Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 137: Best Of 2018

Episode Date: December 31, 2018

On Monday's podcast we have a special “Best Of 2018” edition of the podcast including some of our favorite interviews of the year.Teddy Purcell 6:00 – 45:50Keith Yandle + Kevin Hayes 48:30 – 1:59:00Adam Oates 2:01:00 – 2:50:00Shane O'Brien 2:52:00 – 3:21:00Jeremy Roenick 3:22:00 – 3:33:00Auston Matthews 3:34:00 – 4:16:00You 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. What's up, Whit? What up, Biz? You ready to join Spittin' Chicklets full-time, you muppet? No, you're joking, right? By this, this is probably the best news I've ever heard since signing a two-year, one-way NHL contract. And then the other time, I signed a two-year NHL one-way contract. I have so many emotions running through my body right now.

I can't wait to tell my folks. Thank you for the opportunity. I won't mess it up. Thanks, pal. Yes! Woo! Hello everybody Welcome to episode 137 of Spittin' Chicklets Presented by New Amsterdam Vodka

Recording presently in a hotel room in Chicago I'm here with Ryan Whitney This is an NHL hotel room You should have seen, all you listeners in a hotel room in Chicago. I'm here with Ryan Whitney. This is an NHL hotel room. It surely is. This is an NHL. You should have seen, all you listeners, Grinnelli and R.A. were taking pictures in the lobby. Their mouths were just dropped to the floor.

What is it? Oh, my God. This place. R.A.'s like, where's the front desk check? And I go, we got to go up the elevator to get to the lobby. Don't worry. Calm down. So it's crazy

that we're sitting here, though, because it's been a great year. And this episode's a little different with some of our best interviews of the year, at least according to Grinnelly. He picked them, so if you don't like them, yell at him. But we got no biz. It's a little old school. And we started off, you guys just heard that audio

of when we brought biz on. That feels like it was like six years ago. And what was that? April. What was that? April, right? It feels like April of 86. Yeah.

It feels like forever. And Biz is actually going to be. Right before Bacanera. That was before Bacanera made the big era. That was in the fall of 86. I remember. October 86. But yeah, we're going to be doing a best of episode.

We're going to be playing a bunch of interviews we did since Biz joined us again back in April. What's up, Grinnelly? Say hello to the folks. What's up, boys? How's it going? It's going good, man. This is heaven for me. This is heaven.

This place has snacks in the cabinets. They got Camus. They got a printer. They have Camus in the mini bar. But Grinnelly, this is what I'm dealing with without Biz, everyone out there. I walk in the room with Grinnelly and he's like, wait, where'd you get the wine? I'm like, what do you mean? It's in the room.

I open the drawer. There's glass. He's like, oh, my God. There's glasses down there? Oh, my God. There's candy? There's candy in the minibar? I'm like, Jesus Christ.

Then R.A. comes in the room. He goes, oh, wait. What'd you go to, the Packy? I'm like, no. I used the minibar in this five-star. Grinnelli didn't know I don't know Do you know already

That in the NHL You have to have It has to be a five star hotel Is it in the contract Really It's in the CBA What's the rate Like five stars

Based on who Like fucking Yelp No probably How do they determine that I don't know Like somebody does that But either way We'll talk more about

The travel and our trip In Chicago We do want to just Get to these interviews Because I think it's very cool for us to think back. Who are we leading off with, Grinnelly? We're leading off with Teddy Purcell. It was the first one we did

together in New York when we went down there to Intro Biz. Teddy's one of the all-time best. That was Biz's pretty much first coming out party. That was Biz's coming out party. Ari, you didn't know Teddy before that, did you?

No, but I felt like I'd known him for years. Halfway through the interview, he's a real character. Some great Russian KHL stories, Russian gas stuff. But, wait, doesn't it kind of feel like almost like full circle here? We started on a couch like Wayne and Goth. We're just a few miles. Yeah, but this couch is way nicer than yours.

You're always knocking my... And, by the way, it was a house, not an apartment. But no, we were in Wayne – it's kind of funny, though. We were in Wayne and Goth country. They were Aurora, Illinois, and now we're in Chicago and with fucking podcast on a couch once again. Stan McKeeter's Donuts. Yeah.

Officer Koharski. And before we get to Teddy, Teddy constantly tries to like shit on himself, but fuck, he was a great player. He had the silkiest mitts, the best teammate. Guys loved him. So we'll let you listen to this interview now. We had a blast doing it. This interview was brought to you by SeatGeek. Buying tickets can be complicated and confusing, but there is a simple way to buy with SeatGeek. SeatGeek is the smartest, easiest way to get tickets to every type of live event. Whether you're catching your favorite musician on tour, shopping for the perfect

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Can shoot it, can dish it. Good looking, missing a tooth. TP-16! What up, boy? You're a good hype man. Holy shit. TP-16! What up, boys? You're a good hype man. TP-16! I'm wet after that intro. What's up, buddy?

Good shit. Nothing much, boys. I'm just living. Back from Russia, I came back. I have all my fingers and toes left. I got paid most of my money. Life's good. That's an accomplishment.

You're always still owed a little, though, coming back from there. They'll get you in, like, August. No, they'll get you good anyway. 2022. Now, before we start with Teddy, I'm going to tell a quick story about the other night. I get a text on Wednesday, okay? Teddy's in Scottsdale, Arizona, playing at Mike Smith's member guest tournament, D.C. Ranch. I don't know if you've heard of it.

Pretty good private club. And he texts me, hey, Biz, I'm in Scottsdale. Let's get together. And I say, hey, I'm pretty busy, but you know what? Let's grab dinner on Friday. So I call him at 5.30 on Friday, and him and Mike Smith answer the phone, and they're absolutely in one at this member guest tournament. Oh, it was a member guest?

A hundred percent, then. Yeah. They're in the clubhouse, and they're flaunting money on FaceTime to me, and apparently they're playing dice game. Rubles. And taking money off eight-year-old men who they just taught this new dice game to. And I'm factoring in my brain, okay, we're supposed to grab dinner. They're pretty in one right now.

I'm sure it's not an easy out there. They've got to say bye to all the boys. Let's do dinner at 7.30 at the Ocean Club. Give them two hours. Two hours. Give them two hours. 7.30 at the Ocean Club. Seafood Towers. I don't know. Is that good? I show up on

time because I called in a favor and got people bounced from their tables to have dinner with him and Mike Smith. Guess how long I waited for them. My guess is dinner with him and Mike Smith. Guess how long I waited for them. My guess is nine. Hour and a half. Exactly.

Yup. Yup. I sat. For everyone here, I did it with a story that was not told. He's a good hour and a half for sure. I sat at a table by myself. I downloaded Bumble. I created a profile in which my buddy helped me spice up. Get some tattoo pictures out there.

Yeah, get some tat pictures in it. By the way, Bumble's ridiculous. And we'll get to those accounts later. But, Teddy, but nonetheless, they showed up. They were the life of the party. They were talking to everyone around our tables, and then they ended up picking up dinner. So thank you, Teddy, for showing up an hour and a half late.

You're welcome. No problem, buddy. The old nine-at-nine trick. So thank you, Teddy, for showing up an hour and a half late. You're welcome. No problem, buddy. The old nine at nine trick. Hey, boys, yeah, meet us there. Meet us at the table. Hey, you're like busy. I'll see you there at 730. And then you and Smitty are just like, suck on that one, business.

You can be on Twitter talking about what he's waiting for us. Let's ask R.A., would you stick around until 9 o'clock, an hour and a half? That's how much I like Teddy. Yeah, it depends on the guy. It depends on the guy. If it's a guy who's done it before, low tolerance for it. But if it's a good buddy,

you can just sit there, grab a beer. I'd stick around until 9.30 in the morning for him. I would. Wait until the morning. I would. Teddy, no word alive the next night, I would have still waited until 9. If you would have already done it to me the night before,

that's how cool I would have been. I know, I'm not usually late like that, but like you said, me and Smitty, we were having fun. Kind of got lost track of time a little bit it was an honest mistake we came in hot you had a lot of laughs when you put your bumble down and looked up from your phone for a sec but then uh it's the same thing as the first episode today you're all jacked up you got morgan riley making him pay tabs well you know the tab story. Same thing. We sit down. Biz orders a huge seafood tower for four. There's only three of us there.

So then all of a sudden the bill comes. Biz is fucking gone. I was hiding in one of the stalls. Dude, when Biz sees waitresses go get the bill and he just bombs to the bathroom. Got a phone call. Guys, guys. He comes back 25 minutes later.

Oh, you paid? Thanks, man. Thanks a phone call. Guys, guys, he comes back 25 minutes later like, oh, oh, you paid? Thanks, man. Thanks. Appreciate that. My ADD was acting up. Hey, Teddy, before we get into ripping biz a little bit more, tell me about this year, buddy. Tell me about Russia. We have this in common now.

We've had so much in common and then this leads into the future that we can talk about how, I mean, my career ended that way, I'm'm sure i don't know you do you plan on playing more what's the deal for next year oh i actually left my hockey gear in russia i just escaped i just got out of there wait did they try making you stay oh yeah yup yup see you later nope absolutely not it's like they weren't gonna pay yeah it's exactly like the military you do two a days you guys you're doing two days after we lost in the playoffs. I'm like, what the fuck's going on here?

Oh, my God. I had to stay for three or four days if it was in your contract, and then you can kind of leave. And I didn't tell anyone I was leaving. Pulled my driver, bring me to the airport, and gave him a hug. And I was like, I'm gone. Keep my gear. I don't want it.

So, Teddy, did you experience the Russian gas that we've made so popular on this show? Yeah, I experienced it all over there. Hey, did you get the IV before games and then just feel like you could be back starring in the NHL? I did it one time. I felt unbelievable. Dude!

I just kept doing it. I was like, this is ruining something in my body. Was it coming through the wall? Through a cement wall? Or was it actually in a bag you can see? No, it was in a bag you can see. Hey, Teddy. But after games, they put this mask on their face, too, and guys go in there for five or ten minutes. They come out just stoned and looped, and they don't get tired.

They could play another game. I'm like, you guys are fucking freaks. Yeah, dude. How about how they wear like, they wear the gross, they wear like sweatpants and a sweatshirt that's like 7,000 bucks, but they look like absolute shit. You know what? Their haircut costs eight bucks and their sweatpants cost 7,000. That's the same thing.

They live in like, their house is like the size of a bathroom, but they drive like a Mercedes and everything is like Louis Vuitton, Gucci. And like Abercrombie & Fitch is just like hard to get expensive over there. The guys are wearing the Abercrombie & Fitch. I'm like, what is that, you asshole? Hey, when I played over in the EIHL during the locker, which is the English Hockey League, it's like Junior B back home. That's when you had like 30 goals in 10 games because you were lighting that league up.

I remember. Sidney Crosby of Cardiff. But all the guys on my team were rocking like Hollister and Abercrombie. And I'm like, what the fuck are you guys doing? Like Aeropostale? Give me a fucking break, man. I'll buy you a fucking... Hey, no word of a lie.

Our backup goalie who worked at like an enterprise rental car service was over there. I don't know if it was called that. But he had the most embarrassing gym shoes that had duct tape all over them. I left my Nike runners for him. This guy was making 50 fucking pounds a week playing hockey. That's insane. I used to ask some of the Russians if when you buy those shirts, do you get the free frosted tips included with it too? They're like, what's that?

Hey, dude, what was the first time, what was your face the first time that you get pasta for pregame meal and then guys are just squirting ketchup all over it? And you're like, dude, what are you doing? I wish there was a camera on my face. I was like so lost. I looked like the dumbest person ever. I'm like, what is going on here?

Why am I here? So nothing changes. What was the lady situation? I don't know if you're okay. I said, before you say, I say you're either a 1 or a 12. Yeah, you are. There's no medium looking girl. There's just disgusting and then there's absolute rockets.

Exactly. I don't know where they come from because, like, the guys, some of them are bad-looking, but, like, they have these haircuts, and some of them are just so ugly. I mean, how do all these girls come – like, where do they come from? Teddy, you're either, like, Olga or, like, Valerie. Yeah. Exactly.

You're either the girl from Dodgeball Or Irina Chirac Yeah you're like Kornikova Or you're walking out of Chernobyl with three eyes Yeah they're hot I gotta say The ones that can speak I'll tell you a funny story I go over there the first time This girl writes me on Instagram

I'm like fuck I'm feeling pretty confident about it I'm like she's hot But the conversation was pretty choppy back and forth But I was like oh fuck, I'm feeling pretty confident about it. I'm like, she's hot. She comes over. But the conversation was, like, pretty choppy back and forth, you know? But I was like, oh, you can deal with that. She gets to my house, no English. She was Google translating. So we're at my house talking. We're like, I had to pass the phone back and forth the whole time.

Like, how old are you? Here's my phone. Google translate. You're like, prove it. Prove it. Oh, my God. Make sure you take screenshots. I know. But, like, fuck., prove it. Oh, my God. Make sure you take screenshots. I know.

No, no, no. I didn't mean to interrupt. Go ahead. Oh, no. It was just so hard to communicate with people. I was in Siberia, so I'm not Moscow. Moscow and St. Petersburg, these are unbelievable cities. I was in fucking Siberia, and no one speaks English.

I basically forgot how to talk or have a conversation because I would talk to people like I would talk to my dog. I'm like Teddy, Teddy, I'm Teddy hungry. Yes, Teddy. I got home and I was speaking like a complete moron to people. I'm like, we go tonight food, sushi? They're like what the fuck? I'm like, I haven't spoken

real English because I'd be in the locker room. Skates? Sharp? Tape? Stick? And then they'd put on, oh, I know exactly what you're saying. And then can I get your opinion on when you're in Russia, it doesn't matter if it's three weeks, three months,

13 months, 10 years. When you get home, were you not the happiest person in the world the first week? Oh my God. I appreciate everything. I know.

It's been five and a half weeks and I haven't stopped like celebrating. I keep like acting like I was in jail. I appreciate everything. I know. It's been five and a half weeks, and I haven't stopped celebrating. I keep acting like I was in jail, and I got released. I got home. I went Scottsdale, Vegas, LA. This guy went to Coachella both weeks and then stagecoach, and then he came to Scottsdale. Because you've been thinking about it since December

when you're sitting in Yaroslav on Christmas Eve, and you're puking up your bread with mayonnaise and fish eggs on it and you're thinking, I'm going to Coachella. I'm going golfing in Vegas. I planned like my first four months home while I was there. Yeah, I know.

It was so exciting. I'd never, honestly, I forgot how I could get that excited. It was like 11-year-old when you get like new street hockey pads at Christmas time. Those have to be the longest road trips you've ever had in Siberia. I mean, that's like eight time zones, isn't it, just going to Moscow? Yeah, and even like there's a team in China. We had one flight.

It was like nine hours. And then these guys like hate days off. So you get in like eight in the morning. You play the next day. So we just sleep all day at the hotel, get up at 7 p.m., go practice. You play the next day. So we just sleep all day at the hotel, get up at 7 p.m., go practice. We play the next day. Then you eat, like, your fucking fish eggs at 10 o'clock and go to bed.

They're like, oh, good day, Teddy, good day. I'm like, no, that's the worst. No, that's the worst day of my life. Time for the Russian gas. Hey, are you – did you – were you on a team forced to stay at the Baza? Oh, yeah. It was like – it was like a jail cell. I would sleep in my sweatpants.

I wouldn't get under the covers. Hey, they're like checking your computer on the way in. You're like, oh, my God. I can't believe you had to do that. Teddy, Instagram probably didn't help your situation. I don't know if you deleted it or had it because you're just seeing how much fun everybody else is having and you're miserable.

I know. It was tough. I know. So did you delete it sometimes or were you just no i i i needed i needed it teddy did how many facetime hours like nine million probably yeah yeah thanks for nine million you didn't facetime me once the time change was tough though too yeah i know that's a battle hey in the morning there uh for our team, we would, you know, you had the team warm up every morning, like, on the bikes and shit, right?

Oh, yeah. Like, the kids, yeah. So, we had ours, and they set up, like, this big, like, monitor, kind of, and they would just play, like, the highlights of the NHL games the night before. Did your team do that? Yeah, the boys, like, watched every goal, like, ever before. Yes, yes, yes, yes. On the phone, like, the same.

Exactly. Exactly. So, i guess all the teams do this dude that was those were the lowest moments of my life i'm seeing my boys and highlights and then i'm looking i'm like wait they played in chicago last night they don't play for three nights they stayed in chicago oh my god i'm still on this bike in russia like watching old nhl clips when you're not there anymore you're just like put a bullet in my head right now. I know. You're just like, I used to play in this league and I was actually okay and now I'm here. I'm like, oh God. Turn this off, guys. Yeah, they

had a big OT, went on the road. Now they're going to town nightclub for a late dinner, then right to the club. Probably have 10 dimes lined up. Yeah, and I'm going to drink whiskey and apple juice in Moscow for 10 hours. And you're putting a mask on just so you can survive the day. What'd you think of the hockey, though?

I thought it was, like, a lot of skilled players. Yeah, there are. Everyone's just on their own page, you know? There's, like, no structure. There's no coaching at all. I get to the first day, coach is, like, power play, and he, like, hands me a board and, like, walks away. He probably speaks English.

What the fuck's going on now? Half these guys don't even speak English either. So guys just, like, do their own thing and buzz around everywhere. Like, there's no hitting or no fighting or anything. But these guys, I would go over there, you have so much time with the puck, and you're like, after a while you just get confused. You're like, ah, fuck, I'm going to hold on to it a little bit more.

I'm going to pass it. I don't want to shoot. I want to pass it. So one of the guys comes up to me, like, I must have given 15 passes that game. He's like, I gave him another one, or I didn't give him one. I shot it. He goes, Teddy, I open. I open. I score. I'm like,

if you're fucking always open, why are you in the cage show? Why are you fucking in the NHL with Ovechkin? Shut your mouth. They're always all open, dude. You have four. You can snipe. You can snipe one in four, guys. Like, I open if you see next time.

I open next time. Yeah, I know. You don't see. You don't pass. Oh, my God. And, Teddy, we're going to back it up a bit, and I know you probably hated being in Russia. Now, I guess you can compare it to the American Hockey League

because the year before I was with you, you kind of got shafted a little bit in L.A., started out with a – you got sick, maybe didn't start off on the right foot there. And obviously, you know, Sutter's a pretty – a 500- or 200-foot game kind of guy, maybe not your type of system. I think you can do it, though, when you want to. No, but like let's call a spade a spade. I mean, they kind of blackballed you right from the beginning

and just talk about your experience coming down to the American League. That was a really big piece of humble pie too, actually. That's the biggest. Yeah, it is. But you know what? There was a good group of guys on there. Their coach was awesome. Rob Blake, who I play with, he was the GM there at the time.

He's in L.A. now, obviously. But he let me stay up by the beach in promotion. I felt bad for these kids. They were, like, bussing all the time. He's in LA now, obviously, but he let me stay up by the beach in Hermosa. I felt bad for these kids. They were bussing all the time and Blakey would let me fly out of LAX to meet the boys on the road. They sent me down, but he didn't kick me when I was down still, so it was pretty cool for him to be able to do that. The guys

down there were all awesome. We got to listen to Biz every day. Biz tore his ACLs six times in three weeks we were down there. He's just making his own food and bringing Tupperware to the rink. Hey, he's like, wait, will I get paid all summer if I tear the other one? Teddy, hold on. Like rip my ankle in half here.

I know. The insurance man. He was just like trying to separate his shoulder, like stepping on his toes, trying to break them and shit. Oh, that was a tough year for me. So thanks for kicking me while I'm down. But they were fun. I got to go to the rink every day with two torn ACLs and watch Teddy play.

We had some good times. I mean, fuck, we had a couple good fun trips. We went to Tucson a couple times. Yeah, we did. I got to get closer to my mic. I'm getting the wave in. Sorry about that. You're getting the death look.

And then you have roommates on the road, too. I forgot about that when you go down to the AHLs, but I had the pleasure of rooming with Biz on a few trips. Did you guys wear roomies? Oh, we would just go to sleep. You just throw on NHL games and just chirp every guy. You're like, look at that pass. I'm better than that fucking guy.

That was mostly Teddy, and I'd just be like, yeah, I know. I can beat him up, yeah, I know. I can beat him up. Yeah, I know. I'm so that guy. I hate guys when they retire and they hate hockey, and they're like, oh, fuck this. I should be still playing. It gave us so much, the game. It's awesome.

Be happy. I want everyone to be rich. I love when I see guys sign huge tickets. You get all these old miserable fucks that are so mad they didn't make money. Well, all right. I mean, yeah, you were probably better than I was, but I made more money. You shouldn't hate me for it because now I see guys sign huge tickets. I'm so happy for all of them.

That's the same thing. I also say now to people, you think you could come out and still play hockey? I'm like, I couldn't even play in the coast. Biz was an all-star there, so I probably could, but I still don't think I could play there. No, man. These games are way too fast. I can never skate anyways. I'm like looking at them, like, these guys are freaks. Where are they coming from?

Have you been keeping up to date with the playoffs, Teddy? Yeah, I mean, I don't sit down and watch every game, but, yeah, I've been seeing highlights, and I've been watching. I watched the Tampa game yesterday. I was rooting for them, obviously, because I played there, but they got dusted again. That's exactly what I was going to ask you. Did you have an affinity for them because you spent such a long time down there?

Yeah, I'm still buddies with a lot of people. The staff and the trainers and stuff, they're all good people. I still talk to a couple of those guys a lot, too. Yeah, I was rooting for them. Do you think Tampa gets a bad rap? There's been a team there for a long time. They've won a cup. They've got a great fan base.

Do you think they still kind of get a bad rap just because they're in Florida and it's kind of guilt by association because they're close to Miami sort of? Yeah, maybe, I guess. I mean, that owner there, that Jeff Bennett, he's awesome. Like, he's got the whole city. He, like, gives back so much. He's got a, I mean, every game is sold out. I mean, it's mostly people coming from, you know, out of town and stuff,

but it's an awesome atmosphere to play in that rink, too. They do it right down there. Yeah, it is a great atmosphere. Hey, do you think that Stamkos doesn't get enough credit for being a leader, being someone the guys respect and love? I think people think of him as kind of a sniper that goes out and it's easy to him, but

his work ethic's on a different level, would you say? Yeah, he's one of the hardest working guys. He learned from Marty and Vinny. Those guys worked harder than anyone, too. Yeah, I don't know why people say that about Stammer sometimes, but he's an unbelievable captain, too. I mean, the guy fought a few times this year.

If he's not scoring and playing well, he throws his body around and hits. He always tries to do what's right for the team. I think he's a great leader, and he's an unbelievable dude, too. And even in the offseason. Good combo. Oh, offseason with Gary? Yeah, even, like – Those guys are nuts, man.

They're so dedicated. Yeah, if they're, like – if they have a, like, commercial shoot or something at, like, 8 in the morning, like, they'll go in at, like, 5 or 6 to work out. And, like, Gary's, like, 100 years old, still sprinting down the field with that crazy look in his eye he's like oh my god i'm afraid of gary roberts personally dude he threatened me he's he's very intense and we'll get to that but uh um yeah as far as that's concerned i'll just throw it back to wit because i thought i forgot what i was gonna say say. No, that's no shocker. He's got his documentary on his mind. Gary Roberts got traded to our team in Pittsburgh,

and it might have been the first day. We were on the road when he came. If not the first day, the second day he came down. You know, guys are eating in the hotel before the bus comes over. Dude, I was crushing Fruit Loops. I was crushing Fruit Loops. Everyone gets like Egg white omelettes And I just had this

Double You know the boxes The fruit loops Like a double box Poured it in Like What's the opposite Half and half

What's the opposite of skim milk Whole milk Whole milk And he's just like He came over I didn't know him He's like Don't you ever let me see

You eating fruit loops The day of the game again I was like I'm like, I'm sorry sir, I'm sorry. He's a petrifying dude. And I remember what I was going to say now. I can commend guys like, for instance, Sid. I mean, you know him a bit. And they're just so dedicated where I'm

like, oh God, how do you do that all the time? I just want to go out and booze and have beers with the guys. They're so disciplined. They have another level. There's good players in the NHL, but with the guys, and they just, like, they're so disciplined. I know. They have, like, another level. Like, there's good players in the NHL, but those top guys, I guess they, like, want to stay there. I see the same thing.

I'm like, dude, that's hard all the time. Like, take a day off or something. Like, enjoy yourself a little bit here. I say, dude, I played golf with this kid the other day. He's like, hey, how good is Crosby? He's the best. No, no, no, go ahead. It's funny that, you know, we're like, oh, man, take a day off.

Like, three of us are talking about we're all done now like no i don't think i wouldn't change it for a second it's no and that's what i'm saying is is i'm not going to be hypocritical about it like i'm aware of why i'm still not playing i could have not partied but i mean i had i had to be myself and part of my job in the nhl was to essentially be a jester in the locker room. Literally part of my game plan was, hey, go out the night before, get a kill, come back to the locker room, tell the boys about it, get all the merry guys fired up who don't get to do that stuff. And they were grateful, and they were probably like, yeah, you know, give Biz another year.

Yeah, give him one more year. But this kid is like, Crosby's that good? I'm like, dude, he's so good. And he's like like does he work that much harder than everyone I'm like yeah I'm like that's the thing that you don't understand like people say like oh they want to be so good they want to be one of the best you actually have to give up the kid the kid said he's probably given up so much in his life to become that good I go he's given up everything he's given up everything and stamp goes the same way these guys I mean these guys and that's what you said Teddy is a good point.

They just want to stay there, whereas you're like, dude, you've won three cups, Sid. You've won every award. Why are you still getting up at 6 in the morning in July to go skate by yourself? But it's just a different level of person that becomes this elite level NHL or any sport talent. Yeah, they have such good discipline, and they just want to stay committed like that. I didn't have that in me, obviously, but you've got to tip your cap to them. Remember we went to Vail training, and it was the first time I skated with Sid. He was coming down, taking backhand slappers and pushing it.

Yelling at guys, saying, Missed passes in practice during the lockout when the league didn't start for four months. I was like, oh my god, this guy's insane. That's when the trip ended and all of us were together, like Crosby, Tavares, like all these other studs. And we did a shot and we were just going to get after that night. And Duchesne wouldn't do the shot. Remember that?

Remember that, Teddy? Every guy did the shot. Duchesne's like, no, no. We're like, oh, my God, dude. Come on. Let's do a shot with the boys. Oh, speaking of that. Sid's doing one.

That's when I went to light up Cardiff. And you guys all stayed behind. Sid's doing one. That's when I went to light up Cardiff, and you guys all stayed behind. Not a big deal. And you guys went from city to city having these training camps. Best time ever. Right. And then you guys went to Dallas, and I heard a story about how Napoli ended up joining you guys one night. Oh, that cheap prick, Mike Napoli.

So you remember this, Teddy? Yeah, at that nightclub? Yes. So you tell the story, Teddy. You give your version of it. No, you do it. I don't know all the details. All right, I'll give my version of it because I remember it perfectly.

We went out in Dallas and there was, what did he say, 15, 20 NHL guys? Yeah, it was almost like a full team. We have good practice. We have good skates. Then guys would go golf and we'd go after it. So we went out and Napoli, I think he wanted to golf. And we go after it. And so we went out. And Napoli, like, I think he, like, wanted to hang out with us. Like, he was, like, looking to hang out with us.

That's what I heard. So he comes out. And then he brings us out to, like, this place. Or he has us meet him. I don't remember exactly how we ended up with him. But, dude, he's at a table. By the way, he's making, I think, $12 million at the time. It was a three-year contract for $36 million.

So, dude, we all gave him some money. I'm pretty sure that's how it worked out. This is Mike Napoli that used to play with the Red Sox. Yeah, the Major League Baseball player. For the hockey fan community. Whatever the night ended up costing, everyone gave money, or people gave him money. He comes in the next day, or he sent in one of his guys. He's like, hey, Napoli says you guys owe him another $800.

We're like, what the fuck? Between 15 guys. And the whole room's like, where is that pigeon? He was begging to hang out with us. He made $12 million. He's looking for $800. I remember that. We didn't see him, though, that next night.

Yeah, we were like, all right, well, he's not invited. And the next night, we rip it up in the Big D. Baseball pussies. Well, Teddy must have showed up an hour and a half late. That's probably why I was asking for his name. No, yeah, Teddy and I just thought about it. That was the same skate when on the way to the skate we were getting ready. We were like, all right, man, you're going to go out there

and you're going to practice like you would be to ready if the season starts. And then on the way to the rink in the morning, I'd be gasping beers on the way to the rink in the morning we i'd be gas and beers on the way to skate yeah me me me or me and you and bugsy right bugsy we're like let's have a good skate today boys and like we're just bears in the back seat of the car we're like uh right after this one get this last one down we stopped drinking five hours ago we have to have this other bud light before the skate got loosened up here, boys. Hey, that was the skate where Dan Cleary, so we'll get into Teddy. Teddy is from Newfoundland and a legend from Newfoundland.

Dan Cleary is from Newfoundland. Cleary was so bad in this skate that Keith Yandel after the skate goes, he's like, bear, he's like, bear. Holy fuck, I got bad news. I just heard they're actually scratching your name off the Stanley Cup because they saw how bad you were in that skate. I think it's Dan Cleary, this story, and Jans was sending me pictures. I think I was in Cardiff at the time, and you guys were in Scottsdale having the skate.

And at the time— That was where it happened. It was the Dallas skate where Bear couldn't skate. Right, but then they ended up having one in Scottsdale. Yeah, we went there too. So then... We only went there for a couple of days. I only went there for one day because then, like,

I think the league started pretty soon after that one, didn't it? Yeah, people started panicking at the skates. Everyone was like, holy fuck, pass me the puck. Let me do some one-timers. I think this was around the time where they were going to wrap things up and guys started being aware of it. And it was close to Christmas. Yeah. It was pretty close to Christmas. Yeah.

It was pretty close to Christmas. So at the W. Scottsdale Hotel. Oh, dude, I have to video this. They had artificial ice on top of the pool. It was kind of like a Christmas theme. So Dan Cleary was staying at the W. Scottsdale Hotel. So he went up to his room, got his skates, came down. Oh, way better.

You're off. You're off. Okay, all right, all right. Dude, we were having drinks there. None ofates, came down. Oh, way better. You're off. You're off. Okay. All right. All right. I'll pass it off. We were having drinks there. None of us were staying there. We were having drinks. And next thing you know, Horkoff goes, oh my God, look, look.

And we were, we look, Bear had the rented plastic skates because you could just like go there and skate. And Bear's bombing around looking at us with his ankles bent. And he was like, you're better than you were the whole skates in Scottsdale. And there was people trying to give him pointers. He's a legend. Dan Clear is a legend. There were civilians.

Yeah, and he's like, what do I do? They're like, bend your knees a little bit, buddy. This guy's won a Stanley Cup, like top six pick. Oh, man. Teddy, if Tampa Bay struggles, if they don't manage to get past Washington, do you think John Cooper's job will be in jeopardy or what? Oh, wow. Holy fuck. All right. Putting you on the spot. Where did that come from? I don't manage to get past Washington. Do you think John Cooper's job will be in jeopardy or what? Oh, wow. Holy fuck.

All right. Putting you on the spot. Where did that come from? I don't know. I like it. Come off the top rope seat. I don't know. I think Eisenman's so patient and he takes his time.

And, like, sometimes he makes the crazy moves and then they end up working out. So he's smarter than all of us and we all look like idiots. But I think he'll be patient maybe another year. I think he just signed him with a three-year extension or something. But, I mean, that team is built to win now. So, I mean. I don't think he's going anywhere. I don't think he's going anywhere.

I get the sense that he's not going anywhere. I think he's a good coach. I think he's got a cockiness to him that a lot of good coaches have. You almost need to have because you can tell he's confident in every decision he makes. I'll play devil's advocate though, Teddy. He tells you oh yeah, he's not afraid to mix it up.

He used to get mad when we wouldn't invite him to team Christmas parties and shit. It was like, Coop, this is a team. You're the coach. We don't do that. You're like, why? He didn't understand it. You're like, why? He didn't understand it. Okay, but let me play devil's advocate here, though.

I mean, Backstrom's not playing for Washington. I think they have a superior team. I think they've got a better back end. I think their goaltending's pretty much at par. And I think they have better forwards in the lineup. If he doesn't get it done this year, you don't think he's getting the ax? They're going to give him another year? There's no way he gets axed.

Boys, I've seen coaches get fired with longer term. I know. That's true. Well, Julian. I mean, they're always right there in the regular season, but they're struggling in the playoffs the last couple years. He's been there for probably six or seven years now, and they're built to win now.

Like, they had this point coming up who's a fucking stud. You're like, where did this guy come from? But he's still on, like, an entry-level deal, so they're going to have to make some moves. So their time is, like, now or next year, I feel like. Yeah, I mean, I agree with that. It's not coming to a close, but it's where it needs to be right now because, like you said, when point needs to get paid, everything changes.

Same with Kucherov. His contract's up next year, too, or something. And he's built. That guy's going to get paid. He's so good. I know. Hey, so quickly, I want to go back away from current. I want to go away from current because we've talked about Russia

and we've talked about the AHL, but I don't think people necessarily realize how good of a player you were. Do you have a favorite NHL moment? Do you have an NHL moment in 30 years when you're hanging with your buddies that you'll think back of as maybe one of your best games you ever played or best seasons, things like that? Yeah, I think the playoffs were the most fun. Obviously the stories and dinners with the boys,

but that's never going to change. But hockey-wise, there's a couple actually like so i first got to la and we're playing against the wings and they were stacked back there they're like 10 all famers so i'm like at the red line like right before the three on two and i'm just like i'm like just staring at them i thought i was the only person on the ice you know i was just like lost in my own world all of a sudden my ankle like goes in i'm like fuck what's that i missed like two three-on-twos. Dustin Brackenhover took a slap shot at my foot.

He's like, hey, wake up. We've got to play these guys in 10 minutes. Stop staring. I'm like, sorry, sorry. I took a couple of high steps and went and shot a puck. I was so nervous. That's like when I used to watch Lindstrom. I used to watch him skate under the ice and what he did,

and I was just staring. I'm like, I've got to go warm up. Jesus Christ, it's time to play the game the ice and what he did, and I was just staring at him like, I gotta go warm up. It's time to play the game. That's exactly how I felt. Probably my best game, I don't know what my best moment was. We were playing against your B's in Tampa when they beat us 1-0 or they beat us 1-0 in game 7.

We were playing in Tampa. I can't remember what game it was, but I scored two, I don't talk about myself in hockey a lot, but I scored two nice ones in one shift. I had to get back to the bench and I had to get a fucking gas mask because it was like 7,000 degrees in Tampa.

I had to get the oxygen mask and I'm like blacking out. I panicked. I didn't know what just happened. Now, Ted, you just mentioned the game seven. I'm glad you brought it up so I didn't sound like the total homer once again,

but was that one of the best, like, just pure hockey games you ever took part in? I know you came on the wrong side, but just from a pure hockey perspective, was that one of the best just pure hockey games you ever took part in? I know you came on the wrong side, but just from a pure hockey perspective, was that one of the best? That was. That was the best game I've ever been a part of. Not one penalty.

It wasn't a penalty? Not one penalty in game seven. That must have been incredible. I remember watching it. It was insane. For a 1-0 game, it couldn't have been any better. Yeah. I played with Andrew Ferentz in Edmonton,monton we we talked about it too he's like dude remember

that game seven he's like that was like probably the best game i was ever part of too like just back and forth good goalies the brunes were so tough too they're beating the shit out of us that fourth line was pretty incredible was that when they had paillet line yeah thornton and campbell right yeah thornton campbell and paill Yeah, Thornton, Campbell, and Pye. Oh, and going back to last podcast, I forgot to mention that seventh guy from Welland, and it was Dan Pye, and he won a cup with the Bees. So I forgot to mention him, so I apologize for that. Now, Teddy, we're not going to name names of who the guy was,

but the funniest story that you ever told me was when you guys were in Buffalo and it was late in the game and you had two girls meeting you in NYC. So I'm going to let you take over there. We're not going to name names, but we're going to tell a story. All right. So we're, yeah, we're, this is what I missed in Russia too.

Like we were, I was single at the time, playing in Buffalo, but we're going to New York after we had a day off the next day. And it was this girl's birthday. So they were flying into New York

to meet us. Like classy move had champagne and like strawberries sent to a room like a good dude. Me and this other guy on my team

were like giggling all excited just to get out of Buffalo and go beat them after the game. And it was, it was one to one with like a minute and a half left.

Keep in mind, you've never played a shift together all season yet. Exactly. So the coach just throws us out there at the end. So me and him looked at each other and we're like, oh shit, the closers are going out together. Let's get this done. Because both these guys are prepared to meet these girls. Because both these guys are prepared to meet these girls. Because both these guys are prepared to meet these two girls

because she was bringing her friend. And then it was like I stole the line, but we come down. He makes an unbelievable pass to me. I go fake shot, throw a backdoor to him. He taps it in. I'm like, let's fucking get the plane. We don't go to overtime here. We don't have time for that.

They're like the closers. We're on the bench on the bus. Like's fucking get the plane. So we don't go to overtime here. We don't have time for that. They're like the closers. We're on the bench on the bus, like tricking bears in the back. Like send the closers out next game. Which leads me to a very similar hockey story. And this is one's in Phoenix with like when they had like their heyday with like Talk It. Phoenix's heyday. They won 25 games that year. Jesus, tough crowd. It was when J.R. Kachuk and those guys were there

And they had a similar situation They had a day off the next day And they all had the last flight out A commercial flight That night after their game And at the time they were playing downtown So sure enough Whoever they were playing tied it up late

And they're like, oh, fuck. And they even had a police escort ready to go for them right from the rink to the airport. Overtime's an extra 20 minutes, though. An extra 20 minutes because they used to flood before the overtime's in. So apparently, Kachuk, the other team tied it and there was

little time left. He looked down the bench. He's like, don't worry, because everyone's all rattled on the bench. He's like, don't worry, boys. I got this one. He went out there and scored that shift. Like, just took the puck in his own end, went down, scored. And after the game, they're like, hey, like, you have media because you just scored the overtime winner. And he's like, uh-uh, we got to go.

We got a plane to catch. Right to the fucking police escort, right to the plane. And they fucking went and partied in Vegas that night. I love those stories. That's what I miss about playing the most. Those things are hilarious. And they never get old. The dinners, too.

Oh, my God. The dinners are great. And, like, I miss it so much. I just might start playing men's league, but then, like, the dinners will be at Applebee's and shit. Teddy, just to go back to that KHL for a minute, there was a lot of chatter online. I know there was one Russian columnist who tweeted big tweets to him

about possible conspiracy in the KHL. Now, you played in the league this year. Did you feel that the league was really rigged toward one team? It's Scott. Scott, right? Okay. Yeah, it's so corrupt. It's hilarious.

It's for sure corrupt. We played that team, and it was actually a good game. They ended up beating us 3-2, but the penalties were like – they had like 15 power plays. It was almost funny on the bench. There was an icing. All the guys on our team would stop because the hand was up, and the next thing you know, Scott players are still skating.

The guys – we stop at the red line because it's thought it's going to be an icing. The guys are buzzing down, getting the puck, scoring. They're waving off icings last second for them. Do you fear for your life that you're talking about this and maybe that, like, Russian spies are going to... Sometimes I do. Because, like, we're pretty hard on the KHL. You ever think they're just going to be like,

all right, fuck it, send the troops over and then... Yeah, they killed those people in England. Like Jason Bourne shit? We must take out... You got to get rid of Whitney. Well, we talked about how nice the girls were, so we're not, like, totally all of them. They're Abercrombie shirts.

If I get killed by a guy with an Abercrombie shirt from Russia, that's, like, a tough way to go out. With frosted tips, too. With frosted tips, yeah. But it's, like, he, like, gels his bangs. He just, like, gels his bangs straight down his head so his bangs are, like, almost touching his nose. So, but the team who everyone thought was rigged for ended up losing, though, right? Yeah, they lost. Yeah, they lost. That was good.

Because, I mean, it sucks for a guy like you playing, you know, you're busting your balls trying to win. And then the team who beat him lost, too. Yeah. Yeah, the team, I can't remember what team won. Kazan. Kazan won, I think. Kazan won, yeah, yeah.

With Andre Markov, former Montreal Canadian. They had a few North Americans on that team, that Justin Azevedo. Yeah, he's sick over there. I know. I played with him in the minors and he was pretty good back then. This was like 12 years ago, probably. Over there, we played him one time. Who's this guy buzzing around? I know, it's

crazy. You can't understand the names on the back of the jersey. There's so much shrapnel on the jersey. You're like, where'd they stick the name on this thing? So when I was over there, the one guy, shrapnel in the jersey. You're like, where'd they stick the name on this thing? So when I was over there, the one guy, Panarin was still there, and I was like, this guy's going to be insane. This guy's so sick. Is there a guy you saw this year that we'll be hearing his name in a couple years?

There's this one kid on, no, I don't know any of their names. I don't even know any of the team names. No, there is some really skilled guys. Oh, go ahead. I don't know any of the team names No there is some like really skilled guys But when he's like I don't know any He shoots left he's like 18 he had like 8 goals In the playoffs or something people were talking about him Remember that Nick

Nick Cushion or whatever Nick Cushion or whatever The guy used to play in Dallas I feel like there's some borderline cusp guys Who are like NHL AHL caliber like a guy like Nigel Dawes. I feel like there's some borderline cusp guys who are like NHL, AHL caliber, like a guy like Nigel Dawes or a guy like Kevin Dallman, and they go over there and they just flourish.

They light it up. And they're making like $3 million, $4 million tax-free. That's way more than they were ever going to make playing over here, and their style of game fit in over there. Exactly, and if people enjoy it over there, it's a good way to make some good money and take it back. I don't think, for me personally, it wasn't worth it. I'm a pretty skinny guy anyways.

I was depressed. I lost 15 pounds. I had to get my parents to come over because they'd talk me off the ledge. I was like, dude, I'm not doing the same. I made my parents come at different times, so it wasn't like one trip with both of them. I was like, Mom, you come then. Dad, you come then. I need help so they i was gonna say after all said none was it worth it but apparently it wasn't if

no i mean i mean i actually think i was only there for four months yeah it was worth it like listen it's just it was such a culture shock and like i'm a chatty guy obviously like three of us haven't shut up in an hour but uh like i couldn't even have a conversation over there like i went one time i sat at the bar like no english get my food like or if i went i had a steak and salad and like uh rice so then i'm like trying to order dessert like pointing at shit after my meal my beer like 15 minutes after my beer they brought me out a baked potato i'm like i was like can you get some icing for that? That looks delicious. They're like, yeah, take some ice cream with it.

You're like, what the fuck? I know, like, get me out of here. But the life experience is good. I mean, you can always, like, learn from that type of shit, I suppose, right? Yeah, for sure. I mean, I went to China. I'd probably never go to China, but they have a team. Like, we had a break.

I went to Dubai. Belarus is actually a cool country, too. David Thiem in Helsinki. To sleep. It was cool. Yeah. But it was kind of cool to see those things. But, I mean, it would have been cool for like a half hour,

now it's for like four months. Yeah. Teddy, I mean, what else do you guys have to talk about? We pretty much dragged yourself to the finish. I asked you to come on. We asked you to come on for 20 minutes. That's what we always do. Suck in.

You're the best, buddy. I think we just got a three-part episode out of this. Teddy, you know what you have to do is maybe you come to New York City and we're here. You come to Boston. We need a little sit-down, do this in person. That would be perfect. Yeah, I'd love that. Maybe play some golf.

I know. I miss you, buddy. Thanks so much. I'm coming out to Boston. I got a wedding. Mark Fane is getting married out there. So I'm coming out to Boston. I got a wedding. Mark Fain's getting married out there. When? June 29th.

Yep. Are you in town? I'm in town. We'll be maybe swinging the wrenches and then getting after it. Tell Fain to give me an invite. I will. Teddy, you're the best, buddy. Thank you so much. Thanks again to Teddy. That was a blast.

Grinnelli, who's up next? What's the next interview we got? We have Keith Yandel and Kevin Hayes. We paid a visit to Keith Yandel's house that time. And not shocking that those two are probably having the two best years of their career, I think. They're the best. So, I mean, you experienced them hazy with Goudreau on your couch. That was the first time you'd met him?

Yeah. Well, I know Kev a little bit years ago when he was younger. But, yeah, him and Keith Yandel's connections just top notch, the stories they tell. So we went over to their house. And I think this was probably the one that at least I hear most about. People love this interview with these two clowns. I guess you get a little Lundquist wrench talk in there too.

So people want bananas for that. So here's Kevin Hayes and Keith Yandel at Keith's mansion. Thanks for the money. As if Hank isn't gifted enough already. Yeah, exactly. This interview was brought to you by OMAX. Guys and gals, we know everything's a fast-paced environment now. Everything's 24-7

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You might be wondering how does this all work with one little supply. It's all the alpha and omega. Check it out again go to omaxboost.com slash chicklets for 60 off one month supply plus free shipping and a 60-day money-back guarantee omax.com slash chicklets terms and conditions terms and conditions do apply but man i i kind of wish i could go back in time, actually train and put down the booze, and be put in a situation where I could fucking interview teams about taking me. That's a fucking joke.

You think if you put the bottle down for a summer, you'd be having JT discussions? Dude, you would have had to get a new bottle made of Superman stuff and put down the usual booze bottle and gotten a new pair of hands and a new pair of feet via surgery to even be considered. You don't have the Michael Jordan mic stuff from Space Jam. Give me two summers. Give me two summers of

training with Sidney Crosby. I bet you I'd get back in the league. It's not a stretch to think he might double his salary, too. I mean, he only made five and a half last year. I mean, look at what Ilya Kovalchuk just signed for. Six and a quarter. He's 35 years old.

Three-year deal with the Kings. I mean, whoever signs Tavares, he's got to be looking at at least, what, fucking $10 million anyways, no? Minimum. Minimum. Yeah. You think of minimum, Keith? Yeah.

Quickly, Hazy. I don't want to get him involved with tampering. He ain't going to Florida. No, don't chirp. He's just not going there. But, Hazy, your Ranger Islanders, you know the rivalry. What's it like playing against him? What makes him so good? So we only play against him twice, but he's impossible to defend.

You saw those goals he scored this year. But, yeah, I mean, he's making 10 minimum. If I had to guess, it's either the Islanders or San Jose, I think. You think he's going to the Sharks? Yeah, I do. I mean, they're nasty, and I heard they have a ton of cap, and I heard he – I don't really know him at all, but he's a low-key guy.

It's a low-key organization. This might be a dumb question. Is Joe Thornton up for contract this summer? Yeah, he is. Jumbo is my guy i i think jumbo was probably in that meeting just a just a hunch uh and he might take a lot less money if they can somehow lure him in because i think joe thornton's made what like 150 fucking million in his career and he probably just wants to put his name on the cup so he's like hey he's gonna wait to make his

decision based on what chavaris does if he doesn't come over i the cup, so he's like, hey, he's going to wait to make his decision based on what Traveris does. If he doesn't come over, I say that Thornton's like, okay, well now I want my seven. Is that how I say his name, Traveris? Is it Tavares or Traveris? Travares. Oh, fuck, I'm going to be getting ripped for saying his name wrong. Well, Ari and Hazy are saying different things.

Tavares? Travares. Tavares, not Tra. T-A, not T-R. More than a woman. Yeah, but we don't really get shit right on this podcast. Names, numbers, stats. We're not big on that.

Anyway, I think that Joe Thornton is going to wait to see what he does. And if Tavares comes over, I think Big Joe is going to take a little bit of a pay cut. What do you think, Keith? I actually hate to agree with you you but i think that sounds a little bit you know like it makes some sense but um i think i i think it's either san jose or uh florida florida's in the mix well hopefully after this show he is and i'll pj out there to see him yeah and biz will be like oh the team's paid for you to PJ. Actually, quick funny story about Biz. I did an ad for

Spitting Chickens the other day for Drink Aid, which is a thing you drink to not get hung over. First text I get from Biz, dude, that was a great ad. What are they paying us for that? I was like, I don't know, dude. That's up to the ad department. I don't know. He's like, oh, that's fine. I'm just

looking to find out. Yeah, but we're starting to add him to the stories now. I don't know. He's like, oh, that's fine. Let's try it. I'm just looking to find out. Yeah, but we're starting to add him to the stories now. Yeah, exactly. I feel like we're monetizing the fuck out of our account. That's how you make the dough. I know we didn't make Keith money, but we might start making Keith money. I'm in a Keith house right now, and it's made out of Keith money. Hazy, what are you hoping to get, Hazy? Like $3 million a year?

What? Dude, he had 28 goals this year. Oh, my God. He can't even answer it. I'll answer it for him. He's got to make at least five a year. $3 million, Biz. I'll give him five of mine to come outside.

He's not fighting every night like you. Hey, Keith, give us a bit. What was it like to play with Biz? I did at the beginning. You were with him for a while. Yeah, I mean, I was seeing it all from him. I mean, literally, first day into the shower, he's like, Yeah, what's up, dude?

Can I live with you? I'm like, hey, I'm Keith. Nice to meet you. And then, yeah, obviously didn't let him live with me because I'm not a complete mutant. No, honestly, Biz is probably like top 300 favorite teammates. I got a story for you, Fox and Hazy. You can attest to this because you play with the hands. I'm shocked that I'm actually friends with this guy because of this story.

So speaking of showers, this fucking guy, you know how the team supplies you razors and they're those big plastic blue razors with the one blade And you bring them home you like steal them all prison no losers. No, I would never You I wouldn't give one to my worst enemy Keith with that big thick beard He has right now he would fucking use those on his face and my jaw dropped when I was in the shower I couldn't believe my eyes and I asked myself. I'm like you use those things like did you forget your razor and he's like no and and this guy's just going at his face without doing it carefully

then the worst part about it is this fucking guy once he's done his face he goes right down to his junk and he finishes off with his junk which is a two two stroke penalty because one he's using one of those one blade bick razors to shave his junk which i mean a two-stroke penalty because, one, he's using one of those one-blade Bic razors to shave his junk, which, I mean, clearly he doesn't care about his dick and sack. And, two, the motherfucker's shaving his nutsack in the team shower. That's got to be some

sort of fine. No, dude, I'm not doing it at my house. How is that a fine, dude? I mean, that's the team... By the way, it's usually the visitor's room. Who cares about the other team's arena? It's like shaving your chest at a hotel. It looks like you shaved the teddy bear, and then you leave it there. We're going to have to get feedback from the fans on this about shaving your nutsack. Yeah, people are going to decide to shave their nutsack in a visiting arena.

Let's voice a reason, Hazy. Hey, so Keith was, what are you, a year and a half with us? I swear to God, whenever I saw Keith or Mark Stahl, they would team up. Whenever I saw them coming in the shower, I would get out of the shower, wait for them to finish, and go back in because they would just torture me in the shower because I have this hair on my lower back. Oh, you got a little soul patch in your back there? Why won't he shave?

Me and Stolzy call it the ass toque because it looks like his ass has a winter hat on and Canadians call it a toque. So it's an ass toque. It looks like a welcome mat on the back of his... No joke, they would come into the shower. I'd see Stolzy come in and I would say, all right, this will be fine.

This will be fine. And then I hear a stupid voice coming in being like, what's up, boys? And then I'd be like, all right, I'm out of here. I would literally stand outside of the shower. Shampooing your hair. You're like, I'm fucking out. Until they finished. And then one of them would leave and they would fake leave.

And I'd get back in the shower and they'd come running back into the shower. And I'm like, this is fucking brutal. And it literally went on for the whole year. Hey, I'm a shower guy, too. Another shower story is I'd be putting on my clothes because this guy would be getting rubbed down for 10 hours. And I would be one of the last to leave the rink. And I'd be walking out with my street clothes on after my shower. And he'd be like, no, you have to take your clothes off and come shower with me because I need someone to talk to.

You have to take your clothes off and come shower with me because I need someone to talk to. So I'd have to get undressed and go in the fucking shower and watch this guy shave his nuts with a one-bit razor. He still does that in the summers. Still. I'll be rushing to a tea time. But those are some of the best conversations you've ever had. I'd literally rather get donkey kicked in the nuts than take a shower by myself. All right. How do you feel about this?

I'm just, I'm just entertained by it all. Like I said, I didn't, I never really had the, I mean, my locker room experience is just fucking basketball in high school about 30 years ago. So I didn't, you know, you guys, it is funny though. Cause like, I don't think people realize how much time you guys actually do spend in the shower.

When you accumulate all the time all the road trips all the time you spend together you probably spend more time in the shower than your significant other no doubt in college it's funny in college when everyone went by me and all they covered up everything except for their wrench and i named every single guy on bu by his wrench too too. They covered up their feet and everything else. I was like, Sully, Roachie, Diamond, Offiero. Just naming them. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. You're like, oh, you tried to throw me off with the shave job.

I'm like, oh, yeah, dude. You have a covered wagon. That's a Canadian like biz. Oh, you grew up your fozy to try to tick me. No, it's bad. It's the locker room talk. The locker room talk. Yeah, it's forced to get transplanted. Just to fucking try to throw you off. Just to ruin your tick me. No, it's bad. It's the locker room talk. The locker room talk. Yeah, it's forced to get transplanted

just to fucking try to throw you off. Just to ruin your own life. Who's got the biggest wrench among you guys? You play a bit. And who historically, like, out of the legends,

who's got the biggest in league history? Taylor Pyatt, a weapon. Whoa. Okay, on three. I know who you're going to say, but me and Biz, yeah. One, two, three.

Hanky. Hey. He does not look that good with a wrench. Lundquist? Lundquist? Oh, that motherfucker. That guy. Oh, God.

These handsome guys get it all, man. Now, wasn't Jim McKenzie like that fighter from long ago? Wasn't he supposedly like the biggest schlong ever? He wants to come on the podcast. Apparently, I think Donor told me about this guy. He said he has a fucking baby's arm holding another baby's arm. They said it was

so big he used to show all the wives. Hey, the old Rolex around the rest, hey, you see me doing what? Holy shit. I think we hit our cock talk limit. Yeah, I was going to say, this is a hockey podcast, and there actually was a pretty significant trade since our last show. Carolina sent Noah Hannafin and Elias Linton.

Man rocket, Noah Hannafin. Agreed. Agreed. Handsome as shit. And he just got a sleeve tat, which makes him even hotter. I know. Well, no, you stay as hot as you are, but it brings in a different demographic of chicks that are like, oh, tattoo guy, I'm going to whack him.

But he's absolutely yoked, and he's a man rocket, and he's tatted up, and he's fifth overall pick. We're going to have to get the scouting report on his dick. I'll give it to you. What about his dick, though? All right, so going back, we'll take that take two. Again, Noah Hannafin, Elias Lindholm to Calgary. Going back to Carolina, his Dougie Hamilton traded yet again.

Michael Furland in the defensive prospect. Adam Fox, who plays at Harvard. Going back to Carolina. Huge trade. Like I said, this is the second time Dougie Hamilton's been traded, and his GM said, we want guys who want to be here. So you start to wonder what kind of stink is around him. And Noah Hannafin, which we talk about the show all the time,

holding on to your defensive prospects as long as you can. Don't let them go too early. What do you make of the trade? I mean, yeah, I think Noah's unreal. He went fifth overall for a reason. And I think Calgary kind of won that trade. That prospect, though, Fox, is pretty sick. I think he's a Long Island kid.

He ran World Juniors. He ran that USA Power Play. And he's a pretty sick prospect. How do you know about this kid? Easy Bob McKenzie. No, I'm serious, though. Who's his high school coach? He's a stud, and I think he's going to end up being a big –

if Carolina is to win that trade, he'll be a big part of it. I mean, does it feel like they gave up on Hannafin too early or they just didn't want to deal with his contract fight? I don't think they wanted to pay him. I don't think they wanted to pay him. He want to deal with his contract fight. I don't think they wanted to pay him. I don't think they wanted to pay him. He's going to make some big bucks. I don't think they wanted to pay him. By the way, we've talked about the new owner there.

He doesn't want to pay the scouts cell phone bills. He doesn't want to pay a good defenseman big-time money, $5 million, $6 million a year. Is that a true story? Dude, true story. Apparently, the guy's like, I don't need to pay the scouts cell phone bills. And why do scouts need to be scouting at the game? They can watch from TV. So he's trying to, like, change the game.

That's going to be a disaster. I don't know about that. I'm down with the cell phone bills because I'm a cheap fuck. But holy shit. You're like, we pay for my cell phone bill. I'll bring you up in every spit and check this podcast. So think about Dougie Hamilton, though. Like, that's a good player that for some reason, I don't know.

I don't know him, but there's obviously something that's off with him. I don't know if it's the locker room, away from the ice, on the ice. But I mean, for a guy to be that good and two teams are like, all right, see you later. It's just odd to see. So there's obviously something there where teams get sick of him or he gets sick of being there and makes us think. So it's kind of odd to see a good player that good get traded twice this young in his career. I think it's a good move to, I mean, sell him high, right? Because last year he had such a good year.

I think he had what? I think he might have had close to 15 goals, maybe over that. I think he did. I definitely think Calgary wins this trade. I think he did. I definitely think Calgary wins this trade. Hannafin's solidified himself as a top four defenseman in the NHL. With this Fox kid, I know he's a stud,

but you still don't know if it's going to transfer over to the NHL. So it's still a little bit of a gamble. If he pans out, then I guess a lot of the weight of this trade is going to depend on he pans out. Yeah, I mean, Hannafin was an all trade is going to depend on he pans out. Yeah, I mean, Hannafin was an all-star last year. He's a stud. Yeah, I think he had 10 goals, 22 assists, I believe. Let me do the old hockey TV. It wasn't the coast like you went to an all-star game in the coast.

I went to two all-star games in the coast. Hey, what was your gift? What was your gift at those? Did they give you like a AAA discount card? No, they give them nothing. Hey, true story. At the time, the owner for the Wheeling Nailers, like their family had a bunch of money. And they PJ'd me out there with them all the way to Boise, Idaho to go to my first.

What? Same plane as like Major League when they're like, oh, is this us? No, you're coming up here. Bus with wings. Hannafin's still only 21 years old. He's very young. I mean, he hasn't even blossomed yet. I think his best days are ahead of him.

Again, like you said, it's going back to Hamilton. There's something odd there. A weird stat, too, I noticed. They said Noah Hannafin had the same amount of points after his first three years as Dougie Hamilton after his first three years, which is just a coincidental stat. But yeah, this is one, obviously, it's going to hinge probably on how Adam Fox turns out. If he turns out to be a stud, then, you know, this is a trade will probably be best best graded later. And not to pump my own teas, but he did have 10 goals and 22 assists last season. So lick my balls. Yeah, but he did have 10 goals and 22 assists last season.

So lick my balls. Yeah, no one even questioned it. Asked. But I also think with that trade, too, it's – I mean, you're trading two good D-men. It's kind of a one-on-one trade, so it all depends on how both of them do. But I think it would be good for both of them, I think. Yeah, I just – it all depends on Fox. That's a good way to look at it. It's crazy to see that this is when trades happen.

This is the exciting time of the year. So hopefully we get some more of them so we have shit to talk about. Biz, I have a quick question. Looking at you right now in this shirt, what did you do today so far? You look – what is it out there? 6.30? Yeah, I went to – oh, yeah. What have you done today?

Okay, time out so from the minute you woke up tell us your whole day i want to know your day today uh well i i did a lot of uh business stuff this morning you guys are gonna make fun of me that's what i want to know what the fuck is your business stuff well i found us another sponsor for the podcast uh it's gonna be a a company i i can't talk about it on air because it's still like like a non-disclosed kind of thing uh but uh they want me to do a couple infomercials for them personally and then also i'm going to have the guy on the podcast come tell his very cool story about this company started and he's going to buy ad read so fucking hooray for us

money in our pocket good job so what did you do since then? Well, then I usually spend four hours of my day at this new gym that I signed up for. That apparently you guys knew that there's a bunch of them. I didn't know that. But it's called Equinox. And this place is like a strip club on steroids with the fittest women you've ever seen in your life. All working on glute exercises. So I basically just sit there and drool all day. It's all about the glutes.

Oh, they get the band work going. They have personal trainers there. I stretch there for probably two hours a day. I'm as limber as I've ever been right now. And it's a very special place. You got to get the world membership where you can, if you're traveling with the coyotes or whatever, you can go to the Equinox

in that city. We ran into an Equinox in Soho, me, Vese, and Brady Shea. Man Rocket. You guys signed up or did they give you guys free memberships? Listen, man. I'm trying to tell a story. I'm excited.

Brady Shea is my number one Man Rocket for sure in the whole NHL, I think. But so we walk in and we have no idea if we can, hey, here's $25. Can we come in for the day? We have no idea. Luckily, our boy Jerry was there. He noticed who we were. Huge Rangers fan.

He's like, hey, you guys can come whenever you want. Thinking that we weren't going to come that often. And we were like, all right, sounds good. Got his number. Literally went for the next, like, all right, sounds good. Got his number. Literally went for the next two weeks. It was right after the season. Staying in shape, obviously. You guys brought lawn chairs and just sat there with street clothes on.

Coolers. No, no. And so we were having this huge debate there, the three of us, because there is absolute smokes just walking around this gym. And it's like you're never going to see these people ever again. And I heard that it's not kosher to go up to a girl at the gym. I would never do that in a million years. When's there a gym police?

No, our big debate was, do you think it's okay? Do you think it's okay to go introduce yourself yourself not creepily at equinox but go say hello to someone and be like hey we should go get drinks but i only would walk up with brady shea though because there's no yeah i'm gonna say no to him yeah send him over uh okay so here's the good news about me joining the vancouver one i've been told by people to join it so i'll run into like hot girls that are like dating my buddies so like so like when you're like talking to other girls at this gym automatically it's like surrounding yourself with girls at the bar where like girls are like okay these guys aren't creep

they have girls around as opposed to you yeah we a we didn't go up to anyone because we debated it the whole time nor did we have any girls with us and they had their bar clothes on yeah i mean i definitely have to evaluate the situation. If I was getting, like, I fucked and I'd be like, hey, what's up? Like, have we ever met? That's a good lead in, but I definitely, have you done this before? You look like my future ex-wife. Have you seen my Halloween tattoo on my forearm?

Hey, do you like foreskin or not? I'm just going to throw it with you. I mean, weigh your options. But now let me go back to the first time. do you like foreskin or not? I'm just going to, I'm just going to throw it with you. I mean, weigh your options, but now let me go back to the first time I was recommended to go there. So I like stroll in, you got to like meet with a fucking real estate agent to like, you know,

sign up your, your, all your membership stuff. But she's like, let me give you a walkthrough. We walked up the stairs. I'm like, okay,

good. Where do I sign? I didn't even get to go to these like different class areas. I just, I was like, I was good. Where do I sign? I didn't even go to these different class areas. I was sniffing the bench seats after fucking reps. And she's like, sir, I think we should go sign the paperwork. Did you – be honest. Did you try to finagle like a little off the membership? Here's an even crazier story.

The girl who was signing me up when we went back downstairs she's like oh like we've like partied together and and i don't i i believe that i had a crazy night in victoria one time and i believe that we'd you know i don't need to explain the rest so the girl signing me up and and she's like i I'm going to have you give me 100 extra because you were two minutes. I did not try to finagle her because I believe I'd already finagled her. Nice. Oh, oh. That doesn't show.

I'll just leave it at that. Now, I may be wrong, but she said it like, oh, yeah, like we've partied before. And I'm like, oh, God, that night? Oof, okay. Well, there's a fair chance that, yes, we've swapped saliva.

Nice. Tonsil hawk. So, yeah, that's all I got. Boys, boys, boys, before we continue, I need to tell you that this podcast is brought to you by Tommy John. Tommy John, the men's and women's cool cotton underwear, keeps you two to three times cooler. Two to three times?

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All right, another thing I want to get into after all the Equinox talk, the new Jim Biz didn't know about. It's been around for 15 years. Golds. Rick Nash. Both of these guys play with him in New York. Said today that he's not sure if he'll even be playing next year. We know he had some concussion issues before he got one with the Bruins.

I know both you guys are real tight with him. What kind of guy is he? What has he meant to you guys when you've played with him? What's going on with his health, do you think? First of all, I love Nasher. He's one of my all-time favorites. He's a good gol uh golfer yeah really good i got a good golf story after um but yeah i remember that one in um no yeah great guy

unbelievable player i uh really really hope he plays um you know even if it's not in florida somewhere else i just think his presence in the league's awesome. I think he's a – Phoenix has a meeting with him, a two-hour long meeting. Skype. Yeah, no, he's a great guy. Yeah, I just really hope he plays again just because I love him. Yeah, Nash is – I probably have a list of five people that are all the same on my list and he's he's definitely on that list he's an unbelievable guy who's your list uh it's a tough one it's a tough one uh i would have to

oh he didn't make it it's awkward he didn't make the list keith is one easily uh nash was 1a uh johnny hockey is three i've never met him or party with him he seems like a fucking awesome guy he's unbelievable johnny follow me on twitter johnny ham and cheese he is unbelievable dude what a nickname dude you want to know how he got that nickname hey okay well yes tell the story okay so we go to this sushi place in Milton where we live, Best Sushi Around. And we go in there one day, we're like, hockey, you're eating sushi. He's like, no, no, no, dude, this kid, he eats like a kid. He eats like a legitimate seven-year-old.

So there's a sub shop across the street that probably nobody's been in 10 years. He walks in there, gets a ham and cheese sub, playing nothing on it, comes back into the sushi restaurant, gets a ham and cheese sub, playing nothing on it, comes back into the sushi restaurant, eats his ham and cheese. Shut the fuck up. At Ichiro. Johnny ham and cheese. He brought a ham and cheese sub into Ichiro and ate it in there? Yep.

And wouldn't try any of the sushi? No. No, wouldn't even look at it. Witt's reaction right now is he didn't be alive. We were at school. We were at BC. They had this buffet for us before games. And he didn't like, he doesn't eat like red sauce. He just does pasta and butter.

That's it. Like nothing else. But the meatballs came, but they were already in the container and there was red sauce on them. So you know exactly where Johnny sat at the table, even if you didn't eat with him, because you would come and he would take his meatballs. Hold this.

Hey, hold this. He would take his meatballs in his napkin and rub it around like this. To get the red sauce off! No way. Until all the sauce was out. And then he would pick out the bread, like the inside of the bread, and shove his meatballs into this tiny little roll. And that's what he would have before games.

Oh, my God. This guy, he's not even human. No. At least he's not crossing the sauce. It's like Ovechkin, though. That's true. Dipping the fucking marinara one in the Alfredo. That's fucking piece of shit stuff.

Hey, so I never told you the story about Gordo. Because when I first started playing with Gordo, I'm like, hey, what's Ovechkin like when he came over? And he's like, oh, awesome guy, everything. And he's like, it drives me a bit nuts how he crosses the sauces, though. And I'm like, what? And he's like, yeah, pregame meal. He'll dunk the fucking marinara one in the Alfredo.

And he crosses the sauces. And it's rolled Gordo up the fucking wall. Gordo gets mad if the ref doesn't drop it. So he used the same spoon for both. Yeah, that's not right. For both, when there was one for each. Of course. Hey, quickly, we got to get back.

I need this Rick Nash golf story because you both left. Well, there's two Nash golf stories. You can tell the one that we went. I'll tell the other one. Go ahead. All right, so it was Paul Keery's birthday Right before training camp And

We get an invite to go play Fisher Island Which is like number Number like six or number nine It's like one of the It's by far the best course You gotta take a boat there They wouldn't even let you on the boat No joke

It's one of the nicest courses in the world And Nash was like an avid golfer and he's like all right to vise who is not a golfer he golfed three times at this point he's probably played five rounds of golf total and his harvey connection gets us out there and nash was like hey if you get us on the course i'll get us there i'll get us back whatever whatever so nash would text us he's like hey hey, if you get us on the course, I'll get us there. I'll get us back, whatever, whatever. So Nasher texts us. He's like, hey, 645 West Side Highway, AM. A helicopter comes, picks us up. Nasher's paying for everything.

Picks us up, flies us to Fisher's Island. We land on Fisher's Island, play 18, eat lunch, play another 18. Dream day. Yeah. Helicopter picks us up back. But, like, Nasher loves golf,ter picks us up back. But, like, Nasher loves golf and we're trying to figure out,

like, who's going to play with who because we're playing with a couple. It was me, Brady Shea, Paul Carey, Vese, Nasher, and then Vese's buddy who got us out there,

Penn, and Penn's dad and Penn's dad's buddy. And we're figuring out, like, hey, like, You guys have a school bus? Yeah. We're figuring out

who's going to play with who. And Vese, like, literally is not a golfer at all. This is the nicest course. He's playing with the member who got us out there. He slept in the member's cart. He slept in the cart for a whole 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. Didn't participate in it.

Not slept. Fell asleep. Not just sat there or slept. Fell asleep. Not just sat there or slept. Fell asleep. So a member of Fishers Island was driving around with this asshole kid sleeping in the cart? Yep. Was it the first 18 or the second 18? That's a fair question.

Second. Oh, you guys played 36? I mean, I've never played more than one round a day. You couldn't pay me to do that. I think nine holes is the perfect amount, by the way. 12. But I'm going to lean towards that's okay, considering it was the second 18.

First 18, unacceptable. Yeah, I think it's acceptable at a municipal course, but if you're at Fisher Island, like... Was he drinking? It's not that comfy A golf cart Like who sleeps in a golf cart? It might add nice ones dude Does VZ sleep

By the way You know Keith Yandel's dad biz Not lying Sleeps in the ocean While He'll still Buddy Yandel Goes in the ocean

And like the manatee he is Falls asleep While floating in the ocean Only way he wakes up Is if a wave comes over his head. I'm not kidding you. I never believed it. I went down to Marshfield.

How could you relax yourself enough? All right, could you relax yourself enough in the ocean and trust that you wouldn't maybe drown when you fell asleep? All right, I can't swim. Oh, you can't swim, all right. Fuck you, Wits, man. I'm like fucking Johnny Weissmuller out there. Ask a millennial.

Dude, Charleston has the best public parole, so he might be a good swimmer. Yeah, I'm like fucking Johnny Weissmuller out there. Ask a millennial. I'm not a great swimmer. Are you a great swimmer already? Yeah, I'm actually a pretty good swimmer. Yeah, I think that's a great spot. If you're comfortable in the water, you're not a pussy and afraid of sharks, then you can easily zonk out in the water. Because then if you're drunk and you pass out, you're going to wake up right away when you hit the water.

He's not on a float. He's just laying on his back, not on a float. That's even more impressive. If you could just lay there and do like the dead man's float, right, Keith? Yeah, but face up. R.A., you ever go to Bunker Hill Community Pool? Oh, you mean up the top of the hill? Yeah.

Oh, yeah, the bunker? You used to have the best diving board in the world. I went there as a kid all the time. It's a 16-footer. Yeah, it was unreal. Yeah. It was all after hours because you'd sneak in the back fence and drink beers and shit up there late night and then get chased by the cops and shit. That's cool, breaking the law.

R.A. would just chuck a shit in there. Everyone would be like, oh, it's a baby Ruth. Like the joke. No, it was actually R.A.'s shit. No, actually the lifeguard, every year like one lifeguard would get drunk and do that. So like the next day he wouldn't have to work because they have to, like, re-sanitize the whole pool. But, no, it wasn't me, man. No way.

It's just baby. I got it. It's baby Ruth. Boys, I hate to change it to hockey talk, but what are you guys thinking about Kovalchuk coming back? I'm curious to see what he has. I don't know if he's going to have much. This is a different game. Like, I watched the Olympics.

It was slow motion out there, and he was dominating. It's not the NHL. But the reason that I think I'm wrong is because I've been wrong since I started doing this for a living. And, I mean, for them to give him that much money, it's like they obviously know something that maybe I don't. And a bunch of teams wanted him. But still, it's so – what was it, five years ago, R.A. or Grinnelli?

Five years ago he left Kovalchuk? Yeah, 2013. So I was in the NHL 2013. That feels like 15 years ago. So good luck to him. L.A.'s a slow team, so they needed some speed. I don't think he's that fast. But still, you knew he was going somewhere with a good city.

You know, the wife, the money, they have so much. It's like, I'm not going to go play in Columbus. That's why Panarin probably wants out. He's saying he doesn't want out because it's not a big city. But they want to go to nice cities. They're Russian. They don't want to sit in some shithole. They want to spend their money and enjoy the city.

That's why I thought Kovalchuk to Vegas made a lot of sense. But I don't think Kovalchuk will be as good as people think. That's why I thought Kovalchuk to Vegas made a lot of sense. But I don't think Kovalchuk would be as good as people think. That's all I'm saying right now. Maybe 20 goals, maybe 18. 18 to 20 goals. Not 35, 36. Before Jens chimes in here, I think it's such a disadvantage, and people will probably lose it

on me for saying this. It's such a disadvantage for certain cities to try to get free agents, because there's like nope, definitely not not on the list doesn't matter how much they fucking pay you and that's just just a reality of situation and especially when those cities have high tax brackets then you're it's like might as well move the fucking team i thought columbus was like kind of a oh i wasn't sure if in columbus i know but isn't columbus kind of a city Oh, I wasn't sure if it was Columbus. I know, but isn't Columbus kind of a city like... It might not be the number one destination,

but I mean, do players not want to go there, Keith? Or Hazy, one of you? I don't think it's in the bottom of the list at all. You don't? No, I don't. I think any city in the NHL is pretty good. There's a couple, but... That's your fucking political answer, but I wasn't really trashing any city in particular.

I'm just saying that certain cities are better, and they're going to get the free agents. I think they're in the bottom third in where you'd want to go. But, I mean, teams are good now, and they actually have great fans. So, you know, it's not the worst place in the world to play. I don't think he would have signed in L.A. if they had a bad team. No, I don't think so either. I don't think he would have signed in L.A. if they had a bad team. No, I don't think so either. I don't think so either. He wants to win.

I think that Columbus is a good situation because they're relevant. They have a decent squad. You're going to win games. That makes everything different. If you're on a winning team. If you're on a bad team in a shitty city, look out. Oh, yeah. I think he's going to tuck over 30.

Like, the guy is an absolute cannon. You put him on the power play, it's 15 power play goals right there. Okay. I mean, he's going to probably play with Kopitar, too. He's pretty decent. He's okay. Yeah. And you got to – I mean, L.A., this kind of core unit they have,

they're getting older every day, man. I mean, this feels like it might be the last kick that they can for them. Well, R.A., I think we can all agree that they have about a three-year window right now, and that's probably why they signed him for three years. Ideally, two years on that Kovalchuk deal would have been perfect. The extra year was probably like, all right, well, they had to give it to him. But, you know, like they're going to have to pay Dowdy, Kopitar. These guys have logged a lot

of hard miles, and they've made a lot of runs deep into playoffs. I would say the window after about three years is going to close very, very hard. That'll be right when Arizona's is opening, dude. That's what I'm talking about. Hey, can you give us your announcement

as Arizona wins the cup in three years, like as the clock gets to zero? I'm not the play by play guy. I'm just going to be. Hey, but I'm going to be booking the tables that bottle blonde for the bowlers. If you were the if you were the play by play guy, though, I'd be like, holy shit, we just won.

See you next year. Is that a ripper or a snore? That was just a quick snore. He's like, what's the bonus that we got for the playoff game? All right, yeah, I'll see you later. Sign it off. Sign it off. Congrats on the title.

I'm going to Vancouver. I'm on the cop. Does the second radio guy get a ring? Oh, boy. Yeah, for sure. I better get a fucking ring if we win it. Yeah, no ring. The reason we're getting all these free agents after July 1st

is going to be because of the fucking story times with Biz or the pillow talks me and Asher were doing. That was actually pretty funny. Yeah, Biz, you just mentioned free agency opens up Sunday. Teams have been able to talk without a – I up Sunday. Teams have been able to talk. I'm sorry, players have been able to talk, but teams have preliminary talked. But we've been hearing Jack Johnson. Sounds like he's going to sign with Pittsburgh.

They did make a salary dump move. They traded Connor Sherry, Spittin' Chicklets guest, along with Matt Hunwick to Buffalo for a conditional fourth, obviously a salary dump. I mean, if they do sign Jack Johnson, I think he made like four, seven last year. Didn't have a great year. Didn't even play in the playoffs with Scratch. I can't imagine he's going to be looking at a ton of money.

What do you make of those moves, Wits, your former squad? First thing I think of when I think of Jack Johnson is I hope he gets $60 million because the guy fucking lost everything from his parents. It wasn't even some scumbag that rolled you over. It was your parents. Who are you supposed to trust if it's not them? So for him to lose everything and be paying that off, and I don't know exactly

what happened. I hope he gets enough money to be set for life because he deserves it. But you wonder what it'll be for. I don't think it'll be for big money. Him and Sid went to Shattuck-St. Mary together, so they've been buddies for a long time. Maybe that has something to do with it. They're good friends, so we'll see what he can do.

I mean, he was a healthy scratch at times for Columbus. I don't know what kind of game he still has left in terms of top four defensemen or just top six. But either way, I hope that guy gets as much money as possible because that's a bunch of bullshit what happened to him. Rumor has it he's going to be between the $3 and $3.5 million range for five years. I mean, I think term might be a little bit long. I'd imagine that Sid's kind of calling in a favor and saying,

hey, I like this guy. He's going to be good for the room. He's going to be essentially the new Brooks Orpik. I know he was in Washington. I know he was in Washington. Don't give me that look, Whit. The new Brooks Orpik as he got, he was like kind of fading out in Pittsburgh. No, I was

actually just, quickly, this is off subject. We'll get a picture out this to the Instagram and the Twitter. Go grab it, Grinnelli. Be careful. Grinnelli. Be careful. Grinnelli reminded me to just ask Keith about this. So Keith's got a cool little shrine up here.

He's got all his pictures from his Coyotes days. I think he's got a poster up here for his first assist, fifth assist, tenth assist, thirtieth assist. His Everlast boxing glove. Who's that? Muhammad Ali. Ever heard of him? Not a big deal.

He's got a baseball glove that's framed. Who's that? Tom Ali. Ever heard of him? Not a big deal. He's got a baseball glove that's framed. Who's that? Tom Glavin. Tom Glavin. Not a big deal. Told my buddy. Don't even know who that is. He's got his 2010 match.

So he's got a cool. And that picture with Drake. I don't know if that's cool. Oh, yeah. Drake. Yeah. The guy who got ripped up by Pusha T. Right.

Yeah. When he bent him over, it was cool. Well, either way. Either way. I have right here, Biz, and you can see it. A 1998 starting lineup edition of Mario

Lemieux. What is this? Here's the story behind it. Why is it opened? Funny. I get this doll or action figure, whatever you want to call it looks like it'd be worth actually bank until it was opened by somebody yeah so here's the deal i got i got it for my birthday in 19 98 so i was i was 12 yeah 12 years old when i get this thing back then i'm like i'm

gonna keep this in the box have it the rest of my life. You were never going to open it? Never open it. So now I'm like, all right, now I finally have the chance to probably could potentially get it signed by Mario, seeing that we both work in the NHL, not a big deal. And then so one day I'm at my house. It's up there hanging out. I come up to my brother's got three little boys. Oh, shit.

Just mutants. And I come up and there's just shit everywhere, like wrapping paper. I fall to my knees. I'm like trying to put it together like it was like, I don't know. It was a treasure to me. And it was ripped open like that? It was ripped open like a complete animal. So that day, I called my money guy, and I took my godson out of my will.

Hey, question. Did you talk to somebody to see what it would have been worth if it was still completely in the package? I didn't want it to be. I wasn't going to resell it. I just wanted it from... Whoa, whoa, whoa. Time out. Biz, quickly. This is the same... Whoa, whoa wasn't going to resell it. I just wanted it from. Whoa, timeout. Biz, quickly.

This is the same. You called the time. You called the time. Mr. Hypotheticals here. What if, what if you called someone and they said that thing was worth a hundred grand? No,

I wouldn't sell it. And somebody was willing to buy it. What if it was? I wouldn't sell it. Would you sell it? No, not for a hundred grand. I'm going to guess your price to sell it would be like $2 million.

$2.50. $2 million. Yeah, it's $1 million. He has made $60 million. What does he need the fucking $100,000 for, Biz? Your salary with the coyotes. Wait, time out. You're going to keep a fucking action figure when somebody says,

here's a check for $250,000? Yeah, it's Mario. You're fucking nuts, man. It's Mario, Biz. It's just something. It's... Sentimental. Yeah, it's Mario. You're fucking nuts, man. It's Mario. It's just something. It's... Sentimental. Yeah, I had it my whole life. I had it on my shelf as a kid.

I had it on my shelf as an adult. And then... Hazy, Hazy, can you step in here? What would you do if that was your doll? Let's say someone said Hunter Grant. How old am I? Is it Hazy now? Or is it Hazy entering the league?

Let's say it's hazy after he gets his five-year, five million from the New York Lightning Jets. I'd probably sell it for a hundred grand. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. He's a moron. Anyway, move on. Next subject. But I would just take the hundred grand

and then have like a night with my buddies. Yeah, and then buy another action figure. Yeah, well, I'd have Mario sign it, and then me and Mario would go have a night, my buddies yeah and then buy another action figure yeah well i'd have mario sign it and then me and mario would go have a night and i'd keep it and then we'd talk about it i think the the market for that stuff bottomed out ages ago like once people like became hip to the fact things were worth money especially if you didn't open them then that kind of that kind of bottomed out the market on it because it was huge for for a while. I was, you know, I'm old, old enough. Father crew here.

We remember when baseball cards, there was a huge market. I mean, you could buy no one. Ryan rookie card was worth like a thousand dollars at one point. You're lucky. Those things. $20 now.

Oh really? Cause the, the, the, the Onus Wagner, is that the guy from the Pittsburgh pirates? Yeah. Honus Wagner card.

Yeah. Yeah. Like those things are going for more and more every year. And speaking of memorabilia, I did, oh, he's like an old school baseball player. I went and did a speaking engagement

at Herschel, the luggage and backpack company the other day. Never done a speaking engagement in my life. And met the guy who works the shipping part, because he's a huge hockey man you can't even speak i i know but they asked me to come in i was nervous i'm like swearing in front of the staff it was a joke but but i was thankful that they had me and uh speaking of that the shipping guy he has a memorabilia collection that's valued over $3.5 million. He's got any guy you can name who used a wood stick, like Bossy, all these guys.

He's got it in his basement. Insurance companies in Canada wouldn't even insure him. He had to get a company out of Minnesota. So shout out to memorabilia guy. I actually think that one of the coolest things, even though looking back it was pigeon money, when you first get into the league and upper decks like hey come over we'll give you like 3 500 to sign these like 300 cards you're like wait what it took me 10 minutes are you giving me 3 500 that's a night out now you wouldn't do it for 30 grand actually i did and they made me sign it with my Twitter handle.

Stop. I swear to God. Stop. Yep. I signed, I think it was Upper Deck or one of those companies. I called my agent and I'm like, what? They're like, yeah, but they want you to sign it with your Twitter handle. I'm like, fuck, send them over.

$1,500. Whose dick do I got to suck to? Hey, Biz, did anyone in the league ever ask you for one of your sticks signed or no? Oh, yeah. Ah, yes. Danny Heatley. Danny fucking Heatley asked me for a signed stick. All right.

I've asked you. Oh, yeah. You've got to keep going. I would have asked you if I played against you. I got a bunch left over. Hey, but Biz is no joke. I've played with a ton of guys, Hall of Fame guys. He's not the guy who asks for sticks.

No, no. He's the number one guy that I've ever met. Hey, how's Bissonette? How's Bissonette? Every person asks. Every single person. They do. They're like hoping you're like, ah, he's kind of a loser.

Yeah, that's what I say, just so you don't look cool. Hey, speaking of Paul, Paul, he's kind of a loser. Yeah, that's what I say, just so you don't look cool. Hey, speaking of Paul, Paul, tell the story about you and Nat. Oh, I've already told it on this podcast about when I busted her. Not when I busted her, but that story? Yeah, no, you told

it when they busted you, didn't you? Oh, God. You're talking about... Oh, I haven't told that one. When you walked in on... What? Yeah. This one's a dream haunter, boys, and you can vouch. So I'm back home staying with my parents.

It was our family reunion weekend, and I was spending my summers in Vancouver. And my sister and her now husband were back home. And they were staying in her room. So I was in my room room and we were having brunch it was a sunday afternoon so brunch is ready my mom's like can you go get nat and paul i'm like sure so i walk upstairs and i knock on her door and she's like yeah she i yeah she was i was like hey and then she said i think she said yeah yeah so i opened the door and my uh her fucking now husband is just laying into her

yeah i fucking slammed the door i'm like what the fuck i'm like i'm like why did you say yeah like you don't say yeah you say you say don't come in that's your first words out of your mouth not like yeah what's up like come on in if you're just getting real day if you're getting rinsed you do not say yeah i left i left the house i had to go for a walk man he yelled at his mom he was just teeing off on her man what position how do you even say yeah when you're teed off on no joke what position missionary and thank fucking god that the covers were on like half of his back so i saw nothing below the waist but like oh god it was right thanks for bringing it up yeah it's like is she gonna kill you for telling the story or no i never even thought she's hockey guy and chip already sailed no i mean

they're married they got two kids yeah they're they're cool i mean it was a dream haunter it's her fault. She should have done that. That's how we all got here, Paul, right? Exactly. The other big news in the hockey world this week, the Hall of Fame selection committee came back the other day, and they did the right thing.

They inducted Willie O'Ree, thankfully, while he's still alive. In addition to Willie O'Ree, they also selected Martin Brodeur, Martin St. Louis, spitting chicken's gas, not a big deal. Jaina Hefford, who won four Olympic golds with the women's team, won Olympic silver. She must be with Canada, right? Canadian one, yes. A Russian, Alexander Yakushev, who won two Olympic golds.

Actually, I found this quote about him. The best player on that team, the 72 Summit Series, the best player on that team without a doubt was Yakushev. Not Kolomov, not Shreddyak. Yakushev was 6'4", 210, could skate like the wind. He scared us. He reminded me of Bobby Hull, only he was bigger than Bobby. That was said by none other than Phil Esposito,

giving full props to him. And the sixth person elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, none other than Gary Bettman. So, thoughts, gentlemen? Well, we'll leave the players out of that one. Gary Bettman, a little surprising, but, I mean, Jeremy Jacobs is in there. He's done a lot for the league. He's done a lot for the league, yeah.

I think he deserves it. He's got a couple lockouts in the Olympics this year. Yeah, but overall, I mean, he's done something. He paid your bills. Paid my bills. Or Crosby paid my bills, we like to say on this podcast. But Willie O'Ree, about time. About time.

I actually met him this year at NHL Network. I was like, you should be in the Hall of Fame. He's like, I hope so. You know, that would be an honor if they voted me. Just the nicest guy in the world. So happy to get in him. I saw somebody, maybe Grant Fierce, he's the Jackie Robinson of hockey.

What a guy, Fierce. I think Biz should give an opinion on William Reed because you're like a quarter black, Biz. That's fair enough. Yeah, like, I mean, everyone's saying, like, oh, it's about time, for sure. I mean, it was just a matter of time. I'm extremely happy he got nominated,

or what do you say, nominated or voted in? Selected. Selected. Inducted. or is it what you say nominated or voted in selected inducted now my only problem with it is is is doing it on a year that they put betman at the same time because it's completely deflecting all the attention to the negativity about betman getting in i think that if that was the plan put them in next year like like like give will Willie O'Ree and the players the attention that they deserve. And whether you believe Bettman should be in or not, I think he should be in.

He's grown the game to a good place. Unfortunately, with the lockouts, it took a little bit of bullshit. But nonetheless, I think he's done a good job of growing the revenue. But don't fucking put him in the same year as Willie O'Ree, considering that everyone's been waiting for him to get in, and it's such a big deal because he was the first color player. Now the attention's on Bettman. Am I fucking wrong here or what?

I don't know. I think people are going to probably complain no matter who gets nominated or elected, selected, whatever. But I don't know. I think that there's so much of an emphasis on Willie that I don't think that Bettman will take away. I think people will give the obligatory, oh, Bettman, what's he in for? They'll mention the lockouts and then they'll kind of move on. And I mean, speaking of Bettman, revenues went up. I don't have the numbers in front of me. They were somewhere in the hundreds of millions into the billions of dollars.

So you can argue with him all you want. but the success the league has had under his watch, you can't really argue with that. I don't see what the rush was for Bettman. They could have done it. I agree with you, Paul. They could have done it just as easily the next time around. But I think people are just so happy that Willie finally got in because it should have happened, again, ages ago.

And I think people are just happy that it's not another Pat Burns situation where, I mean, Pat Burns knew he was a Hall of Famer when he died, but unfortunately they didn't see fit to elect him to the Hall of Fame before he did die. Listen, I'm not going to complain on Twitter. I'm not going to bitch about it. I just think that, come on, let's take a step back and say, hey, we're throwing Batman in the same year that we're throwing Willie O'Ree in. Everyone's been waiting for Willie to be in it. People have been very vocal online for the past few years about it. And then all of a sudden when they do, it just so happens that Bettman's in the same class.

I feel like they could have just, like, come on. This is like a PR 101. I mean, they do six, seven guys a year it feels like, or some women now. But Martin St. Louis, I just want to mention. I don't know. There's no way he's the only guy, but I would love to know how many guys were put on waivers the way Martin St. Louis was. They ended up getting in the Hall of Fame. That has to be a number under 10, I would guess, if maybe under five.

So an amazing career by him. He actually retweeted somebody who put clips of him at UVM, and he was like, oh, it was a fun time. Basically, the guy said one of the best college players I've ever seen. The best, I think he wrote. Him at UVM, he played with Eric Perrin, who had a little bit of an NHL career. Played in Europe for a while. AHL dominated. St. Louis was sick at Vermont.

And the fact that he went on and had Calgary tell him to take a hike, basically, and then goes on to have the career he did. Pretty cool. Pretty cool to see a guy that went through that to be now a Hall of Famer. And from what I've heard, actually, not only from what I've heard, everyone who played with him loves him. I actually got a DM from him at one point saying, hey, I can help you get out to National Golf Links,

which is a sick course in the Hamptons after he heard me talking about it. Just a good guy. So congrats to Marty St. Louis. That's a legend right there that gets in. And about you being mad about Bettman and Lou O'Ree the same year, there's always six or seven guys go in, so it'll just happen at some point. Oh, I thought it was just bad timing. It could have been a coincidence, but whatever.

I'm a fucking idiot. Who cares? Me and Hazy both got to play with Marty St. Louis. Oh, you? He was my line mate. He was my unreal guy. Oh, Hazy with the little, he was my line mate yeah sick brag um yeah what he's a great guy uh obviously amazing player it's going back to the uvm story i heard

this story that what was the guy's name you said that he played with eric parent eric parent i heard they were supposed to both go to bu or something, and then BU wouldn't let in that other guy, so Marty left BU to go play with him at UVM. You loyal. Yeah. I appreciate you. You loyal. That was before DJ Cavalry, too. Hey, BU, you played yourself.

Call me Billy. Sorry, Hazy. Back to Hazy because he fucking played in his line. Yeah. I did, too, on the power play. No, me, him, and Hagelin were in line My rookie year We lost in the conference finals Game 7

To Wash? Tampa Beat Wash down 3-1 Beat Wash game 7 Assist on game winner not a big deal Tied it in the third whatever Who cares I think Witt went to that game didn't he? Yeah Witt was there Yeah I did with Foles Assist on game winner, not a big deal. Tied it in the third, whatever. Oh, who cares?

I think Witt went to that game, didn't he? Yeah, Witt was there. Yeah, he did with Foles. Smothered drunk. Yeah, crippled. Came in the green room after. I'm like, oh, people are like, don't you play hockey? I'm like, not anymore, not anymore. I remember looking up, what's the New York song that they always play?

Hey. No, no, no. That one? The Celebration? The goal song? No, not the goal song. It's like, New York song that they always play? Hey. No, no, no. That one? The celebration? The goal song? No, not the goal song. It's like New York. Yeah, yeah.

I think it's like Frank Sinatra or whatever. They play that. I remember looking up in the crowd and seeing Witt, our other friend Brian Foley, and my wife high-fiving. And we were down. I'm like, what are these lunatics doing? We scored like two goals in like three minutes to tie it up and win. It's amazing that

this just got brought up because if I forgot to bring up this story, I would be so mad. Keith, why don't we go in to tell the story about you in the crowd at my Stanley Cup final game. Biz, wait till you hear this one. Keith came out to visit me. He's in the NHL at the time.

We're in the cup finals against Detroit and why don't you just tell them what you and Oki did? So, Whit was kind enough to invite, what was it? It was probably like seven of us. I was in Phoenix at the time. And finals, you guys were playing Detroit. Game seven, right? No, game six.

Game six. You guys won to make it a game seven. No, no. We won game five in Detroit triple overtime. I played at the record at the time most minutes in a Stanley Cup final game. Not a big deal. Not a big deal. And since then, that's been broken, I believe.

But you came to game six. Okay, so game six. So we go to the game. Witt obviously brings us out there. We have an absolute day. Like front row Leonard Skinner drunk going into the game. So gas in. What was the name of that rink the igloo the melon arena yeah melon arena so loud love that so loud it was unbelievable

and i was in phoenix we hadn't played in the playoffs yet so i was just like embracing everything about it loved it so after the second and third period just like everybody else does me and uh my friend our friend andy o'Connor decide to go get a character picture. You know how they draw your picture with the big head? I thought it was face painted, dude. Is it not face painted? It was face painted. All right.

Oh, you're trying to change it up? Oh, God. Okay, keep going. Sorry. So we're getting our faces painted, sitting there like a bunch of buffoons, people walking around. This is intermission, mind you. There's 10,000 people walking around.

Our head scout of the Phoenix Coyotes stops in front of us, looks at me like, doesn't say anything. I'm like, more face paint, more face paint. Trying to hide. I'm like, put a mustache on. So he's like, what are you doing? And my buddy just starts losing it, like just dying laughing. He's like, what was that? I had to tell him it was our head scout.

It was good. Like the next year at training camp, he was like, dude, what the fuck? I was like, I know. I was into it. Sorry. But I was rooting one of my best friends on, you know? I came out of the locker room like, dude, you got something on your forehead. He's like, oh, yeah. I painted

my face a penguin color. Was it in Pittsburgh Penguins colors? No, I just got a 19 on my cheek. Hazy, I hate to say we interrupted you, but that was a fucking good story. It was a great story.

But off of that story, every time I leave someone tickets, I find them in the crowd because they sit in the same seats basically every time. So I see if they make it on time, if they're late. Wow. It's just what I do. Before every game, I look up and see if they're in the seats. Do you really? Yeah, I swear. Usually. Put people on blast. I look up and see if they're in the seats and yeah I swear

usually put people on blast I wouldn't even know where they sit well the reason is because like okay if you're not at the time you probably weren't making huge dough let's say on your entry level and stuff you guys have to pay for your two tickets or you get the two for free oh no we get two for free but that didn't come into it I but also the fact that you probably have a lot of people asking you, so you're like, hey, if you're not going to treat them for what they are, fuck you. If it wasn't for Yans, no joke, I'd be playing for free,

the amount of tickets I gave out. Dude, this guy, before I got to the Rangers, the ticket guy would come around, Kaser Beauty. He'd be like, all right, who needs tickets? And I'd just be like, yeah, I need one or two, whatever. I'm like, let me see the ticket thing. Hazy would have like 47 tickets left. All

$160. Minimum. He didn't know what COD was. I'm like, dude, you don't even know these people. You can't pay for all their tickets. You're not going to have a dollar left to your name. He's like, oh shit, he didn't know that? He goes, you can do that? Hey, you must have been fucking drinking for

free and getting bottles, service and everything. It paid for itself. Oh no, it did a little bit but I didn't know that you could do that. So once I said, hey, COD, bring a credit card, they're like, ah, actually I gotta go take my kid to school.

That changes everything. Unless you play for the Phoenix Coyotes and you can get extra tickets for $5 my first year. Second year I was there, they bumped it up $10. Guys were like, ah, why'd they bump it up? The next year it was $15. The last year, I think it was $20.20 for my last two years there. For lower bowl. Remember they told us that when they bumped it up from $5 to $10, they're like, hey, guys, we bumped it up.

We were like, what? They brought HR in, like a counselor. Guys are crying. What? Don't you usually just hit up Europeans if you need tickets for family? Isn't that what guys do? Hit up Europeans? We used to do that, but Zouk is legitimately

a prince of Norway. If you're from Norway and you step foot into New York City, once your plane lands. A baggage claim. Like literally, once your plane hits down on the ground and it's like, ting, ting, welcome to New York, Zouk gets a message from a random person from Norway asking if they can come to a Rangers game. Because I guess like how we were raised, no one would ever do that. But everyone's so nice in Norway, like, they think that Zouk just gets it for free.

So now it's like Americans and Canadians only ask each other, and Zouk gets all the Euros tickets because he's leaving 12 at night. He's leaving a bowl. Hey, my first year in Pittsburgh, like, I went out west San Jose, and my dad's like, hey, your aunt needs a bunch of tickets. I'm like, oh, yeah, all right, yeah. He's like, all right, let me get you the number. And he called me the day of the game.

He's like, I actually need 21. I was like, what? Jesus Christ. He's like, yeah, yeah, I'll get you back. I'll get you back. He didn't say a dime. I was like, 21 tickets? Ticketmaster.com, Dad.

Yeah, Nasher told that story on Pillow Talk when it was his birthday and he'd had a shitty game. I think he was playing for St. Louis at the time. And they were back in Edmonton, and he'd bought 40 tickets. And Quinville Healthy scratched him after warm-up. Yikes. Ouchie. Speaking of tickets, and Kevin Hayes buying 9,500 tickets his rookie year.

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What made me all my money. Save $10 off your first SeatGeek purchase by using that code. SeatGeek. Right seat, right now, right from your phone. Thank you. Hey, but back to the St. Louis story. So I played with him for pretty much the whole year.

He was on my wing, which was unreal because it's like you know he's going to be in the Hall of Fame. You know he's a legend. And he teaches the game too, like on the bench. He's a coach. Yeah, the coach will say something, and then you don't know if you're going to listen to the coach or you're going to look at Marty and see what he's going to tell you because he probably knows more. I think he was older than some of the coaches that we had. Probably, yeah.

But I remember when another shower story, everything happens in the shower. Hey, now. After a game, we'll go back to the MSG showers, which are a joke. They're separators, Bears. They're individual showers. Individual showers. Because the owner owns the Knicks, and those weapons are probably just walking around. Dude, so you can't see anyone next to you.

Oh, no. What's the point? I knocked them down. Dude, so you can't see anyone next to you. Oh, no. What's the point? I knocked them down. Yeah, so there's usually curtains. But once the boys get in there, the curtains come down and everyone sees everyone. And I remember I was standing across from Marty and he's like, I think it's like game 15 or like game 20 or something. Early in my career, my rookie year, he's like, so you think like the nhl is everything you thought it was going to be and i'm like i don't know if he's like going to quiz me if i'm supposed to

answer it the right way i'm like yeah this is great like first time i've had money i love to go out blah blah blah like it's changed now but and and so i'm like yeah it's like pretty cool it's better than a desk job i guess like i'd rather be doing this and going to work every day at nine and he's like yeah to be honest i got a training camp i thought no fucking way you'd be on this team and i was like whoa like and i was a pretty big free agent like i got to i i held out against chicago and i got to pick where i wanted to go so like i was like what and he's like yeah but now there were 20 games in like you fit right in like that was kind of like my welcome moment to the league. And I was like, so now I always have that Marty St. Louis story now, which is pretty cool.

I mean, fucking guys on my team used to tell me that all the time. Yeah, but they weren't Marty St. Louis. I know, I know. I remember Biz, like, every 10 games that he didn't play in, he'd be healthy scratch. He'd come into the shower. Hey, he'd be healthy scratch in his suit. Biz, he'd be healthy scratch 10 he'd come into the shower hey he'd be healthy scratch in his suit biz he'd be healthy scratch in his suit and i'd be like all right let's go in the shower and he'd

come in and then uh oh yeah so anyways biz would be like i'm going in to talk to the coaches i need to play me i maybe i might even ask them to send me down so i can play some games and i was always like biz if you ask to get sent down, you may never come back. You'd be like, all right, I'm not going to have the meeting. Every 10 games. But I would go on 10-game heaters without playing. I'd be getting bag-skated by Kinger. Was it Dave King?

Yeah. Dave King. And he coached in Russia forever. So we're talking solo bag-skates with this guy after every practice, not even just game days. I'd be doing 30, 40 minutes extra. I was going crazy. Well, one time it had been a long stretch, and this is after Gordo had been traded to Edmonton,

and he was hurt. He had a wrist injury. And we ended up going up to the new Cactus Club in Edmonton, And we ended up going up to the new Cactus Club in Edmonton. And they used to play those Victoria's Secret fashion shows. But they would roll them out like year 2012, 2013. And they would just play over and over. We drank like five, six bottles of wine one night at this Cactus Club.

I got shit-faced. I wake up at like, I don't know, 9 know 9 45 we're on the ice in in 30 minutes there's red puke all over my hotel room in edmonton and i woke up to the trainer calling me i fucking cab it right to the the arena and and uh and i was late i came in right after the meeting and tip calls me and he's like, hey. He's like, did you get in one last night with Gordo? And I'm like, yeah. He's like, listen. He goes, I know you're just trying to blow some steam off, but I've got to set an example.

I had to fucking skate, bag skate after the pregame skate for an hour, still drunk out of my mind. Hey, is there a bigger panic in the world? In the world. Any level you've played hockey at, when buses start, if you're late and you're meeting everyone at the rink, I wouldn't wish the feeling on my worst enemy. It's the worst. So my rookie year, we played in L.A.

Remember how long my hair was? Yeah, it was disgusting. It looked like the kid from the Goonies. Yeah, right. Yeah, the good-looking one. And so we're in L.A., and we had the night off. And so day off the next day, bus leaves at 10 a.m., and we're flying to San Jose.

I swear to God, my eyes awake. They open up at probably 9.56, and I'm in my hotel room, in my bed, 9.56. So I jump. I'm panicking. Put on my pants, not buying my shirt, suit, jacket, nothing to my hair, which is gross. You'll leave anything. No.

Put on my shoes, no socks, book it to the elevator. Elevator luckily is there. Go down. Right? I left everything in this hotel room. I had my wallet and my phone. Right? I left my whole.

It was a West Coast trip. Great move, though. West Coast trip. So you have like a full suitcase. Oh, yeah. But I was a rookie. It was kind of. It was probably in the middle of the year. And i was nervous to even tell like i wasn't close enough

with the pr guys like i am now or like kaser or volgs i wasn't close enough to be like hey like can you have them ship it to san jose so i didn't tell anyone and i never even like it never it hasn't even crossed my mind until you just said that. I left. Whoever went into that room after got like a free sick suitcase, sick jackets, shirts, like shoes, and I just left it there. Totally didn't tell a soul. And let's be honest. If you leave even a charger behind, you could call the hotel 10 minutes later. It's gone.

Somebody's gone. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's not there sorry hey you go back they're wearing your fucking your other suit no i haven't seen it yeah man that's my fucking toothbrush in the in the pocket it's like nope i haven't seen it but hey that that's crazy now my question to you is wouldn't you be able to get like a car that could like speed faster than the bus to to the airport or you is that not even a fucking that could speed faster than the bus to the airport?

Or is that not even a fucking option? They notice when you're not on the bus, dude. Everyone panics and starts calling. That's a ballsy move. I mean, I've been close before, but fuck, I don't think I'm leaving my shit behind. Dude, father's trip one year and same trip that Keith's brother Brian. I don't know if I've ever told this story on Spitting Checklets. Mark Recchi got his 500th goal on the dad's trip.

Pittsburgh, we went out to Dallas, and then we went to Phoenix. We played the Coyotes. Recchi got his 500th goal. Big night out after. All of a sudden, Recchi gets back to his room. We'd been partying there, and he goes to get into bed. Brian Yandell's sleeping in his bed the night of the guy's 500 goal. He had to sleep at the end of the bed.

Ross is like, 37 butt lights and sleeps in recce's bed the night of his 500. So the next morning, didn't the wrecking ball sleep on like the couch or something? I think he did. I don't know. You know, the stuff that the foot of the bed came out,

dude, Brian Yandel took the wrecking balls bed the night he got 500. Because he, like, had us all back. All the dads were in there. But the next morning, me and my dad were late to the bus. And there was, you know, there was, like, the media bus and then the bus for the players and the dads. And I got on the bus and got, like, the desk there. And my dad, like, I turned around to see where he was.

And he was on the media when he was like, I wasn't getting that bus dude you're taking that one i was like fuck biz you ever late for anything i mean you're a type of guy that besides that one example in edmonton if you're late again you're done was there another instance i'm shocker yans didn't bring it up but i was actually uh late to two games when i first got to the Coyotes because I thought the game was at 730. I missed the bus two times. And the guys had to tell the trainers and they brought my gitch in the hallway. Once was in Buffalo. I forgot where the other one was.

But Buffalo was the second one. And Jovo called me in the hallway. He's like, buddy, he's like, you just got the NHL. You've been here for 10 games and you've been late for two games. We're talking at 5 o'clock in the afternoon. This is unacceptable, man. Were you playing? I'm like, buddy, both games I was a healthy scratch, but nonetheless,

I fucking – I wasn't going to agree with that. Joe Winovsky is worrying about meeting me in the hallway with my gitch bag, and this guy has to play a fucking game. He's like, time out. We're done here. Be late one more time, and I'll have you in the fucking coast again being an all-star. With what was the guy's name who got the bobblehead who pushed around the Sharper Cup?

Oh, the only Wheeling Nailers fans are going to know this one, and I'll get a few tweets about it. Moondog, and he's like a homeless guy i don't know i actually i don't know if he's homeless but he's he just he's like the town uh i guess i'll say homeless guy in in wheeling west virginia and he was famous everyone knew who moon dog was but it was like a it's almost like he was a figment of everyone's imagination because i'd never seen him my entire time in wheeling and it's not a big downtown and i'll never forget.

I got the flu and I had to go to the hospital because I couldn't stop puking. I had to get like IVs and shit. And I was waiting for my ride after I checked out of the hospital. And I was on the curb. And I was just like keeled over. And all I hear is, are you all right? And I look up and the sun's there. And it was fucking Moondog, this fucking guy.

I mean, you can Google him. And then the Wheeling Nailers ended up having a Moondog bobblehead night, but I got called up to the American League. This fucking guy, he rides around on his bike, right? So they made the bobblehead with him on the bike, obviously. When he came out to drop the ceremonial face-off, he rode his bike on the ice all around, did a lap. Just on the ice?

What? Like, you can ride a bike on the ice? How can you balance a bike on the ice? No, no, no. No, it was, once you see the bobblehead, it's one of those like tripod bikes. So it's got two wheels in the back, one in the front. Oh, there you go, right there.

I mean, you can Google it right now. You'll see it. Yeah, that might have been a little bit confusing for people being like, okay, this guy's a liabetic. Tell him the story. But he's got one wheel in the front, two in the back. Oh, nice. Yeah, those boys have been hilarious.

I mean, mass holes all through and through. You can hear it in their voices. Hey! Keith Yandel. Yandel and Hayes, you're always a trip. Next up, honestly, personally, this might have been the highlight of the year for me, just from, I guess I could say, a professional perspective. Now we've been doing this for three years.

What's interviewing Adam Oates, man? He's a guy I worship as a kid into adulthood watching. I loved his play. And to be able to sit there and have him talk about fumble, fucking the puck, it was awesome. It was good stuff. So now we're going to take it off to Adam Oates. This interview was brought to you by Eagle Energy.

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Now it's my pleasure to bring on a Hockey Hall of Famer, a guy who I grew up watching here in Boston, was for my money probably the best passer in the history of the game, if not one of the top two guys. Now I'd like to welcome to the show Adam Oates. Adam, welcome to Spitting Chicklets. Hey, thanks, guys. Thanks for having me. Absolutely.

So we've been hearing around the campfire. You've been somewhat of a hockey whisperer for a lot of these NHL stars lately doing some private tutoring. How did that come about? You know what uh a couple years ago i uh i was coaching the devils and at the end of the season i interviewed for the head job i didn't get it and i interviewed for a couple jobs didn't get them and you know you kind of go in that carousel of you're waiting for the cornering and, you know, kind of maybe being assistant coach again and just thinking about it. And that summer I was watching the NBA and LeBron James was in the finals and they showed this guy in the stands and they called him his skills coach.

And they showed a little video of him working with the guy at a gym, kind of in between practices and kind of working on his game away from the team. And it gave me an idea. And I called some of the guys that I coached in my time, and a lot of the guys said, yeah, let's try it. And that's how it started. It really did, and it's been three years now. That's incredible that that kind of gave you the idea because I don't know who LeBron's skill coach is, but you must have thought right away, all right, well, even

if that guy's not a great player, I can go to people. I had over a thousand frigging assists. Like I have the actual rep of people saying they'd love to work with me. Did you know it would be easier? Were you kind of just going into it thinking, I don't even know if they'll want to? You know what? I actually didn't know. As soon as I started talking to the guys, and you know what, when I was coaching as an assistant coach or head, I really enjoyed trying to figure out a way to make a guy better. Obviously, coaches, you coach a lot of systems, and there's a lot of details into your job,

but I also really love trying to make guys better. Because if you get better, you make more money, and they like you, right? And it kind of went hand in hand. And you know what? It's just something I always liked, and I really do like it. I love it. I love giving the guys maybe a little bit of information that makes them better.

I mean, you know, they're in the NHL. They're fantastic. To get to the NHL, you're a fantastic hockey player. But there's still lots of different levels in our game once you get there. And then we start to get older or you get hurt. But, you know what, there's always room for improvement no matter what, no matter how good you are. And, you know what, the guys love it.

I mean, I love it and they do. It's so true to hear. I mean, even you say that. It's like I think the best thing my dad ever told me was no matter how good you think you are, like somebody out there is trying to get better. And to hear a Hall of Famer say it, it just kind of really ingrains in my mind the memory I have of him saying that to me. But the other thing I wanted to ask you is it's a long year. I mean, you're working with some of the most skilled players in the world, but you also have ups and downs.

So is this mental in terms of a guy's in a five-game skid and you're mentally talking to him and it's not just kind of skill level and things like that? Absolutely. You know what? When I think about it like that, I have my dad, I have my agent, I had Brett Hall beside me or Ray Bork or i would watch steve eisenberg there's always something that maybe snaps you back in and if i can give a guy detail that prevents that five

game skid yeah how how much better are us and if you if there's 10 points out there or 10 good plays that your coach likes you and you play two more minutes how about that advantage in today's game yep yep that's exactly true so you're getting it's not only about that advantage in today's game? Yep. Yep, that's exactly true. So you're getting – it's not only about getting out of skids. It's about becoming better enough to have more ice time to just – then all of a sudden you get the three extra chances a game or even the one, and then they start going in.

The ice time is so important. So I feel like if you're talking to guys and they aren't playing the amount they want to be, it is hard for you because you've got to say, oh, I know what you can do. You're just almost not getting the chance right now, no? Yeah, for sure. You know what's funny?

One of my pet peeves is guys going offside. One of the things, when I watch guys' video, and when you watch games night in and night out, going offside drives me nuts. I don't think I went offside in my career. I'm going to check the game tape. And when you think about it. It is a little unacceptable.

I'm checking the fucking game tape. You got to check it. When you think about it. 5,000 games. Why does a guy go offside? Why? He wants the puck. It's like when you're 10 years old.

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

It's like something when I watch a video every night, like those guys that go offside three times a game in the NHL. Yeah. And you know what? It's like something when I watch a video every night, like those guys that go offside three times a game in the NHL. And you know what? Like what they don't realize is that's a huge mistake because, you know, everybody's analytics crazy and you go offside, you just lost offensive momentum. So yeah, the guy didn't see it. So that might be his fault.

He didn't see you fast enough. But if you can't reroute and stay onside, that means you're a little out of control. So if you're a little out of control, there's going to be other areas of the game that you're a little out of control. So that's one of the things I look for. Like, when is a guy out of position and why? Why can't he slow himself down and make a read on a play? Because if you think about it, now you stay onside. That guy dumps it in. You go forecheck. Well for check well that's ozone time that might turn into a shot that might turn

into a power play and those are all stats that everybody keeps right right so believe it or not just going outside is a crazy mistake in our game which i'm sorry go ahead biz uh you you were talking about video right now but but early on in this, when you started out, were you breaking guys down video? Because you got into now you're working on guys' stick patterns and maybe the length of their stick. You said it prevents against injury and then a bunch of other things. But when this started out, was it breaking down video right away?

Yeah, the video is a big component of the deal with the guys on a night-to-night basis because we all have habits. And in the summertime, we're trying to accentuate the good habits and work on the bad habits. So the video really helps that during the season. Little reminders for the guys. You know, when I first get a new client, the first thing I do is I get about three games of tape,

and I really look for when they take contact incorrectly. I mean concussion is a big injury of our game and I'm really trying to help guys find those blind spots not take contact that they shouldn't and and make better plays that's that's a huge part of it and the stick goes into that I mean everything goes into that quite honestly what what is your stance on all the fancy stats, Adam? Do you put as much stock into them as everybody else does, or do you just use them sort of as a tool to kind of enhance what you're doing? I think it gets a lot of attention, but I think most guys or most GMs probably try and use the stat

to find some sort of edge or some sort of statistic that is glaring for their team, whether it's pro and con. And I kind of, I kind of do the same thing, but I think as a player, you kind of know those stats. Like that's one thing within the game. Like when you're, when you're on the team on a night to night basis, you kind of know every guy, you know, what's going on, you know, like, anything from a face-off who's taking it. Why we, we know the, we know the law of the empty net goal. Like we know, we know, like anything from a face-off, who's taking it, why. We know the law of the empty net goal.

Like, we know all these rules. We know the law of the playground since we're five years old. Yeah. Well, I'm curious because in the age of social media, the age of Instagram, and you see these people and, you know, they put out their skill work and different Instagram accounts. You're not on there. Is there a reason for that or is that just kind of you're low-key? Well, you know, they put out their skill work and different Instagram accounts. You're not on there. Is that, is there a reason for that?

Or is that just kind of you low key or. Well, you know what, first of all, that drives me crazy. So there's a lot of stuff out there. No, no, just the Instagram guys on Instagram. Cause it's some of the stuff's just absolute garbage, right? Like what are you going to do in a game? Yeah, exactly. Like, like I understand guys trying to, you know, we've got to make money in life. So I get the fact that you're out there trying to build your brand.

But I hate it when I see guys doing stuff like shooting off tires. I mean, it's ridiculous, right? When are you going to shoot off a tire in a game? And it doesn't help your balance one bit because if you're shooting off a tire, then your head's probably down and you would never do that in a game. And like I said, concussion's a big thing with me, right? So I hate when guys work on stuff wrong. The reason I'm not on it is that's part of my deal with my guys.

Like, it's private. Everything we do is private. That's our business. If they want to tell you guys, that's their choice. But I'm not going to. That's part of what I talk to them about, uh what we work on because every guy has little different things to talk about and work on and i just don't believe in showing that to the world i think that's private well i mean when you first started out i'm assuming you weren't getting the type of big

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

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

you you're you're shea weber you got to go in your corner every shift of your life and when you think about it like that it's boring but if you're really good at going in your corner you make a lot of money and you play a long time in our league. Yep. No, I never really liked that. But it's boring. You know what I mean? Like, that's your job.

You play your corner in front of the net, and you walk the offensive blue line. You make decisions there. There's only, you know, like it's a limited role in a sense, but if you're really good at it, you make a lot of dough, man. Make absolutely. And your coach likes you. if you're really good at it, you make a lot of dough, man. Make absolutely. And your coach likes you. Because you're reliable.

Well, I wonder, though, I know you are private, but unfortunately, I think, do people do know Darren Dreger, a little tweeter, you working with some of the guys in Winnipeg today. One of my big NHL crushes in terms of future studs, already studs, is Mark Scheifele. I'm pretty sure you guys have done some work together. Can you just give me a background on that kid's game and how dominant you see him becoming in this league? You know what?

He works very hard on his game. We talk a lot. He watches a lot of video. He watches all the other players. He's the guy he respects, and he's looking for an edge constantly, which a lot of video he watches all the other players he's the guys he respects and he's looking for an edge constantly which a lot of the guys are i mean it's really growing in that capacity he's got a great coach good organization he plays with blake wheeler he's got dustin bufflin behind him last year their power play really clicked and he's just his

learning curve is growing right and he's a a good guy and understands it and really cares. I mean, he's in a great spot in his life in the hockey world. That's great to hear for him because he's just one of those young stars coming up. There's more questions I think we do have about the current state of what you're doing in the game. But I need to go back a little bit into the history of your Hall of Fame career. And it kind of begins my question, how does a guy like you from Weston, Ontario, end up at RPI? And along with that, before you answer, your sophomore year, you played 38 games and at

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

brilliant man taught me a lot about the game and we ended up winning the national title my sophomore year quite honestly you know what i had a good year i never even thought about it like no shit it was something you know what it was something back then that uh uh leaving early never made sense or i honestly didn't think about it and And my coach never said you should consider it. You know, back then you didn't have an agent yet. Not like the kids do now. So there's a lot of things that were different. And then winning the national title was,

did make sense then afterwards. And then my coach said, I think it's time for you to move on. Now you didn't last too long in Detroit for some reason, after not being drafted out. Well, I like that. Sounds like there's something that there what

transpired there you know you have obviously a talented guy and you didn't last too long in Detroit what they shipped you off of St. Louis in a big trade what was the story with that you know what I loved it there you know Steve Eisenman was there and I learned a lot playing with him it's I would say you seriously learning off Stevie and Ray Bork and Holly were

like the reason I'm doing this job in a sense right now. Like I, I was that guy that Stevie's better than me. And every day I want, I, you know, I want to be like him. Like I want to catch up.

Right. And, um, I enjoyed playing there. I really did. And, uh, we had a,

we had a good third year. lost in the semi-finals to the oilers and the fourth year we got upset early and i think you know deep down at the end of the day they didn't think i was ready to take on the next level and they shipped me out and brought in some a different type of leadership so i got i got traded to st louis you know i was devastated at the time most time most guys are usually devastated their first trade, and I was no different. It hurt a lot. So, all right, well, at the time, it's amazing to think

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

You've heard. Hulley. You know what? You know what? We roomed together. We lived near each other. We talk hockey every day. Our chemistry was great. He's a bright guy. And you know, what's funny is Wayne Gretzky told me something a couple of years ago that I had never thought.

And it makes so much sense. And, and he said, you know what, you know, what makes Hully special, how smart he was. I was like, what's that? And he goes, not only did he know how to shoot a puck, special how smart he was and was like what's that and he goes not only did he know how to shoot a puck but he knew how to time you that's his greatest strength his his brain is he's not gonna skate faster than you up the ice he's not gonna go into the corner faster than you he's gonna wait for you and that takes unbelievable patience to understand that you gotta you gotta wait for that guy to go steal the puck or be ready to make a pass to you. And quite honestly, when he said that, I was like, oh, that makes perfect sense.

When you watch the good goal scorers of the world, they know how to time it. Because they're timing the guy that's passing to them. It's a great point. And you know what? That is Hulley. Hulley was a bright, bright guy. I loved hanging with him.

It's fantastic. Great time in my life. And part of that has to do with confidence, and he is not lacking in that department. I mean, he... If you didn't give him the puck, you were 1,000% hearing about it. If you

didn't give me the puck, you weren't on our line next year. He's like, get the puck to Oates. Get the puck to Oates. Don't try giving it to me. Get it to him. He'll get me the puck. And don't even try giving me the puck.

Give it to Oates first. Hey, I got a story. We were playing the Islanders, and we were walking across from the Marriott Nassau Coliseum, and he all of a sudden looks at me, and he goes, let's have a good one tonight. And I go, okay. He goes, no, no, no. let's have a good one tonight. And I go, okay. He goes, no, no, no. Let's have a really good one.

And I go, okay, what do you mean? He goes, I'm not coming off until I score. And I go, and he's my wingman, right? And I go, okay, this is going to be fun, right? And we didn't start the game, but we went on second and we stayed on for all four left wingers. And they were yelling at us on the bench and Holly turning around, yelling back at them.

And we're just going on and he ends up scoring. He got a hat trick that night. He had four hat tricks in a row. Oh my God. Is that unbelievable? That is fucking insane. And then we went, we went to Minnesota and you know we stayed in

Long Island that night and we went out after the game so in Minnesota the next night I go hey let's stay in tonight we've been going hard he got two goals the next night he didn't talk to me for a week hey I heard that he would get on the bench and be like he's not going tonight

like a guy would be on the ice like, hey, he's done tonight. He does not have it tonight. That guy would just be done. Oh, it's the best. It's the best, man. I mean, I'm sure you guys have heard the L.A. story, right? Like, God, it's so funny. My favorite thing with Hully, like looking back now,

is like we were both sarcastic guys, like as all the boys are in the locker room, right? And be on the eye we'd be on the bench we watching a play and and the guy would fumble fumble the puck right and one of us would say to the other guy oh nice fucking play right and and then the other guy would go well yeah well look at his stick no wonder he did that right oh yeah good point and everybody thought we made fun of guys, and now I actually realize we make fun of their stick. You're just chirping their twigs. Yeah, chirping their twigs. Well, I mean, I do need to hear the story.

Before we kind of move on from St. Louis, I heard that Brett Hall had a hilarious name for Bob Berry. Is there a back story to this? Yeah, yeah. Who is Bob Berry? Bob Berry is our assistant coach. He coached Montreal. Great guy.

He was a great guy. And he helped Brian Sutter with us because we were young punks on his team, right? And we liked Bob. But we were in Chicago, and we got in a fight with Brian during the game, and he benched us. And now we're sour, and we're yelling at him. He's yelling back. So afterwards, we're on the bus.

We're staying over in Chicago, and we sit in the back. And Bob Barry comes to the back of the bus and goes, Hey, when we get to the hotel, Brian wants to see you two guys in his room. And Hully doesn't bat an eye. And he goes, Guess what, boo-boo? We ain't going. Guess what, boo we ain't going guess what boo boo we ain't going we're going out with Chelly you never heard him call him

oh never never never heard him call him boo boo once he just on the spot on the spot and then as we're bussing the hotel I go come on let's see Brian he goes no we're going out with Cheelly so we went out with chelly we dealt with our punishment the next day oh god i want to ask one more about uh about uh holly is is uh were you playing with him when this story about when he got sent to the penalty box to serve a delayed penalty and then when he

got yeah and then can you can you tell story? Because I've heard it in different ways. You know what? It was the start of the second year there, he just won MVP and something happened where they were going to like, I think they probably said, you got to

discipline these two guys. You got to keep these guys under range, right? But think about it. Hulley won MVP. He scored 76 goals. He's expected to score goals, right? So, first couple games, we're not playing that much. We weren't playing the same as we did before. And then all of a sudden, we're

in Detroit, and we get a delayed penalty, and Brian goes, Hulley, serve it. What? What'd you say to me? Excuse me? Excuse me? And he goes, holy service. So I'm kind of kneeing him going,

you got no balls, man. You got no balls. And he goes, oh yeah? You're just stirring it. You're stirring it up. Oh, always. Always.

So he skates across and we're looking at each other. I'm on the bench. He's in the penalty box. So the penalty gets killed. He's coming off. He's dragging his stick behind him

like a baby. now brian started going stay holly stay holly stay and everybody's going holly stay and he just keeps coming and he goes no i serve penalties now i don't play they shut the gate so as you can imagine we had a few of these tantrums over the years it was just looking back it's crazy but but you know what he was a guy that when you're the goal scorer, you have a different pressure, right? He has a different pressure. And you know what? That's what superstars are.

They handle it, man. That's part of their MO. Okay. So I'm wondering, I don't know if this is fake news I've heard, but the year he had 86, which is the second greatest goal-scoring year in the league after Gretzky's 92. Is it true he didn't have a shorthanded goal, an empty net goal, or something else maybe, and Gretzky had like 15 of them

or something like that? And I think he didn't have a four-goal game. Oh, okay. So he might have banged home some empty netters. That was fake. He just didn't have – Yeah, zeroal game. Oh, okay. So he might have banged home some empty netters. That was fake. He just didn't have – Yeah, zero empty netters that year. Zero.

Oh, he had zero that year. Incredible season. Like, incredible. Oh, my God. Like, it was, like, just so fun to be a part of. Safe to say he got his timing down, as you would say. Yeah, he was not bad that year. He finally figured you out yeah no

kidding hey he only he only he only did it seven seven or eight hundred times now another guy you famously had chemistry with adam is uh cam neely you know a guy who made his hall of fame career here in boston uh you know you had a great time in boston we enjoyed the hell out of watching you play but you know toward the end things didn't end so well i i know you you had a great time in Boston. We enjoyed the hell out of watching you play. But, you know, toward the end, things didn't end so well. I know, you know, you went to the media. Basically, you kind of, I thought, vented what all Bruins fans were feeling at the time. You kind of were pissed off at the front office, like we all were.

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

But at the time, you know, I was frustrated. Our team was struggling. It was going in the wrong direction. Cam was hurt. It was out. And, like, it was just really, really frustrating. We lost the game in Colorado in overtime, and you know what? I just mouthed off, and it was out and like it was just really really frustrating we lost the game in colorado and overtime and you know what i just mouthed off and it was dumb dumb you know you got to stand accountable for your comment but it was dumb did you you think you would have been traded regardless

of the comments or did they definitely make the trade happen uh i didn't help the cause i don't think you know what i don't know i honestly don't honestly don't know. They had to do something. They did. Yeah, because it was obviously – I made it easy for him. Yeah, yeah, I made it easy for him. And there was another incident, actually, before you got traded with – you know, Steve Casper infamously started, you know,

Cam Naley and Kevin Stevens, but he stapled them to the bench all night. Did he lose the room that night for that season? I mean, because he never did coach in the NHL again after that. You know what? I don't know why that happened that night. It was part of the whole way that we were all going wrong. You know, I think obviously he decided to do it, and it was a wrong decision

and it didn't yeah it didn't help for sure i'm sure it's i'm sure it's a decision he wished he had back right and and you know i coached i made mistakes and there's lots of decisions you wish you had back right right and i'm sure that's one for him but you know obviously those are the two negatives but you know overall your whole experience in Boston was, I'm assuming, was a pretty positive affair here. Oh, I loved it there. Loved it. Fantastic. You had 142 points one year.

That's not a bad year. Holy – what's that year like? After every game, I mean, you're one, two, three points. I mean, like, are you just permagrant all season? Oh, you're high on life. You can play 80 days in a row. Oh, my God. What a feeling.

It's one of those things where when the guys need, we need a day off. You get three points. You don't need a day off. You don't. No, you actually, you're like, I want to be back out there. I feel amazing right now. I love the feel of the day. It's incredible.

45 goals, 97 assists in 84 games, 142 points. Not too shabby, as they say. Yeah, that was a fantastic one. I mean, there was a stretch there where hockey was so much fun. You know, it's just – that was an incredible year. Did you ever play with Gord Kluzak? No. No, I missed him. I didn't know if he was on that those prunes if i was wondering about that guy never really made it i know he was injured but uh go ahead biz sorry about that oh no problem i was just curious you

know what was your off ice fitness like while you were playing i know it was just a different time but were you one of those guys that was ahead of the curve and and probably a reason why you had so much success i i like to think so yeah i uh maybe not my first few years um that was back then it was kind of getting shape in camp and then it started and then i would say when i was in boston you know i that's when guys started hiring the personal trainers and and and working very hard in the off season. And I did too. Yeah. Were you working on the skill side of things as well? Like skating? Cause a lot of guys took the whole summer off. Not as much as I wish I did in hindsight, you know, like I, I love the way the guys train now, but I still think in my mind, you know,

when you work out and you train, I still think your hands have to be first. Like guys, every single night, you watch any goal, and somebody either fumble-fucked the puck or somebody made a really good play with the puck. Yeah, that's actually very true. I mean, there's either a giant mistake. Every single goal. Think about penalty killing.

When the penalty killing coach says, boys, when you get a chance to clear it, you got to clear it. Okay, yeah, why do they say that? Because when you get a chance to clear it, you got to clear it. Okay. Yeah. Why do they say that? Because when guys get a chance and they fumble it, you're giving the best players on that team a second chance. So why'd you fumble it?

You made a mistake with the puck, right? You didn't execute. So you fumbled the puck. That's all it was. You were in position. You did your job. The coach did his job because he's got you in the right spot. And you blew it.

You gave the best players a second chance. And that's, what at the end of the day i wish i worked on my hands more like i you know obviously i like i i had good hands but i kind of went into the training aspect and neglected my hands for too long in the summer i wish i balanced it better well that's one thing i would tell the guys now you've got to get reps man you got to keep your hands sharp yeah you got to be strong and you got to be fit but you got to keep your hands sharp that's a that's a great point but i mean i will say if you were my coach and i didn't clear one and you were telling me the next morning on the phone that's your fault that's all your fault i'd probably ask for some of my money back i'd go into a. I'd be a turtle. But speaking of, when I see a guy fumble it, he's getting a call tomorrow. Don't you worry. Well, listen, so speaking of fumbling, fumble

fucking the puck, you didn't do any of that. And it's funny that that was the case because I told the guy today, I was like, I'm actually interviewing Adam Oates today. It's going to be pretty good. And the first thing this kid says, he played hockey until he was like 12 years old. He goes, that's the guy who cut his blade in half. His blade was like two inches long. Why did he do that? I'm like, holy shit, I'll ask him because I remember that. Your stick was so short, or the blade was.

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

Wow. How many people have you told that story to? I mean, lots now, but, like, during when I played, zero. Oh, wow. I've had, like, two surgeries since I retired just to fix the hand. Why? Because you didn't want to expose your potential weakness to other players? Is that why?

Yeah, yeah. I didn't want anybody. You know, we slashed a lot more back then. I didn't want anybody to slash my hand. Yeah, you went down to a paltry 1.1 points per game after that instead. But I know everyone associates, you know, your career, rightfully so, with St. Louis and Boston a lot. But I think people might forget

you actually appeared in two cup final runs. You went on one with Washington and then later with Anaheim. I mean, how about that 0-7 squad? I mean, that must have been a tough one as well. You had J.S. Jaguar played absolutely out of his mind. You guys got with the seventh game a huge long shot. What was it like to get that close so late in your career and to not be able to bring it home?

You know what? You have mixed feelings. Like, you know, you obviously want to win. You lost game seven of the finals. You know, you can't go any farther. And the one thing about a playoff run that's the best feeling in the world is when you get by the first round, you feel the boys come together because it gets us another level of electricity, right?

And next thing you know, it's just the camaraderie and the way the guys laid on the line for each other. So to go to game seven, I mean, it was incredible. I bet you we had 17 guys taking the needle before the game. Jeez. It was a great experience, you know? It really was. So, like, you know, years later, where were you?

Like, I'm assuming you'll never forget when you got the call that you were, you know, elected and going to be a Hall of Fame member. Yeah, I was in Toronto. I got the call. And, you know, I knew I was up. I had no idea. Gary Bettman called me and it was like, talk about, as you can imagine, a fantastic feeling. Talk about putting the icing on the cake. I'm very honored and it's almost surreal how cool it is. it's almost surreal how cool it is. I want to ask a question about, you know, you finished in 2003, 2004 in Edmonton, and then you didn't start coaching until 2009, 2010.

Well, at least on HockeyDB it says that. Like, were you scared of retiring now that you had nothing to do? Like, you know, what did you go through? Were you working, doing other things? What was that time in your life like? You know what? I retired. We had the lockout.

I didn't play well my last year, and that bugged me. And I kind of spent a couple years just kind of being a retired bum. And then Rick Talkett called me and asked me if I'd come work with him in Tampa, and I jumped at it. I never thought about it. I wasn't sure how I was going to like coaching. But I'm really glad he did and gave me a great chance. And I actually really do love coaching and trying to improve the guys. Well, and then you mentioned the New Jersey thing.

And then all of a sudden, you're right back in that spot where, at that point, you're like like what do i do now and how long after that was when you saw the the lebron james thing it was like two weeks you know because you're interviewing the summer after the season and the nba is going through their finals and i saw it right away and uh actually you know i called stammer right away steven sam close and because I coached him in Tampa, and he was a guy that we talked hockey a lot, right? And I asked him what he thought about it, and he said, yeah, let's try it. I called a couple other guys. I called Teddy Purcell, who I coached, who actually now works for me.

Teddy just joined the team. And you know what? A very highly skilled guy that, like, he liked the way I coached and approached it, and now he's looking to move on in his second career and pass the knowledge on with the guys, and I'm very happy to have him. Otsi, you looking to get back on a head coach in the future, or do you prefer this kind of smaller class,

like one-on-one type of stuff you're doing? No, you know what? A couple years ago, I came out and said I'm not going coach anymore because i the last thing i wanted was any coach out there to think that there might be some funny business going on or sabotaging going on and i you know what i wanted to clear the air that no i'm just going to work on these guys and try and improve their skills that's all well and and uh from what i hear you're making fucking babcock money not even coaching so uh congratulations on growing the, that business and that success.

Uh, you taught, you mentioned Teddy. When you think about it, when you think about it last year, I had 14 career highs. How was their summers? Oh,

wow. 14 guys. Yeah. That's going to make it open. Are you open for business? Like, how is it going to work? I mean, you know you're going to come on this podcast,

but 300,000 people are going to hear it. There's going to be people trying to call you up to yin-yang. There's going to be men's hockey league guys that have big fat bank accounts. Like, O.T., I need to leave my team in scoring. Careful, business is going to try to work a cut. O.T., if you can get me back into the league, I bet you'll be a billion-dollar business in no time. Some things are a little bit out of my reach, bud.

You mentioned Teddy Purcell, and perfect guy to want to hire to your staff. And this is not a discredit to Teddy's game, but physically, he wasn't – I would say he wasn't on you know, I would say he wasn't on the high of the NHL standards, but his mind was, was where he, he brought it. I mean, his mind and hands, right. He was a wizard out there. He played at that, uh, with, with that skill. Is that what type of guy that you're looking for where he, he was just so smart on

the ice where he can now interpret it to guys who are, are, are still playing? Well, I think, I think the key thing there, what you said, is interpret it, right? Because the hard part of coaching and doing this is teaching the technique. So Teddy has a lot of technique already, so it's easier for him to pass the knowledge on because there are some things that take a lot of work to learn how to do, no question. And Teddy has those hands, and he can translate it for the guys, and he's relevant for the guys.

And, you know, obviously I'm older. Some of the guys don't know me. So it's great to have Teddy for this generation of players. That's what I was going to ask. Did you find it hard to relate to the millennials, the younger players, or did you kind of have to do it sort of through guys like Teddy? Both. I would say that most of the guys,

we have a good relationship. It's hard for me to see guys that don't have a voicemail on their phone, right, because I want to communicate with them, but it's just I also know that's the new deal, right? So it is, but on the ice, once we get on the ice, there's never a problem.

Yeah, because everyone speaks hockey on the ice. Well, and everyone's paying a substantial amount of money to be there. And everyone's paying a lot of money to be there. So they're probably dialed in from the minute they get there and want to suck as much as they can. Yeah, that's why I don't go looking for guys. Out of all the guys I got, there's only one guy that I've called. Everybody's called me.

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

and I called his agent, and I got Kevin on the phone, and I talked to him about the hit, and I said, I can prevent that hit and he said alright I'll give you a try and you know what we got a great relationship. That's awesome. So you don't work strictly with forwards and you work with defensemen as well so I was assuming

Oh yeah I got defensive defensemen. Think about it. You're a six defenseman. What's your weakness? Speed. Playing the puck. Eric Carlson's weakness is not playing the puck, right? Yep. Not at all.

The six defensemen on every team should be begging me. Why? Because you move up to fourth defenseman and you just made a lot more money, didn't you? Oh, yeah. If you're in the top four, you're making $4 million. I would say probably off your entry level now you're making over four fucking million

it's a good point at the end of the day private private tutoring is growing right all the skills guys everybody's trying to help everybody which is a great thing because um sellers have gone up and guys want to play a long time it's a tough game all we talk about is it's bigger faster stronger so it's in your best interest to be able to go back and play that puck faster. Under control. Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead. No, go ahead.

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

Is there one guy that you've told a lot of people, Hey, check out how this guy plays. Uh, you know what? I do do that a lot. Like, and every guy, you know, I usually say to a guy who's your favorite player okay because i got video on everybody right like who's your favorite player so a guy might say a defenseman might say duncan key okay well let's watch how he goes back for a puck because he might be the best no who's your favorite player crosby patrick kane connor you know, and everybody's got somebody that they kind of see themselves as, right? So the fact that they say that, you know, I have video.

We watch plays. And that's the beauty. Like I watch guys' video, and everybody, you know, in a game you play 17 minutes. You know, 16 of the minutes you play great. There might be one minute over all those shifts you make a couple mistakes. But if you can fix those mistakes, you're going to play another minute another two minutes you're gonna you're just going to keep moving up the ladder that's all it's about

oh it's you obviously a very analytical mind when it comes to hockey and you know one of the like i said one of the best passes ever and that's a lot of geometry and math involved there now you know i've been watching hockey forever a lot of our listeners listeners have. Is there something, you know, even watching hockey for so long, is there something we might be missing watching on TV or is there some other way to maybe watch the game that we haven't even thought of because we're so used to just probably watching the puck on TV all these years?

Yeah, you know what? What I tell everybody, and you know what? If you look at our game, which is a great game, every coach has a system. Everything's a system. Everything. Like we're almost like football, right?

From face-off plays, from the opening face-off, we have positions players have to be in. But like what I say is what breaks down a system? Like if you have a D-to-D pass and the guy puts it in the guy's feet, that's a mistake. You know, like the system just shut off. Like the house just lost power because you put it in the guy's feet. If you put it on his tape, he can keep the system going, right,

and move the puck up the ladder. You know, and I don't think people recognize what the mistakes are enough in our game. If I'm open for a backdoor tap-in and you put it in my feet you just lost an assist and i just lost the goal so that's an obvious one the goalie the goalie whiffs the puck we all go off the goalie mistake but there's so many more that we don't understand and that's that's always what i don't get about people is like well don't you see that mistake like and that's what i said to you earlier, where every single goal,

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

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

getting tired are you talking to yourself going oh my god i'm dying right now somebody's got to clear this plot because i'm dying right now yes i please i might just skate to the bench anyways yeah like you're actually having a conversation with yourself during the play because you know oh my god i i'm gonna die in a second die in a second here because penalty killers run out of gas. They do. So even though they're standing still, the tension and the stress, you end up getting so tired that you fumble, fuck the puck, you can't clear it.

Really? Oh, yeah. It's one of those things where everybody's had those shifts where you're running out of gas, man, and you start talking to yourself. Well, you're actually – think about it. You're having a conversation with yourself on the ice while the play's going on in front of 20,000. Isn't that crazy?

Well, which is a little odd because most people would say, oh, just go out there and play. So you're telling me that you're telling guys as soon as they step on the ice, they should be asking themselves, where should I be right now? Am I doing the proper thing? Am I now in a good place now and and go do that throughout the 45 second shift every shift yeah like when i when i see a shift and i send the guy the video tomorrow i'll go what were you thinking there he'll look at and go yes he'll go i wasn't and i yes. He'll go, I wasn't. And I go, well, that's why you're 10 feet out of position,

and that's why your coach is mad at you. How often do you check in with your clients? Like every game or weekly? How does that work? Yeah, yeah, yeah. The deal with the guys is all the time, and everybody's personality is a little different. Some guys like it every day.

Some guys like it once a week, twice a week. And, you know, we just kind of get into into a rhythm right um in terms of how they want and then when guys got back-to-back games they don't want to talk which i get right i was there and and then there's times where some guys like to talk when they're doing well some guys like to talk when they're struggling and i you know you just you find a relationship right and it right? And that's what it is to me. It's a relationship. Like, I'm investing myself into these guys a lot, and I want them to do that with me as well. Not unlike sort of what the referees do

when they get calls from the league every day kind of going over their work. It's similar to that, it sounds like. Yeah, for sure. You know, and if you think about it you make the mistake last night and nobody's perfect if i can snap them back in and they get they they jump back and have a great game tonight everybody's happy right and and it's funny like the the more we talk and you tell us about it so much of it is mental i bet you a lot of the guys go in thinking it's all skill and then they don't even realize it's it's such such a help for them mentally to be talking to you

and knowing that you went through it. It's amazing to think that you get to the NHL, and you don't really get coached that much. I mean, it's a coach's job to get wins, and that's what he's looking to do. And so why has it taken this long for guys to realize, like, I kind of need a personal coach, and it's's so smart it's it's definitely the future like you've said so to see what you've done is is no surprise and also uh pretty incredible well thanks guys and you know what it some teams have hired their own skills coaches within right yeah and they go work with the guys and they work at yeah and they

have and that's great you know and i and i i i totally support it because what if you're a coach and i've been there you got to practice today we played three and four how long is that practice could be 30 minutes for 30 minutes yeah 30 minutes 40 minutes yeah you're going out there you're giving the boys a little sweat hopefully we want they're looking in a good mood you might do a little instruction onto one of the systems that was you know we didn't like our neutral zone regroup last night you do a little bit of that or a decon coverage and then the guys you know you do a couple drills so they didn't really get a lot of individual time where when when you look at basketball you look at step Curry, when does he get his reps?

Before the game, he's working with the ball boys, and they're feeding him balls so he can work on all his shots, right? Not in practice. Because in practice, when they're running all their systems, he probably only gets 10, 15 shots. So when does he get the reps to work on his game? And that's part of what we bring. In the summertime, they get lots of reps and then and then

during the season there's a couple things they can do after practice to work on just a little minute uh details that keep them sharp sounds like you're a basketball fan i am a basketball fan i'm a huge fan as well great great um and adam i was going to touch more on the like the coaches inside the team but you know the assistant head coach i got enough like figuring out stuff structurally looking at game tape for the next team and worrying about you know line matches and all that shit is i wonder if it's going to increase where guys like you come in not only as skill coaches but more on the mental aspect of it too because it it's a lot of time of talking back and forth.

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

right football has a specialty coach for every single position and and you know what like just because salaries are dictating it right like you know you you got you got all these assets you want to you know uh you want them to be the best they can be right and we kind of do have a d coach we do have a forward coach we have a penalty killing coach uh pp coach so it is you know it's going to go in that direction then the individual stuff will just keep growing but but at the end of the day there's still the fatigue factor right guys can only handle so much and and my stuff's pretty neurological so they they can you know that's why in the summertime it's really good to work on your game and get the reps, and then the wintertime, you know, they're playing, so it's just a little fine-tuning, tune-ups.

I have skated with some guys during the season. There's about 10 teams that don't have any problem with it. When a guy's in the schedule, they got four days off or something, I fly in and work after practice, go out there for an hour, which I think is great. I think it's very healthy. Nice. That's good stuff. You still keep in touch with Neely, by the way?

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

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

I'd love actually when you and Teddy are in Boston, let's go out for, because I'm sure there's some stories that really can't be on a podcast.

That's kind of how life is. I'd love to get together with you, and we thank you very much for coming on. Yeah, man, like I said, that Oates interview

was, I guess, a career highlight, just talking to him about old Bruin stuff. He was that Oates interview was, I guess, a career highlight. Just talking to him about old Bruin stuff. He was very truthful. He was, you know, no bullshit on him. He just kind of gave you the truth, as you kind of hope every interview does. Next up, Shane O'Brien, man. He's a guy I think probably not all of our listeners were completely familiar with him.

Unless they were, you know, diehard NHL fans. But they certainly know who he is now after that interview. Yeah, Obey's one of the best, and I know that Obi and Lupo and Upshaw, that crew gets mentioned a lot by Biz and myself because they are all great guys. They live good lives. They love their lives.

I'll say that, and they don't mind. Obi gives some great stories, so we really wanted to thank him, and I think that's definitely an interview. We're smart to be replaying here because he's a legend. Yeah, it's definitely a record crew when you see their pictures on Instagram, especially when you've got loops with your fucking...

Yeah, loops ain't bad. El Perfecto, I call him. He's like the Venus flytrap for hot chicks. You just stand there, and they all come looking for him. So take it away, boys. This interview is brought to you by ZipRecruiter.com. Smart. You know what's smart?

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The smartest way to hire. I'd like to welcome a very special friend of mine and I guess part of the the three horsemen as they call them around the league i mean they're slowly fading out there's potential of one to play this year but this is a a member that was born in port hope ontario and he ended up assembling a pretty nice nhl career of 537 games i would imagine he had more kills than that along his path in Anaheim, Tampa Bay, Vancouver, Nashville, Colorado. Holy shit,

did you unpack your bags? Calgary and last but not least, Florida. I'd like to welcome Shane O'Brien to the podcast. Mr. Roxy himself. Welcome, Shane. Hey, thanks, Biz. That was a classy intro, bro. I appreciate it. That was actually a fire Biz. That was a classy intro, bro. I appreciate it.

That was actually a fire intro. That was Biz's best intro. That was pretty, yeah. It was classy and at the same time had Biz's touch. I love it. I love it. Classy and Biz in the same sentence. Whoa.

Yeah. I know. I know, right? This is free credit. Obi. I want to know. I want to know. I want to know. Are you playing hockey this year?

Oh, man, I don't know, man. I don't think so. I did the old farewell tour with the boys in the summer out here just to give them, you know, to keep the energy up. These young guys out here now, no one talks. You know, they're not doing anything. So I went out for one more year and let the boys know that that was probably it. So I did my little farewell too with the boys slap gets loud shut guts around a little bit and uh you know that's probably it for me with a little can opener to finish her off

and fucking farewell and the can the can opener is a dying breed yeah i still pull it out every now and then the young kids don't know what to do they don't know if it's a penalty or what it is or yeah i said boys like you can't teach it. You can't teach it. That was nice of you to bring the energy up for their inner squad practice games before the season gets going. So if the pace of the NHL is up, we can thank Shane O'Brien for that. Yeah, the Ducks are one of the gates hot this year.

I mean, I want a little bit of credit from the boys for getting them going in the month of August for sure. So no KHL for you then? I was never good enough to get over in the KHL like you. Where were you, over there in Sochi or something? Where were you? I was in Sochi. Obi, you would have hated it.

You would have hated Russia. It wasn't your style. I mean, dude, the only reason I wanted to go was for the chicks. That was the only reason I wanted to go. I figured if I went over there, even if I had to pay for it, they were probably going to be 10, so I was like, sign me up, I'll make some rubles and come back with a few notches out of

a belt. I mean, that's good for me. That's a straight up living. I'll tell you what, in Russia, I've said it before, they're either a 10.5 or they're a legit.2. There's no in between. Straight smokes or straight dopes. It's either you're getting invited to the Victoria's Secret fashion show

or you're fucking washing to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show or you're fucking washing dishes at Olga's fucking... Yeah, or you're going to the Sergei Trash Show. It's just like the trip to the dump every week. Do paid kills get an asterisk, Biz? What's that? Do you think paid kills, do they get an asterisk?

I think... I mean, Obi, I'd like to hear you chime in on this. I'm not a pay-for-play type of guy i like that i like the chase i i enjoy the hunt but yeah no there's there's there's definitely definitely an asterisk beside if you uh if you got to make the transaction um you know in the bedroom or where it ends up in the back of the club but uh let's be honest at the end of the day throughout our career we all paid for pussy a little bit but uh yeah there's definitely an asterisk if uh if money changes hand at that particular moment or so i've been told because i don't know i mean yeah i never

had to pay for much myself either well since we're on the hooker talk my buddy uh i don't know if it was craigslist or like kajiji but what these girls in toronto used to do is they used to rent a hotel room out for the entire day and they used to book deals where they would book out time slots and my buddy went over there and for whatever reason he tried to make out with her and she goes oh no no

what is it? DFK is more and he's like DFK and she's like yeah deep French kissing that's extra you had to pay more to make out with chicks that have been blowing dudes all day. Like, what the fuck is that? Your guys were paying it. So your buddy was looking for a little emotion, eh?

He wasn't just wanting a blowjob. He wanted to steal a little tattoo. He wanted a little forehead kissing or something. Deep French, I don't know. Hey, it was the franchise. Who's that? You know franchise. Bonnaroo franchise. Isn't that like LeB that? You know Franchise. Bonnaroo Franchise.

Isn't that like LeBron? You know the Franchise. Come on. My buddy from Toronto, the tall guy, he was in Vegas with us the one time. Connolly was ripping on him for the way he dressed at Marquee. He was the worst-dressed guy to ever get inside of a nightclub in Vegas. He was the one wearing the white kicks when everyone – he almost didn't get in for his

white kicks. Was that the guy? Yeah, so Kevin Conley got him in, and Conley was just ripping him the entire night, but he was a good sport about it. Yeah, I remember that. I mean, the white kicks were a tough play, but I mean, who knew, right? I mean, you know, it's just your safe play with black shoes, but... Well, I mean, you were talking about earlier, he was the

morale guy. He was like the guy at Shinny who was picking up the morale. Yeah, and you want to talk about that, you want to talk about that crew you lined up that one time for the boys in vegas when it was me you richardson and carly that was a that was a nationally crew you put together for that trip as well but speaking of crews there there's no funner crew i've ever hung out with, no offense, Whit or Grinnelli or R.A., was then with you, Loops, and Upby and Bonnaroo. We did the July 4th party at Loople's place.

Man, you guys have a fucking blast. Yeah, man. I mean, obviously your Bonnaroo experience, you had a great showing. You came out of the gates maybe a little heavy, but then you made up great showing. You came out of the gates maybe a little heavy. But then you made up for it. You had a tough trip on Mushrooms,

but that could happen to anyone. And then at the end of the festival, I think you might have taken home first star with the one you scooped out of there. I remember being pretty solid. So, yeah, your Bonnaroo was top shelf, I'll be honest. And then, yeah, she was a nine.

Sorry, you shouldn't grade women. We shouldn't grade women. No, that's true. You shouldn't grade women, but she was a nine, though. Yeah, so back to the number scale. But, yeah, I ended up getting my brown belt that weekend, too, and holy shit. And then I found out she crushed another hockey guy in the nhl and i was devastated i was ready to marry that girl did you make her did you make her have a shower after

bonnaroo you just went straight braun bell right after bonnaroo four days in the sun but okay this this is a wild story yo wait so this is insane. I totally forgot about this story. So after Bonnaroo, I ended up going back to Nashville with her, and I ended up spending another night with her, and you guys all flew back, okay? So I booked out a flight. You went in love. But I booked out a flight. You fell in love.

Big time. Yes. I wasn't kidding when I said I fell in love, and then I found out she crushed a hockey player. Then I was like, oh, whatever. Who cares? I'll just stick around for another day and and and uh and repeat and uh okay so she's she was married and she had a kid the kid was not with her that weekend

obviously it was with uh the father but the guy was like still crazy over he came over pounding on the door and she looked through the peephole while i where i was staring there that night and she goes oh my god it's my ex and i'm like oh i'm like is he crazy she's like yeah i'm like fuck so i go like hide in the bathroom the far bathroom in her place like behind the door lock the door which i thought well you could hear this guy walk around he's like who's here like why are you being all weird and i'm like oh my god i'm gonna die i'm gonna fight this guy i'm butt naked well i forgot to lock the bathroom door and all of a sudden the door opens and he peeks his head around the corner i'm i'm standing there like like oh my god it's like does he have a gun or like i'm on my toes and i

was like oh hey man what's up and he and then he didn't do anything you could tell he was like fuming after that but he ended up like just, oh, this is fucking bullshit and, like, yelled at her and ran out. And I was like, oh, my God, this is, like, that was the most uncomfortable situation I've ever been in my entire life. That's a scary thing to happen. I mean, that's a scary thing. But it is kind of her fault and all your fault is, right? I mean, you didn't know.

She's the one that's kind of, you know, running around. You should be mad at her, not you. I have to agree with him on that. Oh, absolutely. No, he was good. He didn't really come at me. You just never know what these people in nashville i mean you're dealing with like something you can be doing with a christian guy or trailer park trash you're like if it's some stranger dude if it's some stranger dude like that you're you're girls with like you

can't be mad at him it's just a guy trying to get some like be mad at her biz didn't do anything well i mean yeah exactly it's just it's just a guy coming off bonnaroo that bangs your old lady in the butt i mean it's not it's not his fault right i mean it's just just busy and as it's showered in four days oh god that's it no no no so this bonnaroo experience you guys don't it's it's the vip experience i was shocked so i'm like oh going to a festival i'm gonna going to get all greasy. And Upi's like, no, man. We ended up being in T-Pain's tour bus that weekend.

You pay a premium. You get golf carted around behind the stage to every show. You get three meals a day. Everything was organic and really good food. 24-hour concierge service. If you needed domes at 1 o'clock in the morning, they going to get your domes it was fucking insane man these guys were so dialed in and they brought me on board i think because ryan o'reilly couldn't make it that year uh no i think i think you were part of the team right away i think o'reilly came the following year after trying to replace your uh

yeah i know you were part of the squad right away there, Biz. We wanted your energy for sure. I just want to know, why would you want domers at 1 in the morning? What was that? Meanwhile, you wouldn't be able to get hard on and fuck it. You know what I mean? No, I was just using that as an example. I didn't actually – Oh, okay.

So you get Viagra for backup. We don't know. I just tie that big piece of skin on the end up. I'm secure. It's like a biodome. Hey, so what were they calling Witt and Anaheim? You were talking about it before we started. Oh, yeah, that's a little low blow.

Is it? Yeah, so, you know, my boy Loop will hear. You know Loops, obviously. And he comes up. I brought up your name, Witt. And, you know, obviously we're talking about you and biz doing your thing how good it is and your name come up for golf and then he said something about the name of unfit me or something they call it you in anaheim and i mean the way you used to skate move the puck i always thought you're in good shape but is that accurate unfit me what's people talking about there

listen i i have this thing where my entire life when when I don't have a shirt on, it's terrible. I mean, I'm talking, and then if I take the bottom off and I'm naked, dude, it's just a bad body. I can somehow, a little bit, it's getting worse, get away with clothes. In the fall, too, I look all right, but summer, my legs are horrendous and stuff. But in the fall, I can kind of hide it, but I take this gear off and unfit me came quick. Do you know my story

of the fake tanning in Anaheim? Have you ever heard this? No, I love to hear it, though. Dude, you gotta ask Loops about this and Getzy. So, I got traded to Anaheim and then Pittsburgh won the Cup. Yep, thanks a lot so i got traded to to anaheim and then pittsburgh won the cup yep thanks a lot and um i got traded there oh yeah fuck we're gonna talk about that happened to you too all right either way so guys are like holy fuck look at how pale you are look at this bag

of milk gets left just giving it to me i'm like guys i get tan i mean i've been in pittsburgh i've been in pittsburgh all year mean, how am I supposed to get any sun? You're like nice salad, Getz. I get real tan. Boy, fuck, Getz. Chuck a helmet on. On the RA special up there. So Getz always gave it to me.

So fast forward to the next season starting, and I got to leave for training camp. I'm like, oh, fuck. I'm still pale as shit. I told those guys to be tan. So I fly over. I get spray tan. Never done it before. fuck, I'm still pale as shit. I told those guys to be tanned. So I fly over. I get spray tanned. Never done it before.

Dude, I looked unbelievable. I went spray tanned directly to the airport to catch my flight to LAX. I looked so good. I went in the bathroom at the airport 15 times looking at myself. I'm like, I'm so good looking tanned. Fast forward to the next morning. Dude, the lady never told me to, like, shower. You're supposed to wait to shower or shower at a specific time i wake up i get in late i wake up i go right to

the rink we're doing like the captain's practice before camp though you know the low key the the skates whatever guys are like holy fuck what you are standing shit you're right i'm like i told you unbelievable i'm like yeah dude we get off the ice i get in the shower i'm with getzlaff perry i forget i think ryan carter was in there dude the water hits me and this tan stuff is coming off me like a waterfall in patches patches of my stomach going away the way that's like you You didn't tell them? You told them it was natural? Oh, yeah. And I was like, oh, you guys got me.

You guys got me. Why is this stuff coming off in the water? This is bullshit. Looks like the opening scene of Carrie. They thought your skin was actually falling off. They're like, oh, no, he's dying. Actually, the other nickname I had in Anaheim was Scummer. I think it's Scummer and Unfit.

I've heard Scummer as well. Yeah, I've heard Scummer as well. I've never heard that. That word's just based off just kind of being like a Boston scumbag, they would call me. They're just weasels. They're rats. I don't listen to any of them.

Oh, fuck. It's funny. As we're talking to you, I'm in my house. I got the TV going. I'm on NHL network. I'm prepping for the season. And there's a, they're showing an old Anaheim series.

I need to hear your backstory on rookie year NHL. You're on that wagon of a team, Pronger, Niedermeyer. Like, tell me about that first year. You were lighting it up when you got traded too. Yeah,

man. I mean, that first year went like you know i made the team i was a sixth defenseman i was playing like you know 10 minutes a night i go out there getting a couple tilts or whatever we won every single game and honestly me penner and perry we were just lighting up newport i mean every night we would go out after the game we go out till three or four in the morning i come to the rink the next day i get on the bike because i was fat ready to make the bike go out practice a little bit go to sleep

that night next night we went again exact same thing out till four in the morning for like the whole first two months of the season i was like this league is great i don't know what everyone's talking about this nhl it's hard i'm like all i do is maybe get in a fight make a couple plays off the glass and rip it up in newport beach. I'm like, this is unbelievable. We were so nasty. I literally had no income in the game. I had no hell in the game. So it didn't matter if I played good or bad output. I didn't have no output in the game.

So if I played good or bad, it didn't matter. I played like four shifts, five shifts. We'd win the game. Everyone would be happy. Go out and get banged up again with the boys. So it was unreal. It was unreal. Hey, were you going to the r rink were you going to the rink telling these stories like were they expecting you to bring entertainment to the locker room they were loving it bro in our corner

it was me it was getzler pronger penner myself perry solani so that whole little corner was i mean you could you could imagine the smell coming out of that corner most mornings. I mean, I remember Solani saying, like, me and Penner, we weren't bad. We could kind of pass for not being hungover, but I mean, some mornings when Corey Perry walked in that dressing room, I'd pick him up in the morning. I'd be like, bro, my worm.

My visage free, bro. He looked like... If worm goes out... If worm goes out, you know the next morning that worm went out. He looked like he got put through the ringer. Yeah, if Worm goes out, you know the next morning that Worm went out. He's just falling around. His eyes are bloodshot. He can't even move.

And then he still goes out there and bangles people. Oh, yeah. Once practice started, he was fine. It was just him getting through the warm-up and getting through, like, not seeing a coach and getting out there. Because once he got on the ice to practice, he was the same player. But, man, he was looking rough before most of them. And Solani would always chirp him. It was great.

But, no, those veteran guys went and they loved it. I mean, and us young guys, we lived for it. We loved going in there and telling stories. Solani, of them all, probably loved it the most. Shane, did you have to, like, pinch yourself a little bit? Because, you know, you were an eighth-round pick. Usually eighth-rounders, the prospects aren't too great for them. It was probably

not a miracle, but a little bit of a long shot to get to the show. Did you feel like you were out of your element? How long did it take you to get used to it? Like, shit, I belong at this level here. Yeah, no, for sure. I think that probably hit me more when I was trying to make the jump from the Orange Shelf to the American League, being such a late pick and not known.

And then making the American League, you know, I kind of developed obviously through my three years. And then, you know, making Anaheim's team, it was, you know, walking out of the dressing room was obviously super intimidating. But I had, you know, Getzlab and Perry and Penner, my boys that came up through rookie camps and, you know, summer camps that we'd come in for two weeks and work out together. So I felt comfortable enough walking there and my boys that came up through rookie camps and, you know, summer camps that we'd come in for two weeks and work out together.

So I felt comfortable enough walking there with my boys. You know, like Biz and Whitney, winning cures everything. So we were the best team in the NHL, and not a lot was said. I mean, Randy didn't say much. We just flew her on the radar and got pinned and banged some girls down on Newport Beach. It was awesome. Well, and back then, the physical play,

especially on the back end for, like, the 5th and 6th D-men, you know, you had to throw your weight around and get in some tussles. And you earned that fucking spot in the three years in the minors before that. Let's go back to your rookie year in the American Hockey League, 163 penalty minutes. And next year you had 319. And the year after that, you had 287. And this is the time in the NHL where they were sending down, like, the big, big boys that the guy's juicing to the American League because they were like, ah, they couldn't play a lick. But the guys in the A still had to fight them.

So you were fighting tougher guys than the NHL tough guys down there. Yeah, I mean, obviously, you know all about that too, Biz. I mean, the year in Cincinnati, Joe Nalocco, though, it was me and Sheldon Brookbank, and we didn't have a legitimate heavyweight till, you know, three quarters of the way through the season because, you know, these guys like Kip Brennan and Jeff Paul, and the list goes on and on.

So finally, me and Brookie go into Casey Higginson, our captain, and we're like, dude, you know, we need a legitimate heavyweight here. Like, I mean, me and Brookie can't do it anymore. So they legitimately hired this guy by the name of Lee Jacobsacob who was working the door at a bar in chicago and they've signed him to an american league contract and uh he comes out like going straight out of goon boys and he comes right out of the fucking wearing the security t-shirt on the ice and has like three tilts his first night against uh this who is that who's that who's that tough

guy in florida because uh that got dropped by josh he fought chris simons oh grant mcneil yeah he had like three epic fights with that grant mcneil and we were like he is we don't care he was a killer and we're like you know what it doesn't matter that this guy can't skate let's get this guy on a team and uh you know what it's like you just mentioned it i'm gonna tell people who are listening to look this know what it's like. You just mentioned it. I'm going to tell people who are listening to look this fight up. It's Grant McNeil and the guy who was in... Fuck, who

was it? Grant McNeil and Josh Gratton was on the same team until Gratton fucking broke his jaw. Yeah, but Grant McNeil's first one he got... Chris Simon. Chris Simon. Look up that one if you're listening to this. That is a tilt.

Which one are you talking about? I think we need a Tim Ussalani story. Oh, yes, we do. Oh, Tim Ussalani. Hey, Obi, I'll interrupt you quickly just because I've let the listeners know before that he's the biggest legend of all time with the complete wrench. He's jacked, you know, the four beautiful kids, whatever it is, the cars, the millions, the goals.

I mean, everyone knows this guy's a legend. Buddy, it's funny you say that because me and Luce one day were teeing up talking about you and stuff. And the one day, I guess you just came in the rink and you said exactly that. You're like, the boys are like, oh like a table was in a good mood again. I guess you were like, well, why wouldn't you be looking at him?

Sick hair, the hundred, 500 points, blah, blah, blah. Tons of cars, great chance.

Sick wife walking around the rope. Yeah. Everything. Yeah. He's like Henry. Walking around the rest. Walking around. Yeah,

exactly. Oh, Hey, Obi, speaking of that, you were there the weekend of the awards when he won his first Vesna. Yeah, exactly. Oh, hey, Obi, speaking of that, you were there the weekend of the awards when he won his first Vesna. Buddy, do you remember that weekend, dude?

That after our party was – Who won the Vesna? Henrik. Henrik Lundqvist. Oh, you guys were there then? Buddy, we went there. It was – that was when – What awards were you guys up for? Giroux brought me to the NHL Awards claude geroux as my as a date

i had two rooms i never even checked into the one because the nhl got you one it was the biggest fucking shit show weekend i just rode these guys coattails uh yeah i i can't tell some of the stories but it was good i trust you and if i can't tell the stories you know they're fucked up i can tell one story from that weekend. As the awards were going on, I obviously didn't have an invitation to the awards. I think you went. You were working the red carpet or something. So I was in the pool with one of my boys, PJ,

and we bumped into a couple of Edmonton girls. I think we were at the Wynn or somewhere. It doesn't matter. And we were in the pool with them. And sure enough, the good old classy Edmonton girl, you know, one cocktail, next thing you know, I got her just riding me in the pool. And as Henrik was wearing the Vezina, I was having some sex in the wind pool. So it was a great day for me too.

Everybody won. And then we went to that Encore Beach Club. They opened it up afterward. And it was for all, like, you you know the people who were involved and buddy they were there they must have hired some fenbops fenbots to come over from Russia or whatever because there were some girls there I mean the balls to talk

there was the one girl that walked into the after party in a Hank suite and I mean she was she had a couple security guards with her I don't know what country she was from but I think it was Melania Trump might have been might have been I don't know what country she was from, but I think it was next level. Might have been. Might have been, but she was a rocket salad.

You got any, I think R.A.'s got one for you. Actually, I had a couple. Every time we have tough guys on, I kind of have the same sort of questions I like to ask. And obviously looking at your penalty minute, Shane, you fucking bundled a lot of guys. I mean, 319 penalty minutes, like biz just said during the lockout. Yeah. That's,

that's pretty impressive for the AHL. So, um, I want to ask who's the toughest guy you ever fought. Toughest guy ever fought was, uh, was, uh,

Derek Brugard for sure. He, uh, Oh man, we were in Minnesota. We were, we were in Minnesota and, um,

you know, Chris Kunitz was, like, coming up the wall, and my D partner was Joe DiPenzi. Remember that guy, Whit? Joe DiPenzi. You probably don't even remember that guy. He went to Boston University. He would take slap shots that either the goalie would save or be a rebound, or it would rim and start the team's breakout and go down to, like,

your own goalie. That was his only two plays he had, yeah. That was my first NHL D partner, by the way. Like, D to D wasn't even – he didn't even know how to go D to D. I'm like, dude, slide it over once. Like, just once. Let me touch it here. Just up the window, up the window.

I'm like, dude, we're defending again, bro. We're defending again, bro. Just D to D hinge or something. Turn the sticks over. Obi, you're a big time. You need to feel it. Like, you need to feel the biscuit. You Obi, you're a big time. You need to feel it. Like, you need to feel the biscuit. You were always – you loved feeling it.

You made some sick dishes. Like, you couldn't just, like, not ever touch it, or you just didn't have your game going. No, all right. And I always thought, like, if we have the puck, they can't score, right? Like, I mean – Science. Yeah, science. Make a couple D to D plays, get it deep and change,

and just – I think it's a good night. Once you start firing up the wall and hit the skate, now your gap sucks. Now you're just like, now I'm in one. Especially when you're playing in Colorado, man. All the high altitude and you had to play there for a couple years. That would have sucked. There was nothing fun about playing there.

I love the city and all the boys, but when it came to actually playing with the altitude biz and, you know, there's my physical, I was never probably the top most conditioned guy out there. So some nights it was hard, bro. Did Bogart give you the worst beat you ever took as well? Or was he, you know, did someone else give you your worst beat and you took? My worst beat? I mean, Kip Brennan beat the wheels off me pretty good

in the American League at the All-Star. We had this guy named Sean O'Connor who just got called up from the cheese, and he's like, he's working the – yo. We've had him on. We had him on, or I told the story about him, about when Babcock told him he'd never fucking skate in an NHL arena again right before his first AHL game. Were you on the team?

Yeah. I played with O.C. Yeah, he got called up like halfway through the lockout year with us. I forget where he was. Okay, so you guys went and played a promotional game at the Pond against Grand Rapids. Yeah, exactly. We did, yeah.

Yeah, and he was taping his stick on the bench, and Babcock walked out, and he goes, pretty nice arena. Didn't even look at him. And he's like, yeah, yeah, it's unbelievable. Like, it's amazing. And he's like, yeah, I will enjoy it, because this will be the last time you ever set foot on NHL ice. And he walked back down the tunnel, and sure enough, he went like dash two in the first period with a stupid penalty,

and then he got sent down after that back to Cincinnati. That was the end of it. Oh, man, that's fucked up. Shane, I'm taking a look at your hockey reference page. First time you get traded to Tampa from Anaheim, one of the picks that you were traded with was selected on a guy. His name is Luca.

I don't know. The last name is spelled C-U-N-T-I. Is his name really pronounced Cunty or is it Cunty? Have you ever heard the guy's name before? Luca Cunty? I think it's Luca's cry check, isn't it? Some check that I – or no, is that the guy? I don't know.

I got traded with him. It said the pick that was traded with you to Tampa, it said that Tampa selected Luca Cunty, C-U-N-T-I-O, Conti. And he doesn't even have a page on hockey reference, so he never made it to the NHL. But I don't know if you're familiar with the guy or if that's indeed how you pronounce his name. I wasn't familiar with that at all, but that's hilarious.

That was actually the guy that was dating the girl that Obi put on the workbench in the pool. Actually, I just found this page. Yeah, he played over in Switzerland for a while. So, Obie, I, along with you, was traded from a team who then went on to win the Stanley Cup. Awful feeling. Give me your thoughts on when the trade went down. Were you kind of heartbroken?

And then when they ended up winning the cup, what was that feeling? Like I always ask other people who went through that shit. Yeah. You know, obviously I got, I got traded with like two days before the deadline. Me and Paris were cruising back down from the,

from the pond. We were cruising down to Newport to grab some lunch on the peninsula or whatever. And, you know, my phone rang and it's, you know, it's Brian Burke and you know, like other player where you know how we feel like

oh fuck we know what's coming and you know he said hey I traded you and the first thing I thought is where to and he said Tampa so I was like all right I can still see it off in pretty good city like this will be all right I mean and then he told me like listen I don't want to trade you but I got a first rounder for you so I was like hey Burke if you got a first rounder for me bro you gotta you know you gotta pull the trigger I don't blame you for that but um you know then I started packing up my stuff and it kind of hit me more with and uh you know the day I kind of left Anaheim I honestly knew like you know I was the best hockey team I ever been a part of I knew they were going to go on and win the Stanley Cup they were just they were

just that stacked um and you boys know how it is when your dressing room is is clicking the way that room was everyone got along for the most part. Everyone knew their roles. And when it came down to skill, they were just the best team in the NHL. So I knew I lost to Stanley Cup. And watching them go through the playoffs, I actually came back to Newport. I was hanging out with Lubes, you know, whatever. And they won the Stanley Cup.

So as soon as they won the Stanley Cup, me and Lubes jumped in. I think he was driving a Bentley then or something. We jumped in there and went to Palm Springs for like three or four days to drink away our sorrows because, you know, Lubez got traded for Pronger in the previous summer, so we both kind of missed out on it. But it was the biggest bummer ever. It almost happened to me in Vancouver too.

I've never been dealt before. Is your first thought, where? Where am I going? And then you hear Tampa and you're like, nice city it's warm good living hot attractive women and then you're like okay i can deal with that yeah that's exactly what you're thinking i was just like when you said you're traded i'm like oh please don't say like edmonton or calgary or columbus that happened to me too you know i was like yeah i was like fuck man like i'm like, I had a sick pad down the beach. I was like, my bullpen was pretty good at that time.

I had some girls going through it. I was like, oh, man. Nice having a good starting rotation. You've got to have a good bullpen, you know. It takes a while. Unless you're like a fucking big-time wheeler or something, which I'm not. It takes a while for me to get my bullpen where I want it. And I just finally, as a rookie in the NHL, had a nice bullpen at Newport Beach.

Boom, next thing you know, I'm on a bird to Tampa, and I got to get going all over again. Yeah, it could be worse. You got to start over GM mode on your fucking video game. Got to start over GM mode, bro. Thank you very much to Obi. Fun interview. Next we have, man, I think, is it our most downloaded episode?

It is. It is. And Jeremy Roenick came in with some incredible stories, including the greatest prank story of all time. I think the most incredible story of all time. I just would do anything for the footage. People know that one. So having JR on was awesome. That guy's a superstar.

I hope he gets in the Hall of Fame. I think he will. But now we got Jeremy Roenick for you. Thank you. Have you guys ever heard of this practical joke I played on Torrey Mitchell and Devin Sedgwick? Oh, is this the trip? Is this the trip? Oh, to the desert?

Yeah, to Vegas. Dude, I got to hear this. Torrey Mitchell told me this in person and I was blown away. Yeah, this is a good one. You got to deal with me for a second

because it's kind of a lengthy one, but it's a good one. No, listen, as long as you talk clearly into the phone, I'm happy.

I'm going to tell before you start, listeners, it's long, but at the end, are you shitting me? Yeah, I'll try to keep it a

little bit quicker and get to the point so i was a big fan of of a scare tactics you ever seen that that show scare tactics where their friends set up their own of their friends to get they get pranked by you know hollywood people by literally hollywood uh um real special effects people and and it's believable. I mean, they scare the shit out of people. I love this show. You know, go on YouTube and just type in Scare Tactics and watch videos. You can watch them for hours.

So I called Scare Tactics and said, I want to play a practical joke on a couple of guys on our team. We're going to go to Vegas before the season starts. And I want to, I just, you know, I think this would be a great team bonding thing. Well, Tori Mitchell, Devin Sedeckucci were two of the young guys in the team. So I set up, we got to Vegas. I set up a guy to sit at a blackjack table with us. So we're playing blackjack, and he starts talking about this party. You guys know the parties that you see on television

where there's hot girls running around with just their bikinis on, some not with their bikinis on, drinks everywhere, pool party, that kind of type of look. Well, this guy talks up this party like it's one of those. So Mitchie and Settle's eyes just light up. They're like, we got to go. He's like, well, if you want to go,

here's the parents' room, here's the address, go. I'm like, guys, we can't go. We can't leave the boys behind and settle them. But we got to go just for a little bit. Let's just go at 9 o'clock. We'll be back by 1030. We'll meet the boys out. I'm like, okay.

So we get in the limo. We go outside the city to this mansion. So they hired and rented a mansion in Vegas, and they set this thing up to the nines. We walk into this mansion, and these two big security guards, I i mean monsters stop us at the door and say what's the password and we said the password was dakota so they let us in we go into this big uh we go into into the living room it's a big living room there's people mumbling around it's weird music being played we sit on the couch and automatically right away um mitchie goes jared this is not the party I thought it was going to be.

I don't feel very comfortable. We've got to leave. I'm like, leave? We just got here. I'm not going to leave when we just rolled up. And you don't even know what kind of party this is. He's like, all right. So I say I've got to go to the bathroom.

I go into the garage. I have this production team puts a blood patch, a blood jacket on me underneath my underneath my clothes. OK, go back in. And so now we're starting. Now I have these this the lights go down and the head of this party brings out this girl. Now, everybody stands at attention in this room. The music goes down. And the leader of the party says you know here's our our uh feature of the night it's you know jolanda or whatever her name was and she's she's going around the room and all she has on is a pair of of of her her panties on

that's it no top no nothing everybody's looking at her and touching her and feeling her and she's going around and everybody's taking, you know, smelling her and they come around to us and said, I was like, said, I was like, what are we having a 30 something or something here? What's going on? And she's like, I'm not touching her. I don't know what's going on. Oh, we got to get back. We can't hear you. Oh, talking to the mic. Sorry. Drone excited interrupt there. Oh, we can't hear you. Oh, talking to the mic. Sorry, Dronix.

Sorry to interrupt you there. Yeah, so Mitchie's like, listen, Jer, I'm really not comfortable. I'm a good judge of when I get uncomfortable, we've got to leave. We've got to leave right now. I'm like, dude, just settle down, man. Don't want to draw attention to us. We're not even supposed to be here, right? So all of a sudden, the waitress comes around with trays of shots.

All this red and in the shot glasses was like red, red, red liquid. And I wanted to make it look like blood, right? So we take it. And Mitchie's like, I don't want one. I don't want one. And I'm like, what is it? What is it, Settle? What is it? And Settle tastes it. He goes, oh, my God, dude, I think this want one. I don't want one. And I'm like, what is it? What is it, Seto? What is it?

And Seto tastes it. He goes, oh, my God, dude, I think this is blood. I swear this is blood. And Mitchie stands up and starts running for the door. I'm like, Mitchie, get back here. Now you really don't want to leave it. That's blood. And there's a girl running around this place,

and all these people are looking at us. We can't leave now. And Mitchie's like, dude, I swear to God right now I'm going to cry. I'm so scared right now i gotta i gotta get out of here i was like well just give me a second just give me a second let me just you know i will leave in five minutes right so so as mitchie sits down and all of a sudden the this the music just starts blaring the lights go down Everybody stands up in the room and puts on these suit to some way masks, you know,

the ones with the big noses and feathers coming out, the real freaky, freaky, freaky. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Everybody starts humming.

Right. And in through the two, the two doors, the two opening doors, a table is rolled into the middle of the room that's covered and mitchie's like dude what is what is that what what is going on in here what's going on and the leader of this group they all gather around this table and the leader pulls the blanket off of the table and it's the girl okay obviously with special effects and her whole stomach was cut open exposing her whole insides

blood and her organs and everything that she's laying on the table with her total stomach cut from neck neck to belt her belly button right and everybody's hovering over the table and the leader of the group grabs a piece of like part of her liver what looked like was her liver and bit it and said and said it tastes like chicken and everybody dives into her and starts eating eating her right like taking pieces out of her and eating her so it's like one it's like it's like one of those um like one of those zombie parties or whatever, you know, like the eyes wide shut where it's just weird. So I, so I freak out. Okay. And Mitch, he's standing there. He sees me freak out. I start running for the door.

The two guards that met us confronted me and started stabbing me with a knife. And I remember I had the blood patch on, they start stabbing me with these knives and now all the blood starts popping all over my chest and bleeding all over the place. I fall to the ground and pretend that I die in the middle of the room. Everybody's looking at Mitchie and Seto and Mitchie screams, they killed J.R.! They just killed J.R.! He runs

and jumps on top of the bar because there was an 18 foot, 16 foot bay window in this living room. OK, there was one of those big bay windows with the head that the biters in it. Mitchie jumps on top of the on top of the bar and runs full speed and jumps into the window trying to get jumped through the window. And he gets bounced back into the window and trying to jump through the window. And he gets bounced back. It's a pretty sick window. And he tries to do it again. He runs back, runs to the window, dies into the window, and gets thrown back onto the bar.

And everybody's looking at him, now looking at him standing up on top of the bar. And he's screaming at him, stay away from me, you vampires, or whatever he's saying. He's yelling, calling them vampires. You're not going to eat me. They killed JR. And he's screaming at me, right? Stay away from me you vampires or whatever he's saying he's yelling vampires you're not gonna eat me they killed jr and he's screaming at me right stay away from me he's screaming at these people and they're like they still have the masks on and they're like trying to settle them down so mitchie looks through the house and across across the house he sees blinds, metal blinds. So, you know, you think you see metal blinds, window, window, escape.

Mitchie jumps off the bar, runs through the house, past all the people, and doesn't slow down a bit and goes headfirst through the blinds, right through the window, headfirst. You know, you guys have seen The the blinds, right through the window. Headfirst. You know, you guys have seen The Wizard of Oz, right? Remember when the lion runs down Oz and jumps out the window? That's what Mitchie did. Jumped right through a double-pane window with all blinds on it

and then gets up, jumps over over a fence jumps over another fence actually jumps into wayne newton's backyard and starts running through wayne newton's yard where all of his horses are and these horses start running right next to him and he's crying he's screaming and we're all we hear is we got a runner we got a runner in all those studio producers right and uh so we it took us about an hour and a half so we found vichy um you know trying to get out of wayne newton's backyard to let him know that i really wasn't dead and that these people really weren't going to eat people and that it was just a big practical joke meanwhile he had you know cuts all over his body luckily nothing major happened.

It could have been backfired big time. But I remember we were playing cards later that night, and every time he wanted a hit, he would put his hand on the hit, and his hand was still shaking two or three hours after the practical joke. It scared the living daylights out of him. I remember it wasn't Tori Mitchell. I think Ryan Clow told me the story. And I,

the funniest part about it was that he said that Tori's like, JR's fucking dead. JR's not dead. JR's not dead. I saw him die. Yeah. And the whole time, but the whole time,

Seto is standing there frozen solid. He's so scared. And all Seto was saying, all I gotta do is eat her. All I gotta do is eat her. If I eat her, I don't die. All I gotta do is eat her.

If I eat her, I'm not gonna die. You guys have all the audio on this? Yeah, I got all the audio. And I hear, yeah, I got the audio. And all I hear is Seto saying, all I gotta do gotta do is here all i gotta do is eat a body part all i gotta do is eat about right i won't die i'm not gonna die i'm not gonna die and uh so mitchie mitchie said you know when i was growing up my dad said if there was ever if i was ever in trouble get out any way

possible i saw i saw blinds hey Blind means window. I was gone. You mentioned it too. Like, fuck, have they ever done this where someone seriously injured themselves? No, that would have been bad. I mean, think about it. What if he jumped out of a two-story window or something? I said that. I remember.

Doug Wilson, your old roomie would have wanted you dead. Say that again? Your old roomie, Doug Wilson, would have wanted you dead if you had Tory Mitchell out for the year after that one. Yeah, I know. I know. Again, looking back, stupid things that we do, things that you learn. Oh, it's such a story, though. Speaking of guys who like to speak their mind,

J.I. is certainly probably at the top of that list, not shy with his opinions at all. And hopefully we'll bump into him in the next couple of days. We're in Chicago here. But as far as big names that we had this year, I'm not sure they come much bigger than Austin Matthews, one of the big, bright young stars in the NHL. It was an honor and a treat to have him on.

I really enjoyed talking to him. Hopefully we'll get him back again. Hey, Witz. Yeah, he came in hot. He's giving it to Biz. That's what I loved right away. He knew Biz just runs away from Bills like he's allergic to him

in restaurants. So that was great. So we'll go to Austin Matthews who is one of the top players in the league. Top five players in the league now. So a huge guest for us. We wanted to thank him for coming on. We are now pleased to bring in, I'm going to say the biggest big-time guest we've ever had,

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

that joined this podcast a couple months ago, that he breezed you and you were willing to come on earlier? Yeah, like like it's insane the tonight like the audacity on this guy is insane so he texted me like earlier this summer i saw him in scottsdale like once and then like he texted me he was like hey man like you want to come on spin chicklets next week i was like yeah like let me talk to you know like our pr guy in toronto um you know make sure like it's all good on their part like I'm totally good and this is like maybe end of June beginning of July and then I text him back

I'm like yeah like no problem just let me know it's like oh yeah for sure buddy like all good like we'll let you know and then like two months goes by I'm in Tampa two weeks ago and like I'm with Hannah Finn and Hannah Finn's like yeah man like why haven't you ever been on Spitting Checklist? And I'm like, well, I was supposed to be on two months ago, but I don't like big dog me, never texted me back. I haven't heard from him since. Okay, two things. Wow!

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

not happening on this podcast. Hey, he's dodging and breezing you, though, I can tell. So tighten it up. And I'm sorry I breezed you. I'd love to add one thing. We hung out in Arizona, you were nowhere to be seen when this bill came. I just want to make that announcement. No, exactly.

You fucking – Are you – No, time out. I'm not even lying. No, I'm not even lying, man. I showed up by myself. This isn't even like an exaggeration. You were nowhere to be seen when this bill came,

and you were the first guy. You got a lot a lot of guys you're like oh boys it's all good we'll chop it up and like so it's like you're gonna say that obviously like you're gonna you know we're gonna chop it up and the bill comes and like it was literally i watched your your documentary it was you basically did exactly what you did to mo like you just were nowhere to be seen when the bill came and we waited like you you tried to wait it out. Like we waited for you. Like we were in no hurry. Once again, I have two, I have two replies to that. One, there were too many girls around me.

So I had to get a little time away and I had to hit up the bathroom and decompress. Number two, when I got back, I picked up an entire bottle boost to myself and I was barely drinking that day. So I bought one bottle of vodka. So all his entourage,ourage this I thought he played for the fucking Raptors this guy had 10 guys hanging out with him that is an exaggeration

all I drank was water that day and I took it in that's true you were being good hey Biz is the girl that's like I just had a salad so mine's actually 10.50 because he had one sip of the vodka. There were eight people at the table. I think we had four bottles of booze, and I picked up one full bottle

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

I know Toronto's popping off right now, and it's right before training camp. Worst time to have it. Yeah, I mean, a little bit. You know, you see, like, a bunch of people walking around. Like, it's been raining the last few days, so, like, what else is there to do? But over the weekend, days, so what else is there to do? Over the weekend, I went to dinner. I guess Julia Roberts was renting out the top patio of this restaurant and just saw people kind of rolling in.

I saw Kenny Rogers. I didn't think I'd see the day I'd run into him in public. No way. Julia Roberts, she's like 50 now, isn't she? Yeah, I did not see her, but obviously She's like 50 now, isn't she? Yeah, I did not hear But obviously she's still looking good We were walking into this restaurant Kenny Rogers was walking out

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

He looks a lot different than he did 30 years ago. And just for our listeners out there, TIFF is the Toronto International Film Festival that's going on right now. It's where a lot of Oscar bait gets shown for the first time just to get people up to speed there. Do you think that or do you know that they're probably hearing Austin Matthews is in this restaurant? No, no chance. You don't think Nick Rogers knows him? No way. They're probably hearing Austin Matthews is in this restaurant. No.

No chance. No way. I'm looking at a picture online of Kenny Rogers, and you're right. Yeah, he got some major work done. Definitely looks way different than he used to, though. Austin, you saw him in the flesh. It looks like he has the same surgeon as Lil' Kim. Holy cow, he does look way different.

I know, man. I got a little peek. Holy cow, he does look weird. I know, man. I got a little peek at him. He looks good. Have you met Rachel McAdams by any chance? I haven't. Is that your girl, though? Oh, in my field? Yeah, I raised Dayton, you know.

Yeah, my internet girlfriend. I know she's a big Leafs fan. She actually came to the Cup when it was Bruins-Vancouver, like six or seven years ago. I didn't know if you might have bumped into her yet. Probably with a connection. Yeah, I don't know. I haven't.

To answer your question, I honestly think, like, I mean, Toronto, they obviously love us. They love the players and stuff. But I guarantee you, if somebody says something like that, they have absolutely like, they don't even acknowledge it. They're just like, go about like eating their you know, crème brûlée or

whatever they're having. Yeah, it's like they transport Hollywood into Toronto. Also, I don't know if you heard, but R.A. was actually in the movie The Town, and he was up for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards. So I don't know if you've ever seen a scene where he's the cook

where you actually don't even see him. You can see, like, a slimmer of a bald head. It could be, like, a woman with a shaved head. Yeah, could be, but it's not. It's me. You know, I saw – have you guys seen Mile 22? No. Oh, that's what Avery's in it.

Yeah, literally first seen Sean Avery's in it. They're not first seen, but, like, he's, like, I mean, I hate to say it, like, he's the first guy that dies. Have you seen Patriot Day? Avery is. Yeah. He was promoting it on his Instagram, and he's a pretty good actor he's into like poetry and stuff and we want to get him on the show although i don't know if that was a subtle jab

the other day when he's like these all these podcasts suck he's like i gotta start my own i thought it could have been a stab at us he blocked me giving a stab at you he follows me so i don't know i mean matthews came on throwing true stabs at you, so are you that surprised? I think I'm killing the podcast. I got to get out of here. Murdering it. Anyways, Austin, you famously didn't go to juniors, didn't go to college.

You opted for Switzerland, which you went pro kind of out of the blue. I don't think anyone saw that coming. What was the biggest reason for you going to Switzerland? You know, I think it was just the opportunity kind of presented itself um i didn't have like i was going to my senior year of high school so i didn't really have uh i couldn't really just go into college but um you know i was just in the who but i don't know this just the opportunity kind of presented itself um a lot of hurdles to we had to kind of jump over to make it happen. But in the end, it really worked out.

And I loved my experience. We were like unbelievable country. The guys are great. Like it's so laid back. The people there, you know, high quality of life. And, you know, if I had to do it over again, I'd for sure go back. But there are a lot of NHLers you reached out to before you went over there. I know, you know, famously Joe Thornton played over there two years ago.

Yeah. I didn't really reach out to anybody, but, you know, just, you know, guys obviously have played there during the lockout and, you know, they had a lot of great things to say about the league and just life in general over there. And, you know, I think, like I said, it kind of, all the stars kind of aligned and uh seemed to make sense nhl coach over there uh some former nhl players are over there that

um you know were great for me they kind of put me under their wing and i know it was a fun time so it's funny you mentioned put under your wing because i had to hockey db that roster in zurich and i saw the leading scorer I didn't realize you played with Robert Nielsen. I'll tell you a quick Robert Nielsen story. Cause I need one from you. I get to Edmonton. This guy's so skilled. First round pick could do things with the puck. I was, it was amazing. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. I still tell, I still tell people this day, probably the most like, like flat out skilled hockey player I've ever played with. I know. And so I saw it in practice pregame skate when I got there.

I was like, oh, my God. I didn't even really know much about this guy. Well, it turns out my first game with the Oilers, I'm like sitting kind of across from him. I don't know anyone on the team. We come in after a warm-up, and we're sitting there, and all of a sudden I see him, and he's looking at his legs, and he's shaking.

He's going, wake up. Come on, guys. Come on, guys. Wake up. I got nothing right now wake up please and i was like this guy's and then that night he goes they never woke up did you see that he's hilarious yeah like so my first like uh my first practice with them so like it's it's different like their training camps like six weeks or like six weeks long four weeks long something crazy and and so like guys especially older guys like they don't come into camp like in shape like they basically use that camp to like get in shape right so it's like my first day i'm like yeah i'm just like in the line and uh talking like one of the guys and you

know he's like yeah you know just talking about whatever and he's like yeah like this uh this guy right here you know it was robert he's probably you know one of the most skilled guys on the team like i assume you'll probably be playing with him and so i'm like oh okay so like i'm keeping an eye on him in practice like this guy looked so bad like Like, wasn't moving. Like, was moving at half pace. Like, couldn't stick handle a puck. I'm like, what? Like, this guy? Like, you're, like, absolutely pumping this guy's tires.

And, like, he can't even catch a pass right now. And then I was like, I – Fuck it. Call your parents. Give me the fuck out of here. I was, like, first practice. I was like, what league am I getting myself into? Like, I'm living in a foreign country.

Like, I don't know what I'm doing. And then, like, fast forward, like, four weeks, like, you know, I started playing. I'm like, this guy's unbelievable. Like I said, one of the most skilled guys, like, such a nice guy, was one of the, you know, players on the team that, you know, really kind of helped me out and kind of took me under his wing. But I just thought it was so funny that first practice, I was like, this guy is, like, the most skilled player on the team that you know really kind of helped me out and kind of took me under his wing but i just thought it was so funny that first practice i was like this guy is like the most skilled

player on the team and he can't even like catch a pass on his backhand or forehand right now like can't even complete a pass i was just like oh my god what's going on a lot of those guys even especially russians like they go in a camp out of shape because they're like man i'm going to be here for six weeks before we even start playing well and they're gonna get on the russian gas but i mean there's no point in showing up in shape because you're gonna be burnt out by the time the season starts yeah exactly but like literally fast forward four weeks and this guy's like twirling five guys at a time going in and out of every single guy on the opposing team like he's just disgusting. Honestly, it was fun. I love playing with him, but sometimes you just get caught watching him

and you're just like, oh, my God, this guy is just disgusting. Austin, we know obviously a big reason why you didn't go to the WHL is because you're not tough enough. But any word on or would you be able to share with our fans what you were making over there when you were 18 years old playing pro? 17, aren't you? Can you drop the salary number? I was 18.

I was 18. I honestly don't know if I'm allowed to drop a salary number, but I feel like it's came out. Okay, we're going to play under over. Over 150? Yeah. We're going to say – Nice.

We're going to say – So basically you're playing for London Knights. I'm basically playing for London Knights. I'm going to get smoked for that comment. I've been getting in trouble for my London Knights comments. All right. I have another question. First time I ever saw you play, it was in Boston.

I wonder if you remember this game like I do. Jack Eichel's a freshman at BU. The national team comes in and plays. I remember that game. What'd you have? Three goals and an assist. Played better than Eichel, who's one of our guests. Love you, buddy, but you got outplayed that night

by Austin Matthews. Remember that game? Yeah, I remember it. That was one of my best games of the year. I think we both had two and one. I don't know if I could say I outplayed him because he had two and one and they ended up winning. But that was honestly probably, like, one of my most favorite games just because, like, you know, I know Jack very well.

And, like, obviously, anytime you go up against any of the top guys, like, even in the NHL, you go up against top guys, even, like, some of your buddies. Like, you never want to, you want to look bad playing against them. That's one of the games we all had circled on the calendars because it's Ike's and all the hype that he had, rightfully so, going into his draft year. I remember that game really well.

It was true that, just for all the BU people out there, you were going to go to BU if you did go to college, I was told. That's correct, right? I went there. Say it. It was one of them. Like, they were my top three. Like, I had BU, Denver, and NODAC were probably top three.

Not BC. Perfect. Did you ever score four goals in a game in Switzerland? No, I didn't. I did not. So let's fast forward. Now, you're in the NHL, your very first game. You famously scored four goals in your first game.

Man, what is going through your head after that fourth one? Like, I don't know. I feel like I've seen, like, the videos engraved into my mind because I've seen it so many times. I've been asked about it so many times. And, like, I have absolutely no idea what's going through my mind in that fourth goal like I can't believe what's happening like that whole game it just feels like an absolute blur because like I just wanted to like score one goal just like I just wanted to score you know like every

kid dreams of it you kind of get the monkey off the back and like it just like kept rolling like the puck just like kept going in like I was getting these like grade a chances the puck kept going in i like i just couldn't believe it and then like i saw the video after the game that fourth goal like i just i'm blacked out like it's just i don't know yeah awesome i can relate i can relate it was like when i went to cardiff during the lockout. I just wanted to set the tone early. And sure enough, after the 11-hour bus ride to Scotland, I put my gear on and I get put out there first shift. And mind you, I was playing defense and forward.

I was playing two positions then. And he fought a guy. Much like Mario Lemieux, I scored in my first shift. And the rest is history. I was a Sidney Crosby of Cardiff, and that's it. They probably love you there. Yeah, he's going to go back there and start a podcast about the English League. Is that where you played in the lockout?

Laugh all you want, boys, but I've been taking the CBD stuff, and I may actually make a comeback. And I've been off the sauce. Ever since I stopped hanging out with Matthews, I've been actually make a comeback and I've and I've been off the sauce ever since I stopped hanging out with uh Matthews I've been actually living a very healthy lifestyle now uh one question I did have is um Matt Martin man rocket he's yeah he's gone now he's he seemed like the papa bear of all you young guys you guys had a good thing going that locker room how upset were you that he's gone now yeah that's actually that's a pretty good uh like he's a very underrated man rocket i'd

say oh yeah yeah dude i'm not a big fan of the long hair but he can rock it anyway yeah he honestly he's an unbelievable guy like he so nice like will do anything for anyone like every like, he's one of those guys, like, on the team, you know, like, they're very, like, popular. Like, you know, whether you're chirping him or, like, whatever, like, he just always seems to be in the middle of stuff. He had a good relationship with, like, Miner, you know, those two and their girls hung out a lot. I had a really good relationship with him, too.

And, yeah, definitely going to miss him, his presence. girls uh hung out a lot and uh i had a really good relationship with him too and yeah definitely definitely gonna miss him his presence i mean he's like i said he's an unbelievable guy to like have around and um you know a really good player as well and i know he stuck up for me a couple of times my first two years and uh he had to go fight some guys but he's a guy that would do anything for his teammates for sure his wife His wife's stunning, too. She's got to be hooking you guys up with her friends and stuff, no? Yeah, she's awesome. Awesome girl.

He looks like he could be Brock Bess' father or older brother, doesn't he? He does. He does. A little bit, yeah. Brock's got that long, long hair, feathered. Marty's more kind of slicked back and stuff, but I could definitely see them, uh, maybe his long lost father or something. Yeah. You mentioned, uh, Jack a few minutes ago, you,

are you an old school rock and roll guy like Jack? He, we had him on, he said how much he likes old school music and Motown, or are you more of like a modern guy? Uh, I'm more of a modern guy, but I mean, I don't know, like last year I actually kind of got into like, like rolling stones, like deals. Like I was listening to kind of like some old, older stuff. And like, you hear these songs, like whether it's like in movies or like whatever commercials and like, and then you like, I don't know, for some reason I just got into it. And, um, there was like a good period of time last year.

I was just listening to old school stuff. I'd say I'm more modern though. Are you on this new wave rap? Who are your top five rappers other than Dylon, Dylon, Dylon, Dylon, and Dylon? I don't know how I really feel about this new wave of rappers. It's pretty hit or miss. I listen to Drake. I i like travis gossman album yeah it's like j cole all day so i went to a j cole concert uh taylor pie i saw yeah taylor pie had never even heard of him i brought him i've never heard

of him i've never heard of j cole as far as a performer his lyrics and overall to me he's the best in the game right now i i've never seen a person relate to his fans more when he was rapping like we're talking about like life struggles that that i'll never know he had he was a puppeteer man he had this crowd on on on strings and i was in downtown phoenix so obviously there people are who are dealing with issues that he's talking about and it was he's remarkable he's a he's a showman and i think he's the top of the game right now yeah no i i couldn't agree more that's that's why i like listening to a lot of music because it's uh you know not just talking about like random stuff it's more like i don't know stuff that people can can relate to. Yeah, he's good. I like him a lot.

I like Kanye West, his album. You know, he came out with. There's a lot of guys I like to listen to, but I think those top three, and like you said, J. Cole is pretty unbelievable. So unless you live under a rock, I think everyone knows Drake's a big Toronto fan. Have you chilled with with him i'm sure he's rocked your jersey at a concert if that's happened how sick of a feeling is that i don't think it has happened but uh that's kind of bad look for you

yeah it was a bad look you know honestly but um i am a pigeon can't even get bit can't even get biz to respond to a text confirming to be on the podcast two months ago i texted i'm told to avoid you um uh well i had a good question for you fuck i oh oh here's the one i was gonna ask what's the craziest story you've read or heard about yourself regard in the toronto media that're like, this isn't even true? There's been quite a bit, honestly. I got to go with the one this summer when we signed JT and everybody was like, oh, yeah, he's pissed. He can't believe it.

He's pissed. They just signed the biggest unrestricted free agent, I don't know, in the last how many years? Ever. Superstar center. Superstar center, like top ten player in the league. He's pissed about it.

He can't believe it. That was probably – when I saw that one on Twitter, I was kind of like, wow. You probably want to fire back. There's been a lot of times where I've wanted to fire back, but I just don't find to be really like, it's not really worth it. Yeah. And then,

and then I'm sure they're going to segue it into, Oh, now who's going to get to see like, like you're like, you're probably like, I don't give a shit. It's like, let's just win here.

Yeah. That's all. Like, that's all I got asked when I was in Chicago last week, but that's basically like, it's nothing. But that's basically – to me, nothing changes. If he has a C or if somebody else has a C, if I have a C, if I have a letter, that doesn't change what I'm going to do or how I'm going to be, how hard I'm going to work, how much I want to win.

That doesn't change. You get a letter, obviously you got certain responsibilities that uh not everybody else has but other than that like it's you know nothing else really changes and we've got plenty of guys on the team that you know don't have letters that lead and good veteran uh good veteran core but you know honestly like it doesn't really make a difference yeah I mean and like for people to say that all you're thinking right away is wow this is like gonna get get me an easier matchup throughout the year like all it's just this weapon that we've added that's gonna probably play on an opposite line but together in the power play so i don't really understand like how people could not

understand that you probably were a part of signing him did Did you ever call him? Was that even ever allowed or were you outside of all this? No, yeah. I called him probably two weeks before July. You're like, please, buddy, come on. 20, 30 minutes I was like, man, please. I'm on my hands and I just signed with us. He's a nice

guy. He just wanted to get a feel for what it was like playing here and you know all the stuff you know coaching guys on the team and you know i was honest with him told him everything and uh i mean he's from toronto so like i assume he knows what it's like to play or like be in a market like this just him being here in the summer i'm sure he gets recognized and stuff but um when i when i heard the news that because i had no idea like i didn't know like i thought her talk went well i heard the meeting with like dubas it went really well and

um and so i got the call from kyle actually july 1st they were like yeah we just signed john to ours i was like no way like i couldn't believe it and they're like yeah we're gonna announce in about an hour just like one to let you know, give you a heads up. But, yeah, it was pretty unbelievable. I was pissed. That would be fine. I can't stand you, but come to my team. And, Austin, last thing, back to the C thing. It's kind of like the Cardiff situation to me.

When I got the C when I was with the Saginaw Spirit, it was like, how am I going to provide all these kill stories in the locker room, carry this team from the back end, and manage to deal with 20 guys' emotions in the locker room. It's a tough task. Were you playing D-Engineer? Yeah, yeah, I don't know. I played for U18 twice.

We won the World Championships that year, beat the United States. Hey, he was last cut. He almost made Pittsburgh after his draft year, right? As an 18-year-old defenseman. Imagine how different your life would be. No word of a lie. In my final preseason game, which was in Halifax, and sorry to make this about me.

I just figured I'd talk about the sea, you know, and maybe give you a little advice. But we played on the road. It was like a promotional game in Halifax against the Bruins. And I played much of that game against Joe Thornton. I ended up going plus one or two with an assist. And, but that sand,

I think it was Sandy McCartney. Thornton was probably hung titties, dude. Oh yeah. I guess I never, I never considered that. It was a chip off the glass and there was shit to Malcolm back door. It much,

it was no, no, they, those guys weren't even around then. This is when, like, Mario was in training camp. And I think – You're that old, huh? Yeah, he is kind of – I think Paul Coffey was my D partner.

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

And I'm like, who is this guy kind of thing? And he would have caved my face in, but he didn't. And I went plus two, shut down door, sort of not a big deal. All right. Moving on from that biz story, he just got like rock hard talking about himself. I got to ask you, growing up phoenix like i was always a bruins fan i like guys in the bruins i'm assuming you know you got in because of the coyotes and all

that but i relied on like kind of looking up to guys who were from massachusetts and had made it to the nhl like there were so many names that i could think of and for you there was nobody from arizona did you ever even think about that or or were you just a lover of the game, just practicing playing and didn't think about any of the future stuff? No, I didn't really think about that too much. I mean, I had my guys that I loved to watch and kind of want to emulate playing, like Danny Breer, Shane Doan, and others. But I think you said there hasn't been too many people that come out of Arizona to play in the NHL even though it's,

somebody told me it's like the fastest growing state in the U.S. as far as hockey goes and kids getting into play at a younger age. Yotes are a wag at the season, by the way. I honestly agree. I think they're going to be pretty good this year.

I think they're going to surprise some good this year I think they're going to surprise some people and I also think like you know like they didn't have the best season last year they had a really good end of the year but like I think I feel like teams like when you come in to play them or something you're thinking like oh like last season they you know didn't really perform how they wanted and like and then they're going to go out and surprise you like in the first period they might put up three and then you're just back on your heels. But I agree with you. I think they're honestly going to be competitive this year. Damn right they are.

And you said Austin, what is this pain? They'll be even better once they get you out of the locker room too. Distraction. They'll save a lot of money. They're buying them subs for the plane ride now. They're flying around the country to do media tour and all these podcasts and actually i just saw uh austin at the nhl media day and actually i was hired by the nhl to come out there so i got contracted out but uh just to clear the

air but ra had a good question for you yeah we just mentioned you know uh participation hockey is going up now. Austin, you know, for the listeners who don't know, you are half Mexican. Your mother is Mexican. Now, do you notice, like, an uptick amongst, like, Mexican or Hispanic youth in that part of the country? You know, Arizona, New Mexico, there's a lot of Hispanic, large Hispanic population.

Do you see those kids kind of fall in your footsteps as well? Yeah, a little bit. I mean, every once in a while like like i'll skate in arizona in the summer and you know you see a lot of kids uh you know kind of come up to you and you know they're all obviously like different uh different backgrounds and stuff but i feel like it's you know like you said it's arizona it's border of mexico so it's a lot of population a lot of mexican people and hispanics there and you know i i hope that it's it's a lot of population a lot of Mexican people and Hispanics there and you know I hope that it's you know a lot of kids young kids uh you know that culture are getting

into playing hockey because it's you know obviously the best sport in the world so it's kind of cool just to kind of be a little part of that and Arizona and kind of see the game grow and you know because when I was playing it wasn't much. Like, not a lot of kids were really moving on. Like, I know I had two, three guys that, you know, they played in NTP. They went on to play pro. They're, you know, kind of in the AHL right now. But, you know, I keep hearing about more and more kids

that are moving on to higher and higher levels. And it's pretty cool. I think it's only going to get better. Oh, man, when you guys played in Arizona last season, the hype, even outside the building before the game, was awesome. And you've definitely created a buzz here. And I think a lot of local people came out, and they were fired up to see you.

I don't remember how you guys did that game, though. And I'm not stirring the pot either. Did you guys beat us? I remember you scored. Yeah, we won. Oh, okay. Jeez. Sorry, CTE. You guys won six games at home chances oh yeah that's right

pounded by one of the top and another thing i wanted to clear the air about you know we all know i'm here we go no no we're i'm team babcock on this podcast and i've been sticking up for a lot this lately and there was a big rumor that came out this summer that he flew out to see in arizona now we talked about it that day at the w well he was just trying to get away from the old lady and they use that as an excuse and he actually used the team plane to come out to arizona to party with me and matthews at the w and that's actually the reason why i couldn't talk to you for two months is because he told me to stay the fuck away from you because he saw my hand so i just wanted to clear the air there for everybody who heard all that the rumor about that this summer actually i'm sure everybody is wondering

actually i i heard a little rumor um that there's some guys who showed up to camp with beards and i know that wasn't uh the case before with before with Lou Lamorelle you know no facial hair and same color clear tape on your socks and so is it a little different you guys with the with the facial hair at camp yeah it's a little different I don't know I don't know what they're gonna do I think Kyle's gonna kind of make a decision of what he, you know, if there's going to be facial hair or not this year. But it's kind of crazy how, like, that small of, like, a thing can kind of turn into, like, this big of a thing. And, like, the media and everything getting asked about it all the time.

Well, that's just the landmine. It's definitely different. No, yeah, I know. It's kind of weird, like, seeing guys coming with beards because you're just, like, you because you look like 10 years older. Austin's got a face tattoo appointment this week. Coming in hot. He's getting the fucking Post Malone special above the eyebrows.

Never tired instead of always. Right under my eyes. Austin, Witt mentioned flying a few minutes ago. What do you do to kill time on those long flights? Are you a card player, movie, TV guy? What do you do? Yeah, I'm a movie guy. I mean, I try, like we used to, or not used to,

but we bring like these little portable screens. Like we'll bring our Xboxes and stuff on the road, but we try doing it on the plane. Like the power is not strong enough. So usually on the plane, I'll just watch a movie or something. I usually next to marner he's like i don't know for some reason he's like notorious for watching like these kid cartoon movies um like when we're flying i don't know why tough look like shrek and stuff no not even shrek like i don't know what they're called they're like newer a pixar movies because i assume i'm okay with i don't know what they're called. They're like newer. Hey, Pixar movies? Because I assume.

I'm okay with. I don't know. If you're talking like legitimate cartoons, like Barney shit. I'm not talking. Yeah, I'm not talking like Shrek or like Toy Story, like classics. It's like, I don't know. Yeah, but there's a lot. I need to know now, though.

Like, I need like I'm like now he sounds like a weird bird. If these are just like. It's like Teletubbies. Yeah. No, it he sounds like a weird bird if these are just, like... It's like Teletubbies. Yeah. No, it's not like... Barner's a furry. It's like a cartoon. Like, he watches, like, I don't know, like, cartoons.

Like the adult cartoon? Like the adult swim cartoons? Like, cartoons for adults or, like, cartoons for kids? No, like, How to Fire a Dragon. Like, I think that was one of the movies or, like cartoons for adults or like cartoons for kids? No, like How to Fly Your Dragon. Like I think that was one of the movies or like something like that. 1,000% he has a matchup in that sex hall place in Toronto. Usually he's not like watching. He's like on his phone or something.

But I'm usually like I'll like download like a movie or something like prior to the fight, like pretty normal. And then I'll look over and he's like on his phone watching like how to train or drag like that, whatever that dragon movie is. Oh yeah. How to train your dragon. Yeah.

Yeah. I just like, man, like, come on, like, what do you like? Hey,

talking about teammates here, Nylander, what's going on? I mean, I know you took a majority of that team's money. They're going to have any left to pay them. Fucking. took a majority of that team's money, are they going to have any left to pay him? Fucking Chiefs union is fucked. You're talking to the wrong guy.

I don't know what's going on, but obviously training camp is right around the corner, and you hope they get something done soon because he's a big part of the team. He's fun to play with. Really good guy in the locker room everybody likes him so uh you know you're definitely you know hoping something gets done here pretty soon so he can uh get over here and uh have him at camp i uh i forgot to ask you at the beginning like you know

you do so much media in canada every day and i played i played in edmonton it's not even close to toronto so was the like. So did they cage you down? Are they watching you coming on Spitting Chicklets? We're a little bit of a different podcast. Was there alarms going off that you were coming on and doing this with your PR team? A little bit, and it was mostly just because Biz is on the show. Exactly.

I'm not his character. This guy is just bringing you guys down. No, not really. They're just, you know, like, they want to make sure, like, biz isn't asking out. You know what the Leafs PR team is? It's like the fucking Secret Service. There's, like, 20 of them.

There's actually one in my room right now. It's crazy. They got me bugged. Your room's bugged. Who's your roommate in the road, Austin? Own room? No, my first year was Connor Brown. Second year, Nick Weiner.

Oh. So you've seen him in the cartoon. Will you have Miner again this year? Approaching you? Yeah, I don't know. I assume so. He's a pretty good roommate. Usually on the road, it'll be me, him, and Patty hanging out or whatever.

We'll put on a movie in the room or go to dinner because we love Patty. He's a family man, so obviously we don't see him too much at home. On the road, we usually catch dinner with all three of us or maybe some other guys too. He's a pretty good roommate

though can't complain what kind of like going back to the movies what kind of flicks are you i know you mentioned marky mackery you're a big action movie fan mark walberg fan i know a lot of young guys now yeah yeah i like uh i like action movies uh comedy uh i can't like i can't stand horror movies or like any of that stuff i don't watch those but pretty much action comedy uh romance love a good romance nice nice i had two back-to-back questions what's the dumbest thing you've ever bought with with all this money you've made playing hockey the dumbest thing somebody asked me that like over the weekend too in chicago and i i don't remember what it's like ridiculous car like do you have like a ferrari

or something no i don't uh i feel like my like like my parents have raised me pretty well so i wouldn't do something stupid like that awesome no you have a level head i don't know like last last year like i was i was injured and like i'm sitting at home like they're on the road and i was just like scrolling through amazon like just like buying a bunch of like useless stuff from my apartment that just like made no sense like i bought this like big light sign like you can put uh like slide letters into it and like make up like whatever and i bought that like don't even use it it's just like it's all dusty now too and i just bought like a bunch of just ridiculous stuff like a blender

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

No, I'm not that savage. Who's the team jester? Who's the biggest clown in the room? I mean, I could see riles being a clown yeah he's funny uh i think komarov would kind of be that that guy obviously he's not with us anymore but i think like his mix of like his accent and like just the kind of guy is just hilarious guys love him he's another guy like super popular in the room and he does like some crazy stuff like he's just super like you know he's finished and he does like some crazy stuff like he's just super like

you know he's finished but he's like russian right like he's all russian yeah yeah yeah he's named leo too that's the weirdest name for a guy from that part of the world yeah no he's he's an unbelievable guy though but yeah he's definitely out there like he's hilarious so great guy great guy to have on your team is a codgers a bit of a clown too i've hung around a few times he's hilarious so great guy great guy to have on your team is a caudry's a bit of a clown too i've hung around a few times he's a great guy yeah he's he's a good guy i think i feel like i a lot of people like ask me um who don't know him like how he is because i think he maybe his like first couple years in the league he didn't necessarily have the greatest you know rap but uh he's a great guy like you know naz is naz kind of thing but he's a great guy. Nas is Nas kind of thing,

but he's a great guy. He's funny. You guys like him. He's obviously a hell of a player, but he's definitely his own human. They don't make too many like him anymore. Last year, Austin, the Leafs-Bruins

had another epic playoff match. It didn't end so well for you guys. What's the standard for the Maple Leafs this year? Is it Stanley Cup or Busta? What kind of goals are you setting as a team? I mean, I think every year, like, you go into it, goals to make the playoffs and obviously kind of get to the top of the mountain, which is the Stanley Cup. So, you know, for us, you you know there's a lot of expectations after

we signed you know jt and you know i think we haven't really uh earned that right to uh you know be the team to be because we haven't really accomplished much but i think going into season everybody's hungry guys you know we see the guys who picked up and you know the daft and team that we can be already with the young guys we've had and at a superstar center like john and uh you know we obviously want to see how far we can go because uh you know it's not easy so i'm kind of thinking back to this summer um looking to find out what you're into i know um the golf in scottsdale i don't know if you know if i'm a golf slut uh i have a big matchup against a cross-eyed fuck that i'm gonna beat i don't know if you know that but

are you into golf what do you do in the off season yeah i golf a lot actually i kind of like i for some reason i never got into it like when i was younger like for some reason i don't like i sucked and i just didn't have fun playing same man my younger sister my younger sister's been playing like she's unbelievable plays at like a private school in scottsdale like all girls they like she's unbelievable i play with her a little bit but never got into it until like last summer um so that's kind of been nice like going back home you know i feel like in summer's past i got kind of gotten the itch to get back on the ice like way too early and so it kind of just gave me something to do and get your mind off hockey but um you know when you first get back in Scotland the weather's nice so try to play as much as possible and I mean I'm still brutal but is it hard to find good skates

here in the summertime or or do you just work with a skills coach, and then once mid-summer hits, you head over to Toronto? No, it's not too hard. I don't know, like, Canaan's there, Richardson, and I know, like, the Coyotes, you know, they'll have a lot of prospects kind of down in the summer, just kind of training and getting, you know, kind of getting ready for whatever. They're just kind of prepping them, I guess.

They got a pretty good facility they train at, at Exos. You don't go to Exos, do you? No, I don't. I don't. But I'll see them at the Ice Den. And obviously, there are a lot of good guys, a lot of guys I've played with before. So the skates get better as the summer goes on

and more guys come into town. But early in the summer, it's like you're just breathing knee air bad just because there's six guys out there, and it's all skills deals with their skills guy. I'll go back to Toronto two or three times, work with the skills guy I have here, and I'll come back. I usually don't head back to Toronto until the end of August, beginning of September.

I was going to segue that skills question into, have you heard what Adam Oates has been doing and have you worked with him personally? I haven't, but no, I've heard, I've heard a lot of good things about him. I know like JVR uses them and Shifley, who I know a bit, you know, swears by this guy. I've heard a lot of good things about him, but I've never used them. All right. Well well dude um we you

know we can't thank you for coming on this is uh this is a big get for us i mean listen like i'm just happy to know after i played at the national program in ann arbor guys like you followed my path made the nhl you're welcome it's nice to meet people and talk to people that have kind of followed in my path and and i have you 10 to 1 uh mvp and put a couple thousand on that not a big deal uh so i think you're gonna have a great year and thank you for coming on bud another thanks to austin matt just for joining the boys again this year he was uh he was a treat to have on like i just said uh such a nice kid man he's you know like a lot of these guys we have on they're really nice kids you can tell they were

raised right and uh we we enjoy the hell out of talking to them. And we enjoy more than that, our fans, man. We had a tremendous year. 2018, I don't know if we went to the moon quite yet, but if not, we're probably halfway there. Obviously, adding Biz was, like I say to people, it's me and you got

us to number one, and Biz has kept us at number one. You know, like, he gave us a shot in the arm that we didn't know we needed. And it's really taken the show to a whole new level. So thanks to everybody who's been listening, supporting us from whether you joined last week or 10 years ago or whatever. We love you. We love having you.

And happy new year. Yeah. So, R.A., that was well said. That was well said. It's crazy to think that, you know, we're at a place now where people come up to us and say, Hey, love the podcast. It's surreal in a way. I never would have ever thought that when we started.

So it's all because of the people who listen, all you guys. So we want to thank you. We love doing this. This is fun. It was a great year. And I think it will continue. I think we're going to keep going. We've got the great stuff at the Winter Classic that will be coming out. And we've got the All-Star Game think we're going to keep going. We've got the great stuff at the Winter Classic

that'll be coming out, and we've got the All-Star game. We're going to keep going, and we want to thank all you guys, seriously, because you make it a lot more fun than it would be if it was just me and R.A. on his coach, you know, looking at his old iced tea maker. He's got a new one for Christmas.

You loved it. All right, peace out, everyone. Take care. May the good Lord be with you down Every road you roam. And may sunshine and happiness surround you when you're far from home. And may you grow to be proud And dignify the truth