you know, there's a few times. I remember Pat almost leaning over the boards screaming in either the refs year or another player's year. Like he was old school through and through. So I don't necessarily, well, nobody knew who Wade Redden was going to be back then. We did know he was a good young 15 year old playing junior that year with two 20-year-old ex-Western league tough guys on the team. So everybody felt pretty comfortable and confident that Wade was going to be well protected.

So I don't think Wade had too many scenarios where he was looking over his shoulder. And if something did happen, you know, I could name probably four or five guys on that team that would have stood up for Wade. But yeah, it probably made life pretty easy for him being paired up with me. Were you surprised at how quickly Wade? jump from junior to the weak kings to the NHL? Did that surprise you whatsoever? I wasn't surprised at the success he had, but I remember talking to Gord kind of late that year

and said, oh, you know what I think Wade should do next year, and I'm like, it doesn't really matter what Wade does next year. like he's so far ahead of the the curve here right now like you could tell he was on his way but for you know to go from 15 to 16 to drafted to put like it was an unbelievable career for wade and uh it was awesome like you know the pride you feel for knowing Wade and knowing what he's accomplished uh he's someone that i've just always really been proud of and hey, you couldn't write a better story for Wade than what he had happened, where he had played and who he played with and where he is right now.

Like, is there a better guy around? Probably not. So it was pretty neat to see that fast track progression for him. And the goofy thing is he started that year playing Junior B as a 15-year-old. Like, who doesn't recognize this guy should probably play with the junior team in town? At least they got it right. Yeah. I mean, we were talking too.

I mean, you look at, he's one of the, I don't know if it's few. I shouldn't say few. But of all the really talented guys that didn't play for the Blazers or now the Bobcats from the Lloyd area, he at least played for the Blazers, right? Right. Our 1,000 game plus NHL defensemen who, you know, has been on the Olympic team, world juniors, et cetera, et cetera. At least grace the Junior A program of Lloyd, right?

Like that's what the Junior A program should be doing, I would think, right? Is finding all the talented young up-and-comers of the area, which, I mean, there's a crap ton of them. Yeah. It's crazy. I always think it's crazy. I think a lot of us hockey guys think it's crazy that the bobcats in particular. And before that the Blazers. Aren't some powerhouse of the

AJHL. Wouldn't you agree? Yeah. Well, it might still happen, but there's been a few guys slipped through the cracks, but you know and I know, especially having been a coach,

it's not that easy that just every good local player is going to fit in. And it's just, yeah, it just doesn't happen. And just because you grew up in Lloyd and you were a blue chip player, you might be a shithead and I don't want you on my team. You might be a lazy worker and I don't want you on my team.

Like, it's not just that easy. Sometimes the best thing for a player too is getting away. Good point. Right? Yeah. And getting away from mom and dad and everything that's comfortable, getting out of your comfort zone. Big time. I wouldn't mind just bugging you briefly about your coaching career.

I know I always think it's impossible to get a guy's entire career on one of these podcasts, right? Because there's just so many different stories a guy can tell. But you coached a long time, Lloyd. He's talking about the Junior B program, then the Allen Cup. I mean, and then you stayed on and coached the Kings for at least. A few months. 2012 was the last year. What were, like, what was some of the years that stuck out to you?

Obviously, an Allen Cup sticks out to you, but you coach, like, a lot of my friends played for you when you're in Junior B. And you guys were the show in town, those years, right? Like, I can safely say back in the day that the argument used to be said, Kent, that you guys could take on the Junior A program and beat him. Now, don't know if that was possible, I can't remember it, but I can safely say as a teenager, I went to 20 times more. Bandit games and Blazor games at the time. Yeah. Was there something, any teams that stick out? And then maybe what was it so, what did you do as a coach that was like so, like, jelled those teams?

Like, pulled them together. What was your philosophy? You know what? Neil Noble was a guy that first got me into coaching. Okay. He was involved with the Midwest Red Wings. and they were looking for a coach one year called me out of the blue i had not coach before literally just out of playing like i might have been 22 maybe and said hey we're looking for a coach for the midget

team out in mate stone wondering if you're interested now i put no thought into it before that but agreed to meet with neal and it took the job so no idea of what the hell i was going to do, but was excited for the opportunity and took that on. Coach them for one year and... One question on that year. Yeah. Was Dwayne Perlet your goalie? Yeah.

I remember he talks about you. Now I'm thinking about it, he talks about you being the coach in Midwest, the year he... I remember, I think Dwayne actually played as an underage. I think he was 15. And, uh, Dwayne was. was like you could tell Dwayne had some ability back then but you know he wasn't someone that was going to go out and take it if it came he was maybe going to say okay we'll give that a try but he was young and not super confident with himself but you knew he was good or had the ability

to be good so seeing the career that he had after the fact was pretty cool and I still talk to Duane to today and it's pretty neat. Those are the best parts of the stories after you're done coaching who you know and who you still know. But there is a handful of guys from that Midwest team that later on I coached with the bandits. But anyways, after the Midwest one year coaching there, the junior team in town came to me and wanted me to be an assistant coach.

and Gord Tibido was coaching the team and I'm like, oh, wow, that's pretty generous. I'll think about it and took it. But, you know, Gord's another guy that you can kind of put into the Mike Babcock mold. Category, yeah. Either you like them or you don't. And he had a lot of similarities between the two. And so we didn't mesh really well.

And I didn't go back the next year, and that's a whole another conversation. But anyways, after that, I was mad. I was bitter. I was just like done. And the bandits were looking for a coach that year. And buddy of mine, Scott Hood, was playing with him, and his dad was involved. And so they put some pressure on me to coach. And finally I said, yeah, okay.

So that year was fun because we had a good team and, you know, I kind of got my feet wet. As the years progressed with the bandits, you know, I really took ownership of that team and you get your own people involved. You know, Davy Schneider and Joe Petrie and Scott Wilkinson, like, we had the people involved that we wanted to run this team. And we had success. so I guess I was there for eight years and likely would have coached there a lot longer but we had a falling out with a new manager that was just get time to shut her down

so once again I'm leaving the game being really bitter and just whatever type of thing well kind of been tough to walk away from I'm doing that for eight years. Was. And all the success you guys had? I said, I felt like ownership of this team.

Like, you just work so hard to get the right people involved and you feel like you're going in the right direction and you're, you like the program. You get the program in a certain position on and off the ice. And then, yeah, kind of felt like someone thought it was time for someone else's turn. and whatever, whatever it was, I said, it was. But sitting at home crying in my soup again, and Hood phones me and says, hey, we need a coach this year.

We think we got a pretty decent bunch of guys, but we need a coach. And I'm like, Hood, as if you need a coach, like, serious. No, you got to come meet with me and Merv and Dally and Brownie. I don't know even who he met with, but I said, I'll meet with you guys. So they, we met at Daly's house one night and he, they told me what they're looking for. They were looking for some structure and, you know, someone to just kind of take the lead. And I kind of hummed and hawed and I don't even know why I decided, yeah, I'll do it.

But what I do remember is leaving the rink after my first practice with the border kings and saying, wow, that was probably one of the best practices I've ran and been a part of in a long time. So that year, if you ask about special teams, that's obviously the one that sticks out in my head the most. Not just because of the success we had, but the people that we had involved, many of them are still friends now. I've been to weddings of the guys. I've coached with other guys. And now to be in the stands, whether you're watching an Adam game or a midget game or a junior B game

and you see some of your ex-player coaching, that to me is pretty cool. You know, I was talking with Hood before I met up with you, and he told me to tell you that you're one of the main reasons they won that year. In 07, he's talking. But he said, let him know that because he still won't believe me when I tell him. Well, they embraced having a coach. They let me do it the way I wanted to do it.

Yeah. And, you know, I had a ton of respect for a lot of those guys in there. They wouldn't know that because I've never told them that. But walking into a room with Mervman, Aaron Foster. Ray Nielsen. These guys have had a ton of individual success on their own. Plus, they're just unbelievable human beings. So for me to come into that dressing room,

it was intimidating. Some people would say, it's a senior team, as if it was intimidating. Well, it was. It really, really was. And guys like Merv, whether he wanted me to or not wanted me to, embraced having someone come in there, supported me,

you know, walk the walk was a leader. Aaron Foster, just out of pro camp a year before. You know, he was a guy that we'd be at practice and if we're discussing something on the whiteboard, he wouldn't call you out, but after practices or whatever, we would have conversations and he would pass along his thoughts. Yeah, which was awesome.

He, I just had a whole ton of respect for that guy for the way he treated me coming into that dressing room. And everybody just followed suit. So it was a real unique experience. And yeah, I'm obviously super proud to be able to be a part of. of that. It was just a real fun year with a bunch of junior B boys. And then to win it all is just a cherry on the top. Yeah. I remember a couple of guys asking about

Hood, for instance. Where do he play as pro hockey? Where did he play his hockey? Well, he played in Lloyd and then he played Junior B and then, yeah, but where did he play his pro hockey? Well, he didn't play pro hockey. He played Junior B and Lloyd and now he's a captain of the Border Kings. Like, people are just in shock yeah really so did you ever think of uh i mean you want an ellen cup uh you you know in your junior b stint you guys were the best team of that league do you ever think about pursuing a career in coaching never never did nothing that never crossed the radar

no um you know i there was times where i wanted to apply for a job just to see how that process went and to see if I could get it but I just I loved it when I was involved coaching I was passionate about it and that's all that mattered but once it was done you know it was just wasn't something I saw myself doing as a full-time job because back then even the junior coaches I'm like what do you do all day Like to me, I just couldn't wrap my head around this being a full-time job. When obviously it is at certain levels it is. But I was lucky enough to be working at Fountain Tire for Brent Wheeler.

He allowed me the opportunity to be away coaching as much as I needed to be, which was super fortunate, very appreciative of that. But yeah, once it was done, you know, just not what I wanted to do full-time. That's interesting. Do you miss it? No. Don't miss it. Once we hosted the Allen Cup in 2012,

there's a few things that transpired throughout the year that just, you know, friendships were being broken. And I said, I want to coach this team. I want to succeed. I want us to win. But I don't want it to hurt friendships. don't want it to hurt business.

I don't, like, yeah, there's too many things going on. So it, it was a real tricky year. So that was 2012. I haven't missed it for a second since then, which tells me I probably left at the right time. I've had lots of opportunities. Hey, why don't you come out? Yeah, yeah. And I'm like, I don't, what would I offer a team right now?

And I'm pretty sure I know the answer to it. But when I was coaching, I was lucky enough to have Norm Johnson, Lauren Mulligan, Babcock. I coached with Tibidot. Like, you get to grab a few little things from each guy. And I was hard on my guys, but can honestly say that all I cared about was winning. and having my team be able to experience that. So you don't win all the time,

but when you do, the guys we won with in 07, some of my best friends. And I was their coach. I wasn't their teammate. Well, we're to the point where I do the final five, which is brought to you by Crude Master Trans, Fort. Big shout out to Heath and Tracy McDowell. They're supporters of mine, and they've been really good to me. So they do the final five here. Five questions to you. Some of them can be as quicker as long as you want.

You can take as much time, and we can go down as many rabbit holes as we seem to in the final five. So first one is, if there's one guy that you didn't drop the Mitz with, but you would have liked to. and it could be past, present, anything you want. Is there a guy back in the day or now that you look and you go, man, it'd have been fun to square out with them once? Well, when I was playing, there's one guy that I didn't really want to fight, but I felt obligated to fight, but I was scared shitless to fight. That was Dan Kordick with the Medicine Hat Tigers.

So I was trying to talk myself into fighting them one night. we had a terrible first period. I go into the room after the period and I spent 20 minutes sitting in my stall trying to convince myself that there's only one thing that can turn this game around. That's me fighting Dan Kortick. So that was 20 minutes of torture,

get out on the ice, sure as shit. Who am I lining up with like two minutes into the second period? Dan Kortick. So I start yapping at him. him telling him that hey as soon as the puck drops we're going he looks at me he's a wily old veteran a drafted by the flyers i think he looks at me kind of like who the hell are you but he just looks at me and says hmm i'll tell you when we're going to go and i'm like son of a bitch i just wanted to fight right now just to get it over with so puck goes into his corner i come in i kind

of barely brush by him and kind of look over my shoulder to see if he's dropping his gloves and he didn't. So I bailed. That's the only time I ever bailed. I was really wanted to fight him. But I'm probably glad that I didn't. He was that tough. Yep.

You just, well, you know who his brother was, John Cortick. So you just YouTube a few of the Cordic brothers fights. But he just had that presence. He was like a six foot five. 23-pound drafted. Mammoth. Yeah, with a reputation. He just had that look to him too.

There's lots of other big guys in the league, but none that had that aura about him. Stanley the Baylor. Yeah, I pulled the shoot on that one for sure. If you could have a rum with one person, it doesn't have to be hockey, it can be anyone. If you could just pick somebody present or past or who would you want to sit down and have a conversation with? It's a good question.

I've done that with some pretty great people. But probably Bob Probert. Yeah, Bobby. And not the 80s Bob, but like if he was still around today, that today Bob. And he probably wouldn't be drinking a rum. me to be drinking a coffee, but is someone I would have liked to have met. So I might know the answer to my second part of the question.

I have to, it's the only one of the five that's a two-part question because I normally ask, who would you like to party with? But so many people want to sit and have one drink with somebody and then party. So could Bob Prooperate? The second part of the question is, if you could party with one person, who would it be? Would have been Bob in the 80s? Oh, my God. I don't think anyone could have hardly survived that.

He survived that. Very true. Hmm. I don't know. In today's game, you know, maybe a guy like Ryan Reeves down in Vegas. Down in Vegas? He'd be interesting, yeah. He'd be a good time. Yeah. He's a good storyteller, a performer. And, I mean, you're in Vegas.

Yeah. How bad could that be? How bad could that be? Right. If you could be a part of one sports are you, organization. Flick a switch and tomorrow you're there. What organization would you go to? It doesn't have to be hockey. Once again, can be, well, I was just watching the Patriots. Well, they lost tonight, which is sad to watch. But hey, it could be football, baseball, hockey. Once again, it doesn't matter. Just one organization. Well, it would definitely have to be hockey.

You know, I'm a sport fan, but I don't really pay a whole lot of attention seriously to a lot of the other. sports but even hockey right now like I'm a hockey fan I'm not a I'm an oilers fan because of the location but back in the day I was a diehard

leafs fan when Wendell Clark played so if I had to answer that question I would want to be involved with the Toronto Maple Leafs back then with Wendell and Gilmore yep and Felix Potvin If you could have a D partner, one D partner, who would you pick?

Depends who were a plan. If it was a rival, I'd probably want Marty McSorley. If it's point night, who do you want? Well, if it's point night, I'm not going to be on the ice, so. Gosh. Well, maybe in January, I can play with Wade. True, true. But I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter who you asked that question to,

I wouldn't be the partner to their pairing. So I think I'll stick with Marty McSorley. You know what we're doing for that game? No. People, I've been slowly talking about it on the podcast, but Hillman's having, for people who don't know, Hillman's having Hockey Day in Saskatchewan, so they're getting the North Battle for North Stars Junior A team playing

Notre Dame Hounds on the Saturday night. But on Thursday night to kick it off, we're having a Wade Redden and Friends game, which both of us hopefully are playing in. And what the plan is, is to have a draft so that you have, because we got Border Kings from 01 who won, we got Border Kings from 07, we got guys from the Hillman team that won in 2015. Now, that's not an Allen Cup championship by any means, but for Hillman it was a pretty big deal, 37 years.

And we're planning on having a draft. So we'll see where Kent Staniforth goes in that. I already feel like Phil Kessel. Except you don't get a card for your last. The final one for you, if you could go back to your 20-year-old self. So you just got traded to Spokane from Moose Jaw. If you could go back to your 20-year-old self and impart one piece of wisdom, what would you tell yourself?

Oh, without a doubt. I spent a lot of time regretting, not finishing off my 20-year-old season in the Western League. I think that would have been the smartest decision, especially having an opportunity with a team coach by a guy like Brian Maxwell. And if I would have done that, hard to say what would have happened after that.

obviously I wasn't going to be a long-term professional hockey player, but going to a pro camp, getting into a game, having a fight. There's a few little things that I used to spend time thinking about. I've turned the page and it is what it is. But yeah, I probably should have went and finished my 20-year-old season in the Western League and then rolled the dice from there. Cool. Well, thanks for coming in. That is her. So I appreciate you stopping in. You're becoming one of them, many, to grace the room. For Carly, we got the nice new table, so we've been slowly rubbing the entire podcast long.

But really appreciate you coming in, sitting down here with me. It's really cool to hear some of the, just the stories from before my time. I think guys around my age, and it'll happen to guys younger now too, but guys around my age look at the generations that came before us, and we hear all these stories of you, but they're just like regurgitated, so you get the third-hand person trying to tell you about Kent Statenforth, but he was never there and never saw it. So it's cool to get us to sit across from here and hear some of your thoughts and kind of a little bit about your story, and, you know, like,

that's why I enjoy this so much, is just sitting here and getting a, share a rum with a guy talking about some of the old, old school stuff and some thoughts on the new age day and everything else. Yeah, it's funny how you can have your thoughts of the past and think of them so fondly. And, you know, you've asked me a few times that come on. I'm like, oh, like, nobody cares about this, that, or the other thing. So thank you for having me. I love the fact that you have so many local, past, and present people on here to tell their story and so many different types of stories. So keep doing what you're doing.

It's fantastic. And I know just talking to people, you have a huge following. So I'm not sure why you wanted to fill up a spot with this old bust. I tell you why I had you on. I told you. So for the people who don't know the story, I asked Kent probably, when I interviewed Skip,

so that's like six months ago. And Kent goes, no, you can have me on when you run out of names. And I'm like, run out of names. I am not running out of names anytime soon. So I kind of let it slide.

I'm like, okay, we'll leave Kent alone for a little bit. Right? And then, you know, a couple months go by, I text,

and he goes, ah, you know, you got so many good guests. coming on you don't need like he says this old guy coming on who wants to listen and in that time I have been bombarded not called bombarded with probably 10 different people saying when are you getting standing up to the point where I'm texting standing now once a week going hey are you coming on are you coming on this

week no I got never sweats how about this time no I'm at a wedding how about this time no I'm gone damn so finally I just drive over to his over to fountain tired and say listen man i don't care when we're doing it but we're doing it and now you're here so people are excited for this one i know they are because i've been getting text about it and so people want to hear about you so i'm glad you got you know i'm glad i finally didn't give you the option anymore you're coming on well i feel like if there was some requests like that i probably didn't tell the stories they wanted to hear well actually that's the funny thing i I text it.

So normally what I do is I text about, I don't know, it depends on the guy, right? It also helps that you coached a lot of guys that I know in town. So I text a lot of guys. And all of them came back with the same thing. I'd love to tell you some stories. They're all rated and they probably won't go on air. I'm like, all right. That's loyalty.

I appreciate that. Well, you asked about coaching and, you know, the state of some of these coaches right now. Rocky Kyle, who gave me my start at Fountain Tire and gave me the career that I have there now, was the coach, assistant coach of the Blazers when I came back to the 20-year-old. So I sent him a text the other day about what was happening, and he said, geez, I sure hope I didn't hurt your feelings 25 years ago when I was coaching you. So I said, you haven't seen the subpoena in the mail yet, eh? No.

but you know some people have asked me that same question like holy shit man like all this stuff that's going on like do you feel nervous i'm like i don't feel nervous i know i was over the top i know i was uh off side a few times but i can honestly say that everything that i did or was doing was for the team and trying to get the team to feel some success. And yeah, like you don't have to worry about what you've done when you feel like you're doing it all for the right reasons. And even though there's a couple stories at some, well, I play with the Never Sweets and there's a handful of guys on that team

that I coach their sons in Junior B. And there is a few crazy times with the junior B team that we went through. And we sit and chuckle about it. They give me a hard time about it. And it's just, you think about that being done today. God, guys would be in jail. Yeah. But it's too bad.

I do know the state of the world that that's what it is, but I hate the negativity everywhere. I always go back to what Skip said on his episode. And it stuck with me. ever since old skipper, part of me some wisdom. He said, hockey mirrors society.

Right. And anytime I think about where we're at, you just take a little of what's going on in the world. Simple as that. You can't have a game full of, you know, line brawls and pumping up fighting and everything else when that isn't the way society is anymore.

We're so far from that now that it's just hockey for a while there took a long time to catch up. and now it is steaming on ahead. And it's tough to watch at times because you came from an era of the hockey where there's so much nostalgia of how the game was played and the camaraderie and everything else. I always find it fascinating when you talk to old fighters, heck even young fighters, and how much you guys can just sit around and have a beer after and talk about it.

And there's no like real, it's not because I hated it. It was just part of the game. It was a role you're playing. Yeah. And yeah, I was, I like Skipper's commentary on the state of the world. It's always those goddamn lawyers and politicians. Isn't that the truth? But we could have another two hours discussing some of Skipper's beliefs.

And I told my wife Lori the other day that might be in trouble. She said, why? I'm really starting to think a lot like Skipper's. these days. And Skip was, you know, we spent a lot of time together at work. Skip has shown me a million amazing experiences in the hockey world just by being his friend. Yeah. And I could sit here for two hours telling you some of the stories he's told and some

that I've been involved with. I was really excited when you had him on here. That was fun to listen to. Well, that was fun to do. Yeah, I bet. To go sit in his basement and, man, like, words can't even explain, like, sitting in that basement and just every crook and cranny has another piece that is just like, how is this hiding over here? This would, and most people's basement would be the focal point. Yeah.

But anyways, we could sit and do this all night. Really appreciate you coming in. Thanks again. Yeah, been a real pleasure. Thanks a lot, Sean. Hey guys, thanks for tuning in to the Sean Newman podcast. Had a blast with Kent. I've been trying to get Kent, you know, off and on now for what felt like half the year.

He kept dodging me, trying to tell me nobody wanted to hear him, but you guys were telling me different. So really appreciate him coming on. It was a lot of fun hearing some of his stories. And just, you know, another cool story that, Lloyd Minster's had to offer. Now, what I need from you guys is, we are closing in on two weeks away from,

actually, we are two weeks away from Christmas. And what I want to know is, do you guys want an episode of the Christmas week? And, you know, my goal all year was to release an episode a week, every week, for 2019. And I'm happy to say I'm, you know, two weeks away from, accomplishing that but the second week the last week of the year is christmas day um and if nobody's

wants one that week i don't want to just force it through just to have um you know one on the 25th because that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me so curious what you guys would think if you want to reach out on social media twitter instagram facebook or hit me up sean newman podcast gmail dot com if you got my number shoot me a text whatever you want i'm just i'm curious if you're If any of you guys are going to be wanting some content the week of Christmas, you know, everybody's on holidays and got family around that kind of thing. And if you are, definitely no problem. I'll put one out.

But if not, I'll hold off a week and come back in the new year fresh and ready to roll. All right. Have a great week, guys.