Spittin Chiclets - Chiclets Game Notes Episode 6: Featuring Ben Barr

Episode Date: April 6, 2023

On Episode 6 of Chiclets Game Notes, Colby and Murls are joined by UMaine Head Coach Ben Barr LIVE from Tampa at the Frozen Four. The guys discuss Ben and Murls friendship, and how Murls played a huge role in helping Ben get a coaching job. The guys also break down the Frozen Four and give their selections as to who they think will win, along with tons of college hockey talk.You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/schiclets

Hey Spittin' Chicklets listeners, you can find every episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Here we go, episode six of Chicklets Game Notes. We're all joined here now in Tampa, Florida, NCAA edition. The sun's out, the guns are out. We got everyone in town. Merle's hot off of a plane, landed, didn't even check his bags, beers in the lobby. Unbelievable, legendary move. G's traveling all over North America, mostly just the U.S. when I say that. He's here too.

And without further ado, since we're here, since we're doing NCAA, special guest Merle's give us the introduction. We're here. We're having our first ever hot stove for Chicklets Game Notes. We brought in UMaine head coach Benny Barr. Good to be here, guys. I wasn't sure if that was my turn to talk or if we're supposed to say something awesome at that point. Yeah. So, well, Merle, I appreciate it. You know, we've been talking about this for a long time.

Well, Benny, I'll say this is the first time Merle and I have ever done a show together in the same room with G. Actually, Pittsburgh. Yeah, well, normally we have the big guns here, and we have a much bigger room, too. We're not squeaky here. We don't have the suite. Let's put it that way. We're in a little jerk-off corner over here. Me and Merle's do hand jobs to each other.

But we don't have the suite. We don't have couches. We got these sick-ass we are in tampa florida ncaa action merles i just want to get to know what you've been doing lately because it's been all over the place i've seen videos benny you know this guy better than anything we're going to get into that you've been dropping videos you've been timra you've been sweden you've been ebr action all over the place what's life been oh it's been out control, completely out of control since the last Chicklets trip, which was chaos, Florida, Arizona, and finished with the outdoor game. I went back home.

I did a trip to Ireland with the wife, and then we did a ski family trip. We got the kid out skiing for the first time. The Timra playoff games were electric. Unfortunately, they bowed out in the first round In game 7 but yeah It's been a good month Yeah I've been following I've loved it Your content's amazing people love you

I work all the pens games I'm around rinks all over the place G I talk to you quite a bit about this stuff EBR Fuck it EBR Army I'm like live on the air it's like Game notes you gotta check the game Notes so thank you to everyone for Following along following Merle's Following us G we also

Got to see your the home Field we got to come to your house this past week Yeah I loved it I loved it so you guys popped In for a Pink Whitney bottle signing And I was like dude I was like I was so ready for them though I was Loving it I'm like I'll come pick you guys up We're like whatever you guys want to do.

You want to go eat dinner? We'll go eat dinner. And they agreed. They just were like, no, dude, let's watch the hockey game. Let's go to your house. Let's watch a game. Whit had some money going. He wanted to watch hockey.

We got burritos. The wine was flowing. The wine was flowing. We got some wine going for the boys. Quader was there, too. Sick hair and everything don't don't let quater hang around with your wives it's too good looking yeah we figured that out at new year's at wits this out yeah i was up in the kitchen get him out of here get him out of

here but nonetheless it was awesome to have you guys in my place merles i wish you could have been there too but uh great to be here for kind of a i think think an awesome, awesome event. I got to go to one Frozen Four in Pittsburgh. They hosted a few years ago. It was during COVID as it kind of started to release a little bit. So there wasn't a lot of fans. Who won that? That was. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. No big deal. Yeah. Oh, see, that's why we brought him in. This guy's got the Frozen Four experience. That's why we had to bring him in. I was at the game and that's why we got Benny here.

So a little more about Benny. Give us some Benny action here, Merle, about him and his life in hockey and your guys' relationship, which I think is like totally hockey. Yeah, well, we met at RPI. He was two years below me. He was a freshman. I was the junior. I had the big hockey house on campus.

I was the one watching the games at night. He wanted to get out of his little dorm room. He'd come hang out at big hockey house on campus I was the one watching the games at night He wanted to get out of his little dorm room He'd come hang out at the hockey house Hold on, what was this hockey house like? Was it a real hockey house? What does that mean? I mean, I played in the CHL I played in the Western League What's this hockey house?

So Merle was from Troy And was playing college hockey in Troy And he was obviously a really good college hockey player So he was like the mayor of the city. So he had the house on the corner right in front of the rink. That was like, Oh, so it was legit.

Yeah. Seriously. Yeah. Like everybody in the town had to like pass by it every day and everyone knew he lived there. And then I moved in the next year with him. Yep. And then,

uh, then, and then things really took off. I obviously, I graduated, I turned pro. Benny graduated. And I got a phone call one night. I think it was a Friday night.

He's like, hey, Merle. He's like, I'm done school. I don't know what I'm doing. Can I come stay at your house, like crash on the couch for a night? I'm like, absolutely. Like, we're going out tonight. Like, we're going. So he comes over.

He has two bags. This guy has two bags of his whole possessions from four years of college. Yeah, he's holding nothing. So he dumps those in the living room. We go out all night. We wake up the next day. Nobody's in any shape to make any sort of decisions. So we go out again.

That's two nights. Fast forward nine years later, he finally leaves. He finally leaves. He gets the assistant coaching job at Providence College when he finally left. Well, and he took his duffel bags to Providence and started getting her going. But I think Benny's, like, life in hockey is pretty cool, not only meeting you, but, you know, his connection to hockey, you know, through the Shattuck program,

which maybe we'll start there with you, Benny, and just before we get to, like, where you're finally at at Maine. Like, tell us about Shattuck because obviously the program's like fairly renowned. I think a lot of names have come through there. Yeah. Crosby. But you started it.

Yeah. I started it. Don't be humble. No. This is game notes. It's time to brag. Yeah. So I was fortunate.

So my dad and my uncle both went to Shattuck in the 70s. It was a military school. So they always wanted me and from Minnesota they always wanted me to go there so I was going to go there no matter what and I happened to be there when they decided like hockey is going to be what keeps the school is almost closed and uh hockey's going to keep the lights on hockey's going to keep the lights on and you know I was there for four years I was not not a good hockey player. And Merle can attest to that. Hard worker.

Hard worker. And, you know, like four years later, it was like right place, right time. And we talked a little bit about that, Army Downstairs. It's like you just get fortunate to be at the right place and the right time in the hockey world a lot. And I was at the right place at the right time. I got to live at Merle's place for nine years when i was trying to trying to become a coach and uh you know so that was the first really fortunate thing that i had happened to me just to be able to be at shanak st mary's

for four years which which players were there with you that like the fans would know of hl guys i mean you know with legends yeah so like our class like call ryan caldwell and max bull and and you know he saw caldwell the other day. And, you know, he's in. I saw Caldwell the other day at the, he scouted, who's he scouted with, Winnipeg? Yeah, he's in Winnipeg. Yeah, I saw him in a jet. Yeah. I saw him scouting.

So, I mean, he was one of the, you know, Troy Weebler, Mike Carpentier, like those are us, like these are guys that didn't play pro, obviously Caldwell did. But Benny Eves came the second year and Pat Eves and then the Parisees were the guys that you were at. And then after. Parisees still playing. Don't believe me. He's having a good year. Yeah Patty's, and then the Parise's were the guys that you were at. And then after that. Parise's is still playing. I can't believe it. And he's having a good year. Yeah.

He said he's going to play again, I think. Did he really? He said the other day he doesn't know what next year will hold, but he doesn't want to hang him up yet. He'll be back. He'll be back. He'll be back. Hey, G. He'll be back.

G knows these guys. He's taxed them. Yeah, and then it just blew up after that. Well, i think you said what do you say you coached you too like you had i think that's probably what yeah i mean it was uh you know jp parisi was there that was he coached us and i was a bantam in ninth grade and then uh brian riley who was a head coach of army now was there andy murray came through um tom ward was my coach there still was my uh coach my senior year

so and there's many others there were six teams every year i think that at the at the school so yeah andy's voice that's just so like it's like he was breathing in when he was talking all the time but uh and i went coach with andy at western mich Michigan For two years So yeah And I played with Brady Brady was one of my teammates Brady His son Brady So Yeah

Just the right place At the right time I won a gold medal With Andy Murray At World Championships In Moscow, Russia In 07 Which was

Yeah crazy But he's on you all the time So you could see how You know The program Would run you know tickety boom with those guys in there and those kinds of hockey people in there at such a young age right well that was the thing like we were 16 when he came he was there for one year i think he

had just taken he went i think he was an assistant somewhere in the nhl he took a year off his kids went to shaddock and then we he came in for that one year I mean we're just I mean we would die in every word he said you know and we won the national championship and then that was when that was the first one they at the school won and then after that it just went crazy and the next year he was the head coach of LA Kings so we're like our coach just went from Shattuck and now he's the head coach of LA Kings and we were just so it was it was a it was a wild ride but it was uh it was a lot of fun. That's kind of what like that program does i think though right like if you say you went to shattuck i don't know gee you tell me too like you know we're hockey guys but does

shattuck just when you breathe that it just it's intimidating yeah it's intimidating especially as someone who like really like ben says he wasn't good at hockey i was not good at hockey so like as someone who wasn't good at hockey you hear sh not good at hockey. So like, as someone who wasn't good at hockey, you hear Shattuck and you're just like, that's untouchable for me. You know what I mean? That's just, that's the Crosby's of the world. That's the Ben Bars of the world.

That's not the Mike Grinnell's of the world. I stay away from Shattuck. It's not the Ben Bars of the world either. They're in the national championships now at every level. They're kind of set the bar for that kind of school slash hockey program that you know a lot of people are trying to copy and do yeah um and replicate uh but yeah you were there for the start and that's from there that's where you went that went right to yeah i went right to uh to rpi and

then i met the merle i went as an 18 year old which i probably shouldn't have because i didn't know how to even dump the puck in right for two years and I figured it out and then yeah and then I started coaching this Benny let me ask you this should Merle's jersey be hung up at that arena because he went back there and like I feel like they disrespected him a little bit like they like they should have a ceremony and Merle's jersey should be up there like he's he's pretty good right he was he'll be modest he was really good I mean you gotta be one of the top 10 scorers there probably. Yeah, somewhere in there. The old days they were scoring.

I'm actually getting inducted into the RBI Sports Hall of Fame. But it's the same Saturday as the FDNY-NYPD game, so I'm not going. So we've got to push it back one more year. Company man right there. Love to see it. Love to see it. So, you know, big sacrifice, Biz. I'm making a big

sacrifice to be there at the game. Yeah, this guy, like, this guy's a team player through and through. That's why I think you should be up up there. A funny story. I agree. He should be. A funny story from RPI, though, is when Benny was a freshman, and I don't know if it was your first game or second game, we actually played UMass, and it's a shit

beating. Like, we're a shit beating. Shit beating, such a're a shit beating like we're eating such a burles line we're up for we're up for nothing like before everybody's even sitting down three minutes into the game all of a sudden they start a fight they start a fight benny gets in there benny gets right in there gets right in the mix doesn't know the rules he gets tossed from the game you get tossed for fighting so like him and two other guys get tossed from fighting next thing you know he's in the locker room. The horn just keeps going off.

Nine goals we scored. I think we won nine to three. Every other freshman scored their first goal of their careers except Benny because he was already kicked out. I was suspended the next night. If you even look at someone funny in college, he gets suspended. I think we won 10-2 the next night so everybody else scored the next night betty had no points and i never recovered after that never

never had any points yeah uh so that's where you're that's was your college experience so like what did like tell me about rpi though like i know like you know pretty well known now you guys relationship coming up together i just want to to know, like, you know, that time in college, because now you work in college, and have been for a number of years. Like, what was that experience like for you? Did that influence you and guys like Merle's or others? Talk about the ranch.

The ranch. Yeah, so I don't want to get sentimental here, but I owe a lot of being able to be a coach in college to Merle you know and I because we lived together for a long time and it's really hard to get into coaching so obviously the four years as a player you know I love that it was great you make great great friends as you do in junior hockey or pro hockey I'm sure but you know college is special and it was it was a really fun four years but um you know my friendship with merle is really what's allowing me to sit here right now because i i had to volunteer for two years i was working at a bank and basically

squatting in merle's house for almost 10 years so that allowed me to get my first job at union and then you know we had some success there and then went to a bunch of different places from there so uh i owe being able to sit here with you guys today to this guy so whoa whoa you got to tell the people like our listeners our fans about this um you squatted at merle's house what what like what does that mean what are we looking at like so you came over you're gonna stay for a couple nights boys went out got shittered good weekend couple double i'm like while i'm gone just like pay the water bill pay the bill and that's it it's on so and you flush the toilets or the water pipe yeah yeah it's a break

yeah like just take care of the house a bit rent free no big deal yeah and so that continued forever so you guys are like you guys were actually bro i asked him to do one thing one time he calls me i don't know where i was at this point. And he's like, oh, the dishwasher broke. And I'm like, all right, like, here's 500 bucks. Like, just get a new dishwasher in there. I'm not dealing with this. I'm probably down in Wilkes-Barre drunk with you somewhere, the Woodlands. You were in Wilkes-Barre.

Next thing you know, like four days later, he calls me. He's like, oh, I got a great deal. He goes, I had this guy come up and he just put in a new piece. It only cost me 200 bucks. I'm like, so wait, we still have like that 1979 like dishwasher? He's like, yeah, but it's running great. I got this new part for it. Still there, I think.

It's still going. But the part of that story. The one thing I asked him to do, he couldn't do it. Well, you told me to talk to your mom who knows somebody. Your mom knew, she gave me art. So your mom, who's a saint, she was a, I got to throw her under the bus a little bit knew she gave me art so your mom who's a who's a saint she was a i gotta throw her under the bus a little bit she gave me art's number so well i yeah and so that relationship we've got tons of stories from that you basically taking like making sure

merles can come home in the summer yeah um but that led which you said the opportunity for you to to get into coaching yeah and how did that start where were you said, the opportunity for you to get into coaching. Yeah. And how did that start? Where were you? Who were you with? Kind of what was that like living in Merle's spare room? Well, he was away chasing the dream. You were starting something of your own. Yeah.

So I graduated in 2004, and it was a lockout year in the NHL. So there was no- It was a fast year of the mind. Yeah. So for me, who would have been like, you know, playing wasn't really an option. So I started working for HSBC Bank. I live in Merle's place. I was coaching a peewee team, Capital District Selects.

And, you know, so I did that for a couple years. And then I think it was 2006 or 2007, I started volunteering back at RPL. That's kind of how in college you have to kind of volunteer as an assistant coach to get in, unless you're a big name like Merle would have been or something. Maybe he gets a job right away. So I volunteered, and it happened to be the year that Jim Montgomery actually was hired as an assistant. Monty!

This is where we hear you. Yeah, with Seth Appert. So I shared an office with Monty as a volunteer. Seth Appert's Rochester AHL coach right now. He was in the U.S. program for a few years. Yeah, so that's how I got started. So I did that for a year, obviously, meeting Monty and Seth, and obviously Merle got to know those guys too.

And then the next year, Union College, Nate Lehman was the head coach at Union College and he lost an assistant like a week before the season started. And this was before Union ever won anything. I got the job there by default. I don't think anyone else was going to come and be there. I just happened to, because I was living at the ranch, I got the job and I didn't, you know, I'm single. I didn't need, you know, to take a job for 30 grand or whatever it was. And that's how it started. And then we had some success there and went on from there.

And, you know, and then Monty was a big reason I got the job at Maine two years ago. I got to go back to the union and I knew they were going to have success because, and I always thought, I'm like, I never worried about anything. I'm like, oh, just being a college assistant coach when I'm done playing. Like, this is the dream job.

It's so easy. This guy, I would come home and I would be sitting there. I'm like, hey, Benny, where are you? He's like, I'm on the way home from Toronto. He's like, I'll probably be home around 2 a.m. He's like, I'm like, oh, all right, cool. I guess like you're not watching the late game with me. So I'd go to bed.

I'd wake up and wake up next morning, 8 a.m., and he's gone. So I'm calling, like, dude, where the fuck are you? Where's my bacon and rice? He's like, oh, I've got to go watch this game in Connecticut. And I'm like, what? What are you doing? He's like, oh, I've got to recruit. I've got to recruit.

He's like, we're union. We're not getting the big names. We've got to be out there. This guy was never home. He was on the recruiting trail nonstop. And one, it showed me that i'm never going to be a college assistant coach and two that they were going to be successful and i don't know how many years later you won the national championship with all the guys you recruited

you weren't there but it was all the guys you recruited yeah you know it was that was fun you know and nate lehman obviously is he's a coach at providence now but he's been the world junior coach and had it's had a ton of success and, and they won at Providence and national championship as well. And so just, you know, when Rick Bennett was there was the other assistant who had, who won at union as a head coach. So again, kind of the right place at the right time.

And we had nothing. It was, it was, I tell a lot of people that we probably, they probably would have made movies about that. If hockey was like basketball or football, because, you know, we didn't have any scholarships. It was a division three school. And for that school to win a national championship is like, it really changed the whole dynamic of college hockey. Cause now like schools started to put a lot more money into it. If they can do it, anyone can do it, you know? And then you see like, we went to Providence, you know, they paid,

need a lot of money to go to Providence and, you know, and UMass, you know, so now there's teams that weren't necessarily powerhouses when we played that are, you know, that are really good now. And I think that union thing kind of changed the whole dynamic. Well, not a lot of teams have a Benny Barr. I think that's fair to say. And what do you think makes Nate Lehman such a good coach? Because I was such an advocate of when the Bruins job opened up, Merles is pulling for Monty. You went outside the box. I wanted the Beast to look at Nate Lehman. I thought he's done such a good job at Providence. Everyone speaks so highly of him.

I'm shocked he hasn't made the jump to the NHL yet. But why is he such a good coach? Is it recruiting? Is it how he treats the players? Like what makes him so awesome? I think he's just a, he's a pretty, he's a really smart guy. He's really detailed. Um, doesn't miss anything. He's got almost like a photographic memory, uh, you know, of the, of the game as it's happening. And that's, you know, that's what I learned from him. You know, you know, he doesn't, he could remember two shifts ago, if you missed a hit and they got, you know, 10 seconds later, there's a scoring chance.

Hey, you know, finish that hit not on the forecheck because your guys. So that's something like not a lot of guys. I mean, you know, that that was really impressive. So I think that's, you know, he's a super detailed guy and, you know, a really smart coach. So I think that's probably the reason. So you took that from him. And I think that's probably the reason. So you took that from him.

You work with Monty, who's, you know, had NHL experience now. And I mean, franchise setting season with the Bruins, his first year there. Like when you were playing and like playing with Merle's and these like lunatics, like, did you think you'd be a coach? Did you like take like to the recruiting part where you like, ah, maybe, maybe I'm a recruiter guy. And like, this is how teeth or were you were you a drill rat where you have a little book you wrote shit down and i want to know if merle did you think he'd be a coach as well i i will say this like because i was i was a lunatic because i was my flying you got to be a certain person to be a coach i think that's my asset because i think i'd be a good assistant

coach like i'm good with the guys i'm good with the details i'm good at watching like a drill and being like hey like listen like that wasn't close like you need to do this this and this differently like to be a coach you have to run the show and like be very detailed as you mentioned i know maybe you could learn to be like that but like you know was it something you know yeah he was just like he was i was like, let's just have fun. If we have fun, then we're going to win. Like, I'm still going to get my two points. Like, it doesn't matter what I do.

And he's like, no, dude, that's not how it works. He's like, you work hard, you win, then you get to have the fun. And I was like, I don't know what that, I don't know what you're talking about. This is weird, weird talk. Like, what are you talking about? I get all the points. I have fun. Then we'll win.

Just play me more and we'll win. He's like, no, you got to have everybody invested. You need to have your fourth line guys invested where I wanted to just play the whole game and win the game for the team. He's like, no, you need to have a whole team culture. You need to have all four lines invested. And then the fun comes after you win, which he actually taught me that as a guy two years younger than me so you saw so i saw kind of like you know overall aspect brain kind of working but that goes back to the shattuck thing though because i learned that like that was just me i got that at shattuck you know like everybody mattered everything mattered you know and that's uh you know so just being there i mean i'm not smarter than any other coach or anything but and then you know and then just

finding the right people like the recruit i got the reputation of being a good recruiter. I don't think I, I don't, I'm not a good salesman. I don't, I'm not, I'm not that guy. I mean, you were a banker. I'm a, yeah, I'm kind of, I'm, you know, kind of a dork and nerd. And I'm like, you know, our staff at, at Maine gives me, you know, Jason Fortier and Alfie Michaud, Matt Vandenberg give me, they think I have no fun all the time. And I'm like, well, you know, I, I, I have fun sometimes, but someday when we win the whole thing and then we'll have fun, you know, but, um, it was, that was, that was really something

that at Shattuck that, you know, that, that I learned at a young age and finding the right people to fit into that, you know? So it's ingrained in you, you've got experience, you know, volunteering around and landing some pretty lucky breaks. Merle's house gives you opportunity to do a bunch of different things. But, you know, that's where I'm like, you know, you came out of school, you got a banking job, you're sleeping on his couch, you've got a spare room in his house, you upgraded, you know? And then all of a sudden, like, you're starting to do it and you're like, hey, I'm kind of fucking, I'm pretty good at this. Like, I'm not bad. Like, I'm around some pretty good people like i'm going to be a coach because do you just need the break or

was yeah or was that something that you wanted to stay in the game even like oh i just want to stay in the game this is great that's why i like doing what i'm doing yeah i'm around the game around my best buddies and i get to talk about hockey still and it's like i'm still in the game somehow for you is that was that the same kind of yeah like i wasn't i knew i wasn't good enough to play you I get to talk about hockey still and it's like, I'm still in the game somehow for you. Is that, was that the same kind of, yeah, like I wasn't, I w I knew I wasn't good enough to play. You know, I could have played, you know, for a few years that, you know, low level minor league hockey, but I knew I wasn't good enough to do that. So, um, so you're just kinda, you know, it's really hard to get into the college game unless you're single and you have a good friend unless you have a unless you come from a lot of money yeah you know because it's you're not going to make money for a while you

know and uh so you you know you just you volunteer you pay your dues like monty monty started my brother's doing monty's one of the third all-time in ncaa scoring played 15 years pro his first job coaching was a volunteer at notre dame like a guy like that still has got to volunteer yeah you know so it's hard to get in and then you just need to have some like you know honestly being able to live with Merle do that um and and then you just get a break and then you get a break and hopefully and then I got a break because I my first job was with Nate Lehman and Rick Bennett you know and then we had success and you go from there and you know it happens pretty quick it's no different as a player I'm sure right yeah you get you get your chance and hopefully you can you hit that window yeah the coach likes you

you play with good players like your team's good like a lot of things have to work out thank you Crosby yeah but I don't know where you want to go with them next I want to ask about UMass yeah that's what I want to go to UMass where you get to coach another great coach and then some great players because we got a lot of NHL fans that want to hear. Why haven't you talked? Why haven't you asked them about McCarr yet? Why haven't you asked them about Kelly yet? Yeah.

So, yeah, so I was at Western Michigan for a couple years, and I knew I kind of wanted to come back out east. My wife, Tara, is from the Albany area. And, you know, so UMass job opened up and I was actually, I actually interviewed for the job, for the head coaching job. I knew I wasn't going to get it. They wanted somebody with experience. So Greg Carville got it. And I just kind of called him.

I'm like, hey, can I come back? You know, and he, I didn't know him. And he was like, sure. Wow. That's amazing too because a lot of those guys want to bring their guys right like they have their yeah their guys they know yeah uh so and he did he brought so Jared DeMichael was the other assistant they were at St. Lawrence together so he brought Jared and then he needed one other assistant so um I'm like

yeah I'm coming and um you know we got there we won five games our first year. We were maybe the worst team in college hockey. And then, uh, and Kale McCarr was already committed to UMass before we got there. And we're just like, oh man, there's no chance. Like I tell him to lose him because in today's day and age, coaching staff gets fired. The team is not doing well. 999 times out of a thousand, there's no chance that kid shows up at, uh, you know, and that just kind of tells you what kind of person he is and what kind of family they are. So that whole first year where we won five games, we're just waiting for that call from Cale.

Cale's, he's on the draft list. He's like, oh, he might be the number one pick. And we're just like, ah, losing, losing. And we're just caught off, man. And it never even, I don't even, I mean, you have to ask him, but I don't even know if it ever occurred to him to, like, not come to UMass. He's going to play college hockey. He's playing, where's he playing for the? He was in Brooks. Brooks Bandits. have to ask him but i don't even know if it ever occurred to him to like not come to umass and he's going to play college hockey he's playing where's he playing for the he was in brooks brooks and

yeah brooks bandit yeah no burley yeah and i mean and like he's just having a historic year their team wins every you know and you know he's growing up the draft board and the draft rankings and you know became a whatever top five pick so yeah so he comes the next year we had some other really good players around him that was the one thing that you comes the next year we had some other really good players around him that was the one thing that you know we were able to get some other guys that you know so it wasn't just it couldn't just be kale and a team that won five games you know we had some other guys and a lot of those guys are playing the nhl now too but you know and that was you know it was a crazy i was there for five years and we won in in 21 and it was uh everyone

thought when kale kale was there for two years and mario ferraro and mitch chafee some of these guys that are playing the nhl and you know they left and the culture got so good that you know everyone thought when you know he left all umass will go back to being and then we we just kept kept winning and we won two years after he was after all those guys left and you know we had obviously some really good players on our team at that time too so um and then i had and then right after we won in 21, I had had the next week, my wife gave birth to twins. And then I got the call for this main thing means coach for a gender now, unfortunately passed away during the frozen for, because it was a whirlwind.

And then, yeah. Can I ask like, yeah, UMass is notorious. I mean, it's called the zoo, right? It's egg. It's, it is a fun fucking time. It's a blast as a coach. How do you, and especially as the assistant, like, how are you like keeping these kids in line? Because like it is, it's gotta be tough to go to UMass Sam Hurston and not get in trouble every night. You know what I mean? Yeah. I mean, I think it's just getting the right people in, you know, we couldn't, you know, we had that in our whole thing when we got there and this was Carvey's thing was the new mass thing. And he just was

like, Hey, we're not, this isn't us. Right. We can't that culture of like, Hey, we go out every night and that, you know, I get it. And we all have been there. And, but it's, if we're trying to turn something around, we can't be that, you know know and it's the same for us that you know i mean right now and uh you know we have a really good culture which is why our team is starting to get better you know and it's so we had to separate ourselves from that a little bit and um and get the right people and having guys like kale and something i mean they're serious hockey players right like they're not um can he still help you too like does he still make calls for you guys does he still help in the or you're not there anymore but like legal isn't it yeah is that illegal can guys do that i mean

with nil i don't yeah i don't i don't think they he would he's their whole fair his brother younger brother taylor's at umass now that you know so we recruited him there afterwards but he just one of my assistants elfi michaud was just just out in Denver um his daughter's team was in the I think U14 nationals in Denver and he went and said hi to their team I mean he's just you know I I gave gave Elfie his number so he's you know one of the best people you could ever meet so yeah he's you can always uh he doesn't forget where he comes from no question so yeah and so I I just thinking now you take that you take that experience you take that You can always, uh, he doesn't forget where he comes from. No question. So, yeah. And so I, I just thinking now you take that, you take that experience, you take that, I

don't know, culture. It's like something like when I got traded from Pittsburgh, for example, like I went to Atlanta, Atlanta, I could barely say Atlanta. Uh, and it's like, you know, it's not close. Yeah. You walk in there, it's not close. And it's like, you know, I there it's not close and it's like you know i think other guys probably leave certain situations or like you know bring up where they were all the

time because you're searching for kind of that recipe right yeah yeah um so you take that now into your new gig and it starts all over the wicked beast of coaching, never mind coaching, but college coaching and recruiting. How's the transition over to this new program been for you and searching for that? Yeah. I mean, this is my first head coaching job. So that was, I mean, hockey's hockey, you know, so, you know, you always think, you know, what you're getting into and you think you're, it's just like, as a player, you think you can coach and then you start doing it and you're like, oh, this is a lot different, you know, then I remember I went through that as an assistant, but so there's a bit of that and, you know, we won seven games. It's honestly, it's almost the same thing when seven games our

first year, you know, I knew what I was getting into and, you know, we got really a really good staff and we've got some fantastic players that are in our program now and that are coming we got much better this year we got around 500 and i you know i'm hoping that next year usually it's year three we take a big step and um but the one thing for me at maine is like you know merle you would know this it's unbelievable passion unbelievably passionate people and so the one thing i wasn't ready for was how much the people care about you know when we went to umass like nobody we had an 8 000 seat arena there'd be 200 people there for the first couple years at times until we started you know

like so you have which is almost kind of nice no one's like bothering you you know that mean like it's full almost every night no matter what it's the it's kind of like you guys Wilkes-Barre show in town yeah it's like Wilkes-Barre you're the only thing in town you're you're on the front page of the sports page every day you're going through the airport you're getting recognized you're at the grocery store your wife's probably getting recognized at the nursery school like really it's the only show in town great place to go play you're basically like a pro yeah it's it's unbelievable and like i i'd been there as a visitor because i have providence and umass like you know so i've been there many times and you know how awesome a place it is but it's uh that was the one thing

for me like handling my first year because their team was struggling not very good and you feel like dealing with the emotions because the people still like they love it so much so you feel like bad about it, you know. And now, you know, start to show a little bit of progress this year. And, you know, you see like every night the place is packed like an hour before the game, you know. And you're just like, man, like once we get this thing going, it's going to be even crazier. Crazy. And, you know, so it's going to be a lot of fun.

But for me, it was like trying to as a head coach, managing the emotional piece of that, not, you know, not letting that get to you, especially the first year when you know you're going to going to go through it a little bit. You know, you know, me and G did the tour of the Arizona State locker room. And, you know, that was a success. I told you right away we want to come up there. But you told me we got to wait. Why we got to wait? Yeah, wait, because we're going to renovate our rink, and they're going to start that this summer, which is, you know, really exciting. It's not much has changed up there since the teams in the 90s that won. Korea's taking shits on the toilet. Those are the same ones. Benny Barr's, like, sitting on, you know,

it might be the same back here. You know, you'd have to ask Monty and Paul that. Same stalls, yeah. Oh, Monty's there,. Same stalls, yeah, like. Oh, Monty's area, just throw it snot rock. Yeah, so that's starting this year, so, hey, when that thing gets finished, you guys can be the ones to come through. Boom, gee.

Give the new two. I mean, I saw the Arizona State thing, so that was pretty cool, so, standing open invitation for when that all gets finished. Let me ask you about, like like guys like Monty, Korea, like you could name people that have come through Maine and the program's been around for a while. Obviously when names like that jump out,

guys that have, you know, awesome college careers that kind of put splash like UMass with sure, Makar, right? Like everyone thinks of that. Is it as a head coach coming into a program that's established and has had history is is is that way on you at all like you know you're wearing that golf shirt right now yeah and representing them and like i don't know like i think you know it's always it's got to be

something that you come in and you're like whoa dude this has been around a while like there's a lot of there's a lot of stuff here that i have to you know uphold yeah no it it was really different for me because everywhere else you know union and providence and umass it was really the first time that they'd ever had so there really wasn't that long tradition so at maine there is so you know that's why there's such that that passionate fan base so that was different for me like dealing with that and and you know meeting a lot of these alums that are you know that the program has only been since like the, I think the early 80s is really when they went to you. So it hasn't even been around that long. And there, if you walk into the rink, there's a wall of dozens and dozens and dozens of NHLers. And it's, it's unbelievable what happened up there in the late 80s, all through the 90s and early 2000s. So it can be intimidating know and that's uh so you know it's nice to you know have it in with like amante before that right like you know that he can you know knowing

him and you know he obviously has a voice with a lot of the alums and stuff so he's been very helpful and murrow that's like when we went to camp pittsburgh and we saw mario yeah hey we couldn't even talk it's like what do? Nothing. He'd look at us. We were just like looking at him. I remember my first practice. Remember there was the three teams, A, B, and C? And then Mario just wasn't on a roster. He would just show up.

I don't know if I've told this story before in Chick-fil-A. He would just show up whenever he wanted, whenever his tee time was. If his tee time was early, he'd come skate with C. I don't remember that. And then if the tee time was later, he'd skate with A to get it out of the way. So this is my first camp ever. And I know the roster, who's going to be out there. I got this figured out.

All of a sudden, 66 comes on the ice. I'm like, oh, Jesus Christ. Like, holy cow. So it was the first drill. It's four blue lines. It's just the easiest drill. Go down, make a pass. Holy shit.

You can't pass, no? My first pass in an NHL training camp is Mario Lemieux coming through the neutral zone at me. Just put it in front of him. Just lay it out in front of him, Matt. Nope. Ripped it right off his skate. Obviously, though, such a legend. He picks it up, takes it down, and goes down and scores it.

Yeah, yeah. I was never so nervous in my life. There you go. There you go, Benny. A little coaching advice for you, and you can tell this to your players. You can't give a good player a bad pass, right? That old saying holds up. So with recruiting brothers, though, how does that work?

I've always wondered this. Do you go in being like, I want you, and they're like, well, you can take him if you take these two brothers, or do you go in being like i want all three of them uh well so one of them was already committed to maine they're from a couple hours just over the border in new brunswick just so you know geographically they're actually from pretty close to our school so one of the brothers the older one was already committed to me when i got there and then heard about the younger one brad um you know i they're playing

in the maritimes which you don't see like i don't i never really recruited that area at other schools and stuff and you you would know it's not like you got halifax but they were playing in the maritime tier two junior league and it's in a young one was playing maritime midget so it's like i was really unfamiliar with it um and then they went out to penticton the first summer and they both start lighting it up right away and the younger one um who's going to be he might be a first or second round draft pick this year i think they could have gone anywhere so again you know they're very very down-to-earth great people they're coming to mean because you know outside of the hockey piece you know it's

close to their you know their family can come and watch and um so it was almost similar to to the kale thing a little bit where like one of them was already coming to staff. The team wasn't doing great. The staff turns over, you know, and then the younger ones still coming because they did their homework and they're comfortable with it. And, you know, obviously we're pretty fortunate there.

The way I explain it, everybody's like, how does Benny keep doing all this recruiting? You've met him now. You've known him for a couple hours. If you're a mom, do you not feel safe sending your little- Well, he did pay for our beers, too. He did pay for our beers. Then he goes out with the dad, and he's picking up the beer tab with the dad.

They go home the next day like, oh, what a guy. Of course we're sending our kid off with him. Like no girls. He's like a proud papa. Yeah, yeah. No, he's so proud of you. It's actually, though, we're sending our kid off with it. Like no girls. He's like a proud papa. Yeah, yeah. No, he's so proud of you. It's actually, though, we were talking about that. It's this new transfer portal thing that's new in the NCAA where kids, you know, it's basically free agency every year now.

It really makes it, like, we have to be really good at what we do. And I'm not saying we're the best or anything, but, like, our culture has to be fantastic. And we have to have the right people there. or anything, but like our culture has to be fantastic and we have to have the right people there or else, I mean, you know, as players, like culture, you know, if it's BS, you're going to go, right? Like if, if, you know, and we, when we went to school, you were, you were basically hostage. You weren't going to go cause you had to sit out a year if you left, if you went somewhere else.

So it really holds the mirror to us to be really good at what we do and have a real, you know, our players have to get better. They have to be pushed. Um, you know, and we can't be full of shit ourselves basically, you know, as coaches or else these kids are going to go. And, um, so I'm not a, I'm not a great wordsmith or salesman or anything like that, but like, you know, hopefully there's enough players over the time that, you know, they can players talk to players. That's how you get players. It's not what anything I say, you know, it's not the the fancy locker rooms and the in the atmosphere even though we have that you know it's they they want to know that they're going to have a chance

to to win championships and move on that's all they care about you know message the experience the culture and then an opportunity right that's what like kids want and maine's a serious hockey place yeah it's not you're going there to Yeah. It's not, you're going there to fucking golf in the summer. Like you're going there to golf on your off days. I mean, during the season, you're, you're coming there,

you're going to school and you're going to get kicked in the ass and pushed to the next level. Yeah. At a program like that, right? That's what you're. Yeah. That's what I'll do your sales pitch for you.

Wake the fuck up. We're going to send Benny Barr also out to Saskatchewan. If he's hitting up halifax the good people of halifax the maritimes people which i love they remind me of my people from saskatchewan i'm gonna send benny out recruiting sasky sasky get ready go stay at the broad black bear okay i'll see you kevin broad's house you know saskatoon there he is right there brother got him in there no brother got a good shout that gets a squat at my house Here you go Broder

You finally got your shout out Quit texting us Alright Benny you got big things going up in Maine Great program hopefully we'll see you here Next year at the Frozen Four And that's why we're here too let's talk about the Frozen Four Benny we got you here we got an expert We got a coach we got a guy that knows it all

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If they don't fit or whatever. Try out a pair risk-free today and see why over 16,000 guys with huge massive asses and thighs have changed their lives with Mugsy. Use code CHICKLETS at Mugsy.com For 10% off I'm looking at it Minnesota Michigan Quinnipiac Boston University BU Witzel team Witzel team It should be a good one I know looking at

All these teams and their run And cooking through on their way Here to Tampa by the way They give them those brutal fucking like Cardboard things, we made it to Tampa. Don't they do better shit in college? Are you getting a cardboard cutout to take a picture? Do they cut out the

nets? Like the basketball? Yeah, they do that if you win. Is that only for the title or the regionals? Just the title. Oh, just the title. You could probably do it in the regionals. You could do it in the regionals. We're cutting nets out, though. It's college hockey.

We do whatever we want. We've got four really good teams here, though. I think all possess something different about them, whether it's skill with those Michigan, Minnesota teams. It's lockdown defense. I feel like Quinnipiac's just a rock and a team that comes through there. And then BU has a little bit of everything as well on their way here so you know looking at this tournament what what are we to expect what do you like what are you seeing yeah it's i think it's so different for me i'll say yes just

because it's like i watched penn state almost knock off michigan who's a team that everyone looks at i'm like thinking my head i'm like fuck that was a seven game series penn state could maybe have had i'm like the way they played like they surprised me and this is like you know one and done college stuff so you never know but you know what are we to expect from this kind of format this kind of tournament and these kinds of teams yeah i think it's a little different than this frozen four to me is a little different than the last probably four or five because you have you know three of the most blue bloods four yeah you know with bu michigan minnesota we're just loaded with talent and high-end young kids and then quinnipiac is obviously very very good too but they're older uh so it's almost a very it's it's totally different you

know kind of styles of play um I honestly think anybody could win. I don't know those Western teams as well. We played Quinnipiac and BU. You beat Quinnipiac, didn't you? We beat Quinnipiac once, which was, you know, I think that was our home opener this year. And what was it? What was the score in that game?

Because I saw, I looked them up, but they don't give up, like, more than, like, two goals a game. Yeah, it was 4-0. It was at our rank. I don't think the Chiefs let them up. Well, we didn't light them up, but we got, you know, at our rank, you know,

if you get the first goal, I think they're a team, then the next thing I think they beat us like 5 or 6-2 or something, but... You pissed them off. Yeah. I mean, if they get...

They're a very, very well-coached team. Those guys do an unbelievable job, so if they get up on you, it's really hard to, you know, to come back. I think you saw that. Who did they beat? Ohio State, I think, in the regional there.

And they scored two quick goals, and it was just an insult. And you just knew it was over. You just feel that it was over. You feel that they were going to score, and then it was quick, and then just the game was over. Yeah. And BU is super high octane. Jay Poundell, their their first year head coach.

He's done an unbelievable job there. And they have a ton of high-end skill. Yeah, what about this little guy, Lane Hudson? People don't talk about him as much. He had, I don't know the numbers, but close to 50 points. He led Hockey East as a defenseman and freshman defenseman. The score is sick. Which is great. We played them

three times. I think he had about 15 points in those three games. So we saw enough of him. Lane Hudson, 15 goals, 33 assists in 38 games played for 48 points. As a defenseman. As a freshman, not bad.

Where did he come from? Sask? He was a NDP guy. He was a Sask guy? I can tell you he's a second-round graphic of the Montreal Canadiens, 62nd overall. Wow, that sounds like a steal. He's from Holland, Michigan. Montreal, did you hear that?

Yeah, he's... Wow. So his brother's on the team too, and I think there's a third one that's at the NTDP now. So what he did this year is unbelievable, and he's not one of the Hobie finalists, which is crazy kind of, but to do that as a freshman defenseman is phenomenal.

How do you compare him to Makar when you saw him? Is there any similarities, differences? Just the Makar whisperer. We got the Makar whisperer. We got the car whisperer. Well, to put it in perspective, if you look at Cale, Cale's two years. And as a freshman, Cale had 20-some points at UMass. And this kid has almost 50.

He's probably partying. No, he wasn't. He wasn't drinking big deal brews. And then, obviously, Kael had, you know, won the Hobie the next year. He was an unbelievable, you know, player and went right to the NHL. But, you know, to put that in perspective,

it's pretty crazy. I mean, his sophomore year, he had 49 points. That's how many Lane had this year. His freshman year, 21. 21. So to think about what Lane did as a freshman this year. That's wild. And Hobie, no Hobie consideration for that kind freshman this year, that's wild. And, uh,

Hobie, no Hobie consideration for that kind of, well, he, I think he was a top 10, but he wasn't a top. Yeah. The three Hobies are a Fantilli, Cooley and Nye. Yeah. Oh, and obviously all good players. I don't know those Western guys. Obviously those guys are phenomenal players. So, you know, I don't, I just, we don't play, we hadn't, we didn't play either of those two Minnesota or Michigan this year.

So, you know, it's hard for me. I've watched them and know that they have a ton of talent. And I really do believe any of these teams are capable of winning. I just want to skip something. Gee said something really awesome on Spin Chicklets, our parent station. He said, I got a great idea for college hockey They should play the regionals in the Number one

Team that's ranked first highest Should host the regionals Like I want to go to that just because I think that's an awesome idea I think that Makes the crowds awesome yeah you get home ice advantage But you earned it and you Earned the crowd wouldn't that be awesome I mean for Maine if you had it,

wouldn't you want that if you finish first with your crowd as you're talking about? Shouldn't it be like that? The atmosphere is the best part of college hockey. So if you could really bring that out, I feel like that would just grow the game. That gets talked about because it used to be like that. It was.

I was going to say, I remember a year Michigan somehow hosted it, and they weren't even a top team. Are they doing this because some of these teams are good multiple years in a row so they continue to host it? Providence hosted the year you guys won the national title. Well, they hosted not at Providence's rink. It was at the Dunkin' Donuts Center.

So, I think the fairness was a big piece of it, right? So, it gets talked about every year to go back to that because a lot of it comes down to dollars and cents at the end of the day and if you're at a home site, you're going to sell those places out probably. And, you know, depending on who's at what regional, you know, that depends on what attendance is like and that kind of stuff.

So it gets talked about all the time, but it becomes tough because there's no standards of like every college rink is like a different shape, different size. Like High Valley or whatever they hosted, and it was michigan against penn state penn state's like a couple hours away i mean that was a home game for them when i was watching on tv it was like totally all their fans so like yeah what are we doing here you know like why why are we doing that why don't we do it where you know some of these teams are the

host the small barns though i know the the money comes into it but like the small atmosphere of like the fans on top of the ice like i i personally just think like from a camera perspective in viewing it on tv i just think that's good for the game yeah fans are on top of the ice screaming every time there's a goal they're banging on the glass like i just think that looks better than playing in worcester or in manchester at noon nobody to see noon. There's even cancelling. Yeah. No, I think you're right. And I just, you know, if you take all 62 or 60,

whatever the number of Division I teams, I mean, logistically, some places couldn't handle that, you know, as far as, like, hotels and getting. And Cornell. Cornell's got four teams coming. Yeah. I mean, think about some of the places that you go. If you're not near a major city, like, how are you going to put four teams up?

So it becomes an issue. But I agree with you. Like, in theory, it would make a ton of sense. And they talk about it every year going back. And you just don't know who's going to be the one seeds until, like, what, four days before it? Yeah. So that's a logistic thing. That's true.

Yeah. So, like, right until the last game, you don't know who those number ones are. Yeah. I mean, we're, we're even doing that in the NHL, right? It's like,

you know, re-ranking for playoffs. That's still a conversation that I think should happen too. I think it's, I think it's got to go right to one to eight and just redo it. So something to think about, something we heard about from a coach as well. Tomorrow night in Tampa, I don't know,

what do you expect from the atmosphere, the crowd? It's in Tampa. Obviously, this is a place that's used to seeing championships. They're going to see another one here this weekend. What do you expect it to be like as far as, you know, you were in it. You were in the tournament. Like crowds, fan bases, schools, support. Are we going to show up to the games tomorrow?

Is it going to be a gong show? Like is that kind of the expectation? So I came, it was here in I think 2012, and then I think it was here in 26. So Union College was here in 2012. So Nate and I came down here because we had just left Union. So we went to watch the team. It was awesome. This is as best, this is as good of a, of a place as you can be, uh, for a frozen four

and every year moves around. This is probably one of the best ones you can go. Just cause I think it adds like, just like the NHL, like you come to a game, there's outdoor bars set up. It's, it's ready to go with that kind of atmosphere that you'd want or expect not only an nhl game that's awesome for being down here but college especially right yeah and the fan bases are come most of them are coming from the deep it's just an awesome place yeah so like you know we got perfect teams in it too we got some yeah you got you got you got teams that are very you

know lots of tradition um i think it's going to be an unbelievable atmosphere. I don't know if I'm even going to go because I hate watching games when we're not playing. It makes me feel like we're... Well, no, you'll be the guy pacing around in the concourse. I feel like a failure. You'll be like watching, you'll be like, that guy will be in the portal at the end. Portal, how's he going?

Yeah. I think I have a ton of fun. In 2012, I can say it was unbelievable. I can't imagine it won't be even better. That's actually true. Minnesota, Michigan, Quinnipiac, Boston University. I might not be the palest guy at the big... I literally might.

That's a great point. You're going to see a lot of fans from people who haven't seen the sun in a while. So you're going to see a lot of tasty people. You're looking good. You've covered for Sweden. Dark 24 sun. We've turned the sweet. It's dark 24-7. We've turned the clock. We're the other way now.

Now it's too bright up there. I can't go to sleep. I need these dark. Yeah, we're on our way to the summer. Yeah, windows like at the ranch. Come on, block that sun out. Is that what he used to do? Yeah.

Yeah, I put the aluminum foil on the window. He's an NHL player. That's how you get as black as you can. A little foil on the window as an NHL player. Tin foil. That's how you get as black as you can. A little tip of the pros for you kids out there. Shitter's full. Did you used to do that with the, do you have a septic tank at the ranch? Yep.

I had to dig that thing up because, well, Betty's flushing everything you can imagine down the toilet. Next thing you know, the thing's blowing up back up the other way you got the gm call gm was on it bet he fucked around with the septic tank again oh man what a beauty uh what are you flushing paper towels down there i i exactly i didn't know and oh he he blames me i'm not the one flushing the bad things. Among other things. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So I'm looking forward to this.

I'm looking forward to our action tomorrow. You're not going to go to the game, are you? He's coming to the game. I don't know. I don't know. I haven't been in the sun. I have three little kids at home. So I sat at the pool today.

It's the longest I've had. We'll see you at Hat-Trix. Yeah, let's watch. I'll come to that. You're probably not going to leave Hattrick's. If you're looking for Ben Barr, he'll be at Hattrick's from 3 to midnight. They got good nachos, too.

3 to 5, Hattrick's. Benny Barr will be there with the crew. He'll be sitting in the corner. We're not going to make him be awesome, but he'll be awesome in his own way. That's on slate for tomorrow before we head to the rink. We got two games. Merles, you want to get in some of this, you know, what you expect?

I mean, you're the guy. A lot of people lay on this guy. Like, can you believe this guy now? Well, I didn't tell you this. Did I tell you this story about the team when our team was practicing and he showed up and all our guys look over there like, hey, there's Merles. How do you guys know who this guy is? You're like, don't get me started.

We're all following Chick. We're all following him on. I mean, you guys shouldn't be following him. But anyway, is Game Notes the official podcast of NCAA? I think it is. I think we just took it over. Boom. We're here.

We're on site. We got boots on the ground down here. We got a head coach here We're gonna blow this Tournament apart, we're gonna have a blast We're in the sun, we got Benny Barr We got ultimate insider action Alright, we're gonna get into a little bit more

Of the Frozen Four Merle's a little bit later But I wanna transition now I don't know if you've listened to us Maybe you should ask some of your players. They probably do. It's a segment we like to call show or mindsies. It's where we name something that you think is awesome. It goes to the show.

If something's really grinding you, you send them to the mindsies where Merle's and I spent a lot of time playing as you're well aware of. Basically my whole career. It's a real popular thing. And I know we were getting a ton of stuff said to us all the time. Show Mindsies pictures of guys with crazy stuff, like for beer leagues, like this is the Mindsies.

What a loser, like trying to get us to carve guys on social media. So thank you to our listeners, viewers, and fans for really enjoying and embracing this segment, which I think is pretty fun. You want to go first with yours? Yeah, I guess so. It's Frozen 4 related. I caught it on Twitter this morning late.

The Quinnipiac class of 2017, a couple of NHL guys, Clifton, Taves, they set up a dinner for the team last night, all expenses paid. I don't know. I think you can do that now. I don't know. Is that allowed? It's allowed for a long time. Quinnipiac might get thrown out of the tournament but they they they

picked up a dinner they set it all up for the team last night when they got into town so quinnipiac got here they had nothing to worry about the old nhl guys set it up for him from quinnipiac the alum so that is that show don't show i mean you get a show meal in a show city from your show guys. A couple of the other alumni, too. That whole class chipped in, but I'm sure Tate. Oh, fuck. Those guys cut the fucking cord, you guys.

Cut the cord. Let them do it on their own. Let them earn it. It was there for you guys when you guys were doing it. Exactly. That's why you do it. Good job, boys. That is show.

I love that. You got anything show you want me to go? I'll go let you simmer. All right. Yeah, go for it. For me, show, want me to go? I'll go let you sit. All right. Yeah, go for it. For me show. I saw tweets also. This is amazing to me. And I love this stuff. Cause we've raved about Austin Matthews with like most,

you know, five on five goals scored and, you know, through seasons of past, not so much this year. Uh, but Adam Rawal, I hope I said his name right.

Sorry. Of the call Colorado hockey. Now tweeted McKinnonon has 69 even strength points guys in 65 games this year 69 in 65 games this year he needs just two more even strength points to be a point a game at even strength on the season also 100 points first 100 point season that he just had and it's first in Colorado history Since Burnaby Joel, Joe Sackett did it In 06-07

Who doesn't love Joe Sackett But that, like, McKinnon's a He missed a bunch of games too, right? That's why he's going to be short games But he's going to be over the point of game threshold Yeah, but I meant more for his first 100 point season Yeah, yeah It was on a year where he missed a game

Yeah, he's going to play So let me points. Yeah, yeah. It was on a year where he missed a game. Yeah, he's going to play. After playing until middle of June. 65 games, or they have five or four more games left, four more games left or something. He's going to play like 69, 70 games, and he's going to have that many points. I mean, that's pretty remarkable.

You look at like McDavid and some of these guys that are putting up like 100 power know, a hundred power play points or, you know, close to, it's pretty amazing what they're doing on power play. Just absolutely crushing it. But what McKinnon, the kind of player he is, that show, you want to get it done, kids. You want to get it done. You get it done five on five to prove what you're worth. You score goals five on five.

They're worth way more than a power play goal. I, you know, we all think that I believe, you know, scoring goals is huge but five on five production is absolutely unbelievable that's the coach if he you know yeah like you read into those stats five on five versus power play i i can't say that i that we look at that a lot so is that that just you want points well yeah i mean we want scoring we want power play to be good i don't care who does it the power play has to be good no matter what you're gonna win i think so it's like you know i think a lot of the points in our world i don't know you know better than i like how many of the power like the top

guys how many of those percentages of this power play stuff yeah i mean it's that's it's very rare i don't know how many times we see a guy get you know per game at five on five points like that's that's wild wild and ridiculous the year he's having that show that's real that's a real hockey player that's how you get it done mckinnon we already know his show but like that production at that at that pace at that rate at that five on five area uh amazing amazing that's my show Let's go now Let's head here with the coach I don't think I can beat that But for me

Again I want to thank you guys For allowing me I don't get to do this kind of stuff Very often So for me this is my show Is just being here with you guys On Chicklet's trip On Chicklet's trip

Yeah Oh he's dating yeah Chicklet's ball We've been here for a couple hours Chicklet's ball You know it's me and my old roomie My old college roomie. Like, this is, he was, are you going to the Frozen Four?

I'm like, I'm not going to the Frozen Four. Well, maybe we'll do this thing. I'm going, I'm only going down there if I can hang out with you for a little bit. That's the only reason. So I appreciate you guys having me here. It's, this is the show for me. And, you know, then the other thing for me would be just hopefully our team at the University of Maine. Give those guys a shout out.

They're working, they're back. They're working out at 6 a.m every day and uh you know hopefully we can get to the we can become the show in the next few years and and get our program to where it used to be and um you know so i i appreciate those guys so i'm sure they'll like to hear that do we got to get you guys sponsored with uh mosquito spray there because like i'm from saski i know you guys are up black flies black flies oh that's the worst worst I don't have the bad excuse It's the flies in the spring Yeah

And they come out Vacation land Or whatever they call it Yeah They get injured Look at my nose Imagine if black flies Go up my nose

Good luck getting up there I can't even breathe Through there though Black flies Joke's on you Yeah Gee you got show for us I do

I do So we are recording Wednesday night Tonight we dropped Our first full length Documentary It was G, you got show for us? I do. I do. So we are recording Wednesday night. Tonight we dropped our first full-length documentary. It was fucking incredible. So I'm calling the Chicklets production team up to the show this week. Mike McQuaid, Sean Apuzzo, I believe Trent Christensen had a part in editing it, Elliot Fish. It's just, you know, I texted Sean Apuzo probably two years ago on September 11th when I

was watching the game on ESPN. I said, hey, I think we should make a documentary about this game. The kid went to work for the past two years, has been grinding on this documentary, McQuaid as well. So it's been so cool to see. I mean, documentaries is something I personally always wanted to do. It's my favorite way to consume content, especially hockey content. So to see these guys, to see the product they put out tonight, and it's just, it's really cool. It's something that's opened a new door for us. We're going to be able to go into this world of documentaries and create really cool hockey content. But the Chicklets production team deserves a call up to the show this week. Mike McQuaid, Sean Apuzzo, Elliot Fish, Trent Christensen, they worked their bag off on this doc.

It is really good. I watched it tonight. It dropped at 6 o'clock Wednesday night. Go on YouTube, watch it. It's that good. It's honestly like beyond pro. It's crazy how in-depth, how cool it it is and how cool the characters are Which makes me look even more forward

To the game Almost just over a week from today April 15th It's going to be awesome Barstool's putting it on, Spin Chicklet's all involved Can't wait to be there Merle's and I will be there, all of us will be there All those guys you mentioned did an unbelievable job

But G's not on camera right now He's actually crying right now, He's so proud. I was. I almost fell. I know. A little tear in his eye. And he's having such a good time on the trip. Don't be surprised if he shows up in Long Island. He's coming. I might come down there. He's coming. Who's the guy on there? Quader's here right now. Who's that guy? Strafer? Strafer with the handlebar, Quader. You gotta see this character. He's an absolute weapon. He's a beast.

So let's ask. Let's ask. Yeah, let's go. Let's ask equator. So what was your favorite part of filming this documentary? Who was the biggest character? You know, kind of run us through some of this. Bobby Strayfer.

Strayfer is probably like the character of the goon. He's always lighting people up at practice to get them prepared for the game. So if you have your head down, like he's, you're going to catch his, uh, his shoulder red to his chest. But I also think like, you don't realize how high level these guys play. Like Dan, Dan O'Donoghue and Matt Zay, they played at Mercyhurst. Who are they with? So one's, uh, O'Donoghue is with NYPD and Matt Zay is with FDNY and they played at Mercyhurst together. And the best part is, is that they hate each other growing up. They weren't friends and then they went and played

juniors together and then they went to college and became best friends and now once a year they just battle it out. They're not friends or anything and actually you called Zay out to chuck him at center ice for the game so it's going to be a good game. It's going to be some brawls. I'm excited for it.

Yeah, that's what I'm like. Gee, I was like, I've been watching this and hearing the interviews. I know I'm supposed to be like be in the locker rooms and like on the bench, like trying to get in. I might have to go to the penalty box. There might be end up being more guys in the penalty box in the game. Oh, yeah. If we get some sideline content.

Yeah, you're going to be busy, I think. By the way, the documentary went the way they went after each other and the way they sold it at the end as well to tee up this game too like we're coming in to kick the shit out of each other we're gonna put on a show we're here to play we're here to win great job quater to you and your crew absolutely gee that is show that's beyond show like can you win awards for that like that that, I watched it tonight. I was like, this is like shit I love. Tribeca Film Festival. Tribeca, yeah.

We're coming for you. Oh yeah, you guys deserve it though. It's very well done. If you haven't seen it, go check it out. I highly recommend it. All right guys, before we go any further, hold on, hold on to your horses. I have a big announcement to make.

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in capabilities for most people. That's a fact chevrolet is committed to making evs available for all americans when i see someone driving a chevy i know they made the good choice it's a very delicious choice way to go there's a growing network of public charging stations there are over 1900 certified chevy dealerships. That's a lot. Chevy has convenient ways to research and shop EVs online. You can find them anywhere. Make sure you go check them out. These EVs are truly beautiful. A nice looking iconic car. Chevy gives people the confidence to feel and be electric. EVs for everyone, everywhere, Chevy. After that, nowhere else to go but the Mindsies.

So let's hear some of the Mindsies. We got Merle's very seasoned. He loves to grind his axe on the Mindsies right now. You've been electric for six episodes. I played in the Mindsies here. I played in've been electric for six episodes here i played in the mindsies in switzerland i played in the mindsies in sweden el senskin so i know the mindsies my mindsies this week is is the real the the big show the real chicklets ra biz and wit they went over their mistakes this episode from the episode before no that's our job that's our job to go

and chirp them for their mistakes but they went back and cleaned up a couple of their mistakes stop doing that ra biz and wit you guys are going to the mindsies after doing that that's chiplets chirps uh yeah now we don't have that segment we don't have the segment because they correct i get it so that'ssies Yeah You know it's like When you're doing a drill In Maine And it's like falling apart And you're like

Oh my god I can't dumb this drill Down enough for you guys Like what's going on And then you know The boys are laughing In the room after at you That's what we do

When we do the segment Chicklets Chirp So stay out of our league To the boys I'll say stay out of the league My Mindsies segment is I gotta get after him. I got after him this week a little bit.

And Merles, if you can do it without the barrel making an appearance, can you show me that shirt? There it is, the Jets. Score right now? I don't know. Do we got a score on the Winnipeg Jets? I'll check right now. The biggest game of the year?

Yeah. Call it the game of the season. The game of the season. They're playing the Flames. Obviously, they're right there. The Jets. I know you thinkg Jets. I'll check right now. The biggest game of the year. Yeah. They call it the game of the season. The game of the season. They're playing the Flames. Obviously, they're right there. I think the Jets. I know you think the Jets, and I think the Jets. I like the Jets.

Let's see what they are. The Flames are pathetic. They lost to the Chicago Blackhawks last night. Jets have a game in hand. They're two points above Calgary. They're playing each other tonight. It's tied 1-1, I think, after, what is it after? The first period?

1-1 after two. After two. In Winnipeg. I like Winnipeg. Me and Merles went after Winnipeg hard for loving them. We were loving them. We were riding them for like a month. We're like, this team's unbeatable.

They're so good. They're huge. They're the biggest team in the league. They're structured as shit. You can't go through them. They've got Hellebuck. They're deproduced sneakily produced not just their main guy uh norrisy and and all of a sudden all of a sudden north it's been an

embarrassment it's like i could have picked the flames just as easily winnipeg you're too good for where you're at you're too good for the slide you have you're too good and now you're having to battle like the jigs team that is the calgary flames right now to try to get in the playoffs you were there i was thinking in my head i was thinking you're gonna win the stanley freaking cup i love how you're addressing the city of winnipeg you're looking dead into their eyes i'm an alumnus serious i'm a winnipeg jet alumnus yes it was with the thrashers but there's deep ties into this organization that i have and i'm i was watching them i was actually a game between the benches in pittsburgh they

throttled the penguins it hurt my heart to watch it but i was going after that game i was going this team's gonna win the stanley cup no one's even really talking about them they're that good they're that deep they're that big they're that structured they're that solid they have the goaltending they have star. They have power play specialty. They can do it all. They're gritty. Like, what happened? Wake up, Winnipeg.

You're the minors. You're going to the Mindsies. Let's go. I might change my mind after I see the score tonight, though, as they are up two points on the Flames. This could be it. This is the biggest game of the year, maybe. That's me. Where are we biggest game of the year, maybe. So that's me.

Where are we going, Benny? Mindsies. So I think I had a Mindsies moment this morning. I had a 520 flight out of Bangor. So my Mindsie would be a 45-minute layover connection,

and they sell those to you, which is on me to probably buy something like that. But I go to JFK. Sounds amazing to me, by the way what so 45 minutes so we're on time no way you make that check bag no check no check bag i didn't bring

much yeah so i two duffel bags it's only fucking i had a three three main golf golf shirt that's all it's all i need i don't wear anything that my wife doesn't buy me Or I get for free But we get there on time No problem it's like an hour flight from Bangor Not even to JFK We're stuck no one's at the gate for 20 minutes So I got a 45 minute layover 20 minutes late getting off the plane Full blown sprint

To get to my So of course it's in the total other terminal About a mile and a half So I made it in a full lather Full lather to get to my, so of course it's in the total other terminal, about a mile and a half. So I made it in a full lather. Full lather. The whole, for two hours. Were you wearing slippers too?

No, I had. Flicka, flicka, flicka, flicka, flicka. No, no, so I left Maine. Your old bear phone is everywhere. That's college. Yeah, so it was. Just warts all over your feet, like Trip McNeely From Can't Hardly Wait But it was

Because I was bundled up Wintery in Maine When I left So you're You got I got my jacket Everything I sit down in the

In the plane And it's a full drip The whole time And it just Not a good start That's a good trip We have We have the worst travel

As a team here Yeah Than anybody So you're fitting in perfect Yeah I wasn't going to Bring up my travel I know that's kind of Wits territory but we'll let it slide will you go

to minesies there g i'll just keep it quick anyone who doesn't watch the uh nypdfdny that you're going to the minesies you scumbags i agree i agree and i'll say this honorable mention shout out to the people that sent us the guy in the beer leagues that used a suitcase as a roller bag. That's mine. Z's everyone agreed to social media. Kind of, we started getting trickled in. I'm never going to lose this fucking roller bag title that Merle's gave me.

I have guys that come up to me in bars being like roller bag rally. And I'm like, he's got a roller bag. No. Oh, no. One time Merle's was just like, you look like the excitement.

We were giving it to him as risk he can't carry his bag you know about our beer league hero segment at all i well i've heard it i mean they're now that were okay yeah yeah you're gonna give it to us okay yeah i didn't know if he'd known it so we had a bunch already the roller bag don't take long shifts don't be a hard-o and this one is just recent because you know jk watt of nfl fame uh retired and then he starts posting about beer league big hockey guy big hockey guy from wisconsin love him great and he had this great thing where the guy had a hot dog machine in the locker unreal i I'm like, this thing is show. I'm ready to put him in the show, J.J. Watt. And then all of a sudden, I take a little bit closer look. I zoom in on the picture a little bit. That's the detail you're talking about.

Yeah, he knows. And I look, and I see on his helmet, number 99. It's not football anymore. Hey, J.J., this isn't the NFL. This isn't football. Nobody wears number 99 besides our friend Wayne Gretzky. Wait, so Amber said- It was on his helmet too.

It was on the helmet. 99? Because- It could be a lie. I don't know. Well, because I know that he was given the jersey 99 when he played that day. But the fact he has it on his helmet, that means he went out and bought the helmet stickers for it. Or someone else did.

Which is. Might have to fact check. That is. You're going to get fact checked. I feel like JJ is a perfect guy that we should have on the pod to talk hockey, a little hockey from him. I know he's a Wisco guy, Russian. He knows that.

Full Caulfield guy. He jumped on the big bandwagon for them. But I'd like to have that. Another college guy for you there, Benny. Who are we going to on the big bandwagon for them, but I'd like to have that. Another college guy for you there, Benny. Who are we going to get on the bandwagon for Maine? Who are we getting on the bandwagon? I'm not, but yeah, no 99 and high. What would you do if a player came and asked you,

I want number 99? Yeah, I mean, we just stick to the basic numbers. Some programs let you, hey, if I want number 73 or something, we just, yeah, we're basic up in up in maine you know like yeah that's why we like you one through 32 or whatever it is or 35 but yeah that's that's what we are but yeah who who of sports fame um would like jump on the main bandwagon like you know jj gets on w went there. Like, who could you guys have that could be, like, a person from Maine, maybe from Bangor that made it? Not a ton of famous people.

I'm looking up notable alumni right now. Stephen King or something. Stephen King still lives, like, in Bangor. One of them already knows, like, writers. You know, actually, you know... Literally, Guy would know that. You know who was, you know... A Western League guy wouldn't know that. You know who was, I think, when Sean Walsh was a coach at Maine? Kurt Russell.

Him and Kurt Russell were close. I think Kurt Russell still has a place in Maine, somewhere where no one, he can get away from at all. So that would be a guy, if we were lucky enough to get in contact with. Jump on the bandwagon. Does he have kids at play? He did. I think he does, yeah.

Hopefully, right? He plays the all-star game, like the shootout competition thingy with Zeke. I would hope we could show him that it would be worth getting back involved again. And we got to do our part. We need a spokesperson. We need a main celeb to come out. And that's Herb Brooks in Miracle. I mean, that would be a big thing for us.

That's what we need. Get the dressing room done. Get it all dialed in. And we're going to recruit someone for you guys. i'm a good recruiter too perfect i got that little bit of oh yeah i'm a salesman kind of hey hey big boy get young staff here at you mean just yeah there it is you got merle cleaning up the league number six don't wear 99 that goes for all the leagues youth hockey don't let your kid wear 99 there There's a bunch of guys in Russia that wear it. It's just, it shows some respect. The guy, it's...

I don't want to ruin the next one, but I remember when we used to go down to the Knick. All right, we're going to get into rule number seven. It's a two-rule segment. I love it. He used to drag me down when he was still playing. I wasn't playing anymore, and I was not, like, I don't want to...

I'd never really been a men's league guy as a coach so whatever but the nick arena you bring me down there in the summer and i think it was your equipment guy from the river he was when you were with the river rats and take one-timers all the time whiz them over that it should be no what you can't take a one-timer it's dangerous no one yeah it's going to get you in the face that you would get it whizz it over your head all the time and you were playing still you know that's a great rule no one-timers no one time yeah you don't know what like would get it whizzed over your head all the time and you were playing still. You know, that's a great rule. No one-timers. No one-timers. Yeah. You don't know what, there's no way a beer leader knows where to go.

No. No. Baz would probably do something like that. They got a stick that they use like a CCM vector that's like blue from like, you know, 2004 that our buddy played in the American League that gave it to them. They're still using it. They don't know where the hell that thing's going.

Nope. Get out of town. That's me. You know, you got, you can't do it. Rollerback guys over here, one-timer, rollerback. If you roll into the ring with a rollerback, no one-timer's allowed. Do you remember who that guy was?

Oh, yeah, Jake McGrath. Yeah, like, it was unbelievable. I'm like, hey, I'm out of here. I'm not, no mask on, I'm out of here. I'm not dealing with this. But you got to know that as a pro. You got to know what level you're playing at, and you just – you don't go near the net. When you see that guy getting wound up, you just move away.

Yeah. You're lucky if you get numbers in beer league on your jersey. It's not like random. But the hot dogs was cool. That hot dog machine is big. I want to play hot dogs. I play in one with um with uh kennedy kevin kennedy and what they do is they get the pizza delivered to the parking lot after so there's

two coolers of beer they get 224 cuts delivered to the parking lot so you just rush out shower shower don't rush out too quick you shower and then go out to the parking lot pizza's there the beers in the summer that's a good move too That's a GM move. That's something you would do. Organize the pizzas, right? Moving on, riding the bus, something we can all relate to. A segment we like to do where we hit on some action around all over the place. We'll keep this one pretty quick. Just we've been heavy this episode.

But Merle, do you want to give a shout out? Riding the bus to a certain team. Yeah. I did it last year on the real chiclets and they and they repeat it the binghamton bearcats they won the aau club hockey national championship and it's it's really funny that benny bar is here because he knows my doctor john o'brien you know john and his son is the captain jack o'brien and they won it again and the great story about them why i like to bring them up there's a lot of championships going on.

They do it without a coach. They don't even have a coach. They're all there on their own money. They're all there funding themselves. And had to give them a shout-out. They repeat it, won another championship. So let's hope Captain Jack. Captain Jack.

Is he player coach? Is he like a... He's the captain, and they just keep winning. So maybe he's coming for Benny's job soon Yeah Good man though Brian Good people

I want to give a shout out I don't know if you think of anyone yourself I know you've been bombing around You're at the talking to people U14 nationals A lot of hockey going on just finishing up That's why we're here at Frozen 4 But a certain video And that's why I want to give a shout out it went viral the other day the ball caris bronx they won their senior hockey title in the capel valley highway hockey league i mean how

fucking awesome is that and these beauties were at this little shithole barn and they're like perfect saski barn and and they're some are like tarps off no upper but no upper gear some are full gear buddies drive the zamboni full gear they they're they're loaded up on the zammer ripping around hoisting the trophy cheering crushing beers driving the zammer and small town saski little area right between regina and yorkton so shout out to you guys for the awesome cellully. And you guys got to understand like being from Saskatchewan, like this drives these little towns, right? Like the place to go in these little towns is the

rink, is the curling rink and the rink joined if you're lucky enough to have a curling rink. But you go to these rinks on Friday nights when the games are, whenever they have them and they bring in ringers, they'll pay people to come in. It's crazy. Uh, and you know, they stack their little teams, but you win them, and they bring in ringers. They'll pay people to come in. It's crazy. And, you know, they stack their little teams, but you win your league in those.

That's what keeps the life of this town going for like eight-month winters of nothingness, going down there, having a couple drinks, and cheering on the, you know, the local car dealer's kid, you know? Like, it's like, should Game Notes make a little trip up? We should. I got to find out what the best, I know there's like, I don't know if it's old, like the make a little Trip up we should I gotta find out what the best I know there's like

I don't know if it's old like the wild goose League is one of them but like some of these leagues We gotta find out which the best one is and go To the final like there's been some crazy Stuff that has gone on in some Of these leagues just small town stuff That's awesome but you guys know this too You don't get a better burger in some little small

Town or fries or something you know There's always some little Guy like that's where fries or something. You know, there's always something. I'm a big poutine guy. That's where many of our crew and all his kids are. And you know what? They'd be happy to have us because I think they're still waiting to get Big Deal Brews up there in Sasky. So you might have to unleash. Are we up there yet? Not yet. We could hit up a little bit. When's it coming up here?

When's it coming up here? So, Sasky, there's your shout-out. We're coming to Canada soon, though. We are coming to Canada soon. Alright, Barstool Sportsbook segment. We're coming to Canada soon, though. We are coming to Canada soon. We're coming to Canada soon. All right, Barstool Sportsbook segment. Merles, I got to get some numbers off you here. I got to get to some EBR action just quickly from you. Yeah, quick.

Until tomorrow. Quick recap. Last month, first loss ever for me on Chickens Game Notes, Game of the Month. Your team, Vecchio, screwed me. They won the two games before. Then they won the four games after the Game of the Month your team vecchio screwed me they won the two games before then they won the four games after the game of the month but they lost that game team that i bet against lost every other game but that game but whatever we're on to new things munchin red bull

one of our favorite teams for two years now three years now ebr they lost at home the other night they'll be back at home saturday still in the playoffs they will not lose at home again to that team Munchen three-way Munchen Red Bull DL three-way and then for the armor armor play of the week or play of the month we're doing some uh Frozen Four action it's got to be Frozen Four we're down here I I my favorite game of the whole thing My lock I would say If I can say lock Would be Minnesota The line is tough Minnesota's minus 197 on the money line

You always do I'm a three way I'm a three way guy So I'm minus 120 on the three way In my blog I really like that Can I change it It's called the armorour Play, so. Okay, I want to do Puck Line.

Puck Line. Puck Line, Minnesota. Minus one and a half. I would say that's probably going to be plus 150, plus 55 on Barstool Sportsbook. I like that so much. The juice. I'm in, I'm in.

We're going to get a blowout. We're going to get a blowout against BU. We're going to have an empty netter probably or something. Who cares? It's awesome. Puck line Jesus. That's what we're looking for. I like it.

All right. There's the armor. Official armor play. Minnesota Gophers minus one and a half. Thursday, I believe the game is at 5 p.m. Is it 5.30? Yeah. 5 p.m.

5 p.m. We'll have boots on the ground. We'll be there. We either will have cameras in our... I will sneak in Pink Whitney nips or Big Deal brews if we need rallying. Get it over the line. Whatever we have to do. I haven't been with you yet, Merles, for a Game Notes trip,

so this should be interesting with G and the boys here. And we'll also be at Hat-rick's, 3 to 5 on Thursday. Come by. It's supposedly the best hockey bar in the country, according to Migs. So we didn't lose Benny yet. Benny, you're going to be there too, right? Like, we're going to haul you out of there. You're going to be there.

He's up there. A bunch of other guys, a couple other pros that are scouts and coaches I know are all stopping by. It's going to be the spot to be before the game. I just hope we get out of there. I heard it's the spot too. I heard it's the spot. We might have to go at noon. So we actually do leave by five.

So everyone tells me it's your favorite spot. People that live here that I know that go there just to like have some beers and watch a game and drink. So Benny, you're going to come down there. It'll be the easiest. I'll be there. If there's fucking people there, you'll just be like, let's go. We'll help you out.

I'll put on one of those nice blue main shirts. Yeah. Yeah. That looks good to you guys. I'll put on one of those nice blue Maine shirts. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, that looks good to you guys. That looks good. That's my color right there, the baby blue. Yeah, I should have been a Maine guy. I should have maybe been a Maine guy. Probably should have.

And I want to tee up a few more things. I'm doing TNT on Sunday. I'll be in there on Sunday. So right from here, from the Frozen Four, guys, I'll be heading. You were on Real on the other night. Thanks, buddy. I stayed up. My wife's like yelling out, why are you still awake? I'm like, ah, Biz and Army are on TNT. Yeah, I know. I were unreal on the other night. Thanks, buddy. The one. I stayed up. My wife's yelling out, why are you still awake?

I'm like, ah, biz and army are on TNT. Yeah, I know. I got to stay up for it. I had to stay up for it. It's pretty electric, pretty fun. So I'll be in there. I'll get one more crack at it before playoffs here. Then who knows what will happen.

Are you getting any playoff shifts? I don't know. I don't know. Come on, TNT. Get dried out. Give me some shifts. Yeah, let's go. TNT, come on.

I'm doing pretty good. Game notes. Get him up to the show. Get him up to doing pretty good Game notes get him up to the show Game notes get me to the show like I don't care Throw me down between the benches I like that too I want to shout you out also for Our boys on the ring trink she went on there Great episode All the guys with kids you gotta listen

To them you were great on there talking youth Hockey and your whole experience I got so many texts about that like they put out That one little like graphic with the thing i said they did a good job those guys are beauties but like i got so many text messages about like oh we need to talk about this this is can you just break it down real quick like we don't have to get too deep into it we're at the end of the show but like can you just break down what you did say on that graphic like about youth hockey development well i just i just think that like you know i think it's

what we see in the nhl is one thing but like the development of kids for me personally and seeing is just like making the same player and for kids understand and for coaches too in development that just because you're one way doesn't mean that's the way to be and if you're not like everyone else stuffed in a box of skill and speed and trying to be like McDavid that you suck because you don't, because, you know, look at a guy like Hyman, who's packing his bank account, lighting it up to like, you need a lot of different things and you need to be good at a lot of different things to be a really good hockey player. And I think we need to focus in development a lot more on nurturing, you know, kids that have different skill sets or are, or trend to a different side

that they're not in that box. Doesn't mean they suck. And, you know, I got a lot of text messages about that, which I think I'm, I think I'm right too. So I think you're right. Yeah. No, I think I see, I go around and see it everywhere. And, uh, you know, there's a lot of players I could say from personal experience and players that I've coached at different schools that are playing outside of the Kail McCars, it's those other guys that you're talking about that can be the third, fourth liners. Like what you guys, you know, turn yourself.

Trying to find those guys. Trying to find those guys. And we can, in our world, we can, if we find those guys, we can win national championships with those kinds of guys, but they get overlooked quite often. So it's a really good point. Because they don't want to be like that.

They want to be the other guys. Of course you do. But like, we need to tell's a really good point. Because they don't want to be like that. They want to be the other guys. Of course you do. But like, we need to tell them that it's okay. You're good. You're good like that. So that's where it went a little bit of pop on that. We got NYPD, NY, what is it? NYFD game on Saturday the 15th.

We'll be there for that. Live streams. We're going to be live streaming the start of the NHL playoffs with all the big boys. Biz Witt will be in town. It's always fun when we get in there with the Barstool office. So lots to stay tuned for. Check

out the documentary on YouTube that just came out for that game as well. And we'll be here all week, so stay tuned for a lot of stuff. I'd like to thank Benny Barr, head coach, University of Maine, for joining us here at the frozen four murals just flew in from sweden boys thank you anything else boys watch the doc baby watch the doc april 15th we're coming to ubs yeah we'll be there so that's it we're gonna shut her

down let's go gophers i guess let's go go for some more for the armor thank you guys for having me it was awesome yeah it was Yeah it was a pleasure Appreciate it Benny tell all your guys Check the game notes