Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 115: Featuring Adam Oates

Episode Date: October 11, 2018

On a Thursday episode of Spittin' Chiclets the boys have finally had enough of Gritty, so Biz gives a call into the Flyers front office to voice his concerns. The guys are then joined by hockey Hall of Famer and current skills coach guru, Adam Oates. The boys talk about what Oates is up to now and some good stories from his great career. The fellas also introduce a new segment called “RA's gambling corner”.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. Hi, you've reached the Philadelphia Flyers front office. This is LaQuisha. How can I help you? Hi, LaQuisha. This is Paul Bissonnette calling. I work for the Arizona Coyotes, not a big deal, and also help run one of the biggest hockey podcasts in the world, Spit and Chickless. And I was just calling to vent my frustration and file a complaint on this disgusting, whatever you want to call it, mascot you guys have been parading around.

And I just think it's disgusting and you're portraying the league in a horrible way. And people should be ashamed of yourselves. So is there anyone I could speak to in order to file this complaint? You know, Paul, you have been like one of 50 people who have called me complaining about Gritty. I wish that I could give you an answer. But I mean, listen, he's been caught trying to sell cocaine to a minor last night on the concourse at Wells Fargo Center during the home opener. And I mean, honestly, I agree with you. Excuse me? Yeah. To a 10 year old with some

face paint on legitimately a 10 year old. He was trying to sell cocaine to a minor last night at the home opener in Philadelphia. Yeah, well, it turns out it was baking soda, so the arena security couldn't really arrest him, which is disappointing because, I mean, this guy's out of control. I'm kind of at a loss for words. I mean, like, is this for fucking real? Yeah, and to make it even worse, the last straw last night was he snuck into the Sharks locker room and put ecstasy into their Gatorade cooler. Gritty put ecstasy in the San Jose Sharks water cooler or Gatorade cooler last night at their home.

Yeah, and well, unfortunately, it kind of backfired because the Sharks ended up spanking us 8-2. But nevertheless, the guy's putting ecstasy in Gatorade coolers. Well, this fucking guy needs to be stopped. Excuse my language. And that's why I called. Is there anyone I can speak to regarding this issue? Well, we have a full-blown security team to follow him around to keep him under control.

They had it during the third period last night because, excuse my language, but fuck this guy. He's causing a riot right now. Well, it sounds like you're kind of fed up with him too, and you're part of their organization. So, I mean, it only makes sense. So you know where I'm coming from.

Yeah, exactly. And I said that we should put an anklet on him this morning just to keep tabs on him because he's got a court hearing next week. We're trying to keep him under control, but we can tell you, no, it's like really difficult when somebody just wants to do whatever he wants whoa he's got a court hearing i'm gonna do you mind if i use this on the spit and chicklets podcast no you know what i'm so fed up with it because at this point he's even going into my personal space he's been going in the ladies restroom in the team offices and that's how i like to go and just hang out sometimes, get away from the madness. And he's leaving his orange poopy pears all over the toilet seats.

It's fucking disgusting. Sorry, excuse my language. What the fuck is... Man, listen, it seems like you got a lot on your plate. And this has kind of turned into a bit of extreme, to be honest. And I'm at a loss for words. Honestly, I've been just wanting to vent all day. And there's been so many calls that you just added this to my plate.

Like my life is miserable right now. Thanks to this mascot. And I just don't know what we're going to do to stop him at this point. Well, you know, like I said, I'm sorry for kind of ruining your day and taking your time up, but you know, best of luck moving forward. And I hope that the flyers organization will just put an end to this because it's, you know, it's a disgrace. And you're well aware.

I hope so, too. Yeah, I mean, it's just our insanity. But thank you so much for calling the Philadelphia Flyers front office, Paul. We hope you have a fantastic day. Thank you very much, LaQuisha. Sorry about that. Hello, everybody. Welcome to episode 115 of Spit and Chicklets, presented to you by New Amsterdam Vodka.

I'm going to say hello to the folks this morning. Let's go to first, Paul Bessonette. Where are you this fine a.m. morning? Early one for me, boys. I'm in Anaheim. Coyotes came to play the Ducks, so we're going to smash them tonight. It might be time to get a win, no? Yeah.

Well, maybe score a goal, too. But, hey, we're going to get it going. 7 a.m. here. So you're welcome, fans. Just giving you everything I got. Nah, that was our boy, Ryan Whitney, chiming in. What's up, Whit Dogg? It's 10 a.m. where I am.

I am in New Jersey working at the NHL Network. Had an unreal suit on. Not a big deal. And the Red Sox took down the scumbag piece of shit Goomba fan Yankees. Suck on that. We're on to Houston. How are you, fans, listeners? Because I'm great.

Coming out to shoot hot. And our boy producer, Mikey Grinelli. Great day to be from Boston, boys. Great day to be from Boston. Especially living in New Yorkork granelli i love it i love it i can't wait to i'm gonna walk down the street playing new york new york today well i guess we'll look for a new producer producer um boys like i can't get over how obnoxious yankees fans are like i had no idea until i been watching all these clips of them just throwing beers in people's face. What the fuck is that?

It's actually incredible when you scan to the crowd, the TV, I mean the camera, and you see these fans. It's like just a giant Saturday Night Live skit of Yankee fans. The chains are out, the backwards hats, the fatness, the stains from eating the chicken parm sub earlier, the ravioli still stuck on the shoulders. It's just what a great team to beat. And we both win in Yankee Stadium. Just they're shit bags. And the Red Sox 2004 changed everything.

We are now way better than them. We've won seven of the last eight playoff games against that scumbag team. Let's give a shout-out to our KFC boss, Boston, New York. He does a tremendous blog. Like you just said, Wits, it looks like a Saturday Night Live skit. He takes screenshots of all these guys and describes them to a T. He did like a running. It's unbelievable.

It's fucking hilarious. Like just goofing on each Yankee fan individually. Highly recommend checking that out. Then he tried to say I looked like one of them. I didn't look like that guy. He had a big left ear. Was it Rappaport? This is my left ear.

It sticks out more than my right. That's all that I had in common with that guy. He had a flavor saver beneath his lip, and he had a fucking double chin. Yeah, it was a tough comparison. I was feeling for you there. Grinnell, can you post the link maybe to our Instagram swipe up so our fans can go read and have some chuckles? Absolutely.

Yeah, that's good. I like that. And we're coming to you, as we said in the morning, this is old school, huh, Wits? We used to record all the shows this early in the morning. This actually gives me the chance to tell the story of when R.A. and I were back in the day doing it at R.A.'s apartment on his couch, like a couple of scumbags. And, you know, I'd make an effort.

Listen, I have so much money in the bank. You know, I'm making an effort to go to R.A.'s place. I'm getting up. I'm doing the traveling. And then one day I knock on his door and the fucking asshole never woke up. He slept through. Can you imagine? Most people would probably cancel the podcast right then.

No, what did I do? I was a team guy. I stayed with it and look what we've grown into. But you slept through me one of those. Twice. You slept through me twice. Whoa, whoa, whoa. How far of a drive over to R.A.'s house? At what time of the day? I was there one time. What time of the day? I was there one time.

What time of the day was it? I wanted you dead. And then with Grinnelli the second, I really wanted you dead. But I never gave up on you. Wait, I remember the second time because I flat out slept through the alarm. And I remember apologizing. But I don't remember the other time. I don't remember it happened twice.

He remembers the second time. He remembers the second time. He just remember it happened twice. He remembers the second time. He remembers the second time. He just admitted it happened twice. He just texted me. He's like, this is not acceptable. I was like, oh boy. I need to know what time of the day this was. I love you, buddy. It was like 11 a.m. 10, 30, 11 in the morning.

Yeah. He'd been watching when Harry loved Susie at 4.30. Yeah, his last tweet was sent out at 5 a.m. Motherfucker. Oh, I just wanted to tell everyone, too, when we were talking about Nylander and the whole taking money, we got some good feedback in terms of Shanahan

and what was going on with Detroit and kind of taking a little bit less. I was interested in all these tweets we got. But for anyone out there, because I said in my little spiel, what's the difference between 70 or 80 million? I said something like that. If you took the time to tweet me 10 million, you're

a piece of shit. I don't like you. I know it was 10 million. I'm a math guy. I am sick at math. 9 times 7, 63. 7 minus 4, 3. 11 times 11, 132. Wow, he's bringing it.

He's bringing the heat. Is that 11 times 11, Grinnelly? 121 is 11 times 11. 121. 8 times 6, 48. Nice. Tell me 10 million. I didn't know.

I know. I'm saying there's no difference in 1010 million once you get to $80 and $90. Leave those counting bullets and movie-type comments to yourself. Go ahead. I agree, Whit. Well, and regarding the Neylander situation, I'm assuming that his camp's asking for seven. Let's use a flat number.

I said there's a place to meet. Even if he only gets 6.25, it's a difference of $6 million over the course of escrow agent fees and taxes. Talking about a couple million dollars here over the course of eight years, you're telling me he can't make that up on an off ice money. Listen, I'm not telling Neil Leonard to do anything.

I'm saying is to me after taxes and paying everyone $2 million as opposed to staying around with the Leafs and fucking winning a lot of hockey games over the course of the next, let's say, six, seven years because I'd imagine they fizzle out at some point. To me, that's worth it. That's my opinion on it. I'm not telling Willie to do nothing. I hope he fucking gets as much money as he can.

And also, I don't know if you guys have caught, the Maple Leafs are wagon zone, and Austin Matthews looks like a man possessed right now. Welcome. 10.7 goals already. I just, this team, I actually took Dallas last night. Sorry, I mean, what is that Tuesday night? That didn't work out.

That was a loss because I thought Toronto might slow down. I thought after that Chicago, you know, barn burner 80 style game that, you know, they'd go into Dallas, but Nope, they went in, they put up seven again or six again, whatever it was. So this team looks like the top team in the league right now. So it, it kind of hurts Neil in there because if you're holding out, you're lying. If you're saying you're hoping the team's ripping it up because that gives

them no reason to need to bring you back at some point, they'll need them. They'll need depth. They'll run into injuries. But right now, Neal and there's like, oh shit, what did I do here?

All right. How do you feel? What happens? Absolutely holds out. did pasta hold out a little bit um i don't think he i don't think he actually held out no he he he said yeah he signed he signed in time and yeah i think with pasta the big thing you know he not saying that not implying kneeland doesn't want to be in toronto but pasta absolutely wanted to be here he was enthusiastic he was like all about signing and staying here. Again, as far as Nyland, I mentioned

it last show. His father had, I think, a couple of different holdouts or contract bullshit. He had a little bit of a history of that. So like I said, I don't know if he's getting advice from his old man or whatever, but as far as the Leafs band, it's definitely not helping his case

because they're fucking putting up what they get. Seven more last night. They scored five or six, I think, in Chicago the other night this team absolute wagon Tavares and Austin Matthews as we kind of all expected they're just doing incredible damage right now they're gonna do this all year I mean I don't see them slowing down Freddie Anderson he's probably gonna not have the best numbers because they're playing almost like run-and-gun hockey. Like last night, the over-under, what was it? I think six and a half in Dallas. Easy money last night.

We'll get to a little gambling later. But it's impressive as hell, of course. It's all going to matter when the playoffs come because they can do this all season. Playoffs are a long ways off, but that's when the rubber will meet the road. So talk about just being somewhat of a joke in terms of analysis and predictions like I've had in my past. On NHL Now yesterday, they brought the question to me,

Dallas-Toronto, Witt, there's a little two-minute show on TV, a little two-minute corner, Witt's corner. Over under of 10 tonight in the Dallas-Toronto game, I said, what an idiot. Who thought of this little wits corner thing? 10? I'm like, Vegas makes it six and a half at the most. Are you kidding me?

10? Under, under, 10. It went over. It went to 11. Did you go on a little rant? I couldn't even win a goddamn under. It was 10. If I had taken the over in 10 in Vegas, it's got to be plus 10,000.

My only thing about the whole Leafs scenario is maybe they're like, hey, we can put up the numbers offensively. Maybe we now use Nylander as leverage to go get a D. Because, like, you know, you're thinking going into season A, maybe we're missing a big hole here, and maybe our offense struggles early on because we have that missing piece. I mean, some of these guys have obviously picked up the weight.

You know, we talked about Austin Matthews in four games. He's got seven goals. This has to be kind of a coming out party for Austin Matthews too because, I mean, his first year he had an unbelievable season with 40 tucks, 69 points. Last year he ends up getting injured for 20 games. So he ended up finishing with 63 points. So he hasn't had his, like, insane year yet.

You know, McDavid had it in his second year. I believe Sid did it in his second year. So I think this one's personal for Matthews, and he's just looking so fucking good. So he's going to get – here's another thing. What do you think he takes a little bit of a pay cut? Like do you think he asks for more than what McDavid's making? Or do you think he's going to be like in the 11 range kind of –

I think Tavares took 10.5, didn't he? I'm wondering if he ends up signing Tavares' deal. That would be a fucking big kiss on the cheek to Toronto fans, man. Him taking 10 and a half. He could get easily what McDavid's going to make. I know. This is going to be very interesting with this team. I know this was last week, too.

Oh, quickly, guys. I wanted to mention we have uh adam oats on this week correct grinnelly correct who all the famed senate adam oats yeah you ever heard of him what's his first name uh it's adam but it's it's he uses a capital a when he writes it out adam he was a righty bitch was i there for that one um no you watched him play a couple times though no uh no i he might be out of my my uh my era like was i there for the interview probably physically but mentally i mean you're you're often not there so maybe it was one of those uh it was a big time cbd day

oh yeah all right was. Was it pretty good? He was like talking to a hockey savant, right? Right, Witz? It was like talking to a professor. Like, he was actually asking us questions during it, and we were giving, like, replies. He was. And he brings up, like, well, I'm not going to get into the story.

He tells about Kevin Miller. I'm not, you know, going to spoil it. But the fact that he was able to watch a guy playing on a TV and to be able to pick up one thing that i don't think many people would be able to do and you know to reach out and say hey you fix this one thing you're going to be a better player and it's like he's on he thinks the game on such a different plane a higher plane than the rest of us it's ridiculously impressive uh if you're obviously if you're a fan of hockey you listen to here, but he's, he thinks the game,

I think on a, like a geometric level. And he's a really interesting cat. I think people are going to enjoy what he had to say. Go ahead, biz. On a serious note, he was unbelievable in our,

you nailed it. He just, he broke down the game. He was so intelligent, but yet he simplified it for idiots like me. And he, you know, he talked about the Kevin Miller thing. I don't want to give it away, but you're just like, yeah, I mean, but yet he simplified it for idiots like me. And he, you know, he talked about the Kevin Miller thing.

I don't want to give it away, but you're just like, yeah, I mean, never really thought about it like that. And for a guy of that caliber to be able to, to dumb it down and now be able to explain it and help these guys. It's, I mean, you don't really see it that often. I mean, is there, is there an example in other sports or even in hockey itself as far as a guy who's been that good now devoting his time to making the game better?

And I don't want to give too much away, but he is doing that. That's proven. 24 of his guys, I believe you mentioned, have had career highs last season. So what this guy is doing has been effective, and more and more guys are jumping on and to name drop a little bit uh recently connor mcdavid and jonathan taves are the last two to reach out right before the season and look at taves is he lighting it oh he's lighting or he's he scored his fifth goal last year i believe in somewhat of mid-November, and he had five through four periods or five periods this year.

Nice wit. Nice. You're back at NHL Network, eh? That's what I wanted to say. You guys are going to notice stats coming out of my asshole when I'm here at NHL Network. I got papers flying at me. I'm circling things.

I'm writing things down. How about this one? The Buffalo Sabres, right? They have a winning record right now for the first time in 2,083 days. 2,083 days! Like I said, I'm a

math guy, so people telling me 10 million. 365 goes into 2083 about five times? Seven times? Yeah, definitely. That's five to seven years. Five to seven years

of not having a winning record. That means they couldn't even go 1-0. They didn't win their first game for that long. Or maybe 2-1. So the Sabres,res boys Jack Eichel looks great I think that uh I know I'm going a little Sabres rant but it was just more me me having no you know what they deserve it man they've we've been beating them up for the last few years and everyone's been ragging on them I'm happy for that organization and their fan base

the point total was only 79.5 this this year going the year. I hammered that. And didn't you write a blog saying to hammer it? Yeah, yeah, I did. And actually, some kid came up to me at the bar the other night and was like, that was the worst blog I've ever read in my entire life. Do you know his name? Do you know his name? Like, neighbors fucking suck. And I'm like, fuck you, buddy.

I go, Jack Eichel is going to win the heart this year, and you're going to eat your fucking heart. Oh, he's winning the heart? Jack Eichel is winning the heart. heart this year, and you're going to eat your food. Oh, he's winning the heart? Jack Eichel is winning the heart. He's having a Taylor Hall year. Wow. I mean, it's tough for the start that Austin's had. But all right, speaking of gambling.

Ooh. Okay, first I want to hear about your – you had a tough week last week. I did. As I mentioned on the last episode, I had a historically bad week. I've been gambling legit over 40 years. You came out of the womb dropping nickels and dimes, kid. I did, yeah. When your parents get divorced in the 70s, it wasn't a big deal.

If dad took you to the racetrack on his one night, he had you. A lot of trips to Wonderland and Seabrook when I was probably in fucking diapers still. So, yeah, the gambling's in the genes. I had an awful week last week. I started off this week terrible. Well, we need to hear numbers. Our fans deserve numbers. How much did you drop?

A lot more than people are going to guess. I lost it on the text when I heard it. Let's see. I lost under five figures last week. I mean, I got whacked for a few grand last week. See, the week, like I was saying to you, Paul. Like 7,500? Less than that.

A little between five and seven. Oh, my God. I mean, that still makes me want to puke, man. I'm nauseous hearing that number. And just for those of listeners who don't gamble, and like Paul, I was mentioning to you before, the gambling week starts Monday. It goes till Sunday.

So you bet all weekend, whatever you are, when you wake up Monday morning, if you're up, you collect, if you're down, you pay. Um, a lot of guys like, you know, I've been using my guys for, for, for decades. They just let me roll it over. If it's not too big, unless it's six grand, then I got to cough it up. So I says, fuck it. You know, this week you got to decide. I mean, do I take a break here? Uh, am I, is this going to turn? What, you know, what, what's the deal here? And I get guys fade me. I literally had a guy ask me last night, who do you like tonight because I'm going the other way, and I didn't take offense to it.

Go ahead, Winston. All right. I faded you last night, and you won. Oh, shit. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you.

I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you.

I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you.

I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you.

I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you.

I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you.

I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you.

I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. I faded you. Oh, well, boys got to cut our way off, but I think we've underestimated Carol, Carolina a little bit, too. We were pretty hard on them. I know, but let him finish.

Yeah, sorry. Sorry. That's OK. So so Monday, you know, I went to the Bruins game, you know, had a few cocktails, was thrown in action. Fucking I was down fucking two grand before the sunset. Fucking Monday. I was like, oh, this is ugly. So yesterday I'm looking, I'm looking.

I either got to hang it up, stop for a couple of months, just kind of wait for that next podcast check to come in. Two grand before the sunset fucking Monday. I was like, oh, this is ugly. So yesterday I'm looking, I'm looking. I either got to hang it up, stop for a couple months, just kind of wait for that next podcast check to come in, or I say, fuck it, I'm going to jump back on the wagon, jump back on the saddle. And last night, I love the over. It was only six. Vancouver, Carolina.

Carolina scored eight goals their previous game. Vancouver's been scoring at a crazy clip. I thought the line was ridiculously low. So I had that. I put two dimes on that over six. They scored the seventh goal three minutes into the second period. So there's nothing better than winning a game, a bet when there's still half the game left. How much are you throwing out on the array?

I had two grand on that. What? And then I said, yeah, that's the screenshot I sent you, remember? So I'm not bullshitting. And then, Wits, I love these prop bets. There was a prop bet. You could bet over 7.5 in the Carolina-Vancouver game at a plus 275, Biz. So what I did, I'm like, I think they're going to score a lot of goals tonight.

So I put 500 on over 7.5 at a plus 275. Obviously went over 7.5. I got back 1375 on that. So I picked up just about 3,400 just over in that game. He's back. Yeah, he's back. And I'll tell you, if Winnipeg got an empty netter last night, I would have had a perfect night.

I would have had a $7,000 night if Winnipeg could have popped that empty netter. Alas, I had Toronto on the puck line. I think I picked up 1,200 there, and I had the over in the – actually, again, the over, there's a prop, but I did over 8.5 in the Toronto game at a plus 300. So I hit that too. Wow. Congratulations.

Nice luck, mate. The one night I fade you, you win. I'm the joke. I'm the joke i'm the joke we know thanks so um you know and i know too like this is a very dangerous time if you had a gamble if you're betting hockey because like we were just saying teams are in disarray teams maybe a slow getting out of gear teams a little frisky like ottawa i mean they're gonna they're gonna play against teams wits i mean they're gonna challenge teams they're frisky like Ottawa. They're going to play against teams' wits. They're going to challenge teams. They're not going to quit. Monday, they got smoked by the Bruins, but they never stopped playing. I think they're

going to be a scrappy team to bet against. Right now, though, the best bet in hockey is the over team total for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Thought to keep going back to them, but that's the easiest bet of the year so far. I had a bet that was uh and it was that the nashville predators would never in our lives put up a banner that says regular season western conference

champions what uh fuck is that banner that's like a banner from the WNBA that says regular season fan sellouts. I can't even describe where you come up with that you should put up a banner that you won the Western Conference regular season. Somebody's sitting in a room like,

oh, we need some more banners. Oh, we haven't won the cup or the conference yet. That doesn't matter. Just find something to put up there. It's like the Colts when they put up, what'd they put up? They put up some ridiculous banners. They put up AFC finalists. Finalists. That's

actually more impressive, though, than just winning the Western Conference regular season. At least they went to the AFC championship. I mean, that was just a tough look for nashville it really was i'd be a hypocrite if i if i didn't say i don't mind it we put up a division champion banner in uh in phoenix that's actually the only banner or sorry air the arizona coyotes now but uh yeah we we put it up after we'd won the the pacific division and

we ended up going to the conference finals that year. But the next season, we did it. I'm a firm believer, especially in markets like Phoenix and Nashville. They're not traditional hockey markets, so for them, it's cool. I'm a firm believer in celebrating any chance you get. They've had a pretty good run here, so I'm not just going to rag on them for celebrating. Unless, of course, it's Carolina's celebration.

I knew I had it. I had something about the WNBA I'd seen. I just Googled it. The Washington Mystics, 2003 WNBA attendance champions. Whoa, whoa, whoa. That's a banner. That's a banner and a half for you. Yeah, but maybe it's almost like a funny promotion to get them out. Like the Flint, you know, Flint, Michigan, whoa. That's a banner. That's a banner and a half for you. Yeah, but maybe it's almost like a funny promotion to get them out,

like the Flint, you know, Flint, Michigan Mega Bowl. Yeah, I think if they hadn't already had a cup run, I wouldn't really have an issue. I would say I have an issue with it, but I don't think it's that big of a deal, not a big deal. They're a Southern team. They're still kind of new to it, but you already had a cup run, man. You can't, I don't think you can really hang like regular season banners after you already had that much success

i mean regular c anything regular season it's kind of like whatever i mean this is the same part though with with member of the bruins used to hang banners like that back in the day though the bruins used to be infamous for that they had adams division banners all over the place like regular season winner like playoff winner so you can shit on the Bruins for doing that years ago. But I don't know. I mean, it's kind of like what Biz said. Yeah, you accomplish something. You want to acknowledge it.

But I think three banners for a season where you got knocked out in the second round is a little bit excessive. Yeah, tough banner on Nashville. Maybe they'll get a Stanley Cup one this year. It's not out of the question. That's your opinion. I'm saying, hey, celebrate any chance you get. Yeah, when you're on a team who hasn't scored a goal

two weeks into the season, that would be your opinion. We're now going to go to Adam Oates. I did that though, Grinnelly. Scored goals, but it's more known for just filthy assists and unreal sauce. So Adam Oates, Hall of Famer, coming at you now. This interview was brought to you by

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probably the best passer in the history of the game. If not one of the top two guys. Now we'd like to welcome to the show, Adam Oates, Adam, welcome to spitting chiclets. Hey, thanks guys.

Thanks for having me. Absolutely. So we've been hearing around the camp fight. You've been somewhat of a hockey whisperer for a lot of these NHL stars lately doing some private tutoring. What's, uh, how did that come about? You know what? Uh, a couple of years ago, I, uh, I was coaching the devils and at the end of the season, I interviewed for the head job. I didn't get it.

And I interviewed for a couple of jobs, didn't get them. And, you know, you kind of go in that carousel of you're waiting for the corner ring and, you know, kind of maybe be an assistant assistant coach again and just thinking about it. That summer, I was watching the NBA, and LeBron James was in the finals. They showed this guy in the stands, and they called him his skills coach. They showed a little video of him working with a guy at a gym, kind of in between practices and uh uh kind of working on his game away from the team and it gave me an idea and i called some of the guys that i coached in my

time and and uh a lot of the guys said yeah let's try it and that's how it started it really did and it's been three years now that that's incredible that that kind of gave you the idea because i don't know who lebron's skill coach is, but you must have thought right away, all right, well, even if that guy's not a great player, I can go to people. I had over 1,000 frigging assists. Like I have the actual rep of people saying they'd love to work with me. Did you know it would be easier? Were you kind of just going into it thinking,

I don't even know if they'll want to? You know what? I actually didn't know. As soon as I started talking to the guys, and you know what i actually didn't know um as soon as i started talking to the guys and you know what when i when i was coaching as an assistant coach or head like i really enjoyed trying to figure out a way to make a guy better like like you know obviously coaches you coach a lot of systems and there's a lot of details into your job but i also really love trying to make guys better and you know you know, because if you get better, you make more money,

and they like you, right? And it kind of went hand in hand. And you know what? It's just something I always liked, and I really do like it. I love it. I love giving the guys maybe a little bit of information that makes them better. I mean, you know, they're in the NHL. They're fantastic.

To get to the NHL, you're a fantastic hockey player. But there's still lots of different levels in our game once you get there and then we start to get older or you get hurt but you know what there's always room for improvement no matter what no matter how good you are and you know what the guys love it i mean uh i i love it and they do that's it's it's so true to hear i mean even you say that it's like I think the best thing my dad ever told me was that no matter how good you think you are, like somebody out there is trying to get better and hear a Hall of Famer say it, it just kind of really ingrains in my mind, the memory I have of him saying that to me. a long year. I mean, you're working with some of the most skilled players in the world, but you also have ups and downs. So is this mental in terms of a guy's in a five game skid and you're mentally talking, talking to him and it's not just kind of skill level and things like

that? Absolutely. You know what, when I, when I went, when I think about it like that, I was, I have my dad, I have my agent, I had Brett hall beside me or ray bork or i would watch steve eisenberg there's always something that maybe snaps you back in and if i can give a guy detail that prevents that five game skid yeah how how much better are us and if you if there's 10 points out there or 10 good plays that your coach likes you and you play two more minutes how about that advantage in today's game yep yep that's exactly true so you're getting it's not only about getting out of skids it's about becoming better enough to have more ice time to just then all of a sudden you get the three extra chances a game or even the one and then they start going in it's the ice time is so

important so i feel like if you're talking to guys and they aren't playing the amount they want to be, it is hard for you because you've got to say, oh, I know what you can do. You're just almost not getting the chance right now, no? Yeah, for sure. And you know what's funny? One of my pet peeves is guys going offside. One of the things, when I watch guys' video and when you watch games night in and night out, going offside drives me

nuts. I don't think I went offside in my career. I'm going to check the game tape. It is a little unacceptable. I'm checking the fucking game tape. You got to check it. Why does a guy go offside? Why? He wants the puck.

It's like when you're 10 years old. Give me the puck or I'm going offside. Okay, so you're going offside. You? He wants the puck. It's like when you're 10 years old. Give me the puck or I'm going offside. Okay, so you're going offside. You got a breakaway. So at what point in time did you not realize that I wasn't going to pass to you? What if you're like me and you just don't know how to stop? Well, then we work on stopping, buddy.

That's so good. But you know what what it's like something when I watch a video every night like those guys that go offside three times a game in the NHL and you know what what they don't realize is that's a huge mistake because you know everybody's analytics crazy

and you go offside you just lost offensive momentum so yeah the guy didn't see it so that might be his fault he didn't see you fast enough but if you can't reroute and stay on side that means you're a little out of control so if you're a little out of control there's going to be other areas of the game that you're a little out of control so that's one of the things i look for like when does a guy out of position and why why can't he slow himself down and make a read on a play because if you

think about it now you stay on side that guy dumped it in you go for check well that's ozone time that might turn into a shot that might turn into a power play and those are all stats that everybody keeps right right so believe it or not just going outside is a crazy mistake in our game which i'm sorry go ahead biz uh you you were talking about video right now but early on in this when you started out were you breaking guys down video because you got into now you're working on guys stick patterns and maybe the length of their stick you said it prevents against injury uh and then and then a bunch of other things but when this started out was it was it

breaking down video right away yeah yeah the video is a big component of the deal with the guys uh on a night-to-night basis because we all have habits and in the summertime we're trying to accentuate the good habits and work on the bad habits so the video really helps that during the season uh little reminders for the guys uh you know when i when i first get a client, the first thing I do is I get about three games of tape, and I really look for when they take contact incorrectly. I mean, concussion is a big injury of our game, and I'm really trying to help guys find those blind spots, not take contact that they shouldn't, and make better plays. That's a huge part of it.

And the stick goes into that. I mean, everything goes into that, quite honestly. What is your stance on all the fancy stats, Adam? Do you put as much stock into them as everybody else does or do you just use them sort of as a tool to kind of enhance what you're doing? I think it

gets a lot of attention, but I think most guys or most GMs probably try and use the stat to find some sort of edge or some sort of statistic that is glaring for their team, whether it's pro and con. And I kind of do the same thing. But I think as a player, you kind of know

those stats. That's one thing within the game. When you're on the team on a night-to-night basis, you kind of know every guy. You know what's going on. You know anything from a face-off, who's taking it, you know, like, uh, editing from a face off who's taking it. Why we, we know that we know the law, the empty net goal. Like we, we know all these rules. We know the law of the playground since we're five years old.

Yeah. Well, I, I'm, I'm curious. Cause in the age of social media, the age of Instagram and you see these people and they, you know, they put out their skill work and different Instagram accounts. You're not on there. Is that, is there a reason for that? Or is that just kind of you're low key or. Well, you know what, first of all, that drives me crazy. So should I know? No, no, just the Instagram guys on Instagram.

Cause it's some of the stuff's just absolute garbage, right? Like what are you going to do in a game? Yeah, exactly. Like, I understand guys trying to, you know, we've got to make money in life. So I get the fact that you're out there trying to build your brand. But I hate it when I see guys doing stuff like shooting off tires. Like, I mean, it's ridiculous, right? Like, when are you going to shoot off a tire in a game?

And it doesn't help your balance one bit because if you're shooting off a tire, then your head's probably down and you would never do that in a game. And like I said, concussion's a big thing with me, right? So I hate when guys work on stuff wrong. The reason I'm not on it is that's part of my deal with my guys. It's private. Everything we do is private. That's our business. If they want to tell you guys, that's their choice.

But I'm not going to. That's part of what I talk to them about, what we work on, because every guy has little different things to talk about and work on. And I just don't believe in showing that to the world. I think that's private. Well, I mean, when you first started out, I'm assuming you weren't getting the type of big names you're getting now because apparently McDavid's reaching out to you

and all these high-end players because they're seeing the results. Has there been a high-end guy you've been unable to see results from where there's just no connection there in chemistry between you and him? And if you aren't getting the results from the players, do you feel pressure like you did when you were a coach at the National Hockey League level? Yeah, I do. I feel the pressure to allow him to succeed.

And, you know, when you're a coach and you feel your team's not getting the message, you try and come up with another message to sell it, right? And I'm no different. If I think that the one cue I'm giving this player is maybe not sinking in, I'm constantly looking for another cue or another way to explain it and to give a guy an edge or give a guy a decision. And you know what? Some of our stuff's boring. Because if you think about it, guys, if you're a right defenseman,

you're Shea Weber. You've got to go in your corner every shift of your life. And when you think about it like that, it's boring. But if you're really good at going in your corner, you make a lot of money and you play a long time in our league. Yep. No, I never really liked it. But it's boring.

You know what I mean? Like, that's your job. You play your corner in front of the net and you walk the offensive blue line. You make decisions there. It's a limited role in a sense. But if you're really good at it, you make a lot of dough, man. Make absolutely. And your coach likes you.

Because you're reliable. Well, I wonder, though, I know you are private, but unfortunately I think do people do know Darren Dreger, a little tweeter, you working with some of the guys in Winnipeg. One of my big NHL crushes in terms of future studs, already studs, is Mark Scheifele. I'm pretty sure you guys have done some work together. Can you just give me a background on that kid's game

and how dominant you see him becoming in this league? You know what? He works very hard on his game. We talk a lot. He watches a lot of video. He watches all the other players. He's the guys he respects, and he's looking for an edge constantly,

which a lot of the guys are. I mean, it's really growing in that capacity. He's got a great coach, good organization. He plays with Blake Wheeler. He's got Dustin Bufflin behind him. Last year, their power play really clicked, and he's just, his learning curve is growing, right? And he's a good guy and understands it and really cares really cares i mean he's in a great spot in his life in the hockey

world that that's just that that's great to hear for him because he's just one of those young stars coming up uh there's there's more more questions i i think we do have about the current state of uh what you're doing in the game but i need to go back a little bit into the history of your Hall of Fame career. And it kind of begins my question, how does a guy like you from Weston, Ontario, end up at RPI? And along with that, before you answer, your sophomore year, you played 38 games and at 83 points.

How did you not turn pro after that year as well? You know what? I grew up in Toronto, and i was guess what you would call a late bloomer i didn't get drafted major which is every kid's goal and dream right yeah and i was playing playing at markham with stevie thomas and had a really good year there and got recruited by rpi which you know it gave me an opportunity to continue my career quite honestly it was a great great i'm a lucky man that i got that opportunity and my coach at rpi mike adessa was a brilliant man taught me a lot about the game and we ended up winning the national title my sophomore year quite honestly you know what i

had a good year i never even thought about it like it was something you know what it was something back then that uh uh leaving early never made sense or i honestly didn't think about it, and my coach never said you should consider it. You know, back then you didn't have an agent yet, not like the kids do now. So there's a lot of things that were different. And then winning the national title did make sense then afterwards. And my coach said, I think it's time for you to move on. Now, you didn't last too long in Detroit for some reason after not being drafted, Adam. I like that laugh.

Sounds like there's something that transpired there. You know, you're obviously a talented guy, and you didn't last too long in Detroit. They shipped you off to St. Louis in a big trade. What was the story with that? You know what? I loved it there. You know, Steve

Eisenman was there, and i learned a lot playing with him it's it's i would say you seriously learning off stevie and ray bork and holly were like the reason i'm doing this job in a sense right now like i was that guy that stevie's better than me and every day i want you know i want to be like him like i want to catch up right and um i enjoyed playing there i really did and uh we. And we had a good third year. We lost in the semifinals to the Oilers. And the fourth year, we got upset early. And I think, you know, deep down at the end of the day,

they didn't think I was ready to take on the next level. And they shipped me out and brought in a different type of leadership. So I got traded to St. Louis. You know, I was devastated at the time. Most guys are usually devastated their first trade, and I was a different type of leadership. So I got traded to St. Louis. You know, I was devastated at the time. Most guys are usually devastated their first trade, and I was no different. It hurt a lot. So, all right, well, at the time, it's amazing to think

that you'd be feeling that brutal about it only next year for you and Brett Hull to meet and have one of the most legendary kind of duos in the history of the game. I mean, you think of Brett Hull, you think of Adam Oates dishing him the puck, and that year he had over 100 points. Not only was he just a complete sniper, but how about Brett Hull is just a guy. I mean, is that not someone who has stories for days and just a guy who loved you?

You've heard. You've heard. Hull-y. You know what? Yeah. You know what? Yeah. You know what? We room together. We live near each other.

Uh, we talk hockey every day. Our chemistry was great. He's a bright guy. And you know, what's funny is Wayne Gretzky told me something a couple of years ago that I had never thought. And it makes so much sense.

And, and he said, you know what, you know what makes Holly special? How smart he was. I was like, what's that? And he goes, not only did he know how to shoot a puck,

but he knew how to time you. That's his greatest strength, his brain. He's not going to skate faster than you up the ice. He's not going to go into the corner faster than you. He's going to wait for you. And that takes unbelievable patience to understand that you've got to wait for that guy to go steal the puck or be ready to make a pass to you. And that quite honestly,

when he said that, I was like, Oh, that makes perfect sense. When you watch the good goal scores of the world, they know how to time it. You know, they're there because they're timing their pet,

the guy that's passing to them. It's a great point. And, and you know what? That is holy. Holy was a bright, bright guy. I loved hanging with him.

It's fantastic. Great time in my life. And part of that has to do with confidence, and he is not lacking in that department. I mean, if you didn't give him the puck, you were 1,000% hearing about it. If you didn't give me the puck, you weren't on our line next year. He's like, get the puck to Oates.

Get the puck to Oates. Don't try giving it to me. Get it to him. He'll get me the puck. And don't even try giving me the puck. Give it to Oates first. Hey, I got a story. We were playing the Islanders, and we were walking across from the Marriott

to Nassau Coliseum, and he all of a sudden looks at me and he goes, let's have a good one tonight. And I go, okay. He goes, no, no, no. Let's have a really good one. And I go, okay, what do you mean? He goes, I'm not coming off until I score. And I go, and again, he's my wingman, right?

I go, okay, this is going to be fun, right? And we didn't start the game, but we went on second and we stayed on for all four left wingers. And they were yelling at us on the bench and turning around, yelling back at them, and we're just going on, and he ends up scoring. He got a hat trick

that night. He had four hat tricks in a row. Oh, my God. Is that unbelievable? That is fucking insane. And then we went to Minnesota, and, you know, we stayed in Long Island that night, and we went out after the game. So, in Minnesota, the next night, I go, hey, let's stay in tonight, man. Like, we've been, you know, we've been going hard.

And he got two goals the next night. He didn't talk to me for a week. Hey, I heard, Otzi, I heard that he would get on the bench and be like, he's not going tonight. Like, a guy would be on the bench and be like he's not going tonight like a guy be on the night on the ice like hey he's done tonight he does not have it tonight that guy just oh it's the best it's the best man i mean i'm sure you guys have heard the la story right like i got it so funny but uh my favorite thing with Hully, like looking back now, is like we were both sarcastic guys, like as all the boys are in the locker room, right?

And we'd be on the bench, we'd be watching a play, and the guy would fumble the puck, right? And one of us would say to the other guy, oh, nice fucking play, right? And then the other guy would go, well, look at his stick. No wonder he did that, right? Oh, yeah, good point. And everybody thought we made fun of guys, and now I actually realize we make look at his stick. No wonder he did that, right? Oh, yeah, good point. And everybody thought we made fun of guys, and now I actually realize we make fun of their stick.

You're just chirping their twigs. Yeah, chirping their twigs. Well, I mean, I do need to hear the story. Before we kind of move on from St. Louis, I heard that Brett Hall had a hilarious name for Bob Berry. Is there a back story to this? Yeah, yeah. Who is Bob Berry? Bob Berry is our

assistant coach. He coached Montreal. Great guy. He was a great guy. He helped Brian Sutter with us because we were young punks on his team. We like Bob. We were in Chicago and we got in a fight with Brian during the game. he benched us

and now we're sour and we're yelling at him. He's yelling back. So afterwards, we're on the bus. We're staying over in Chicago and we sit in the back and Bob Berry comes to the back of the bus and goes, hey, when we get to the hotel, Brian wants to see you two guys in his room. And Hully doesn't

bat an eye. And he goes, guess what, boo--boo we ain't going guess what boo-boo we ain't going we're going out with shelly oh never never never heard him calling boo-boo once he just that on the spot on the spot and then and then as we're bussing the hotel i go come on let's see brian he goes no we're going out with chelly so we went out with chelly we dealt with our punishment the next day oh god i want to ask one more about uh about uh holly is is uh were you playing with him when this story about when he got sent to the penalty box to serve a delayed penalty

and then when he got yeah and then can you can serve a delayed penalty. And then when he got – Oh, yeah. And then can you tell that story? Because I've heard it in different ways. You know what? It was the start of the second year. He just won MVP. And something happened where they were going to like – I think they probably said, you've got to discipline these two guys. You've got to keep these guys under range, right?

But if you think about it, Hulley won MVP. He scored 76 goals. He's expected to score goals, right? So first couple games, we're not playing that much. We weren't playing the same as we did before. And then all of a sudden, we're in Detroit, and we get a delayed penalty, and Brian goes, Hulley, serve it. What?

What'd you say to me? Excuse me? And he goes, H Hully, serve it. What? What'd you say to me? Excuse me? He goes, Hully, serve it. I'm kind of kneeing him going, you got no balls, man. You got no balls. You're just stirring it up. Always. He skates across and we're looking at each other. I'm on the bench.

He's in the penalty box. The penalty gets killed. He's coming off. He's dragging his stick behind him like a baby and now brian's side is going stay holly stay holly stay and everybody's going holly stay and he just keeps coming and he goes no i serve penalties now i don't play he shuts the gate so as you can imagine we had a few of these tantrums over the years it was just looking, it's crazy. But you know what?

He was a guy that when you're the goal scorer, you have a different pressure, right? He has a different pressure. And you know what? That's what superstars are. They handle it, man. That's part of their MO. Okay. So I'm wondering – I don't know if this is fake news I've heard, but the year he had 86, which is the second greatest goal-scoring year

in the league after Gretzky's 92, is it true he didn't have a shorthanded goal, an empty net goal, or something else maybe, and Gretzky had like 15 of them or something like that? I think he didn't have a four-goal game. Oh, okay. So he might have banged home some empty netters. That was fake. He just didn't have –

Yeah, zero empty netters that year. Zero. Oh, he had zero that year. Incredible season. Like, incredible. Oh, my God. Like, it was, like, just so fun to be a part of. Safe to say he got his timing down, as you would say.

Yeah, he was not bad that year. He finally figured you out. Yeah, no kidding, eh? He only did it seven or eight hundred times. Another guy you famously had chemistry with, Adam, is Cam Neely, a guy who made his Hall of Fame

career here in Boston. You had a great time in Boston. We enjoyed the hell out of watching you play. But, you know, toward the end, things didn't end so well. I know, you know, you went to the media. Basically, you kind of, I thought, vented what all Bruins fans were feeling at the time. You kind of were pissed off at the front office like we all were.

They were being cheap. You know, I knew you went, you basically lambasted, sinned in the front office. Did you do that to facilitate getting traded, or were you just so pissed off at the way the team was being run that you just had to shoot up? You know, it was one of those times where I shut my mouth off that I shouldn't have, right, like in hindsight.

But at the time, I was frustrated. Our team was struggling. It was going in the wrong direction. Cam was hurt. It was out. It was just really really frustrating we lost the game

in Colorado in overtime and you know what I just mouthed off and it was dumb dumb you know you gotta stand

accountable for your comments but it was dumb did you think you would have been traded regardless of the comments or did they

definitely make the trade happen it didn't help the cause I don't think you know what I don't know I honestly don't know.

I honestly don't know. They had to do something. They did. Yeah, because it was obviously – I made it easy for him. Yeah, yeah, I made it easy for him. And there was another incident, actually, before you got traded with, you know, Steve Casper infamously started, you know, Cam Naley and Kevin Stevens, but he stapled them to the bench all night.

Did he lose the room that night for that season? Because he never did coach in the NHL again after that. You know what? I don't know why that happened that night. It was part of the whole way that we were all going wrong.

I think obviously he decided to do it, and it was a wrong decision and it didn't, yeah, it didn't help for sure. I'm sure it's, I'm sure it's a decision he wished he had back. Right. And, and you know, I coached, I made mistakes and there's lots of decisions you wish you had back. Right. Right. And I'm sure that's one for him. But you know, obviously those are the two negatives, but you know, overall your whole experience in Boston was, I'm assuming was a one for him. But, you know, obviously those are the two negatives. But, you know, overall, your whole experience in Boston was,

I'm assuming, was a pretty positive affair here. Oh, I loved it there. Loved it. Fantastic. He had 142 points one year. You shit me? That's not a bad year. Holy – what's that year like?

After every game, I mean, you're one, two, three points. I mean, like, are you just permagrant all season? Oh, you're high on life. You can play 80 days in a row. two, three points. I mean, like, are you just permagrin all season? Oh, you're high on life. You can play 80 days in a row. Oh, my God. What a feeling. It's one of those things where when the guys need, we need a day off. You get three points.

You don't need a day off. You don't. No, you actually, you're like, I want to be back out there. I feel amazing right now. I love the feel of the day. 45. It's incredible, Ed. 45 goals, 97 assists in 84 games, 142 points.

Not too shabby, as they say. Yeah, that was a fantastic one. I mean, there was a stretch there where hockey was so much fun. You know what? It's just that was an incredible year. Did you ever play with Gord Kluzak? No, no, I missed him. I didn't know if he was on those Bruins teams.

I always wondered about that guy. Never really made it. I know he was injured, but go ahead, Biz. Sorry about that. Oh, no problem. I was just curious, you know, what was your off-ice fitness like while you were playing? I know it was just a different time,

but were you one of those guys that was ahead of the curve and and probably a reason why you had so much success I I like to think so yeah I uh maybe not my first few years um that was back then it was kind of getting shape in camp and then it started and then I would say when I was in Boston you know I that's when guys started hiring the personal trainers and and and working very hard in the off season and i did too yeah were you working on the skill side of things as well like skating because a lot of guys just took the whole summer off not as much as i wish i did in hindsight you know like i i love the way the guys train now but i still think in my mind you know when you work out and you train i still think your hands have to be first

but guys every single night you watch any goal and somebody either fumble fuck the puck somebody made a really good play with the puck yeah that's actually very true i mean there's either every single goal think about think about penalty killing when the penalty killing coach says boys when you get a chance to clear it, you got to clear it. Okay. Yeah. Why do they say that? Because when guys get a chance and they fumble it,

you're giving the best players on that team a second chance. So why'd you fumble it? You made a mistake with the puck, right? You didn't execute. So you fumbled the puck. That's all it was. You were in position. You did your job.

The coach did his job because he's got you in the right spot, and you blew it. You gave the best players a second chance. And that's, you know what? At the end of the day, I wish I worked on my hands more. Like, you know, obviously, I had good hands, but I kind of went into the training aspect and neglected my hands for too long in the summer.

I wish I balanced it better. And that's one thing I would tell the guys now. You've got to get reps, man. You've got to keep your hands sharp.'s one thing I would tell the guys now you've got to get reps, man. You got to keep your hands sharp. Yeah. You got to be strong and you got to be fit, but you got to keep your hands sharp. That's a, that's a great point. But I mean, I will say if, if you were my coach and I didn't clear one and you were telling me the next

morning on the phone, that's your fault. That's all your fault. I'd probably ask for some of my money back. I'd go into a turtle. that's all your fault. I'd probably ask for some of my money back. I'd go into a turtle. I'd be a turtle shell. But speaking of. Hey, listen, when I see a guy fumble it,

he's getting a call tomorrow. Don't you worry. Well, listen, so speaking of fumbling, fumble fucking the puck, you didn't do any of that. And it's funny that that was the case because I told the guy today, I was like, I'm actually interviewing Adam Oates today. It's going to be pretty good. And the first thing this kid says, he played hockey until he

was like 12 years old. He goes, that's the guy who cut his blade in half. His blade was like two inches long. Why did he do that? I'm like, holy shit. I'll ask him because I remember that. Your stick was so short or the blade was. Yep. You know what? When I played for Boston my second year,

I ended up tearing a tendon in my right ring finger and I had surgery that summer they took it they actually took a tendon out of my wrist and made me a new one but I that summer I lost my hands like like my right hand was not working like it wasn't it was not like I had a lot of scar tissue and my hand had lost some of its dexterity and I ended up cutting my blade down because that was the only way I could kind of like go to my backhand and keep my hand on the stick. And that's the way I played my last like nine years. Wow.

How many people have you told that story to? I mean, lots now, but like during when I played, zero. Oh, wow. I've had like two – oh, I've had like two surgeries since I retired just to fix the hand why because you didn't want to expose your potential weakness to other players is that why yeah yeah I didn't want anybody you know we slashed a lot more back then I didn't want anybody to splash my hand yeah it went down to a paltry 1.1 points per game after that instead I know everyone associates you know, rightfully so, with

St. Louis and Boston a lot, but I think people might forget you actually appeared in two cup final runs. You went on one with Washington and then later with Anaheim. I mean, how about that 0-7 squad? That must have been a tough one as well. You had J.S. Jaguar played absolutely out of

his mind. You guys got with the seventh game a huge long shot. What was it like to get that close so late in your career and to not be able to break from home? You know what? You have mixed feelings. Like, you know, you obviously want to win. You lost game seven of the finals.

You know, like, you can't go any farther. And the one thing about a playoff run that's the best feeling in the world is when you get by the first round, you feel the boys come together because it gets us another level of electricity, right? And next thing you know, it's just the camaraderie and the way the guys laid on the line for each other. So to go to game seven, I mean, it was incredible. I bet you we had 17 guys taking the needle before the game.

Jeez. It was a great experience, I mean, it was incredible. I bet you we had 17 guys taking the needle before the game. Jesus. It was a great experience, you know, it really was. So like, you know, years later, where were you? Like, I'm assuming you'll never forget when you got the call that you were, you know, elected and going to be a hall of fame member. Yeah, I was in Toronto. I got the call and, you know i knew i was up i had no idea and uh gary betman called me and it was like you know talk about as you can imagine a fantastic

feeling right like that like talk about putting the icing on the cake you know it was uh i'm very honored and it's uh just it's uh almost surreal how cool it is. I want to ask a question about, you know, you finished in 2003, 2004 in Edmonton, and then you didn't start coaching until 2009, 2010. Well, at least on HockeyDB it says that. Like, were you scared of retiring now that you had nothing to do? Like, what did you go through? Were you working, doing other things? What was that time in your life like uh you know what i i retired we had the lockout um i didn't play well my last year and that bugged me and i kind of spent a couple

years just kind of being a retired bum and then uh rick talkett called me and asked me if i'd come work with him in tampa and i jumped at it i never thought about it i wasn't sure how i was gonna like coaching but uh i'm really glad he did and uh gave me a great chance and you know and i actually really do love coaching and trying to improve the guys well and then and then you mentioned the new jersey thing and then all of a sudden you're right back in that spot where like at that point you're like what do i do now and how long after that was when you saw the the lebron james thing it was like two weeks you know because you're interviewing the summer after the season and the nba is going through their finals and i saw it right away and uh actually you know i called stammer right away. And actually, you know, I called Stammer right away, Stephen Stamkos,

because I coached him in Tampa. And he was a guy that we talked hockey a lot, right? And I asked him what he thought about it. And he said, yeah, let's try it. I called a couple other guys. I called Teddy Purcell, who I coached, who actually now works for me. Teddy just joined the team. And you know what?

A very highly skilled guy that, like, he liked the way I coached and approached it. He just joined the team. And you know what? A very highly skilled guy that he liked the way I coached and approached it. And now he's looking to move on in his second career and pass the knowledge on with the guys. And I'm very happy to have him. Oti, you looking to get back on a head coach in the future, or do you prefer this kind of smaller class, like one-on-one type of stuff you're doing? No, you know what?

A couple years ago I came out and said I'm not going to coach anymore because the last thing I wanted was any coach out there to think that there might be some funny business going on or sabotaging going on. And you know what? I wanted to clear the air that, no, I'm just going to work on these guys and try and improve their skills. That's all. And from what I hear, you're making fucking Babcock money,

not even coaching. So congratulations on growing that business and that success. You mentioned Teddy. When you think about it, last year I had 14 career highs. How was their summer? Oh, wow. You had 14 guys. Yeah.

Are you open for business? How is it going to work? I mean, you know you're going to come on this podcast, but 300,000 people are going to hear it. There's going to be people trying to call you up to yin-yang. There's going to be men's hockey league guys that have big, fat bank accounts. Like, OT, I need to leave my team in scoring. Careful, business is going to try to work a cut.

OT, if you can get me back into the league, I bet you'll be a billion-dollar business in no time. Some things are a little bit out of my reach, bud. You mentioned Teddy Purcell, and perfect guy to want to hire to your staff. And this is not a discredit to Teddy's game, but physically, he wasn physically, you know, he wasn't – you know, I would say he wasn't on the high of the NHL standards,

but his mind was where he brought it. I mean, his mind and hands, right? He was a wizard out there. He played at that – with that skill. Is that what type of guy that you're looking for where he was just so smart on the ice where he can now interpret it to guys who are still playing? Well, I think the key thing there, what you said, is interpret it, right? Because the hard part of coaching and doing this is teaching the technique.

So Teddy has a lot of technique already, so it's easier for him to pass the knowledge on because there are some things that take a lot of work to learn how to do. No question. And Teddy has those hands, and he can translate it for the guys, and he's relevant for the guys. Obviously, I'm older. Some of the guys don't know me.

So it's great to have Teddy for this generation of player. That's what I was going to ask. Did you find it hard to relate to the millennials, the younger players, or did you kind of have to do it sort of through guys like Teddy uh both you know like I would say that most of the guys you know we have a good relationship um it's hard for me to see guys that don't have a voicemail on their phone right because I want to communicate with them but it's just you know I also know that's the new deal, right? So it is, but on the ice, once we get on the ice, there's never a problem. Yeah.

Cause everyone speaks hockey on the ice. Well, and everyone's paying. Very well put there. And everyone's paying good to be a lot of money to be there. So they're probably dialed in from the minute they get there and, and want to suck. That's why, that's why I don't, I don't go looking for guys. Out of all the guys I got, there's only one guy that I've called.

Everybody's called me. Who was it? Because I want the player to be really – Kevin Miller from the Bruins. Oh, wow. You know what? Kevin Miller from the Bruins. I saw Kevin take a hit that I was real upset about,

and I called his agent, and I got Kevin on the phone, and I talked to him about the hit, and I said, I can prevent that hit. And he said, all right, I'll give you a try. And you know what? We got a great relationship. That's awesome. So you don't work strictly with forwards,

and you work with defensemen as well. Oh, yeah. I got defensive defensemen. Think about it. You're a sixth defenseman. What's your weakness? Speed. Playing the puck yeah oh yeah eric carl eric carlson's weakness is not playing the puck right yep so i don't know so the six defensemen on every team should be begging me

why because you move up the fourth defenseman and you just made a lot more money didn't you oh yeah if you're in if you're in the top four, you're making $4 million. I would say probably off your entry level now, you're making over $4 fucking million. That's a good point. At the end of the day, private tutoring is growing, right? All the skills, guys. Everybody's trying to help everybody, which is a great thing

because salaries have gone up, and guys want to play a long time. It's a tough game. All we talk about is it's bigger, faster, stronger. So it's in your best interest to be able to go back and play that puck faster. All right. Under control. Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead.

No, go ahead. No, I just wanted to ask. I know you're into, you know, your guys are into video and watching other players. I remember I always got, I tried to get clips of Nick Lidstrom because it's just great to watch the best. Who do you think the player in the league is that you've kind of recommended guys to watch his shifts? You know what I'm saying?

Like, is it Crosby, Malkin? Is there one guy that you've told a lot of people, hey, check out how this guy plays? You know what? I do do that a lot. And every guy – you know know i usually say to a guy who's your favorite player okay because i got video on everybody right like who's your favorite player so a guy might say a defensive might say duncan key okay well let's watch how he goes back

for a puck because he might be the best you know who's your favorite player crosby patrick kane connor uh you know and everybody's got somebody that they kind of see themselves as right so so the fact that they say that we go we you know i have video we watch plays and that's the beauty like i watch guys video and everybody you know in a game you play 17 minutes you know 16 of the minutes you play great there might be one minute over the all those shifts, you make a couple mistakes. But if you can fix those mistakes,

you're going to play another minute, another two minutes. You're just going to keep moving up the ladder. That's all it's about. Oates, you obviously have a very analytical mind when it comes to hockey. And, you know, like I said, one of the best passes ever. And there's a lot of geometry and math involved there. Now, you know, I've been watching hockey forever. A lot of our listeners have. Is there something, you know, I've been watching hockey forever. A lot of our listeners have.

Is there something, you know, even watching hockey for so long, is there something we might be missing watching on TV, or is there some other way to maybe watch the game that we haven't even thought of because we're so used to just probably watching the puck on TV all these years? Yeah, you know what? Like what I tell everybody, and you know what? If you look at our game, which is a great game, every coach has a system.

Everything's a system. Everything. We're almost like football, right? From face-off plays, from the opening face-off, we have positions players have to be in. But what I say is, what breaks down a system? If you have a D-to-D pass, and the guy puts it in the guy's feet, that's a mistake. The system just shut off. a D to D pass and the guy puts it in the guy's feet.

That's a mistake. You know, like the system just shut off. Like the, the house just lost power because you put in the guy's feet. You put it on his tape. He can keep the system going right. And move the puck up, up,

up the ladder. You know, and, and I don't think people recognize what the mistakes are enough in our game. I'm open for a backdoor. If I'm open for a backdoor tap-in, and you put it in my feed, you just lost an assist. And I just lost a goal. So that's an obvious

one. The goalie whiffs the puck. We all go, that's a goalie mistake. But there's so many more that we don't understand. And that's always what I don't get about people. It's like, well, don't you see that mistake? And that's what I said to you earlier, where every single goal,

somebody bobbled the puck. Well, somewhere along the line, if you back the shift up, if you watch the video and back it up, oh, there's a mistake. Yeah, I got bobbled it. Somebody bobbled it up somewhere. Yeah. Adam, you talked on the offsides and how it infuriates you. What's the most common mistake you have to talk to about

everyone with like like uh like if even mcdavid comes in you're and you're like yeah i have to tell all the guys this this is the one thing that i want you to change about your game right now because i know you're doing it wrong the biggest thing that i see with every guy that is that is pretty weird when you hear you're going to hear it is when you go out for 45 seconds are you paying attention all 45 seconds because very few guys do on a shift to shift basis all night long every game i'll give you an example you're killing a penalty ryan you're killing a penalty. Ryan, you're killing a penalty. And halfway through the penalty, they've been in the zone forever, and you're getting tired.

Are you talking to yourself going, oh, my God, I'm dying right now? Somebody's got to clear this plot because I'm dying right now. Yes. Please. I might just skate to the bench anyways. Yeah, like you're actually having a conversation with yourself during the play because, you know oh my god i i'm gonna die in a second here if i don't because penalty killers run out of gas

they do so even though they're standing still the the tension and the stress you end up getting so tired that you fumble fuck the fuck you can't clear it well really at the end of the day oh yeah it's one of those things where everybody's had those shifts where you're running out of gas, man. And you start talking to yourself. Well, you're actually, think about it. You're having a conversation with yourself on the ice while the play's going on in front of 20,000. Isn't that crazy? Well, which is a little odd because most people who would say, ah, just go out there and play.

So you're telling me that you're telling guys as soon as they step on the ice, they should be asking themselves, where should I be right now? Am I doing the proper thing? Am I now in a good place now? And go do that throughout the 45-second shift, every shift. Yeah, like when I see a shift and I send the guy the video tomorrow, I'll go, what were you thinking there? And he'll look at it and go, yes. He'll go, what were you thinking there? He'll look at it and go, yes. He'll go, I wasn't.

And I go, well, that's why you're 10 feet out of position, and that's why your coach is mad at you. How often do you check in with your clients? Like every game or weekly? How does that work? Yeah, yeah, yeah. The deal with the guys is all the time, and everybody's personality is a little different.

Some guys like it every day. Some guys like it once a week, twice a week. And week and you know we just kind of we get into a rhythm right um in terms of how they want and then so when guys got back-to-back games they don't want to talk which i get right i was there and and then there's times where some guys like to talk when they're doing well some guys like to talk when they're struggling and i you know you just you find a relationship, right? And that's what it is to me. It's a relationship.

Like, I'm investing myself into these guys a lot, and I want them to do that with me as well. It's not unlike sort of what the referees do when they get calls from the league every day kind of going over their work. It's similar to that, it sounds like. Yeah, for sure. You know, and if you think about it,

you make a mistake last night and nobody's perfect. If I can snap them back in and they jump back and have a great game tonight, everybody's happy, right? And it's funny, like the more we talk and you tell us about it, so much of it is mental. I bet you a lot of the guys go in thinking it's all skill and then they don't even realize it's such a help for them mentally to be talking to you and knowing that you went through it. It's amazing to think that you get to the NHL and you don't really get coached that much. I mean,

it's a coach's job to get wins and that's what he's looking to do. And so why has it taken this long for guys to realize like, I kind of need a personal coach, and it's so smart. It's definitely the future, like you've said. So to see what you've done is no surprise and also pretty incredible. Well, thanks, guys. And you know what? Some teams have hired their own skills coaches within, right? Yeah.

And they go work with the guys, and they work at – yeah, and they have, and that's great you know and I totally support it because if you're a coach and I've been there you got to practice today we played three and four how long is that practice should be 30 minutes

30 minutes yeah you're going out there you're giving the boys a little sweat hopefully we won if we're in a good mood. You might do a little instruction on one of the systems that was, you know, we didn't like our neutral zone regroup last night. You do a little of that or a decon coverage.

And then the guys, you know, you do a couple drills. So they didn't really get a lot of individual time. When you look at basketball, you look at Stephh curry when does he get his reps before the game he's working with the ball boys and they're feeding him balls so he can work on all his shots right not in practice because in practice when they're running all

their systems he probably only gets 10 15 shots so when does he get the reps to work on his game and that's what that's part of what we bring. It's the summertime to get lots of reps. And then during the season, there's a couple things they can do after practice to work on just the little minute details that keep them sharp. Sounds like you're a basketball fan. I am a basketball fan. I'm a huge fan as well.

Great, great lead. And Adam, I was going to touch more on the coaches inside the team, but the assistant and head coach, they've got enough figuring out stuff structurally, looking at game tape for the next team and worrying about line matches and all that shit. I wonder if it's going to increase where guys like you come in, not only as skill coaches, but more on the mental aspect of it too,

because it's a lot of time of talking back and forth. You're talking about elite athletes, so there might be some conflict back and forth and then maybe disagreeing with what you want them to do. So it takes time with each individual guy. So as a team, you just hire a skill guy. I don't think it's exactly accomplishing what you're doing. Do you see it getting it to a level where maybe they got two, three of these types of guys around every team?

Yeah, I do. I think the teams will eventually get there. Look at football, right? Football has a specialty coach for every single position. And you know what? Just because salaries are dictating it, right? Like, you know, you got all these assets. You want them to be the best they can be.

We kind of do have a D coach. We do have a forward coach. We have a penalty killing coach, a PP coach. So it's going to go in that direction. Then the individual stuff will just keep growing. But at the end of the day, there's still the fatigue factor. Guys can only handle so much. My stuff is pretty neurological.

That's why in the summertime, it's really good to work on your game and get the reps and then the wintertime you know they're playing so it's just a little fine tuning tune-ups I have skated with some guys during the season there's about 10 teams that don't have any problem with it where I when a guy's in the schedule they got four days off or something, I fly in and work after practice, go out there for an hour, which I think is great. I think it's very healthy. Nice. That's good stuff. You still keep in touch with Neely, by

the way? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Trying to keep in touch with all the boys. Yeah. So you're basically not looking to get in any front office roles or anything. You basically kind of find your own little spot here. Why bother having a boss if you can be your own, right? Yeah, you know what?

This is very enjoyable. I like it. It's a good thing. The players like it, and it's very rewarding. So, you know what? I'm in a good spot. Well, Adam, to have a Hall of Famer on here, it's pretty special for us. An amazing career.

Great guy. I love actually when you and Teddy are in Boston. Let's go out for – because I'm sure there's some stories that really can't be on a podcast. That's kind of how life is. I'd love to get together with you, and we thank you very much for coming on. That interview was also brought to you by Quip. One of the most important things we do for our health every day is brushing our teeth. Yet most of us don't do it properly. Quip is a better electric toothbrush created by dentists and designers. Quip was designed to make brushing your teeth more simple, affordable, and even

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I get my three minutes in. It's dynamite. That's why I love Quip and why they're backed by over 20,000 dental professionals. Quip starts at just $25, and if you go to getquip.com slash chicklets, you'll get your first refill pack for free with a Quip electric toothbrush. That's your first refill pack free at getquip.com slash chicklets. Once again, thank you to Adam Oates for jumping on. Awesome guy, very articulate regarding the hockey stuff. And he was actually pretty humorous with the Brad Hall stories. for jumping on. Awesome guy. Very articulate regarding the hockey stuff. He was

actually pretty humorous with the Brett Hall story. It seems like every good hockey story has Brett Hall attached to it. We need Brett Hall on this podcast. Yeah. Folks, we're trying to do it. We're trying to get a lot of guys on here that you guys have been asking for. But, R.A., I want to circle back.

I'm very intrigued by the whole gambling thing. I had one question before I want to actually jump into a new segment I want to introduce called R.A.'s Gambling Corner, because maybe I'll start jumping in, betting the oats games, betting the overs on the oats games. We do have to get you gambling, Biz. I just don't know if it's allowed.

But you love free stuff. It could be free if you win. Okay. You're a fucking asshole. All right. I'm just curious to know is if you look at the the whole schedule of games and you like to just kind of like bet a little and everything or do you like to manipulate lines like will you see like a line where you're like wow that's right there they made a little mistake i i typically i don't really look too too far ahead although i am today because i'm going to try to give a couple of picks

for what I like this weekend. I'm basically a day-to-day guy. I'll open the website, look at the lines, and kind of go from there. But there are examples of when I know I like a team, and I'm probably going to bet them. For example, Tuesday night, Philadelphia Flyers got an eight spot hung on him. Brian Elliott, eight goals he gave up now I don't know if he's going to start Philly's next game or not but Philadelphia Flyers gave up eight

goals as a fucking team and I noticed teams when they get drilled that bad they typically respond the next game because they have pride basically and especially if it's a number one goalie you can debate the merits of Brian Elliott here here but if, say, Hank Lundquist gets a six-spot hung on him, I'm going to bet him the next game. He is hung. Well, he's both. Yeah, exactly. Just for the pride factor, just for personal pride.

These guys got embarrassed last game. They're going to come the next game out with a little bit of fire. Now, by the time this episode is dropped, Philly will have already played. But I like Philly on Wednesday night after getting an eight spot hung on them. They're playing in Ottawa. You know who I got. Ottawa's been not bad, boys. They're one and two.

I mean. But they're frisky. They beat the Leafs. Like I said, I was at the Bruins game Monday. Now, yeah, you look at the score. They lost six to three. But Ottawa doesn't quit. I think there's a lot of guys in that team who, again,

it's about pride because everybody's saying they're going to stink, they're going to be terrible, and these guys are going to kind of band together and rally around each other. I'm not going to win a ton of games, but if you're betting against them, you've got to be leery of that a little bit. Well, and I think they're 1-1-1. They lost in OT to maybe Chicago their first game. I know, but that's a loss so i'm looking

at one and two because i'm betting it all right do you have any gambling analytics on teams playing back to back uh i don't i'm not a big number guy analytical that goes into yeah we know what's the number guy can't even i'm a big guy i'm a big goal my gut guy i mean 80 million my my number one thing with beton hockey though paul is is the goaltender like uh is making sure you know that you're the goaltender that you want in there is in there because some teams the the difference between the start and the backup is huge a lot of teams it's not much of a doll not a huge difference but some teams man it makes all the difference in the world if you're going to be, you know, putting a couple of grand on a squad. So, you know, if you're going to be wagering on the NHL,

you definitely want to check the goaltenders because it's like I said, some guys is a steep drop off between the number one and the backup. Okay. All right. Well, listen, I'm, I'm kind of trusting you here. I feel like you have a lot of knowledge in the gambling side of things. I'm not going to trust wit. So why don't we try this out? Why don't we try a new little segment here called R.A.'s Gambling Corner? Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun. All right, boys.

I like a couple of things tonight. Thursday night, guys are going to be hanging around, having a few cocktails. Might want to throw a couple bucks on some pucks. Hey, how do you like that? It's a nice little logo, huh? There's bucks on pucks. Oh, you forgot to mention New Amsterdam Vodka and the pink lemonade. Absolutely.

Pink Whitney. Yeah, Pink Whitney. Make yourself a nice Pink Whitney as you sit down and watch San Jose and the Rangers because I like the Sharks tonight. I think the Sharks come out of the gate a little slow. I think they had to wake up, and I think they woke up in Philly the other night, hung an eight spot on them. Rangers, they're playing all right.

They're all in3, all right. I'm a little nervous about that bet just because they're ready to get one, no? Yeah, yeah, they are. Now, this is, again, I just mentioned the goaltenders are huge. Now, I'm assuming that the two starters are going to go. If San Jose isn't starting Martin Jones, then I would probably adjust my action accordingly. But I do like San Jose.

I'll probably throw something on the money line, which means they just have to win maybe a little something on the puck line. So if they win by two or more, you get a little bonus. Another team I'm probably going to jump on, probably I'm going to jump on tonight, Vegas Golden Knights. Again, they didn't come out of a house of fire, I think, like people expected. But Pittsburgh Penguins lost their starting goalie, Matt Murray, suffered another concussion, which we're sorry to hear that. We hate to hear guys getting their heads knocked like that. He's had a couple of concussions the last few years, so we do hope he gets well.

I haven't said that. You know, there's a weakness there as a gambler you want to expose, so I'm going to jump on Vegas as well tonight. So those are the two picks I like tonight, Thursday night. Again, you know, keep an eye on the goaltenders if you're going to follow me. If you do lose, no crying. There's no crying in gambling. Oh, so that was R.A.'s Gambling Corner brought to you by R.A.

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money back guarantee. omaxboost.com slash chicklets. Terms and conditions do apply. Now, R.A., now that we're done in your gambling corner, Pasha, the guy who I helped film that business he does BC with, he's a big prop bettor. He loves prop bets. He's crazy in the prop bets. But he hits them like crazy. He just has a... Now I've

mushed him. Let's just make sure he doesn't hear this. But yeah, I'll... I mean, what was the one he scored? He had last year. I think he had like Berikowski or something for two goals. Berikowski for two goals, I remember. And the line was something crazy. I think it was like a fucked up line also. He won like $2,200.

He's big on... I know he's big on first to score too, first to score in the game as well. So I don't know how many fans we have that are big gamblers. We don't want you guys fucking going out there just putting the house on the line. Just keep it tight. Just like the New Amsterdam Vodka, just gamble responsibly. Boys, one quick topic I wanted to touch on before we finish off this pod. I know, Whit, you had another one. The Swedish and Finnish ice hockey federations are a little over their prospects

after getting cut from NHL training camps, going down and playing in the American League. They think that they'll be better developed over on their home soil with the semi-pro teams or I guess the pro teams over there like in the Swedish Elite League and the Finnish Elite League. I don't really have an opinion on this yet. I'd like to dig more into it and digest it. And I was thinking, yeah, if they're going back over there to develop

if they aren't making their NHL teams, the communication situation over there where they're being able to develop because they're getting the proper teaching and they're actually understanding what everyone's saying not saying all of them don't speak fluent english but another thing too is like does that help north american kids develop because you're having more kids at the AHL level developing their skills, obviously the league's going to be a little bit more watered down. But I don't know how you guys feel about it. I'm kind of up in the air. I just don't have an opinion on it. If I'm an NHL GM, I want my prospects playing in the AHL.

I think that it's the second best league in the world, especially in terms of development. Yeah, the KHL has probably more skill, and the Swedish league is very good. I think the Swedish league is stronger than the Finnish league. But AHL is where you're learning the pro game over here at what? Well, no, I was going to chime in after your thought. I was going to argue, well, isn't your goal as a gm to get that kid nhl ready the swedish and finnish ice hockey

federations are basically saying they will develop them better than what they're doing in the american league we want them doing no they're saying that they want their kids at home because people want to go see these kids play in sweden and finland who are then going to be in the AHL, it would be ridiculous for them to say that those leagues are going to get those kids ready for the NHL game like the AHL is. I mean, they want – I think there's a difference in between developing them as far as their skills than getting them ready for the pro game. I get what you're saying.

Of course, you have the long schedule. It's strenuous. It's a little more physical. There's the North American ice. So yeah, all those things. I think that the overall point was just them becoming the best player they can. And they think they're going to do that with more

development with their federations before going overseas. I'm telling you, I think that they don't really think that. I think they want these kids playing in Sweden. I think the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation wants as many good players from Sweden playing there as possible.

I mean, in the end, what do they care about if they end up, well, they want them to play in the NHL, but they want them playing for their team and selling tickets and being a part of, you know, Modo is where I was for seven minutes or Skellefteå or, you know, all these, all these other teams in Sweden that are really good. But for me as a GM, I just think that a kid who's 20 years old is going to get more out of playing in the AHL. I think that those guys probably have a good point in saying, I want,

I want these players in Sweden, but they also, if they really looked at it, would have a tough time saying they're going to develop better for the NHL playing over there than they would in the AHL. I mean, then there's Elias Pedersen, who is a complete joke. I called that one, by the way. And I love that people are getting mad. Like, holy fuck, Whit. You're calling some guy everyone knew about him.

Like, not everyone knew about him because there were some chicklets listeners that aren't necessarily into the Vancouver Canucks prospects. Yeah, if you're a diehard hockey fan, you knew about the kid. But I let a lot of other people know about him, and now he's just a wizard out there. I'm a firm believer in doing whatever is best to develop those players for the NHL level. And if some teams or people think that that's better suited overseas and Hey,

I don't think there's really any right answer to this because some guys have gone back over and they've came back to the NHL and they've been fucking unbelievable. And then some have not been able to adjust to the NHL style game. So I guess it's just, it's, it's the individual player. Yeah. My, my first bullet point i have here biz is it probably depends on the player you know one player maybe farther along in his development where you know he might need a little more seasoning and i think the ahl yeah you probably become more accustomed to the north american style of play by playing in the ahl

whereas you know another player might be kind of know, he might benefit more from being back home in Sweden for whatever reason. So, you know, there's a much different style of play here. Obviously, we talk about it all the time. The ice is huge in Sweden, much more room. I got one thing about Scandinavian teams, though, a question. We got tons of Swedes. We got tons of Finns. We don't have a lot of Norwegians in the NHL.

There's a few. It's starting to pop off. It's just interesting that those three countries, they're so close together and we have tons of Swedes over the years, tons of Finns. There's only been about, I think, less than a dozen Norwegians in the league. Right now, Matt Zuccarello and Andreas Martinsen in Chicago, the only two Norwegians in the NHL. It's just odd that geographically that these two countries produce tons of NHL players, but this other country right next to them doesn't do it on the same level.

I'm sure it's probably cultural reasons. Just something that jumped out at me as well. Yeah, I agree. I also think that if we could ever get Zuccarello on here, the entire country of Norway would probably tune in. That would help our – Hey, they said he's like a god over there. Yeah, Kevin Hayes told me he went and played in this charity hockey tournament

over there, and he's legit the most famous person in the country. It's a small country, guys. Just under five and a half million, too. We do have listeners in Norway, actually. A couple of them chimed in on my Instagram. They popped in the DMs to say, hey, we're in Norway, and we love chicklets, so we got little

worldwide support. They're like, hey, we're in New York. Scout note, where Zuccarello lives. Any ideas? We're stalkers hey, we're in New York. Scout note where Zuccarello lives. Any ideas? We're stalkers. See you later. You've got Mikkel Bodker, who's a Dane. So there's a few Danish guys. That's Denmark, though.

That's a different country. No, I'm just saying it's like that kind of bubble. Is the Netherlands Dane? What's Netherlands? Netherlands is Holland. Holland and Netherlands is the same country? Yeah. Okay.

I'm a math guy. Not a math guy. 80 and 70 million, 10 million. Hey, all right. Before we go, got some sources, don't you, huh? Hashtag. Got some sources. Hashtag sources.

For anyone who missed RA at about 5 in the morning, tweeted out that Rick Nash is going to be retiring, and no, he did not say today. This was on Monday or maybe Tuesday. He did not say today. So then Darren Drager and Nash's agent released a report. That is not a true report Rick Nash not retiring today

and RA came back and said I never said today so you're sticking by that he will not play another game as a professional hockey player I'm 100% sticking by my report whatever you want to call it I have sources I was told the

info I was confident enough that I ran with it. Yet the agent came out, and I thought the agent, what he said was kind of telling. He said, oh, Rick Nash is not retiring today, and the light went off. Well, that's funny because I didn't say he was retiring today. I said, you know, that decision is made. He's going to retire. I mean, that's what everyone's waiting for.

Is he going to play or not? So I didn't say today. Well, I mean, you meant probably in like coming up soon here. Well, yeah, as opposed to him not retiring, which is – that's the number one question. It's not so much when he's going to. It's whether he is or not. And the other thing, I think his name is Aaron Portsline.

He's a longtime Columbus beat writer. He works for The Athletic now, and he tracked down Nash to get some quotes. And he was interested in the way he wrote it. He referred to it as rumors online. Well, it wasn't a rumor. It was something I wrote. I was claiming that this is going to happen. Well, no credit.

Well, it turns out this guy, he's not a Boston fan, as I remember. I know he's one of these people who reads a story about Boston and believes everything in it. people who reads the story about Barstow and believes everything in it. And, you know, that's why I was a little, I was a little weirded out when you sent it out. And when I got tagged in it is just because like, now that like, you know,

people fucking hate Barstow and they probably hate spitting chiclets. Right. So anything that we put out any, any of us, you know, they're going to hound us down if it's wrong. Cause we came out with the Jason Garrison one. So, so we're, we're one for oneound us down if it's wrong because we came out with the Jason Garrison one. We're one for one. But this wasn't Chicklets. This was where you're at.

I know, but come on. We're the team Chicklets here. He's associated, but here's my thing. I think we stick by our A. I'm sticking by him. We roll the dice on being able to go two for two. We're not rolling dice here, Biz. I'll sticking by him. And we roll the dice on being able to go two for two. But what's the – We're not rolling dice here, Biz.

Oh, I'll tell you what. All right, I love this shit. I'm so excited because either way, R.A. got Rick Nash retiring, okay, and that's a pretty big scoop. Or he got it wrong and the people are going to come after him hard. I know, but we can't stay on the fence. We've got to pick a side here. We've got to live or die with R.A.'s fucking prediction.

And just to go back to the reporter I was just talking about, who's your source? My tweet is rumors. He also said that he referred to them as rumors that Nash handed in his papers. It's like, okay, but the other reporter, I didn't say he handed them in. I said he's going to. So words matter. When you're talking about journalism and facts, you need to get your fucking present tenses and past tenses because it

fucking matters. So he said that he already turned them in. That's not what I wrote. And I'm assuming he was referring to my tweet because there was nobody else bringing it up. But like, you know, quote the rumors, at least get them right. Because I didn't say he turned them in. Right, but I guess my whole theory is

where people are coming from is, okay, well, you could say, well, Austin Matthews is going to hand in his papers. It's just like, well, yeah, eventually he is going to do it because you didn't say today. So what's our timeline where we keep our credibility? I think he needs to do it by

half season for your report to have credibility. Yeah, I don't have a ballpark I mean, obviously there are different shoes. I think the point people would make was like oh, well, you don't know that he still wasn't talking to other teams and just couldn't get something done. I'm just playing devil's advocate here because obviously

this will be a topic on social media as people listen and chime in. So we have to set a timetable. You say half season. I say it has to happen in the next, I would say, four weeks in order for years to have credibility. Is that a fair number, guys? I mean, Whit said half season.

I think that's a long time. That's a lot of conversations going on. What do you think? I'd say the four weeks is – I'm standing behind R.A. here first off, but I'd say the four weeks is a good timetable. I'm standing behind him bent over so that you could push him, and then he falls over me. Quick table talk.

Your old middle school move. If you bring our record to one and one, dude, I'm going to fucking snap. No, we're one for one. This is RA. This is not Chicklets. This is different. We're not tweeting this out on our account. I think we got to, though.

We got to fucking stick with them. Should we quote tweet them and say we're standing behind RA? I feel like we're half in this. We're half in this. Who got that other scoop that we had? Who was it? That was me. I got a text from my buddy, Peter Gerges.

Who's opening up? You don't reveal sources. Buddy, it's my friends. They don't give a shit. It ain't that serious, man. I ain't going to get whacked. But anyway, if you let me finish my source, I wanted to shout out Peter Gerges.

He's opening up Piersers and west oak in toronto and uh he he had one in vancouver very good spot he used to throw a bunch of the nhl rookie parties for the boys so shut out peter gurges and uh he's good buddies with jason garrison and i was just happy to hear he got a one-year deal this wasn't like a like a fucking nash retiring kind of thing it was just hey congrats to garrison on the deal, and we got to break the scoop. Remember when I asked Hannafin, hey, please tell me when you sign so I can break the news, and then I still haven't heard from him? Thanks, Hannafin, you fucking.

Yeah, fuck you, Hanny. Trying to get our credibility. Hey, we need to start asking guys because we've got to get our credibility back after RA fucked us. I mean, broke a huge story. Come on on guy. Hey, did you happen to see the 50 50 at the Bruins game?

The other day was over a quarter million dollars before the game even started. Oh, wow. Yeah. The 50 50 for the Bruins game. It was, it was on Columbus day.

Yeah. But even before the game start, like why was it? What, what, what made it so big that day? I'm not sure if it was because the season opener or because they were raising money for the Special Olympians.

Yeah, the Bruins Foundation was doing raising, like half the money went to the Special Olympics. So before the game, they brought out some of the Special Olympians onto the ice, the take pot and the puck drop, which was nice. And one of the Special Olympians, he was on the jumbotron a bunch. This guy was dancing his ass off the whole show, was getting down with his bad self. And when we were leaving the game, me and a couple of my buddies,

we saw him outside with his mom after. So we went over to give him high fives and give him daps because he was so happy being on the Jumbotron. So I don't know if he listens, but any friends or family of John Dunleavy, you tell him he was a rock star the other day on the Jumbotron, and he had the whole garden buzzing. So if anyone listening, let John know he was a star the other day. And thanks, John Dunleavy, for giving R.A. the Nash retirement.

You know that was your scoop. You know that's your source. Also, R.A., shout out to you for tweeting out the press box's Wi-Fi info. Oh, no. Were they pissed? They're like honored to be sitting here with just the Wi-Fi login of the garden. I'm like, I'm sure they – So every fan that follows them could have logged into the Wi-Fi?

Hey, guys, I got to go. I'm going to a pre-show meeting for NHL now. Hey, so RA is just – Hey, so RA is just pissing off the whole fucking media in the NHL. All right, a big week. I mean, they hate us anyway, so we might as well just fucking – just keep fucking with them. Tweeting out the media password to the press box.

Fake my gambling picks. Fake scoops. Well, thank you, everyone, for tuning in. Some fun topics today. I know we've covered a lot of Leafs, so we're probably going to be hitting shit on for that. But, hey, we spread the love out throughout the season. What's up, R.A.?

Yeah, no, I love that I was getting all the shit for tweeting out the Wi-Fi password at the Garden, but it's fine. I told people, hey, man, if you think it's going to be faster using the Garden Wi-Fi, then you're better off on your own network. But the reason I actually tweeted out was, I don't know if you noticed, using the god wi-fi then you're better off on your own network but the reason i actually tweeted out was i don't know if you noticed um it had the word ace written on the on the press box like panel there that's named after ace bailey who was killed in 9-11 so that's why i actually tweeted because it's an honor kind of an honor to sit in that seat that's you know put aside for ace

bailey i inadvertently gave the password out so oh no nice little shout out by you and yeah hey sometimes you mess up man it's water off a duck's back but once again what's that what do you got i had one of the little oh jesus you're just full of them aren't you hey you know i i was told that chucky mack jolly mcavoy and andrews bjork actually skateboard to practice they skateboard from uh charlestown or the north north station area all the way out to brighton uh to go to practice that's skateboard from Charlestown or the North Station area all the way out to Brighton to go to practice. You ever hear anything like that, Biz and the lead guys skateboarding to practice?

Skateboarding? Yeah, I mean, yeah, guys do that out in the West Coast. I mean, look at Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhardt. They take the dual bikes, the tandem bikes, to practice. Yeah, I just never heard of that, taking a skateboard to practice. It's a pretty decent hike. But anyways, action-packed show for everybody. Enjoy your weekend.

Any final notes, Biz? No. I was trying to wrap it up five minutes ago. You're buzzing today. Oh, she was on the other foot this time. Hi. You know, how about me and you getting on it online and everyone not happy about it?

People are saying, geez, Biz, relax. Come on. Keep the peace. The podcast is going to break up. Get the band back together. Boys, we're just a couple of grown men having a little bit of an argument. Yeah, we love it. Dr. Volt is a pigeon, and that's the end of it.

All right. Peace. Peace, buddy. Peace.