Shaun Newman Podcast - Ep. 62 - Aaron Foster- Prince George Cougars, ECHL & 2007 Allan Cup Champ

Episode Date: March 18, 2020

Born & raised in North Battleford he now calls Lloydminster home. He played 4 years for the Prince George Cougars, spent 3 1/2 seasons in the East Coast & finally came back to Lloydminster where he would help the Border Kings capture the 2007 Allan Cup. Although a Calgary Flames fan had an absolute blast with Aaron. I should point out his draft year he was ranked in the top 125 by central scouting and his story about how he was not entered into the NHL entry draft will stop you in your tracks. Enjoy.

This is Aaron Foster and welcome to the Sean Newman podcast. Well, folks, it's interesting times right now. Since we did our last episode when I was on with Jody Lehman, we talked a little bit about it. And since then, so many things have just changed. It's been a drastic change. You know, with the NHL and, well, NBA is shutting down and then all other major sports following it

and then minor hockey all the way down, you know, all the way to senior hockey, you name it. And then, you know, Sunday night when me and Aaron got together, they just announced they were going to shut down schools in Alberta, and we've seen what's, you know, come now through everything. And, you know, I've waited as long. It is now Tuesday night, and Alberta's declared a state of emergency. And, you know, on limiting gatherings to 50, 50 people, closing the casinos, bars, you know, any place where people pretty much gather, churches,

you name it. And, you know, my mother of all people forwarded this on to me, me being a history guy, I found it interesting. It's from the corporation of the city of Colonna of Public Notice. It said, notice is hereby given that in order to, prevent the spread of Spanish influenza, all schools, public and private churches, theaters, movie picture halls, pool rooms, and other places of amusement and lodge meetings are to be closed until further notice. All public gatherings containing of 10 or more are prohibited, and that was in Colonna, BC 19 October 1918. So it's, you know, we're not on unheard times

For our generation, our group, we've never seen anything quite like this, but we will get through it. I'm 110% positive of that. And, you know, if you're looking for information, I highly, highly suggest 630 Ched covers the live updates from the health minister. They're at usually 3.30 every day, and you can hear rape from the horse as much. mouth what's going on and what new updates are coming or if you're looking for a website alberta.ca backslash covid-19 it's that's a pretty good website as well they have uh anything you're looking for any questions you have that kind of thing a self-assessment tool if you're curious if you have it that kind of stuff um yeah you know it's it's it is at times uh it's it's

I know everybody in town here is concerned, I would say, eerie, surreal, you name, you know, there's a lot of different words to describe what's going on. But we live in an awesome community and I think we're going to pull through it. It's just, you know, at times like this, if you can, social distancing has become a common term now. if you can help not spread this thing, it sounds like that is the best thing we can all do as a group, and I would highly suggest you do that. In the meantime, I'm going to make sure that I'm giving you some content every week. I don't want anybody to have to worry that I'm not going to have a new episode coming out.

I'm certainly tracking down guys. I've got a list of guys willing to come on here, as long as I wipe down the studio with wipes and have hand sanitizer present and all that good stuff. But don't worry about me and the podcast. We're going to make sure that we got new stuff coming to you each and every week. This week on the podcast is Aaron Foster, and here is your factory sports tail of the tape. He is a local boy. He grew up in North Battleford.

kind of bounced around. You'll hear a bit about that. He played for the Prince George Cougars for four years from 1999 till 2003. He has an interesting story about the NHL entry draft, which is going to blow some people away. And then he spent four years, three and a half years in the ECHL playing anywhere from Atlantic City, Dayton, Stockton, Cincinnati. He's got some pretty cool stories. I certainly enjoyed sitting down with him. We had a lot of laughs. He's a Calgary Flames fan.

He's a Calgary Flames fan. Try not to hold that against him. But without further ado, Welcome to Sean Newfucket. This is why you asked if we wing it or if we sit here and talk for it. So we used to sit here and talk for like 10 minutes, get everybody feeling comfortable. Then you start talking about stuff like that.

I'm like, I kind of want to hear about that, right? So you just said you've lost 50 pounds. Let's go over this. What are you doing? I don't know if I really want to talk about it on air and everybody know talk about it. Why? Oh, I don't know. You don't want to talk about it?

It's okay. Yeah, we're good. No, I did the 2030, actually, the 2030. Let's put it this way. You're looking sharp. Oh, it's amazing. It works great. Feel great.

So what the hell is the 23rd? It's just, well, Davies and Dunham in town doing wellness. Davy's in the eating program. It's really like, it's a change your habits, the way you look at food, the way you eat. And it's a very strict 30 days of, certain things you can eat and and then you slowly introduce after 30 days you slowly introduce different things into your body and see how your body reacts like kind of like a hormone rebalance your body rebalance and everything like that so yeah it works and i get it feel great my wife did it too

and she feels great and so for 30 days how much did you lose in the first 30 days i was down 38 it's like 38 pounds for 30 days oh yeah what were you at your heaviest i'm not talking about that Really? Okay. No. Pretty, yeah. Okay. Yeah. We'll talk about that off here.

Come on. You've got to make a guy feel good. I'm lucky. I'm lucky. I'm six, like I'm six foot four, so I... Who cares if you weighed 400 pounds? That was 270.

Yeah. It was 271 or was it? So, yeah. That's working awesome. Crazy. So, yeah, I'm back to, like, said, my plane weight. So when you talk about, like, eating, what were you eating? What was you eating that, or what was it?

No, it was just, it was just a combination? of you just you don't you don't you don't obviously when you stop playing hockey you don't you know you've been through it you uh you're trying to tell you you're on the you're on the ice every day you're skating you're working and you know and then you you get okay you're traveling with work you're doing this you're running you're busy you're taking kids here there you don't go to the gym you you just grab stuff you eat and it's not like i eat unhealthy it just no you're used to burning thousands of calories a day i mean you say is only a couple of years yeah and that was in you're younger and 13 years go by pretty quick

and, geez, yeah. So, yeah, no, it's feel great, and it's been good. I'm pretty much a goal weight now and where I wanted to be, so now it's almost like an addiction. Well, I can get down, you know, a little bit. You still feeling good, though? Oh, yeah, yeah, feel good. Energy levels all that is up.

Energy levels are great, yeah, really good. I've had kind of a cold last couple weeks, but, yeah, I feel great. No, we won't go there. Yeah, we won't go there. Coronavirus. We won't go into that talk. I was wondering when we first met if maybe we should do the elbow handshake or... Well, hugs are good.

Like, I enjoyed the hug. Like, that's all good. So, you know, there's nothing wrong with a good hug, great. Good bro hugs. Yeah, no, that's awesome. Well, hey, you're worried about talking about it on here. I think you look good. And, I mean, that's pretty cool for a local company.

Yeah, it's a good program. Like, I think I'm day 66 or something like that, and I'm 50, 50 pounds. So just a little bit of coaching. Are you on what you eat? Are you working out at the gym and stuff? No, no, I haven't done any physical activity other than playing that game that night, which I said killed me energy-wise, right? What he's talking about, folks?

We did that Wade Redden and Friends game back. What was that January? January something, yeah, it was my first week. Pretty much had to pull his teeth to get him to come play. It's not like I didn't want to, but I knew I was doing this, and I didn't know if I can. And plus, I was out of shape, right? Yeah. I skate twice a week with the boys practice.

Tell me how many guys that night weren't out of shape. I know, I know. I know that. I'm not going to have a good thing, a small ice up in Hillmont, right? But I said to my wife, I'm like, holy man, it's bad. Like, you get out there and, you know, you get the juiceful, oh, this feels great. You're out. You know, snap in the puck around. And then you're like, go a little hard.

You know, get first shift is, you know, ease into it next one. You're like, oh, this is good. Feel good. As soon as you stop once to go to turn, you're like, okay, come on, girls. Where's, snap, slapping your legs trying to get over. Where's they go? Where'd they go? Just hold rubber legs, trying to get back to the bench.

Yeah, change, quick change. Let's go. So, no, it was good. I'm glad I came. I'm glad I was bugging hood or I saw him up in Cold Lake. I was like, I'm sure glad you broke your foot. I got to go. So, that was good.

The first thing I wrote down on my page was you're a Calgary Flames fan. Yeah, I was waiting for you to say that when you. How bloody disappointed are you, or maybe thankful that we don't get to play the first round and you guys lose and have to hear about it? It's like the world intervened. Oh, geez. No, I'm not. It was lining up.

You know, it was lining up good. That's the most disappointing thing. And like, I'm a, I say I'm a flames fan. I grew up. My dad is a flames fan. My grandpa, like, so my dad trained me to be a flames fan. I grew up in North Battle of him and this flames fan. And I, I, I'm a, I'm a hockey fan.

Yeah, yeah. So, like, I'm not like, you know, you guys are die hard. Oilers fans are diehard, whatever fans. But I, I watch hockey. I enjoy hockey. So I cheer for the flames. Like, I always cheer for the flames. But I'm not going to sit there in hoot and hoot and holler and beak.

I go to more, Oilers games and I do Flames games where I live and I watch Oilers games and you know if the Oilers are playing like I'll cheer for the Oilers they got a great team and I'm a hockey fan so but yeah there's only one fan I love chirping and it's Flames fan yeah my college

roommate was a Flames fan and he still text me when they beat us and I'm just like lived with my team captain over a college team for three years was a Flames guy right so just any time you're always in good company then I'm wondering how you got away with being a flames fan of North Battleford I honestly don't know.

I just was always, we always grew up, Flames fans. But it's weird, the weird thing is, is my dad and I and Brody are Flames fans. Brody's kind of Capps fan or whatever now. But then like Dion and Brody, or Dion and Tyler are both Canucks fans, which is totally just weird. But they were there that they were kind of younger when you get Sidene. And I, when I was away playing hockey in BC, you know, I watched Nazlin Bertuzzi. The Sidene's, like I watched a pile of. Canucks games, and they were good.

So that was kind of in that area, right, when they were really good. So, yeah. Canucks hold a special place in my heart, too, of chirping them, too, because there's enough of those floating around here, too, and they were really good for a lot of years. They were. Actually, you know what? They are fun to watch right now. Yeah, they are.

Work real hard, young. Yeah, they're going to be good. So, yeah, this Western Conference, if we ever get hockey back, is going to be really good. Well, let's talk about that for two seconds. How strange of a last, what are we on? We're on Sunday night. So what has it been? Like three, four days?

Yeah. It's, it's, it's eerie. Like I said to, actually, my boss on Twitter made a comment, because he's a hockey guy, lives in Manitoba. And I, they're one of my bosses. And I said, he said, how weird does this feel right now? Like hockey done. And I said, I feel like I'm just waiting to get slapped in the face

and woke up, waking up from a dream. Like, I feel like I'm in a dream. Like, it's, it's surreal. I say it's just very surreal. I don't know. Don't even know what to say. It's shocking. I guess you kind of, when you think of it like that, what's going on,

and in the world, right, you're like, holy, like all this stuff you read about with the history when you're a kid and, you know, all epidemics and stuff back in the day. And it's weird that we're in that point right now. It's very surreal. But Wednesday night, I was away for work, and Wednesday I got the hotel and heard all the sports net, you know, you turned that on.

And then the whole NBA thing, and I'm like, oh, my heart dropped. I didn't sleep Wednesday night. I was obviously with our pee-by boys and good. a big weekend coming ahead. And it was, it's just like, oh, this is the, here's, it's going to start crumbling down now. It was bad.

And all day I was in a conference Thursday, I was like, no, it just can't happen. Then lunchtime, NHL. And I'm, yeah, all the way home, Thursday night, it was, uh, phone off the hook and involved in minor hockey. So trying to,

the phone calls and trying to make decisions there, what's happened waiting on hockey Canada. And, yeah, she was a crazy day Thursday. So, it's crazy. I don't know what I, I am no dissoning.

he is expert by any stretch of the imagination. But for hockey to be shut down from the very top to the very, very bottom where like wreck hockey tournaments are getting shut down, let alone senior playoffs, senior provincials where, I mean, some of those rinks are sure getting a thousand people, but the rest of them not. Yeah, that's, I mean. That was my saving hope. I was saying, oh, you know, we don't get more than 250.

You know, parents stop in a game. You're like, oh, it's going to carry on. Yeah. And you're just being trying to realistic. So in other words, like, I guess it just must be, man, the people up top must know something that with the rest of us don't. It must be, it's, like you say, it's eerie because we're sitting in the, we, over the weekend, we bought, uh, thought, well, you know, we got three kids under four. So they have no clue what the hell is going on, right? Other than we're not really doing a whole lot and they want to go see friends and we're like, yeah.

We're just going to stay at home for the night, right? So we bought them Frozen 2 because they've never seen Frozen 2. And I just to say this is day 3 of Frozen 2 and I've watched I think four times now. By the end of this quarantine whatever stage we're going through, I'm going to want to burn Frozen 2. It is the hot ticket right now. Yeah, my wife got that for the girls. Or last Friday coming home.

And a couple Fridays ago it was that first week to come out. like, oh, I caught the end of it. I'm good. My kids are pretty good like that. They won't watch it there, kind of over that age. But it's good, I heard. That's a good movie. You'd probably be able to recite it word for word here, you know.

It's got one catchy tune in there. One song is fantastic. I find myself tapping it. It's got a whole bunch of other ones that are useless, bud. Yeah. Speaking of the pee-wee boys, were you there then? Or have you like, you guys were a really good team on the verge of the, League finals?

Yeah, so we won our, that's PVEWA. We want our, we won our provincial, or sorry, our league tournaments. So they just do, we don't do a playoff. That's the playoff. You get seated from your regular season. And yeah, we won our tournament last weekend in Camrose. So there's the two divisions in the Northern Alberta Hockey League. They split white division, black division, kind of north-south.

And then you win the two winners, play down in a best of three. The winner goes to provincials as the Northern Alberta rep. Right. And with the four other teams, there's five teams in provincials. So, yeah, we, Grand Prairie was coming. We were Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Best of 3 in Lloyd. We finished higher in the standing, so we hosted. And, yeah, it's, it's tough.

It was a tough day when you see, and I really struggled, and it's tough when you put in the time. And, you know, obviously with other coaches that put in the time, too. And, you know, between Corey and Dustin and Shane and myself, and, you know, since September 10th, that's what we've been doing, you know, three, four times a week. And we set our goals. goals in September is we wanted to make provincials and have a good shot of win

provincials. We got a great, we had a great group of kids, a great group of parents, which doesn't always come on. It doesn't always happen. And we just, this, our, our 07 age group is really good, really strong. Like, they have a good, good core there. And so very fortunate to be in that, you know, with my sons involved in that. And so, yeah, it was tough. Like, and the worst part was, is I was traveling Thursday, didn't make it to practice. And Corey, Cori Dubick was I texted when I knew what this happened I was like calling me as soon as you get off the ice and I was just like in my truck

I had tears in my eyes like it's I couldn't imagine those kids and kids coming out of the dressing room and tears and because a lot of these kids they may never ever get that opportunity to do that again like they're 12 11 12 years old but to win one tournament and then you know in a best of three to get to provincials like it's not easy to get to provincials and

all it brings in my mind is the old guys always and now I find it senior, I say it too, is, you know, you never know when you're going to get your shot to win, right? Winning is not something that comes around every single year. There's very few groups that get that opportunity year after year after year. And something like this just cements it even more, right? Like you could be the greatest team in history.

And, well, think of any team in the NHL right now, the Boston Bruins, right? Everybody was picking them or Tampa Bay again, right? Tampa Bay has gone through this stretch where they've been a really good team, haven't been able to win. and now it's just pulled out. I always think of the Oilers, we get a chance to go to the playoffs, let alone in the Stanley Cup finals.

And it's just like, there it goes, right? And you just cement, right? Like, you just never know what the next day is going to bring. And you've got to take every day, especially when it comes to a sport or life. Yeah, it's really much matter, right? Yeah, yeah. It's pretty crazy.

You never know. And this was something I never thought of. You never even a week ago didn't even phase your mind. Like even Sunday night, at home you're not this is not going to happen like and then wednesday like you said real world wednesday you're like wow so like but you know you move on i always say things happen for a reason i'm a big things happen for a reason guy and you you know test it and you move on and and uh you know you power through it right persevere through it and hopefully uh you know hopefully everybody will be

get you know better learn something from it and be better but i don't know it's tough it's a tough one. Harder to explain to 12-year-old kids. The worst part was, well, I have to go to school with 600 kids, but I can't play a hockey game with 200 kids. That was a tough one. And what do we know of today? Now as of today, that's shut down. That's shut down. So within Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, within five days, all hockey, any sport, event. Now school, church services. Yeah, well, it's the city just shut down all the facilities now. All the facilities are shut down for public use.

Saw that on Twitter here just before it came. So, yeah. Crazy. It's, yeah. I don't know. Well, you cemented. I'm going to have a pink whitening now. You get depressed talking about it, eh?

You know, for the listeners, Foster's on a health kick, so I'm going to put a glass in front of him. He probably won't drink it, but I'll have a sip of it. I'm not, I, I, I'll have a few drinks. Too much sugar in Pink Whitney, though. It's so good, though. So good. When the world throws you lemons, you make lemonade.

Exactly. Well, you know, now that we've talked about all the serious parts of life, let's go back. When did, I was curious. You know, when I was walking into this, I was thinking, I was a short guy, never a girl. You are a mammoth. What point did you grow and start bowling kids over?

Like, was it late or was it early? No, I was always a big. kid. I was always, always tall. I was always when I, I don't know, like I, I remember Pee being a big, big boy and even in Adam when I played was, I was always tall, I was always one of the bigger kids. And I was always a little chubbier. So I was always a big, like big kid all around, right? Tall and heavy. And so as far as I can remember, it's always big. I, I guess I don't remember. That's a long time ago now, but, uh, always a big kid. So kind of grew out and as I got older than slimmed out and stuff.

But yeah, always a big game. Did you play all your minor hockey in North Battlefield then? Until after first year, Bantam played in North Balthalford and then moved to, we moved to St. Paul for two years. So it would have been after first year Bantam and then went, I went away, moved away. After one year hockey there, I played and then went away. So at 15, you move away from home. Yeah, I played, I played, well, I grew up PVAA and Lloyd, or sorry, Lloyd.

in Battleford, played one year Bantam AA in Battleford, then Mom and Dad moved to St. Paul, so then I ended up going there. I stayed home, played Banam A, my second year Bantam, which is probably the best thing for me. Stayed kind of lower level and had a

kind of really unreal year. It was really made a name for myself. When the next year, played Midgett AAA. I moved to Fort Sass. I made Midgett AAA there. So Billeted in, I was 15, billeted in Fort Sask. I got, I ask all the guys when they're that young and they move away from home because most kids don't move away from home until they're, what, 18? And then there's, and then there's some exceptions, you know, a little bit before that.

But 15, by and large, is pretty young to move away from home. There has been a couple of guys come on here and been 13. So, I mean, it's not the youngest. But at 15, what was it like moving away from home? Do you remember? I remember the first day you're like scared shitless. You know, I remember the first night, I still remember first night I sleep in my bill.

It's a basement, you know, in the room. And like, you're kind of like, this is really weird. Like, you just, you don't know what to expect is kind of all new. It's kind of, you don't talk about it. You don't talk, you know, you talk about it with your parents. You want to do this. And yeah, you can go? And you're just like, this is weird.

And then who's picking me out in the morning to go to school? And it was different. But it makes you grow up in hurry, as you know, it, you grow up, you mature really fast. And, you know, you're on your own. I was always a very independent kid. Like after that, I was very independent. I don't need, I'll do it on my own. Like, that's kind of my personality, right?

And, and yeah, it's, you grow up fast and I wouldn't change it. Wouldn't change in the world. Like, it's, it made me who I am today. And, yeah, it was great. Do you ever wish you could have done the same experience but been the youngest of five, meaning had other siblings go through it first so they could walk it through it? Yeah, like it was new. Like my, I looked like, I think my dad was my age or I am right now when I went to junior.

Like it was, so it's, it's real, it's surreal in that part of it. But to have, yeah, to have that experience, like, it was new to our family. Like, I was the oldest and you're just doing as you can't, like, you don't know, right? And so much different than today. Yeah, oh, today is. You know, when I didn't move away from, I had a cup of coffee in LaRange at 17. And for the guests, he finally took a sip of his pink, me and he has a big smile on his face now it's good it's good good stuff when i moved away at 18 uh to go

play in ontario there was no um there was no there was no well i didn't have a cell phone right for one i think i had a calling card like they're just good old calling cards there was uh msn messenger that's what there was there ever I guess I'm like a few years older than you. So that would have been when I was in junior. I miss my messenger was big. Yeah. But yeah,

that was the thing back in the day. Kids don't even know what the hell that was. No, and it's like, what's that? How long am I kidding? I remember rushing home to your computer at night and like, who's online?

Who's online? Yeah, yeah, yeah. What emojis can I use? Remember emojis? That was the first thing of emojis come out. Yeah. I don't know what they weren't called back then, though.

I don't know what they were called, but yeah, I sure date ourselves when you talk about stuff like that. It was the only way to stay, connected though right now that was the first that was the first real thing that you were ever connected to anybody with right so yeah now it's like it's it's crazy technology now and connectivity and from a coaching standpoint do you have like a rule in the dressing room no cell phones because i assume kids that that age group have cell phones yeah well it's a hockey canada actually

mandate there's no cell phones allowed in dressing rooms so like just because with the pictures and oh yeah right so that's a big big thing now so that's a big thing now so So you cannot take a picture. That makes it easy on you. Yeah. So it's still, and you try and enforce, there's still kids,

they'll pull their phone on. We just say, don't even, like, just don't even bring it in, right, and stuff. So we actually last weekend,

took them away one day. It was pretty funny. Corey took them away. We're in cameras and took them away for the one afternoon because we played one game Thursday, one Friday, one Saturday,

and took them away, and the boys come up, can I have my phone back now? I need to call my mom. Like, just go talk to your mom. She's up in her room. And it's just kind of funny.

that's how kids are dependent on them. It's kind of fucked up. It is in a way. And as a parent, it's, like, my son just got, we got him in the fall and he's 12 and got him a cell phone. He was probably one of the last, there's still a couple of kids on our team that didn't have them, but last year's a first year kid and he didn't. What was the deciding factor for you to get him on?

It was just time we thought he'd kind of proved us that he could have one. And then it was kind of one of those things where he's, you know, coming home from school and he's on his own, going to the gym and do it. different things that it's just easy nice for the parents to have a way to well you can get oh i need a ride here and you start you start they start doing more on their own they're doing different things and and stuff so it was kind of like how should we we debated it for months yeah and then you use the excuse like oh no you don't you haven't proved to us you got it right so you know when they're act like a little jerk right and then you say yeah no we were going to get you on but now not so

forget uh there's uh there's a family and i think one of them's playing in the n-h-h-chall right now and the name is escaping me and they didn't give their kids access to cell phones or Facebook or anything like that until they were like 17 just had I'd read the article and I'm forgetting the bloody names right now but um they just had a bad experience so then they just pulled it all and I was always like man that's got to be tough on a kid too right like not having that not that yeah I I don't think if if they don't have it they don't know they only know what they see through their friends I think too like their mine had an iPod so you can still i message and you could do all that, right?

Yeah. So you just couldn't. If you were out somewhere, you just couldn't get a hold of them right unless you connect to Wi-Fi. Do you miss the days of no cell phone? In a way, yes. Like I don't know how I say this. How did we survive?

How did our parents survive? I remember growing up in battle for it and we, me and my younger brother would go biking for hours. I mean, you would just go biking for hours. And like, you would just, oh, it's getting dark. We got to go home. And you wouldn't get in trouble. Or we'd play at the park behind the house and dad would whistle.

Oh, we know we got to come home for supper. Like that was our, like, you know, it was kind of our thing. And, yeah, I don't know. We just hours bike ride and, like, riding, going, gone. Now it's like, I think it's ruined them and the fact that they don't, the kids will go outside to go do something. But then they feel like they got to come tell you or they got to do this or they got to tell you where they're going.

It's like, just go have some fun. Like, as long as you're being respectful and not getting into trouble, like, you know, go be a kid, right? That's right. But it's, but the world's different to where we all know it's different. It's not like it was when we were kids. It's, there's a lot of, it's not just the phones. It's people and things have changed, right?

Perceptions and all that stuff. It's a different world we live in. And it all evolves with it. And it continues to evolve. Yeah, exactly. And it's going to be different when you think 15 years from now, it's going to be totally different. Like you look, the last 15 years, how it's evolved.

It's like self, I got a cell phone. Yeah, it would have been 18 years ago, probably. My third year junior, I think I got one. Really? Yeah, second year junior would have been. and yeah and and I remember sitting on the bus traveling and sending uh I remember getting my first text message and wondering what the hell is this but I remember when I get the old time port and you could log into your email you could log into email through data on the bus

sending an email like it was like oh this is so cool but never forget the first time a friend of mine we got he sent me a text message like you know you're out and get two in the morning and you get this message and he's like I just didn't know I was drunk I thought to send this what it was and didn't know what this text message thing was in the 2000 and probably 2002, 2001, 2002. And like, what is text message? What is this? But, and now it's evolved through every, like, yeah, all these other social platforms and it's crazy. I hate to think how many text messages I send in a day now.

Yeah. I know it's tough. I try to, as I said to you, like, I hate text messages. I hate them. Like, I don't hate them. You use them for communicate, but pick up the phone and call. need to right or well I uh Malcolm Ragki if he ever listens to this will laugh me head of the Lloyd Minster Regional Health Foundation and he laughs at me because I'm a

caller right he sends me a text I'll call him he goes oh yeah you like calling and I'm like yeah like talking to people yeah henceforth sitting across from somebody instead of going through you know Skype or Zoom and recording it via a computer and we can both sit on her couch and do it right yeah yeah there's something to be had about the old way compared to the new way but I that device frig it is it is crazy how easily it can control you because it dings and you just even if you don't go grab it yeah sick in the back of your brain I don't what I'm gonna say yeah you just know you can't do what you're finished doing what you're doing until you look at

yeah I might as go look at it right actually I've started putting on nights putting it on silent so that way at least oh it won't it won't uh the noise gets you even the vibration gets you everything gets you Well, I've used that, the bed mode, night mode, every 10 o'clock gets off and turns on in the morning. Yeah, I couldn't stand that, emails and stuff too, right? So I even have my email turned off, so no sound on my phone. So when I get an email, it doesn't make a noise because you kind of find your way when you focus on work and trying to do work and your phone's buzzing, it's a you really lose focus. And so I find, if I'm on my computer, I'll check my email. I don't need to have it buzz on my wrist or on my, sitting on my desk.

great so I just took the text that's it right so yeah but yeah it's a different world but it's technology is a good thing too like I I work remotely I work from home and I I can pretty much work anywhere as long as I have my phone with me right like if you're I travel a lot for work and I can do everything for my job from my cell phone actually that's probably the coolest thing going on right now like the self-isolation thing yeah I don't know 20 years ago probably wouldn't have been possible or maybe it would have been but not as easy no right now like it's Extremely easy. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Right? Like, for most jobs, shouldn't say for all jobs. No, not all jobs. You work on a service rig. There's no way of getting around what you got to do. Yeah, exactly. But technology is a good thing. It's only going to benefit everybody, too, if it's used in the proper way, I guess.

Were you taken in the Bamb draft? Go back to hockey for a bit? Yeah, I was taken in the, I think it was 10th round, 96th, Bannam draft, 10th round. By the Tri-City Americans. Yeah, I think it was like 200 and some. I can't even remember. I was a long time ago. I wrote it down.

I wrote it down. 189? 189? No, it was under 200. Yeah. Do you remember, you know, the kids, this past summer I had a bunch of guys in that were, you know, top 30 guys and they're sitting there in class and they're waiting for it to come across.

Do you ever remember even? Oh, yeah. Oh, I do. I remember the call. I remember where I was when I got the call. Where were when you got the call? Well, actually, that's right when my parents were moving to St. Paul. So I had stayed.

We were just moved. out of our house in North Ballford, we were moving to St. Paul. Dad is working there, and I was living in the farm. My grandma farm south of Battleford, and I was living with her for the last. I was going to finish school, finished grade 9 there, and then, so I was taking the bus, back and forth, getting, got home from the bus and got the phone call at Grandma's place that I was taken.

I can't remember the GM's name at the time. You could see his face. Yeah, I called and said, yeah, we took you the 10th round, whatever it was, and yeah, so I was, but you're pretty excited. Like, you know, it's, but all leading up to the week before, it's Ask First and all that stuff. You knew, like, you kind of feeling you were going to get drafted with the phone calls and kind of interviews and stuff before. And so, yeah, it was, did you ever suit up for Tri-C? No, I was actually that, so that was in April. That July,

I was dropped for the European draft. June, so you only have 50 roster spots in the Western Hococity, right? So, so they, I was actually dropped. So I was drafted in April. And And then dropped in June or July, whenever that was, right before the European draft. So never did. I went, or no, sorry, that was, yeah, that was that year. Yeah. And then I ended up going to there. I still went to their camp or whatever that fall, like their rookie camp or whatever that fall.

To Tri-City. Yeah, to Tric City. Yeah, to Tries. We used to Host in Cranbrook. Yeah. And I went there and then, you know, you do your three or four days and come home. But so, yeah, I never did play. I ended up from there.

I, so I went to play in my midgette, AAA, and I was listed by Prince George Cougars in November. November that year, like right off the start of the year. Right of start. They call you and they call you and they, well, the one scout come to the game and talk to me a few times. Then he said, okay, we were going to list you. And they called mom and dad and told him that.

And so, yeah, okay, whatever. And, you know, you just, it isn't right. Well, by that time you've been drafted, you've been undrafted. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So through it tonight. So the year between you and I went to Kootenie Ice's camp as just a free agent as a 15

year old or whatever the next year, 16 year old, sorry. And so yeah, then Prince, Prince George they listed me and it was kind of so I finished all my midget AAA year and just going to Prince George like for camp because we're going to camp in August and yeah it was 20 years ago this fall I'm always curious with young kids going to school in that many different places and I've heard the younger guys talk about it now back then when you were doing it was it difficult or or was it I don't know Like, how did you handle that balancing?

Because you do your midget, AAA, and then you come back to St. Paul? Yeah, finished school there. And then you, and then the next time you go to Prince George. Yeah, and then I moved. And then you came to Lloyd, yes? No, I didn't. So I just graduated out of St. Paul. Yeah, because my parents, they moved here when I was gone to play junior.

As soon as I left, they took me to camp end of August there, 20th or whatever. And then I was sticking around. and they had left me there and they headed here. They were moving from St. Paul to September long weekend. So the next weekend, so they were moved from St. Paul to Lloyd. And so I never did. I ended up finishing Prince George. We made the Western Final my first year and then it was May.

So I did come back and I just did correspondence and finished it kind of at St. Paul. So it's kind of tough to come into a school, never been anywhere in Lloyd in grade 12 and the last month of school realistically. No kidding. And like, really, is it worth it? So, yeah, I graduated up in St. Paul. Did you find it difficult? No, it was okay.

It's tough. It's school, school, school, when you're focusing on, when you're playing hockey, you always think it's second in which you try to enrich your kids right now. School is very important, and it is important. You know, I would have done things different, you know, what I knew now, right, if I would have known back then. But it was difficult at the time. You've got to put the time in, you've got to put the effort in to do it,

especially playing junior traveling a lot, which was tough. But, no, it wasn't too bad. What was your favorite building to play in the dub? Where did you like going? What had the best atmosphere? Well, playing in Camloops was always good, though. Obviously, that was our huge rival, Camloops, Prince George. And that was right after Prince George got the team in 96, so I was there in 99-03.

So it was, they had some pretty good. Those first few years, a few good playoff series, too, rivalry in 95. They moved there, something like that. So they had some really good battles in the playoffs. there was a really big rivalry there. So that was always great to go into Camloops and play them. It was a big even when you're playing them at home around the road. That was a big rivalry.

But Spokane was always a great, great rink. It's a, it was Spokane Arena. It was a newer building and big. And they always had good teams down there too. Well, Mike Babcock coached there when I was, he was there. It would have been my first year. It was his last year there. Okay.

So that was always a good ring to play. And then it was always great to come, you know, know, Saskatchewan kid to come back home. You know, I always joke you come to Saskatoon once, you're playing Saskatoon at the Sastel place, and there's 2,500 people in Sasspell, at that, 1,500 maybe on Tuesday night. You always end up playing there at all Wednesday night,

and a thousand of them were Prince George fans, right? Because you get so many kids from out of that area. Oh, West, or I guess from there, out east. So, yeah, it's always nice to come back home and play through Saskatchewan with your family. All your family could come and watch. Like, you'd go to, that family would follow. You know, that trip, right, everywhere.

My mom dad take time off work, and your aunts and uncles and grandmas were always there. So that was always pretty cool. It does not fail. Any guy who's played in the dub has said one of their favorite buildings to play in is in the States. And I laugh at this because I was in Vegas there a couple weeks ago, then back in November, and we went to the Golden Night's game. And how was it? Oh, it's unreal.

My wife and I went November, and I've gone to a lot of NHL games, but that was by far the best experience I ever. Like, I had goosebumps when they were introducing the team coming out. So, so, it's just, it's, what is it? It's entertainment. And I call it, well, in Vegas, obviously, they know how to put a show on, right? Right. So they know how to do everything right.

They do it, they do it right, and they get everybody going. But the, I say the Americans, they don't understand the game like we do. There's a lot of them to do. Sorry, that's maybe wrong context, but they cheer for everything. They just, they go for a good time. They have a good time. They cheer for their team. So they cheer at everything.

Well, you go to Rogers Place in Edmonton and they were hockey snobs. Oh, that was, yeah, I shouldn't be. That passed or two guys. You know, oh, look at that turnover. Oh, yeah, that's terrible. Like, it's a different world like that. And that's the America. I played three years in the States and it was, you go in some of those buildings and they just cheer.

You hit somebody hard. They just cheer and love it. And it gets louder. Like, it's just, it's different. It's just, it's a really different atmosphere. So even if we went down to Vegas, paid whoever does their stuff, a million bucks to come up and say, just give us entertainment up here. At the end of the day, you're dealing with different folk.

Yeah, I think so. I think that's part of it. In a way, like, if they're winning, it's always better, you know, atmospheres are better. You know how it is. Yes, I do. So I don't know. It's, it's, but it was unreal.

It was awesome. I tell you what, though, I'm a hockey snob. I'll use that on term. Right. Understand the game. very well. For sure, yeah. And frustrates me when we're not doing well, so winning always helps.

Yeah, it does. But when I watch Vegas, I go, man, I could become a Vegas fan tomorrow. They would be right now my second favorite team. And I just love watching the way they play. I went to that game Monday night, and it was in Edmonton. It was unreal. It was unreal. Love watching the way they play.

I love the atmosphere at the start of the game. Guys are, you know, the night coming out in playoffs. Everybody says it's corning. I'm like, I love it. I love it. I just love that. Like, you know, the Oilers, I don't know if you could do the same things, right? Because everybody goes, it's Vegas.

Vegas knows how to put on a show. Everybody says that. But realistically, it's a hockey game in Vegas. It is. Right? They have a good, that's true. And you go back to they have a good group. They're a good team.

So they're quick. They play the game right, I guess, you say, the way I would like to play the game. So. Man, when the season, when it all kicks back on, whenever that is. Two weeks, probably longer than that. When it kicks back on next year, I got to get to a Vegas night's game. Oh, I highly recommend it. It was fantastic.

And I was just there three weeks ago for a work event and went to another one too. It was great. But weird. Yeah, it was a little different experience, but it was. The only thing that I've been to, that the atmosphere was like, unbelievable as an NFL game. Been to, well, several, but the new Vikings. stadium and the school chant and everything, horn going off.

Man, you talk about goosebumps, it was hard not to stand the entire game. And you just don't get that in the hockey game. No. That's no knock on Emmetton. No, it's different. It's different. Because, I mean, everybody talks about when the others in the playoffs or Calgary's in the playoffs or any Canadian teams in the playoffs, how electric the building is.

Yeah, intensity and, yeah, it's, they create that atmosphere. I don't know. The states are just different. And I played in, like, you know, like, you're in Portland, the Western League. Like Portland, I played in the Rose Gardens, 18,000 people packed, like, where the trailblazers play. And it was fantastic. Seattle, you'd go in there, some of the Seattle was always great, like, loud, and they played in the key arena back then.

Yeah. And it was always, like, even if that building wasn't full, it was loud all the time. Like, it was a tough place to play. In playoffs, we played in playoffs my last year, and it was tough. Like, they got good fan base, so. What do you think Seattle's NHL is going to be a team being to be like? They're going to get crazy amount of fans, you think? I don't know.

That area, the hockey is growing in that area, especially with being able to support like the Seattle and Everett now ever came in after I was done. So my last year, the first year was my first year out. They came in the league. So I think it's a good hockey market now. So I think it's going to do well. And I think a lot of people from Vancouver will come down that area. And it's going to create a rivalry too with Vancouver, Seattle.

I think it's going to be good. If Seattle can pull off half of what Vegas has done, they'll be off and running. Yeah, and that's the worst part is Vegas set that bar so high that it's, they're done before they start just because of that fact. Like the expectations are, you know, to win right off the start. But the games changed a lot where, you know, the league, the rules, the expansion draft, all those things are going to, they're changing for because Vegas played it right. They did it right.

Like, they worked the system to, their advantage and it worked so but well i still remember watching that first season going like yeah no way is you're going to walk in there right now he's doing this yeah everybody's doing this math well bagas will be on the very bottom and then you work it up or they're still got a shot at the playoffs and then halfway through the season maybe not even halfway a quarter through the season everybody's going these nights man they've won a lot of games they've surprised a lot of people but everybody still thought they're going to fall off yeah they're waiting for the waiting for the slide to start that's right yeah it just never happened still hasn't happened

No, a little setback last year, but not, but they still made the playoffs. But we'll see if it can withstand itself, but, you know, if they missed the playoffs one year, see what happens. But I don't know, who wouldn't want to go to Vegas as a free agent? And no one. Like, they got everything going for them. And the NHL did it right with, like, to be the first professional sports team in that city as an NHL team, not baseball as, you know, America's past time or football, it's phenomenal. It gets, then the support there is great. Like you walk around everywhere and there's bag of stuff,

and your old night stuff everywhere, everywhere. So it's pretty cool. So, and wait until the NFL, until the Raiders get there this fall, it's going to be nuts. It's going to be crazy. So imagine going down there for a weekend and hitting an NFL game and an NHL game. Not bad. So, but good for sports fans, right?

I'm not a giant football fan, but man. It's the experience. The NFL has. down to a T. Yeah. I like football for that fact of watching it. I just can't believe how good of athletes those men are. Like 380 pounds and how they move and how fast they are.

That's just what blows my mind. So that's the best. They're such good athletes. That's entertaining. And they do right, right? The tailgating and everything just leading up to the game. God, I love a good football game. And I'm not even, once again, I'm going to, you know,

I don't sit down every Sunday and watch it, but somehow I've got sucked into that world, never played a game of football in my life, and somehow you still follow it more than some sports. For sure, yeah. It's that time of the year, right? It's what else. And it's one game of year.

Yeah, it's one. I wish, hockey, you probably, in your career, there had to have been a time where you're like, man, or a game 50, still got 20-some, left, it's just be nice to get the playoffs already. Oh, yeah. It wears on you, yeah. It wears on you, yeah.

And what's been really cool about football, and I mean, they can probably do this because of how many people they can pack in their stands and whatever else. But 16 games is like, man, that's something easy you can follow. Yeah, yeah. And we all, everybody always talks, man, it'd be nice for the NHL would go down now. Well, remember the league short in season? 48 games. 40 something like that.

How much fun was that? Oh, it's intense right off the start, right? It was unreal. But everybody always goes back to money. And the truth is, money wins every time. For sure, yeah. But it's a different sport, too. Like, your body's got banged up in hockey,

but those guys playing football, they just get that crap beat out of themselves. So it's a different game where they need that time to recover and a lot more analytics and a lot more like the playing, play calling, scouting and preparation into that, you know, it's a little bit different as far as that. Like, but it's, yeah, it's crazy. But I, yeah, I could see cutting the NHL season a little bit shorter, and they're talking about it,

but testing it out right now, I guess, eh? I'm kidding. Jump right into the second round of playoffs here. Or just put playoff series at best of threes. Yeah. Imagine? That would be pretty intense. That would be pretty awesome.

Imagine, so one of the good things that comes out of this, there's not very many good things that come out of this, but you can play the what-if game on the NHL specific, we use the NHL. You know they're sitting around boardrooms right now going, okay. If we come back on this day, how can we make it work? If we come back on this day, how can we make it work? If we come back on this day, if let's say they can't play another regular season game

and tomorrow they start it, I believe the others play the flames, yes? Is that how we left the standings? I think so, yeah. So then you go, but we only got a month and a half to play. Could it be best of one? Could it be best of three? Best of three would be just like you played best three. You know, best of seven, you know, it doesn't matter.

You win one game eight one. Ah, whatever. You know, you kind of forget it halfway through the game. It doesn't matter, right? We'll worry about tomorrow. You just shut down, right? You don't worry about it. But imagine that that level, intensity, a best of three.

and like you lose one you're like whole you're a behind the eight ball right off the bat like it's imagine the ticket prices or something like that it would be it would be awesome it would be great it like it would kind of it would kind of change everybody's tune like with what's going on it would be really good for hockey in general but it uh it would be tough speaking of sporting did you see uh Thursday night ross no Thursday night Smackdown do I'm not a big WWE guy I didn't see anything. Well, I should point out, back when I was a kid, I used to watch it all the time. Right, we had two channels.

You had no choice. But they did it with no fans. And then the UFC on Saturday had UFC with no fans. So no fans in the stands whatsoever with the fights going on. You haven't seen that? No, I didn't. I heard something about the Smackdown, but I didn't know the UFC. Smackdown was the strangest thing you'll probably watch this week.

Well, that's probably an understatement. That is probably not true. But if you watch Thursday night Smackdown, or it's just a snippet, like a minute where they're... It is just like eerily quiet. You can see all the open seats, right? It's not like they can't get camera angles where you can't see it, and it's just like dead, but wrestlers went out and performed.

Wow. It's all money, right? It's all revenue. Well, I guess it's not really not if they're doing it, but it's for something, I guess. We were saying, I think it was my dust of my brother. It said, you know, the PGA could probably keep going. if they didn't allow any fans there

but realistically the fans would change I'm not a, I should point in this on it not a golfer should have a golfer on because he probably loves having a pat stands and in the atmosphere but for the rest of us the golf on a Sunday

having no fans at a golf course probably wouldn't be the end of the world but you could televise that and then how bored are you right now not having any sports whatsoever there's nothing my kids are driving me nuts so they're like we got nothing

we got nothing to watch in the morning no highlights No highlights. It's just, and now it's getting to the point where you're getting annoyed because if you go to SportsNet or anything and you're trying to read an article. No, you don't. Oh, you don't want to beat your head against the wall because they're just, oh, if they do this and are they going to do this, it just said like, let's read a book and do something else, right? It's, it's tough. Like, it's going to be a shitty spring if this doesn't get straightened out quickly.

If there's no sports or nothing. But hopefully the weather turns in will be all set. Yeah, once the sun starts shining a little melty, it'll be good. A little bit of springtime weather. We took kids for a walk today. And after like 10 minutes, the little girl was like, I'm cold. Yeah. It is cold today.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, fun world. But it's like you go back to the NHL. It's all revenue. Like you said, they're sitting there. What can we get into here this day, this day, date?

It's all, but they're right beside it is, what are we going to lose for revenue? What are we going to lose here? Like, you know, where are we going to be standing, right? So it's tough. Well, it'd be. It'd be really cool if they came back and somehow got to play playoffs. It would. If that was even possible.

Right now it looks pretty bleak. It does. Yeah. Yeah, to be honest. Every day that goes by and the more things that get canceled and things that get closed, you go, chances of anything happen are pretty slim, right? Yeah, exactly. And with junior hockey pretty much saying their season's done, right?

Like they came up. They're sending their kids home now. Yeah, that's right. Sorry, I cut you off. No, no, that's all good. Yeah, it's not good Did you ever get your drafter When it was your drafter

Did you ever Was there any Do we want to go in? Do we have enough time to go into this story? Yeah, sure, what the heck? Oh, geez. Fire away? Yeah, so I would, yeah, I was my, so I have a late birthday, so the draft year

So it would have been my 18 year old year So I'm on after the September Or what is it, 20th cutoff or whatever in November So I was actually ranked 104th Central Scouting And so I had got an agent that year I can't even remember his name is so long ago. He's out of Camloops. And so a draft was in Florida.

That was 2001, Sunrise Florida it was? Didn't, well, he's like, you want to go? Isn't it all? I'm not going. Like I, you know, 104th, fourth round. Who knows, right? So actually the day of the draft, watching the draft, first round, nothing knew you knew that.

And there's that Adrian Foster went in the first round, 26th overall. That was, and he didn't play. He was playing his assyune, barely even play. He was a high-ranked kid coming in, you know, in a junior, but he's had injury troubles and groin issues and stuff. New Jersey took a whim and took him in 26 overall or something. And they were all was like, oh, they must have been Aaron Foster.

Like, why this kid hasn't even played and stuff? But anyways. So what happened was my agent didn't even drop, opt me into the draft that year. So your first year is the first year, you have to opt into the draft. So as a 17, usually when you're 17, but late birthday, so I was 18-year-old. and you have to opt you in. If not, you have to pass through,

then you're automatically open to be drafted or signed after that, right? After the next draft, because you have to pass through the draft once before you can sign as a free agent. So, remember watching day two, and you're like,

and I had teammates that I was ranked higher than going, and you're like, kind of was like, what's going on? Like, kind of weird, you call your agent, oh, I don't know what's going on. I'll get back to here, I'm down here. All of a sudden, the draft is over and didn't go. It's kind of like, oh, it's, you know,

it's surprising, right, that you didn't go in any, round and they ended up did not so find this all comes out to later because i had Doug risebro a call in Minnesota is like inviting me to training camp and and all this stuff and we couldn't and then all of a sudden to come out he phoned back again like half an hour later is like we uh we can't invite you to camp you never pass through the draft so you're technically ineligible you can't go to a you were never opted in the draft so all yes the things went sideways really quickly you're like what the heck and myr gm

and french george's phone in and wondering what's going to going on and it was a kind of a little cluster like kind of a shitstorm we'll say then so yeah so then needless to say the agent and again he was with a group out of camloops and it was he was partners with the old commissioner of the western hockey because that's kind of why we kind of went with him and yeah it was went sideways really quick so I ended up didn't get drafted so then next year I would have been a 19 year old year and getting a draft as a 19 year unless you're a top kid that's re-entering the draft like stole or jarris stole when you can go twice in the first round right um not signing but yeah so i'd never never went never drafted the next year this is 19 year old

because you have to sign at the end of your junior year right so you know so they don't do you draft a guy for one year and then they'd have to sign them or your free agents so and yeah so it passed through and then never did get drafted so i ended up going to the islanders training camp after my 19 year my 20 year and stuck around there for three weeks was there and played an exhibition game and I actually had a contract offer, didn't sign, and then I broke my foot there and then got sent back to junior, so. So you went to the Islanders back when,

who would have been the gym at that time? That was, um... Would have been Milbury? No. Snow? No, snow was, it was Milbury. Yeah, it was Milbury. And, uh,

I played with his son. He was the head coach there. by the sun two years later and in the coast i can't i'm not good with names so 2001 2002 that would have been 2002 2002 2003 season that was my last year junior so i guess remember his name that was old charles wong was the owner and and uh right I know who the current coach is. Yeah, it was a long time ago, so I can't remember who the GM was in. Oh, here, I got list of New York Islanders head coaches.

I'm sure we'll figure it out here very short, like. Yeah, anyways, I can't. Oh, here. Come on, Sean, figure this out. Lauren Henning. No. No? And it wasn't Peter, it says Peter left way to let?

No, he was there after. No, he was there right. Yeah, that was, I don't know, he wasn't there. that whole year. People are going, people are all picked up their phones. They're going to be like, they're all yelling. I'll find it here as we talk. So, yeah.

What was going out to the island like? It was actually, so that was actually 2002, yeah, because it was, it was weird because I was there like one year after September 11th to the day. I flew in September 10th, 2002. So that was pretty eerie. I remember flying in and the next morning waking up, because I had to go a day or no flights were on the 11th or whatever. I'd fly in the 10th.

And like all morning of the 11th in the hotel, like you hear the sounds of like all the fire halls ringing their bells, and I didn't know what the heck was going on. Like I was kind of scared shitless in New York. You know, he flying to the airport and you get picked up by transportation takes you out to the island and in the dark. And so you have no idea of checking a hotel

and you just go to the battery's your schedule and, you know, starts that a whole day off. So it was pretty cool experience, though. like to experience the NHL training camp and you know it was main camp it wasn't rookie camp it was main camp with all the NHL players like Alexei Ashen and it was like it was pretty crazy like and just see those guys the skill level is phenomenal as you know and the game is so much easier so much easier like it is everybody's so good and everybody is so skilled that the game is so much easier so it's fast it was it was so easy like it was when you say easy what do you

I mean, everybody knows where they need to be. Everybody's doing their job. So it's just reading and reacting off people. If your heads up, you know, reading, everybody's moving. They always support the puck. It was just, it was very easy. You're scared shitless, obviously, the 19-year-old kid. And I was never, you know, I was never, I'm not like I'm a high-unskilled guy.

Like, I was a guy that could score, but I was a guy that would punish you if you, you know, it was a power forward, right? Yeah. And so it was, you're nervous, scared shitless, and I won't be able to keep up. and the catch the pass is like it was just it's a it's a different game at that level it's very easy and it's just like when you watch NHL they make it look so easy so how many shifts did it take to realize you weren't out of place uh really the first day like the first practice was like you know you do your all your the year while you do your first day all your uh off ice stuff right and then

your first skate and skate then you get in the scrimmage and it wasn't it doesn't take long to get in that you're you know you're not you're there like you're not sorry not there but you can compete at that level, but it's still nerve-wracking. Like, you don't want to, you kind of don't want to screw up, right? Because you're these guys that, you know, you're kind of mixed half and half with NHL players and you're just like, it's nervous, you're nervous, you're scared. And then it took a little bit, a couple days to get kind of comfortable and, but still never comfortable like you are at home, right?

So, yeah, it was, it was pretty neat. It was a pretty neat experience. It was something, you know, how many kids, that's your, obviously every kid plays hockey wants to play in the NHL and get to that level, right? So never played at that level, but I got to be in the same room and got to skate with them. Like, you mentioned

you mentioned they offered a contract. Why didn't you say? It was a, that was right when they were getting their own Bridgeport, Sound Tigers, their own HL team and agent just thought I had a decent 19 year old year, has actually made the All-Star team, the Western

League, but then got hurt. Like I had a really good year, but he thought, you probably could get a better offer if you have a really good overage year. And he said, it's up to you. And we kind of, and it was, it was a decent offer as a two-way deal, which was, you know, two-way deal is pretty damn good. And, and I don't know, it just listened to your agent. I had a new agent to this time, so it was really good.

So, yeah. So we won't go into that. But, so yeah, I know it worked out, you know, things. I would, like I said to you before, things happened for a reason. It didn't work out. And I don't, I wouldn't have what I have now if I would have, you know, would have a totally different life if that would assign that and been gone then so that's for sure so so how did you make your way you play four years of uh w hl four years w hl yeah why did you go to

atlantic city atlantic city um so in my 20 year old year it was kind of what do you do you go to school do you go to play pro so it was a kind of a tough choice c as it was either i was going to go to university new brunswick or u of a or sorry u of And U of A was in there too, and it's kind of like, ah, what do I want to do? You know, you get four years of paid schooling or you go try pro, right? That's your every kid's dream to play pro hockey. And so I made the decision to go play pro, and then my options were Atlantic City or Las Vegas. So, you know, you couldn't have two worst cities, right?

East Coast, you know, gambling town or, you know, the desert. Or the desert. Yeah, exactly. So Vegas was a new team that was right when the West. Western professional hockey league merged with the ECHL. They created with the ECHL. It used to be the East Coast now, it was just ECHL. So actually, Atlantic City got me a tryout in Cleveland

with their American League team there. So that's kind of why I was leaning that way. They won the Kelly Cup the year before. So, you know, they had winning programs for three years there. So I'm like, oh, that would be a good, you know, better place. And they always say agents said East Coast is better to a lot of American League teams and stuff in that area. So you get seen more and you could have got a chance to get called up

or eight and get a contra-American League deal or something like that. So, or a PTO. So I went to Cleveland, had camp there, and had a decent camp in the American League, and then it just got sent down to Atlantic City, and I actually ended up hurting my ankle in Cleveland camp. And so I was out for about two to three, about a month from the end of that. And went to Atlantic City, and had a decent year there. It didn't play until middle of November.

I sat for about a month I was out for, and then, yeah. What did you think of the ECE your first year? Oh, it was interesting. It was different. Again, I was 20 years old and driving from Lloyd Minster to East Coast, it was different. It was a different league. It was fun. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

It was a great experience to do, and I enjoyed it. It was good hockey. It was a really good hockey. We had a good group. At one time, Atlantic City, I never got called out, but we had, was it 12 or 14 guys in the American hockey league in our program? So there was always signing you guys coming in, and we still kept winning. And it's a good program, good city.

You live right on the ocean. I always joke when people talk. Oh, you play in the coast days. Yeah, well, I lived in, it's pretty good cities in the ECHL. So I lived a block off the boardwalk right on the Atlantic Ocean. I could kind of step out in the driveway and look and see the ocean right off the street. So it's pretty, pretty nice. So, you know, an hour from New York City, 45 minutes from me.

Philly. It was a good experience. It was fun. We had a good group of guys there and that kind of, we had older guys, younger guys. You know, you play with 37 year olds that are still playing and you're like 20 and you're like 17 years you've been doing this for? Like, it's pretty crazy. But yeah, all those guys have been through, you know, playing the American League for four or five, six years and made some money and then just they don't know what else to do after. Right. So they just keep playing hockey. That's what you know, right? So, but no, it was great. I, I loved it. You know, I was used to riding a bus, riding a bus, sleeper buses we had there, so it was even better. And it was hockey.

That's what we knew, right? That's what you know. That's what you do. And it was just, it was like glorified junior, you know, other than if you guys were married, a couple of have kids. And so it was, you know, it's like junior hockey all over. Just a more mature guys. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, you're not freezing, shoveling snow.

You're, you know, you're going here. You're going down to North Carolina. So I never did go down to Florida when I play in that league. But, yeah, playing that east. Well, over a four-year span, you played for Atlantic City boardwalk bullies. Got to love the names. Yeah, a great name. Dayton, bombers, Stockton Thunder, and the Cincinnati Cyclones only for a couple.

Two games, yeah. Yeah, two games. So why different teams along the way? Just signed. So I got traded for futures after I played my first year in Atlantic City. I got traded that summer for futures. We did deals in the deadline, future considerations. agent at the time was buddies with a guy in Dayton

that it was like the coach there knew him and he was good friends with him so he's like oh you take him he'll play and then that guy ended up getting fired two weeks later so so I got traded that summer for the futures went to Dayton and a Dayton Ohio so just north of Cincinnati kind of in between Cincinnati

Columbus there so it was it was good different team of sold a little different experience there was a good group good city met a lot of good people there and stuff and then I was how is it different well we played in a the right state university's rink which is a college basketball team so that was where our rink was and so it's just going from alatic city where you were you know latic city is aladdin city then everybody knows

aladdin city then to go to Dayton ohio or you were kind of the second thought compared to you know sports you know Dayton university then there's right state university like college ball college sports are pretty big there so it's a little bit different as far as that and as far as that Kind of on the back burner a little bit then. Yeah, a little bit. Like, not great crowds, not, it was okay, right? Like, God looked after. It was a decent spot, but not, not great.

We'll leave it at that. Okay. So just a different, like, good people and it's like a nice city, lots there, but not. It was just a different atmosphere. And I remember walking to the rink, like, you know, two and a half hours before game time, and they still got, they have no glass in the rink. There's no glass. They're still taking the basketball courts.

off because there was a basketball game college basketball game that afternoon. You're like game delayed half an hour just to get the rink up and running. You're just like, what the heck is this? Like it was crazy, right? So just different. So a different experience, but it was good. And then that summer I didn't want to go back there. Like I just, I wanted to go west.

And it's like, I'm going to try a west somewhere, something different. And so I asked for a trade and they traded. And they traded Stockton was a new team and it was actually Atlantic City. the owners they were sold their team the new owners that own the Chicago White Sox bought Atlantic City and moved him to Stockton and so the new coach there and the guy won't he knew me from past he used to coach in Cincinnati before and he they traded for me and so I went out there signed there and played my last year in Stockton California so which was much better so much better so other than Stockton

Stockton's a great brand new rink there it was a great facility we opened I think we They'd play the first 15 games on the road because they were building this new rink wasn't ready until December 2nd. Okay. Yeah. So it was pretty neat. I'd see that city. What was California like?

Oh, it was awesome. I always say, I'll move there tomorrow if I could. If I could have worked down there, stayed down there, I would have stayed there. So it was pretty neat. It was good. It was a great city. We're an hour from San Francisco in that Modesto Valley. It was pretty awesome.

So not much there. Stockton's a pretty rough town. There's like the highest murder per capita in the U.S. at the time. It's a pretty run downtown. They were redo in the downtown brand new arena, brand new ballpark down there for like their minor ball team and minor pro team. So it was, we were like the only thing in town. It was a pretty big city, but like that rink held the starter 11,000, opening night was packed and it was we had average eight, nine thousand people every night. So it was a pretty good experience to play there. And and, uh, tough year. Like,

like for kind of a new team out there. It was tough. It was 16. games on the road at the start and then but then we didn't make playoffs which was tough but it uh yeah it was it was pretty fun I enjoyed it so it was in your any of you're traveling like we played in Fresno and you're in San Diego Long Beach

so you're running down that I-5 all the time playing in California and you know you're wearing your shorts everywhere ago wearing flip-flops like in January you know it's raining it's 10 degrees out and it was oh so cold it's like oh this is great like you're wearing a hoodie and hoodie flip-flops and shorts still and everybody else is wearing pants

and winter boots or winter hats. It's plus one here and there's snow everywhere and I'm outside and a sweater and shorts pretty much, right? So, but yeah, no, it was great. It was, uh, we enjoyed it there. I have to ask, being in the place that has the highest murder per capita, were you ever like, was it that? Did you just know not to go out at night? Yeah, no, you just didn't go.

Like, we lived in a good area. We were in a gated community of condos and stuff. So my wife was with me. So she, we, you know, we gave a community and it was, it was all good. You just didn't go downtown. Yeah. Right. You went to the rink and that was it kind of.

Then you stayed to the suburbs, kind of the north in different parts of the city. Speaking of your wife, where did you meet your wife along the way? Met her in town here. So I, in Lloyd. Yeah, in Lloyd, yeah. She lived here and I actually met her at I GA. So in the summertime, yeah, I saw she'll laugh. My dad laughed.

Yeah, it was, yeah, we got a good story. We, I used to this in the summertime when I was done playing. Kids don't remember IGA. Oh, no. No. No, they don't. No. You're going to have to be like, what the heck's IGA?

25, 28 plus to even know what the heck that means. Oh, for sure, yeah. Yeah, if not even younger. Yeah, because it's, I say, yeah. Sorry, I wondered IGA in a long last time. Yeah, she did the data entry at IGA in the office, and I worked for Coke in the summertime. So my dad.

So you have the greatest off-season training ever. Oh, yeah, throwing cases of Coke around, fill in shelves, and then, yeah, driving truck. So I did for, I think I did that for four or five years, four years, something, that. Come home from the dub, work for Coke, stock shelves, and hit on the girl at IGA. Yeah. Oh, it was funny because I remember the first time going into IGA. It just got home.

And that time I was, no, I was driving truck then. And so helping, you know, my dad works for Coke. He's worked for Coke for a year, like 30 years and more than 35 plus years. but it was pretty, I remember he's like, who's that? Like he's like, oh, she does all the, like, I got to get my, you know, when sales and stuff, yeah, I was getting, you know, we're filling shallows with dad, right? I worked with dad, right?

And, oh, yeah, so we just kind of, you know, flirted. Every time we went in there, there was always a great day when I got the, got to deliver to the IGA, right? I'll take that route. Yep. So, yeah, so we kind of, that was all, that was spring, and we just kind of flirted back and forth. I never did.

And until, like, about August, I think finally we threw a mutual friend there. It's a lady there. We ended up getting together at her place. She had a couple of people. So I went over there. And then, yeah, went on a date and kind of started talking more. And then about three weeks later, I went to Prince George. And we kind of just talked all the time and kind of, you know, had a relationship,

didn't kind of just built it from there and kind of distanced. When you're in Prince George, Was that for you? That would have been that last year, 2002, 2003. So, yeah. So your first year when you go to Atlantic City? Is she along with you then? No, so she stayed home.

So we got engaged that next summer. So we got engaged, and then I went to Atlantic City, and she just come and visit it a few times, and then we got married that next summer, and then she was in Dayton, and then she was in Stockton with me. So, yeah, and then Cincinnati before we left. So, yeah. So, I always say she had it pretty good.

It was, uh, she can't work. work right she just kind of go over the pool and go to the gym and you know so we just call it vacation mode for her she always laughed back then so i'd take vacation mode yeah i was gonna say it's not like i made lots of money but you you made enough to get by and you that's why i worked in the summer right you know i would say you work hard for what you got and save money in the summer then go so it's crazy to think when you're back younger had no kids had no mortgage had no whatever else you throw your money at how little money you could really live on yeah that's true yeah it was a lot easier So that's for sure.

My diet wasn't that great. It was full of craft dinner, beer, and... Itchiban? Yeah, probably. Itchibat? Yeah, absolutely. Wife loves itchiband. My kids love it too.

Like, what, five cents a pack? Yeah, it's pretty cheap. Yeah. This is probably more like 50 cents back, whatever. Back the day rates. Let's talk about Cincinnati then. So you sign with Cincinnati? Yeah, so I...

Well, when Stockton was all good, and I didn't sign right off the bat to my qualifying offer, I thought I'd wait a little bit. I wanted, you know, I knew I wanted to try to get an American League contract. And then actually Stockton signed their affiliation agreement with the Edmonton Oilers in July. So qualifying offers end of May, it was due. And then, so nothing really worked out. So we called a coach back, GM back, and kind of end of July.

And he said, Aaron, I don't have any rooms I got any more. It's like I had, that's why I wanted to sign you early. I don't, I have to save Edmonton for spots. He signed two left wingers, and I don't have room for you. I said, where, like, I'll trade you? Where do you want to go? And I said, wherever, it doesn't matter to me. And actually played with our captain that year, Dean Stork,

Dean Stork, sorry, and Dean just retired. He played like 18 years pro and went to Cincinnati's assistant coach. So then they were getting their team back in Cincinnati, so they traded for me there. So I went to Cincinnati. Actually, my wife and I were pregnant. We were moving to Cincinnati. They had crib and all.

We were packing up to go. We packed up, hauled the U-Hull down. and got moved in. I was there for a month, and, you know, you go for a training camp and all that stuff, exhibition. It just wasn't a good fit. It didn't, let's say you go and you weren't having fun anymore.

You know, you kind of get to that point where you, I don't know if you ever experienced that where it's just not the same. You weren't, it's, you weren't having fun, and things weren't going good. It seemed like no matter what you did, it was just not the same, right? So I ended up getting released, cleared waivers, and there was a point where this was like, after the first two regular season games

and I knew. Like it wasn't, we've had, you know, open communication with a coach and assistant coach there and he was a good buddy. And, you know, we talked lots throughout it and just wasn't going good. So, and it was just like, okay, well, just released me. He's like, do you want to go to wait like, do you want to go anywhere? It's like, no, I'm done.

I just tired of moving, moving back and forth, you know, every six months it was say, right, do you pack up and leave and then pack up again and leave. And so we, remember making a call to dad. Yeah, I think I'm done. I'm going to come home. It was a tough one. Like, you know, you kind of reality sets in like, oh shit, what am I going to do after hockey now?

And, but it was great. I say, oh, there's lots hockey around here. You ever want to play, but come back and figure it out, right? So I can't remember coming home and driving home. And, yeah, it got in the real world pretty quickly. So it was good. No, like I said, a few times already. Things happened for a reason.

It was great. It was three years to travel and experience that and do it was great. So still a tough way to go out though Not really because that year ended up being pretty Special for me and my family And so you know to come home and then end up playing Border Kings Well maybe we should talk a little bit about that So that that made everything

Really really good So you come home and you hop on a Border Kings team Wow I'll let you talk about it Because you hopped on a very talented Border Kings team Yeah that was we it was kind of i remember getting home in a couple weeks and i remember scott hood and i knew a lot of those guys from i'd skate with them usually they'd start skating in september october they

have the skirmish skates before i went because i usually didn't leave till the beginning of october right and i said we skate with them and hooter phoned me and uh and i kind of knew him but phoned me and i don't know how he got my number i don't know how he's just like hey i hear you're back in town he's like you can come skate or what and i'm like i don't know like well come out we're skating here Tuesday night come skate. We would love to have you come out skate and and I was like, I don't know, like, I don't know if I can do that. Like, I just, so I ended up going to skate and yeah, it was great. Like we had a phenomenal year. I think we didn't even, we lost one game all year or something it was. It was crazy and, and you know, I was going back to play senior hockey and you play

and we played in the wild goose that year, right? So which we were, we were pretty solid. And so we kind of laid the boots to everybody in the wild goose, but and then really, you know, realize that wow you don't really know what to expect and all of a sudden you're playing Saskatoon in provincials and you beat them and then you're playing Weber and in the final and handle them like nothing

and uh hmm okay now we're playing a Manitoba team and the best of three your best of five in five days and we're hosting it oh well we'll sweep them three games to none and best of five

yeah so that against Manitoba yeah so that that you know I can't remember what they call it but it's a best of five so yeah five games in five nights, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, if needed, yeah. Yeah, it was, actually, no, Friday, started Friday, sorry, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and then Monday, Tuesday if needed, so, so that was Ilde Shane there, and I was Lidde Shane had those kind of good years, a few years before that.

I kind of had, like, Pat Fuloon played on that team and stuff, and, and we laid the boots to them, beat them pretty easily, best, you know, beat them in three, swept them, and we were going to the Allen Cup and Stony playing, and, and, uh, which was like, oh, wow, like you just don't even,

you don't even know, you don't even know really what, I go play hockey and, and it is what it is. Yeah, you're not, you're not thinking, no,

I had no idea, right? And, and, and, uh, and all of a sudden, you're going to hockey Canada tournament and,

and, and, you know, you play, and Bentley, we lost, and can we play the Quebec team next and beat them? And,

and it's funny, like, there's three guys in the Quebec team that I played with a year before, right? You know, It's every kind of guys you played with or played against on these teams, right? And, yeah, make it the semifinal, and we get Stony Plain in the semifinal Friday night and Stony Plain.

Must have been a wild building. Yeah, it was pretty awesome. So we had to beat them. And I think we were down hitting the third, and I think scored to tie it up. And then she kind of went in our direction and getting the win. And, yeah, then I was that afternoon. I don't, what? No, we didn't play them.

I don't even remember who we played. I don't know. That was a stony plane? I don't even know. I'm bad with that stuff. I'd like to point it this time. Oh, man. He's had one sip of Pint Whitney, folks.

Oh, come on. I bet you. I don't know if it could. Come on, give me a break. I'm trying to think. Well, I played in three island cups, so I don't,

trying to think. Somebody correct me. You've got to have these notes down here. Come on. You're supposed to be the actual. I know. I'm not, though. It's a long,

long time ago. Lots happened since then. Yeah, anyways we yeah we did you know the moral story is here we won and we can't remember who we played no we played uh whitby in the final that's all it matters but i remember that's saturday morning you're going to play the the final that night and remember i can't remember who said to me or my dad said you ever think you'd be in an allen cup final like coming in even on monday like no i'd no no clue yeah and then to beat whitby which was i think kind of walked through everything they beat

bentley in the other quarter final that's right we did play only playing because Whitby beat Bentley and the other quarterfinal, or a semi-final, sorry, in overtime or something. And, yeah, we were playing in the final and what was the, yeah, we won 4-1 or 4-2, I think it was, and it ended up being the final score. So it was a pretty great experience. All the years that you play hockey and you put time into hockey, that was the first championship I had ever won.

League championship, anything, that was the first championship I ever won. so 24 years old so you play hockey since year 5 4 years old right so 20 years playing hockey and playing junior to all that and first time I ever won anything

so it was pretty special it was pretty yeah it was a pretty neat experience looking back at it now you wish you would have absorbed it more like you always say you know you hear guys say no it's easy right you know you win a chabby ship you don't really absorb it as much as you until you're done and you gotta take it in yeah take it in

And about it, you know, that day was pretty special. I saw a picture on the nightstand of myself, kneeling beside the Allen Cup with my two-month-old son, you know, sitting in the cup and the Allen Cup. So I saw my nightstand and it was pretty cool. It was a neat experience. Yeah, I've seen that with the group of guys that have come in here that have played for the Border Kings, who all won.

It's like a lifelong bond one. Oh, yeah. There was, the, anytime you win anything, 20 years later you can celebrate it, right? He just goes back to that day. And, yeah, I hadn't really thought about it. You know, you talk about everything happens for a reason, everything happens for a reason. I'm sitting here going along the story going, man, you're getting kicked around.

That sucks. But it ends up going to the Allen Cup, which, you know, obviously as a kid, everybody wants to win a Stanley Cup. But at some point, Allen Cup is pretty dang close. Oh, it's the oldest trophy. It's older than Stanley Cup, right? true so and it was the history of it is pretty cool if you actually look back to it through it and yeah it's winning is always a good thing but uh yeah it was for the amount of kids that actually win the Stanley Cup the percentage wise it's uh pretty low as we know so it was pretty uh it's pretty

special like to have you know your family there and that had watched you know through the years and you know go through and living away and you know yeah i got him the oldest of five and three brothers and a sister at home that really my sister was four when I left home. So it, you know, you don't like you grow up with them, right? So other than a few months in the summertime and that's it. So it was pretty cool. Did you play in the last one when Brody was playing that? Yep.

I was playing until a month before the Allen Cup and then broke my back. Oh, yeah. So, yeah, that was another great story. What happened there? Oh, practice. This practice will do it to a guy. Now I broke my back to practice compression fracture, my L3 vertebrae in practice. It was a month before the island.

We just lost out to Bentley in the league final in the Chinook League. And, yeah, lost, yeah. And that's really, really kind of decided to play the last two years once we found out we were going to host. 10, 11, 11, 12. I was like, you know what, I can play two more years and, you know, end off playing at home. Allen Cup be pretty sweet. Yeah, like pretty awesome. and yeah, I

chasing down a puck in practice just like simple three line, you know, the three lines down pass over and pass went too far ahead of me. I reached and and stopped the puck, but then it kept going so I busted to about the dot, turn and fire it. When I turned, I lost an edge and went flying back first into the wall, into the boards

and done. I couldn't even like I was in so much pain and and yeah, it was knocked the wind right out of me. I was a big guy, right? Yeah. So I was moving for quick and you know if you'll fly into the boards and yeah I thought it just knocked the wind out of me then I was like oh got the wind back and I couldn't couldn't move so I didn't want to delay any practice any longer I told the boys just grab my skates and drag me to the bench so he dragged me to the bench

and you know we have there a room right behind it yeah oh yeah just dragging me okay and then they helped me up I get up and I went to the dressing room I remember sitting in the room for well whole practice started practice and they come off the ice still I didn't take me I couldn't take me the whole time to get my skates off That's how bad it was. Went home and I was in a pretty bit of pain. I was like, oh, you know, I thought just my back was outright. You don't, because it just, I don't know what to think.

And yeah, she ended up being, end up going the next day for x-rays. I tried to them next morning, try to put my socks on. I was just about in tears. And, yeah, you know, the compression fracture. He said, you're done for four to eight weeks, or eight weeks. They shouldn't lift anything heavy.

Like, they don't do anything for her. They can't do anything. Just got to let it heal. So I was done. So that was kind of my. end of my senior hockey career right there. So I ended up getting on the bench of Stanley and Joe Young, they were coaching, so they asked me to come on the bench.

When I tell my story years later, I'll get my senior hockey career, I'll get end by coronavirus. You're healthy, so, you know, there's always next year. Well, I had Mark down here that you had said, Barry Belak was one of your biggest mentors in hockey. And I was curious if we wouldn't spend a couple minutes on that. Maybe what he did back in your younger years, because that would have been, would that have been Wade's dad that? Yeah, so it's his stepdad.

Oh, stepdad, correct? Okay. And back in North Battle for days. Yeah, so he coached me my two years of Peebby, AA, and then my first year, Bantam Bantam Dau. And I always, I wouldn't be where I was. like I would never have made what I did without him. He was kind of, I remember coming in as an Adam.

I was a defenseman. And Adam was a big kid, right? I was a D-Man and Adam. I could shoot the puck. Like, my thing was slap shots, right? I could hammer a puck. I could always shoot the puck. Anybody that knows me, they always shoot a puck.

And that's one thing I always did. Didn't see it in January, but, yeah, I am. Too slow. I couldn't get the puck, didn't get enough time. Hey, I scored. Go, what are you talking about? Anyways. So, yeah, and he, I remember, like,

there was like kind of a conditioning camp and you know you're an adam kid you're going your first year pee you don't don't even know what to expect body contact and everything right and then trying out for the double a team and he said to me you're going to play uh you're going to play forward for me this year kind of a little what yeah you're going to play forward this year for me it's like sure and uh so i moved forward then because i was a big kid of slower feet and and he worked with me all year like i for three years i had him and he was fantastic he uh turned me into what I was as a player to be big and strong physical, strong on pucks, and, you know, make D-Men paid, getting pucks, you know, make them,

they're going to go get the puck, you know, make it hurt. And that's, he's just really, he's put time into helping me, you know, be, you know, grow up and as I matured and just to be a better hockey player all around. Always spent the time to work with me and, you know, on the half wall, moving pucks, you know, getting pucks out of zones and how to stuff. was really good. And that's, you know,

Wade and Graham's stepdad or dad, I guess you said her dad. And yeah, so he was always, yeah, so it kind of got to know that family really,

really well. And, and so he did a lot for me. He was kind of the one that really kind of believed in me that really kind of showed that I could, you know, I could play hockey

if I put my mind to it and play. So that was like said, I was never the flashiest. I was never a high-skilled guy. I was a work hard guy. You know, I had decent hands. I could shoot pucks and,

and like I scored a pile of gold and I was younger, right? It was young, young, but not at those levels, right? Yeah. It's always interesting to me with a lot of guys, majority of guys who come in here, their favorite, most, their best coaches who influence their life are always young ones. You're in a spot like that right now

where you get to be around young kids and really, you wrote it in, you know, the questions I send you. you said a positive influence. And when I listen to you and hear him talk about Mr. Belak, that's kind of what you're saying, right? Is a guy who showed a little bit of belief in what you could do. And, well, I think of how many years later now that is. And that's still stuck with you.

That's honestly really cool. And you hear it time and time after again sitting where I sit, I get to hear guy after guy talk about how, how guys really shaped or changed their way they were going or influenced how they played hockey or got them believe in themselves is at a very young level instead of, you know, by the time you make the NHL, you've already been influenced so much. That doesn't seem to be, it's more a management at that level. It's a business. That's right. At the young levels, you can still really influence kids.

I bet you're, you know, you got 20, 20 kids on a kid. 17. I bet you've already done that to a few kids. Well, as a coach, you hope so. Like, it's at the time, you know, you sit back and, you know, going into a year, you hope that you can leave an impact on a kid that, you know, they will remember you what you did for help them or, you know, help them get there or whatever, in influencing them positively, right? And it's hard, you know, we all get wrapped up into winning and, you know, pressure

and teaching kids different things. And so you hope that, you hope that, you know, you leave that legacy on a kid that you put the time and they remember you you know the time you put into you know 25 years later that was 20 oh geez it was 25 years ago so well here's here's the weird thing i can remember all my peewee coaches all my banam coaches all my major coaches so chances are the kids no matter good bad and different they'll remember yeah exactly because by that age at that level specifically that level right yeah when you're playing competitive of hockey, it's, uh, you're leaving an imprint no matter what you do. And by all sounds of what

I've heard from you, what I've heard about, you know, how you guys have been doing and how the kids and the group of reacted, it sounds like you've been doing really good things. It's not, so I would say it's always the players that make the coach is the big thing, right? So got out the players that willing to buy in and work to make a coach. Yeah, but you've had bad coaches before, haven't you? Yeah, yeah, but you always. As you get older, it's different, though, right? It's different.

Oh, that's a dangerous, that's a dark route. Because I've been on really good groups before and had poor coaching, and poor coaching can be just as poison the waterhole just as quickly as a couple of bad players. Yeah, that's true, yeah, that's true. It's a tough one. Are you going to stay a coach in that? I don't, I don't know. I will eventually

At this point Yeah it's no it It's my kids moving to Bantam And I'm like you know I put my time in with him And he needs to He needs to move on and stuff Which is great

I really enjoy coaching So I'll probably end up Helping coach my daughter My daughter's and just moving In the Pee next year So nice She's only two years And this is her second year

Playing hockey dot Have you ever coached girls before I did a little bit this year Yeah I helped out when I could Between the coach and the boys And I was when I was around I was always helping with them but it's different.

Even coached with Brad Lake there, Carson Moore, and it was, you know, Brad, it would bug meeks. And how's this girl's coaching girls things different? I was like, well, it's totally different than coaching the boys, especially at that pee-level. The boys, it's, you know, it's a different level of hockey too. So, but it, yeah, it's tough. It's, it's good.

The girls, you know, you make them laugh, you have fun with them, they just love it. And it's, I'm fortunate now. My daughter, she was a dancer since three. My wife tried to brainwash her into dance, and she did a good job. She did it. And I, you know, like, she can do, and I'm a big believer,

and you let your kids do what they want to do. And if both kids tomorrow start to say they don't want to play hockey, that's fine by me. You know, you got to do something. I'll just keep you in sport or something, some other activity. But, yeah, my daughter, she, two years ago said, I want to play hockey. And we were taking my son to summer stuff in August. I'm like, whatever.

Like, every day, Dad, I want to play hockey. Like, seriously? And it just, yeah. So then ended up all of a sudden she was quitting, dad. say you want to quit dance and she was dancing six like six hours a week and it was like yeah I'll quit dance and I'll play hockey and she decided to play hockey and she just loves it so it's awesome it's really good yeah and to see the smile on her face and you know with the girls and it's but it's it's you know she went played one year softball yeah and uh playing with the girls and having the

team as we yeah yeah it's hard and and how much fun they have and even if they don't win there it doesn't matter they have so much fun and they're playing the sports with their friends and And then I think she realized that, man, hockey could be like that too. And seeing her brother, you know, go through hockey, she's always with her rink. So, yeah, so I'll probably coach her next year help out with her. Something we'll see. But I would, you know, I would get into coaching again. Like I did coach Midgetraplea when my son was two with Stani or won.

Did you? Yeah, the first year that Midgeta Play program in town here, Stani, who's head coach, I helped assistant coach Tim. What did you think of that? I loved it. And I absolutely loved it. And I always loved coaching. It was just for me, you know, in hindsight, I wish I would have went into coaching more

and went full time when I was 24 years old when I come home. But you're scared. You want to make a living. You want to make money. And you didn't really know how to get into it. And then when I helped with Stanley after the year, we won the Allen Cup. And he went, Stanley was asked to coach that. So he asked and I said, oh, I'll help it for sure.

And it would be a great experience. And I enjoyed it, but I couldn't. my job at the time, I couldn't, I couldn't commit to being a head coach at that level, you know, be gone all the time and stuff, you know, weekends and stuff. But in hindsight, I wish I would have stuck with coaching and, you know, had a career in coaching. I do enjoy coaching. I do enjoy, I was always a kid that, I would say I was never the best player,

but you tell me a system, you tell me where to be and I'll be there. So I always took pride in being accountable to the coaches to where you wanted me to be on the ace and I'd do my darnest to do what you tell me to do, you know, play the system right, and play the game that way. So, you know, you can make up for skill or different things, hard work, and knowledge of the game is way more important than people think, I think, I think.

I know, it's huge. It's huge. And we deal with this every day with our group, and, you know, the kids nowadays, what do they see? They see highlights, and, you know, see Connor McDavid, toe dragging, beating a guy going shelf,

and it's always, these kids nowadays are so skilled. It is crazy, but they don't watch. watch hockey. They do not sit and watch hockey. So the game, some of them, it's trying to teach the kids the game. Like, you know, you know, you anticipate, you need to learn the game and where pucks are going to go and that kind of thing. And that's what I love about the game. So I'm trying to teach that to 12 year old kids, 11 year old kids, it's hard. It's hard, right? So we try to get kids watch games and, you know, everybody watched the hockey game tonight or let's watch some video or

let's do this, right? And trying to get them to understand the game a little bit more. Instead of just watching the highlights and the sick plays that everybody does or the backhand toe drag, you know, it's... There's usually a lot that leads up to the backhand. Exactly, yeah, and it's under breaking it down, the progression back through the rate. So I do enjoy coaching, but we'll see. We'll see what comes about.

You know, stick with girls hockey for a few years. I got two daughters, so I got another five or six-year-old that she probably will end up playing next year or the year after. So we'll see. So I enjoy it. If some opportunity to come up to coach, I probably, you know, I look at it pretty close, it depends on what it is. But I don't know.

I enjoy it, but I'm also looking forward to some free time too. So, you know, between work and coaching, it's a lot. It's a lot of time I travel with work, so it's tough sometimes. Well, let's get into our Crude Master Final Five, the final segment of this program. Brought to you by Crude Master. Shout out to Heath and Tracy McDonald. Um, five quick questions, long or short as you want.

Uh, we'll start with, if you could have a vodka water with one person, who would you take? Oh, I should have studied before I came. Joe Sackick. Joe Sack. Yeah, I was a, I always loved Joe Sack. He was my favorite player growing up. I, uh, I think he would be the one I would sit to have a vodka water with. It wouldn't be a bad. He's kind of a, well, he's a Hall of Fame player.

Yeah, well, I just, I enjoyed, well, he could shoot a puck. Like, that guy could shoot a puck so hard, so quick, and I loved, like, that watching him play. The thing I always love about Joe Sackick is he's the guy of reference all the time. Don't shoot to hit the net, shoot to miss the legs. Yeah. Score a lot of goals that way. I mean, he had a hard shot and everything else, but. I agree.

That's, I'm not as 100%. I try to teach kids that learn to get your head up and shooting through D-Men. That's the best way to learn to score goals. All you ought to do is move your hands and get that puck through the legs and that goalie loses that extra two seconds to see the puck. And that's, yeah, that's why I kind of, that's how I push my game in down the wing and I learned to pull a puck and shoot. And I always had goalies when I played.

You play Juice Boy at the end of practice. I know what differently they call different games now. We used to call Juice Boy, Bagel Boy, like Double Boy. kind of thing. You've had the three guys and get two pucks and you get to shoot one and deek one and the last guy had to buy bagels for breakfast and X morning. No, I haven't heard this before. Say this again?

So you start with everybody, whoever's in, you get two pucks. Okay. So whoever's in. So you have the goalie there and you just get two bucks in the hash marks. You get to shoot one and you get to deke ones. You have the shoot first and deek. If you score both, you're done. If you don't.

So it keeps going until the last person who doesn't score, then we call it, you call it Juice Boy. You play for juice. so they'd have to go around and fill Gatorade and put it on each. Every guy stole that played. Okay. You know, after practice. Right.

We play for bagel. We played bagel boy. So in the morning, they had to bring bagels and cream cheese for the team the next morning for practice. So when we were in the States, so this is a, and you play it.

And the guys will know they might call it different games. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So everybody listen or if anybody ever listens. Bagel boy. Yeah, bagel boy. Or we play like when you practice at different rinks, they'd go the double cheeseburger back then, when McDonald's when they were a dollar.

Yeah. And you're in Atlantic City, and we'd practice our practice ring, we'd have to drive to our main rink and you'd get dressed or haul your gear. And they would, so they'd stop and get cheeseburgers on the way back to the rink. Or, you know, you do it for different things. Walk in with 40 cheese. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. It was happy. Yeah, can I get 40 cheese? They're like, what? So we play that game, but I was always, like, goalies. I was one of the, I always pulled pucks. I was a toe. I'd pull pucks from my toe, pull him and snap them, right?

And the goalies because I could pull it as long reach, and I'd pull it from out here. They'd pull it into here, shoot it in tight. And they so they would have the track puck this way, then go back the other way. Yeah, that's right. And then I won Jake Morland played with him in Stockton and in Atlantic City my first year. He used to get so mad at me at practice. Like, how the heck are you?

Oh, I hate your stupid reach on your stick and you snap that puck. So, but that was Joe Saki. He'd pull that puck out, you know, keep it out wide, pull it in and snap it right through the legs and, you know, just using your stick to change that angle of the puck. Best player you ever played with and against.

Ah, that was a tough one when you said that to me. I played a Dan Hammeuse was probably in junior for three of my four years and he was, well, obviously a first round pick, still playing and he's in, and he's in back in Nashville. His first round pick in Nashville,

he played Nashville, Vancouver, Dallas, and back in Nashville. And he was, he was a seven, so he was in his second year, I went as a 17-year-old. He was, he wasn't the biggest guy,

but man, he saw the game. He was so good with a puck, so smart, made right decisions, always a good for his D-Man, good for his passes. And man, he could punish guys to hip-check king. He was like, couldn't get around him. He was just so smart, skated well, but he was probably the best guy. I played with for the most, you know,

played with Tyler Bowke played for World Juniors, and Blair Bats, my first year and junior. They were also really good players too, but they're different, right? Dan played them for three years, so there's probably others that you think of. But, yeah, he was running off the top. Oh, played with, like, I put Pavel Brandel down there. Do you probably don't remember?

No, no. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, he, I remember, like, watching him as a, when I was in Midget, and he was in Calgary lighting it up. Him and that, uh, was it Dan Moran or played in Calgary at the same time? Yeah, yeah, okay. Yeah, yeah, those really good teams there in late 90s, early 2000s, and he was, uh, he was phenomenal. Like, and he didn't, they always bugnered when he ate hot dogs and something before a game. Like, he was not, uh, he was from, he was from, he was from Czech Republic, I think, or Czechs of Czechs,

back year, Czech Republic or something like that. He was from him over there. But man, he was so, he could shoot a puck. And he would, and just no effort, and all of a sudden a puck would come to him, two strides, shoot score. It was just like, holy. And we only played him a couple times a year,

but just to play, he was that good, yeah. So he was, he was just that good that he was just like, wow. But then, like, you know, then you look at, like, if you start thinking really in depth, like Duncan Keith come back and played in Colona, my 20-year-old year, 19-year-old year. He came, that's when he came, left Michigan State, and come back and played in Cologne

and he was sickening. Like he was, oh. He still is. Oh, his feet, like, the way he skated, it was, oh. He's, he, as a defenseman, when I watch him play defense, his edge work is, like, unbelievable. His feet never stopped moving.

No. It's unreal, yeah, he was, he was phenomenal. It was, like, gross. You watch him, you just, you couldn't forecheck on him. You just, you try to contain a muscle. Fortunatic long stick. You could try to angle him to the corner, but you couldn't catch him.

He couldn't. He was so shift. He's so good. But then he got like Jay Bowmeister. I played midget against him and played four years against him in junior. And he was same way. He was so good, like feet and skating so well. So there's a lot of, played it against a lot of good players.

Yeah, that's fair. That's honestly fair because, I mean, you play enough hockey, you play against some really talented players. And I mean, you playing in the dub over a four-year stint, not to mention everywhere else, you would have saw some very, very talented players. If you were to get locked into a 14-day quarantine, what Netflix? Well, I shouldn't say Netflix. Which show would you binge watch?

Are you a show? I don't know. I don't know. I know because I don't have time to watch Netflix. I honestly, my wife and I were into, oh, we were into, oh, she's going to, what's that one with, I can't remember what it's called now. What's it about? Oh, the family, the kids and the dad that was a drug dealer. Breaking bad?

No. Drug dealer. Oh, not a drug dealer, but he was just, they had five kids or something. Shameless? Yeah, we watched that. But we were pretty much caught up. But we are like that. But I don't, honestly, I don't even have time to.

I'm saying you get a 14-day quarantine. I don't even know. I'd have to look at Netflix. After talking to me, you might find out in a couple days. You're locked up. She's not looking pretty. I honestly, sorry. I can't even answer that. I honestly have no idea.

In your spare time, what do you do that? Well, spare time? Are you a podcast guy? I'm a book guy. I'm a podcast guy like when I travel. Which favorite podcast? I listen to you and listen to spit and chicklets. I'm an NHL, 31 thoughts.

Oh, 31 thoughts is good. Yeah, I like. I like him. I've always liked him. He'd be fun to sit across. He would be. He would be very good to pick his brain. I always respect his, like when he talks,

I always listen, enjoy what he has to say. and I've always liked him. But I like Jeff Merrick too. Like Jeff Merrick used to run the Series X, the Hockey Night Canada Radio on Series. So that used to be on every day at one, one to three,

like back, probably 10 years, not even 10 years ago, eight or nine years ago. So in the wintertime, I used to listen all the time with work driving and stuff. I always listened to it,

turn it on, but I've always liked those two. So, but I'm not, I don't get much free time, like I say. Honestly, my free time is usually coaching kids,

running kids, and then it's work. I want to get a free moment doing work and trying to get caught up because they travel. So what happens that you can do if you get quarantined? I don't. I'll still be working. I'll still be working. So I don't know.

I, we were thinking about this the last two days, my wife. We were like, we had yesterday no hockey. It was like we don't know what to do with ourselves. It was like we had cleaned our pantry. We did all these things that we were like, we got a list of things that we haven't done in months because we've been running every day.

Yeah. Right. So I'm sure we would get in. My wife's probably got a few Netflix things going that we would get in. too, but I don't even remember. I've heard lots, like, I've heard lots from a few people say, oh, you've got to get into this show, it would be good, but I don't even know where to start.

So I would get into Netflix for sure. Hey, my driveway has never looked this good. It just snows and I'm just scraping to get out of the house. Just to get out. Yeah, well, the kids are just, when you get everybody cooped into a house. Yeah, it's not good. Well, especially you. You've got three young ones, right?

They just find a way they can see it and they enjoy it. Oh, yeah. Little kids enjoy working on you. Yep. And so, oh, there's a little. There's a little skip of snow. I better go shovel her, get her out of the house. But it's been cool the last couple days.

Oh, it has, which doesn't help anything, yeah. How about line mates? If you could take any two line mates, who would you take? Holy geez. I should have studied up on this. Oh, you can have anyone. Well, I would probably play a Joe Sackick. I obviously, he's a kid I idolized when I was a kid watching her guy.

Foster, Sackick. And? Oh, I need a right winger. I think a lot of Patty Kane. He is... Yeah, you can't go wrong with that. His hands are... Foster Sacket Kane.

Yeah, that looked pretty good. His hands are so good. And, yeah, he's... I've had the pleasure of watching Kane two or three times now, live. And every time I watch him live, he is that good, and he always scores. That's crazy. It's the feet of the hands Move so fast

And it just like Dunn Pucks gone You're like oh wow Like yeah he's He's good I enjoy watching Here's my fifth question I'm waiting

I'll throw this one ahead If in this alternate universe The Oilers met the flames In a seven game playoff series Who has more points Meiland Loo Cheech Or Neil Who gets more points

After a seven game series I Honestly that's a tough one. What a stupid trade. You know why they did it both sides, but man, I just like, I remember when that went down and we were in Edmonton and I was like, are you kidding me?

But anyways, I honestly think, well, Neil can perform in the playoffs. Well, last year he didn't for the flames, that's for sure. But I think Loochich would in this series. I think Loochich would. I think Luch has been better. And they've kind of embraced him to be that, you know, power forward, and they know they don't, not put the pressure on him to score and do all that.

He's playing in third line, where he should be, not playing the top two lines. I think in the playoffs he would put more up than Neil. Neil is good. He's got good hands, but he's playing fourth line. Like, he just come back. I don't think he's confidence. They got more guys ahead of him now that I think Looch would be more valuable

in a playoff series than Neil. Yeah. I'm not saying Calgary would win that playoff series, but I'm saying that Looch would be very valuable. I'm a Flames fan, but I'm a little, not in the greatest spirits with their group right now other than Kichak. Well, I'll let you have the final word on the Flames Oilers.

I still think the Oilers win it. Oh, I agree. I do. The Oilers are a deeper, more skilled team quicker. Flames have too many prima don't as I always say. Johnny Goodrow's good, but he's not a playoff type performer, I don't think. Well, I'm glad we finally got to sit down and do this. It's, uh...

Well, yeah, like, I was gonna say to you. And we're what, holy geez, we're Louise Indira, but what, you text me a year ago. And then my little brother beats me on and I give you his number and I was going to give you a hard time. Jeez. You know, the fosters were tough people to get on. Even your little bro I had old Dion, I had to, I had to chase him around a little bit too. Well, he doesn't live here. So he's sunshining in Texas now, so.

Is he? Yeah. What's he doing in Texas? He's moving down there, so. Well, he's, why? He's, I don't know. He's, no, his wife's down there for nursing right now. So he's, uh, he just, he broke his ankle there a couple weeks ago.

So he's down there just visiting right now. Broke his ankle. Refing. Refing. Yeah. Yeah. No, uh, got tied up in a scrum. Ooh.

Popped can open them. So, yeah. So he's down, he's on the, so yeah, he's on the little. So he's on the little rest. So he's hoping to come back. Well, he was hoping he's just going to go down and visit for a bit and then, uh, come back to do some rehab and then hopefully get ready for playoffs in the Western League, but it might not. It's not going to happen.

So, yeah, he's down there. But yeah. Well, regardless. Yeah, no, thanks for having me. This is great. As this, the podcast continues to carry on, there's tons of guys like you that I've text probably, I don't know, a long time ago. And there's guys still on the wait, not on the waiting list that are like pushed out.

Like they've texted, basically said, listen, I can't do it until. Well, I got one as far off as August. in August we can do it and that's over a year ago that I texted Oh And so just the way the schedules worked when he was getting close And then it fell through You don't have to justify yourself to me that I was late

Like it's okay man You were a fourth liner for me okay? I know hey I know I don't Hey I understand man I'm just giving you a hard time right Someone's got to give it back to you right? Can't be yeah No I appreciate it. It was awesome

I listen and it's great I like said I could sit here in bullshit for hours It's great so cool Anytime you ever need a co-host or anything like that I was telling Mully, you know, maybe needs a co-hosts here one day. Maybe I should just get the fosters in here to talk sports. No different than the new. I know, I might hurt those other two.

Yeah, exactly. The Newman roundtables just do a foster roundtable. Well, you know, you know all of us. Well, that's true. So it would be good. So we could have a Numa slash Foster one round table. Well, we don't want to fight over the table. We got a few pounds on you boys.

Yeah, but I fight dirty. I don't. I'm not afraid to fight dirty. I don't. I've had to, when you're this small, you've got. to learn that the pains of a big man yeah hey it's not about the size so well thanks again for coming in you bet thanks for having me hey bonus feature uh we're back so he tells me after we get off air there's a note that he scored his first goal in the w hl on a penalty shot and he's

the only guy to ever do that that was at the time yeah i don't think anybody's done it since but Yeah, I scored my first goal, Pelley Shot, in 2009. In Prince George, against Camloops. It was a, you know, it was a 6-2 game or something like that. And out of hand, the goal that somebody covered the puck in the crease, and I was on the ice. Wouldn't they do that? It's automatic penalty shot, and then you get to pick.

It's not closest guy you get to pick. And I think we had Blair Betts at the time. He had two goals. And the guys were, he's like, Bess, you want to take this? He's like, no, Fosie can take it. I remember turning, look. Look at them with my eyes wide, like, wide open. Like, no, I'm good. I'm good.

You know, you're in Prince George at home with 5,000 or 6,000 people in that ring packed. Like, I'm good. I'm good. And nope, they're in the scores of Bench starts. Yip and yep. Yeah, Fuzzy, you can do it. Go, yeah, yeah. So then the coach there going. So I actually went.

Actually, the really cool part was my grandma and my mom came up for the weekend from town. and they were there and they so i went down scored my first goal and penalty shot and it's actually pretty cool i keep meaning to talk to my mom to dig out with the old uh they used to do cougar view it was called in um in prince george every thursday night and we have said the mom and dad would record them all you've taken pictures on you this and uh and they uh yeah and you watch and they turn and there's a camera ready between the benches and like i was so pumped like what move did you do i went back and back end and then slid it on the ice like kind of

fake four end backhand slid on the ice and then the goalie stick just about trip me so I just about nose dive turned into the corner and then remember peeling the corner and then turn and look at the bench sticks in the air and just like you know the look on your face right you score your first goal and it's pretty exciting and like the video just catches like a perfect angle of me right into it

it's pretty awesome so pretty pumped and it's pretty cool to have my mom and my gram in the crowd at the same time which was probably made it even that much better so it's pretty cool. Is there any other notes you've missed that you... Oh, you got a whole list. Oh, no, I don't know. No.

No, that was pretty cool one. That was, it was kind of written in after that about that. So that was the first kid, their first player ever to score his first goal in penalty shots. Via penalty shot. Yeah, it was pretty neat. Record holder sitting across from me. We'll see. I don't know if they actually have it in the record books or not, but it was, it was,

it was told that a few times that year. It was in like the media notes and stuff before a game, so it was kind of neat. And it was kind of neat, really cool. I remember like two weeks later, we went down to Cranbrook to play Cootney down there and Graham Belak, which is, which was Barry Belak's son.

He saw it. He's like, you scored your first goal of a penalty shot? That's awesome. Like just to talk with him after the game, because he kind of grew up with him around. He was playing Midgetar Play when I was playing PV or Bantam and stuff. So it was kind of cool to, have him, you know, talk about it too.

That's one thing I can safely say I never did. Scored a goal on a penalty shot. I can say I did it once, you know, first time. So that was pretty cool. Cool. Well, thanks for putting that in there.