Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 112: Featuring Auston Matthews

Episode Date: October 1, 2018

On Monday's episode of Spittin' Chiclets, the guys are joined by NHL super star, 2016 1st overall pick and Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews. The guys talk about Biz blowing off Auston all summer, growing up in Arizona, playing in Toronto and a ton more. The guys also preview some of the NHL awards and give their predictions on those.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. This episode of Spittin' Chicklets is brought to you by SeatGeek. Buying tickets can be complicated and confusing, but there's a simpler way to buy, and that is with SeatGeek. It is the smartest, easiest way to get tickets for every type of live event. I'm telling you, whether you're looking to go to a concert a game a show it really doesn't matter because seat geek helps you find the best seats at the best prices and it's all fully guaranteed nothing beats being there in person for a big time sporting event or any other type event and seat geek can help you

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For $10 off your first SeatGeek purchase. SeatGeek, right seat, right now, right from your phone. Hello, everybody. Welcome to episode 112 of Spittin' Chicklets, brought to you by Barstool Sports. Let's say hello to the gentlemen this evening. First off, Ryan Whitney. What's going on, buddy? What's up? How are you guys doing?

Not too bad. Not too bad. Next up, our producer, Mikey Grinelli down in New York City. What's up, boys? Not much. And last but not least, Paul Bissonnette, a.k.a. Biz Nasty and the Dirty Besset. Yeah, you can always tell when R.A. is watching football on fucking television when we record on Sundays because this guy is so dialed in to the money he's losing.

But we kind of fucked up that intro, and I got some special news to announce. Because of the fan base we've grown over the last six months, we now have a presenting fucking sponsor. New Amsterdam Vodka has become a presenting sponsor of Spit and Chicklets. We're going to get logo integration. Fuck. Logo integration? God damn it.

You got it. You got it. How do you say that word? Integration? Integration. That's not an easy one. God. Are we going to edit that?

That's not an easy one. Grinnells, come on. Help a kid out. Anyway, we got a new sponsor, and I can't wait. Now we're going to have fun things with the fans where we're going to be more interaction. Now, of course, one big thing is we want everyone to drink responsibly. That's a no-brainer.

That's happening. Anything else that we should let them know about Witt or R.A.? Yeah, and people can say, Witt, what are you on your period? Witt, what are you a pussy?? Wit, what are you a pussy? Wit, you're such a little bitch. I drink pink lemonade with my New Amsterdam vodka. And anyone else

who has any brains and any balls and any sort of confidence in life will understand. Pink lemonade, New Amsterdam vodka. Come at me one time. Yeah?

All right, I got to try that then. Well, that's another thing that we want to get going with the fan base we want to see what kind of different types of drinks that they want to mix concoctions as i like to call them i got one it's called the triple b's the boys being boys it's a little vodka new amsterdam vodka that is i like a little canadian dry ginger ale and a little bit of orange juice settles your stomach down stomach down. You get that vitamin C and then New Amsterdam. Hey, any vodka that you can just sip, what you can't with New Amsterdam is perfect.

Because I'm typically more of a beer wine guy, but a vodka that you can sip like this stuff is great, man. Yeah? Yeah, man. Any vodka you can sip on the rocks, that's how I like my vodka. On the rocks, maybe a little. Like a dirty martini, like James Bond, all right? A true martini has gin.

That's a little-known fact for you. No, not anymore. Not anymore. Shaken, not stirred. Not with our fan base. New Amsterdam martinis coming right at you. Pretty sick representing sponsor, though. Well, the best thing about it is it makes total sense.

We got so many fans that probably just want to get off work, go home, watch the hockey game. Now you can. And you can do it enjoying a New Amsterdam drink with apparently pink lemonade is the new thing. Yeah. So, New Amsterdam Vodka, we thank you for putting the trust in us. And we've got to thank our fan base for getting our listener numbers up

in order to even get a presenting sponsor. Are you kidding me? All right, would you ever think you ran a podcast that had a presenting sponsor? Contrary to what we usually say, it is a big deal. Get it? Oh, holy – But –

Oh, look, oh, look. Slow him down tonight. Yeah, oh, he must not hit the weed pen tonight. A couple sasparillas for the Pats game today. But, no, it's awesome, man. Like I say all the time when people ask me about the show, I didn't have expectations. And even if I did, they've been exceeded.

Everything just keeps getting better and better with this shit. Yeah, like I always say, I did a podcast earlier, and I said when we got busy, it was like 100 cc's of testosterone to the ass cheek. It was like chiclets on steroids, man. It was an H. Schmidt diet. Also, I feel like people should understand today's episode, which we have a special guest.

Biz, you hooked it up. Do you want to let them know? Well, it's always good meeting fans. When I met Austin Matthews, he was very nice and kind. I signed a few autographs for him. And I said, you know what? You're a pretty popular player now. Not as popular as I was.

Not a big deal. But I think you'd be great for the younger crowd of our podcast and come on. And, boys, this is prerecorded. And he took a shot at me. And I'm – Well, he took a valid shot, I think. And I'll say this. We don't want to give away

too much, but I'm going to Chase Bank and I'm pulling out the legitimate receipts and I'm going to fucking show you guys that I chipped in. All right? That's all I'm giving away. You paid for the chips at the table. Yes, I got the salsa and dip.

Can you take the guac off that, please? Yeah, yeah, transfer that to the other side. I just want to pay for the dry chips. But, boys, in the last three episodes, or sorry, the last four episodes, we've covered each division. I thought we broke them down progressively better and better by the last time we hit our stride, by the last one.

But one thing we didn't cover is league awards and our prediction going forward this season, who's going to take home the hardware. And we were unable to do that last year because I wasn't around. Sorry to hear that. But let's go over that because there isn't much hockey talk since the last time we spoke. Just a bunch of boring preseason hockey, nothing.

Yeah, we have for Thursday's episode, it'll be the night after the opening night of the season. So we'll get a little bit more into the actual league and maybe some gambling odds for, you know, division winners, cup winners. But for this episode, it's kind of just chilling before the shit gets real Wednesday. And because of that, we have some odds. Yeah.

Before that, actually, there were a couple of injuries I thought were noteworthy. Corey Schneider, I think it was the old LBI, he's going to be starting the year injured. I think he's coming back from surgery this summer on his hip. That's right. He had surgery. He's a little delayed coming back from that. Also, Seth Jones, I think he strained his ligament in his knee.

He's going to be out four to six weeks. Torrey Crew got a lower body. He may or may not start open tonight, same with Patrice Bergeron. Also, before we get to the awards, boys, the Tom Wilson hit on St. Louis Blue, Oscar Sundquist, resulted in a match penalty. I haven't been online much today. I didn't see if the league reached out.

What did you think of the hit? Did you think it was a clean hit? It looked to me at first glance just a clean, hard hit at the wrong time for Sundquist. I mean, I'm looking at it right now, R.A., and he came to the middle through the trolley tracks. I mean, these type of hits in the NHL now are being dissected so much. I would have to see the actual breakdown on it. It's tough to just do it off a gif off Twitter.

I mean, he didn't leave his feet. His shoulder was down. I just think that the nature of where it came from, he might have caught him right in the jaw as he followed through with the shot. So, Whit, I don't know if you've had a chance to break this down. What do you think? I really haven't, but I have looked at it enough to think, right off the bat, it looks shoulder to head.

Looking at it more closely, I think he might have caught his shoulder. And forget all of that, because if it's a hit in the head, it's a suspension. That's what they do now. But what are you doing, Sundquist? You can't just go to the middle and shoot the puck or pass the puck with your head down. I mean, that's hockey 101.

You're taught when you're little. You can't have your head up one and two. Don't cut to the middle of the ice. So this hit looks horrible, and people say Wilson's a scumbag. We've been over that a million times on here and we had him on. It's a good hit. I mean, I know good hit's not probably the right

term. It's just, it's frustrating to see that people are flipping out over this hit because you have to put the onus on the player who's got his head down coming, you know, into the train tracks right in the middle of the ice and we'll see if his suspension comes down. But I think it actually was shoulder to shoulder.

People see it's Wilson and flip out immediately. I just think that you can't do that when you have the puck. Know what's going on. Know who's out on the ice. Know the situation in terms of when you're cutting to the middle and when you're deciding to just stay on the wall because it's on you. Here's what I'm not okay with i'm not okay with people just saying well you just can't do that now well it's just like what do you mean man it's fucking contact well i looked at a different angle i'll as soon as as soon as he sees that wilson's coming he comes up right and his head

has already moved before he makes contact you can tell he's already moving his head. Like I said, I'm going to have to see this from multiple, multiple angles to break this down, but chances are he probably sees three to five games and he misses the start of the season. Yeah, there's definitely extra glare in the spotlight because it is Tom Wilson. The player wouldn't be nearly as much.

You know, like I said, you get the match penalty, so they got to look at Wilson. Another player wouldn't, wouldn't be nearly as much, you know, like I said, you get the match penalty. So they got to look at it. I don't know, man. I don't know that, that it's even suspension worthy. Like I said,

I wasn't able to zap rooter it. Like I normally do it with these hits, but my initial thing was like, well, man, that's, that's a clean, hard hit.

It's an unfortunate result, but I don't think he should be suspended. But anyways, the NHL getting into midseason form already, I guess. Right, and this isn't me saying he deserves three to five. I understand. They just hand him out now to just

shut everyone up. I'm reading online, everyone, oh, Tom Wilson, piece of shit, piece of shit. I mean, fuck, man. Would he bang your girl? Probably. Maybe he would rock rocket after all. I will say, boys, the one thing I do hate talking about on here

is breaking down suspensions and saying that, oh, it is or isn't, because I don't want to fucking deal with you fans. It's the most TSN – Oh, you fucking people. 50% of people come at me, oh, you think he's not a piece of shit? It's just like, dude, shut the fuck up. No, we're talking about everyone breaks down hits. It's just like, yeah, it gets tedious.

And, you know, people are, subtlety gets lost and nuance and people think, yeah, you're a fan. You're rooting against them when you're just trying to give an honest assessment of something. So now on a day that we didn't have much to talk about. Thank you, Tom Wilson. That gave us, what was that? Six minutes, Cornell?

Yeah. Well, yeah. Excuse me, Dougie. Should we get to the league awards? Let's start off with league scumbag. Tom Wilson's got this one wrapped up. No, I'm just kidding. They should do that.

They should do, like, the anti-Lady Bang Award, giving award for the biggest scumbag in the league. The biggest piece of shit in the league. The Matt Cook Award. But there'd be guys going guns ablaze and taking out ACLs, slashing people in the teeth to try to get it. Yeah, a.k.a. the Federal League. Well, boys, I think it's time to move on to league awards,

and let's go from the net out. We'll start with the Vesna. What do you think? Want to give us the odds, R.A.? Yeah, pull them up right here. I think – If you're ready. I got them right here.

I'm just – I got this – a bunch of them Grinnelli sent over. Vesna, the trophy odds, Sergey Bobrovsky, the favorite, at a plus 450. That's how you odds, Sergey Bobrovsky, the favorite, at a plus 450. That's how you say it, Bobrovsky. Another Ruski, Andre Vasilevsky is a plus 5-1. Connor Hellebuck, 5-1. John Gibson, not Josh. John Gibson, 8-1.

Braden Hopie, 9-1. Devin Dubnik, 11-1. And Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens is 12-1. It's just on this list here. There's obviously other goalies available. If I'm a betting man, you know, I'm not a big chalk guy. Hellebuck at five to one. I mean, he's, he's a good pick.

There's just not a lot of value there. I mean, Dubnik at 11 to one is probably the best value on the board, but give me Hopi at nine to one. That's what I'm going to take. Wow. Especially after coming off a Stanley Cup win. No hangover for him, R.A.? Yeah.

Yeah, I think he's been a pretty consistent goalie since, you know, he arrived on the scene back in 2012. You know what you're going to get from him. And like I said – R.A.'s looking at odds, too. Yeah, I'm looking – exactly, too. That's the thing. I know Bidgett's not a gambler, so I'm incorporating, like, okay,

it's not necessarily that I think he's going to win, but, like, okay, I'm going to equate who I think is with some value. And like I said, 9-1, that's a pretty nice price for Braden Holt. So, fuck it. Give me that. You've got to remember there's some other pretty good players. I mean, there's some other pretty good goalies. And we have, you know, we have the top five,

six for all these awards, but you've got to think outside the box maybe a little bit. Boys, this is, people might think I'm crazy, but I'm going to pick Antti Ranta, or Auntie Ranta, I should say. He's our goalie. Oh, that's such a, like, Homer move. Well, here's why. He had an unbelievable second half of the season last year

when he was healthy. Now, going into the season, we've got a couple injuries to deal with right now, but I see Coyotes potentially making playoffs. And in order to do so, he's going to have to stand on his head because we still have a young team. We're still in the midst of building a dynasty, which is going to happen. That's inevitable. But if the Coyotes do sneak into playoffs, which I think is possible this year,

it's going to be because of him. And I think that some of these other guys on this board, like Carey Price, I like his chances coming in because he's got a lot to prove this year, a lot of negativity surrounding that team. But I don't think they make playoffs. And it's difficult to give that trophy to a team that doesn't make playoffs.

So you heard it here first. I'm going to go with Antti Ranta. And I hope he stays healthy. And if he continues what he did in the second half of the season last year, I'm going to be right. And the odds on it, R.A he stays healthy, and if he continues what he did in the second half of the season last year, I'm going to be right. And the odds on it, R.A., are probably insane, right? You've got to think he's got worse odds than Carey Price to win it, right? He's not even on this list,

so yeah, I would imagine he's probably going to be 25-30 to 1. He actually had similar numbers to Marc-Andre Fleury, who finished fifth in the voting last year, and like you said, a lot of these players aren't even, you know, a lot of guys aren't even listed. I mean, for Christ's sake, Peck O'Renny won the award last year,

and he's not even among the top six listed on the odds. So, you know, this is a wide-open field, man. Like every year, there are so many good goalies in this league. I mean, the goaltending has been, I don't know, for the last 20 years, there's been at least 15 top-notch goalies in this league. Yeah. Or, Whit, what do you think, man? You're probably going to pick some American-born player, aren't you?

No, I'm going soft. Off the board, fellas. Okay. Crazy odds. Don't even know what the odds are, but the Sharks in San Jose are a good hockey team, and Martin Jones is one hell of a goalie. You know, he'll go down. He kicks them out. He blocks them aside. He hell of a goalie. You know, go down, he kicks him out, he blocks him aside,

he's got a great glove. All corners of the net he's got covered. His five hole's good. His five hole isn't even open a lot. I think he has a huge year. He's my pick. A little sleeper action for the Vets. I am very impressed with that pick.

I totally forgot about him. No offense, Martin Jones. And, you know And they got swept by Vegas in the playoffs, so he's coming back. He's got a lot to prove. Now that he's got a couple good defenders in front of him, or three solid ones, I think that's a

sleeper pick, Whit. You might actually have that one in the bag. Thank you. Do you guys want to move on to the Norris? Yes, that would be moving on from the goalie, right? That's a pretty good segue considering we're just talking about San Jose, and they probably have two defensemen. Has there ever been a team with two defensemen that have been nominated in the same year?

R.A., that might be a good question for you. I don't think that's ever happened just because the votes would – I think they'd take away from each other. But it goes into what we were talking about in terms of great combos, which Keith Yandel chirped me for. We didn't mention that day Ray Bork and Rob Blake on the Avalanche that year. The only thing that comes to mind, Biz, Bobby Orr and Brad Pak didn't play that long together.

I think there was one season when they were together on Boston, and I'm not sure if they were both finalists in that time that they did play together. Actually, you know what? Actually, you know what? They didn't because when Paca traded, Orr had already started suffering from his knee injury, so they didn't overlap

at the same time that they were both Norris Trophy candidates, but I gave it a bid. Okay, so R.A., why don't you hit us with the odds going in for the norris trophy or you know what i can do or no you do it you do it all right i get the trophy odds for the norris the james norris all right the chalk no surprise to anybody is new san jose shack eric carlson at a plus 250 uh followed by the reigning champion uh victor headman four to one seth jones uh columbus uh training really can't really call him a sleeper at plus 650 but uh he's a plus 650 brent burns

a 650 as well calson's teammate in san jose uh drew dowdy at nine to one that's a pretty nice price right there uh pk suban who still hasn't appeared on our show in Nashville, he's a 10 to 1. And John Klingberg in Dallas is a 15 to 1. Those are the top six. I'm sorry. Okay. So all right. For a guy who doesn't gamble that plus 250 for Eric Carlson, that means I have to gamble $100 to win 250 or do I have to gamble 250 to win $100? It means for every $100 you put up, you get $250 back. Okay. All right. So it's still a fair bet.

I mean, would you put $100 on Carlson to win it? Yeah. I mean, like I said, he's the chalk, which, well, he's the favorite, but I'm more of an odds guy. I like to chase. I like to try to make some money. I mean, plus $250, I don't think it's that great of a return for the bet um because it's it's you know it's a wide open field i mean i obviously he's the favorite but there are so many good defensemen i think anybody could potentially

win it you you gotta think too with seth jones that's gonna miss some time starting the season i think they said five to six weeks correct correct yeah four to six yep yeah with a sprained knee was that the diagnosis uh i put a sprained ligament in his knee, yes. Okay, so it's going to be tough because all of a sudden he's got to get back into game shape once he comes back in and gain his footing. Currently, he's ranked third on that list at plus 650. I just got to think with all the hype and him going to a new team

and getting out of Ottawa, I would say Eric Carlson's my pick I think that I'm surprised that that Oliver Ekman Larson isn't on this list and he is a very underrated player in the desert and a little tidbit for you fans their power play in preseason has been buzzing so I'm gonna I'm gonna stick with the Carlson pick but uh I really like Oliver Ekman-Larsen based that he's not on the sheet I would assume his odds are even less in his favor

they have to be pretty low obviously no disrespect but he didn't even finish in the top 18 in voting for the Norris last year I know he had a rough plus minus he had a tough start to the year but nonetheless I mentioned it a few podcasts ago every season he's played a full start to the year but nonetheless i mentioned it a few podcasts ago

every season he's played a full season for the arizona coyotes he's been double digits and goals if he can get off to a hot start twice in his career he's reached over 20 tucks and that was when the coyotes were were struggling in the start of their rebuild so this kid can fucking play wet i'm interested to hear your opinion because you were the offensive defenseman coming out of the league. Yeah, God, I was. Jesus Christ. Did you ever get any Vesna votes? Or any Norris votes? Sorry.

I hope so. If there's a Norris for drinking. No. Let me quickly remind you that Teddy Purcell used to say I don't think Witt knows what color the puck is. I had my head up. I was just checking out what was going on, who's open.

That's a compliment. My pick. And why would I not pick him? Because it finally happened last year, and he got his first, and there's no reason to think he won't get his second at some point, so why not be this year? Victor Hedman. The monster Swede skates like the wind, reason to think he won't get his second at some point so why not be this year victor headman the monster swede skates like the wind both six foot seven monster out there plays 30 minutes a

night or if he doesn't it's probably close to it and like carlson and burns and pk subban playing on nashville with roman yosi and those other studs on the blue line there. There's no one else in Tampa that comes close to Hedman. So a lot of times when a team has a great D and it's not just one guy, it kind of takes away votes from him, I think. Hedman's on his own. He's the number one guy there. He was the best defenseman last year in the league,

and no reason that I think he won't be the best defenseman in the league again this season. I love that pick, and no reason that I think he won't be the best defenseman in the league again this season. I love that pick, and it's a great point that he's all alone, and a lot of the offense from the blue line runs through him. So he's picking up those secondary assists. He's lugging tons of time. He's got those prime matchups. So, yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

Boys, is there anyone who also is a little underrated who we're not mentioning? Like a guy like maybe keith yandel who's been i would say in the top five of point production in the last seven eight years as a defenseman his consistency is through the roof i heard the funniest keith yandel story the other night dude okay let's hear it let's hear it okay and everyone knows that have listened to keith with kevin hayes the i mean biz biz, funniest team I ever had, right? Yeah, he's out there.

He's out there. He can chirp with the best of them. So I went to the Kevin Hart comedy show at the Garden. Brian Yandel went, his brother-in-law, his brother-in-law's brother. So we're all hanging out, and I'm talking to this guy, and he's like, Keith's the funniest bastard, blah, blah, blah, blah. You should have seen what he did at my grandmother's funeral. So he's going through the line or not the line,

but he comes into the funeral home or whatever and they're doing the wake type thing. And he ran into one of the guy I was talking to, his cousin. So both of their grandmother had passed away. It was an older woman. God rest in peace. So this guy that Keith ran into, he used to be bald. He was bald as shit, like R.A.

No hair on his head. And he did some sort of, you know, he had a couple PEDs or whatever may have you for the dome piece. And Keith saw him, and he's got waving beautiful hair now. Apparently it's just like you're blown away by it. Like, holy shit, this guy was completely bald. Yeah, not like

oh, dude, just let it go. Holy shit. Guess who's back? Back again. People who don't know this guy, they're like, look at this guy's hair. But people who know him, I guess they're like look at this guy's hair but people who know him i guess they're like holy fuck like i mean not that he cares but obviously you know he doesn't really mind but he you know he got a fucking nice weave put on so keep looks at him apparently it

goes holy shit your hair looks incredible like oh my god i guess the guy's like thanks kind of like you know like like who would react like that to a guy like getting just a haircut like obviously colossal happen he was kind of like thanks a lot like yeah you know and he's like god it looks great all of a sudden keith goes can i take that thing for a ride dude dude this guy told me his story says before the guy with the new head of hair couldn't even say a word he's rubbing his hands through his rubbing his hands to the guys he's squeezing he's pulling the guy's hair can i take that thing for a ride hey hey he grabs the mic he's like hey is this thing on

is this again check out this motherfucker's hair. This guy used to be bald. The guy telling me this story, he was laughing so hard. He said people were dying laughing. His head's kind of shaking as Keith's taking his hair for a spin. All of a sudden, Keith's like, alright, see you, boys.

The guy perks up with a casket and he starts rubbing his hand through his hair oh can i take can i take that it's like a ride i was i was crying laughing kevin hart was funny and especially at a fucking a funeral home jesus yeah but it was a wake i mean it was just no nobody was upset in terms of where it was, but just the. I'm interested to see the before and after pictures. I wonder if we can get them sponsoring the podcast. I said that, and the guy said you wouldn't believe it.

It was bald to beautiful flowing. All right, you should be more perked up about this. You should be with your notepad getting all this information. Do you want to get any hair? I think that ship already sailed. That's what I always do. That guy too. When I do the hair loss ad reads,

I say, Hey, it's too late for me. Now, even when the, even like when size Berlin was around when I was younger, I don't know. It was just kind of like, that's how my genetics are.

I mean, if my fucking it's, I'm going to go. Here's the thing. All right. This would be a perfect time for a hymns, hymns, a ad read because not only they mastered do we have one

today no i said be perfect if we had one ah shit all right well shout out to one of our sponsors we got to fucking shout them out but they've mastered the hair hair loss thing and the dick pills it's like a combination right it's a it's a call is that what is it that's funny because i always do both reads people think i'm bald and i can't get hard, but only one of those is true. I'm definitely bald. Yeah, you're not that bald. But, no, even when I noticed it started going biz, I was never like, oh, I'm going to fight this.

It was just kind of like, hey, man, that's nature. It took its course. Like, whatever. Sailor B, no big deal. But back to the Norris Trophy, one name we didn't mention. Roman Yossi was a name we didn't mention. His odds weren't on this list, which means they're better than what we mentioned. So if you can get some money on Roman Yossi,

I know obviously he might be splitting some votes with PK, but he's a guy we didn't mention that's probably worthy of being mentioned. Boys, the wheels fell off a little bit on that discussion. Great insight on the Norris Trophy, but we got to switch it up to the Art Ross. And, R.A., I'm going to let you give everyone the odds. No surprises here. Who's on top? No, none whatsoever.

Connor McDavid, not only is he the chalk, he's huge chalk. He's a plus 150 to win the scoring title. The next guy, a fellow by the name of Sid Crosby, had a plus 725. How is it that big of a difference? Yeah, well, you've got so many sites now that, you know, I think there are so many vagaries on so many different sites. So, anyway, yeah, Nikita Kucherov, he's 10-1.

Evgeny Malkin, 15-1. Nathan McKinnon, 15-1. Patty Kane, 15-1. And John Tavares, 16-1. I'm shocked at Tavares that low. Going into Toronto, he's got some really good wingers. I mean, I'd imagine that he's got Nylander soon. Or even Marner, depending who they want to put on his wings.

I think that's an undercover pick right there, isn't it? I think there's so many guys to take points away. They're so loaded up front. It's harder for a team that has six stallion forwards for a guy to win the scoring title as opposed to one. Well, here's where I'm going to disagree with you in regards to what you just said, the fact that their power play is stacked.

And in today's NHL, power play points have a lot to do with your overall point production. And then on his regular shift, he's going to have competent wingers that are going to help him add more point production throughout the season. Like, not to say any of them are going to go down, but if one does go down to injury, all of a sudden, you can just bump one up to the next line. So having that depth isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I get what you're saying.

All of a sudden the puck might filter on the other side of the power play because the other team's figured out that they go through him and they have that option on the other side. So, I mean, I'm going to disagree with you a little bit on that, but good point. Bitch. Thank you, motherfucker. Motherfucker.

You know, my pick picks Kucherov really yeah guy's filth he's filth he is pretty nasty and I'm a big Tampa fan they might get over the hump this year alright

how do you not pick McDavid I mean unless he gets hurt he's gonna run away with this I mean even run he gets hurt, he's going to run away with this. Run away? I mean, he led the league in what? He led by 12 points last year, didn't he? And he went down for a bit. I believe he was injured.

And then look at the team that was around him. This Tyratty is going to have a season. Yeah, what the hell happened with him in St. Louis? Like, why is he this nasty now in Edmonton? Remember when we were there with him? They never found a spot with him in St. Louis? Like, why is he this nasty now in Edmonton? They never – remember when we were there with him? They never found a spot for him in St. Louis. Yeah, he was up and down the whole time. I agree.

Mitch might have hated him. Yeah, actually, I take it. He was six points ahead of Claude Giroux last year. He played 82 games. Yeah, I mean, I think it's his to lose, man. He just – even, like you said, Biz, even on a team that wasn't good last year, he put up those numbers. If they improve, then, you, then his numbers should go up.

So I hate taking the chalk. I probably wouldn't bet him. John Tavares, like you said, at 16, the one's a good number. But I don't know. I don't see McDavid losing the out-ross anytime soon for the next several years unless he gets hurt. Yeah, I would agree. I thought maybe he went through a couple weeks of injury last season,

but I guess I was wrong. You said he played all 82 games? Yeah, 82 GP on him, yeah. That's the obvious pick. I'm going to go with McKinnon based on the fact that I love him and the fact that he's 15-1. So as far as the money's concerned, Ari, I know you take that into consideration.

I think that he's going to have another big season, and that's my pick. And I'm surprised Malkin's at 15-1 too because he's fucking nasty. Yeah, like those guys, if my site had it, I would bet those guys. I wouldn't bet McDavid at a plus 150. I just think, like, yeah, he's going to win it. But I'd for sure throw a C-note or two on Malkin or Nathan McKinnon at those numbers, no doubt about it. Yeah, so like I said, I mean, McDavid, he's the chalk.

He's probably going to win it. But I would probably throw something on somebody else just to give myself something to root for. And the next trophy, like Witts was saying, it's a hot trophy. It's very similar to the hot roster. There's a lot of crossover. Although last year, Boy Halsey won it. And what was he?

I think got a fifth or sixth in points. So, you know, last year it was Hall. Nathan McKinnon was second. Anze Kopitar, those were the three finalists. We don't have any odds for that for some reason. But who do you see shaping up this year? What do you like for that, Wits? Sam?

It is tough to say. I usually kind of thought Art Ross goes hand in hand, but you made a great point when we weren't recording that Halsey last year took down the MVP with being fifth or sixth in the league in scoring. So I'd love to see a defenseman win MVP. Maybe a D-man might pick Hedman as a monster. It's just so hard. For the most part, it's going to be the you know, the leading scorer of the league.

That was the huge argument last year, right? Like, how could Hall win? McDavid's been the most valuable player. People were bitching about that. So, I think that the Art Ross discussion kind of goes hand in hand. It pretty much always will. But if I could have one, I mean, I don't know about you guys, if I could win the Art Ross of the heart, give me the heart all day.

Yeah, I like that one too. That says a lot. It basically means you carried the squad. You carried the goddamn league. You know who doesn't get enough love? And last year he should have been at least in consideration was Claude Giroux. I think he was in the top six in scoring. I think he might have been.

No, he was second. the top six in scoring. I think he might have been. No, he was second. He was second in scoring. Actually, he came in fourth in the hot trophy vote last year. Okay. Hey, Biz, question for you. Yep. So I heard a stat one time that if you're a golfer and you ever were to win the Masters or the British Open,

I don't remember which major it was, but either one, it basically turns into you making $15 million the rest of your career. Wow. Based on, uh, you know, endorsements, appearances, just in your entire life. I would say the masters. The rest of your life, you're the masters champion. You're the open champion and that's how much money you make. What do you think you make in the rest of your life just based alone on winning an MVP one year in the NHL?

Well, I mean, chances are you're making significant money, but you're talking about like endorsement dollars away from the game. Yeah, just like the future of your brand. Look at Halsey. Halsey's doing Subway commercials. I think for hockey players, it's good for him. He's collecting paychecks. Yeah. Yikes.

Yeah. Oof. Oof. Jared there. I think Jared's in the game, dude. Yeah, he's getting his own footlong. He's getting a footlong. Yeah. Yeah, fuck that guy. But hey, now they found a new poster boy, and it's Taylor Hall. And good for them.

Cold cut combo. I would assume. Five million? Yeah, I'd say five million is a fair number. But people forget how poorly athletes in hockey are compensated off the ice. Oh, we're the biggest pigeons for any sorts of endorsements. I bet you when it's all said and done, Crosby might rack in $50 million on endorsement deals.

Maybe even $100, where LeBron James is going to be in the billions. I think $50 is a lot for endorsements. I would assume that CCM's got to be paying him at least $1 or $2 million. He's got Tim Hortons. He's got some other ones. But, yeah, hockey players compared to other sports. Now, I'm not saying that's not a decent living. I'm just saying compared to LeBron James, it's peanuts.

It's gotten better. It's gotten better when you consider 25 years ago the TV deal that the NHL had with Sports Channel was worth five, I think just over $5 million. And that's basically what a second-line winger probably makes nowadays. So things have gotten better. We did talk about MVPs. We did talk about scoring titles. We didn't mention one guy who's probably going to be in the running for both of them, even though if he didn't have odds, that's Austin Matthews, Toronto Maple Leaf superstar, American hero. And we're going to send it to him right now. This interview is brought to you by 23andMe.

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Man Rocket, 2016 first overall pick, American, thank you very much, 40 goals his rookie year as a teenager, four of them in his first overall pick. American, thank you very much. 40 goals his rookie year as a teenager. Four of them in his first freaking game. Austin Matthews, thanks for coming on, buddy. Thanks for having me, boys. Now, first off, our biggest question before everyone else kind of asks theirs, my biggest question, is it true that this mutant Bissonette that does this podcast, that joined this podcast a couple months ago,

that he breezed you and you were willing to come on earlier? Yeah, it's insane. The audacity on this guy is insane. He texted me earlier this summer. I saw him in Scottsdale once, and then he texted me. He was like, hey, man, you want to come on Spin Chicklets next week? I was like, yeah, let me like, you want to come on Spin Chicklets next week? I was like, yeah, like, let me talk to, you know, like, our PR guy in Toronto. You know, make sure, like, it's all good on their part.

Like, I'm totally good. And this is, like, maybe end of June, beginning of July. And then I text him back. I'm like, yeah, like, no problem. Just let me know. He's like, oh, yeah, for sure, buddy. Like, all good. Like, we'll let you know.

And then, like, two months goes by. I'm in Tampa two weeks ago. And, like, I, yeah, for sure, buddy. Like, all good. Like, we'll let you know. And then, like, two months goes by. I'm in Tampa two weeks ago, and, like, I'm with Hannah Finn, and Hannah Finn's like, yeah, man, like, why haven't you ever been on Spitting Checklist? And I'm like, well, I was supposed to be on two months ago, but I don't like big dog me, never texted me back. Like, haven't heard from him since. Okay, two things.

Wow. Two things, two things. One, I hung out with him this summer in Arizona, and to be honest, I thought he was a bad influence on me. So I was actually avoiding him a little bit. And number two, I want to remind you that this is a children's show. There will be no swearing, and I don't know what you've been hearing. There's been some rumors going around about this wrench talk

not happening on this podcast. Hey, he's dodging, breezing you though, I can tell. So tighten it up and I'm sorry I breezed you. I'd love to add one thing is when we hung out in Arizona, you were nowhere to be seen when this bill came. I just want to make that announcement.

You fucking, are you I'm not even lying. I'm not even lying. I showed up by myself. This isn't even like an exaggeration you were nowhere to be seen when this bill came and you like you were the first guy like oh like you got a lot of guys you're like oh boys it's all good we'll chop it up and like so it's like you're gonna say that obviously like you're gonna you know we're gonna chop it up and the bill comes and like it was literally i watched your your documentary it was you basically did

exactly what you did to mo like you just were nowhere to be seen when the bill comes and like, it was literally, I watched your, your documentary. It was, you basically did exactly what you did to Mo. Like you just were nowhere to be seen when the bill came and we waited. Like you tried to wait it out. Like we waited for you. Like we were in no hurry. Once again, I have two, I have two replies to that. One, there were too many girls around me. So I had to get a little time away and I had to hit up the bathroom and decompress.

Number two, when I got back, i picked up an entire bottle boost to myself and i was barely drinking that day so i bought one bottle of vodka so all his entourage this i thought he played for the fucking raptors this guy had 10 guys hanging out with him hey austin that is an exaggeration all i drank was water that day and i fuck that's true that's true you were being good. Hey, Biz is the girl that's like, I just had a salad, so mine's actually $10.50 because he had one sip of the vodka. There were eight people at the table.

I think we had four bottles of booze, and I picked up one full bottle and barely drank. This is a bad rumor going around about me. I need it squashed. Nowhere to be seen. We need to change the subject, though, because we only have so much time. I know you're a busy guy. And I guess my first question, have you been able to do anything as far as TIFF's concerned?

I know Toronto's popping off right now, and it's right before training camp. Worst time to have it. Yeah, I mean, a little bit. You know, you see, like, a bunch of uh people walking around like it's been raining the last few days so like what else is there to do but uh over the weekend um like went to dinner i guess julia roberts was like renting out the top uh the patio of this restaurant and just saw people kind of rolling in i saw kenny rogers uh didn't think i'd i'd see the day i'd run into him in public.

No way. Julia Roberts. She's like 50 now, isn't she? Yeah, I did not see her, but obviously she's still looking good. We were walking into this restaurant and Kenny Rogers was walking out looking unbelievable. Just like hair feathered.

Unbelievable mustache. Still? Fucking pretty solid. He still has that look. Yeah. He still, he still got it. Yeah. He got that all kinds of work done too.

He looks a lot different than he did 30 years ago. And just for our listeners out there, TIFF is the Toronto international film festival that's going on right now. It's where a lot of Oscar bait gets shown for the first time just to get people up to speed there. Do you think, uh, do you think that, or do you know that they're probably hearing Austin Matthews is in this restaurant?

No. No chance. You don't think Kenny Rogers knows him? No way. I'm looking at a picture online of Kenny Rogers, and you're right. Yeah, he got some major work done. Definitely looks way different than he used to do. So, Austin, you saw him in the flesh.

It looks like he has the same surgeon as little Kim. Holy cow. He does look way different. I got a little peek. He looks good. Have you met Rachel McAdams by any chance?

I haven't. Is that your girl, though? Yeah, I raised Dayton, you know. Yeah, my internet girlfriend. No, I know she's a big Leafs fan. She actually came to the Cup when it was Bruins-Vancouver, like six or seven years ago. I didn't know if you might have bumped into her yet.

Probably with a connection. Yeah, no, I haven't. But to answer your question, I honestly think, like, I mean, Toronto, they obviously love us, like they love honestly think, like, I mean, Toronto, like, they obviously, like, love us. Like, they love the players and stuff. But I just, I guarantee you they, somebody, like, says something like that, they have absolutely, like, they don't even acknowledge it. They just, like, go about, like, eating their, you know, crème brûlée or whatever they're having.

Yeah, it's like they transport Hollywood into Toronto. Also, I don't know if you heard, but R.A. was actually in the movie The Town, and he was up for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards. So I don't know if you've ever seen the scene where he's the cook where you actually don't even see him. You can see like a slimmer of a bald head. It could be like a woman with a shaved head.

Yeah, could be, but it's not. It's me. You know, I saw, have you guys seen Mile 22? No. Oh, that's what Avery's in it. Yeah, literally first seen Sean Avery's in it. They're not first seen, but like, he's like, I mean, I hate to say it, like he's the first guy that dies.

Have you seen Patriot Day? Avery is. Yeah. He was promoting it on his Instagram. He's a pretty good actor. He's into poetry and stuff. We want to get him on the show. I don't know if that was a subtle jab the other day

when he's like, all these podcasts suck. He's like, I've got to start my own. I thought it could have been a stab at us. He blocked me. It could have been a stab at you. He follows me, so I don't know. I mean, Matthews came on throwing true stabs at you, so are you that surprised? I think I'm killing the podcast. I got to get out of here.

Murdering it. Anyways, Austin, you famously didn't go to juniors, didn't go to college. You opted for Switzerland, which you went pro kind of out of the blue. I don't think anyone saw that coming coming what was the biggest reason for you going to switzerland uh you know i think it was just the opportunity kind of presented itself um i didn't have like i was going to my senior year of high school so i didn't really have uh i couldn't really just go into college but um you know i was I was drafted in the WHO, but I don't know, just the opportunity kind of presented itself. A lot of hurdles that we had to kind of jump over to make it happen,

but in the end, it really worked out, and I loved my experience. We were, like, unbelievable country. The guys are great. Like, it's so laid back. The people there, you know, high quality of life, and, you know, if I had to do it over again, I'd for sure go back. But there are a lot of NHLers you reached out to before you went over there.

I know, you know, famously Joe Thornton played over there two years ago. Yeah. I didn't really reach out to anybody, but, um, you know, just, you know, guys obviously have played there during the lockout and, you know, they had a lot of great things to say, uh, about the league and just life in general over there and um you know i i think like i said it kind of all the stars kind of aligned and uh seemed to make sense nhl coach over there uh some former nhl players are over there that um you know were great for me they kind of put me under their wing and i know it was a fun time so it's funny you mentioned put under your wing because I had to hockey DB that roster in Zurich and I saw the leading scorer I didn't realize you played

with Robert Nielsen I'll tell you a quick Robert Nielsen story because I need one from you I get to Edmonton this guy's so skilled first round pick could do things with the puck I was it was amazing unbelievable unbelievable I still tell i still tell people this day probably the most like like flat out skilled hockey player i've ever played with i know and so i saw it in practice pre-game skate when i got there i was like oh my god i didn't even really know much about this guy well turns out my first game with the oilers i'm like sitting kind of across him i don't know anyone on the team we come in in after a warm-up, and we're sitting there, and all of a sudden I see him, and he's looking at his legs,

and he's shaking. He's going, wake up. Come on, guys. Come on, guys. Wake up tonight. I got nothing right now. Wake up, please. And I was like, this guy's up.

And then that night, he goes, they never woke up. Did you see that side of him? He's hilarious. did you see that he's hilarious yeah like so my first like uh my first practice with them so like it's it's different like their training camps like six weeks or like six weeks long four weeks long something crazy and and so like guys especially older guys like they don't come into camp like in shape like they basically use that camp to like get in shape right so like first day i'm like yeah i'm just like in the line and uh talking like one of the guys and you know he's like yeah you know just talking about whatever he's like yeah like this uh this guy right here you know it was robert he's probably you know one of the most skilled

guys on the team like i assume you'll probably be playing with them and so i'm like oh okay so like i'm keeping an eye on him in practice like this guy looks so bad like wasn't moving like was moving at half pace like couldn't stick handle a puck i'm like like what like this guy like you're like absolutely pumping this guy's tires and like he can't even catch a pass right now. And then I was like, fuck it. Call your parents. Give me the fuck. I was like, first practice. I was like,

what, like what league am I getting myself into? Like I'm over here in a foreign country. Like, I don't know what I'm doing. And then like fast forward, like four weeks, like,

you know, I started playing. I'm like, this guy's unbelievable. Like, like I said, one of the most skilled guys, like such a nice guy was one of the,

you know, players on the team that, you know, really kind of helped me out and kind of took me under his wing but i just thought it was so funny that first practice i was like this guy is like the most skilled player on the team and he can't even like catch a pass on his backhand or forehand right now like can't even complete a pass i was just like oh my god what's going on a lot of those guys even especially russians like they go in a camp out of shape because they're like, man, I'm going to be here for six weeks before we even start playing. Well, and they're going to get on the Russian gas. But, I mean, there's no point in showing up in shape

because you're going to be burnt out by the time the season starts. Yeah, exactly. But, like, literally fast forward four weeks, and this guy's, like, twirling five guys at a time, going in and out of every single guy on the opposing team. He's just disgusting. Honestly, it was fun. I love playing with him, but sometimes you just get caught watching him,

and you're just like, oh, my God, this guy is just disgusting. Austin, we know, obviously, a big reason why you didn't go to the WHL is because you're not tough enough but any uh any uh word on or would you be able to share with our fans what you were making over there when you were 18 years old playing pro can you drop the salary number i was 18 i was 18 i honestly don't know if i'm allowed to drop a salary number but i feel like it's came out. Okay, we're going to play under over. Over 150? Yeah. We're going to say.

Nice. We're going to say. So, basically, you're playing for London Knights. I'm basically playing for London Knights. I'm going to get smoked for that comment. I've been getting in trouble for my London Knights comments. All right. I have another question.

First time I ever saw you play, it was in Boston. I wonder if you remember this game like I do. Jack Eichel is a freshman at BU. The national team comes in and plays. Yeah, yeah. I remember that game. What did you have? Three goals and an assist.

Played better than Eichel, who's one of our guests. Love you, buddy, but you got outplayed that night by Austin Matthews. Remember that game? I think, yeah, yeah. I remember it. Like, that was one of my best games of the year. I think we both had two and one. I don't know if I could say I outplayed him because he had two and one

and they ended up winning. But that was honestly probably, like, one of my most favorite games just because, like, you know, I know Jack very well. And, like, obviously, anytime you go up against any of the top guys like even in hl you're going against top guys even like some of your buddies like you you never want to you know look bad playing against them and um so that's that's one of the games you know we all had kind of circle on the calendars because it's it's hikes and all the hype that uh you know he had rightfully so going to his draft year. But I remember that game really well, really well. And it was true that just for all the BU people out there,

you were going to go to BU if you did go to college, I was told. That's correct, right? I went there. Say it. It was one of them. Like, that was – they were my top three. Like, I had BU, Denver, and NODAC were probably top three. Not BC.

I caught that one. Perfect. Did you ever score four goals in a game in Switzerland? No, I didn't. I did not. So let's fast forward. Now, you're in the NHL, your very first game. You famously scored four goals in your first game. Man, what is going through your head after that fourth one?

Like, I don't know. I feel like I've seen this. Like the video is engraved into my mind because i've seen it so many times i've been asked about it so many times and like i have absolutely no idea what's going through my mind in that fourth goal like i can't believe what's happening like that whole game it just feels like an absolute blur because like i just wanted to like score one goal just like i just wanted to, like, score one goal. Just, like, I just wanted to score. You know, like, every kid dreams of it. You kind of get the monkey off the back, and, like, it just, like, kept rolling. Like, the puck just, like, kept going in.

Like, I was getting these, like, grade-A chances. The puck kept going in, and I, like, I just couldn't believe it. And then, like, I saw the video after the game, that fourth goal. Like, I just – I blacked out. Like, it's just – I don't know. Yeah, Austin, I can yeah awesome i can relate i can relate it was like when i went to cardiff during the lockout you know i just wanted to you know set the tone early and sure enough after the 11 hour bus ride to scotland i put my gear on and i

get put out there first shift and mind you i was playing defense and forward i was playing two two positions then and he fought a guy and got done. Much like Mario Lemieux, I scored in my first shift and the rest is history. I was a Sidney Crosby of Cardiff and that's it. They probably love you there. Yeah, he's going to go back there and start a podcast about the English League.

Is that where you played in the lockout? Laugh all you want, boys, but I've been taking the CBD stuff, and I may actually make a comeback. And I've been off the sauce. Ever since I stopped hanging out with Matthews, I've been actually living a very healthy lifestyle. Now, one question I did have is Matt Martin, man rocket.

Yeah, dude. He seemed like the papa bear of all you young guys. You guys had a good thing going in that locker room. How upset were you that he's yeah dude he's gone now he's he seemed like the papa bear of all you young guys you guys had a good thing going that locker room how upset were you that he's gone now yeah that's actually that's a pretty good uh like he's a very underrated man rocket i'd say oh yeah yeah dude i'm not a big fan of the long hair but he can rock it anyway yeah he honestly he's an unbelievable guy like he so nice like will do anything for anyone like every like just he's one of those guys like on the team you know like they're very like popular like you know whether you're chirping him or like whatever like he just always seems to be in in the middle of stuff um he had a good relationship with like

minor um you know those two and their girls uh hung out a lot and uh i had a good relationship with like minor, you know, those two and their girls hung out a lot. I had a really good relationship with him too. And yeah, definitely, definitely going to miss him, his presence. I mean, he's like I said, he's an unbelievable guy to like have around and, you know, a really good player as well. And I know he stuck up to me a couple of times my first two years and he had to go fight some guys. But he's a guy that would do anything for his teammates for sure.

His wife's stunning too. So she's got to be hooking you guys up with her friends and stuff, no? Yeah, she's awesome. Awesome girl. He looks like he could be Brock Bess' father or older brother, doesn't he? He does. He does. A little bit, yeah.

or older brother, doesn't he? He does, he does. A little bit, yeah. Brock's got that long, long hair, feathered, and Marty's more kind of slicked back and stuff, but I could definitely see him maybe as a long-lost father or something. You mentioned Jack a few minutes ago. Are you an old-school rock and roll guy like Jack?

We had him on. He said how much he likes old-school music and Motown, or are you more like a modern guy? I'm more of a modern guy. But, I mean, I don't know. Like last year, I actually kind of got into like Rolling Stones, like Beatles. Like I was listening to kind of like some older stuff. And like you hear these songs, whether it's like in movies or like whatever,

commercials, and then you – like, I don't know. For some reason, I just got into it and um there was like a good period of time last year i was just listening to like kind of old school stuff but uh i'd say i'm more modern though um are you on this like new wave rap like who are your top five rappers other than dial on dial on dial on dial on and dial on uh i don't know how i really feel about like this new wave of like rappers but um it's pretty hit or miss but i don't know i i listen to drake uh i like travis gossman album yeah it's like j cole all day so i went to a j cole concert uh taylor pie yeah taylor pie

never even heard of him i brought him i've never heard of him i've never heard of jay cole as far as a performer his lyrics and overall to me he's the best in the game right now i i've never seen a person relate to his fans more when he was rapping like we're talking about like life struggles that that i'll never know through. He was a puppeteer, man. He had this crowd on strings, and I was in downtown Phoenix, so obviously there are people who are dealing with issues that he's talking about. He's remarkable.

He's a showman, and I think he's the top of the game right now. Yeah. No, I couldn't agree more. That's why I listen to a lot of his music, because it's not just talking about random stuff. It's more stuff that people can relate to. Yeah, he's good. I like him a lot.

I like Kanye West, his album. You know, he came out with. There's a lot of guys I like to listen to, but I think those top three, and like you said, J Cole is, uh, you know, pretty unbelievable. So unless, unless you live under a rock,

I think everyone knows Drake's a big Toronto fan. If you like chilled with him, I'm sure he's rocked your Jersey at a concert. If that's happened, how sick of a feeling is that? I don't think it has happened, but, uh,

that's kind of a bad look for you. Yeah, it was a bad look for me, honestly, but, um, I am a pigeon. Can't even get biz to respond to a text confirming to be on the podcast two months ago.

I texted him, told him I'll avoid you. Well, I had a good question for you. Oh, here's the one. I was going to ask, what's the craziest story you've read or heard about yourself regard in the toronto media that you're like this isn't even true there's been quite a bit honestly i said i i gotta go with the one like this summer when he signed jt and everybody was like oh yeah he's pissed like he can't believe it he's pissed they just signed a the biggest unrestricted free agent um i don't

know in the last how many years like superstar center superstar center like top 10 player league like yeah he's pissed about it like he can't believe it that was probably like when i saw that one on twitter i was kind of like, wow. Oh, you probably want a fire back. There's been a lot of times where I've wanted a fire back, but I just don't find to be really like – it's not really worth it. Yeah. It's not really worth it. And then I'm sure they're going to segue it into, oh,

now who's going to get the C. Like you're probably like, I don't give a shit. It's like, let's just win here. Yeah. like like you're like you're probably like i don't give a shit it's like let's just win here yeah that's all like that's all i got asked when i uh was in chicago last week but that's basically like it's nothing's like to me like nothing changes like if he has a c or if like somebody else has c if i have a c if i have a letter like that doesn't like change like what i'm gonna like do or like how i'm gonna be like you know how hard i'm to do or how I'm going to be, how hard I'm going to work, how much I want to win. That doesn't change. You get a letter.

Obviously, you've got certain responsibilities that not everybody else has. But other than that, nothing else really changes. We've got plenty of guys on the team that don't have letters that lead and good veteran core. But, you know, honestly, like, it doesn't really make a difference. Yeah, I mean, and, like, for people to say that, all you're thinking right away is, wow, this is, like, going to get me an easier matchup throughout the year.

Like, it's just this weapon that we've added that's going to probably play on an opposite line, but together in the power play. So I don't really understand, like, how people could not understand that you probably were a part of signing him. Did you ever call him? Was that even ever allowed or were you outside of all of this? No. Yeah. I called him probably two weeks before July.

And like he talked like 20, 20, 30 minutes. Yeah. I was like, man, please. Like I'm on my hands and I just signed with us. no you just yeah he's a nice guy like he just wanted to kind of get a feel for what it was like playing here and you know all the stuff you know coaching guys on the team and you know i was honest with him told him everything and uh i mean he's from toronto so like i assume he knows what it's like to play or like be in a market like this just him being here in the summer i'm sure he gets recognized and stuff but um when i when i heard the news that because i had no idea like i didn't know like i thought our talk went well i heard the meeting with like dubas it went really well and um and so i got the call from kyle actually july 1st they're like yeah we just signed john to ours i was like no way like i couldn't believe it

and they're like yeah we're gonna announce in about an hour just like one to let you know give you a heads up but um yeah it was pretty pretty unbelievable i was i was pissed that we signed up but yeah i can't stand you but come to my team and austin last thing back to the c thing it's it's kind of like the cardiff situation to me when i got the c when i was at the sagina spirit it was like how am i gonna provide all these kill stories in the locker room, carry this team from the back end, and manage to deal with 20 guys' emotions in the locker room? It's a tough task.

Were you playing D in junior? Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. I played for U18 twice. We won the World Championships that year, beat the United States. Hey, he was last cut. He almost made Pittsburgh out after his draft year, right? As an 18

year old defenseman. Imagine how different your life would be. No word of a lie. In my final preseason game, which was in Halifax, and sorry to make this about me, I just figured I'd talk about the sea, you know, and maybe give you a little advice. But we played on the road.

It was like a promotional game in Halifax against the Bruins. And I played much of that game against Joe Thornton. I ended up going plus one or two with an assist. But that – I think it was Sandy McCartney. Thornton was probably hung titties, dude. Oh, yeah. I guess I never considered that. Your second assist was a chip off the glass,

and there was shit to Malcolm backdoor. It was. No, no, those guys weren't even around then. This is when, like, Mario was in training camp. And I think – You're that old, huh? Yeah, he is kind of – I think Paul Coffey was my D partner.

But, yeah, off the glass and out. Was it Sandy McCarthy who played for the Bruins, the big fighter? Yeah. I reverse hit him. This guy wanted to end my life. And guys were like, no, don't fight him. Don't fight him. And I'm like, who is this guy kind of thing?

And he would have caved my face in, but he didn't. And I went plus two, shut down door store. Not a big deal. All right. Moving on from that biz story he just got like rock hard talking about himself i gotta ask you growing up in in phoenix like i was always a bruins fan i like guys in the bruins i'm assuming you know you got in because of the coyotes and all that but i relied on like kind of looking up to guys who were from massachusetts and had made it

to the nhl like there were so many names that I could think of. For you, there was nobody from Arizona. Did you ever even think about that, or were you just a lover of the game, just practicing, playing, and didn't think about any of the future stuff? No, I didn't really think about that too much. I had my guys that I loved to watch and kind of want to emulate playing, like Danny Breer, Shane Dolan, and others. But I think you said there hasn't been too many people that come out of Arizona

to play in the NHL, even though it's – I don't know. Somebody told me the fastest-growing state in the U.S. as far as hockey goes and kids getting into playing at a younger age. Yotes are a wagon this season, by the way. I honestly agree. I think they're going to be pretty good this year. I think they're going to surprise some people. And I also think

they didn't have the best season last year. They had a really good end of the year, but I feel like teams, when you come in to play them or something, you're thinking last season they didn't really perform how they wanted. And like, and then they're going to go out and surprise you. Like in the first period, they might put up three and then you're just back

on your heels. But I agree with you. I think they're honestly going to be, they're going to be competitive this year. Damn right they are. And you said Austin, what is this pain? They'll be even better once they get you out of the locker room too. Distraction. You know, they'll save a lot of money.

They're buying them like subs for the plane ride now. They're flying around the country to do media tour and all these podcasts and videos. It's insane. I just saw Austin at the NHL media day. Actually, I was hired by the NHL to come out there, so I got contracted out just to clear the air. But R.A. had a good question for you.

Yeah, he just mentioned, you know, participation. Hockey is going up now. Austin, you know, for the listeners who don't know, you are half Mexican. Your mother is Mexican. Now, do you notice, like, an uptick amongst, like, Mexican or Hispanic youth in that part of the country? You know, Arizona, New Mexico, there's a lot of Hispanic population. Do you see those kids kind of fall in your footsteps as well uh yeah a little bit i mean every once in a

while like like i'll skate in arizona in the summer and you know you see a lot of kids uh you know kind of come up to you and you know they're all obviously like different uh different backgrounds and stuff but i feel like it's you know like you said it's arizona it's border of mexico so it's a lot of population a lot of mexican people and hispanics there and you know i i hope that it's you know a lot of kids young kids uh you know that culture are getting into playing hockey because it's you know obviously the best sport in the world so it's kind of cool just to kind of be a little part of that in Arizona and kind of see the game grow. And, you know, because when I was playing, it wasn't much going on.

Like, not a lot of kids were really moving on. Like, I know I had two, three guys that, you know, they played in NTP. They went on to play pro. They're, you know, kind of in the AHL right now. But, you know, I keep hearing about more and more kids that are moving on to higher and higher levels. And it's pretty cool. I think it's only going to get better.

Oh, man, when you guys played in Arizona last season, the hype even outside the building before the game was awesome. And you've definitely created a buzz here. And I think a lot of local people came out and they were fired up to see you. I don't remember how you guys did that game, though. And I'm not stirring the pot either. Did you guys beat us? I remember you scored. Yeah, guys did that game, though. And I'm not stirring the pot either. Did you guys beat us? I remember you scored.

Yeah, we won. Oh, okay. Jeez. Sorry, CTE. You guys won six games at home. Chances are you got pounded by one of the top two. And another thing I wanted to clear the air about, we all know I'm team Babcock on this podcast,

and I've been sticking up for a lot this lately. And there was a big rumor that came out this summer that he flew out to sea in Arizona. Now, we talked about it that day at the W. Well, he was just trying to get away from the old lady, and they used that as an excuse, and he actually used the team plane to come out to Arizona to party with me and Matthews at the W. And that's actually the reason why I couldn't talk to

you for two months is because he told me to stay the fuck away from you because he saw my hand so I just wanted to clear the air there for everybody who heard all that the rumor about that this summer actually I'm sure everybody is wondering actually I heard a little rumor that there's some guys who showed up to camp with beards. And I know that wasn't the case before with Lou Lamerelle, you know, no facial hair and same color clear tape on your socks. And so is it a little different for you guys with the facial hair at camp? Yeah, it's a little different. I don't know. I don't know what they're going to do. a little different i don't know uh i don't know what they're gonna do um i think kyle's gonna kind of make a decision uh what he you know if there's gonna be facial hair or not this year but uh it's kind of crazy how like that small of like a thing can kind of turn into like this big of a

thing and like the media and everything getting asked about all the time but well that's definitely different like no yeah yeah, I know. It's kind of weird seeing guys coming in with beards because you look like 10 years older. Austin's got a face tattoo appointment this week. Coming in hot. He's getting the fucking Post Malone special

above the eyebrows. Never tired instead of always. Right under my eyes. Austin, Witt's mentioned flying a few minutes ago what uh what do you do to kill time on those long flights you a card player movie tv guy what do you do uh yeah i'm a movie guy i mean i try like we used to or not used to but like we bring like these like little portable like screens like we'll bring our xboxes and stuff on the, but we tried doing it on the planet. Like the power is not strong enough. So usually on the plane,

I'll just watch a movie or something. I usually sit next to Marner. He's like, I don't know. For some reason, he's like notorious for watching like these kid cartoon movies on like when we're flying. I don't know why.

Tough luck. Like Shrek and stuff. No, not even Shrek. Like, I don't know what they're called. Like Shrek and stuff? No, not even Shrek. I don't know what they're called. They're newer. Hey, Pixar movies? I assume.

I'm okay with... I don't know. If you're talking legitimate cartoons, like Barney shit... I'm not talking Shrek or Toy Story or classics. It's like, I don't know. I need to know now, though. Now, he sounds like a weird bird if these are just like no it's like teletubbies yeah no it's not like it's not like it's like it's like a card like he watches like i don't know it's like cartoons like, I don't know, like, cartoons. Like, the adult cartoon?

Like, the adult swim cartoons? Like, cartoons for adults or, like, cartoons for kids? No, like, How to Fly Your Dragon. Like, I think that was one of the movies or, like, something like that. 1,000% he hasn't managed to get to that sex hall place in Toronto. Usually he's not, like, watching. He's, like, on his phone or something. But I'm usually, like, I'll, like, download, like on his phone or something but i'm usually like i'll

like download like a movie or something like prior to the fight like pretty normal and then i'll look over and he's like on his phone watching like how to train your drag like that whatever that dragon movie oh yeah how to train your dragon yeah yeah i just like man like come on like what do you do hey talking about teammates here nylander what's going on I mean I know you took a majority Of that team's money are they going to have any left To pay him Fucking You're talking to the wrong guy

I don't know I don't know what's going on but Obviously like training camp is right around the corner And you know you hope they get something done soon Because he's a big part of the team. He's fun to play with, a really good guy in the locker room. Everybody likes him. So you're definitely hoping something gets done here pretty soon

so he can get over here and have him at camp. We forgot to ask you at the beginning, you do so much media in Canada every day. And I played, I played in Edmonton. It's not even close to Toronto. So was the, like, uh, did they like cage you down? Are they watching you coming on spitting chiclets were a little bit of a different podcast. Was there like alarms going off that you were coming on and doing this with your PR team?

A little bit. And it was mostly just because Biz is on this show. Exactly. I'm not even kidding. This guy is just bringing you guys down. But no, not really. They're just, you know, like they want to make sure like Biz isn't asking out. You know what the Leafs PR team is?

It's like the fucking Secret Service. There's like 20 of them. There's actually one in my room right now. It's crazy. They got me bugged. Your room's bugged. Who's your roommate in the road, Austin? Own room. My first year was

Connor Brown. Second year, Nick Weiner. Oh. So you've seen Weiner again this year, approaching you? Yeah, I don't know. I assume so. He's a pretty good roommate.

Usually on the road, it'll be like me, him, and Patty hanging out or whatever. We'll put on a movie in the room or go to dinner because we love Patty, and he's a family man, so obviously we don't see him too much at home. So on the road, we usually catch dinner with all three of us or maybe some other guys too. And, yeah, he's a pretty good roommate though. Can't complain. What kind of – like going back to the movies, what kind of flicks are you?

I know you mentioned Marky Marker. Are you a big action movie fan, Mark Wahlberg fan? I know a lot of young guys are. Yeah, yeah, I like action movies uh comedy uh i can't like i can't stand horror movies or like any of that stuff i don't watch those but pretty much action comedy uh romance love a good romance nice nice i had two back-to-back questions what's the dumbest thing you've ever bought with all this money you've made playing hockey?

Dude, it is. The dumbest thing. Somebody asked me that, like, over the weekend, too, in Chicago, and I don't remember what I said. Like, ridiculous car? Like, do you have, like, a Ferrari or something? No, I don't. I feel like my parents are raising me pretty well,

so I wouldn't do something stupid like that. No, you have a level head. I don't know. Like last, last year, like I was, I was injured and like,

I'm sitting at home, like they're on the road and I was just like scrolling through Amazon, like just like buying a bunch of like useless stuff from my apartment that just like made no sense. Like I bought this like big light sign, like you can put uh like slide letters into it and like make up like whatever and i bought that like don't even use it just like it's all dusty now too and i just bought like a bunch of just ridiculous stuff like a

never used here's a tip sign it and put it on ebay i bet you get more than what you bought it for and the next question is that what you do? Yeah, dude, you'll sell anything. You'll probably sell like your text message combo, print it out and sell it as a book. Hey, I would always ask for guys to sign sticks, and they're like, oh, you want me to personalize it? I'm like, no, no, no, don't personalize it.

No, no, no, it's fine, it's fine. It's just I'm giving it to a charity. No, I'm not that savage. Who's the team jester? Who's the biggest clown in the room? I mean, I could see Riles being a clown. Yeah, he's funny. I think Komarov would kind of be that guy.

Obviously, he's not with us anymore. But I think, like, his mix of, like, his accent and, like, just the kind of guy he is is hilarious. Guys love him. He was another guy like super popular in the room and he does like some crazy stuff. Like he's just super like, you know, he's finished,

but he's like Russian, right? Like he's all Russian. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's named Leo too. That's the weirdest name for a guy from that part of the world.

Yeah. No, he's, he's an unbelievable guy though. But yeah, he's definitely out there. Like he's hilarious. So great guy though but yeah he's definitely out there like he's hilarious so great guy great guy to have on your team is a caudry's a bit of a clown too i've hung around a few times he's a great guy yeah he's he's a good guy i think i feel like i

a lot of people like ask me um who don't know him like how he is because i think he maybe his like first couple years in the league he didn't necessarily have the greatest, you know, rap, but he's a great guy, like, you know, Nas is Nas kind of thing, but he's a great guy. Like, he's funny. You guys like him. He's obviously a hell of a player, but he's definitely his own human.

They don't make him too many. They don't make too many like him anymore. Last year, Austin, you know, the Leafs-Bruins had another epic playoff match. It didn't end so well for you guys. What's the standard for the Maple Leafs this year? Is it Stanley Cup or Busta? What kind of goals are you setting as a team? I mean, I think every year, like, you go into it, goals to make the playoffs

and obviously kind of get to the top of the mountain, which is the Stanley Cup. So, you know, for us, you know, there's a lot of expectations after we sign, you know, JT. And, you know, I think we haven't really earned that right to, you know, be the team to beat because we haven't really accomplished much. But I think going into the season, everybody's hungry.

We see the guys we've picked up and the depth and team that we can be already with the young guys we've had at a superstar center like John. We obviously want to see how far we can go because it's not easy. I'm

thinking back to this summer. I'm looking to find out what you're into i know um the golf in scottsdale i don't know if you know if i'm a golf slut uh i have a big matchup against a cross-eyed fuck that i'm gonna beat i don't know if you know that but um are you what do you do in the off season yeah i golf a lot actually i kind of like i for some reason i never got into it like when I was younger like for some reason I don't like I sucked and I just didn't have fun playing same my younger sister my younger sister's been playing like she's unbelievable plays at like a private school in

Scottsdale like all girls they like she's unbelievable I play with her a little bit but never got into it until like last summer um so that's kind of been nice like going back home you know i feel like in summer's past i got kind of gotten the itch to get back on the ice like way too early and so it kind of just gave me something to do and get your mind off hockey but um you know when you first get back in scotland the weather's nice so try to play as much as possible and i mean i'm still brutal but is it hard to find good skates here in the summertime or or do you just work with a skills coach and then once you know mid-summer hits you head over to toronto uh it's not no it's not too

hard like uh like canons there richardson and i know like the coyotes you know they'll have a lot of prospects kind of down in the summer just kind kind of training and getting, you know, kind of getting ready for whatever. They're just kind of prepping them, I guess. They got a pretty good facility they train at, at Exos. You don't go to Exos, do you? No, I don't. I don't. But I'll see them at the Ice Den.

And, you know, obviously a lot of good guys, a lot of guys I've played with before. So the skates get better as the summer goes on and like more guys come into town. But early in the summer, it's like you're just breathing knee air bad just because there's like six guys out there and it's all skills deals with their skills guy. But I'll go back to Toronto like two, three times, work with the skills guy I have here. And, you know, I'll come back. I usually don't head back to Toronto until the end of August, beginning of September.

I was going to segue that skills question into, have you heard what Adam Oates has been doing and have you worked with him personally? I haven't, but no, I've heard a lot of good things about him. I know JBR uses him and Scheifele, who I know a bit, swears by this guy. i've heard a lot of good things about him but i've uh i've never used him all right well dude um we you know we can't thank you for coming on this is uh this is a big get for us i mean listen like i'm just happy to

know after i played at the national program in ann arbor guys like you followed my path made the nhl you're welcome. It's nice to meet people and talk to people that have kind of followed in my path. And I have you 10 to 1. MVP, I put a couple thousand on that. Not a big deal. So I think you're going to have a great year, and thank you for coming on, bud. Yeah, thanks for having me, boys.

Appreciate it. Hey, tell Babs I said hello. I love that guy. Yeah, no, I'll definitely not do that, man. Austin, thanks a million for coming on, man. And if you're getting into the Stones, check out the four albums in a row, Beggar's Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and Downing Street. Awesome. Follow Ari on Instagram and tell me if it's not the greatest fucking thing

you've ever seen in your life. I'm following him and I'm unfollowing you. Unfollow Biz. All right, dude. Peace out. Thank you. That interview was brought to you by ZipRecruiter. You know what's not smart? Job sites that overwhelm you with tons of the wrong resumes.

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ZipRecruiter.com slash Chicklets. ZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. That was an awesome interview, boys. What a great kid. And he's been taking a little flack lately about that GQ shooting. Anyone who listens to this show, I'm a pretty open-minded guy. And anyone listening, giving him a hard time for doing that, same with McDavid and chirping on the Instagram and all over the place, first of all, fuck you. What are they saying? Oh, just like, you know, just lame comments. Just keep an open mind.

These guys are – some guys have different personalities. Some guys like video games. Some guys like video games. Some guys like fashion. You're in GQ. How much better can I get? Well, seriously, how can you actually rank on someone? Oh, look at you. You were on this fashionable men's magazine that people buy.

People do, all right. It's all over online. I had to step in on our Instagram and be like, fuck, is there a lot of negativity out there? I don't care if you don't like the Maple Leafs. This guy's cashing checks, and now he's on a magazine that's world-renowned. I mean, was it GQ North America he was on, or was it just the one that was distributed in Canada?

Any idea, boys? I think it was the big dog. I think it was the regular one, same as McDavid. What? Wow. Good for them. They look phenomenal. And McDavid, I think we're going to one, same as McDavid. What? Wow. Good for them. They look phenomenal. And McDavid, I think we're going to get him on after the season. He's dialed into hockey mode right now. I reached out to his people, and he's eventually going to come on.

But I was happy that Austin could come on before the season so we could just get him outside the box that he's been put in surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. We know how that goes, and that's fair for them. Grinnell, what's up? I was just going to say, so when you read the two articles, the two GQ articles with Matthews and McDavid, it's just really interesting how different the two are. I mean, it's, you know, Matthews talks about how PK Subban is, you know, and Russell Westbrook

are like his fashion icons. And, you know, while McDavid, on the other other hand is kind of saying he just wants to wear clothes that aren't going to get him chirped by the boys. It's interesting how different the two are and they're both superstars. Yeah, and McDavid just wants to fly under the radar.

He doesn't want the attention. He just wants to play hockey and be happy, but good for him for stepping outside of his box and getting that one done. And if he ever listens, McDavid, play hockey and be happy but uh you know good for him for stepping outside of his box and uh and getting that one done and if he ever listens mcdavid do your thing buddy no one's gonna chirp you and if they do just do you and i'll take care of them i'll tell him to fuck off yeah i think no matter what you do or don't do someone's always gonna chirp you about whatever whatever if he didn't do fucking gq someone said oh what do you think you're too good for fucking gq like

it's like damned if you do damned if you don't but anyways it was great to have him show a little bit of his personality because you know when you you know do the media thing every day in a market like Toronto with like you know the 60 fucking microphones in your face and you have to go into robotic mode and give the cliched hockey answers it was refreshing to have him come on and and not do that and uh show some of his personality so it was it was a kind of a treat for refreshing to have him come on and not do that and show some of his personality. So it was kind of a treat for us to have him on, and I hope everybody enjoyed the interview. Well, Abe, one other thing I want to talk about, boys, and I write some things in my memo pad sometimes.

Nice. Do you keep a journal? I bought a journal. I'm going to start keeping a journal. Yeah, it's good. Good to write it down because there are some subjects I want to talk about with you guys and then, of course, interact with the fans. Ric Flair.

Woo! He has to be the biggest ambassador Rolex has ever had. Has this guy ever received a free Rolex or was he ever placed on an ad for Rolex? Honestly, every time – What do you mean the biggest ambassador? But every white trash person who who watches wrestling thought a rolex was the fucking coolest thing on the planet because every time this guy had

an interview he talked about wearing one well well that's not necessarily true i mean the i would say the general public can't afford rolexes but there's still a small group of people. Okay, hear me out. Can all golfers buy a Rolex? I think that, no. I think that golfers who see the Rolex commercial with all the major champions, I think in general, the population of golfers are more likely to be able to afford a Rolex

than the population of WWE fans. I would guess based on the amount of people that follow or play or watch golf compared to wrestling. That's true. There is a hundred times the amount of fans, if not more. But long story short. He always rock a Rolex though, Rick? Oh, it's all he talked about.

That and crushing chicks, right? So we're basically the same person uh but uh but but i'm curious to know if rolex ever reached out to him and gave him free rolexes or he just did that out of his own goodwill and and at a certain point was like hey like can you guys throw me a fucking bone here i've been talking about you guys for 15 fucking years i would all right do you know anything about wrestling i would guarantee he's got a free one um i i used to be a big wrestling fan back in the day early like early mid-80s but once puberty came along i kind of tapped out on it you look like you would be a wrestling fan no offense i guess none taken no i was actually you know what i i used to get the outstanding pitches me

and my brother used to sneak like back in the locker room area between matches, and we used to hang out there. How old were you during this? So you just sneak in everywhere. You do this at Stanley Cup parties. You do this at wrestling events. You did it at the Pop Punk. What else did you sneak into?

I didn't really sneak at a Pop Punk, but I was probably – we were probably like 8, 9, 10 years old. Oh, okay. That's okay. And remember, did you ever go to wrestling at the Old Garden? I've never been to wrestling in my life, no. Well, they used to walk the wrestlers out from where the Bruins used to, you know, where the ice hockey players used to come out,

and the security guards would surround them. And then there was about a two-second window where you could sneak in where you could kind of go behind the security guards so you were in the locker room area. And if people saw you in this locker room area, they assumed you were supposed to be there because it was like a, you know, like a VIP area.

And me and my brother are two little kids, so no one ever bothered us. And we used to sit there and get eye-in-cheek autographs. It would be hilarious because – I couldn't picture R.A. as a kid. I picture him just being born the way he looks right now. And also, the way you're talking about sneaking into places, I could picture him, like, being being like Sean Connery in The Rock when he's timing the fucking flames when he's getting back into Alcatraz.

He's like, can I have a cheeseburger? But I don't want it medium well. I'd like it medium, but not medium rare. And it has to be the perfect amount of pink. You know the Boston Bruins record this year is 41-40, and it's just really bumming me out losers whine about trying their best winners go home and fuck the prom queen oh there you go bad that movie's been on tv so often lately and it's one of those if it's on i'm finishing it oh what the rock yeah it's a great flick oh yeah it's like shawshank

basically you got well they say you got shawshanked right okay and boys another thing i had in the notes here too was uh oh oh why do why do people get so pissed off about people recline uh reclining seats on airplanes i've never understood that either it's people like oh this guy reclined his seat what a fucking asshole it's just what like people be like can you push up a little no dude they made him go back this far for a reason it's not no i'm not sitting up at first class you cheap prick exactly it's a night i'm not sitting at a 90 degree angle because you don't want me to recline a little bit and they're like well i'm doing work on my laptop well how about you go to your fucking office and do it oh it's not the worst people comfortable on my flight like self-important

people think because they're doing their work like fucking everyone on the plane has to work around them or some shit. It's like piss off. Well, I just – I don't – and listen, like they can also recline theirs, but people bitch on Twitter about this. It's not the same as people who take their shoes off and then put it on your armrest. No, it's a different league. You're evading someone's space.

The reclining thing, if you're – oh, and then another one was like, I don't mind if you do it on flights over an hour, but anything less than an hour, don't recline your seat. And I'm thinking, who the fuck are you? I'm reclining it. If I can recline it more, if I see you on an airplane, I'm reclining it even more. I'll recline it right into your New Amsterdam vodka pink lemonade

if I could. Nice, nice. Nice and distilled. Quickly, are we finishing up? Are we pretty much finished almost? I had a few more in here. Same for another time, but I quickly wanted to bring up to fans of our podcast. I went out to dinner Saturday night. Or was it Friday night?

Friday night, I went to dinner. Me and the wife went out to dinner in the South End, very small restaurant. I'm not going to name the restaurant because I don't want to give them bad plug, but the menu, just a tiny menu, not enough options. I need options. I was a little upset about that. But the main point of the story is I walk in, and we're walking back. We're sitting at the bar. We sit at the bar. And some kid looks at me. And right away, I knew I could tell that he recognized me, maybe a barstool fan, a spitting chiclets fan. He quickly, quickly says to me, what's up, you pigeon? And listen, you better come at me with more than that. If you're going to chirp me

when we run into each other, because without even missing a step, I said, not much you peasant. And this kid had nothing. He was done. He looked around. He didn't have, he didn't have a word to say back to me. So if you think you're going to call me a pigeon and I'm going to take it, you're going to laugh. No, I'm going to hit you right back with a peasant bomb and you're going to be sitting there wondering what the hell just happened. So if you come at me when we run into each other, you better come out with a little more than some pigeon line. How old was he? If you call me a Muppet.

He was probably 12. What's arguing with this kid? Was it the fudge kid? No, I think he's like 25. He actually seemed like a great guy. He was at a table with a bunch of people, looked like a table. Was he shook when he came back at him?

No, he's like, what's up, you peasant? Not much, you peasant. And he was just like, oh. He probably thought I may laugh, maybe give him a fist pump. No, I'm coming right back at you. Right back. Hey, so on Twitter lately,

a lot of people like chirp me and then I'll give it to them back with maybe like a fact or just kind of rib them back. And then they always hit me with the, oh, geez, stop being so sensitive. And I'm like, man, you ribbed me and I ribbed

you back and now I'm being sensitive. But you can't. I was just joking. That's what they always say. I was just like, yeah, so was I. I'm going to fucking put you in your play. I'll put you in a fucking body bag, buddy. That's what I did for a living. I chirp people. That's all I did for a living. I chirp people. That's all I do. Let's have some fun here.

In Twitter, it's so hard to say somebody like, oh, you're being sensitive because sarcasm doesn't go on Twitter. You never know the tone of somebody's tweet for the most part. So it's kind of hard for someone to bitch about that. Well, boys, that was enough venting by us. Hopefully, Ric Flair, you end up getting your Rolex that you deserve, world's number one best Rolex ambassador, in my opinion at least. We've got to thank our presenting sponsor again, New Amsterdam Vodka. Looking forward to the logo integration.

Yeah, you got it. Bingo, bingo. I corrected myself this time. And one thing that's nice is having the fan base that we do and be able to have the options about who we sponsor on the podcast. And we're able to work with companies that we actually believe in. And, you know, of course, Eagle Energy, who has been on before, they've re-upped and they're going to start sponsoring the podcast

for this up-and-coming season, as well as Herbal Active. I mean, I'm pretty sure HIMS is coming in because guys still need to get boners and they don't want to lose their hair. to start sponsoring the podcast for this up-and-coming season, as well as Herbal Active. I mean, I'm pretty sure HIMSS is coming in because guys still need to get boners and they don't want to lose their hair. But so it was pretty cool getting a presenting sponsor too. So thank you to all our sponsors and listeners. Hopefully you guys are enjoying the people that we are sponsoring. And guys, we also dropped a bunch of new merch in the Barstool Sports store. So if you guys want to check that out, we dropped sweatshirts.

Are the flags out yet? The flags are coming. We have a ton more coming this week. People listening, if you're a college kid right now and you're thinking about maybe some chill and getting the girls over before the bar or after the bar, actually, this flag is going to look so dope in your fucking dorm room or apartment. Am I not right?

Grinnelli is that not going to be at every college? That's the first thing I said when we made him and I sent him to you guys. I said, this is going to be in every dorm room in America. It's very subtle. I like the subtlety about it. I'm going to, I'm going to,

I have an American flag. I might fly it right beneath it. I want to see him on boats flying off boats too. You know, you put the flag on the back of the boat. I want to see him on boats, flying off boats too. You put the flag on the back of the boat. I want to see that as well. And in locker rooms. I want to see him in locker rooms as well. So a ton of new merch in the Barstool Sports Store.

Check it out. We're going to be releasing a ton over the next couple weeks. All right. Hey, guys. I'm so pumped for the year, and we're about to get some big boy hockey starting Wednesday night. See you on Thursday, everyone. Bye.