Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 127: Featuring Brian McGrattan

Episode Date: November 22, 2018

On Thursday's episode of Spittin' Chiclets the guys are joined by Brian McGrattan to talk about his career, his sobriety, some good razor stories and a ton more. The boys also discuss the Edmonton Oilers coaching change and what is next for them as well as the St. Louis Blues coaching change and what is next in St. Louis. The guys also go around the NHL for some league news.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. Hello, everybody. Welcome to episode 127 of Spittin' Chicklets, presented by New Amsterdam Vodka. Let's go around the table and say hello to the gentleman this evening. Start off with our producer down in New York City, Mikey Grinnelli. What's going on, guy? What's up, boys? This episode is dropping on Thanksgiving, which means tomorrow is Black Friday, which means we're doing a big sale on ugly sweaters. So buy a sweater so I can get out of this rat-infested apartment.

Mouse, mouse, mouse-infested. Mouse. Talking too funny. Whitney, our boy Ryan Whitney chiming in there. What's up, brother? Where are you right now? You back home for the holiday, correct? Yeah, I just drove home from working at NHL Network,

where we show all the games on the NHL schedule every night. And it took me about six hours to get home. So it's just about grinding away and doing this podcast for, you know, the people I love out there, all you fans. So thanks a lot. Wow. Unreal promo. And last, certainly not least, out in the desert, buddy Biz Nasty,

Paul Bissonnette. What is up? Hello, everybody. Hello. Still my kind of lady. Easy to assist from R.A. coming at me. Really excited for this

Ambien that Whit took to kick in and shit's going to get real weird about halfway through.

No, look, I haven't taken it yet. How'd you know? I was going

to wait until like halfway through so I wouldn't be a complete puddle by the end of it. Although I had

an Ambien episode going on back in the day that was a classic. Let's do it. Hey, take it right

now and let's see where this goes. Come on. All right, here we go. Oh boy. Hey, hold on. Listen. Oh, you like to chew it

and put it on the tongue. Chew it on the tongue. I actually heard it. I heard that if you put it in your five hole it would just dummy you. Oh, up the hoop? Everything goes Yeah, I've never tried it. Well, that's why those kids in college were butt chugging a few years ago

because you would shoot a shot up your asshole, and that's how you would get fucked up like that. But when I used to take those Bam Bams, I would take like a quarter, like a half, and I would crush it on my tongue, and I'd be out in five minutes. That was the story when Yans and Moe wrapped me in the hotel room comforter and put me in the hallway in Detroit. I was the worst when I took Ambien. I be out in two it would do its job i'd be out in two seconds i didn't try and fight

it off anyway sorry boys i'm not one time i've taken one oh all right god damn it your instagram videos without them i can't even fucking imagine i'd you'd be a knight you'd get kicked off instagram if you took one of these hey by the way, one time in Jersey, I took one, and Bugsy said I was flipping out. I was on the couch, and I was like, I'm staying out of the water. I don't remember any of this. Then all of a sudden, I was down on the ground with a bloody nose, and they had to call the trainers in.

Chris Stewart from Pittsburgh came in. He's like, Jesus Christ. I was buzzing the next night, though. Boy, I had a good night's sleep. Not really. I had still the next night, though. Boy, yeah, you had a good night's sleep. Not really. I had still blood all over my nose. Well, what are we talking about today, R.A.? Wow.

There were absolutely no firings of NHL coaches during the entirety of last season. Alain Vigneault was fired after his season ended. And we've had four coaches fired in the last 17 days in the NHL, two of them in about a 12-hour span, well, last night, which was Tuesday night. I'm sorry, Monday night. The Blues fired Mike Yeo, replaced him with Craig Berube. They gave Craig Berube the interim tag.

And Todd McClellan got the ax up in Edmonton by a job-saving gesture, a job-saving move probably by Peter Chiarelli, replaced him with a retired Ken Hitchcock. I guess the prospect of coaching in his hometown was too much for him to walk away from, so now he's going to get a chance with McDavid. Let's go to you, Wits, first. What's your take on, I guess, Hitchcock coming out of retirement? Yeah, crazy time in the NHL, and you feel bad for when people get fired. I mean, it does suck, especially when I look at the Oilers, because there's complaints about Todd McClellan out there and how he's done coaching. And after two years ago, they hundred and I think 102 points, they

lost the game seven in the second round and so on and so on. And last year was horrible. And this year hasn't been great. But that team is just, they're built so poorly. They have the best player in the world. They have a guy who might go down to be one of the best players that's ever played, and then after Dreitzidl and Nugent Hopkins, they don't have much. I mean, it's an incredibly top-heavy lineup, and Peter Chiarelli, I think you're right, R.A., I think that he knows if they miss the playoffs,

he'll probably get gassed. And so he tries to make a last-ditch effort. Ken Hitchcock has a lot of success in coming in and turning things around pretty quickly. He's been able to do that in his career. I just, I feel for Tom Clown. I don't know him, but the way that team was put together, you ended up, you said it best, R.A.,

for Eberle, you ended up getting what, Ryan Sp all right for eberly you ended up getting what ryan spooner correct for taylor hall you got adam larson who is a i would say on a stanley cup winning team you know the third or fourth guy and you traded the goddamn mvp of the national hockey league forum and it's just been so frustrating to be an oilers fan if you are and watch how this team's been put together because it makes no sense. I know I'm rambling, but Biz, what is your opinion? You're bringing up a lot of great points and I guess I'll start

with Tom McClellan. I think that he got thrown a bit of a wrench as far as the lineup's concerned. A little bit of a... It was a monstrous black wrench. it wasn't just a little hitch yeah it was uh like lex steel type type style little little black dot com uh don't need to go there though you know it's my favorite site oh boy okay so if i can fucking actually talk already without you jumping in with an 80s joke.

Let's go back to Todd. That was a good one, though. Yeah, it was. It was actually half decent. Some of our guests might have gotten it. Todd McClellan, he got thrown a bit of a shit sandwich. I think he's going to land on his feet. I think there's going to be a few job openings next year. I think he'll be in consideration for one of them.

Worst case, Ontario. Quick trailer park boys joke there for you uh canadian fans um he he has one year left at three million so i think he'll be okay right he's he's gonna be okay for doe even if he does sit out next year now grinnell you tweeted out you you were kind of in shock and disappointed that they signed ken hitchcock as a coach and that you thought it was the wrong move. I'm going to completely disagree with you in a sense where it's a last-ditch effort for Chiarelli. The perfect candidate, considering I'm guessing that Q was like,

yeah, fuck, no thanks, based on the lineup, where now you've got a coach who has been proven to be able to whip teams into shape quick, and they don't have to commit to Ken Hitchcock long-term, which is perfect for them. As an organization, they give this guy, I don't know what they ended up paying him to finish off the year, but if he does end up having success and they do make the playoffs,

Shirely might stick around, and I would assume that if they do make playoffs, they maybe give him another year, a little bit of leash. And if they don't, whatever. They go back to drawing board. Maybe they fire Shirelli. They get rid of Hitch. Maybe they make another bid at Coach Q.

But then they have a few other options. Like maybe they go after AV. I would assume at some point the Maple Leafs minor league coach, Keefe, gets a shake at the NHL. Sheldon Keefe? Sheldon Keefe. Sheldon Keefe. At some point, you've got to think enough with these guys

and recycling these coaches. Like Dan Balsma's name came up a little bit. The Boys Club. The Boys Club. If it's enough with recycling these coaches, then why would you bring in Ken Hitchcock? You're just going to have to get a new coach. Well,

because you're not thinking about the longterm of this team right now. You're thinking, how do we shelve this season and who can do it now? And who don't we have to commit to longterm? And also there are three points out of the playoffs. Right. And that's because they're in the trash bucket Pacific division, that division.

It's like, there's like one, it was a one team over 500. So to be in the place there, that's the division you should be in. That's the division that'll give them a chance to get, get, get going. If this was the central, that's why the blues, when we start talking about the blues, they're in a world of hurt. So quickly about Hitchcock though, I like it.

And then biz, I want you to go into why you do hitch. He's like a hockey genius. Like he's, he's always watching hockey. He's always trying to get better this summer. Hitch, he's like a hockey genius. He's always watching hockey. He's always trying to get better. This summer, he actually, he's close friends with Andy Reid. He spent time at the Kansas City Chiefs training camp just because he's into learning about coaching, how to get through with players. So I think that even though he was retired,

this guy was sitting around watching games every night, and he was itching to get back in, I'm sure. And his only flaw would say his shelf life doesn't last very long because he's so get sick of him he gets whiny and hard on his players and that's the knock on hitch i think everyone's aware of that but this is this is an organizational problem this is their eighth head coach in two since 2009 is it really something colossal has to change uh all right do you have the list of guys who have coached over the last couple or decade, I should say?

I can pull it up in a second here. I didn't have it at the ready. But, yeah, Edmonton, I mean, you've got to think, Paul, it's organizationally everything points to the owner, man. I mean, he kept all those former Oilers in charge, McTavish, Kevin Lowe. Those guys just really weren't good at their jobs, and he kept them around forever and ever. And you've got to start wondering, like, is he the problem?

And if it's the owner making all these bad decisions, then what can you do? I mean, you can't shit-can an owner. And I heard that the owner was the one that was all aboard, like, we're taking Nelly Yakupov. Yeah, I see. By the way, Biz, you saw the video? Hey, you texted me

let's not half tell the story so apparently they they wanted to draft somebody else i forget who the other option was that year and nail yakupov went on a visit to edmonton and the owner had his kid there and then sure enough i think yakupov ended up at the owner's place and he was playing xbox with his kid and like like yakupov's a at the owner's place, and he was playing Xbox with his kid. Yakupov's a fucking great kid. He's a nice kid. And the fucking kid fell in love with Yakupov, and basically the owner was like, yo, we're drafting this guy. My kid likes him.

That's how it's going down. Okay, so what if my kid likes basketball, and I get into hockey? He's like, no, take this young LeBron. I'm like, dude, you can't just pick someone because your kid wants you to pick them oh oh oh he played at nhl 13 with my kid and let him score three times let's take him first overall and now that's the story around him i don't i don't know this is secondhand material so i don't want to get fucking chewed up for it but long story, that's what I heard. Yeah, so there you go.

Another owner who meddles too much in the hockey side of things, the Jerry Jones type. I mean, look, that's why the Cowboys have sucked for so long because Jerry Jones thinks because he played at fucking Arkansas State 30 years ago, 60 years ago, he still should be making decisions in the modern-day game. It doesn't work that way. And as far as Hitchat, what you guys said, he's a great coach. He comes in, he cracks the whip.

Typically within three to four years, this team makes a pretty decent playoff run. And then they get sick of listening to him and shit can him. And, you know, it's interesting. He's going to have Connor McDavid and, you know, best player. You said, what's the best player in the world? But he also has the rest of the roster. So if they don't start playing well,

then it's all going to point back to Shirely. So it's going to be interesting, man. It's definitely an interesting hire. And I'm sure a lot of people around the league were surprised by it. Under this new salary cap, boys, when you're a general manager, you have to be three, four steps ahead every time. There's a handful of GMs who are just like, they're like savants. I mean, I would think Poyle's at the top of the list.

Always calculated decisions, very smart, always getting guys on good contracts early on. And I'll leave it at that. I'm just saying is they've put themselves in a lot of trouble. And in today's NHL, it takes a little bit to build something. And if you make a couple bad moves, it's gone like that. I mean, look at how long the Buffalo Sabres were bad. And we're not

going to get there yet because we're going to talk about them later but finally they put themselves in a situation where they can be relevant again but hey a couple more bad moves right back to the shit sandwich so i i yeah but it's about planning years ahead i think the best gms are looking two three years and i know that it's hard to say that because you're all about winning that year, but you have to be good at, all right, well, this guy's coming up then where is he slotting? What am I going to have to pay him? If I pay him this, then what comes after that? How's our draft class looking from two years ago? Are we going to get any prospects that we picked in the fifth round to possibly play? So it's kind

of like a chess game that you're playing as a GM. And over time, it's been proven that you can be good in this league quickly now by having good young players who aren't making a lot of money. And when we get into Buffalo, that's a big reason right there because of these Casey Middlestats and all these other good players that aren't making a ton. So you have to have good rookies, good second-year players that you drafted. You have to draft well to get that. And then you have to realize, all right, when these guys get paid, we're then going to have to really rely on a new set of younger players that are cheaper and also can make a difference. If you're not drafting well, developing well, you're toast.

Because look when Chicago was doing most of their damage. Drafts. Well, drafts. And when their big boys were coming off their entry-level contracts or towards the end of their entry-level contracts and when they started their first, I don't want to say bridge deal, but their first, like, long-term deal where I believe they were making, like, what, six or seven?

But for an NHL GM now, you can't buy yourself out of trouble. You make a couple bad moves, you're fucked. Yeah, pretty much. And like you say, they're not going to fire 25 players. They're going to shit-cam one coach. And we're going to switch it over to Mike Yo. The Kings, I'm sorry, the Blues were shut out two games in a row, three out of four games.

But I was looking at his stats and stuff, and you wonder if he really got a fair shot because he coached over parts of three seasons, but he only got one full season. He came in for relief, ironically, of Hitchcock a couple years ago. He went 22-8-2. You know, they got second round of the playoffs. They got knocked out by a Nashville team that did end up going to the Cup. Pretty respectable showing.

Last year they did choke. They come out a a house of fire ended up gagging down the stretch the last day of the season they could have won gotten the playoffs they didn't they lost and then this year he gets uh what 19 games to to to prove what he can do with the roster by the way that doug armstrong rebuilt over the summer and it wasn't performing to his standards but you know mike yo's paying the price so it's really like you only got one real, I think, full season to kind of show what he could do. Not a hell of a lot of time, I don't think. I don't think any of this should lay on Armstrong. He's done a good job of building a good team.

And then, obviously, since that one didn't get the job done, he went out last summer and made some solid moves in order to put him back in a decent position. Regarding the coaching change, yo, unbelievable guy. I actually talked to Steve Ott today. He said it was the worst part about the game is when you see your buddies go. I think he'll land on his feet. Well-liked guy.

He knows his shit. Always prepared. Berube takes over. Who, I mean, do I see him as the long-term play? No. I assume that they're going to go after Coach Q this summer, one of the many teams. They do have an assistant coach, Mike Van Ryan, who was actually the head coach in Tucson last year for Phoenix's farm team. Extremely hardworking. One of those new school guys who I can see eventually getting a shot at the, at the NHL does have playing experience.

He had a decent career playing. So he, he, so he understands like the, the playing aspect of it where like, let's say a guy like hitch and not taking anything away from hitch winning his coach of all time. But,

but maybe that's why he has a short shelf life is because there's no, no relating to the guys and maybe what they're going through physically at the time but I could see and then of course Steve Autzen assistant coach there as well I could see Van Ryan taking over that team after this year if they can't land Q that's that's my opinion I think that he's uh he's a very well prepared guy he's got kind of that new school twist on him but yet has that old a little bit of that old school mentality so that's my opinion on the st louis thing uh i think it was time for a change just because they need to shake things up i'm sure armstrong's feeling a little bit of

pressure and that fucking fan base is is getting antsy for a for a playoff run for yeah they've never won the stanley cup right well right and and i think that they've they've been to the finals but got swept so they've never won a i'll be one that's that's true i guess i am right also also in terms of mike yo he he basically like saved my life when terrian was coaching me yozy was all the always the assistant you know it was bad cop good cop and yozy was the man He'd shoot me straight. He wasn't nearly as hard on me because I think he knew how hard I was taking it from Michel.

But I always really got along with him well. He helped me a ton. So I feel bad that he got fired. But you look at the roster and this roster, before the season, I remember thinking, I wonder what I predicted actually when we did our predictions because I thought this team was going to be good. Like the Ryan O'Reilly addition,

the signing of Tyler Bozak, they got Petrangelo on D who's just money. And then the players just haven't... I mean, it's on them right now. I know it sounds crazy. Maybe how they were getting coaches affecting their numbers, but they can't score. I mean, Vladimir Tarasenko

has six goals. I mean, that's a guy you could think of getting 50 at some point, like let alone, you know, 35 right now he's on, he's at six. He could get real hot, but still, and then, you know, Tyler Bozak was signing. He's got three goals, Jaden Schwartz, two goals. It just seems that, that they've struggled so much offensively. And with the players, when you read up and down the lineup, it doesn't make sense to me. So I know the coach goes first, but next, and think doug armstrong said these guys have run out of uh run out of real estate you know a run i'm kind of they're running thin and in terms of my patience because next it's gonna it's gonna have to be a trade if it continues i think one thing

that hurts him is the bowlmeister contract especially considering he's towards the end of his career that money's going to be probably well spent uh next summer um fuck i kind of drew a blank there biz do you think q really lasts until the summer i i i would be boozing yeah the way he's fucking partying now i remember what i want to ask you wit i asked you asked you about what it's like being out long-term with injuries and back-to-back. Now, this is not a humble brag either. I've never been on a team when a coach has been fired in my pro hockey. You were there when Terrian got canned for Biles, I believe, correct? Yeah, I was.

What's the feeling like? I just want to know, like, what's the – I've had a coach go up because Biles was my coach in the minors when when you were in the nhl and we ended up getting todd reardon um i remember it happened uh i think we woke up to the news we were in long island and we had a game at that one o'clock against the islanders and i think it happened really early in the morning like dan bilesmo came in talked to us then all of a sudden we were at the rink. I remember it being like shock and kind of like, holy shit.

Like, you know, he's gone. Terrian's gone. The bad man is gone. I think guys were excited. It was just so different. Was there champagne in the room? When Bilesma came in, it was just such a different voice, like in what he was saying and how he was saying it.

It was just like night and day we actually lost that game um but then i went home because my mom at that time she was getting she had to get brain surgery she was she was sick and everything went went great thank god but i was away from the team for five days and that's when i got the call that i got traded actually in the hospital oh shit really yeah and um and i remember thinking like i i fucking outlasted him though i outlasted him like it was like two days like i think they traded me two or three days after firing him i was like i was there longer you got you were like a badge of honor it's on your hockey db page yeah outlasted michelle you go wit you go the wit dog what elastic because my father used to say he's like don't worry about him you'll be there a lot

longer than he is and then i was like jesus that ended up being pretty close though well all right you you mentioned two uh four coach changes four coaching changes in the last 17 days yeah quickly i don't think willie desjardins is the long-term answer for la either that's not i don't think that's uh any rocket scientology was needed for that one uh john stevens voice we mentioned it just kind of wore out very very very similar to sutter um i i don't know i think q is going to be in the running for that job. You got to think that they got the money to pay him, and fuck, man, you get to live in L.A. Also, too, you got to wonder at this stage of his career,

does he want to be in line to try to get another Stanley Cup? Is he looking for more of a project, like a reclamation type thing? All right, this team's – L.A. is probably on the downslope of the nice cup run they had right now, and that's going to be a bit more of a challenge. Or does he want a team that's better and have a better chance at a cup? And would you guys agree? I feel like St. Louis and L.A. right now are at the same place.

They play a very hard, heavy game. It's a little slower compared to today's standards. And maybe it's caught up to them. I keep making excuses for L.A. and same with St. Louis because I like the guys and I like everyone so much, but it just seems like that's how they drafted and developed their players where it's difficult to just go in there and all of a sudden change the system up. And right now, they're the two worst teams in the league statistically right now,

the least amount of points. And one thing about Yo, one number that jumped out at me, he's only 18 games short of 500 games coached already. I mean, he's kind of quietly amassed quite a few games, you know, for the 17 opportunities he's had, he's gotten teams to the playoffs. He obviously doesn't get the opportunity this year being fired, fired and all. So like you said, Biz, it's not going to be long before he's not going to be out of work. He'll get a job whenever he wants. And about firing coaches, I actually found an article it's from

a year ago. uh it was over the past 10 seasons again going back a year nhl teams had fired 38 coaches 3.8 per year uh the next closest was the nba at 30 major league baseball 25 and football at 19 so uh the nhl fires coaches at a much uh more rapid clip in its counterparts and let me tell you what i think the reason is for that is where you could probably agree with me. Hockey, for the most sake, it's all the same systems. Like there's little tweaks here, little tweaks there.

I mean, like, okay, maybe you start the game and you're playing like a little, like the D you're pinching in. So you're playing a 2-1-2 where the center is kind of just being a little more overprotective with that D jumping in. You know, maybe you're a little bit more prepared and have different types of face-off plays uh maybe your type of plays you know but but for the most part it's all the same so it's easy to have a new guy come in make some little tweaks where i mean fucking football we're talking schemes we're talking snap counts there's so many different elements to the nfl I would probably put the MLB right near where NFL is.

And then basketball in, in hockey, very similar. I mean, there's a few different types of basketball. They don't even listen. Basketball. They don't listen.

It doesn't even, that's a conversation for the end of the episode. Yeah. Baseball is similar, but nothing comes close to football in terms of how much a coach makes an impact. And that's why, that's why football is the only sport in the world where a guy like Belichick teams would take him over a lot of players, if not every player, you know what I mean?

So hockey is way different. Like you said, you can't reinvent the wheel and it's all about getting the guys going. And, and it's also about the roster you have. I mean, how often do you have a good team and they just go on a run because of the coach it's just it's they get credit when teams win and and they get shit on when teams lose that's how it'll always be and they'll always be fired because it's easier that than trading the whole team which i'm sure a bunch of organizations would have loved to have done at times and uh i mean it might be a good time to mention that we have brian mcgrattan on today's episode what an interview what an. This guy is the man. He's got a couple of great Razor stories, of course.

We all miss him, and he was no one closer than him. I think they're pretty much best friends. Before we sent it off to him, we were kind of getting on the subject of if you're a GM and you make bad moves, it can colossally change your organization for many years to come. And I want to talk about Columbus because they've had a lot of success um assuming things continue their general manager the Finnish guy for I forget his name off the top of my head but he's he's got a very difficult decision to make and I was this is what I'm going to throw at you guys they have Panarin who's going

to be done at the end of this season and they have Bobrovsky who as well is going to be done at the end of the season, correct? They're both unrestricted free agents. Yep, and they both haven't shown much interest in resigning there. Exactly. Thank you, Ari. I appreciate that. But

what do they do? Let's fast forward closer to the deadline, and all of a sudden they're still leading their division. Like, do you try to make that run for it and maybe add somebody and go for a run? Or do you flip Panarin and do you flip Bobrovsky? Because they have a decent young group of guys there. Like, I think they're going to be a decent, relevant team

for a good four or five period year stretch. Yeah, that is if they can replace Panarin and Bobrovsky, who I would be shocked if they're wearing Columbus uniforms next year. So like you're saying, they have to think. Now, this is where being a GM is so hard because there's so many different factors that go in in thinking, all right, we want to try to win the cup. We're in the first place in our division right now. We're playing great. We have this team. We have this talent.

We have a goalie who can show up. I mean, in the playoffs, it's been sketchy. But they also think, all right, if we're going to lose these guys, we can't lose them for nothing. And even if you hold on to them and trade their rights before, you don't get what you could get if you trade them. The trading for the rights thing, you're not going to get what you need to replace them. And I don't know if they can sign. I don't think a big free

agent is going to be signing in Columbus. That's just my opinion. Maybe I'm wrong. But because of that, with the fan base there who just want a winner, it's really hard to tell a fan base, hey, we're in first place. We're trading our two best players. Because the fans don't see, yeah, we can't lose it for nothing. The fans do you mean we're trying to win the cup this year so it's balancing a fine line and making decisions sticking to your guns and knowing that if you were wrong it's going to really come back and just be terrible for you yeah i guess it's going to come down to the time like right before probably the deadline and making a game time decision but i mean even if they are tearing it up man you, you're, you're

basically in a situation with like Don John Tavares, they got nothing to lose him. They could have got probably a first rounder at the deadline if they would have dealt them to a, a, a competitor, especially they were like out of it. I mean, they, right, right. That's a different scenario. But to me is you say, are we strong enough to actually make a run? I don't think they're deep enough to beat off those top-tier teams. I think you can flip them each for a first-rounder and then as well as a prospect. Man, I think you've got to trade and look a little bit for the future. I don't think the window for them is right now.

I think they should get rid of those guys, and especially when they're of value. And that's me. And as a Columbus fan, yeah, I get why it would be frustrating. But fuck, dude. You got Seth Jones and Wierenski who are still in stride to hit their prime in a few years. You're looking kind of like a Nashville situation.

You want to get some young studs up front to match that solid back end. I mean, yeah, the only problem is i don't know how good their backup goalie and how good they're how deep they are all right do you know anything about their bat their their their goaltending situation coming up or do you and of course like witt said you can't get any high-end free agents there uh i'm not sure i forget the backup of the top of my head but i was going to say biz i think they have a better shot at signing Bobrovsky than they do Panarin. I mean, just reading the tea leaves on Panarin, man, he's out of there. He's not coming back.

And like you say, it's tough. They're in, let me see, seventh overall in points. And you don't want to part with the best player in your team, but at the same time, you don't want to lose them for nothing. That's something that we're going to keep an eye on because if they start fading in the standings, then they may want to dump them at that point i'm sure i'm just looking for the goalie well when i was going to say if they don't sign

bobroski by the deadline like what what do you do um well i mean i would look to i'm kind of with you i i kind of agree with you in the fact that as a fan i want to do whatever it takes to get a cup uh contending team right so like that's why people like root for their teams like and i understand that you're always going to root for your team but if i was a team like detroit right now i'd be like god like they're going to end up like playing good like they have been and probably finish like just missed the playoffs and then we don't get a high pick, which is what we need. If you're not competing for the Stanley Cup, you kind

of want to finish last place. It's very short. It's not easy to do because you know your team's going to stink for a little bit, but that's how you're going to get great and possibly win cups is through the draft and getting high picks. The teams like Columbus who constantly make the playoffs occasionally miss, it's just, it's really hard.

So if you have this stud and you're going to lose them for nothing, it makes no sense to me to try to trade them. And by the way, if you're going to trade them, you should trade them tomorrow because every day you wait is less you're going to get for them. Because if a team gets them now, they get them for, you know, three quarters of the season, a team gets them at a deadline, they get them 20 games. What are you willing to give up more for? Well, I would disagree with that a little bit just based on the fact that

what if a team has a second-line center go down? Like let's say like Nashville does, and Nashville's like, you know what? We've set ourselves up where this is our window, and I'm just throwing our name. Let's say Turris goes down, right? All of a sudden you're humming, and you're going to need that, or you've basically just throwing our name. Let's say Taurus goes down, right? All of a sudden you're humming and you're going to need that or you've basically just burned another year. Let's give up a first rounder and maybe a solid prospect.

And now we got another legitimate forward to help us out. I'm just saying if I'm Columbus, I'm more worried about the next five years and staying relevant for like a team like Nashville who's done it. Every year they have a wagon where you're like, wow, they've set themselves up nice for a big period of time where if you lose Panarin and Bobrovsky for nothing, you've hooped your organization. Shout out to after the game in Toronto on Tuesday night or Monday night.

They were up 2-0. They ended up losing 4-2. Torts was heated after. He's calling it like peewee coverage on the Hyman winning goal. It was just classic Torts. He looked so furious. Like the camera panned to him, and he already just looked pissed. And then he just answers.

He's like, peewee coverage. Unbelievable. Speaking of that Toronto game, Witt, you got a shout-out because you mentioned that Marleau, they're not making his skates anymore. Where did I get a shout-out because you mentioned that Marlowe, they're not making his skates anymore. Where did I get a shout-out? On the Leafs broadcast. Did I? Oh, I forgot to text you because a bunch of people sent me messages.

So they were talking about how Marlowe's skates are wearing out. He wears a certain kind of skate. I believe it's a CCM 4000. It's old Reeboks. Old Reeboks. Well, guess what? He's got two pairs and boxes left. I don't know how quickly he turns around skates.

If he's anything like Duncan Keith, he'll be fucking skating on his rivets in playoffs. And I wrote something down in my notes. I'm like, could you imagine that this guy is skating on, like, shitty skates in playoffs, and they're in game seven of the Stanley Cup finals, and his fucking rivets give way, and's why toronto lost the cups because they didn't have enough old school rebox for fucking patty marlo and that's the way he's got to end

his career because they don't have his skates anymore isn't it crazy too to think about like this the highest level in the world it's it's a it's a billion i mean i don't know is it is the nhl a billion dollar industry yeah five billion Five billion a year. A couple of years ago, billion dollar industry. Right. And this guy who is one of, I mean, all time greats is a little aggressive, but I mean, he's probably going to be in the hall of fame with his numbers. So he legit can't get skates. Like, think about that. Like that somehow there's no more skates for him from this company. This company couldn't have made like 500 pairs for him at that point it's just it's crazy to think that this guy who's this good in

the nhl is like shit maybe like if we call around to old some old play it against sports they got some old ones that no never were worn yeah what when they were gonna discontinue those i bet you he bought fucking 200 pairs yeah but remember he's why didn't he get he should have got like he should have got like he should have got enough where he knows he would never run out i don't know maybe the factory workers are like enough let me go home um biz yo yonas clopasalo is the backup in columbus he's been struggling a bit this year uh he's got some ugly numbers but he was a third round pick i think they do have you know organizational plans to keep him but I don't think he's a guy you want to leave the keys to the kingdom to quite yet.

Oh, I like that little saying there. You like that, huh? So, yeah, it's going to be interesting to see what they do, but you were just talking about Nashville a minute ago, and one of the great fighters in that team's history, Brian McGratton, we have him coming up right now, so we're going to send this to Brian McGratton. This interview is brought to you by Eagle Energy Caffeine Inhaler. You guys know what it is.

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So Eagle Energy, you can ask them any types of questions on social media the whole weekend friday saturday sunday monday i know there's a cyber monday so eagle energy you can ask them any types of questions on social media at my eagle energy on twitter and then of course my eagle energy on instagram shoot them a dm they got tons of cool stuff going on so make sure you reach out to them for any other questions that is eagle energy caffeine inhaler 40 off black friday cyber monday put that in your fucking pipe and smoke it i want to introduce a first-time guest to the podcast a very very special human being he was drafted to the nhl in the fourth round of the 99 nhl entry draft by the los angeles kings little fun fact for you guys.

He ended up playing a really decent amount of games, 317 NHL games total, where he really stands out was his penalty minutes. And by that, I mean fights. One of the toughest NHL players to ever do it. Welcome to the podcast, Brian McGratton. What's up, boys? What's going on, buddy? Not much, man.

Enjoying some nice weather in Calgary. We had a snowstorm last week, and it's pretty nice today, so you got to enjoy the weather when you can here. Well, I guess we'll talk about how you ended up enjoy the weather when you can here well i well let's i guess we'll talk about how you ended up on the podcast you were down in calgary checking out one of the flames prospects who plays university hockey at the i think he plays for asu correct asu yeah we got a draft pick uh one of our fourth round picks was uh plays down ASU. I'm actually pretty jealous of him. I'm jealous of a lot of people, but I'm like, bro.

Whoa. I don't think you know how good this is, bro. And when I ended up scrolling into the arena, there was Mario Lemieux in the back section and also you. And I was thrilled. Couple legends, baby. Couple thrilled. Couple legends, baby. Couple legends. I don't think anyone even was looking at Lemieux.

I think they were just all looking at us. Yeah, I know. Couple of the old mutants put on a show for the boys. Oh, yeah. So, go ahead, Whit. No, I was just going to ask, last year was your first year uh away from the game um you played the year before for the nottingham panthers but i wonder what'd you do with the first year away from hockey uh did you hop right into work or i know you're with you're doing stuff for the

flames now just kind of go into what it's been like since retirement yeah yeah you know it's been awesome um you know when i was playing in eng, you know, kind of a telltale sign for me was, you know, putting my gear on. My family left like six or seven weeks ago in the season. I put my gear on last month. I'm like, what the fuck am I doing right now? Right? And I've never, ever felt like that before,

you know, playing the game. And that was kind of a telltale sign for me that was time um and then when i retired um you know i had a kind of a you know bunch of ideas about what i want to do i was trying to you know meet as many people as i could in calgary um i mean i've been so focused on playing hockey since i was able to skate. I'm making it, playing in the NHL. I didn't really have a lot of time to do anything else. I didn't have many other interests. So over the course of the last couple of years before I retired,

I tried to meet as many people as I could and all that stuff. I kind of didn't really know what I wanted to do. And Brad Treeliving called me. We talked in the summertime and went in for a meeting with him and Brian Burke, and they offered me a position in the player development department. That was last – over a year ago now. So to have the opportunity to jump right back in the game, you know, it was kind of a dream come true to kind of get right back in at the highest level.

So, I mean, it's been a really good year, you know, kind of a dream come true to kind of get right back in at the highest level. So, I mean, it's been a really good year, you know, working with our kids and draft picks and guys in Stockton. You know, it's been a lot of fun. Gratz, so how do you think you would have done not being around the game anymore? I mean, you said you were talking to buddies in Calgary. Like, what would you have done? Maybe, like, oil and gas or something like that? Yeah, like, I don't know.

Yeah, I don't know. I mean, you know, I probably, you know, would have taken, you know, six or seven months and just kind of chilled, hung out, you know, enjoy some family time, a time that we never really had before. But, yeah, maybe something, you know, that's a real big industry in this town, right? So maybe something in that. I don't know. Like I told you, I don't know.

I don't know what i was interested in that was that was going to be a new thing for me you know and it is for a lot of guys that retire i mean you guys are both retired you know it's uh you know when you get into your mid-30s you can see the day you can see it's coming right so i mean you can't play forever and um you know you see you can see your time coming. It's a bit of an unnerving feeling because people in the normal world and have a normal life don't retire at 35, right? Exactly. And then all of a sudden they're like, hey, man, go.

They're like, go do something you've never prepared for in your life. Now, since you have such strong ties to Calgary, was that probably the funnest place you've ever played? Like, that's the holy grail of your career? Yeah. Calgary, you know, I played in two Canadian markets, and it's awesome playing in Canada because hockey's number one. The NHL team is the biggest thing in the city.

And, you know, especially in Calgary, they have a loyal fan base here. You know, the Sea of Red stuff's really cool, the games. But probably the coolest place I played was Nashville. I loved it. You know, I got picked up on waivers after a training camp there. Sometimes with those teams, you don't play a lot. You're like, yeah, how good could this place be like i only played there maybe you know because back in the day when you

only played team once on the road and once at home kind of get in the night before and out after the game my agent called like nashville picked you up on waivers i was like oh how good could this place be and it was sick like you, and it was just when that, when their fan base was starting to get crazy like it is now, like it was in 2011, 12. That was when Tutu was there. Tutu. Yeah.

He fucking loved it. He could be the fucking mayor there. Oh, bud. He was, he was mad. You know, they played the Tutu train every time he ran someone. And, yeah, it was was, he was mad. You know, they played the 2-2 train every time he ran someone. And, yeah, I was sick, man. And, like, you know, it was, like, a real cool place to play. I mean, like, the city's awesome.

The fan base is sick. So, you know, I've been fortunate to play in a couple places that I really love. So, yeah. Did you get to meet any rock stars, country singers, when you were playing there? They were just starting to come to a lot of the games, like Keith Urban.

Was that Nickelback guy around, that Chad Kroger? Because I heard a couple funny stories from Vern Fidler about that guy. Yeah, I didn't see him. I didn't see him. I didn't see him. But yeah, they were starting to come and then when they did their cup run there, those guys are going to games and singing at them and stuff.

It's pretty cool to watch. Before we get into one of my most memorable years playing hockey, 2004-2005, where you had an immediate impact on my career in pro hockey, if you wouldn't believe it. But before I get into that, I'm looking right now, you played for seven teams in the OHL.

Can you explain to me how that's possible? That is the biggest suitcase in junior hockey history. Oh, fuck, man. So I was an underage to guelph i got traded to sudbury and uh i was there for like a year and a half and i got traded to mississauga so i'm on three i played for three teams in four years and i played for don in mississauga and it was like the coolest thing right like don jerry was a coach oh yeah he was a beauty man and uh you know being an 18 and 19 year old kid and don's flying around the rink all the time and you know he's motherfucking

the coaches on the or the refs on the bench it was like you know graves is our coach and so it was a really cool thing playing for him in mississauga i had i had a uh i missed like a whole year when i was my 19 year old year with an acl injury and then when i got uh i went back as an overage and i got traded um like my first week of the season um tolensound uh for mississauga and um you know on sound i don't really count them because I was there for like a week. I told my agent, like, this place is fucking awful. You got to get me out of here. Oh, it's a tough town. Yeah.

It's a tough town. It was brutal. And so I got traded back to my coach that had me my underage year in Guelph as a coach in Oshawa. And I got traded there. and i was there for a couple months um and then i got traded at the deadline to sue saint marie i'm like holy fuck man like you know my 19 year old year i have like a year uh a year ending injury um at the time that's when the signing bonuses were really big um and. And I was still LA's property. I was playing with Spez in Mississauga.

I had 20 goals in 29 games. Like, basically 20 tap-ins because fucking Spez would undress the whole – I had 20 goals in 29 games. Yeah, it's on the stats there, big boy. Throw up the DB. Yeah, check that one out, Fizz. Whoa, whoa. You had a 20-tuck season.

I got mesmerized by all the zeros. In 31 games, dude. He had a 20-tuck season. I got mesmerized by all the zeros. In 31 games, dude, he had 21. Yeah, in 31. So, you know, and at the time of my injury, I was just starting to talk with LA about contract. And that's when the contracts, they're a lot bigger than they are now. Oh, yeah. You probably would have got like a 1 million or 800, 700, 400, whatever.

So I was just devastated. I had that knee injury and they didn't sign me. I was like devastated. I go back as a 20-year-old. I'm still kind of in the dumps. I'm coming back. I've missed almost a whole year. And you know what it is.

I was an underage. I'm an overage. I'm like, holy fuck. I'm getting traded team to team here. You know, I got traded at the deadline to the Sioux. And I told my parents, I'm like, I'm fucking done, man. I can't. This isn't going the way I want it.

And I was just so down on myself. And I ended up calling the Sioux and say, listen, I appreciate you guys trading. I'm not coming, man. I'm done. This has been a tough year. It's been a tough year and a training. I'm not coming, man. I'm done. This has been a tough year. It's been a tough year and a half. You're that close, eh? And Ray Emery and Trevor Daly and Jeff Carter were on the team.

And all three of those guys called me. And Razor called me. And he's like, Gratz, listen, we've got an unreal group of guys here. The Sioux is in first place. He's like, we're in first place. Hopefully we can make a run at it and you're going to live with me and all this stuff. I'm like, ah, fuck. I'm like, Razor's from, we didn't really know each other

before then. I'm like, fuck, Razor's from KU. That's like half an hour outside Hamilton. He sounds kind of cool on the phone and whatever, I'll go. So anyways, I go to the Sioux and kind of finish the year off there and ray was my my roommate and he like the first couple weeks i was there he signed with the sens and then later on that summer i got like a last minute basically to fill a spot

on ottawa's rookie camp roster. And I fought in junior, but I was like, you know, I was kind of a bitch in junior. I was scared. I didn't like, you know, like I had big guys like John Erskine. Those are your killers in junior. I want to chime in here quick. You were not. What was I?

You speared me in the nuts one time when I was in North Bay. And I said, hey, don't spear me in the nuts one time when I was in North Bay, and I said, hey, don't spear me in the nuts as the whistle went. And he turned around and looked at me with his fucking 6'4 body, however big he is, 220 pounds, grizzly beard. He looked like a fucking lumberjack. And he looked me square. I wasn't tough back then. I played the role like I was, but I wasn't.

He fucking stared me in the eyes. He put a stick out in front of me like Odie Ordetorp, like he was going to carve out my eye. I go, don't stick me in the nuts. And he goes, I'll stick it in your fucking face. And I fucking shit my pants and I skated to the bench. And I was like, do not put me on the ice against that guy ever again. So sorry to chime in.

You know, John Erskine needs to chase me around all the time well yeah he's a tough guy tougher guys like you know like and I wouldn't fight those guys I was like I didn't you know I wasn't good and I wasn't like no I knew I was big I didn't really know I had it in me and in junior everybody thinks we're

goal scorers right you don't really know what you are I didn't really ever picture myself being a uh forcer fighter whatever so i get this trial with the sons i'm like oh sick i'm gonna be with ray and spez who like i played when he was like 16 we're like all like good buddies i'm like oh sick and uh so i go to the sons camp rookie camp i'm I'm like, fuck, bigger guy. I'm like, I'm going to have to do something to stick around here. And that's when our role was very appreciated, not like it is now. And, you know, I went to that rookie camp.

I had like four or five fights. I basically fought every game. Didn't win much, but I kind of showed them that I was willing and signed an East Coast League, American League deal and kind of just moved on up from there. That brings me into my life

in turning professional and the lockout canceled season of 0405 where we played you guys, I want to say, like maybe nine times and then we played you in the first round to say, like maybe nine times, and then we played you in the first round. Spezzo was quite possibly the best season ever in the AHL.

I've never seen someone dominate hockey like that guy in the AHL that year. Oh, yeah, he was sick. Yeah, he was sick that year. He was so sick. And there you were, scaring the absolute shit out of our entire team in Wilkes-Barre. 551 pims. That's insane. Fights against 551 pims.

I don't think I've ever seen 500 on a guy's hockey DB. And you were thrilled. A lot of work that year, boy. How many scraps do you think you had? 40? I had 40. It's on, I think, Hockey Fights. I think I had 43 or 44, somewhere.

43 or 44. Heavy weights in that league that year. Oh, dude. Well, that's how I got better in that role was I found the guys that I fought in the American League for three years were tougher than the guys I fought in the NHL. Because the guys in the American League, they just, you know, they weren't good enough to play in an NHL game. They were super fucking tough.

And I played in that Eastern division, which was insane, with Syracuse, Albany, Wilkes-Barre, Rochester. Like Rochester had Sean McMorrow, Brandon Sugden in Syracuse. Albany had Rob Skrlach, Breck Tluche, Cam Jansen. So every team back then, Hartford had – Hartford had – who did they have? They had Garrett Burnett, Richard Scott, and Christoph Oliwa. Oh, gosh. So I'm like – and it's me and Dennis behind me.

We're in Vincenton. Which is not a bad guy to have because he'd go hungry then. He'd go anywhere. And with Dennis, Dennis is the main reason I made it to the NHL. And I always credit him for it because when I fought in the minors, it's a lot different than fighting a 17- or 18-year-old junior. You're fighting guys that are 26, 27 you know that have fought in the west coast league and the east coast league and all these real tough lower leagues that made the american league and you know they're pumping

guys in the american league and now i'm fighting these guys and i'm getting fucking licked like i am getting pounded and you know dennis is always teaching me after practice teaching me about confidence when you have a bad loss you have to get right back in there the next game and go fight somebody and you know he taught me for like a year and a half and if it was not for him i would never ever have excelled in that role um like i did i you know i fought you fought 20 or 22 times each of my first two years and got the shit kicked out of me in 90% of them. Really? Kind of the turning point of my career was in Bridgeport.

Wade Belak's brother played for Bridgeport, and he kicked the shit out of me every single time I fought him. Every single time I fought him, single time i fought him he beat the fucking wheels off me and i said to the boys boys i'm gonna go this motherfucker tonight and if he fucking beats me i am fucking done with this fucking role right and i tied the fucking son of a bitch and i had so much confidence after that fight my my second year, I just kept getting better and better and better. And then I was a madman my third year. The third year was, do you remember how much shit you talked to Michelle Terrian? Oh, my God.

He would have our whole team. He might come back and kill me. If there's one person on this planet that would want to grab a gun and shoot me it's michelle terrian this got verbally abusive to the extreme i saw somebody on your old team not too long ago and they brought that up they're like bro i have so how did this one start when you used to give give it to Michelle Terrian, every game I gave it to him. Like every fucking game. And I would get like, you know how coaches kind of stay calm

if you chirp them and whatnot? This guy would full on run to like the end of the bench and be motherfucking beat. And it got to the point where I just look at him and smile and he'd lose his shit. I can remember this clear as day. Clear as day of seeing you. You'd like wink at him and shit.

Oh, and he'd go fucking wild. Yeah. Gratz, why? How did that all start? You know what? I don't even know how it started. It was so long ago, I forget how it even started. Dude, we had battles that year.

We had battles. Yeah. And plus, you played teams like we played Wilkes-Barre 10 times. We played Rochester 10 times. We played Syracuse 10 times. You didn't leave your division. And, you know, by the third year, it's like the 40th time you're playing Wilkes-Barre, right?

And, you know, that poor David Kochi on your team, I give it to him because he's got big balls. Pounded him every time. I would pound him every time. You know what? It would never fail. The next game we play fucking Wilkes-Barre, he'd fucking chase me. I'd fucking go, all right.

Yeah, he was a sicko. Remember how bad his breath was because he used to eat salmon all the time? Do you remember that win? No. Everybody would be like, don't go near him, man. He's been crushing salmon again. He would breathe on you and he'd melt your face. That's how I got this nose. Melted off my face.

Talking to David Koshy with salmon breath. It's like a hot candle. Big Aaron, before we go any farther, I just want to remind everyone that this interview is brought to you by Trip Actions. There's a reason that half of business travelers do not use their company's chosen travel management platform. Booking business travel and just getting where you need to go is still ridiculously outdated, time-consuming, and costly. It's painful. Trip Actions takes the pain out of corporate travel management with a complete solution that helps businesses save and keeps employees happy because it's the first travel management platform

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tripactions.com slash chiclets. Oh my God. So you move on, right? And after that season, did you know you were going to be... Was that like, I'm going to play in the NHL now. I mean, I'm the toughest guy in the league. Or did you still think, no way? My thought on the whole thing was... Because Toronto used to bitch the Sens

and embarrass them in the playoffs. If you don't know, Tucker and Domi. And it got really, really bad Because Toronto used to bitch the Sens and embarrass them in the playoffs. You know, Tucker and Domi. Oh, yeah. And it got really, really bad how much they used to abuse the Sens. And I figured going into this year, there's no other hockey than our league. If I'm super fucking crazy, then I got a 100% spot there next year. That was my mindset. I'm'm like I'll be like a fucking just an animal this year

fight everybody and just do stupid crazy shit then they're gonna have to take me because the fans nobody you know these guys just get abused by the Leafs every time right and kind of my my kind of moment to kind of make NHL

like I was still in the hotel. Like, I made, obviously, I made the team out of training camp, and I was still in the hotel, and we played the Leafs. And I fought Ty, and I beat Ty. And I didn't really think anything of it, but I was the fucking king of that town.

I didn't ever, you know, I didn't think anything of it, really. But it was such a huge thing for that fan base that somebody beat the shit out of a leaf because they used to abuse that team so bad and then i had uh the little that letter you get the housing letter was in my little cubby hole the next day to get my oh no way yeah that's unbelievable that was kind of yeah so um that was some people listening won't know what that means is like when basically when they tell you that you're going to stick around they give you a housing letter that means you're going to be

i think when they give you that now they're on the hook for paying for your place if they were to send you down which yeah no it was like it's a you know it's a huge thing to get because you know i was in the hotel you're still kind of on the cusp of on the team and usually on a training camp there's usually a couple guys at the hotel right because the team you know you made the team out of training camp there could be a couple injuries that's why you're there and all you know a bunch of different scenarios and why you're still at the hotel and you could still go down and all that stuff so it's a huge thing to get is that housing letter and um so i had that letter in my stall uh the next day after i fought ty and it was like so cool to fight him because like i grew up a leaf fan and i love ty

domy and um you know to beat him was like like it was a big honor to me and i didn't i know i was never one for showing up you know showing guys up after fights celebrating all that stupid shit it was just such an honor to fight him and then you know i beat him but everybody loses um it was just so cool to do that because of where i grew up just outside of toronto and all that stuff he's a legend he leads yeah when he got traced to the leafs man like you know me and my buddies growing up we had like so many vhs tapes of fucking hockey fights we had had so many VHS tapes of hockey fights. We had so many hockey fight tapes and pro work fights. We loved the fighters, man.

It's kind of cool to get to fight guys I grew up watching. That was my biggest fight probably I've ever had was that one, for sure. Gratz, this is a tough subject. Razor, I played with him. Yeah. I mean, do you want to talk about him? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'd like to talk about him.

Everybody knows him, you know, obviously with the stuff, the fun stuff in Ottawa, you know, when you're in playoffs, that crazy run one year, but like just deep down the fucking man. Yeah. And, you know, like we've been, you know, best friends for almost 20 years now. Like he's in my wedding party, he's in Spaz's wedding party. We were roommates in the Sioux. We were roommates in Binghamton and we were roommates in Binghamton, and we were roommates in Ottawa. We hung out all the time.

I was getting that call from a buddy at home. I was like, man, what the fuck? It was shitty, man. I've never had anybody close to me die, so it was real tough to go through that in the summer. I thought the Ottawa Senators was pure class. The other night of the tribute video they put together of him and Keisha going out to sing and stuff,

I thought that was really classy of them. He was a larger-than-life figure when he played there and one of the toughest motherfuckers, man. That guy didn't fight with goalie gear on. If he didn't have goalie gear on, he would have been a top-ten heavyweight in any league. Like, he could throw them. He could throw both.

He loved to fight. I saw one on YouTube. He was fighting Josh Gratton, and he's smiling the whole time. They're going toe-to-toe. In that tribute video, he was fighting Andrew Peters. He's taking shots in the cheek, and he's smiling the whole time they're going toe to toe in that tribute video he's fighting Andrew Peters he's taking shots in the cheek and he's laughing at the guy like you know he was fighting heavyweights

with goalie gear on heavyweights like he wouldn't you know if a skilled guy skated through the crease he wouldn't care but heavyweights skated through the crease he gave him a fucking shot what the fuck are you doing you want to go so i mean uh yes i mean i have a lot of wicked memories uh you know with him and him and spaz like we were like brothers when we played in ottawa's organization we all lived together at binghamton and uh then we had the do we all played together

in ottawa and had that deep cup run. He was a big reason. He was one of the main reasons we made it that far, because I'm glad he played in the playoffs. I mean, yeah, it's just shitty. I mean, but that's life. Shitty things happen. He was an amazing friend from one of my closest buddies. It's a guy I'll never, ever forget.

He's one of the main reasons i i had a career too because he was the guy that called me to come play and live with him no shit and then he became one of my best buddies and you know all the lifetime and memories of him and uh you know it's really honored that i had the chance to meet a person and meet a guy that became so close to me and play with the guy i mean you know we all have our friends outside of hockey but when you have one of your best friends that and play with the guy. I mean, you know, we all have our friends outside of hockey, but when you have one of your best friends that you play with, it's a, you know, it's a real special relationship when you're playing with your best buddy and they're on your team and they're teaming and all that shit

and you do, you know, crazy shit together off the ice and fucking on the ice. It's the best. Fucking brawls and all that shit, right? So I'm just really glad I had the opportunity to do all that stuff with him. Hey, Gratz, so here's a funny story about Razor. So he always used to have that Louis Vuitton wallet.

It was always really long. It was like a fucking football he used to carry around. It was like a Merce. It was a Merce. Yeah, I would always trip him. Yeah, it was like the size of a little girl's clutch. But it was even longer. So he would always put it in his back pocket, and it would stick out.

I don't know how many he lost throughout the years. Because it would just fall. Oh, and there would be like 10 grand in that thing. Not just like 300, 400 bucks, a couple of cars. It would be a stack. A stack. He always traveled with a lot of cash. Correct.

So we ended up signing him to a PTO because one of our goalies went down in preseason when I was with the Ontario Reign. It's LA's Kings Farm Team. So all the young guys know that I know Razor, and they know the character of razor because he was fucking he's a legend so they're like hey did you hear that we signed razor i'm like oh fucking awesome like i love razor and they're like oh like what's he like and like they're it's like sitting around a campfire town with this old wise tale so i'm

like oh the louis vuitton don because he always fucking had that thing. So sure as shit, it took him a few days to get his visa worked out. But like let's say six days later, I stroll into the locker room. And I walk by the trainer's room, and there's a fucking Louis Vuitton, fucking Louis Vuitton Don suitcase. This thing was the biggest suitcase I've ever seen in my life. And I go, oh, Razor's here. And sure as shit, he was there. And, oh, my God, the guys, the single guys loved –

he would take them out for fucking dinner every night, the hotel guys. He would take them out for a steak dinner every goddamn night. It must have cost him 500 bucks a night for dinner. That's how good of a guy he was. So, we always used to laugh about this. So, he won't care if I tell his story. It must have cost him 500 bucks a night for dinner. That's how good of a guy he was. So we always used to laugh about this, so he won't care if I tell his story. So we go out in fucking Binghamton.

We have our team Halloween party, and it's our – I think it was that year that I was a fucking madman. And we go to Halloween as Happy Gilmore and Chubbs, right? So Ray's dressed as Chubbs and I'm Happy Gilmore. And we look identical to the night, so he takes a big cast on his arm as Happy Gilmore. And, you know, we go to the bar after and we're all fucking pickled

and fucking, you know, it was Halloween party, so I drank in the afternoon. Well, back in the day, you said, I don't know what now. But, anyways, and, you know, we're playing in the minors and, back in the day, you still don't know what now. But anyways, and, you know, we're playing in the minors and he's got all the tags still on his golf gear

because he wanted to take it back the next day so he could get the money back. And this guy at the bar kept trying to take the tag off his fucking hat. And, you know, he's kind of pissing Razor off.

Anyways, the guy gets the fucking tag near the end of the night. And I see the fucking eyes turn on the big boy i'm like oh fuck so in binghamton there's like five bars that are connected to each other and me and razor razor starts chasing this guy out the back door into the front like we're chased and i'm chasing razor because i know this isn't going to be fucking good. And I kind of get caught in the one bar because there's people everywhere and people

are getting pushed. I see him chase him into the parking garage. I run upstairs and he's got him pinned against the railing. I'm like, oh my God, he's going to throw this guy off. And I run and I grab Razor by the back of the shoulders. I yell at the guy, I'm like, get the fuck out of here. And the guy runs and Razor turns around and says,

what the fuck are you doing? I'm like, fuck you, man. He pushes me. So me and Razor go toe-to-toe in the fucking parking garage in Binghamton, dressed as Happy Gilmore and fucking Chubbs. Wait, wait. Like landing bombs? Like landing bombs?

We were going toe-to-toe in the fucking thing, and a couple of the boys broke it up, and we're dressed as fucking happy Gilmore and Chubb. Don't even alligator. Put my hand off. Oh, yeah. Yeah, bud. He was probably laughing and saying that when you were

blocking him in the face. Hey, did he have any funny stories about Russia? Did he ever talk about his time over there? Yeah, like he said it was wild. He was like wild west. You played over there, didn't you? Yeah, I played over there. Oh, he lasted a was why he's like he played over there didn't you he said he lasted a month and then he's sucking his thumb and his mom came got him yeah he was over there for a year he was well he played for that atlant team which i think is just on the outside of

moscow but yes you know razor razor had to live you know in downtown moscow right so and you know yeah so you know he had a don't talk about you know, he had a, he always talked about his, because he had a personal driver. He always felt like he was, he felt like, because he was like the only black person in Russia and he loved it, right? And he's like, you know,

I'm pretty unique over here and stuff. And people love me and all this stuff, right? I'm the only black guy over here. And so he had a personal driver that would drive him if he wanted to go to the movies or if he wanted to go to the grocery bar or whatever. He had this personal driver that was an ex-KGB agent that had two handguns in the front seat.

I guess this guy was just an animal. And Razor talked about this guy. He said he was like the fucking man. He said as soon as he would open the door and walk to the club, the fucking seas parted for this guy. Razor loved him. Getting into Russian mega clubs,

we're talking about they're going to know your social security number and shit. There's only the billionaires and hundreds of them. Yeah. This guy was just an animal. He used to drive around. He always used to talk about his drivers, personal drivers. Yeah, I had a couple of buddies come over and ride. They had the same thing, and it was dirt cheap too.

Like in American dollars, he might have been paying more because of this guy's status. Oh, you had a driver? Yeah, Vadim, dude. I actually have the funniest picture of me and my driver. We're putting it on chicklets. I'm sending it to you right now. You might be laughing at this picture.

Gratz, I'll tweet it at you so you can see it too. I don't want to leave you left out. Oh, man. I can't wait until Grinnell puts the story up and then we're talking about Vadim. Is it Vadim? Vadim, V-A-D-I-M. Wait, was he nuts?

Was he crazy? No, he's literally the nicest guy ever. He fucking loved hockey, and he loved Russia, and they were losing every big game in international stuff that year, and I was just chirping them. Hey, wait a minute, but would you get him tickets to the home games? No, he kind of worked for the team and stuff,

so he was always at the games. He drove more than me. He drove a couple guys. He's always like, more money, more money, more money. Like Vadim, I didn't fucking pay you. Oh, so he knew you guys were making the big bucks, so he's trying to exploit it. Yeah. Gratz, I wanted to bring up, I know we've kept you a long time.

We appreciate this. This is a plus. Oh, Gratz loves it. We're doing him a favor. I think this is going to be a guy that comes back on. Oh, yes. And I know you're a co-host. He's our new co-host. All right.

He's going to come after you. That would be a good tilt. Two punches, him punching him. So I want to just say you're coming up on 10 years sober, dude, and that's an amazing feat. Yeah. I'm happy for you, man. Yeah, it'll be 10 years uh december beginning of summer

december 4th yeah it's been uh been a fucking long time man it's been good life's good that's awesome yeah yeah it's been good man i mean and then having the opportunity you know part of my role with the flames here is you know i do the player development side and the hockey side with the kids, but, you know, also being an outlet here for, you know, if any of the guys have anything going anywhere in the organization, whether it's on the big team, on the American team, or any of the prospects, if they have anything going on that they're, you know, because a lot of guys suffer in silence, man.

And I was one of the guys that did it, and you guys probably played too that suffered in silence nobody to talk to um and you're and you're struggling well guys in our organization don't have to to feel like that here anymore because you have a you know an ex-player that's been you know i live my life on both sides of the my career on both sides of the fence right so i have a lot of experience with you know obviously with with with the drinking and drug issue stuff you know and then also with the the uncertainty of of your career right because i was always a guy at the bottom of the fucking team and you don't know if you're you're here one day you don't know where you're going to be the next day and the stresses of all that up and down and waivers and waivers. So I have a lot of experience of the stresses of the life that we have here.

And just to be available for guys, if anybody has anything going on, it's 100% confidential management. And upper guys do not want to know anything. If a guy calls you, there's nobody bugging me at the rink. You know who you talk to, nothing. So it's been a pretty unique position. You know, we're one of the only teams, we're the only team that does it.

So, I mean, hopefully it's a thing that we'll catch on throughout the league. I mean, because, you know, it's a hard thing to do as a player when you're struggling away from the rink and you're coming here and you got to fucking have the game face on and all that stuff. But things outside of the rink are not too good.

It's a tough way to fucking live. And just having the ability to talk to somebody can go such a long way. And especially somebody that's been through it. You know, I played a long time. Got a little bit of credibility on that side where I played a long time. Yeah, that helps too. You know, you got to fight, fight. You're not like, who's this guy?

Like, people know who the fuck you are. Yeah, you know, whereas if they were to get a guy that, you know, you know, like I call it like a suit, right? They get one of those guys come in and the boys would be like, who the fuck is this guy? I'm going to talk to him. Yeah. Right?

the boys would be like, who the fuck is this guy? I'm going to talk to him. Yeah. Right? So, I mean, it's, it's, it makes me feel pretty good too, knowing that I could be there for somebody. I mean,

it was something I didn't have when I was struggling. Had I had somebody to talk to when I was struggling, fuck, maybe things could have been a lot different. And could have been different for a lot of guys in our league that were struggling with drugs, alcohol, menthol, all this stuff and you feel trapped with nobody to talk to. Yeah, I feel like it just wasn't

like everyone just didn't do it and it's a shame. It's like no one's really to blame. It's just kind of like, man, why weren't we talking about this stuff sooner? You were so afraid. Yeah, you were afraid of the guys chirping It's like, no one's really to blame. It's just kind of like, man, why weren't we talking about this stuff sooner? It guys just kind of felt. Yeah. You're afraid of like the guys chirping you and saying, yo, you're fucking old pussy.

Like it's such a masculine thing when it's like. There's like that stuff with the boys, but then there's a stuff with like, you know, if I go up and talk to the GM and say, I've got a fucking drinking problem, well, then you're in fear of your job. Yeah, of course. Well, fuck, this guy's a fucking problem here. This guy's a fucking issue. We've got to get somebody else in here.

That's the other fear. Whereas what we do here in Calgary, there's multiple open doors here for you. And whatever you have going on, it will not be held against you here. And if you need some time away from here to go work on yourself then you have a whole management group ownership group and playing staff that will support you whatever you choose to do and that's the way our culture is here and that's the way it should be on 31 other teams or 30 other teams

in the league grats it's it's nice to hear that that calgary's got a good foundation like that and and it's good to get that perspective because you know there's a lot of people out there that might not know that but nice to know that the calgary flames are thinking about guys lives before their hockey careers so um yeah grats i don't really know how to follow it up other than you were fucking unbelievable on this podcast we are going to want you to come on again if you'd like you let me know man

I never know if guys would want to come on but like we all follow you we all follow it man everybody talks about your fucking podcast you know how many times I get asked to go on spit and chicklets I'm like I'm waiting for the boys to out and spit and chicklet? Like, all the time. I'm like, I'm waiting for the boys to fucking call me.

And now you have a job on it. They're like, I think that Whitney's still mad I threatened his life 15 times and called him a little bit. Still waiting for that fight, Whit. Fucking, let's go, man. Yeah. Hey, congrats. Best to your family, your beautiful family.

Missile launch your wife. I don't know how you got her. I know, but, and you know what? She's some fucking Hamilton, boys. Oh, the hammer. She's smart. She's good looking. She's got a full rack of teeth.

Perfect. You can't find girls like that. Whoa, whoa, whoa. You don't find girls like that for my hometown. Hamilton with all her teeth? I don't believe it. She's got don't find girls like that for my hometown. Hamilton with all her teeth? I don't believe it. She's got to be missing one of the back or something. She don't find chicks like that for my hometown, but she's a keeper.

I love it. She probably drinks OV, too. It's like saying that. Yeah, she's a health matter. I'm just waiting for her to start. You know, she's a nutritionist, and she's a fitness fanatic. That's what you want, buddy. Hasn't really rubbed off on me yet. Jumped on the scale the other day,

but I got some work to do, boys. Had staff hockey this afternoon. I almost had a stroke after my second shift. Fuck. Back to sharpening your twig and just threatening everyone. You'll have plenty

of space out there. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So I'll tell you a funny story. So our massage guy, he started playing

hockey two years ago. And, you know, he can barely skate out there, whatever. He's come out, boys, having fun. But I missed a couple games, staff hockey

games last year because I was going down to see the Miami team. And he's chirping me all week like, fucking you, fucking pussy, you keep missing the games. I'm like, Dom, I'm going to fucking get you. I'm going to fucking get you in the

next game. So there was like a 50-50 puck and I let him take it and I reverse hit him so fucking bad. Helmet off, gloves, stick, just yard sale them. Still got it, boys. Still a killer.

Fucking bring it in staff hockey. Welcome to the big league. Now that's the highlight of your hockey career going forward. That's all you have to look forward to. Lighten up trainers. Anyway. Thanks for coming on, buddy. All you have to look forward to is lighten up trainers. Anyway. Thank you.

Thanks for coming on. Anytime you want me back, let me know. We'll be in touch. See you, fella. That interview is brought to you by Robinhood. Robinhood is an investing app that lets you buy and sell stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptos all commission free. They strive to make financial services work for everyone, not just the wealthy. It's a non-intimidating way for stock market newcomers

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like Apple, Ford, or Sprint to help build your portfolio. Sign up at chicklets.robinhood.com. That's chicklets.robinhood.com. Thank you very much to Brian McGratton. One of the toughest, one of the toughest to ever play. Guy was a killer and we appreciate him coming on. That was a fun conversation. Biz, you guys chucked him, huh? Chucked him twice in one year. Were you nervous right before that one like gloves drop like that's one when you're like all right this guy can like knock my punch my eyes shut yeah of course that was a tough pre-game nap that afternoon if i even had one um i'd never

fought in grats to that point i told a story in the in the interview about him spearing me in the nuts and then me telling him never to do it and then he was like i'll fucking spear you in the face and then i shit my diaper but uh yeah i i became a fighter and and that was always one of the guys that i feared him colt nor uh jody shelly was a scary guy who i i ended up fighting that was my first ever fight with the coyotes um but i i fought him twice in my second to last year obviously the year after that i was basically forced to retire because I was fucking lost my knees. So, Biz, actually, you should talk about that for a sec because, you know, after this past weekend, we saw Vincent Trocek obviously had a pretty gruesome knee injury.

Shout out to him, former Chicklets guest. I love Vinny. Love Vinny. Yeah, very sorry to hear about that. But, Biz, me and you were texting about your knee injury and how you tore your ACL and how it was like your last game. And you should tell a story because I actually think it's a really cool story. Oh, God. Well, it's more self-deprecating like most of my humor.

It actually came up because when Chara got hurt, right away when I saw it, I knew it was going to be MCL. I assumed it was going to be thirdL. I assumed it was going to be third grade. He's out probably four to six weeks, which means it was a third degree MCL. Well, that's, that's how I tore my, uh, my knee, my last ever game. Well, let's back it up. So in December of my last year, I fought Hagel from, uh, the Charlotteotte checkers and in a fight i ended up like going back to coil on my back foot and i and i felt the pop and and it was it was weird so i i i after the fight i went to the box in between periods i i got checked out by a trainer and he's like i think it might just be

like a little uh mcl and i was like okay so i finished the game sure enough the next day i i went and got it looked at, and they had this device where the doctor will move your knee. And my other one was moving about like seven millimeters, which is still a little bit too much. But the other one was at 17 millimeters. And he's like, dude, he goes, I've never seen one over 15 that hasn't been torn. Like I think he tore your ACL. And I was like, fuck, are you kidding me? he goes i've never seen one over 15 that hasn't been torn like i think you tore your acl and i

was like fuck are you kidding me so then i went and got an mri tore it so i knew so this is right before christmas right so now i'm like fuck man like is this gonna be my last year like acl like how am i gonna come back from this i suck as it is i can't even keep up with these fucking young guys anymore so that's when i actually met with the coyotes over Christmas to talk about getting a job the next year. Well, what I did was I ended up prehabbing it is what you're supposed to do before knee surgery anyway,

before ACL. So it gets the swelling down, gets all the muscles firing again around it. And then you have surgery that way. It's, it helps you recover a little bit easier. Yeah. Well,

I decided, you know what, I'm going to prehab it and we're, I'm going to give it one more go. So gonna prehab it and we're i'm gonna give it one more goal so i prehab it for about six weeks playing in a game i last like two shifts because it skipped out on me i come back to the room i end up talking to the trainer he's like let's prehab it for another six weeks let's give it one more shake and i'm like you know what sure it's my last year yeah so i prehabit a little bit better this time okay a little harder well just like it it felt a little better going in it was

a little stronger it just it just worked out better so we're in san jose to play pay the barracuda and this is my minors the the jungle so a 20-hour bus ride and fucking hop out there no but uh so that was my first game back well first period i'm going for a loose puck a loose puck and stortini comes and hits me on my other knee and it just folds in and and and and it felt weird and it felt like the last one i did and it was the other knee no so so i start skating back up because i got the puck out not a big deal good defensive play reliable uh and and my leg was kind of skipping out and sure enough the whistle goes and i go to the bench and i i look at my trainer i go mirza you're not gonna believe this i said i think i just tore my other acl and he goes are you

fucking kidding me he goes you gotta be kidding so i we i go on the bench there it was towards the end of the first period period ends i go to the locker room take off my knee pad the guys can see the look on my face and they're like oh shit like no way like that's the other knee so i go to the training room he moves around he goes holy fuck dude he goes i think you're right he goes i think you did eight uh at your mcl too so he goes what do you want to do i said well this is it this is the last game so i fucking strapped my shit back on. I went out there, Sortini hit me in the second period. I said, let's go. And I ended up fighting Stortz on two torn ACLs.

No, you didn't. Yeah. The video's up there. Dude, you're savage. And I actually finished off the game and I had, I created a couple of scoring chances, one that would have tied the game and my line mate didn't bury. But dude, like – and it wasn't one of those things where I was, like, in major pain, like a broken ankle.

Obviously, it felt like shit because I was, like, Bambi out there. I must have fell 50 times in the rest of the game. I could barely stand up. As opposed to the usual 20. But I'm like, man, this is it. Like, this is the end. Like, I ain't fucking going to take my gear off. And it was emotional.

And the guys knew. All the guys were coming in after. My coach came in, and he kind of started crying. And he's just fucking tough. Mike Souther, he's as tough as they come. And he just came up, and he couldn't even say anything. He was just crying. I'm crying right now.

And it was emotional. That's an incredible that's going out biz with so much pride and so much like honor for your teammates and the game it's the best game in the world and it's all we ever knew and to know that that was it and you saying fuck this i don't care if i'm on one leg and you had nothing going you go out there that not only do you go out there and finish you fight yeah starts fed me pretty good that game and he's a great dude they used to call him huggy bear in edmonton but he's a he's a great guy off the ice and uh it was a spirit a little scrap but he got me with a couple bombs more more importantly biz did you get a notch that night no dude i thought

he really goes out i hobbled to my uh to my fucking hotel room i think the elevators were down too so i had fucking oh i had a whole fight i had ice on both knees like waddling up the stairs like we were playing in a back-to-back like like but now saying that it was emotional but you guys know me like i was like the butt of all the jokes like just fucking they call me like timmy timmy like when I was getting on the bus and shit. So, you know, I made the best of it. And the guys in Ontario were unbelievable. The trainers were great.

Like the organization was great. Everything about it. It was the way to go out, and I thank them for everything they did. I got to win a Calder Cup, man. That was the peak of it for me. Did you throw like a cup? Like you must have had just monster knee braces on to finish that game. Like couldn't you?

I had the tape. Well, I had a knee brace for my right because that's the first one I tore. But my left one, they were like fucking duct tape. Just go. Because I didn't have a brace, right? But I would love to get the game tape and count how many times I fell after I tore my other one. And by the way, when I tore that one, it was MCL gone and ACL.

So the knee literally just folded in. And I bruised my meniscus really bad, like bromebo style on the outside. So, yeah, I actually haven't gotten surgery on my right because I had to take care of the left one first. Are they still real sore, Paul? I know you just said you didn't get one fixed. Did they hurt? I did herbal active, buddy. You heard of it?

Oh, snap. Oh, quick plug. Oh, no, you didn't. All of a sudden, people with torn ACLs are going to be like, Doc, no, I don't need surgery. I got herbal active. But, yeah, that was the end of the career, boys. That was it.

That was all she wrote. I don't know how I've never heard that story, but that's an all-timer. That really is. That's a hell of a way to go out. And you know what? It makes me feel like shit because I just quit in the middle of the game because I literally couldn't skate. I quit in the middle of the game.

It was minus two in the first period of the street. I go, Coach, I'm done. I'm going to sit here. I sat there and just rooted on the boys. And, yeah, that was it. I didn't go out and fight anyone. I didn't even go back on the ice. If I had your bank account, I would have had bionic knees but that's other than

that i i probably wouldn't have finished either but nah it was just a fun way to go out and we had a good chuckle wait i meant this i'm sorry go ahead busy you're done oh no i was done buddy i was done wait so one of our listeners actually my my good buddy mark he he found the uh the the picture of the bench or the video of the bench during Niall Yakupoff's celebration we were talking about, and everyone's like all high-fiving. I'm just sitting on the bench like leaning over like, look at this ridiculousness. I'll find it and send it to you.

One of my buddies actually tracked it down. I remember being, oh, my God, you guys. Kutcher just scored the sickest goal. He walked Adam Larson. Adam Larson's taking it on the chin this time. Things go bad or worse. He just walked Adam Larson and then just went bar down 3-2 San Jose with 40 seconds left in the second, and the Whitdogs got the over.

Speaking of that game, Connor McDavid got his 100th career goal. He was the 1, 2, 3, 4, 7th fewest games to 100 goals, Conor McDavid. Excuse me. Excuse me. Conor McDavid. Yeah, McDavid, eh? Conor McDavid, the 7th fewest games, also the 4th youngest to do so. Ovechkin did it in 167 games.

It took Conor McDavid 230 games. And also Jumbo Joe. Let's see. He tied Mario Lemieux for 11th all-time and assist in the same game last night so you know some big goings on with uh some big names in the league last night what's up is also we forgot to give a shout out to Claude Giroux who had a 700th point uh and then somebody commented on the Instagram that that we forgot to mention it but also uh Gretzky did it when he was 23. He got to his

700th point. That's how fucking crazy all the Gretzky stats are. Guys, before we go any further, I just want to remind everyone that this episode is brought to you by Quip. When you think of the perfect gift, you probably don't think of an electric toothbrush, but you're foolish if you're not. The Quip

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And if you go to getquip.com slash chicklets right now, you'll get your first refill pack for free with a Quip electric toothbrush. But you don't have to get your gift-y that. That's your first refill pack free at getquip.com slash chicklets. Getquip.com slash chicklets. Do it now um another thing that we have to talk about because they took abuse for a long time when they were in the shit sandwich of the league uh the buffalo sabers are hot six wins in a row seven of their last eight everybody's contributing for now he's broken it right now oh yeah He's got the herbal active all over his cock, just fucking giving it.

And the teams that they've beaten in that span, Grinnell, that's even more impressive. I think they've beaten Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh. Winnipeg. Winnipeg they beat. So they've been beating some good teams. That was a character comeback against the Pens. They were down 4-1.

Ended up beating them 5-4 in OT, correct, Grinnell? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And Rasmus Dahlen's starting to come into his own. So they're a wagon, boys. They're an absolute wagon. I'm a genius. I'm a genius.

I wouldn't go over there because you didn't make the pick. Someone told you to make the pick. You're not a genius. You're just a really good producer and a hardworking kid, but the genius is a little aggressive. I do think people are – the Buffalo fans were furious at us for not bringing them up last podcast. I mean, and since – what's happened since?

They've just kept winning. So now it's even better that we're talking about them. That fan base is great. When they were good, that place is awesome. They were good even when they were bad man that's a loyal yeah yeah and they love and they love it so i think that when they come home from this trip i think they're playing on uh wednesday night night thanksgiving eve that place will be rocking but their team is fun to watch because there's no quit you could tell it's a bunch of young guys that I think they love Phil Housley. Eichel's celebration in overtime was – that showed me a lot.

I know that sounds kind of goofy, but his elation and how fired up he was and it showed this team is in it. They're all close. I don't think I've ever seen him really celebrate like that. It was just pure emotion of being jacked up for getting the ot winner in pittsburgh um and talk about having young guys who can who can make you know a huge difference like this casey middlestead probably hasn't gotten a ton of love but if you watch him he's gonna get better and better and better he's a high pick with crazy skill people think he's like tiny he's like 6-1-2-0-5 strong kid um They've just done a good job building that team.

And Carter Hutton has been so good. I've actually heard some pretty great things about Carter Hutton's character. He's fucking hilarious, too. I heard about his character, I guess, like in St. Louis when Jake Allen would be struggling. He'd come out of some struggles because Carter Hutton would be there helping him, helping him get out of it. Usually the backup goalie and the goalie,

they have a good relationship for the most part, but you can't say a backup doesn't wish they were playing. That's just usually the case. And he was always like great with, with, uh, Allen when he was struggling. So I think having him in the room is him, him playing goalie has been great, but he just seems like one of the best guys too, from what I hear. So that's another big, big point for the Sabres. It's, I mean, I like watching them. I really do. And they've just done a great job of bringing in kids who can play and drafting well. And who liked to play with each other too. I mean, I like watching them. I really do. And they've just done a great job of bringing in kids who can play and drafting well. And who like to play with each other, too. I mean, you mentioned it before, Whit. They keep talking about how much these guys love to play with each other, how close they are off the ice. And I think that's so big in hockey and it's like what came first, the chicken or the egg? Because everyone says that about winning teams.

Does winning teams make everyone love each other or does everyone loving each other make you win? I mean, there's no right answer. It's just you'll always wonder. I mean, I think they're having a blast because they're winning games against teams that nobody thought they'd be able to beat before the year. Like you said, and a big reason behind that is the player, Carter Hutton, lately.

He's been on a tear. I mean, looking at the save percentage from the last few games, 1,000, 923, 967, 962. I mean, those are fantastic numbers. I don't know if he's going to keep it up at this level, but for right now, the team's leaning on him. And even their backup, Linus Ulmark, he's got, what, 922 save percentage, 265.

Those are pretty respectable numbers from a backup. And, of course, our buddy Jack Eichel, man. I mean, he's fucking tearing it up. I know Grinelli probably has his stats tattooed on his arm, but five goals, 19 assists, 24 points in just 21 games played. This is what we've been expecting out of him without all the high ankle sprain injury he had. Remember that kind of fucked him the last couple of years.

He really wasn't his self at 100%. Now that he went into the year perfectly healthy, like you told us back in August, we're seeing how good of a player he is, how dominant he could be. And it's fun to watch, man. He's a local kid. He's a good kid. He was on the show. And, you know, I'm not a Sabres fan per se, but I certainly like watching him do well.

Yeah, he's very fun, and we've got to mention Jeff Skinner, who's a UFA. He's going to get paid, but he's been phenomenal since he got there. 14 goals. I've mentioned my good buddy growing up, Steve Drilly.

He's the assistant GM of the Sabres. I talked to him about the team and what's going on there. They're obviously fired up. But they even have – he was talking to me about a guy they signed, Lawrence Pilot, I believe his name is. He's from Sweden, undrafted. They signed him.

I think he's a 95 birthday, and he's leading the AHL in defense scoring. He's got over a point per game. So that's like another guy. And who knows if this kid will end up being at the NHL in defense scoring. He's got over a point per game. So that's like another guy. And who knows if this kid will end up being at the NHL level a legit contributor. But still, that's just getting prospects, not even from the draft, but finding guys who are undrafted and having another young player in the system just to add to the depth. So good things for Sabres fans.

They're fired up. People will be crushing each other on Chippewa Street. They don't care. I think it will be fabulous. We've got to get up there. That would be a big, big chiclet city. Hey, you mentioned depth as well, too. Can't forget about Patrick Berglund.

He's like close to 60% on face-offs. He helps the penalty kill out. You got Vladimir Soboka, who was also in St. Louis at some point. They have a bit of a winning pedigree. One surprise, though, I thought rodriguez would be doing more because when i watched him play when i was with the uh last year with the yotes when we were i was traveling around he was fucking buzzing out there i'm still waiting for him to come out of his shell he hasn't scored a goal this year in 15 games maybe that's because he's gotten bumped

down the roster a little bit a little bit nonetheless uh nonetheless connor sherry's also contributed nicely there. He comes as well from the winning pedigree. So just adding those other guys around the lineup who have been able to do it, and shout out to Zach Bogosian as well. He's actually been – he scored a couple big goals for them recently, and he's been there a while for a lot of the pain. So for any of you fans thinking, you know,

why are we dedicating so much time to a team like Buffalo? Well, not only are they winning right now, but for a team who's taken so much abuse online with all these memes they make of all the teams that lose all, like, for who gets shit kicked the last couple years, I just feel like we have to compensate for that. Yeah, Zach Bogosian's a street beast, by the way. That dude's a savage. I heard a funny story.

His brother, I don't know if he is a Navy SEAL now. He was near the end of becoming a Navy SEAL. And apparently they can't even get on the phone. I'm kind of butchering the story, but either way, the guys in charge at the Navy SEALs told them, hey, if your brother fights tonight, you guys get something off tomorrow. But it was basically like, how am I going to get in touch with him to make sure he fights? And I don't know how it ended up happening. I think he got on the computer and sent an email or called his mom and somehow, um,

the ocean got word and then chucked him that night. Like I guess at the end of the game, he's like, Hey dude, I got to do this. My brother gets day off. If I fight like, and so like,

you know, the Navy fight, he's fighting. I go, he's like, what the fuck are you doing, man? He's like,

I fought someone. I got you, bro. I got you out in San Diego. Grabs the linesman like Wideman. I mean, wait, dude. Uh, I also heard an unreal story. I got you out in San Diego. Grabs the linesman, like Weidman. I mean, wait. Dude, I also heard an unreal story. Like out in San Diego, like at phase three, I guess,

they go out to like this kind of an island, and it's just them like working on everything. And the guys that are like, you know, working that already are Navy SEALs, the guys that train, I don't know what you're going to call them. Not the trainers, just like the guys who are in charge. They'll just hit golf balls, like off a mat, and they'll be like, go get them. Like out in the Pacific Ocean.

Guys like dirt. Out there looking for a Titleist Pro V1X. Oh, boys. Speaking of – let me not do that. Three, two, one. Oh, and boys, we have to talk about the fact that Colorado Avalanche scored the OT winner the other night, and it must have been cutting into their bar time because they sprinted off the ice because they had a rookie party in Hollywood.

Yeah, they scored the OT winner in Anaheim. I believe it was – what's this kid's name? Fuck, how do I forget it? Rantanen. He scored a big clap bomb set up by McKinnon, and they just go celebrating, and they sprinted off the ice, and they ended up going on Hollywood a couple nights, so they had a good time.

So shout out to the Colorado Avalanche for Selly's season and style. Right to the club. We won in Florida one time for one of the Pittsburgh rookie parties. Did I ever tell the story on here on what Yarko Rutu did to me? No. Have I ever told this, Grinnelly? No, you haven't. Let's hear it oh my god

dude so we it actually ended up being a little bush league because we didn't really have time to like go get a sick rookie club rookie party dinner and then go to like the club so we were like let's just get a sick meal brought into the arena like world-class meal we'll eat it in the arena and then we'll go right out so we won't't have to, you know, it'll be quicker. We'll have more time at the bar. And, uh, so, so like a couple months earlier, um, I got like a phone call and like some like girl was on the other end and like, but then like, she hung up and then was texting me like, yeah, we met, we met like so-and-so such and such time. And then like, starts talking like dirty and dirty and dirty. And over time I'm like, who is this girl?

And then she'd like call and I'd answer, but like, then they'd hang up and I was like writing stuff back, you know what I mean? And all of a sudden like at rookie party route, who's like, I got to read something and starts reading a convo. And I'm like, dude, dude dude this sounds weird really familiar he was doing it the entire time it was this sickle yarko root to for like two months he was like catfishing me and he was

saying dirty things i'm like dude you're writing that stuff to me like i almost now like don't what are you are you bi and you were throwing yourself around the room probably listen to them oh no guys were crying laughing listening no i don't think i did i don't i'm a video guy i'm a video guy but either way yarko root to start when i he read like the first text he had it printed out and i was just like i was just like my face by the way i have a man rocket shirt on i look phenomenal in it uh grinnell you can show this video my face i just went like oh shit this is my conversation did you tell anyone until the end or did he tell everyone oh i just started like i tried to get ahead of it i'm like you motherfucker you. Hey, who was loving it the most? Everyone was loving it. I remember Orp was loving it because Orp's the biggest potster.

So I think he knew the whole time what Ruto was doing. It was just so classic. God, I miss playing. I texted Teddy on the ride home. We were just shooting the shit. Actually, he texted me. He's like, Russians hate us. Let's just keep giving it to them online.

Oh, speaking of that, I got a message from a Russian reporter on Instagram. I did too. I did too. I got to listen to this text. I didn't even play there. I was like, I don't know. I'm not the one saying shit, lady. I just asked the questions around here.

It almost like had me a little worried. Hello, Ryan. This is so-and-so. I'm a Russian sports journalist. There's big fuss now in russia about your words on russian women that you said in in may in spitting shit because there aren't hookers in the lobby when i talk about it i'm like dude what did i say that they're either a 10 or a 0.2 like what do you want me to say on that that's my comment just write it down yeah like just take our audio just quote quote me hit the quotation marks

oh yeah so uh teddy said something so we were just chatting and i was like dude how you been blah blah i'm like do you miss the game he's like no i miss the paychecks uh all right i i need to ask you about that crazy parlay bet that somebody sent you yeah man uh it's funny because it was uh it was let me see i got it right here one two three four five six seven teams in this person did the well the opposite puck line from what me and which usually play this person played one uh plus 1.5 goals on each thing and they laid the juice. I mean, the juice is minus 250, minus 255, minus 270,

but he picked seven fucking teams. He put $4,000 down. That's a pretty good-sized nut to put down for a poly, and he hit it. He won $54,000 on a $4,000 poly. Like I said, he picked all favorites, getting a goal and a half, but still 7-0 is 7-0, man. You got to tip your cap to whoever this fella is. I don't know if it's the guy who tweeted out.

I'm not going to say names just in case. But if you can go 7-0 in any sport, I don't care if you're picking large favorites and getting points with them. And what's incredible about it is one of the games, one of the teams he had, he had the Flyers plus the goal and a half. They were losing 5-1 that game. It was Saturday. And I know because I bet the fucking lightning. I was laying the goal and a half. They were losing 5-1 that game. It was Saturday. And I know because I bet the fucking lightning.

I was laying the goal and a half. I went out for a walk. It was 5-1. I was practically counting my money. I come home, saw the final. It was 6-5. Flyers come back, tied it up. Tampa ends up winning overtime.

But this guy was within a whisker of losing just that game, not to mention a couple other ones that are close. But, again, tip of the hat to this dude. Nice hit. $4,000 play down. He got 54 fucking K back. And I guess one more thing. As far as the plus 1.5, someone tried to cheer at me.

Oh, I thought that's a shooty bet. I'm like, buddy, this is a poly. I mean, when we talk about flat bets, yeah, I don't think it's a good bet. But when you're picking seven in a poly, that's a different situation. Yeah, I would never make that bet ever. That's an insane bet. And what's even more insane about it is that he put 4K down on it. I've seen people make parlay bets like that,

but they're putting like $20 to win like $1,500. Yeah. That's a lot of jam, and I don't care. I would assume this guy's got a pretty big bankroll, but nonetheless, that's a jam bet. Hey, did you guys see me and Grinnelli got loaded in New York City? I was crushed, Grinnelli.

Oh, let's talk about that. What happened? What happened? Yeah, we were pretty fucked up. I just had beer. Yeah, when you drank all it takes. Legitimately a million beers and you had been drinking before you even got to it. Yeah, that's true because we went to the Rangers game.

Well, let's talk about why you got so excited. Because I'm finally on a heater. I got crushed, crushed, crushed, like was going to quit. And I was like, I'm not going down without a fight. I'm not a quitter. And so I went and I hammered the Rams. I had a minus two and a half. So we're watching that game. We're watching that game. And then finally they covered at the end. I went and I hammered the Rams. I had a minus two and a half. So we're watching that game.

We're watching that game. And then finally they covered at the end. I went bananas. I threw my drink up in the air. People are like, why are you wasting a drink? Well, I'd had 36 of them. I didn't need the 37th and a half that was left in that mug. But I also, for everyone out there chirping,

you got to clean up. That's rude. I went and got three-inch napkins, and I got 600 of them, and I sat on my hands and knees in the bar and cleaned up, enough to the point where Grinnelli said, dude, it's a wooden floor. No one cares. There's nobody in here. But I still had the honor of cleaning up my mess from my big-ass celebration

for the Rams, taking me to the promised land. I also had the Flames who crushed the Golden Knights, and I also had the Jets who put a beating on the Vancouver Canucks. So, so, so you're on a, you're on a three game heater. Yeah.

And I have the over tonight. I need one more for the push in the third, two for the wind. So I'm, I'm, I'm staying up for the next, uh, we're at a place called the gem saloon.

It was great little bar. Oh yeah. That's the place that, yeah, that's inspired by the bar in Deadwood. I know you probably never watched Deadwood, the great HBO show, but that's the name of the saloon on Deadwood. The bar. Oh, yeah. That's the place that, yeah, that's inspired by the bar in Deadwood. I know you probably never watched Deadwood, the great HBO show, but that's the name of the saloon on Deadwood, the gym. Great, great, great TV scene, great bar, big wraparound bar,

just a hell of a spot. There were some barstool people there we were hanging with. Mikey was there. It was a blast, but, I mean, I'll tell you something. I was just crushed. And then, like, obviously, it's like 2.30 in the morning. I got to get a car home. And I'm like, black car's $100 right now?

Well, got to take it. Chirped the Ottawa Senators for being an Uber X Toyota Corolla. So I took the $100 black car ride home. Took seven minutes. It was like a Bentley. It was like a Bentley that picked it up. It was a money car. I was in the car. I'm like, dude, this was a money car i go i was in the car i'm like dude

this is a money car he's like thanks and then i was like seriously like i love it he's like instead of the uber annoying me by talking to me i was annoying the uber oh i love but i love talking to ubers i've gotten a bad i actually one of the saddest stories i've ever heard from an uber i'll save it for another episode. A few things I want to mention. The Patrick Kane celebration, I didn't realize it was the heartbreaker. Yeah, neither did I. Oh, buddy, I thought it was better before

compared to the Theo Fleury. Buddy, that is insane that he did that. To think to do that at that point is sick. It's insane. I definitely think I got it right with that one. I think I should have went with Stevie Y on the other one, as opposed to when Gretzky broke the goal record,

just because of the emotion. One other thing to mention, Grinnell, you blogged about the Cujo book and, and what he's been through. There's a Cujo released a book written by Kirstie McClellan, and she sent me it and we're going to have him on in probably end of December,

maybe early January. He he's excited to come on. His kids are big fans of the podcast. I'm obviously going to read the book before he comes, comes on. I'll try to get you guys a copy as well. I know you're a big reader, RA. We'll get you the book on tape uh wit uh hey what a story though i mean i had no clue mental institution i mean that's that's absolutely insane with drug addicted parents i mean that's that's crazy and he said like i i didn't get a lot of like love like in terms of hugs and kisses growing up, but he still seemed very well-adjusted.

He loves his children, and he's very emotional. He's the opposite of what he had. In a good way, of course. I wasn't being... Nashville not covering the puck line fucking Monday. It was about an eight-dime swing for me. That was a tough one to swallow. Like I said, I was at the Rangers,

and then I had the football game going, but that hurts. That hurts. Did you happen to see the ticket I texted you guys last night, the Aaron Donald ticket? Did you happen to read that? Yeah, I saw that. He's like the menacing defensive lineman for the Rams.

Yeah. Is he leading the league right now? He is. It's funny. I put the ticket in. I bet him at the beginning of the year, the guy in the Rams, to lead the league in sacks, 25-1, pretty nice odds. And I kind of forgot about it.

And then I saw Tyler, who does the Mixtape podcast, I saw him tweet that he's leading the league. And I looked. He has 14.5 sacks. He has a three-sack lead. Well, the Rams got five games left. So if he hangs on, man. If he averages one a game, I think you're going to be okay.

Exactly. And as long as nobody has a monster day underneath um you know day underneath him i'm looking at you're wary i'm sorry go ahead i apologize no i'm if it comes to him looking at a nice little five figure uh cup yeah my worry is what injury is that we're gonna say no i think you're wary is that he maybe gets some rest because they've got everything pretty much locked up yeah you know maybe i don't think you said a guy two games but there could be one game that he doesn't play at the end. Hey, how come, and I should know this, but I haven't been paying much attention to the NFL.

How did the Rams and Chiefs play one more game than everybody else? Because I know they played Monday night, but that's the end. They probably haven't had their bye week yet. Okay, yeah. I've been kind of tapped out the last couple weeks. I noticed they were the only two teams that played. Yeah, but that was like, for someone who I know bets, gambles, watches sports, that was like the dumbest question in the world.

Is there anything else we should cover? Yeah. Our buddy here in Boston, Patrice Bergeron, we got the report on his injury. He's got a rib and sternoclavicular injury. That's where your sternum and your clavicle kind of meet up by your collarbone. He was tied seventh in scoring in 19 games. He had 26 points. Unfortunately, they're going to take another look at him in a month.

That's not good news for us here in Boston. He's the heart and soul of that team. Not only offensively, what he does everywhere else for the Bruins, it's going to be a tough loss to overcome, but you've got to hope everyone picks up the slack. Meanwhile, they did call it Colby Cave from Providence, and if that's not the best ultimate porn name for a guy or a girl,

Colby Cave, then I don't know what is. Colby Cave, you're facing, if he was tough. Colby Cave for a girl would be better, because obviously her pussy's like a cave. Or the guy who caves it in, totally. I thought about Paul. He's like a cave. Well, or the guy who caves it in. so that's,

Hey, who, I thought about Paul. What is it? Uh, it's, it's your first name. More of a half empty, half full cut or half empty.

I'm more of a half full kind of guy. First name. And then first name. And then the street you grew up on, that's your porn name, right? Hey, mine's Albert Gadsby.

Not bad. That sounds like a guy who you could do great Gadsby porn. Yeah. That would be unbelievable. And you just whip out your wrench. Mine is Ryan Vernon. That's just bad. Like,

Hey, look at Ryan Vernon. That guy's just ripped. He always gets the hot ones whenever they film. And then like Grinnell, he's the Grinnell. He's the kid who like, they make them wear condoms in the porn.

Oh no, no. He, the little boy ones that are popular now where like the older woman uh like like has her her friend's kid over and he's not home yet hey it's like oh he's gonna be around on the shoulders or and then and then all of a sudden he's taking a shower for whatever reason then she goes in and starts sucking his cock off that used to be my drunk argument was that i i would do porn if you didn't show my face.

Yeah, dude. Who wouldn't? They'd notice my big ship on my ribs and my shitty- They'd notice my spare tire and my hairy shoulders. Hey, I want to give a shout out to a longtime friend of the stool and a buddy of mine, Ad Bernaldo. He came up with the Whitney Zone instead of the Newman Zone, Pink Lemonade. We tweeted it out from the account to I'm sure most of the listeners started. He basically redesigned the Newman's own with Whitney a hundred,

but contains a hundred percent pigeon. I believe it said it's a great little graphic. It could be appearing in t-shirt form at a boss tool store near you. So keep your eyes peeled for that as well. I tell you, I saw like he, he, he wrote a tweet. I didn't do anything to your left ear. If he didn't do anything to your left ear if he didn't do anything to my left ear i might honestly go get it pinned back because it's just i just cut it off it's getting on ambient right now it's getting out of this world this left ear i look in the mirror and it's

just i saw some instagram thing where it's like if you're have insecurities about things get them out into the world and you'll feel lighter and like I'm just trying to tell you people, I see my left ear. All I see in the mirror is that goddamn left ear sticking out. For everyone else who notices it, you can let me have it. I almost need to hear it just to keep reminding me every day. You can't get too big for your britches, Whit. You got money. You got the beautiful wife.

You got the baby. You got the big house where the internet sometimes doesn't work, and my TV's broken right now, but you'll always have that big fucking ear sticking out. Get a job at SETI. By the way, Wits, 3-3 in the hockey game. There's your role. I swear. Yep. There is the guaranteed

over Wits on fire. Alright, guys. Well, we're going to wrap it up. My Ambience is starting to kick in, so now this is the fun part. This is when I go spend way too much money online shopping and wake up, have no recollection of what I bought, then just packages start showing up in the next week. A mail-order bride shows up at the door.

Your wife's like, what the fuck is this? You're like, oh. I meant to send her to another address. God damn it. Yeah, so Thanksgiving, guys, you'll be listening to this on Thanksgiving. And I'd say we're so thankful for all the listeners. I know we say it quite often, or we try to, but Thanksgiving's my favorite holiday. People who say they don't like it, you can go kick rocks, you pigeons.

It's a hell of a, hell of a day because you sit around, you don't have any stress about buying presents. You crush food, then you take a nap, and you watch football the entire time. And the heater I'm on, I'll probably go three and I'll be just banking it in. We'll crush some red wine. And, you know, the second serving in Thanksgiving is my favorite. You really figure out what wasn't that good in the first go-around. So happy Thanksgiving to you guys.

I love you all, and thanks for listening. Buy some ugly sweaters. Buy some ugly sweaters. I'm wearing one right now. Man, we're okay. Everybody, have a great Thanksgiving to all our American listeners and our Canadian listeners. Have a great weekend.

And unfortunately, there's no hockey to bet on Thursday, but that's just good because the NHL doesn't make their players work on Thanksgiving or Christmas. Oh, quick shot at the NFL. We're the best league in the world. We really are. Imagine being in the NBA and making all those millions but still knowing you're a bitch.

Alright, guys. Peace out.