Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 11: WJC, Blackhawks, Leafs & More

Episode Date: December 29, 2016

In this episode, the fellas discuss the Artemi Panarin deal, the World Juniors, and the resurgent Leafs before taking questions and checking in on segments.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. We'll be right back. 20% off your first month's box with discount code CHICKLETS. That's S-P-R-E-Z-Z-A-B-O-X dot com. SprezaBox.com. Hello everybody and welcome to episode 11 of Spittin' Chicklets brought to you by Barstool Sports. What's up? Say good morning gentlemen. What's up, what's up? Merry Christmas everyone.

Super producer Mikey Grinelli and Ryan Whitney. Merry Christmas. Merry belated Christmas to everybody. How was yours? Happy Hanukkah. Hanukkah. Hanukkah. My Christmas was very quiet, very low-key this year. Just went down my mother's for dinner with the old lady.

Well, my mother, my wife, I guess it's two old ladies. Small family dinner. As I get older, Christmas is more and more for kids, and I don't have kids, so Christmas... Honestly, I only had a couple I got older. Christmas is more and more for kids, and I don't have kids, so Christmas. So it's for drinking.

Yeah, and honestly, I only had a couple glasses of wine. But otherwise, how about yourself? It was great. I mean, I love holidays. I got loaded. Nice. How do you not, Christmas Eve? I told Mikey I was drinking margaritas. Oh, nice.

Not your usual Christmas Eve drink, but. Hey, nothing wrong with that. Christmas. Yeah, I caught a nice, it was a nice holiday glow. Anytime is a good time for a margarita. Quick note on the show. We did tweet out we were going to have a few of the World Junior players from Team USA, obviously.

But whatever. They play today, and we're recording today on Wednesday, so they're playing Mother Russia at 3.30, so it'll be better to have them next week. Hopefully they're playing for the gold, or at least playing in the semifinals to get to the gold. Contingency was better to have them next week. Right, basically, yeah. Hopefully they're playing for the gold or at least playing in the semifinals to get to the gold. Contingency was better to have them next week than today.

So we did tweet out we were going to have them on, but that's going to be next week. We're going to have a couple of the junior guys on. So it's our first podcast together without an interview in a couple weeks. We went on a little run, which I think were fun. Yeah. People seemed to enjoy. I think Commodore was definitely probably the most entertaining. What was good is... I don't know. I guess we're

patting ourselves on the back here. What was good was each guest... Don't break your arm. Each guest brought a... I thought that for three formal players, all white guys, I thought we had some pretty good diversity from the guests in that Commodore came with the flamethrower and burned the place down.

Colby... Army's just straight out of place down. Army's just straight out of Saskatoon. Army's just straight out of Saskatoon inventing language in the mindsies. I can't get that out of my head. And of course, last week we had Patrick O'Sullivan on with a much more serious topic, but I thought we were able to keep some levity there considering what we were

talking about. So if we can get some World Junior Gold Medal winners, because I played in that. I think everyone's playing. Well, we don't have anyone right now. You have nothing close to that. Sorry, dude. That was an alley-oop to it. No, I set you up for it. It was all part of the plan.

We can cut that. You're stalking him alone. But no, I think that most hockey fans right now are really into the World Juniors. I hope most American fans know what it is. I think they do. But I'm sure naturally there's people who kind of are just NHL people that don't follow. But I think the best way to describe it is it's like March Madness, it seems.

It's like a 10- to 12-day tournament with the best players in the world, guys that you're going to see a lot of them play in the NHL. So for a big hockey fan, it's the best time of the year to watch hockey. I love it. That's a great comparison that you said that. It is kind of like Canada's World Junior. I mean, March Madness in a way. Yeah, and their Super Bowl rolled into one.

Right. I mean, there's no – this is it in Canada, their biggest time of the year. It is a huge deal up there. Eh? And it's not – I don't know if it's – well, I shouldn't say I don't know. It's never going to reach that level in this country. But you're definitely seeing an increased awareness of the juniors. Of course, having the NHL network on most cable providers is a big deal

when they're showing all the game. But there's definitely more awareness, of course. In this area, we have a lot of local guys playing for the team, which creates more awareness around here. Yeah, six guys from BU. It is great. How about that? I know, huh?

BU. That sucks. They tied the record. And there's a seventh guy playing for Canada. Tied the record for the most college players being on one U.S. World Junior team. With 1979 Minnesota. Go first. The plethora of talent that our nation is producing lately has been, I mean,

probably on a better pace than the fabled Kachaka Monty, Bill Guerin era. You know, back when all those guys. Back when the local guys, Massachusetts guys, were really coming playing. Exactly. And, of course, a lot of Americans who were spurred on to play the game from the Miracle on Ice. Well, there seemed to be a big lull after those guys. Massachusetts was still producing some talent, but not nearly to the extent they were. But I think it's definitely really come full circle.

I mean, this state has been producing top prospects like crazy lately. And it's great to see. Yeah, it's really good for local Massachusetts hockey and USA hockey. The one thing that's kind of cool this year is for every year this tournament's gone on, and when I was 15, 14, this was the biggest thing for me. I loved watching this tournament because you hear about older players that are going to be future NHL stars. And every year Canada would have some elite guys, always usually two, three, four guys that were in the NHL at 18. They weren't released by other teams.

They're starring. Guys like McDavid right now who could still be playing in this tournament. But finally USA finally has some of those guys. So we've got Austin Matthews could be here, Jack Eichel, guys like that that really are showing where USA hockey has come. And I think a lot of it has to do with this tournament, how much exposure it gets on tv like you said that that's really changed i think it used to be on espn but they

wouldn't show every game like they do now but just the the memories i have of playing in it is just knowing it was a test of yourself against the best in the world and um yeah you're playing in college or junior but when this tournament starts you're like all right let's see what i really have can i compete and be an elite guy with the best kids in the world my age that's and that's when a lot of people realize like i can really i can play in the nhl i can be good because i know guys who are playing in the nhl now that played in this tournament and i'm doing just as well as they did things like that right so for a prospect it's i mean for fans they love it and for the kids playing in it they're more into it than anyone else so one of the better experiences you had as a player? Yeah, it was unreal. We didn't do shit.

We stunk. I was lucky enough to make two teams the first year, 2002. We went to Czech Republic. We had no business. I mean, we lost in the crossover game to go to the semifinals to Russia, 6-0. That was ugly, disgusting loss. And then the next year we played in Halifax, which is cool. Playing in Canada, every 6-0. That was ugly. Disgusting loss. And then the next year we played in Halifax, which is cool.

Playing in Canada, every game sold out. That's why a lot of people complain that it's in Canada every year, but that's how they pack these full NHL arenas. Yeah, and if you did it, I mean, unless you did it in, like, you know, Buffalo or, like, Detroit where Canadians can get to the game easily, you're not going to get that same atmosphere in a North American arena. They did well in Buffalo, and then the other one was Grand Forks, North Dakota. They did well. Taylor Hall wrote a really good

article for the Players' Tribune about what this tournament means to Canadians. It's really good. If the listeners out there haven't read it, you should check it out. Basically, kind of just about what you said about how as a kid, originally you want to play in the NHl but as you grow older these

canadian kids their biggest dream is to play in this tournament yeah especially over there i mean it's on it's on tsn right there it's on their espn and people start picking the teams every summer they then they get to the camp before the tournament starts in december you go december 5th right they have like a two-week camp you know how they cut kids they call them up 5 45 in the morning everyone has a roommate and they say hey come downstairs um you know whoever's going to talk to you a coach or the guy who's picking the team and the kids so it's 5 45 you go downstairs and there's 10 cameras in your face then they interview at 6 in the morning. What do you think happened this camp? I mean, 17, 18 years old, you're just like, this is the most crushing, not defeat,

but thing I've ever been through. I'm getting cut from this team, and I get 10 cameras in my face at 6 in the morning. Patrick O'Sullivan, funny enough, tweeted out, he said, you know, the hardest job in sports is being the goaltender for the junior team. For Team Canada. For Team Canada, right. The hardest job in sports is being the goaltender for the junior team. For Team Canada.

For Team Canada, right. You get no work, and you just have yourself second-guessed and questioned unless you win the gold. Well, yeah, you got Lenny where Army's from in Saskatoon. Say, holy fuck, he's got to stop that puck. Jesus Christ, this fucking kid's in Brampton. He can't stop a beach ball. There's five million Lenny's out there, though. There's five million of those in Canada.

So you've got to play well, and there's a lot of pressure for those kids, but it's something that they'll remember the rest of their lives. So if you need a hockey fix or you want to support the good old USA, or whatever, for our Canadian listeners, if you want to support the Maple Leaf, by all means, check out the World Juniors. Of course, our Canadian listeners don't need to be told that. No, they're the ones that are yelling at us right right now but a lot of most of the games are on the nhl network so so give that a try uh we're gonna shift gears to the big boys um you know

blackhawks we haven't really talked much about them well ari says people give a shit that we don't talk about them enough but i think it's like one guy that you probably battled with on twitter that wants to talk about them whatever Whatever. Anyways, they were reluctant seemingly to give Brandon Saad basically about $6 million a year, but they didn't have such same reluctance with Artemi Panarin, who signed a two-year deal worth $12 million.

Were you surprised? No. I mean, the kid's talented as hell, but they didn't want to commit that sort of money to Saad. Of course, Saad was looking for more years. But what's your take on this deal, Ryan? I mean, I love it. I thought there was no – I didn't – when you're looking at the Blackhawks and how they're built,

I didn't know if they could keep him because this kid's come over. He's been so good that all of a sudden you realize he's going to need big money. So they have all this money tied up, and I was waiting like, all right, they're going to play him this year. Maybe he gets traded. Maybe they try to trade someone and sign him. But to see him sign without moving anyone else, you're like, wow, that's basically the Blackhawks being like this year and then our next two years are a complete window. That gives them three more seasons to try to win a cup or two more. They have everyone signed. The one issue that it runs up is they have nine guys that starting next year will take up just about $60 million in cap space. So to build a team around nine guys, I mean, yeah, there are nine elite.

Probably three or four of them are Hall of Famers, maybe five. But you're still going to need to really find some good, cheap options, guys, on entry-level deals going forward. I love the deal just because of how great Panarin's been. And when you say they didn't want to give Saad that money, when I think of both players and even seeing how good Brandon Saad is, I think of Panarin and think of a better player immediately in my head.

A more elite, offensive, skilled player. He's definitely a very skilled Russian player. It's funny to see. And maybe he fits in with the Blackhawks more than Saad did. I mean, I know that kid scored big goal after big goal and won a Stanley Cup there. But did Saad win two Cups? I feel like I should know that. I think he only won one.

Did he win in 13 and was the second one 15? I think he only won one, but I'll check that. Actually, Mikey, you want to check that one for me? Thanks, buddy. You know, you'll look at Chicago's cap-friendly cap hits, and, I mean, they're worth it, but it's still, those numbers just jump out at you when you look at Kane and Taves. I mean, $10.5 million.

He won the Cubs with them in 13 and 15. Okay, so I was wrong. That's all right. I'm pretty standard. I'll pick on you. Two Cubs. $21 million you got committed to two guys. I know, and that's pretty standard. I'm going to pick on you. But, you know, $21 million you got committed to two guys. I know, and that's a lot.

And Jonathan Tays has actually taken a little heat from, and it's like hearing like a Tom Brady catch heat. It doesn't sound right. But his production this year is not where a $10.5 million salary needs to be. And so no matter what he's done, I mean, I don't think he should ever. I think he could just play like he is right now for the next 10 years and nobody should say a word. That's how good he's been. But you still look think he should ever i think he could just play like he is right now for the next 10 years and nobody should say a word that's how good he's been but you still look at how much money a player is making and you look at production and it's that along with with hoses

deal they have to pay hosa 5.2 for the next four years he's 37 right now wow yeah i mean so i mean and another that's a hall of famer one of the best players i ever played with. But in two, three years, when he's making that much, and if he retires, it still goes against your cap anyways. Do you think they would put someone like him in the expansion draft just to get that money off the books? They could have somebody in the expansion draft, but people with no move clauses cannot be put. So I believe that he has one of those.

He does. So you can't be put, so I believe that he has one of those. He does. So you can't be put on the expansion draft list. I mean, that's a different subject, but if Vegas should turn down any good players and just suck for two, three years, it is what it is. Get some first overall picks because that's how you get good now. I mean, I know that's not the Blackhawks, but you don't want to see them taking on guys like that really. Somehow winning a little.

As a fan of the sport and of the league, it was good to have the Blackhawks kind of come back. I love the fact that they're good. Because, you know, the old man Wurtz, the father was Bill Wurtz, right? He was the father. He's the one who wouldn't put the game on TV. He was a terrible owner. I mean, he thought people, like, if you put the game on TV, they weren't going to come see it. He had this archaic way of thinking.

That's why I know Blackhawk fans got picked on a few years ago when they came back. If I lived in Chicago, I don't blame people for going away from rooting for them. They were horrendous. They were poorly run. They were a poor organization for a while. The big thing is they're back, but there's

so much luck involved into how they got so good again because, I mean, you talk about ping pong balls. I mean, and it's not knocking them. I mean, you have to have that luck. They've made a ton of great moves. I mean, the organization has run top notch, not knocking them, but it just goes to show, like, you know, how ping pong balls factored into the, not once, but twice.

I mean, they get Kane, and then they get Taves, and everything. I mean, again, they've made tons of great decisions since then. But then you look, and where are they? They're actually top of the West right now, not tops overall, thanks to Columbus. They're just off of Columbus' pace, though. I mean, I think they're two points back or maybe three. Actually, I think Pittsburgh, well, it's funny. Pittsburgh lapsed Columbus, but Columbus still has four games in hand

despite only being a point back. How stupid do I continue to look? I mean, this is just pathetic. Nobody saw this, but we were talking about him being first coach fired and them being horrendous again. And they've won 14 games in a row. Yeah, but they haven't done anything yet at the same time.

I don't know, man. 14 games in a row. They're now like... Well, there's going to be at least... Legitimate... If your team's playing them, at no point do you think, like, alright, we're going to win tonight. At least not right now, you don't. I mean, there's a lot of teams streaking, but the bottom line is only one of them. There's going to be a lot of teams who had a

big streak this year who didn't do shit. Yeah, but I just mean this streak has got them into the playoffs. Oh, absolutely. Because you can coast the rest of the way at this point. I mean, there won't be any of that. So we need to discuss Tortorella's quote about pregame skates. I don't know if you saw that. What was it?

Refresh my memory. I read it the other day. I can play it real quick for you guys. Okay. You are not going to have, from what I understand, Todd was saying, you guys are not going to have morning, you don't even have these guys here for the most part for the mornings. We're doing our work today that we usually do in the morning,

and when I can, I want to start trying to keep the team away from the morning. I don't know why we always do it. We bring them in here one time a day during practice days, but on game days we bring them in twice. It doesn't make any sense. With our schedule coming up the way it is, we're trying to get our guys out of the building as much as we can. I want to see these guys are creatures of habit and the routine,

but that routine in our league I think is wrong as far as these pregame skates and all the overcoaching that goes on with that stuff. So today's a good work day for us. We have video after. We had video before. So we worked it into our practice day because they can come in and just play the game. Now, have you done this before? I have tried.

Not with this team. I have tried it with other teams. But then the players end up getting their back up because of that routine that was brought in who knows when in this game. And I just, especially with the schedule coming up with us, I want to see it. This part of the schedule lends itself to us to do this because we have some practice days before games. And I just want them as fresh as possible. The most important thing is playing the hockey game. So that is just perfect for me because pregame skates are the dumbest thing in the world.

This is what you do. You basically wake up. You're on the road or at home. It doesn't really matter. You go into the rink. You get there at like 9. If the skate's at 1030, you get there at 9 15 9 o'clock you stretch out go out go through the whole warm up routine skate get off the ice you deal with media then you go eat pre-game meal go go nap

go come back to the rank at like 4 for 4 30 what is the point of going to the rank if you go to the rank maybe you go get some treatment maybe ride ride the bike 20 minutes, get a stretch, get a massage, do whatever you have to do to get play. You know how much energy is wasted putting your gear on, going out for – it's always like 13-minute skate. And then getting off – it's just like – and Tortorella is right. He's like, you play 82 games, you're traveling all year. It's just an old-school way of thinking. year. It's just an old school way of thinking. And the whole reason it began was because back in the 60s and 70s,

they'd bring guys in because they knew they were so fucked up from the night before getting all boozed up. They're like, oh, we've got to sweat out the booze. And it's like, at this point, that's really what it was. That's why the pregame stuff. Yep, it's sweat out the booze. That's the whole beginning of it. And you get to these guys now, like,

half of the new NHL, they don't even drink. They're just geeks. You shouldn't worry about these kids being out boozing the night before These guys now, like, half of the new NHL, they don't even drink. Yeah. You shouldn't worry about, like, these kids being out boozing the night before, like, old school guys. Yeah, it does seem like I always wanted that. You know, if you're playing that night, I mean, why do you want to expend any energy, really? Yeah, and, like, you tape a stick up, you break it. I'm like, fuck, that's another 15 minutes. Now I've got to make a new stick up.

It was just – and so, I mean, that – if you're going to look at a team that's going to stay fresh, and, I mean, they're getting more days off than they usually have. So that's a great way of thinking by a coach who we shit on for being a little too old school, kind of some new age Tortorella thinking. Yeah, he's definitely – like I said, he's shot a lot of people up so far. But, you know, it's a what have you done for me lately league, and that's what they're going to be saying come April and May. If Columbus ends up winning 20 in a row, but if they get knocked out in the first round of the playoffs.

Yeah, but I think if they get knocked out in the first round of the playoffs, it's still a season that nobody had them competing or being a part of, really. I mean, I don't really read too many preseason predictions just because there's so many goddamn writers, and they're usually all over the road. We should have done this year where we actually picked out 20 writers and then went over to see how lost most of them were or how close they were. Have you seen that handle on Twitter, old takes exposed?

No, is it that type of thing? Yeah, it's that type of stuff. Yeah, people who tweet out sometimes preposterous predictions, and this guy keeps tabs on it. It's funny. Some writers get pissy with him. It's like, settle down and other guys just take it for what it is. I'm probably on that.

We all say shit, but speaking of preseason predictions, there's one team I would say probably well, I shouldn't say nobody had them go in the playoffs because there's a lot of fans of the Maple Leafs that are delusional and maybe they had them going in, but it's a team we picked on the Maple Leafs early in the year and probably in the middle of the Maple Leafs that are delusional, and maybe they have them going in, but it's a team we picked on, the Maple Leafs, early in the year, probably in the middle of the

year, too. They've been hot as hell lately. I don't know if you've been paying attention to them. Matthews and Marner and Nylander are so fun to watch. Toronto's awesome to watch now. I used to hate watching them play. I mean, Toronto right now is three points out of the playoffs with games in hand. I mean, the Bruins are right now third in the Atlantic, 40 points.

Toronto's only three points back with three games in hand. Yeah, I mean, at this point in the year, if you told them this is where they'd be, they would have taken that into Harvey. But you watch these games. Matthews, this kid's incredible. I still think he's going to get Rookie of the Year. He may well. It's unbelievable what they've done.

I mean, if you're paying attention to the puck line, they've been covering, well, not last night in Florida, but they've been covering the puck line against bad teams. I don't consider Florida a bad team. But if you get Toronto on the road versus a shitty team, definitely take a look at that puck line. But, I mean, do you think they're going to get in the playoffs, though? I don't.

You know, Freddie Anderson, he's another guy that you, well, we probably beat up on early in the year. Everyone was burying him. Yeah. But for him to get out of that, it's a tough start. But it's no surprise he came around. I mean, he was the number one out in Anaheim. Free agent, signee. He wasn't going to be that bad all year long in Toronto.

No, no, no. I mean, I think it was just to go into that market and start out shitty is probably, that's pretty much hell on earth for a couple weeks. But, I mean, there's so much hockey to be played. He's ended up being great. But the Maple Leafs' best thing is their team speed. They play so fast. And Matthews just dominates games.

When Jack Eichel was at BU, so it was now two years ago, three years ago, whenever that was, or two years ago, they played the U.S. National Development Program that Matthews was playing on the year before he went to Switzerland. And so that was the big thing, this kid Matthews. And everyone knew Eichel, how high he was going to be picked, what's Matthews like. And he outplayed him. And that's when I remember being like, oh my God, this kid, this no joke you know so people still didn't really know like how good he was going to be especially with McDavid last year he's been one of the best rookies I've ever seen in my life

he's on pace for 40 goals he dominates games he does he plays 20 minutes he's got this long reach he's like you just see and it's not Mario Lemieux but you see glimpses of this tall centerman who's just unbelievable with the puck and fast and dynamic. So like you said, with luck in terms of getting an elite player at number one overall, look at how these guys will change their franchise forever. Yeah, he really has been. He's a treat to watch. He looks like a veteran out there most of the time.

Yeah, there's never moments of rookie mistakes. I mean, everyone makes them, but very rarely is he. And obviously, he has a ridiculous amount of talent, but I think it's also interesting in that he didn't take the traditional path to the NHL. Now, he probably could have played anywhere and still ended up in the NHL, but I just think it's interesting that he, as basically a young adult, he went over to Switzerland and played. And that's just something that a lot of young guys, young kids don't do.

I don't know if we're going to see that in the future more with future prodigies or if he was just kind of an anomaly. But it's definitely interesting in that he didn't take the traditional junior or college route. He played in, what, Switzerland. Yeah. And here he is blowing competition out of the water right now. And just being from Arizona, I mean, you saw the Leafs played out in Arizona last week.

It was his homecoming. Great story. He went to the rink. He grew up skating. I had signed the Zambonis. Got all these fans out there. So, I mean, this is the type of kid who's in the NHL because of expansion. Yeah.

And now he's going to have so many more kids from that area playing hockey and really kind of changing USA hockey when we're going with the international hockey theme this show. Yeah, he's definitely... It's great to see. And the Leafs, I love when the Leafs are good. I mean, Leafs fans, they can drive you nuts, but when the Leafs are good, hockey's better. It's in a better place.

We say it all the time here. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, it's the capital, well, it's not the capital of Canada, but it's kind of the capital of hockey, I think. Well, yeah, they call themselves the center of the hockey universe. I'm not really going to dispute that. It is better when you have marquee teams doing good. So anyways, Toronto, keep an eye on them.

All right, that'll wrap up our Around the League chatter now, and then we're going to take it to Around the League. Around the League. Now we're going to take it to All Right Hamilton with a few questions from the audience. We got any good ones? All right, yeah. So after we asked the listeners to step up their questions,

we got hit with some good ones this week. So our good friends at Healthy Scratch Hockey said, hashtag All Right Hamilton, what would you rather do, hack a dart and reminisce with Terrian or play hockey history trivia against Pierre? Ryan Hamilton. Wow. I think this is specifically for Ryan if it's a Terian question.

I don't know. What I have, I'd rather rip a dart, rip a cancer stick with Terian. And reminisce. And reminisce or play hockey history with Pierre Maguire. Remember when I skated, you heard that game right afterwards. I would probably rather rip a dart with Tarion. Because at least I could be like, dude, you were such a prick to me. And then you ask him questions.

And there's times when you talk to him and he was like a funny guy that could laugh. So in the end, that would be all right. It would probably turn into like 25 cigarettes. That's the only problem with that. And playing hockey history History with Pierre, and when he's giving you where every guy played high school and college, you'd end up just looking for a gun to put a bullet in your head because that would be hell.

All right, what do you think? Oh, Jesus. Smoking so bad for you. This is a tough one. Can we make it a funny cigarette? Sure. If we can make it a funny cigarette? Sure. If we can make it a funny cigarette, I'll smoke it with anybody and talk about anything. How's that?

That works. All right, next one. Kyle Hughes asks, do you think Yager gets 68 retired in Pittsburgh? He hasn't played in Pitt for 15 years slash has been a suitcase. All right, Hamilton. Pitt for 15 years slash has been a suitcase. All right, Hamilton. Well, they have a ring of honor in Pittsburgh with like Francis and Jagger and the Muse.

So I don't know if they'll ever retire as 68. I mean, 66 has to be retired in Pittsburgh, though. Yeah. I mean, I think 66 is pretty much retired in the league. It seems like. Right. You know, 99 is. Right.

I don't think that Pittsburgh would. They kind of have to retire it. No one would wear it again. Why wouldn't you? It is just weird. He's been on so many teams since then. But if you shut your eyes and you think of Jeremy Iyagra, I think of the Penguins. Yeah, I mean, it's where he won his two cups.

I mean, most of the images you have of Jeremy Iyagra are definitely with Pittsburgh. I mean, but I feel like who else could retire with Jersey? That would be it. Certainly not Washington. Yeah. I mean, I don't know that we'd see a league-wide one with him, even though what he's done. I mean, he's played for half the fucking league, too.

Yeah, if Messier's number isn't retired around the league, then Iyagra's number. I don't think he should be wearing number four, personally, but that's just me. Alright, what do we got now? What do we got, Grinnelly? Talk much? Nobody would be mad if Orr's number was retired around the league. Not at all.

Are you shitting me? It's just too common of a number at this point. Alright, so Wes Nelson asks, why is the right hand shot D-man considered such a hot commodity right now? He includes that he's a former right D-man, and he doesn't get it at all. All right, Hamilton. Oh, okay.

I mean, in that case, I don't really get it either. I've always wondered. I know that teams want right-shot defensemen because there aren't a ton of them around. I don't know why that is. I don't know why there's more lefty hockey players than righties. I really have no – I could never explain that. I don't know what that is. I don't know why there's more lefty hockey players than righties. I really have no, I could never explain that. I don't know what it's all about. I just know that it seems like it's really hard to find big puck moving,

good skating, right shot defenseman. Yeah, you think a guy like Jeff Petrie came to Montreal from Edmonton. I played with him in Edmonton, knew he was going to be good. The first time I ever skated an NHL game with him. And he's now, I mean, he's got almost just under what Shea Weber has in points, playing less power play time. So guys like that, you think of that just they're not out, they're not commonly out there.

And I don't know what it is, why they're not. There are way more lefties. It makes no sense. It sounds like left-handed starting pitching almost. Like if you can find one of those guys, you want to stock up on them. It's just a weird. Are there more, I've never, like as far a weird... Are there more lefties or righties? Are there way more righties?

I know in the general population, 90% of the people are right-handed. Yeah, but the thing... So you should... I've always been told and been under the school of thought that your top hand in hockey should be the hand you write with. So I think that so many people... Yeah, interesting. That's kind of what I was always told,

and that's what was natural for me. I mean, I throw a baseball lefty, and I throw a football righty, so I'm fucking weird. That's crazy. I'm like weird with that. That's crazy. But writing, I write with my right hand,

and that was my top hand on a hockey stick, and that's what I feel like most people do. So in that sense, you're not going to find that many righty hockey players. Yeah, I shoot hockey. Lefty writers are weird. They get the ankle over their hand and shit. I shoot a hockey stick, and that's what I feel like most people do. So in that sense, you're not going to find that many righty hockey players. Yeah, I shoot hockey. Lefty righties are weird. They get the ankle over their hand and shit. I shoot a hockey stick left, but I shoot a golf club righty. You shoot a golf club?

When I did golf, believe it or not, yeah, I was a righty when I played golf. Yeah, I'm a lefty hockey righty golfer too. It makes no sense. I'm a lefty hockey, lefty golfy. You're lefty everything. Except writing. That explains a lot about you, Grinnell. One more? One more.

We'll go with Alex Matheson because he asked a question about a stoolie. He said, stool chicklets, if you're the Leafs, do you trade JVR for a D or do you re-sign him? All right, Hamilton. You want to take that one? I have a thought on this. It was actually aimed at just R.A., that question.

Interesting. Stool, Chiclets, and R.A. This guy knows. Actually, what's his contract status, JVR? Do we know off the top of our heads? He's signed for next year as well. Okay. I mean, this is an obvious answer.

I guess like any guy, if the right deal comes along for him, what do you think the market is for Van Riemsdyk right now? Very high. I mean, for the Bruins, the Bruins could take a guy like that. Any team looking to win the Cup and make the playoffs to get a powerful, scoring, top-line winger, make it $4 million? When I'm up with Toronto, when I'm up with Sportsnet, people talk a lot about will Van Riemsdyt get traded will they re-sign him and a lot of people in the know say that they

think they're going to trade him at some point it makes no sense to me the guy is such a deal he's such a bargain what he makes for money he plays great on with all their skilled guys marner and bozak that's made a great line and i don't i don why you trade him. Now, if you can get back this top-end D prospect, maybe a younger score, yeah, I mean, like you said, any deal can kind of make you – put you over the edge in terms of trading a guy. But I love how he plays, and he's such a bargain with what he makes. I don't see why they're being in such a rush to make that trade. And the problem with trading a guy like that is, like you said,

the bang for your buck you get, and you're only paying him $4.25 million. But then you get rid of him, now you have that gaping hole in your lineup. Now you're sure to goal scorer. I mean, I know they do have some youth on the defense. They certainly got some really nice youth on the defense. Youth. Youth, the two youths. But, yeah, I mean, again, if the right deal came along, sure,

like any GM would say, but I just don't know that, you know, Toronto's. He kills the Bruins. I don't think they're shopping him, really. I mean, like you said, he's a bargain deal, great player, and if you do trade him, then you're going to need another goal scorer. Yeah, so it all depends on what they get back. Yeah, I mean, unless a dynamic D became available and the deal was too too good to pass up I don't see him going anywhere all right that wraps up um all right Hamilton and

all right Hamilton was brought to you by bet dsi.com with the NFL playoffs taking center stage bet dsi is the place to be with over 20 years in the business and being rated the top rated business on sportsbook review sites, it should be a no-brainer at this point. It's got a great mobile product that's easy to use anytime, anywhere. Also, you can live in-game wager throughout the entire game and events. And I can't forget to mention the customer service. 24-7, 365 days a year.

What's better than that? So here's what we're going to do for you. We're going to give you a free $10 just to try BetDSI when you register and a 200% bonus on your first deposit all with the code SPIT200. So for both new and returning members, it's automated. So they should see this in the cashier. 200% means if you deposit $500, you get $1,000 in total. Bonus credit.

So the total winds up being $1,500. This is for both sports and casinos. So when you deposit the $500, you get a total of $1,000 in your sports account and $500 in your casino account for a total of $1,500 just for using the code SPIT200. That's betdsi.com. And, hey, we're going to have a somewhat abbreviated show compared to the last couple of weeks.

All right, Hamilton. Because we obviously don't have any guests on this week. Plus, I believe Mr. Whitney has to go to a fashion show or something. Yeah, I'm walking the runway. It's so big. Wiggle it out, Adam. All right, and this actually will bring us to our next segment, the always popular. I'm going to whip it out. Yeah, I'm going Wiggle it out, Adam. All right. Now, this actually will bring us to our next segment, the always popular.

I'm going to whip it out. Yeah, I'm going to wiggle it out, Joe. You know why? So you have a heart attack and die, so you don't have to do this shit again. Beauty win. All right, guys. Let's see. Let's get a little life here.

Number one, who are we going to go with first? I'll go with the young and first, Grinnelli. Ask a millennial segment here. Maybe he can get one. Maybe he'll get one. Before 2016 ends. I've gotten a few so far. Yeah, you have. I want to roll the past few weeks.

Got one. All right. First one for you. Yeah. Ask a Millennial. Valerie Bertinelli. No idea. Nope.

No clue. No clue. One's fucking some stupid actress from back in the 50s. Nope. Back in the 70s Singer

No she was married to a singer Porn star Valerie Bertinelli She was a popular actress in the 70s and 80s She was on the show One Day at a Time Which I actually think they just rebooted on Netflix But Well she was her

That was her claim to fame No she was a huge star Very pretty actress She married But this is when she kind of hit the stratosphere When she married Eddie Van Halen. Oh, okay. Please tell me you know

who Eddie Van Halen is. That probably worked. Yeah, I know who he is. They're still together, right? Actually, you know what? Believe it or not, they only got divorced a few years ago.

They were together for like the longest time for rock stars. Really? But they are divorced. Yeah, they are split up now, but no, they were together

for a ridiculously long time given the life shelf of a rockstar marriage. If you're a rockstar and get married, you're... Do you know Bon Jovi's had the same wife for like 30 years? John Bon Jovi? I'm sure that's... Alright, next up.

I'll go with... Actually, you'll know this because you play in Canada. Grinelli, Brian Adams. Not Ryan. Goalie. Brian Adams. Brian Adams was a goalie in the 70s. You guys got like a rotating guest list. Alright, we'll guess this one.

Singer. I just watched This Is 40 the other day. He's on This Is 40 at the end. He's a singer, right? Yep. Canadian singer. Huge Fitzpatrick. Feeling old, Ryan Ryan watching this is 40 It was on TV it was actually funny as shit He's sitting on the toilet trying to play his iPad

And the wife won't even let him He's a Canadian singer Who actually found mainstream success In the United States It is weird There's so much Canadian culture that doesn't Translate to America Much music

Honestly Who's the band, the Tragically Hip? They're unbelievable. You know, but it's weird. They never really made it in Canada, like in America. I don't know why. I mean, that's so sad that the lead singer. Yeah, Gord Downie. Yeah, he's terminally ill.

Yeah, they had their final concert. I mean, the whole of Canada watched it. It was pretty crazy. 16 million people watched it. When it happened. I mean, it was, you know, the whole country to watch a concert. It was crazy. Some great songs.

Because I remember I was like, how come this band never took off here? And I don't know if it's like a prejudice toward Canadians. I mean, their music, it wasn't like Canadian music. It was, you know, stuff you get to hear. I would like to ask them at one point. I don't know why that ever happened. But it's weird. It just seems like it's very rare that something other than hockey, of course,

that something like a Canadian TV show or movie kind of finds its way down it. There's just not a lot of it. But anyways, Bryan Adams back in the 80s, summer of 69. Oh, God, this fucking, he had the Robin Hood, that cheesy Robin Hood song. The slow one. Yeah, he was a huge star. Of course, MTV had a lot to do with it back in the day. All right, so, Canadian.

I thought you would have got him, Grinnelly. Yeah. All right, this one, Mikey, you should get this one. Elf. Elf. Elf. No way. Elf.

Elf. It's the prequel to Elf. That's what I was going to guess I think it's a band A certain type of band It's the alien It's the hairy alien that lived with the family On the show Is he an alien?

He's hilarious It was a TV show in the 80's With a big schnoz on him Elf stood for Alien life form Kill me Willy It was a TV show in the 80s about... With a big schnoz on him? Yeah, he was an alien. Alf stood for alien life form. Alf. Oh, kill me, Willie. There you go.

So that was a hit show. I remember that show. It was. Back in, actually, because I was, I think, a freshman in high school. I was still a very little boy at 14. I still like shot car shows about fucking aliens. But it was a cartoon on NBC, kind of a gimmicky show. He was like a smart-ass alien. He lived with his family and he liked to eat cats.

Yes, yes. I don't know if that was a naughty euphemism from some writer at NBC or what, but that was his big shtick. It was actually a really popular show for a couple years and then it kind of fizzed out. But Alpha's Shoes used to be half dolls all over the place. All right, we got one more left, Mikey. And this actually can have a couple of answers now that I say it, but we'll see which one you get.

I'm ready. And justice for all. I'll accept either answer, too. Unlike you with Tomorrowland last week. And justice for all. And justice for all. All right, he's got nothing. Injustice for all. He's got nothing.

No, I was going to say something maybe that Martin Luther King said. I don't know. Okay. But I have no idea. Not a bad guess. MLK Day is coming up somewhat soon. I respect that. No cultural appropriation going on in this. Is that part of the Pledge of Allegiance?

Well, yeah. Liberty and justice for all. It's not what we were going for here well there you go that counts the pledge of allegiance you don't even do that anymore it's funny it is loosely tied to well injustice for all two answers that you could have given the metallica album that was one the metallica album that the song one is off i believe it was 89 album remember you know the song well i hated them when they were so against Napster. All right. And Justice for All was where the phrase comes from. You know, the Pledge of Allegiance or something to do with jurisprudence.

It was a 19, I want to say, big Al Pacino movie in the 70s. I'm pretty sure he got one of his 19,000 nominations for. It was about the, and it's funny, this was back in the 70s, and the movie is still on target Just about how screwed up the court system is And the justice system And you know how everything's insanity And there's a whole bunch of great actors in it

It's a typical 70s movie It's kind of all over the place It's called Injustice for All Injustice for All Actually you know The fucking The famous Al Pacino Attica

Attica You probably you know Yes I think I've seen it on like a scoreboard or something. Exactly. That's where the Attica chant comes from. It's injustice for all. I think Sidney Lumet directed it.

Big 70s movie. Big Al Pacino movie. 0 for 2. No big surprise there. We got an Ask an Old Fuck. You know, I've been trying to think of one. Wait, do you have one? I don't.

I have nothing, dude. He gets everything. I mean, he stays. You stay calm with things nowadays besides rappers. I stay woke. You stay woke. You definitely stay woke. He's pretty woke in terms of, like, getting them on trivia that only we would know.

I'm right in the middle. I can kind of get everything. I've proved that Ask a Millennial the past few weeks I'm way better at. Alf today, Brian Adams. I love where I'm at in this game. Do we got a Today in Hockey history? Do we line one of those up? Oh, I got one. I got one while you look.

So I got... I knew I forgot to do something last night. So Zebras came into existence on December 29th on 1955. And by Zebras, I mean on December 29th on 1955. And by zebras, I mean refs wearing stripes on their jerseys. In a game between Montreal and Toronto, NFL officials wore new vertically striped black and white sweaters. NFL?

NHL. Did I say NFL? Yeah. NHL officials wore new vertically striped black and white sweaters for the first time. Wow. Also got another one. If you, you still look at it ever since. All right.

So December 29th, 1957, Ross lefty. Wilson had to replace Boston goaltender, Don Simmons, who suffered a dislocated shoulder in the game. Funny thing about good old lefty. Wilson is he was the team's trainer and he put up 23 saves in 53 minutes and only allowed one goal.

We still get a lot of those stories, like random goals. He was a trainer? He was actually the assistant trainer, and in 52 minutes he put up 23 saves, and people said it was unbelievable. Wow, they didn't trust backups then. No. Imagine your fucking trainer hopping in the net right now and kicking out 23. It's funny because we have all these stories that happen.

Guys get a local college kid or a practice. It's only a matter of time before one of these guys ends up in a game again because a guy's going to be back in a pro up, and the guy's going to pull something or take a slap shot off the helmet and have to come out of the game. They're going to have to put one of these trainers in. It should be funny, though. I don't know.

I think it would be hilarious. And a team is going to rally around them, too. I mean, you know, a team is going to rally around them until they're out there and they're all minus three because the goalie's from the local men's league. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It is kind of a weird sort of loophole that

that does happen. Alright, well I think that about wraps up this week gentlemen. Any other subjects, topics? Hopefully next week we're discussing with some possible gold medalists leading up to the gold medal game, some USA guys. I'm excited for World Junior and

basically the NHL. As the new year comes, it's in a great spot, I think. I think the league right now is as healthy as ever. Definitely. There's so many good teams. We enjoy talking about most of them, if not. We leave out a couple. The talent is off the hook definitely right now.

Off the hook. Off the hook. That's probably a 10-year-old phrase. We actually won't be on the air until we won't have another podcast until after I play in the Frozen Fenway game. Oh, okay. Glad you brought this up. Thank you to Warrior Hockey for suiting me from head to toe

in the top-of-the-line equipment. Now, listen, I saw those lineups. You better have at least three goals. Oh, yeah, I'm going all out. Dude, those lineups, I'm have at least three goals. Oh, yeah. I'm going all out. Dude, those lineups. I mean, I'm guessing some of those people can't skate. I'm so ready.

And you should not be taking it easy. You should not be embarrassed to score. If you come back here without at least three points, I think he's fucking done already. Three points or three goals? We're going for three points, right? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you should have 15 points.

You played hockey. You played competitive hockey, what, a year ago? You were still playing competitive hockey? Or two years ago? Two years ago, I mean, you should have 15 points. You played hockey. You played competitive hockey, what, a year ago? You were still playing competitive hockey? Or two years ago? Two years ago, I think. Okay, so, I mean, against most of these people who probably have only skated a couple times. Our boy Feidelberg's playing. He is.

Did he play club hockey in college? Florida State. I mean, I don't know. I played in the Murals. That sounds awesome. I played in the Murals at North Adams, so I'm not about to dump on anybody. Hey, that's what I did. I did club hockey.

Yeah, club hockey's sick. You get to travel. It's just really sick if you're at Florida State or Arizona State. Exactly. Word must be out about my skating. Arizona is D1 now. No one even reached out to me about a media game, which is good because I wouldn't fucking I don't think I would.

You'd be the tendie, though, right? They didn't need any funny cigarettes in Fenway. Huh? You'd be the Tendi, right? Didn't you say you played goalie? I could see you. I played street hockey goalie. I never played ice hockey goalie.

And there was a difference, yeah, I believe a huge difference when you can stand in your fucking sneakers versus skates. Yeah, if it was a street hockey thing, I might have to dust off the pads and get the defibrillator ready. But ice hockey, yeah, I'm not surprised. Goalies are whack anyways. Yeah, yeah. All right. Well, that'll wrap it up for this week's At Stool Chicklets. but ice hockey, yeah. I'm not surprised. Goals are whack anyways. Yeah, they are. All right. Well, that'll wrap it up for this week. At Stool Chicklets.

Thanks for listening, guys. At Real Whitney 6. At Real Red Bees blog. At Mike Grinnell underscore. Go ahead, Mike. Make sure to like our Facebook page and our Instagram page as well. New assistant. We have Instagram?

We have Instagram now. I followed you. Oh, shit. Sick. Yeah. At Marina Molnar. I'm not sure if she has an underscore or a name. She's been giving a huge assistance to us as far as getting more promotional stuff. Gifts.

She's great with the gifts. Dynamite, she is the gift queen. Gift girl? Give her a follow as well. And give us a follow. Again, quick show this week, but next week we'll be back at it with a couple of hopefully gold medal recipients or gold medal winners. So have a good weekend

everybody. Take care. Girl, I want to be with you all of the time. The only time I feel alright is by your side. of our time