Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 152: Featuring David Pastrnak + Reid Simpson

Episode Date: February 21, 2019

On Thursday's episode of Spittin' Chiclets the West Coast Wagon Tour continues with an interview with Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak. The guys talk about David's upbringing, his new contract with the Bruins, and some insight into the Bruins locker room. The guys are also joined by former brawler Reid Simpson. Reid attended the live show in Chicago so we got his take on that whole situation and his career + some KHL stories. The guys also touch on some NHL news including the recent Charlie Coyle trade to the Bruins and what the future of the Minnesota Wild holds.You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/schiclets

Hey, Spittin' Chicklets listeners, you can find every episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Hello, everybody. Welcome to episode 152 of Spittin' Chicklets, presented by New Amsterdam Vodka. Let's say hello to everybody tonight. I think everybody's on different sides of the continent. Let's go to Biz Nasty first. You were on a plane earlier. Where are you right now, Paulie?

Boys, I'm in Vancouver. Yotes play here tomorrow. I'm not here for that. I'm here for some McDonald's content, and my microphone's not working, so bear with me. some McDonald's content, and my microphone's not working, so bear with me. I got my Beats headphones, and hopefully you guys aren't bitching about the audio quality. Shout out to New Amsterdam for the fresh Beats headphones.

Those are pretty sweet. Next up, Ryan Whitney. Where are you right now, buddy? Still down in Naples, Florida, guys. How are you? Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful weather. I mean, 85 and sunny, can't beat it. My wife went home today and my buddies came down,

so now it's a little golf trip until Saturday. But it's a pleasure to be on with you guys once again. Nice. And let's head up to the northeast part of the continent. Producer Mikey Grinelli here in New York City. Still right, brother? Yep, very eventful day for me. I got to meet Dennis Rodman, which was very awesome,

and then I got to go on Barstool Radio and defend Team Whitney. Why is Team Whitney getting attacked? Why is my team being... It wasn't Team Whitney, it was just kind of, just the

video, and then just spitting chiclets in general. So what, they weren't happy with the video and then just spitting chiclets in general. So what? They weren't happy with the video? Well, no, Dave wasn't happy with the fact that you said that I was an idiot for screwing up the Fraggle Rock thing when, in turn, you had got it wrong also. Yeah, Fraggle Rock wasn't where the Muppets lived, but it was a Jim Henson-based something or other. You called it a cereal.

Yeah, I agree with you. I was in the same county. You were on a different planet. Yeah. I went back and listened to it because I was curious because it cut it off, in which I did come in and kind of sort of defend you when you said it. I said, yeah, you're close. It's in the Henson family.

It's in the Muppet family. You were in the ballpark, but Grinnell wasn't even close. I know my family. One thing about Bar Muppet family. You were in the ballpark, but Grinnelli wasn't even close. I know my family. One thing about Barstool Radio, I was reading that. What's his name? Deke something? Deke Zucker. Deke Zucker. So that's how I keep up on all my Barstool news. That guy's all over everything. This was Dave

Portnoy today on Barstool Radio. Spitting Chicklets is like the Red Army hockey team. The best at what they do, but we don't know what's going on behind the curtain. They keep a united front. Dave Portnoy on Barstool Radio. He was trying to crack me. He was trying to get me to crack and get me to bark back at you guys.

I said, no way. I'm just a freshman on the hockey team. I'm just happy to be here. Atta boy. We wouldn't pull Trediak. We're the Russian Red Army team, except for not one of us works out. Yeah, and we wouldn't pull Trediak either. And the only drugs we're doing are not performance enhancing.

Depends what kind of performance you're talking about. I'll tell you. Those guys would have blown someone to have some weed back in those training sessions. Speaking of performance enhancers, Updaw gave me the Cialis thing. That is unbelievable. I've had a boner for four days.

You've got to be careful with those drugs because you take them and you sit down and take a shit. Next thing you know, you've got a fucking rock-hard mini baseball bat in your pants. Next thing you know, I'm Guerrero or whoever the baseball player was with his cock hanging on top of the toilet instead of uh drooping in it oh man so i'll tell you too like rigsy and uh

scabelli tommy smokes and their their their nickname should be kerosene because they're great at like misusing the pot on that show like getting people to fucking take the bait and stuff so it's a great show though they do a great job yeah it's fun it's it helps to take the bait and stuff. It's a great show, though. They do a great job. Yeah, it's fun. It helps to pass the day. Anyways, in the world of hockey, we had a big trade Wednesday night. Pending the official call, we're recording Wednesday night. The official call hasn't happened, but it's going to happen about 10 o'clock. We've read. Minnesota Wild are going to be trading Charlie Coyle to the Boston Bruins

for a prospect. He's in Providence right now. Ryan Donato in a 2019 fifth rounder. Coyle to the Boston Bruins for prospect slash, he's in Providence right now, Ryan Donato in a 2019 fifth rounder. Coyle can play center. He can play right wing. He's got one more year left at 3.2 million. He's got 10 goals, 18 assists, and 60 games played this year. He's a big kid.

He's durable. He's only missed 16 games over the last five seasons. Responsible at both ends. He's going to be 27 a match. So he's ostensibly in his prime right now. And wherever Bruce Cassidy decides to employ him, he's going to make the middle six of the Bruins that much better with the ripple effect throughout the lineup. And you've got to imagine he's probably going to throw him on

Crecce's wing to start. As far as Donato, tons of upside, nice kid. Tough to see it didn't work out a little better for him here. Kind of reminds me a little of Frank Vetrano wits, where he's got a lot of offensive upside, but he hasn't learned the 200-foot game. But he could still have a nice career. So it's an interesting trade, not a blockbuster,

but which do I take, Witts? Well, I know both guys. And people are already saying to me, oh, Witts is going to love Coyle. He's going to be petting his BU stuffed terrier. He's going to be talking about the good old days. Coyle was at BU for a cup of coffee. He took off to be talking about the good old days. Coyle was at BU for a cup of coffee. He took off the major junior. So that doesn't have anything to do with it. I know and respect that guy because he trains as hard, harder, if not as hard as anyone in the

league. I mean, his summer programs are insane. He's a beast in the gym. Very dedicated, very professional. Offensively, the last couple of years, it's just kind of been a little bit of a struggle, whereas for a little while, you know, I think I wasn't the only one to think it could be a 30 goal a year type player. Now, maybe he finds that in Boston, but you understand why things are, you know, Minnesota moved on. But a nice cap hit for a guy who could get hot and really be a beast in the playoffs. I think it's a three and a half million-ish right around there. 3.2.

3.2. So 3.2. So, you know, could make a splash on the Bruins because they're not so much, but more talented than Minnesota offensively. Minnesota is just, we've talked about it before, you know, a little bland. There's not a ton of offense there. So maybe he gets playing with Krejci, gets on that line.

I also don't think the Bruins are done, by the way. I think they're really going to be in on Mark Stone if that's a possibility. But I like the move. I mean, for Ryan Donato, it could be a trade where, you know, down the line, Bruins fans are like, we traded this guy. You know, he's got that ability, that shot to be a big time offensive player. But like you said, you got to learn to play the whole way. I know, I think he knows how, but coming from college, it's a big jump. He's going to have a long career, but right now I can see why they're going to do what they can in terms of

moving guys who aren't a part of the team, who aren't a part of the everyday roster because they're trying to win a cup. The Bruins windows, you know, getting a little smaller. And so they're going to do what they can to move guys that aren't impacting right now to try to get a guy who they think can. Wait, I'd say a big reason for him being healthy is the fact that he's in the gym. You mentioned he's a bit of a gym rat. This kind of, I guess, poses the question, I wonder if the Preds tried to get him. I guess poses the question, I wonder if the Preds tried to get him. Because not to take anything away from Boyle,

it might have to do with the financials of it, and Boyle maybe making less money, but to me a little bit more upside offensively from Coyle, and they gave up what? They gave up a first rounder to get Boyle, correct? Second. Oh, they gave up a second. Okay. I'm curious to know if that would have been enough to get the job done correct? In Nashville. Second. Oh, they gave up a second. Okay. I'm curious to know if that

would have been enough to get the job done for Coyle, but nonetheless, I think this is a big pickup for the Bees. Gives them a little depth at center ice if that's where they're going to use them. And I think just a guy who needed a change of scenery. Yeah, I think that could be the

case a lot of times, but there is offensive upside there, and sometimes we always say it, that just changing scenery can just do a lot of good. And I root for both those guys. Is Donato possibly the first Chicklets guest that's been traded? Is that a crazy idea for me to throw that out there? Am I forgetting someone? There has to be somebody else.

I know, I know. I figured the same, but I started racking my brain. Brian Boyle got traded. He was on the show and then got traded. That's why I'm not memory guy. That's why I throw out ideas. I throw out ideas. They stick or they don't. That one didn't.

Nicky Bones, I think, got traded too, right? There could be 15 guys when I said it. Yeah. You know who else got traded? Dylan Strom. Yeah. And we had him in the pocket. Someone's going to lift this up.

There could be 15 guys. We need Gridelli to chime in with one now so everybody gets to play. Oh, shit, boys. Like Bruins windows now, man. They got to go for it now. And, you know, it sucks to lose a prospect like that. But I did just mention Frank Vetrano. And there's a kid who the Bruins, you know, probably sold low on.

And he's got 20 goals this year, 33 points, having himself a nice little season. So, like you said, Wits, don't be surprised to see Donato having a nice season for himself. 20 and 13. That's 20 and 13. That's Cy Young material. He might be in the mix. Need a low ERA, though, for that. And also to one of the notes,

and I was a restricted free agent this summer, too, just an additional note regarding the contract. As far as Minnesota, man, like you said, Witz, I feel bad we never really have anything much positive to say, but when the general manager is crying himself to sleep at night, things probably aren't going so well. And that was the quote, the exact quote, from GM Paul Fenton to the athletics Michael Russo, quote, it hasn't been a lot of fun trying to go to sleep at night, things probably aren't going so well. And that was the quote, the exact quote from GM Paul Fenton

to the athletics Michael Russo, quote, it hasn't been a lot of fun trying to go to sleep at night. When I do go to sleep, I find myself crying like a baby, end quote. And why? The month of February. The Wilds have played 10 games this month, and they have won exactly one game, a 4-2 win in New Jersey back on February 9th.

They've lost six others outright. They've lost five in a row, nine of ten since the all-stop break, and they've been shut out in back-to-back games for the first time in three years. Bruce Boudreaux sounds like he's just about had it. He had a 36-second press scrum last night. And there's still, what, I think a point or two out of the playoff spot. It's incredible that these teams, actually Minnesota,

they're in the eighth spot right now. Minnesota and Anaheim have had such awful stretches, and they're still right in the playoff. What's your take on Minnesota's crying GM biz? Yeah, Ray, 1-6-3 in their last 10. After having a bit of a tough stretch there, Bruce Brujo guaranteed a playoff spot before that St. Louis game. They got smoked 4-0 at home, got booed off the ice after the second period

and basically booed out of the building after the game. Then they followed up with a 4-0 loss at home against the Ducks, which of all teams, I mean, to lose to the Ducks 4-0 with all their problems. Devin Dubnik is struggling. I mean, Ari, I'm sure you've got stats on Dubnik, but just a tough situation, and especially with Bujo guaranteeing playoffs. They got four teams right behind them at 59 points

in the Colorado Avalanche, Arizona Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks, and I'm forgetting that fourth team. I'm sure you guys will be able to think of it. Chicago? I already said them. Jesus Christ, boys. How am I supposed to know a random fourth team? I don't know.

Vancouver. Well, yeah, because I was looking at my notes here. Vancouver is the fourth team. So there's four teams chomping at their heels, and I have no confidence that they're going to maintain that that uh last spot in the western conference yeah it was really interesting to see bruce budros you know guarantee you know we're going to make the playoffs and we're going to get in and nobody's going to want to face us so you know you understand the coach putting up the front there that you know we're

confident in this group even though we've been struggling, but Miku Koivu, you know, he tore his ACL. He's out for the season. That's a big loss right there. You know, not, not the fastest player, but a veteran who knows how to play. They can, you know, show up when it matters in these games that they need to start winning. He's gone. It's just a, it's a weird team because they, you know, they're getting older, but like we've always said, there's not much excitement there. And if they do get into the playoffs, you kind of know, maybe they went around at most. It's just that team that just

doesn't have what it takes to win a Stanley cup right now. So, you know, there could be huge changes there. There's some guys who've been there a long time, it seems, and it's just an odd team because the struggling they've had, you know, it probably goes, does go back to do be struggling a little bit. Devin Dubnik has been phenomenal ever since he got there. But, you know, I'm sure the last few weeks is for every guy on the team. They just haven't been able to, you know, give the efforts that are needed. So at some point, something's going to have to change. But you see Coyle going out the door.

I guess that's the beginning of maybe you'll see a couple more moves by the Wild. Yeah, and Fenton said he's got permission from the owner to do what he needs to do, not to worry about the playoffs this year. If got to make trades make trades uh but yeah down times in Minnesota when he got your friendly uh coach walking away from press conferences your GM crying and uh you know you wonder if it's going to get better and when you get booed at home oh man individually stinks yep I know that one but as a team team, it's even worse. You know, your whole room after is like our fans, like the people that are there paying money to see us are booing us. Yeah, part of the guys are saying, fuck them.

But a lot of the guys at the same time are thinking, God, we got to be better. I mean, they're booing for a reason. We're playing like shit. So that's just a horrible feeling. And that Ducks game too, I mean, you know, you think, all right, now we got to break. Ducks have been struggling. You lose 4-0. I mean, that's just a horrible feeling. And that Ducks game too, I mean, you know, you think, all right, now we've got to break. Ducks have been struggling.

You lose 4-0. I mean, that's just ugly. Yep, tough sledding right now in Minnesota. Just going back a second, we did mention the Bruins a minute ago. We probably should have mentioned we do have Boston Bruins sniper David Pastanak joining us today as well as retired face puncher Reed Simpson. He's a guy who played a little while ago, but he's a great interviewer. I think if you hadn't heard of the guy, you're certainly going to remember

who he was after the interview. Played in the KHL a little bit, too, so we got some KHL stories coming at you. The Posterneck interview wasn't very long. Of course, we were at the All-Star game. These guys had small windows of time. We want to thank him for coming on. Very candid. A funny motherfucker.

Yeah, he was looking to have fun. And, Biz, quickly about Reed Simpson. He was in Russia before the KHL. It was the Super League. That's when it was at another wild, wild, wild, wild west. So, I mean, KHL, they became an official league. When you're called the Super League, shit goes down, and Reed Simpson talks about that.

We'll also be talking about the KHL and the gambling corner a little later, too. I made my first KHL wage today, so a little adventure. That's when you're a fucking degenerate, when you're betting KHL games in the afternoon. Imagine if you could get my Sochi games, get individual action KHL, like Whitney turnovers in this KHL game over under nine and a half. Too bad we didn't have that player track and technology back when you were over there.

Oh, shit. All right, some other news around the league. 38-year-old Ducks goalie Ryan Miller beat the Capitals 5-2 Sunday night to become the winningest American goalie in NHL history. So congrats to Ryan Miller. He passed on John Van Biesbroeck with his 375th win. Van Biesbroeck, obviously number two, followed by Tom Barrasso,

Jonathan Quick, Mike Richter. John Quick, if he keeps doing what he's doing, it's not a stretch to think he'll pass Ryan Miller someday. And, you know, Ryan Miller, man, I think people wrote him off. He got traded to St. Louis a few years ago. Didn't look like he had much left in the tank. But in nine starts this year, he's played 12 games total.

In the backup role, he's 6-2-1 with a more than respectable 2-3-9 goals against and a 9-2-9 save percentage with a shutout. So he's having a pretty good year for himself there. He really is. And I think forever, even with the amazing days in Buffalo from Ryan Miller, when his name is brought up, it's the 2010 Winter Olympics and the show that that guy put on in Vancouver. I had the best seat in the house from the pine with torts right behind me

saying, Whit, move over, get the guy's water, let's help out here. And Ryan Miller the entire time was just lights out. He was the best player in the tournament. He was dominating games. Like, you know, very rarely do you see goalies get in a groove where the game must have been so slow to him, and he did all he could to get us that gold medal, and we were just so short.

Of course, Crosby, a fucking course. But you know what? I think I'm with most hockey fans in thinking of Ryan Miller when it's all said and done for him someday yeah number one you know goalie winning wise you know American fuck holy fuck wait I'm not even restarting this usually restart all the listeners I'm going to keep going I want you to hear how embarrassed I am but the winningest American goalie it's it's it's not even that it's the Vancouver Winter Olympics everyone will remember

and then he followed up that win the other night against Washington with a 4-0 win. The shutout there he had against Minnesota. Beautiful wife. He's made a shit ton of money. This guy's got it all. He's probably got a huge

wrench on him. I think he's friends with Chrissy Teigen and John Legend too. This guy's got it all. So congratulations to him on his entire life. And in that fucking safe, he has full of money wherever the fuck his mansion is. Congrats against the, yeah,

we all get fucking tongue tied tonight. Congrats again to Ryan Miller. Another note to Scott Niedermeyer had his number 27 retired by the Ducks on Sunday night. He was an unreal two-way defenseman, sort of in the mold of a Nick Lidstrom, if you weren't fortunate enough to see him play. He's just the ninth player in NHL history to have a number retired by two separate teams. New Jersey did it back in 2011. He was a four-time cup winner, three with Jersey,

and the one he won in Anaheim with his brother Rob, which I'm sure was a career highlight for him. Also won the Kahn-Smythe in 2007 with the Devils Norris Trophy in 2004. So another congratulations. Scott Niedermeyer, one of the premier defensemen of his day. You must have played against him a bit, right? I got to play with him already. That's right.

Got to play with him and Chris Pronger. They were both playing 35 minutes a night. It was incredible to watch them both. Scott Niedermeyer was a lot. Good to play with him and Chris Pronger. They're both playing 35 minutes a night. It was incredible to watch them both. Scott Niedermeyer was a joke. I mean, this guy's one in a billion. The way he was able to skate, the career he was able to have. Dude, this guy, I'm not kidding you, would come off after playing 30 minutes and there'd be a quarter-sized, literally, I got a blue shirt on.

He'd have a blue undershirt. And there'd be this. See what I'm holding up? That's the sweat. That's the only thing that was wet. His hair was bone dry, and his arms and his stomach is ripped, too. Nothing was wet 30 minutes except for a little quarter-sized circle of sweat. I used to stare like Norm.

By the way, guys called him Norm. It's a perfect nickname for hey norm he does look like a norm yeah i you know what it might have been from something else but either way he did look like a norm does look like a norm great guy very quiet uh but an awesome leader he did it all demanded respect like not many others ever has because if he spoke you listened he also had a little streak in him where he could snap on the ice. He's a little psycho. You know, like he would be – no, there'd be no moments when Scott Niedermeyer lost his mind out there. He had that edge to him, made him so great.

But he would buzz around the ice the entire time. You know, on the power play, he'd kind of play the rover on Anaheim. Pronger would be up top. He'd be buzzing around, getting Getzlaff dishes, Perry dishes. Just an incredible player. One of the best to ever do it in the Hall of Fame for a reason. And just the fact that he didn't sweat playing games. I mean, what the hell is that?

You know what I hate about Scott Niedermeyer? He looks like the type of guy that would show up to a Sunday afternoon game and dummy the fucking Sunday crossword in a major newspaper in about six minutes and then throw his gear on like five minutes before warmup and fucking barely take a stride and, and probably stare over the cross or red line at me, the fucking going 10, 10,

15, 20 miles an hour and double dicks. He's just to get my legs into it. And then I try to chase him down all game. And this guy's playing street hockey out there, like a fucking men's pickup game, 30 minutes. And you said he didn't even sweat. So fuck him even more quarter size, quarter size, quarter size, down all game and this guy's playing street hockey out there like a fucking men's pickup game 30 minutes and you said he didn't even sweat so fuck him even more quarter size quarter size quarter

size quarter size and and i'd be trying to run them in the corners and get my hits in and and this guy would be fucking dodging me left and right so guys who where the game come that comes that easy to them i i resent a lot he uh and And the fact that he got to get two jerseys retired, just a little bit of icing on the cake and a big fuck you to me. So on a serious note though, congrats to Scott Niedermeyer. That guy was basically

Eric Carlson before Eric Carlson. Yeah, that's a great call. He paved the... And he was kind of like the next wave of Bobby Orr, where he just went out there and just fucking played, and the game was easy to him, and he played 30 minutes, and he didn't get tired. No, man.

He was so nasty. And the other thing is he had an incredible goal. He was very young. I think it was 95 when they swept the Red Wings in the cup final. The Red Wings were a wagon, and they ran into the old trap in Jersey and just four nothing. And Niedermeyer had a coast to coast, incredible goal in that series. You can YouTube that one. And that was the, that was the start of great things to come.

It's funny you mentioned he's the guy that does the crossword and gets ready in five minutes. Like I can picture him or even maybe remember him, you know, literally open up a box of wheels, putting them on, and he's walking out for warmups in a game. And, you know, Sluggo, the equipment guy in Anaheim, is like, all on Norm. I haven't even sharpened those things yet. He's like, don't worry about it, Sluggo.

I'll be fine. Has a contoured orange sharpener. Out of the box, no radius, no sharpening, 33 minutes, one goal, one assist, maybe two PIM, plus three. Thanks for coming. Does it with rollerblades on? Yeah, some guys. Remember the Pebble Beach,

the pro league there? They had the V-skates, the V-rollerblades? Yeah. Some guys are just gifted. You've had 1,263 NHL regular season games. Best of I could tell, you guys played 82 games together over a season and a half, it looks like. Also, you might want to check out Unreal Picture with one of his four cups.

He brought it to the top of a mountain. Yes. I'm sure you could Google image it. It's sick. He's way up there. I'm going to guess like 12,000 feet, guy. Maybe Mount what's in Vancouver. Higher than Biz right now.

Where's Mount Whitney? Where's Mount Whitney? I'm not sure California maybe but uh so another congrats from the from us to uh another veteran who will retire guy need a Maya but without further ado let's go to Reed Simpson man this is an interview we've had in the camp for a little bit he's a funny guy again a guy a lot of the listeners might not be familiar with but you sure as hell will be after today this interview is brought to you by Herbal Active, the 100% hemp-based CBD product we've been talking about. They have the balm, which is great for muscle pain, joint pain as well.

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a former Calder Cup winner, so he has that in common with Biz. He was a very tough bastard who was a hell of a teammate. I was with him for a short time, but I had a great time and he also played in Russia, so buckle up for some of those stories. Reed Simpson, thanks for joining us for Bitten Chickens Podcast. How's it going, guys? How's it going? Well, it's going great and we last saw you.

People probably don't know, but we mentioned that you were one of the guys who was nice enough to come and help us out for our live show that never ended up happening because we didn't have audio. Just give me a quick glimpse of what you thought happened that day and pretty much who you would blame. I totally put the blame all over the bar. Okay.

They got to get their act together over there. I don't know who negotiated that deal over there for you guys, but we should have had some earlier audio going. Well, we appreciate you coming nonetheless. And it was funny because we noticed you had a nice long sheet of paper, stuff written down. And before you get to some of those stories, I mean, I just wanted to get kind of a little bit of your background.

I know you played in the WHL growing up, spent some time in Chicago, really spent the time in a lot of different leagues. So tell us how you got into hockey and then a little bit of your WHL past when it was the Monster Heavyweight League in Canada. Well, I mean, I grew up in Western Canada, like every other good little Canadian who loves to play hockey. I had a little rink right next to my house. Did some minus 48-hour days out there,

and it just turned into playing hockey. And, you know, really truthfully, if I want to admit what happened, I ended up playing hockey with a kid named Mike Medano in junior, and pretty much he got me drafted. You play in a line with a guy like that for a year, and basically you're drafted. You get into the NHL by playing with guys like that. Moa, I know him pretty well just from some golf trips.

I can't imagine when he was 18. He's probably a little over 40 now. He's handsome as shit. He's a complete man rocket. He's tan. He's got everything. What was it like when he was 18, 17? It must have been a joke.

Dude, he was about 5'10", 165 pounds when I first met him at 16 years old. And I was like, who is this kid from Detroit? And literally within a year, he was 6'2", 215 pounds, and I've never seen a guy skate in my life like that. We used to do drills, actually, in junior. We used to line up. You ever done that post drill where you line up on a post and you have to race to center ice?

Yeah, for a puck. So you can get the puck first? Yeah. Yeah. Dude, I used to like going. I would be like, I want to go against him because he's the slowest guy in the team and that was like when i was 17 he was 16 and everyone was always trying to get into the line like he like i can beat this guy and within a year he became the fastest guy

in maybe the world i've never i've never seen a guy i've never seen a guy improve his skating and improve how good of a hockey player he is in one year. And then next thing you know, he's first overall pick. He was unbelievable. You know, you've seen him. He's the only guy I think I've ever seen in the NHL that when he skates down the wing, his jersey's flapping in the wind behind him. He was the fastest guy ever.

So was he just like a gym rat that that full year like was he just all hockey or is it just like a freak of nature just kind of overnight success i don't know what it was because no he had he had braces on he had dyed hair no one no one had ever seen a guy dye his hair before this guy was he was a he was just a freak of nature like you said and he was the he had skills like you've never seen like i've i've never seen it i've never seen it like since like i thought that like everyone was going to be like that when you got to the got the pro and i was like sorely disappointed because he was literally i was like like this guy's so good like i i don't know like i don't know how

to explain it but um i i've never seen a guy with that much skill in my entire life and i got the pro and i and i literally was like okay winning all these guys like that are as good as mike madonna gonna show up and none of them did you're like oh wait i don't get to play with somebody else like this next year in pro yeah madonna was doing the skating, the drill where you race from the park backwards the next year just to try to give you guys a chance. Yeah, just to be nice to us. Oh, man. Reed, as Madonna, was that when you became an ice enforcer,

like a policeman for your team? You know, when did you realize, okay, this is my ticket to the NHL, fighting people? Pretty much that was it and then you know we had in junior where i played we had guys like dave manson ken bombgartner richie p lon i mean you go down the list darren kimball um our whole team i mean you could look from the first line to the fifth line like the guys that were sitting out playing like 20 games a year, they were like, it was just a, it was a mess,

like how tough we were. And then you insert a few, you know, skilled guys, and we were always good. I mean, the year before I got there, they won the Memorial Cup, and it was just like, I grew up in a place called Flimflon, Manitoba, and trust me, if you don't know how to be tough from there, then you may as well quit hockey because I got challenged right away as soon as I got to my first game. There's a guy named Patty Janelle that was my coach in New Westminster when I was 16 years old, and I remember he brought me out there,

and he's like, dude, if you're going to play this game, you better be tough. And he'd bring, he'd have, he'd have two cowboy hats. He'd wear a black cowboy hat. And he'd say, if I'm wearing my black cowboy hat, that means it's on tonight. If I'm wearing my white cowboy hat, then that means we can play hockey tonight. And he would literally, the first game I got into, he had his black cowboy hat on. And we had a bench playing brawl about 16 seconds into the game. It was unreal.

How many, how many fights a night were you having? Were you fighting more than once a night? Was it like two, three fights a night back then? Back in the day, if you didn't get it, like, I mean, here's the thing. If you didn't, if you didn't, the best thing about hockey is like, if you didn't, if you wanted to contribute, all you had to do is go out there and like give a guy a spear in the balls and be like, okay, let's go.

So you always had a way to contribute. I've been here. I've heard a ton of fun, fun stories. Like what's like one that stands out. Cause they used to have a junior team and they used to have some like epic brawls. Did they not? Oh, I remember one time I came out after the rink and like there was it was you know

you come out like half hour later we came into the parking lot and there was still literally like a huge brawl going on with the fans in the parking lot i walked out and you could kind of walk out of the rink minus 40 degrees and and there's literally people with no shirts on beating the crap out of each other like from the other town we're we're actually i remember this pretty clearly we were playing uh we're playing the humble broncos and it was a it was like literally a bench clearing brawl in the parking lot with with every fan that had come to the game but it was and that was just what it was like i mean you and then everyone would go down to the bar down the street and have like 25 beers with each other after the game.

So Flynn Fonda, who else, who else played in the NHL from there? What are some other names that would, people would kind of recognize? Well, the guy that was right before me was Ken Baumgartner again. You guys, you know him. He was a, he was ken bombgartner again yeah you guys you know him he

was a he was a boston bruin for a while um bobby clark was from there i remember growing up he was like he was uh i remember growing up we used to play softball and my my parents were friends with them and it's kind of a it's kind of weird because i like i don't think where I grew up and, you know, where any kid from a small town in northern Canada, like you just kind of grow up thinking like I love playing hockey so much. But you don't have like the NHL is not your, it's not like your goal. You just kind of think like, okay, it's possible because you know people that are playing there in the summertime. You know, a lot of people would come back from you know wherever they were playing and you know i remember when i was like 10 years old and they said bobby clark would come back and you'd be like oh he's in the nhl and he'd be like philadelphia where the hell's philadelphia like you don't it's it's on another

planet you know what i mean like you don't even really you don't even really feel like it's it's it's a it's, but it is possible. Does that make sense? Yeah, it makes complete sense. And I think now, though, I think now, like, I think it's changed just because of the internet and, you know, Instagram and all this stuff you can read. But back when you were playing, it's like you couldn't read up on teams.

You didn't even know who won the night before most of the time. No. It is like a world. It was like hockey night in canada is that like you know saturday night at you know six seven o'clock at night and you got to watch montreal canadians play toronto maple leafs and that was like your kind of extent of knowing what the nhl was but it wasn't like a it wasn't like you're sitting around dreaming about it like everybody played hockey like the neighborhood at eight in the morning on

a saturday you know there'd be 25 kids just show up and everyone would just play till till like eight o'clock at night and everyone wanted to play and everyone had a great time playing but you never really thought about you never really thought about like playing in nhl you just you just were like okay let's just play hockey. Cause that's, what's fun. It was like the Sandlot kind of thing in baseball. And some guys turned into players and there, I gotta admit, there was a hell of a lot more, you know, there's a hell of a lot of guys that were way better hockey players than me.

And I think what, what ends up happening is you just, you got it out. You just keep playing. And the next thing you know like I said you just you're in the NHL and you're like how the hell did I get here Reed when you did break into the NHL it was still a pretty tough place there was still a fair amount of fighting going on back then a fair amount that was like well compared to the 70s I guess you know you fought some bad animals Probert Kosa the Grim Reaper Stu Grimson I mean was was Bob Probert, Kosa, the Grim Reaper, Stu Grimson. I mean, was, was Bob Probert the baddest man in GMU of a scraplet? And if it wasn't him, who was it? He was definitely, he was definitely the guy.

Like I remember coming into the league in like, I got a few games in with Minnesota. I got a game in with Philadelphia early and I'm talking when Philly, my first camp in Philly, I fought like nine times the first day. Like that was like, and, but I had to go through a list of guys like Craig Ruby,

Terry Karkner, Jeff Chikrin, Rick Talkett, Murray Barron. I mean, I literally like went through the whole group of guys. And I remember like it was Paul Holmgren was was Paul Holmgren was the coach at the time. And I came out on the ice and there was this guy from the Western League

named Tony Horacek, right? So I'm stretching out and there's maybe like seven or eight guys on the ice and I'm stretching out doing the old like, you know, hamstring stretch where you're on the ice. And this guy comes by and he looks at me and he's like, hey, you better buckle your helmet up today. And I was like, what does that mean? What is he talking about?

So I get up and I kind of follow him around the rink and I'm like, well, does that mean you want to go? And he's like, he kind of turns around and looks at me and I go, let's do it right now. And there was literally seven guys on the ice. And I'm like just start going toe-to-toe with this guy and the coaches come screaming out there they're like breaking it up and they're like splitting us apart and I'm like and he and he hit me pretty good like

I remember my nose was bleeding a little bit I'm like motherfucker that that guy like so now the practice starts and we're sitting there and we do the first drill and we're getting a drink of water and i'm like the whole team's on the ice now and i and i go let's do this again and paul looks at me he's like are you are you crazy like so he goes go out there go to center ice so now the very first day of practice in philadelphia i'm like squirt off with this guy at center ice all all because of like i thought that he'm like squirt off with this guy at center ice all, all because of like, I thought that he was like, I thought he was calling me on and like,

you know, basically warmup. So now we, we punch each other out at center ice and I'm like, okay, I'm going through the whole team today. And that's basically what I did. And I'm like that.

If you're going to get noticed, that's, that's the way to get noticed. I guess. Fuck. Dude, you know that. You were right on the tail end of it. I was just going to go into it.

Even when I was breaking in, like, yeah, it was a little intense. There was a little bit of sizing up going on between the vets and the rookies coming in. Nowadays, you go to training camp, everyone's fucking buddy-bud fucking buddy buddy out there i mean it's a lot way less intense but back then like you said you walked in a training camp like like is rick talking shit like eyeing you up is there not a lot of talking going on between you and these other guys well back in the day like i know like in philly they would split the team up they wouldn't even let the rookies go on the ice with the Vets because they knew that was happening, right?

So I remember my second year, I get there, and they bring in Dave Brown back to the Flyers, right? I'm like, oh, God, here we go. This guy's the king right here. Like, I got to get after this guy. And I'm upstairs. I got to get him. He's Bowser. Yeah, he was unreal. right here like i gotta get after this guy and i'm upstairs i gotta get i'm upstairs bowser

yeah he was unreal like i mean this guy still he's he works for he works for the flyer still i see him i mean he could literally some nights in the in the in the press box you got guys like jimmy mckenzie kelly chase him uh i mean we'd have the toughest toughest team in the in the in the league if we just took all the scouts and put our skates on. But, no, Dave is like – he was like one of the nicest guys. He's from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. I knew he was. And I was upstairs working out,

and they wouldn't let the rookies on the ice with the vets. And you remember that guy, Pat Croce, that used to own the Flyers? He was like – he was our physical that guy, Pat Croce, that used to own the Flyers? He was our physical therapist guy, and he owned like 150 physical therapy clinics in Philadelphia. And I'm upstairs like rolling the bike, you know, just going like crazy. And they come upstairs and they're like, hey, a couple guys got hurt during practice, and they're starting a scrimmage.

Can you go on? I'm like, hell yeah, I'm ready to go practice, and they're starting a scrimmage. Can you go on? I'm like, hell, yeah. I'm ready to go. I was like there two hours before ready to go. And I see, like, that Dave Brown's on the other team. I'm like, oh, God, here we go. So my very first shift, my very first shift, he gets the puck right in front of their bench,

and I had a perfect, like, line on him, and I just bend them right over the bench and I'm like okay good head good head that was a good head and and uh I hear Ken Hitchcock is the assistant coach at the time I hear him go Brownie you're not going to take that are you and all of a sudden all of a sudden I see like two gloves go rolling by my skates and I turn around and I'm like oh god here we go And the only thing I could think about, and this is like one of those highlight things. You remember when Dave Brown took like Jim kite down and just started like you

had them on the ice and Jimmy kite was that's all I could think of in my head. Jim kite. Oh my God. That's all I could think about. I'm like, just don't let him just don't let him hit you and knock you out so i ducked on the first left that he threw and i came with the right and i knocked him right down and i was like oh my god i just i just buckled buckled dave brown so before before we even like before we even got off the ice next thing you know we're going again and he gets me down, and I'm, like, laying on my back. And, again, all I can think of is, like, don't let him, like, kill you, Reed. And he's, like, hammering left into the ice, just missing my head.

And I'm going, thank God I got out of that. And I go back to the bench, and there's maybe one of the funniest guys you're ever going to meet, Pat Murray. His brother, Rem Murray, played for quite a while. I go back to the bench. He's like, you just beat up Dave Brown. I go, Pat, it's not over. The very next shift, I go,

he's going to come kill me. We played in Hershey the year before. He's like, oh my god, you just beat up Dave Brown. I'm like, it's never going to end until he beats me up. Don't worry. So I go at the very next shift.

I go at the very next shift. And same thing. We line up on the draw. He's like, I'm going to kill you. And I'm like, oh, God, here we go. Same thing. He squares off, throws the biggest left you've ever seen. I duck.

And I reach over with the right, hit him, break my hand, camps over, don't even ever get the play. But that was it. That was my whole camp. My second year. I'm like, I got to cast on for the next eight weeks. That's what's just incredible about it. It was probably

the biggest win of a fight for you ever. Dave Brown, one of the toughest of all time, and it's in training camp. Doesn't matter for anything. Then you break your hand, it's over. But still. You know what? I got to tell you this. Like, this is back before cell phones.

I remember I was getting phone calls from other guys in the league in my hotel room going, I heard you beat up Dave Brown. I heard you, like, kill. I'm like, yeah, but I broke my hand. They're like, don't worry. Like, you're going to make the team now. Like, that was how, like, literally, but I broke my hand. They're like, don't worry. Like, you're going to make the team now. Like, that was like, that was how, like, that's, like,

literally that was before cell phones. That was before the internet. And that's how fast stuff like that traveled. You know what I mean? People heard about it. And then I think coming out of junior, you know, from a town like Flim Flon and playing in Prince Albert with the reputation that we had it was just one of those things that you had to kind of had to live it up to it and if you didn't

if you didn't do it then you're gone people were kind of yeah like people were like i thought you were tough you know simmer and it's like that scene in braveheart when they were talking about william wallace and they're like i heard he's seven feet tall and I get all these rumors there's no social media no one knows anyone looks like they're describing you you're some massive fucking killer and then you get there and you look like you yeah and it's like you know what the good

thing was like if you had balls like you just went in there and you just said okay I'm here and I knew I was never the toughest guy that guys had. But I was one of those guys that I felt like I was going to show up. And if you did it enough, by the end of junior, I'm talking, we had like, you know, I had to play against Tony Twist like maybe 14 times a year.

And Kelly Chase and Kevin Kaminsky and Rob DeMond. I mean, every guy was top. Every guy. Was Twister on the juice? Is that a known thing? Will you even comment on that? You know what? That breath said a lot.

That breath answered the question. We can move forward. You know what? The funny thing is nobody ever approached me about that kind of stuff. My whole career until my last year, I was working out in this gym back in Kalamazoo, Michigan. And I'm jumping off the bench and doing all these plyometrics and just killing myself. I was like 35 years old and this guy came up to me. He's like, man, you work out hard. You know, he's like, you ever think about doing steroids?

I'm like, what? Steroids? He's like, yeah, you could probably, like, you know, your career could probably last a little longer. And I never thought about that kind of stuff. That was the only time anyone ever even brought it up to me. I know was there was guys that were on it back in the time because i mean i saw guys when they were 19 20 years old that were like 175 to 195 pounds and then all of a sudden you're playing pro three years later and they're like 250 and like 9% body fat. You're going, nobody gets that big by not doing that.

You know what I mean? And Twister was one of those guys. And you asked me earlier, like, who, like, one of the toughest guys in the league are. He was number, if he wasn't number one, he was number two every night. That guy, like, you get in a fight with them and you'd think like you'd be like did he just pull a hammer out of his pocket and hit me on the fucking head with it like that's what it was like and then i mean him and probie were guys that were just like okay there's a no no right there like if you're gonna fight these guys you're not coming out of there without some

you know you're gonna need some repairs when it's all over. If you got out of a fight with those guys and you didn't need to get stitches, you're, you're pretty happy about yourself. Steroids might make you stronger, but they don't help you land the punch. For sure. Well, yeah. And that's the thing. I mean, like that.

And the thing is, is with, with twister, I mean, like he would throw a punch and kosher was like that too kosher would throw a punch and like you could feel the whole you could feel like the whole weight of like his body kind of coming in probie was like that i remember the first time i fought probie in uh in new jersey and i had fought cam russell earlier in the game and I didn't really know who he was and I kind of get, I got a good shot and then he went down and I'm like, oh God, here we go. But my whole mind was on, yeah, exactly.

My whole mind knowing we were playing, he was playing for the Hawks at the time. I was like, I want to fight Bob Probert tonight. I can't wait to fight Bob Probert. And then the next thing I know, as soon as I come out of the penalty box like Proby had a smile on his face like that was like I'm gonna kill you kind of like smile and he was like he's doing the old like Irish like you know Dukes kind of thing and I'm looking at

him going holy shit this is a real deal and then he threw the first punch he grabbed me and he threw the first punch and I literally felt my whole body like swing backwards and i'm like holy shit don't let him hit you with one of those punches and i just started going toe-to-toe with him thinking like please don't let him hit you please don't let him hit and he never luckily luckily he never and he ended up being one of my best friends like as i got traded to the hawks like a couple months later and he was my roommate and never you're never going to meet a better guy than Bob Probert like he was he was one of the best you're ever going to meet. Reid you spent some time with the Devils organization uh you played for the great Jacques Lemaire as a head coach and you also had Scott Stevens for your captain first off what was

it like playing for Jacques Lemaire I think he's a guy who comes under the radar a little bit as far as coaches and as far as Stevens was he more he's a guy who comes under the radar a little bit as far as top coaches. And as far as Stevens, was he more of a quiet guy who led by Duno as he is intense in practices as we've used to seeing him in games? Yeah, you got it right there. Like Jacques was one of those guys that you just walked in the room and he kind of had a little smirk on his face. And I was a young guy, so I just basically did whatever they asked me to do kind of thing. I'm like young guy so I just basically I just basically did whatever they asked me to do kind of thing I'm like okay I just want to stay in the league I think my first

year with them I played 23 games I was a healthy scratch for all the rest and I was just like thank you for letting me play in your league great Alec thank you this is the best thing we we do on road trips I remember a guy Kevin Dean Kevin Dean, was a good friend of mine. He coaches in Boston now. And we went on a road trip one time to like Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton. We did that little circuit out there. And we didn't play one game. And we started like joking about the fact that we're on a fantasy trip with the New Jersey Devils because we got to practice with the Devils.

We got to stay in the same hotel as the Devils. We got to eat pregame meal with the Devils. It was unreal. But we like, You're getting autographs easily. Yeah. Yeah. We're just like, we're just hanging out with the Devils after the game.

Like, we're like, guys, like, I remember him and I were talking about it one time after and we're like, you know how much people would pay to like be on this team, like to be on this fantasy trip with the after, and we're like, you know how much people would pay to be on this team, to be on this fantasy trip with the Devils that we're basically on? But we were winning all the time, and we'd just won the Cup the year before, and we're just like, hey, listen, I don't know a guy, and we've all played a little bit in the minors, and that's really fun. I played four and a half years in the minors before I actually got a chance. But I always looked at it like if you're in the minors and you know that's that's really fun i played four and a half years in the minors before i actually got a chance but i always looked at it like if you're in the nhl then just stay

there just find a way to stay there biz you know exactly what i'm talking about like you're like this is where you want to be music in the locker room filling water bottles up yeah i was going to get kill stuff i had to go on six dates a day so I could muster up a kill just so I could go back and tell the boys a story. Like, I was doing everything. I didn't even like fucking that much. Yeah, exactly. Anything you could do to stay in the league.

Like, you know, and that's the way I looked at it, too. I was just like, we were just talking about it, actually. The other day, I was talking about it with one of the scouts, and I'm like, I would do anything it with one of the scouts and I'm like I would do anything to just be on the team like whatever you guys want, do you want me to skate through the end boards after practice? Yep, I'll do it I was helping guys move, I had a pickup truck I bought a pickup truck just so I could stay in the league

Pete Yandel would ask me to move shit sometimes. I'd be like, of course. If Tippett caught me, I'd move. You don't know. He might be on the waivers. You got to help. You want me to babysit your kids? What are you guys doing? No, they wouldn't let me around. Biz was getting laid just to keep his cardio up.

Yeah, exactly. That was his ab workout. Biz, you're a beauty. remember i was i was telling you this when i saw you and like the other day like biz was like wait you're gonna love this like i was in pittsburgh and mark berger van was a good friend of mine at the time and mario is mario's last year so like we go into camp right and Biz was like a rookie coming on a junior and we're sitting in there on mice and down and Mario's sitting in there and and Mark's sitting there and we're kind of like Biz walks in the room he's like hey Mario what's up and I'm like and Mario looks like who is this guy he's like what are you guys doing for dinner tonight

Mario's like I don't know he's like all right give me a call like you know if uh if you're if you guys aren't doing anything you know like i'll i'll go out for dinner with you guys and then he just beelined out of the room and we're like both looking at each other like who the fuck is this guy and you a mario loved you from the minute you did that till like ever like mario just like had the biggest smile on his face he goes i love this guy i love this guy it was hilarious it's weird because like i'll see him now i ran into him at the asu hockey game and yeah it's like i'm a pigeon like i wouldn't go up to him and every time i'm locked in a conversation with him i'm like why am i talking yeah like like i need to find a way to get out of

this because i know in his head he's like why is this person talking to me so i'm always very short with him but he's always smiling and like makes me feel like a special person and he'll usually be the one to like wave or wink i don't know if you guys yeah yeah oh yeah i know what you're talking about yeah that's every time he gives it to me. Yeah. But he fucking winks and calls you over and talks to you. And fuck, yeah. I think we should be buddies. And that's a – I did that my whole – like, seriously, I think I might be the only guy that was playing in the NHL,

and it still happens to me once in a while. Like, I'll see, like, Gretzky or, like, I'll run into guys like that. And they'll, like, actually talk to me like they know who i am and i'm like god this guy knows who i am like i can't believe it you know and i remember that camp like mario was like hey want to come over to my house we're gonna play we're gonna have dinner and play pool and i'm like i'm like calling my buddies back home i'm 35 years old i'm calling your first date yeah exactly i'm like guess where i'm going tonight like it was it's like one of those things like i swear to god like you're just like again i'm just happy to be in the league right now like you know and i don't think that ever stops because

because you're just kind of like a kid from some small town somewhere and you're going man like this is like it's not like it was your dream but when it's happening it feels like it almost you know and that's i don't know if guys these days get that like i think kids now when they're growing up they're you know they're put on this weird fast track where they're on some triple a team or they're on some like national junior team and now they just expect it like if they don't make it, they're horrified. They're disappointed. They're not disappointed in a way.

Yeah, everyone's disappointed when you get cut from a team, but they're actually like they don't understand why. They're like, wait, what do you mean? Everyone said I was going to make it. When am I going to make it? You never did. Yeah, and the reality is even you know even kids on like the national junior teams like there's a there's like half the team won't ever like you know they'll play a couple games pro and then they'll

just peter out and that'll be done but like i it was different for me like i i never expected it and there no one ever told me i was going to be in the nhl and i I just was like, okay, well, this is what you're going to have to do if you want to get there. And you just stay the course. And the next thing you know, you're in the NHL. And you're kind of like, wow, this is unreal. You walk around the room. Guys are – you're getting Gatorade after the game back in the day.

I remember back in the day in Hershey. My first year in Hershey, they had beer in the fridge. Like after the game, you know, you go in there and like nowadays you got like, you know, all the blenders and you got every power drink you could ever have. They had beer in the fridge. And I remember as like a 19, 20-year-old kid, I'm walking around like, what the hell is their beer doing in the fridge? And guys would like have like 10 beers after the game,

and their wives would be waiting in the wives' lounge, and they'd be there for like an hour and a half. And guys would be like half banged up by the time they left the rink. It was hilarious. I'm getting treatment. Yeah, they were like, yeah, Icing down with like 12 Coors Lights. It was unreal. Oh, my God.

Well, dude, well, then we had the chance to play together. When I left college that year, you were on Wilkes-Barre. We had a nice little run to the finals where we got swept. You tried telling this story at the live event, but we couldn't hear anything. Give me your version

of how I ended up missing curfew the night before my first pro game when I was shitting myself 6'3", 190 pounds, soaking wet. Well, I remember we were waiting. We got to where? Where were we? Bridgeport. Bridgeport, yeah.

And Matt Murley, you're friends with Matt Murley. Yeah. You know him pretty good. He was like, okay, man, let's go to Mohegan Sun. And I'm like, where is it? And this kid's a beauty. Like, Matt Murley's a beauty. And there's Colby Armstrong and Shane Endicott.

They had some good young guys on our team. And I was one of the older guys. That was the year I was in Pitt and I got sent down. And we're like, let's go to the casino tonight. Because we got there at like 2 in the afternoon. We're kind of like, okay, twiddling our thumbs in the hotel room and you show up we're like hey you gotta drive us to the uh you gotta drive us to the casino so you're like yeah i'm in man i'm in and we go there and literally none of us like you know we're playing five dollar chips and i remember like

at least i know me and colby armstrong we're stacking our chips about, you know, a foot high off the table. And we thought we just won the lottery. And I'm looking at you. You're just like, you're just pounding beers and having a good time. And I'm like, dude, this guy's a beauty. He's going to fit right in with our team. And we ended up driving back, like, missing curfew by like a half an hour. And Michael Terrien was our coach.

And I'm like, this is not going to be good, guys. We've got to get back by curfew at least. And it's a playoff game. And we ended up, like, killing the team the next day. And you, what, you probably had two assists, a couple, about ten shots on that. You were, like, you were off the charts when you came in. And you stayed the course.

And that's what I like about you. Thank you. The funny part you're not mentioning was, though, that when I had a car, because I drove from BU, you were off the charts when you came in and you stayed the course. And that's what I like about you. Uh, thank you. The funny part you're not mentioning was though, that when I, I had a car cause I drove from BU. And so then that's why you guys were like, Hey,

yeah, we want to go to Mohegan. I was like, Oh, awesome. And you're like, yeah, you're going to drive us.

Okay. You became like self appointed. Hey, and that's it. That's a same thing. Like, that's it. Like you're just kind of like show up. You're like, well, I i was just like what are we doing tonight guys and do with the i was just

from college i was like do what the boys say like the boy the guys are older they're the fellas like let's go like i i just kind of always was like that with the older guys they told me what to do and then i went and did it then i tried telling you guys what to do and they told me to fuck off hey how does that how did that work that worked out pretty good for you too, eh? And that's how, you know what? That's what guys don't get. You just hit on a point like right there. I remember like when I came into the league in New Jersey

and I was lucky, you know, that first year I got called up, we won the Stanley Cup and we had guys like Scott Stevens. He didn't say much. Randy McKay, Billy Guerin. cup and and we had guys like scott stevens he didn't say much randy mckay uh billy garan we had like it was inclusive kind of thing like so so the older guys would always be like hey what are you doing tonight you want to come over to my house for dinner and we'd have like we'd have like six or seven guys going over to someone's house you know bust out the wine and and have some steaks and and it was fun like the team was

together i don't know what they do now but like but we had a like we had that that whole thing during the 90s and i don't like like it was like inclusive with with the young guys and and they you were made to feel part of the team like right away. Like not like, you know, when you come to the team and you're like, yeah, it wasn't like that. And so I learned that early that, hey, listen, like these guys are including me. So as soon as I, you know, had a couple years under my belt, like a new guy would come in.

And even if I thought he was going to take my job, I'd be like, hey, man, let's go out. Like just you're part of the team now. Like you earn it. Like, I'd be like, hey, man, let's go out. Like, just you're part of the team now. Like, you earn it. And I really do feel like that's what makes teams become teams.

Like, they don't – you don't – if you've got, like, eight guys on a team that don't feel like they're part of the team, like, how are they going to contribute on the ice? And how are they going to be, like, those guys that are, you know, saying I'm going to go to war for you like those i like what you you get it like probably after that night that we went there to the casino you're probably like yeah man i'm part of the team now and like all of a sudden you're just ready to you're ready to go to war for the team and as a vet you're doing the same thing you get some young guy in and i i'm like again i I've always said this, like they're going to get there. Like somehow one way or another, they're going to get to the NHL.

They're good enough. You may as well make them feel like part of the team right away. And then when they're part of the team, they're going to be like, they're probably going to be in the nowadays, you know, the kid comes in the league, he's, you know, got a couple of years under his belt. He scores like 50 points. He's making like $5 million a year now.

So he's going to be on the team. Like you may as well make him make me a friend yeah exactly so would you rather have that guy like you know playing on the second line and hate you or would you rather have that guy on the second line going that guy went to bat for me simmer that's like one thing that when i look back being drafted by p drafted by Pittsburgh, is the way they treated their American Hockey League. I would call it its own organization. Jeff Barrett, that's a great name. Jeff Barrett, shout out to him and that whole staff. I was a piece of shit when I went in there.

I was a little punk. But nonetheless, like Elaine Nazardine, Chris Keller, Dennis Bombi, like those guys taught me what it was like to be like a vet handle your fucking business uh like elaine nazardine wasn't rushing to be my buddy there was an age separation but and you and you kind of looked at him like almost like a father figure where there's that that major respect for him but he would still take time be like hey biz like you, what'd you get into last night? You boys find any trouble, you know, did you guys get laid?

Like, like, and then, and then boom right back to his business where like you felt like that time was special. There was order and it was a team environment and I took it. That's how I learned how to be a good teammate. I finally figured it out. It was with the Pittsburgh organization. And I think it's almost like a, like we talk about all the time like it's a little cliche but the culture thing

is huge and some teams have it some teams don't that's why they've been shit some teams have been shit for a long time now you're exactly right you're exactly right uh we gotta get on the russian stories because people are fucking drooling at this point for them. Oh, God. Before you go, when I was in the KHL, people need to know it was the KHL. They tried to make it a much more official league. They tried to rival the NHL. It was never going to happen.

But you were there when it was the Super League, and that makes it seem at least from what I've heard, the complete wild, wild west when i thought i was already in 1850 when i was over there and a i like i don't even know where to start when it comes to this because i i when i i remember it was a lockout right after the year i played in in wilkes-barre and i was gonna actually I was gonna get into coaching and I had an interview with Mike Milbury in New York with the Islanders in the summer and I flew out to LA and went to went skating with all my friends like Pat Bresson and Jerry Bruckheimer and Sheldon Surrey

and all those like he was one of my best friends Sheldon and we we went out there to skate and Sheldon like you know we get into this like, that skate they have in LA with all the actors and all the guys that, you know, the hockey people from, from LA and, and, and, uh, he goes to me, he goes, Hey Rita, my agent, Paul Tiafonis might have a deal for you in Russia. I'm like, what are you talking about? He's like, call him up. Like he said that there's some team wants you to come to Russia. I'm like, really?

So I call him up the next day and I'm like, Heyul how's god i've never met him before and he goes hey i think i have a deal for you in russia i'm like what are you talking about he's like and he told me how much they're gonna pay me and he said it's all cash i'm like really i'm like i'll go to jail for that much i'll go to jail for that much money i was like like how much so he's like but the only much money. I was like, how much? So he's like, but the only thing is you got to leave like, you know, October 1st or I mean,

uh, August 1st. And I'm like, August 1st, like that's like a month from now is July 4th. And I go, can you push that out to like, maybe like,

you know, the 15th or the 30th? He goes, I'll see what I can do. So I go over there, like the end of Augustust and i jump right into the i jump right into like game situation kind of stuff and and i think that like i've been skating i you know i knew i'd be a pro at that time i was working out i was ready to go so i land and paul

comes with me i land and i'm looking around at the airport going, where is this? Every sign is in Russian. I can't read anything. And we took like an hour and a half drive to check off where the team I played for. And the whole way I'm going, what am I doing here right now? We pull up to the hotel that my owner owned. And they're like, he gives me a big hug. And I'm like, where? Like, they're trying to talk to me

and i'm i'm like just looking at him going like where am i and everything like you said everything the farther you got outside of moscow like every 10 miles you went back 20 years so the whole town was just like like it looked like where i grew up and I always say this too. Like, like where I grew up in from fun, it looked like flim flon from 1935 and that's what it was like 25 miles outside of like Moscow. So I will up and the guy gives me $50,000 in cash when I sit down and I'm like, what am I supposed to do with this? They're like, just keep it.

I'm like, yeah, I don't keep it. But like, yeah, to do this they're like just keep it i'm like yeah i don't keep it but like yeah he gave me fifty thousand dollars in cash as i'm sitting at the in the restaurant and he goes oh this is your bonus i'm like i didn't even know i was getting a bonus but i had that i had fifty thousand dollars in cash in my pants for like four or five days walking going to the rink and back and then i realized that he owned the hotel so no one's gonna steal from me i just left it on my counter 50 000 until i could figure out how to like how to transfer it back and that's how i don't know how you got paid when you were there but they

would literally line up outside the like the office and they would just give you a bag of cash when when you're not and they'd just be like basically bag of cash when you're not. And they'd just be like, basically, like, figure out what you're going to do with this. And I finally figured out how to, like, go to a bank and transfer it back and, like, do it all legally. And I remember one time at the end of the year, there was a goalie, Sebastian Charpentier, on my team. And he played there for, like, three or four years. We had, like, $275,000 in cash, like accumulated for our last checks at the end of the year. And we literally got on the subway,

went to this bank with our pockets full of cash and walked in and they're like, Oh, you're here to transport. We just threw it on the table. Like, would you like some coffee or vodka? And they, they, they would count it. They would count it they would count it it took them an hour and a half to count every single bill and then magically it would turn up in your bank account like like like 48 hours later you're like i can't believe this is happening

where did you play over there with i was gonna to say, Simmer, so you have no horror stories as far as the money situation, or have you heard any? Because I've heard some horror stories of guys fucking getting stolen like $100K, or they give them the money before practice, and they go to their stall after, and it's gone. That was the thing I learned early on, is if anyone's going to steal my money, it's going to be my boss. And I know there are horror stories, but I can't even tell you like I got

treated there like I was yeah he was like one of my best like he honestly like I can't say enough about like the guy that owned the team he treated me like he treated me like he was he was my dad and I was his son and and I I'll never I'll be indebted to him forever for how he treated me. As far as financially goes, the funny thing is over there, there's no pay schedule. You kind of roughly know, okay, they pay every month. And you kind of roughly know, okay, maybe we're going to get paid today. But it might be Monday.

It might be Wednesday. It might be Thursday. you don't know and if you weren't winning they would just they would just literally like wait like an extra week or two to pay you and everyone would be like you know when are we gonna get paid when we get paid but then you'd line up outside the office and like literally like a food like a food uh like you know truck and you and they just give you walk in they give you money and you'd walk out and everyone over there was like scared to tell each other how much they're making i'd walk out of the office be like where do i go for air like it was it was it was unreal like it i i can't explain how good of an experience it was and having the

having the owner that I had like you know how the thing is. We were known as the Yeah, that's what I wanted to ask you. So you played for Vityaz I think it is. You kind of started it going over there and pounding people

then Darcy Varro was there. He had 500 penalties that one year. Chris Simon I think Josh Gratton. What made that organization organization they were just like we're gonna beat the fuck out of everyone no yeah the year I went there they they had just kind of went up to the Super League from the time and the owner was like he he just that was his deal he wanted to he wanted to win like might or fight whatever it was like he wanted he wanted an arsenal of like guys that could come off the bench and if we weren't winning he'd come down to the dressing room and he would just be like all right you

you and you it was like it was like that Quebec senior league on steroids basically like they he would come in and just be like all right we're not winning tonight we all know that but nobody's getting out of the building without getting their ass kicked and i'd be like i just put my hand up go yes he'd literally come over to my stall like he'd be talking russian my first year and he'd be like the whole room would go silent there'd be like four bodyguards in the room and they'd be standing there one time one time he was like he he did a hulk hogan with a shirt like just ripped it off right in front of the whole team and i'm just like yeah man this guy's the best like imagine your owner coming into the room and like and doing a hulkamaniac like right

in front of the team and then and then he comes over and like gives me a huge hug he's like you do you do this tonight and like in between the second and third period and i'm like hell yeah i was like i couldn't wait to get out there to start fights and then and there was a couple other guys ray drew was in the league and i'd be like i knew him a little bit from like the devil's organization and i'd be like ray stay out of my don't come near me because if you come near me i'm gonna have to have to, like, start beating you up. And he'd be like, no, no, don't do it. I'm like, next thing you know, I'm jumping in the other team's bench,

like, trying to fight their coach. Like, it was unreal. Simmer, so this was the owner that used to, like, bring guns in. And I heard a story that he actually came down from the press box because the referee was giving you guys too many penalties. And he called the ref over. And he literally threatened to kidnap his family. And then the rest of the game, you guys didn't get a penalty. Okay, I'll tell you something.

When I was like – I played two years and then I stayed over there as like kind of a consultant to the team. And I would be the guy that would help them get like imports in, right? We were coming to the – off a two-day bender. We were coming to the rink one time for a game, and we'd be at his house out in the country two straight days of nonstop vodka and champagne. And I'd be like, okay, we've got a game tonight. We've got to go to the rinkink we were walking through the rink and he had there was a guy behind us

playing one of those like accordions like as we were walking he's like i'm like this is like ridiculous i've never seen anything like it and then and then our owner would stop and the guy would stop playing and then he'd start talking to someone whatever as we started walking by the restroom like i knew where the restroom was in our rink right and i like he stops he looks at the restroom and he goes come here and we walk into the restroom and he starts like he starts got the finger up and he's looking at the refs and he's telling thes, you better not give us any bad penalties tonight. And the refs are kind of just sitting there, like, looking at us. And I'm standing right behind them, and, like, you know,

it's, like, minus 40 out, so I still got this, like, huge hat on, like, Russian hat. I'm still, like, half banged up. I don't even, like, you know, can't even believe I'm going to a hockey game at this point. And he's, like, looking at them all, and the refs literally didn't say a word. They didn't even believe I'm going to a hockey game at this point. And he's like looking at them all. And the refs literally didn't say a word. They didn't even say a word.

And lo and behold, I think maybe we got one penalty that night for tripping a guy that was on a breakaway. And that was it. Like, I mean, they had to call it. And we won the game too. But I never believed it was like that until I saw that. Like, I'd been there for two years. And I could speak Russian and I

was listening to him. He's basically not threatening him, but there's a reason that the owner is in the dressing room or in the rest dressing room the day before the game or an hour before the game. I'm like, wow, did that just happen? Did I just see that with my own eyes?

It was unreal. That's freaking bananas. Now, you're two seasons over there, you had 275 PIM in 41 games, then 231 in just 36 games. Now, were there no enforcers before that team was over there, Reed? Because, I mean, you don't associate typically Russians with enforcers. You know, they're more of a skill league. Did you guys kind of like bring this sort of 75 Philadelphia Flyers aspect to the league, or was there any element of it before there? Did you guys kind of like bring this sort of 75 Philadelphia Flyers aspect to the league or was there any element of it before there?

Talk much? There wasn't actually. I mean, truthfully, I don't know because I wasn't there before that, but I definitely know that when I got there, it started. Like it was a known thing like this is what you're going to do. And the problem was is that you only had one fight like if you got in a fight you got kicked out like they made rules for the league i think after the first year that i played there they started making rules for the league like just

based on some of the idiot things i did like i remember one time one time we were like – it was like third period and we're playing Kazan and this kid like ran – we had a kid on our team that played in the NHL and he was like probably the best player in the league. And he was the reason that we won all the time. And the owner came down after the second period he's like you guys gotta you guys gotta get these guys so i line up on the face off and one of their guys ran ran our best player so there's four seconds left in the penalty and the coach puts me out there and i'm like looking at the clock i'm like okay center ice you know i'm gonna back myself up over to the penalty box here and when he comes out of the penalty box i'm gonna grab him so i i like kind of like timed it right i'm on the left wing i'm

kind of backing up to the penalty box four three two one and they go to open the penalty box up and the door like they go to open let him out and i turn around and drop my gloves and the kid grabbed the door and slammed the door shut he wouldn't come out of the penalty box like he he's like he's standing in the belly box and the guy's trying to open the door and slam the door shut he wouldn't come out of the penalty box like he he's like he's standing he's standing in the belly box and the guy's trying to open the door and he's like trying to hold it shut and he won't come out of the belly box and finally I'm standing there and the play is going on and I'm standing in front of the penalty box trying to open up the door to get this guy out of the belly box and our and our team goes down and scores a goal and we tie the game up

like with like you know a minute left in the game and I go back to the down and scores a goal and we tie the game up like with like you know a minute left in the game and i go back to the bench and i'm like i guess i did my job like that's what they wanted to happen and the next shift the next shift they score and go up so i go i go skating around the net and as i'm coming by their bench i just take a like flying leap into their bench and just like start giving it to guys in their bench and that i knew like if you got if you got if you got a fighting major like with a minute into the game you were gone like you didn't get to play and i'm like man i want to play like i want to be around for the whole game at least and it was like that probably you want to know how many like how i got

all those penalty minutes they were all in the last like two minutes of the game because if i had if i didn't get into a fight even if we won seven one like there'd be like disappointment like by everyone and the fans love it they write an article in the paper the next day or the headline like in a seven one win no fight trade trade him that's what it was that's what it was i'm telling you like and they have this and what you've probably seen is you know that's what that soviet sport like uh soviet express yeah yeah that would be all over the place i i swear to god i think my face was on the front cover of that thing and like that's like the espn magazine of like you know of the day and my face was on the cover of it.

Like probably like every three weeks for something retarded. I did like something crazy. What was your social life like there? Did you ever like date Russian, like getting a full blown relationship with a Russian girl? Or was that kind of like how we've been hearing about their business? Well, I know how you've been hearing about it and that's all true too but like um i actually the the like the way that i kind of got integrated in the culture is

uh i i dated this girl that was like one of the best girls you're ever going to meet the first week i was there she was like running the the kind of restaurant and hotel and i was like this girl's really cool, you know? And she didn't speak English and I didn't speak Russian, but I started dating her like right off. No wonder she's cool. You could talk to her. Yeah. Yeah. No, but it was unreal. Like I, I, I owe my whole, I actually owe my whole like career to her,

to her because I dated her for like the whole time I was there. She was one of the, like, you gotta love the mentality of like Russia. Like I, I, you know, there's, I loved time I was there, she was one of the, like, you got to love the mentality of, like, Russia. Like, you know, I loved it there. And she was just like, I'll help you out. I'll do whatever you need. Like, she showed me the ropes, like, of how I needed to interact with the culture. She taught me Russian.

And, like I said, I pretty much owe her, you know, my survival, like, of living in Russia and and it's it was and there still was like you said there was there was that whole all the stories you hear about Russia yep they're all true I won't go into it any farther than that you spoke the international language of love right Reed yeah and? Yeah, and you know what? To this day, she's like one of the best people I'd ever met. Simmer, one more thing I want to ask you about, Keith, because of course right now you're working with the Montreal Canadiens.

Yeah. Is that because of Bergevin? I mean, you said you play with him a bit, and he's a GM there. Yeah, I mean, you know what? When I finished playing over in Russia and I came back, I kind of just wanted to get away from hockey. I just was like, you know what? I'm 40 years old.

I want to do something outside of hockey. I want to try some new stuff. And then I just slowly got pulled back into it. I bought a junior team here in Chicago and ran that for four years and I'm putting in like 15-16 hours a day of like trying to like get these kids into college that you know playing tier three junior and I'm like god man like if I'm doing this much work I may as well I may as well do it at the pro level and I called Mark and I'm like Mark if there's ever anything that you can you know whatever and we're friends so he's like I think there might be something like at some point so I just kept talking to him over the course of the year and and uh the you know he said yeah there's something that you know

we probably do here and he's you know Mark like he's he's one of the best guys you're ever going to meet he's as professional as he as can be when it's time to you know do that but he's one of the funner guys you're ever going to hang around with and yeah that's that's really how it happens you know like you you're around you guys are around the game all the time if you know there's a lot of guys that want want want jobs at that level and if you don't know anyone you know it's hard to get your foot in the door but you know we've he was good he was gracious enough to give me the opportunity and and every day you go to the rink like i was at the flames chicago game last night you're there in a suit thinking you're like big time and you're watching

the game think like you know and i i love my job you know you get to watch hockey for a living you get to like talk about hockey for a living it's it's one of those things you just you know i kept getting pulled back into it and i'm really glad that i did well simmer um listen i mean i played parts of 12 year pro not a big deal and i uh just had a very quick moment with you and i think i kind of always remember you for the reasons people know after listening to this you're a great teammate great guy so thank you very much we appreciate you coming on and sorry once again about the fuck up at joy district dude that was fun man i i i mean that could have been a that could have been you guys gotta you guys gotta keep doing that like trying those live things because they're i literally walked up there with uh tim stapleton and adrian a coin and we're thinking okay what's what are we getting

ourselves into here and there's like a line around the block. I don't think there's been a line to get into that place like ever like that. Like I couldn't even see, we, we drove down, we drove by because we're like, is this where it's at? And then we drove back and I saw the spitting chicklets hats and the jerseys and I was like, these guys are killing it. Like, oh, my God. And I walked in.

He couldn't even get to the back table where you guys were at. Like, the bouncer wouldn't even let us in. He was like, hey, you can't come in right now. Well, that's because we told him Gretzky and Lemieux were coming, not you. And then, obviously, we switched it up. No, it was – you guys are doing a great job. Man, I can't believe the following you guys do it you guys doing a great job like i i man i can't believe all the following you guys have now and i i i enjoy every minute of it when i uh when i get to get

to hear you guys talk it's unreal what you've been great like you you've had you you killed it you guys man it's unreal thank you sir and you know what we say this a lot we gotta have we gotta have you back on because we sometimes interview guys here about their career, but I like talking to guys about the current game. So we'll figure out something for later on, and thank you very much, man. Well, wait. This might be two episodes. This motherfucker can talk.

I know. That's what I love about him. Thanks so much for coming on, man. That interview was also brought to you by TripActions. There's a reason half of business travelers do not use their company's chosen travel management platform. Booking business travel is still ridiculously outdated, time-consuming, and costly. If you are frustrated with your company's travel management program or lack thereof, you need to look into TripActions. They take the pain out of corporate travel with a complete solution that helps businesses save and keeps employees happy.

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complete a 30-minute demo with the TripActions account executive, and you'll get 20% off booking fees in 2019. But it's this month only. TripActions.com slash chicklets for a free demo and 20% off booking fees in 2019. TripActions.com slash chicklets. Big thanks once again to Reed Simpson for coming on. Great guy.

Had some great stories, man. A tough bastard, too. He played an era when you had to be a tough bastard to fight in the NHL. So speaking of tough guys, John Tortorella is said to be a tough coach to play for. Well, the media was, you know, getting on him about Artemi Panarin being scratched because there's a lot of trade speculation. But apparently Panarin being scratched because there's a lot of trade speculation. But apparently, Panarin was sick.

Does anybody get more food poisoning than freaking hockey players, by the way? He supposedly had food poisoning. And he had a pretty interesting quote for the media around him. Grinnell, you want to cue it up for us? I was told he's sick, not eating, he's puking. You want me to go into the whole tire trad as far as what happened today with him? So we can get that speculation done with as far as that he's going to be moved? He sh** his pants.

He was puking. He was doing everything. So, enough. So, good shit, no pun intended, coming from Tortorella there. I think, I mean, and again, no pun intended, I think they're full of shit. Columbus, I think when they're saying this, that he's shitting his pants, he's puking. I think that, no, man, everybody knows they're trying to trade the guy. They're probably within a whisker of making a deal,

and they don't want to come out and say it. Wow. Wait a minute. So you think that they're actually lying about this? I wouldn't surprise – yeah, I wouldn't surprise me at all. I mean, do you think he got food poisoning again? Oh, no, I shouldn't say that. All right, here's what I love about you. Every episode, you have a very strong opinion on one thing and and i think a few episodes ago it was the philadelphia not making playoffs and you're accusing the columbus

blue jackets about lying about this guy shitting his pants torts would have you in a brooksie pretzel you'd be brooksie jr and i, Biz, with the caveat that all these players and coaches and everyone kind of lies at some point when they're doing the media charade. Everybody lies, whether it's a little white lie or a big lie. Listen, I'm totally down with the theory. I respect Torts' acting skills if he was able to pull that off because he put it on on the reporters like he completely 180 that situation so respect to him if in fact that he was lying about it and

pulled it off another thing regarding your comment about the fact that hockey players are always getting sick with either food poisoning or the flu they're in constant contact with all these guys where they're sweating and there's fucking boogers flying around and loogies so that's and they're all their stuff's getting washed together so that's a big reason why why they're they're getting sick a lot but do guys really get that sick that much on the road i mean the guys get sick to that extent that frequently what if if one little bug gets inside a locker room if one guy tries to toughen it out next thing thing you know, half the team got the flu. And you want to know another example of this? I was one of the guys at training camp in St. Louis that got the mumps.

Do you remember when we went to that St. Louis camp? You don't have a vaccination? Listen, there was a mumps outbreak in the league not too long ago. Sidney Crosby, the Penguins ended up getting a case of it, and I ended up getting a case of it and i ended up getting it in st louis now a bunch of guys got it in st louis after i'd left and apparently the mumps lay dormant sometimes i didn't get it till like 10 10 days to uh to 14 days later and then all of a sudden i was on a cross-country trip driving my truck from vancouver all the way back

out east because i was prepared to sign a PTO with, who was it, the Arizona Coyotes farm team at the time, the Portland Pirates. And on the midst of this drive, I break out in, like, hives and I get the mumps, dude. It was the fucking worst four or five-day stretch of my entire life. No word of a lie. I'm going to look at my phone and send Grinnell a picture if I still have it so he can post or send it to Spit and Chicklets Memes.

I looked like Quagmire. My jaw was like fucking this, dude. And so things in the locker room will spread, and obviously more so than maybe even a working environment because you're in constant contact with these guys. You're given the hat and knuckles all the time, and you're getting your shit washed. And you're also in the weight room sharing

weights. So that's my little rant on your fake fungus accusations. Yeah, fair enough. I think when you go over the top like that, then people are really like, oh, wow, Todd said shit, and everyone gets flabbergasted by that. Meanwhile, he's fucking home playing Xbox waiting to get fucking traded

laughing eating borscht I love it let's break the news that torts was lying see how that turns out laughing and again I know you call somebody a liar you don't need to keep fucking going on give us the juicy

give us the juicy quote that torch had. About Anthony Duclair? Correct. Yeah, Anthony Duclair. He's the guy who's, you know, bounced around. He's, I believe, on his fourth team. Torch was asked whether Anthony Duclair is a slow learner or simply stubborn.

And Torch, he said, quote, I don't think he knows how to play. It seems to me he's a player who feels he can get the puck because he's tremendously skilled. He can skate. He has all those things you guys know. I just think he thinks he can do whatever the hell he wants to do on the ice. You can't do it in the National Hockey League. We have spent a lot of time trying to teach him,

trying to teach him situational play away from the puck, all the stuff we do with players. Sometimes it looks like he's understanding. So to answer your question, I don't know. I don't know if he can't comprehend it or if he's just stubborn, but he is running out of time. I think it's worth it with him because there is tremendous upside. But here we are, his fourth team, another coach,

pissing and moaning about him, scratching him, benching him. Somewhere along the line, I think he has to understand, I have to be more attentive and I have to be more consistent. So in a roundabout way, I don't know what he is. I thought I was learning him. That's the actual quote. I don't know what he is. So Tortorella emphasizes it's not just one aspect of his game

that lands him in trouble. And last quote, it depends on what day it is. You can give me a list and I can check him off. The thing that aggravates me the most is we want to stay with it because there is something at the end of the tunnel here. But for me right now, he's off the rails. I'm not so sure if we are going to spend a lot more time trying to get him back on the rails.

I think he can do so much to help us too. I have seen it. I have coached a number of players, and you try to push them and get them right. He's been a challenge because you never know which one you are checking off that day as far as that list. So those are some pretty pointed words from a coach, man. Well, first things first that read was unbelievable that would have took me six months uh second of all

Anthony Duclair is an awesome guy really well liked by his teammates he was everywhere he was like he was liked everywhere he went and was traded to but that seems to be the problem he keeps moving around a lot. And I would agree in a sense where he'll have flashes of brilliance where you're like, okay, here we go. He's figuring it out. But then you're like, oh, my God, where did this guy go? I didn't even know he was in the lineup the last five games.

He came into Columbus this year, and he had a great start and got right in torts his good books and and and even in talking to Duclair he's like yeah like like uh torts will chirp me in meetings and the boy will love it we have uh the boys will love it we have like a little bit of a riff but but but things were good at the time obviously things have went a little bit a bit south and and it's funny that we had the conversation last episode we with talking about these skilled guys that come at a junior who can just do whatever the fuck they want because they're so talented, but now everybody who's sharing the ice at the NHL level is as well,

and you have to be able to add to your bag and learn the professional game as far as structure and when you should be taking those risks offensively or when you should just be managing the puck later in games where you're like, you know what? It's not worth it to me to turn this puck over here trying to move offensively because I'm going to put my team at risk for getting scored against.

And then ultimately a bunch of other things that you need to learn to become a professional hockey player. People will look at my career and be like, man, that guy was dog shit as far as his skills were concerned. And I'm going to look at you and say, yeah, I know. But I learned all the little intangibles about what I had to do in order to be successful and not be a liability on the ice. And certain guys who don't even have that type of skill level end up making a career for themselves because they filter into positions where they're able to to contribute to the team now it seems as if though duclair is not the type of guy that can stick as a top six because time has told me that and he's on to his fourth team to me if he

if he is going to be maybe a second liner it looks as if though maybe he's a third line fill-in guy where if there's injuries later in the year he can jump up to those top lines he needs to learn how to do all those other things and if he's not going to do it then he's going to end up fucking in the KHL like Reed system or the Super League or wherever the fuck he was playing so and and and I would say this to do Claire's face too I love the kid he's a great guy in a locker room. So he has a lot of things going for him. I just hope he figures it out and I'm sure he will because he's a smart kid. So I hope I didn't come off too negative. And if he does hear this, I hope he's not mad at me.

But just you got to adapt. I'm not going to sit here and say I know the guy. He's running out of lives. I mean, in the NHL, it's just what happens when you keep getting traded. But when you tell me that even though he had a great start, he's like, yeah, me and Torrance got a riff. You know, he shits on me, and it's funny. The boys love it.

That's not ideal. No, no, no. He had a good start to the season, and in meetings he would poke fun at – he pokes fun at everyone. I had a coach like that, Mike Stothers, in the AHL, Hadaman Jr. as well. Dude, in meetings he would just unleash on guys, and it was a laugh factory. The guy should have been at fucking – should have been a stand-up – Caroline's? Yeah, and nothing's wrong.

It's almost like to get the morale of the team up when you have a good rip session sometimes, even when they were winning. So that was not a negative thing. He was being genuine when he said he would go after him to get the boys going because they knew they had, like, a little thing going on. I can only imagine, though, like, you know, his agent texts him

or a buddy, like, oh, fuck, man, you see Tortoise quotes? He's like, no. He's like, oh, he ripped you. You're like, oh, fuck. No one wants to get ripped publicly by the coach. And then you read those quotes? R.A. read a novel. It wasn't like, yeah, Declare didn't have it tonight.

We need better. It was like pretty much to the core as much as anyone could go into a player and their DNA and how they're going to help. You're saying like Torts was sitting up at night, just thinking about what he was going to say. I was writing it down in his journal. I bet those quotes, like they actually seem very genuine in terms of like the guy asked him and he

was just like totally off the top of his head. Like those were his thoughts. Like, I don't know. I can't figure the guy out. Like it sounds like it wasn't even planned. It was more just like, I'm going to give my real opinion and torts doesn't give a shit, but I've just mean as a player to end up,

you know, to reading those quotes about yourself, I would have a complete panic attack. I'd be begging for a Xanax bar. Yeah, seriously. I'm reaching for a ball and it's not even my career. Actually,

you know what, before we go to David Pasternak, we have an answer to a question that you asked a couple episodes back whitney uh what was the blues record ever since that portuzzo and sanford fight in practice by the way the blues uh set a team record with their 11th straight win uh after ryan o'reilly did it again with an overtime winner tuesday night they beat toronto but anyways since that fight in practice, the Blues are 23-10 in one. Safe to say that gave them a kick in the pants. I knew it was going to be a successful record. That's a pace that'll get

you a nice little seed in the playoffs. Absolutely. Absolutely. Before we move on from that, some new school journos and other people would be like, oh, that fight didn't have anything to do with it and and maybe not but i'll say this when you're getting in scraps and practice and practice and things are that heated it just kind of like it makes everyone look around being

like holy shit man things have gotten bad here and we we need to address this and figure things out and hey the record speaks for itself i'm not saying it was simply just a fight or if it even had anything to do with it. But don't count it out. Don't just dismiss it because I've been on teams where there have been scraps in practice. Yeah, and Ryan O'Reilly gave the interview after the game, after he sniped against Toronto. And he actually said, like, yeah, this is a really close group. And to know that those guys were in last place in the whole league, 31 out of 31, and they definitely are close

because you don't come out of a hole like that without being, you know, really together as a team and close off the ice and, you know, saying, guys, we're going to get out of this. I mean, if that's not a close group team, you're in last place. A lot of guys are thinking, oh, well, this season's done. Write it off. We'll play these games off to the sunset, but we're fucked.

It really seemed like it was no bullshit and that this team is very close. We love each other. We love spending time together on the road, at home. We like coming to the rink every day. That's what kind of got them out of it. The fact that they're still going, it's an awesome story for hockey because I can't think of the name.

Scott Trade Center? It used to be that. way where they play it was buzzing against toronto the atmosphere was awesome the city loves them yeah it's good to see the blues wake up they do get a good fan base they they've been basically suffering since uh day one they've got to a couple early cups and uh haven't been back for a while so see how that plays out but anyways yeah before we throw it over to david posternok this interview is brought to you by eagle energy the all-natural caffeine inhaler we talk about it all the time we actually have some news regarding eagle energy we did a little all-star game giveaway why the fuck are you laughing during my ad or ad read wit um so liam dodd was the guy who won the the all-star package with, uh, signing up when he,

when he bought the Eagle energies. But the problem is, is this guy's not answering his emails. So the Eagle energy crew is trying to send you your goods that you want. You want to sign a promo biz, 20, a coyotes Jersey, the Kachina Jersey, pretty nice gift, uh, some NHL All-Star gear, some Eagle Energy gear and product, and the new Leeshe Mint Eagle. Is Leeshe, is that a word? What's L-Y-C-H-E-E? Leish? I would say Leeshee.

Leishee, I think it's some sort of fruit, isn't it? Leishee fruit? Okay, so I'm going to get fucking smoked for reading that like that. But nonetheless, it's the new Eagle Energy pen that's coming out. It's fucking unbelievable. This is the one I was popping on in Chicago when we went out to dinner that last night. Yes, we were with Eagle. Nice little flavor to the throat.

Yeah, lychee. It's lychee, a small rounded fruit with a sweet white-scented flesh. Ooh, okay. So we were with Elliot, the guy who created Eagle Energy, and he had that stick on him. So, Whit, you can vouch for that new one that's coming out. It's unreal. The original ones are great, too.

They kind of got that, like, Red Bull slash Pez taste to them. But once again, all natural caffeine inhaler, Eagle.energy is the website. You can go to My Eagle Energy on their social media. They're looking for brand ambassadors and other types of people to distribute the product. We're going to hit you with a Biz20 promo code. That's Eagle.energy to the website. We'll be doing a swipe up on the chicklets account soon. And as well, always swipe ups on my account for the Eagle energy, this 20 promo code,

Lishi, Lishi, or whatever the fuck that word is. Eagle energy. And before we go to posture knock, thank you once again to Budweiser Canada without them, this is not possible. And they're the reasons that all,

all of our dreams came true in terms of just interviewing studs at the All-Star Games. So with that, David Pasternak. And now it's my absolute great pleasure to welcome to the program, he's in his fifth season with the Bruins, first All-Star appearance, David Pasternak. Welcome to the show, brother. Thank you.

So happy to be here with you guys. Hopefully we get some fun. Are you a big listener of the show I do I I'm more the highlight guy yes when you like you know guys cut it up and I have just the all the best all the best closer closer closer closer mic up your face get the shortcuts usually but definitely want some new American swears listen to our show that's for sure how'd you find out you made the all-Star team?

Who called you? How did that all come about? Yeah, it was kind of quick, actually. I think I went off the – we had a day off, so it was kind of like we were all of a sudden I was getting a couple of texties and, you know, just playing Fortnite over there. Every time I was dead going to the lobby, I was just reading the text, so that was pretty much it. And then maybe a couple of hours later, my mom ran away to me and yelled at me that I didn't say anything.

You would just play Fortnite and you don't even tell me you're going to the All-Stars. You told the kids you were on like with the headphone with the 10-year-olds. I just made the All-Star game, guys. Yeah, right. So, hey, we saw that luckily your bye week with Boston kind of coincided with the All-Star break. So you got to go to Cabo for a little bit with some of the boys? No, unfortunately not. All the boys went more to the East Coast, you know.

Oh, so you didn't get to go away. Nah. Oh, shit. It was kind of on my own. Pasta was saying that he's thankful that the All-Star game, they had the bye week beforehand, and then he actually made the All-Star break because he would have like seven or eight days off and I know the last time I had an Olympic break I got back and I didn't even remember how to skate

I almost had a jammer you're on the ice for eight days the pucks are square and it's a thousand pounds so you were thankful for that yeah I was really thankful for that I did a couple sauna workouts in Cabo and it felt pretty good

felt good about myself. I got a little sweat there. Like Chelios, you're big into fashion. You like to spend. I don't know what everybody's saying there. I don't know why everybody's saying that. I don't. I'm not that big into fashion.

No, no. I think you know about stuff that people don't know about. Those shoes right there, I don't know what they are. I'm not a fashion guy. Philippe, who is that biz? Philippe Plein. Yeah, so I got to get off my ass. Hey, I'm a fashion guy, and I don't even know what those are.

This guy is dialed. And what are these, Prada? No, those are La Vin. Those are made in Paris. Is that good? I don't know. You tell me. I don't know.

He's looking at those like he would never wear them right now. I know. I'm a little intimidated by your fashion sense. We can fish it by the end of the show. For sure. I might drink a beer out of yours by the time I'm done with you. Let's talk about where you're from. You said you're basically right near Poland.

Yeah, I'm all the way in, I don't know. You guys say north and south. I just say we are all the way. I have 15 minutes to Poland, 10 minutes to slovakia four hours to prague so so how did you end up in sweden then playing hockey when you were younger i don't know i just heard like uh it's so nice out there so i just went for it that's uh that's cold for my agent told me you can get out of school and go play to sweden so i was like yeah i'm in i'm in i'm in who are your hockey heroes growing up who did you idolize as a kid?

They changed every week, to be honest. Usually I watched the highlights. Who was doing good? That was my favorite guy for a week, and then I switched it up. You must have been a Yaga fan, though, right? Yagma Yaga? Is Yag watching the show? Yeah, who knows?

I don't know. Yag is probably still skating, I think. He's in the parking lot. I'll back plan right now. He's a big hero for everybody in Czech, so obviously he's going to go. He's going to go with the Ox. Were you seeing a bunch of NHL games growing up? Were they on TV growing up, or was it more just highlights? No, nothing.

Just highlights every morning. See the best. See the best, be the best. What? See a biz fight. That's like a looter eclipse over there. They ended the show with a couple tweets from NHLers. It was biz every week. That's how you knew them. there. They ended the show with a couple tweets from NHLers who were just busy every week.

That's how you knew them. Should we talk about the time? Or actually, Ari, you asked him about the fight story. Oh, yeah. John Scott, they asked you a couple weeks ago about fighting him. You said you couldn't sleep at all that night. Worry about it? Yeah, that was one of my first couple games in NHL California trip.

So obviously heavy teams. I was like about 165 pounds. So that was pretty tough. I remember Coach telling me I got knocked out like five times in one shift. So that was tough. But, yeah, I remember setting up on the face-off, and John Scott was like, hey, you want to go? And obviously I know nothing about him.

Obviously I know he's huge and stuff. So I was like freaking out. I was like, I don't speak English. I'm sorry, but. 170 pounds after you shit your pants, right? You know, you would actually keep the same amount of weight, all right? So you're not the math guy. Oh, wow.

That's me. That's me. Oh, yeah, sorry. All right, don't get sensitive. I was just joking around. Yeah, you're up, Whit. Sorry. All right, well, let's talk about this year.

The Bruins, you guys have everyone injured all year, but you're the one guy, knock on wood, that stayed healthy. And it's been the best year of your career so far, just dominating. What's changed? The past couple of years, you're 70 points, 80 points. Now on pace for like 90, 100. What's going on each summer to get you to improve this much? I don't know.

Besides dancing on the weekends. Yeah. I don't know. Obviously, how you said, really lucky with being healthy, and I think that's the biggest part, you know, because you can't score from the press box, right? So I think that's the biggest point. I keep playing, and I'm healthy, and that's how you get better.

Who's the funnest guy in that locker room? Who runs the court in Boston? I mean, you guys, he's got Chara there, who's a vet, who's probably pretty quiet in the room. Definitely Jake DeBrusque. Really? That young guy? Jake DeBrusque, yes. He leads court.ara there, who's a vet who's probably pretty quiet in the room. Definitely Jake DeBrusque. Really? That young guy? Jake DeBrusque, yes.

He leads court. Game change, right? Who's the DJ? Him? Torrey Krug. Oh, Kruger, huh? Yeah, Kruger. Does he get your legs going?

He has good days. He has more good days than bad days. I feel like he just jams Bob Seger. He's just a Michigan kid, just ripping the old school j yeah these michigan guys they love country too oh yeah they do no country in czech no your country is like tiesto i starting to like country just because that's the only music i understand the words actually okay so you ever do country fest in the summer in boston at gillette no oh you like that scene. I think you like that scene. Speaking of not understanding words, we played with Malkin.

He was notorious for all of a sudden not knowing how to speak English when the coach was yelling at him. Do you ever look at the coach and say, I mean, I don't understand kind of thing? No, I don't say that. But I was singing the Secomo song, and I thought instead of someone said, it was sunset until like a week ago you know when there is the part he said someone said yeah someone said you thought i thought it was sunset so i go around the room and i'll be like what's the song when they sing a sunset there

i love that song he was playing on the warm-up right so he kind of buzzing so you're trying to describe it so someone could tell you the name of it so you can get it on your phone and you're like you know the part when it says, Sunset, instead of someone said. That's exactly what it is. And you're getting frustrated. You're like, come on, the song, Sunset. Yeah, it's like, what am I saying wrong? You must be wrong that you don't know that song.

Yeah. I figured out it was someone said. So, yeah, it was your fault. You're an idiot. What are you looking forward to most this week? And you got any special tricks planned up your sleeve for the skills competition? He looks phenomenal tonight. Maybe tonight he gets into something.

Nothing. I just, you know, hair has to look good, obviously. Yeah. I don't know what you're talking about. Have they told you what skills you're doing yet? Yeah, shooting actually. Oh, shooting actually, not a big deal. Fuck if you see me in a game.

I used around $100 this summer to hit these five targets at the Bauer shooting. So we'll see. Yeah, you're all Bauer guy, huh? Yeah, Bauer guy. Not to give you any more confidence,

but Connor McDavid cut his salad. So I think you have the nicest hockey hair here. Yeah, you're rocking it. I saw him and cut it. At least in the East. I guess you could say

Carlson's got the best flow in the West. Yeah, it's just a little skinny. Can you call that the best flow though? Oh, Grinelli's just a little skinny. Can you call that the best flow, though? Oh, Grinnelli coming in. Wow.

Breaking news. Whoa. Grinnelli attacks Eric Carlson. Holy shit. I don't think it's the best hair. I think it's long hair, but I don't think it's the best hair. I'd say his hair is better. Well, I guess we're never getting Carlson on the pod,

but at least we got Pasternak. Still, my hair is all salty from the Cabo. Hey, so in the summers, where are you at? Boston, Czech, back and forth? Starting to go more in Boston. About the last two years, I spent there about seven weeks in summer. It was unbelievable. I had a nice yacht there for a couple of days.

Not a yacht? You say yacht? You see the contract I signed? I rented a yacht. I rented, tried to get all the boys excited, but unfortunately it had bad timing, so neither of the boys was in Boston. So you're on a yacht by yourself.

By myself, partying by myself. Have you turned into an enormous Patriots fan? Are you pumped up? Are you just more laid back than other sports? I watch Pets games. I don't watch other games. Yeah. Baseball to you

More of a basketball fan I grew up When I came to Boston Still rooting for Pets And can feel the excitement When they play You still play street hockey in the north end? You still have little pitches

That you're playing street hockey by yourself I keep getting invites for the summer tournament, so it's a lot of fun. Have you tried it? I haven't played in years. You should get Grizzly to bring you over

to the kitchen cup over in Charlestown. Oh, yeah. Hey. Yeah, Boston fans want him dead. Are you friends with Hemsky?

You know Hammer? Yeah, I know Hammer. So he used to play on Czech national inline hockey. Yeah. Do a lot of guys do that over there? Inline hockey, a lot of people do. Yeah, I know Hammer Moon. So he used to play on Czech national inline team. Do a lot of guys do that over there? Inline hockey, a lot of people do, yeah.

The street hockey was just me pretty much who does it from the pros. Inline hockey, a lot of guys do that. Yeah, same. I actually really want to go to play the Worlds for that too. It's July, like in the middle of it, working out. But I got a couple of invitations, but couldn't go. It's still great for your hands, though, to work out for your mitts. Yeah, exactly.

I think it's a great workout session. You made comments about not being rattled, that you might have potentially left money on the table in free agency or anything like that by signing long-term with the Bruins. You said, I'm making way more than I ever thought I would think I was making playing hockey. And then also you love playing in Boston. Just talk about your love for that city that organization and and all the guys yeah yeah you just described it pretty well you know I'm I'm really happy I can play hockey by and it being my job you know it's it's my dream and and uh Boston is great city got so much love

for for all the sports you know and and obviously you could feel the family between all these four pro sports, you know. And that's why I really love it there. And it's funny. Like some people will be like, oh, my God, like now he's so underpaid. But like you said, like I have plenty of money. I like where I'm living. I like my teammates. So why do I even care?

Like it doesn't even matter to me., it really doesn't obviously you wanna you wanna you're gonna be a little bit selfish, you know at the end so how he's sure career but I Said I think I'm making more than I would never say so I'm gonna make this much money He's got enough still to get the put put put tan or whatever and not get the line and sharp your shoes at the same time uh was chara a guy that you kind of gravitated towards when you first got there just maybe because of the language barrier and all that yeah but yeah in so in czech you know obviously he was he he uh born when he was czechoslovakia so in czech we get like this i don't know how to describe it but when there's older people you're gonna call them like mr chara and stuff you know until they

they tell you you don't have to you you can call Miss Dano, you know. So I remember him, walking up to him at the development camp my first year, I'd be like, Mr. Chara, you know, and he would be right away, call Miss Dano, okay, but that's what you have to wait for, and same with Krejci, you know, so those guys definitely helped me so much, you know, they helped me over dinner when I came there, and, yeah, it's just huge help. That respect's so nice. No one ever called me Mr. Whitney. I promise you that.

I was like, hey, pigeon, get me some tape. Were you surprised that Patrice Bergeron wasn't out here with you? The line mate, given the year he's having? Yeah, really. To be honest, I think if he wouldn't be hurt, he's 100% here. He had a bad luck with injury, so I think that's the big part of him not being here.

What's it like playing with a guy like him? He's so well-respected around the league. Everybody loves the guy. What's it like having him for your line? Maybe a little bit of a mentor to you, somebody you can model your game after? What's that like? Yeah, it's huge. These guys sitting next to him at the stall and just see how great a pro he is.

Every time things are not going well, you know, we talk them out. And just the way he thinks, you know, you can see he's been there for a long time and he's a very positive guy and one of the greatest persons I met. Oh, that's good. Before we wrap up, I want to know about your tape job. I know you've probably explained this a hundred times,

but there might be some listeners who have no idea what it's about. You know how many little kids you're making do that? And fathers are just like, this is nice. You know how much money you're saving to put parents on tape? Yeah, I mean, like, I hate tape job. I can't stick hands. Can we swear in this show?

Of course, man. We were waiting for it. I was so close. You ever heard of Cam Jansen? Yeah, you bring up tape, and that's what makes him go off the handle yeah i really can't stick handle with a with a tape so i was cutting it out slowly and slowly slowly like this one yeah you get the mic yeah yeah yeah i was i was cutting it out you know closer and closer until i came to this uh weird tape job i guess i would call it so like if it's not weird enough on your stick, do you say, no, no, I've got to go back

and make it a little bit more abstract and redo it? Or is it literally the first time, it's like, nope, that's it, gone out the door? It's actually pretty good, because if you come after the first period and you still have the tape job on your stick, that means you're absolutely out of the game, you're not doing good.

But if you're playing good, the tape job rips up right away. That's a good detector. You're in the mix if it's getting ripped off. The coach comes in and good, the tape job rips up right away. That's a good detector. You're in the mix if it's getting ripped off. The coach comes in and says, look at your stick! There's no puck marks on it! What the fuck are you doing out there? Why don't you touch the puck? Because I'm on the fourth line.

Which is funny because Keith Yandel would actually grab my stick the day after games if we had practice and he would show the room and there would be one little puck mark on it and I used it throughout the entire game and warm-ups. No, there'd be his number on it and he'd stick it against the glass

and you're a girl. That's a good move. Would you use that move, Pasta? Yeah, 100%. Or like, you know, on the warm-up I'm throwing up the puck so maybe tape around the puck. Just take one of your pictures and your Twitter handle. Just throw it on the Jumbotron. Well, hey, thanks so much, man.

We appreciate you coming on here, and congrats on the season so far. It's been awesome to watch. Thanks, guys. It's been fun to watch you guys. It's been a blast. Thanks for having me. Good luck on the shooting accuracy. Now the pressure's on, dude.

I don't need that. I'm going to take that as I don't need that. Maybe he needs a couple of pink Whitney's to balance him out. Zach in New Amsterdam, how are you? That interview was also brought to you by Robinhood. Robinhood is an investing app that lets you buy and sell stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptos, all commission-free. While other brokerages charge up to $10 for every trade, Robinhood doesn't charge any commission fees, so you can trade stocks and keep all of your profits.

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and get custom notifications for price movements so you never miss the right moment to invest. Robinhood has given listeners of Spit and Chicklets a free stock like Apple, Ford, or Sprint to help you build your portfolio. Sign up at chicklets.robinhood.com. And a big thanks once again to David Pasternak for joining us out in San Jose. What a great kid, man.

He grew up in a foreign land, and like you said, he was poor growing up. He's just so grateful and happy to have everything he has. He's making great money playing the sport he loves. And honestly, he's got like a joy that I think was almost contagious, like hanging out with him. So big thanks for Paster. Oh, there's me. We almost got a fucking dick wiggle on the other night in the NHL.

We thought Joe Thornton was going to pull a Johnny Upton and go wiggle it at him. He had three goals with, like, 15 minutes left in the third period, but he could never get that fourth goal. And if you're not familiar, Joe Thornton said a few years back that if he scored four goals, that he'd whip out his dick and play with it in the locker room, to paraphrase. But unfortunately, he never got that fourth goal busy.

I know you were pulling for it. No pun intended. He said that after Hurdle had four in his rookie year. And I mean, I think they call it the rooster hat trick for Joe Thornton. But of course, he didn't get it. It would have been nice to see his wrench. I heard he's got an absolute weapon on him. That was his first in eight and a half years.

Did you say that? I did not. No, I did not say that. And in that game, the refs got one wrong. That was a high stick by Wagner that should not have gone into overtime. And I think the Bees ended up winning

that game. Did they not? They did. Yeah. I was doing Instagram Live, the puck line videos I've been doing lately. If the game looks like it's going to be close at the end, I'll do a little video. I said this isn't going to get disallowed. There's no way they're going to allow this goal. It was clearly above the shoulder,

the crossbar, whatever the fuck the height was. They called it a goal on the ice. I don't know how the ref called it a goal, but they also butchered Bruin's goal earlier in the game too, Biz, when it looked like it crossed the line, although that was probably Toronto's call on that one. So another rough night for the refs, and it was almost a disastrous night for our buddy Pierre Maguire. Whitney, did you see that clip of the puck fucking going through the air, just missing a piece? Did I see that clip?

It was on, like, the Today Show. That was as viral as a hockey clip could get. And I think that could have killed him. Not even kidding you. Like if that hits you in the temple, that was shocking. I mean, thank God it didn't hit him because just the speed of it, like the video of it, you have no idea. Nobody has a clue it's coming. And then just hits the glass next to him.

So shocking, shocking video. I'm glad Pierre didn't get drilled with that one. Yeah, we have fun with him here, but we certainly don't want anybody getting a fucking puck off the face like that. That's, that's not good stuff. Another couple of notes here. Tampa Bay has 46 wins in 61 games. They're basically winning three out of every four games.

Nikita Kucherov had five points Monday. I think he had a couple more, a couple more Tuesday night. Bizman, what much, what more can you say about him? It looks like his is the MVP to lose right now, no? I actually had a stat. I'm stating that guy wit now all of a sudden. Kucherov, five-point night Monday against Columbus, which brings him to 99 points on the season, or did.

He might have got more since then. Last player to have at least 97 points in their first 60 games of a season was Mario Lemieux in the 1996-97 season. So Kucherov's doing some big things as well as that hockey team. And just, I mean, we talked about him last episode. It's fucking nuts, man. They are just steamrolling. I think you already said it.

They're winning three out of every four games. Yeah. Tell me, teams. Tell me. All right, I saw you on Twitter say, why wouldn't you take their puck line against Philly? Like, right now, the way they're going, you just money line puck line them every game until they ride

or until she bucks you, as Boogsy says. Yeah, exactly. I mean, they're plus 200 against, you know i know philly i pick on them all the time what people think but how do you not bet them and no matter who they're playing i mean you get the best team in the league who's stomping everybody at a plus 200 it's a no-brainer and by the way have you seen that their first period overs have clicked like there's three teams who the first period over goes over over 70 percent of the time if you're betting like over one and a half goals for the first period. The only thing is the juice is like minus 200,

so it's a lot of juice to fucking lay for that bet. Another guy who's hard as hell, Patrick Kane, man. Let's see. Point streak is up to 18 games. He's got 40 points during that streak, 14 goals, 26 assists, averaging 23 minutes, 5 seconds of ice time. He's got a 17-game assist streak, was the third longest in league

history after Wayne Gretzky and Adam Oates. During the streak, he's averaging 1.53 points per game. That has him on pace for 123 points. And on the season, he's got 90 points in 59 games. Last time he went without a point was the Winter Classic when we were out in Chicago.

So, Patty Kane, man, what more can you say? He's been doing it for years, and he's doing it again this year. I don't know if that includes I'm watching the game right now, Chicago 4-1 against Detroit. I have Chicago, thank you. Kane has a goal in this one. So, would this be 19 now, or are you including tonight? It will be 19 now.

Grinnelli just gave me the thumbs up, so he's already got to 19. Little stat that I thought was appropriate. I just saw this, so everyone watching the game saw this. But longest point streaks by a U.S.-born player in NHL history. Patrick Kane has the record 2015-2016 season. He had 26 game point streaks. Such a joke. Ed Olchuk had 18 games.

Phil Kessel had 18 games. And the stat was up before his goal. So he was at 18. So he's now at 19. So he's got the two longest point streak by a U.S. born player in his career. And you know this 19 fuck he could easily catch 26. He's on a roll. And the goal tonight was just a

silly snipe on a two on one with Tave. So it actually got our boy Jimmy Howard got him the hook. So I felt bad seeing that. Howie's a great guy. And just recently, I think he played his 500th NHL game, didn't he? He did. And he actually got a Kenny Powers jet ski as a present.

That'll be perfect up at his place in Maine. Jimmy Powers. Do you want to talk about him a little bit, Whit? I know you're a good buddy. Howie's a great guy listener of the Chicklets loves the show he's coming on at some point we have to figure out a time

he's been saying that I owe him so we're going to get him on I'm sure he won't want to come on after tonight's game but Howie I'm watching the game the boys let you out to dry don't even worry about it could happen to anyone quickly before we move on

more stats. With two assists Tuesday night, Leon Dreisaitl now has 70-plus points. That's 35 goals, 36 assists for 71 points for the third consecutive season. Dreisaitl is one of six NHLers, McDavid, Kucherov, Kane, Crosby, and Marchand to have 70-plus points over each of the last three seasons. And some people still bitch about his contract. As long as he continues this pace, people need to shut up about his contract. That's what I wrote down.

If you're an Oilers fan, he's not the guy that you're upset with. There's another guy too. Those two, just don't say a word about them. Don't say a word about them, and that's all I have for the stat department. What else do you got, R.A.? The Ducks, a 3-1 under Bob Murray since he turfed Randy Kyle and took over the coaching job himself. They got two shutouts in those four games,

one from each of their goalies, Boyle and Miller. They've surrendered just five goals in the four games, and despite two huge losing streaks during the season, they're still, like I mentioned earlier, just three points back of a playoff spot. So the Ducks apparently are getting the message. It's a small sample size. But, Biz, I wanted to ask you,

you mentioned you had the tummy sticks of all tummy sticks you wanted to talk about. Oh, there's been a viral video. I think it was like a charity game or something where these guys were squaring off the fight. And next thing you know, they latched on and started wailing away at each other. And then they started. Oh, the ballroom dancing one, right?

Yeah, I think it was ice dancing. And I thought it was funny. I mean, of course, like if it was a real game, then that's ridiculous. Like even more ridiculous than the Carolina stuff, which I'm not ragging on. I'm just saying it might be a little bit ridiculous. I'm not going full Don Cherry. But, yeah, I don't know. It was funny because considering we talk about tummy sticks all the time,

and a lot of people are like, oh, the Urban Dictionary version of tummy sticks is like you need to look it up because it's a lot more aggressive than what you're describing. The way I describe tummy sticks is when two guys are just joking around and like touching each other with their fingers and then having a, you know, a little giggle session and being, being buddies. The, uh, the urban dictionary one has to do with cocks and each other's belly buttons or something like that. So I wouldn't say going as far to that extent, but, uh, nonetheless, the tummy sticks of all tummy sticks in that viral video of those guys

pretending to scrap. Yeah. Like the, uhictionary is like the Cambridge Unabridged Second Version Dictionary or something. I feel like everything important is in there. Also, man, Putty from Seinfeld, he showed up to fire up the team the other night, and unfortunately, he took a Dixie coming off the ice and landed right on his face. He bounced right back up and was laughing, so it looked like he was all right. So hopefully, Putty's doing alright. But speaking of

actors... Wait, you have to say what team. Some people are like, who the fuck is Putty? He's the guy in Seinfeld and he was at the New Jersey's Delva game with the face paint on. If you don't watch Seinfeld, you'd have to see it online. True. You're right. I just assume everyone knows who Putty is.

The actor himself donated the $25,000 appearance fee to St. Jude's Children's Hospital or St. Jude's Research Hospital. So I thought that was a pretty cool gesture. Nice, G. Nice little stat there. Nugget for the boys. Here we go.

Like I said, he's an actor. And this Sunday night, the Oscars are on. I'm a big Oscar fan. And it's also going to tie into the gambling corner because I also like gambling on the Oscars because I'm a full out degenerate but first let me tell you my KHL story I got up today I got a text from my cousin he's like

hey he's like I can't really say exactly where he heard it from he's like but he's like oh I heard so and so this that the other thing he's like but bet Joe Carrot in the KHL today Joe Carrot it's Joe Carrot Joe Carrot sorry It's Joker-it. Joker-it. Sorry. Grab me a carrot.

I got the accent on the wrong syllable. Sue me. Joe Carrot. What is it? Joker-it? I got a buddy who plays on the team, Brian O'Neill. He helped me win a Calder Cup. Thank you very much. He listens to the podcast. He's going to fucking puke when he hears you say that.

They might not win a game the rest of the year now. They're the joke carrots of the AHL. So anyways, I found out today that my KHL plays are maxed out at 200 a game. I never bet a KHL game before. I guess the league's so fucking shady, they don't want people putting more than that on it. So, yeah, I got to tip that joke carrot, joke-er-it, however you want to say it,

that they were a good bet today, threw a deuce on them. They won 7-1. So my first KHL action came through. But as far as the Oscars, man, I'll tell you, Biz, I've made some money over the years in the Oscars. The last couple of years have been tough because, you know, basically the favorites have been winning left and right. But this year it's a little bit wide open.

I think there's some money to be made this year. I made, remember Crash won the Oscars, Biz, a few years ago? Do you remember it beat Brokeback Mountain? Everybody thought Brokeback Mountain was going to win. Was Crash where it was tied together with the racism and towards the end the guy saved him? Yeah, that was a great movie.

Great flick. Oh no, not Matt Dillon. Matt Dillon, he reaches in, she's like, no, no. He's like, no, I'm trying to save you. Yeah, no, not Matt Damon. Matt Dillon. Matt Dillon, he reaches in. She's like, no, no. He's like, no, I'm trying to save you. Yeah, Biz, that year when Crash upset Brokeback Mountain, I had $200 on Crash. They were 9 to 1.

So, I mean, I made some cash. I mean, I picked up $1,800 that year. You can bet against other movies, too. But this year, I don't necessarily think these movies were the best picture, but I'm taking the odds Bohemian Rhapsody definitely not the best picture of the year but it's 20 to 1 I think it has an outsider's chance

I threw a couple on that A Star is Born I watched that didn't I have you seen that yet Wits A Star is Born Lady Gaga great movie fantastic movie I think it's you don't have to have had sex by the way you don't have a connection like that without banging hey Witt I think it's... Those who have to have had sex, by the way. You don't have a connection like that without... Without banging.

Come on. Hey, Witt. Hey, Witt. R.A.'s buddy was the guy who switched the La La Land envelope instead of the fucking Moonlight just so R.A. could win a fucking $200 9-to-1 bet. Hey, whatever. Snake it till you make it. No, but anyways, A Star is Born is the type of movie that the Academy is like historically rewarded.

It's kind of a big movie that has all the feels, touches all the emotions. So it's 15 to 1, man. I think if you can get 15 to 1 on A Star is Born, if you're listening, throw a couple shekels on it. You might be surprised. Green Book, there's been a little controversy around it because the black guy who was in the movie, I guess his family disputed some of the issues in the movie. But either way, that could be an upset, too. Basically, Roma is the favorite. I don't think Roma is going to win.

I think one of these other movies is going to upset it. And one other bet to jump on, Sam Elliott. He's going up against Mahershala Ali for Best Supporting Actor. Now, Mahershala Ali is obviously a great actor, but he already won an Oscar. He won for, like you just said, Moonlight. And Sam Elliott's been in the business for 50-something years. He's beloved. He's never had anyone talk bad about him. And he's 15. I'm sorry.

He's 8-1 to win Best Supporting Actor. And I think that this guy, he might get rewarded for his career. You see this a lot of times in the Academy. A guy gets rewarded for maybe his whole career than necessary for one role. So if he can get Sam Elliott, throw a couple bucks on him. That's what I got in the gambling corner.

I'm not even going to brag about my Nashville win Tuesday night either. Do you think any celebrities going to the Oscars listen to our show? Absolutely not. I wonder about this all the time. I hope to God if one of them are listening, they can tell the rest of them

shut up with the politics. Shut your mouth. Accept your award. Talk about the people you did the movie with. Talk about your family. Talk about people who have helped you get along this way, how you got into acting. Just fucking be an actor or an actress and shut up. I can't watch those shows anymore.

I can't watch. Losers. Nobody wants to hear it. It's like the old adage, shut up and sing. Nobody cares. Shut up. I'd have to agree. i can't watch those award shows anymore they're kind of painful before we move on this week's gambling corner was brought to you by

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from sports and concerts to comedy and theater. Best of all listeners get ten dollars off their first seat geek purchase just download the seat geek app and enter the promo code hockey today that's promo code hockey for ten dollars off your first seat geek purchase seat geek right seat right now right from your phone uh moving away from the oscars uh quick notes here davante smith pelly was put on waivers he cleared uh a few other things al mckinnis listens to the podcast we receive word so uh we asked him to come on you know he's not a big media guy so fans do your due diligence and peer pressure the shit out of them uh big al Big Al. Big Al, I had your Sherwood. I had your Sherwood stick. Now I'm asking every fan that ever runs into you, say, why won't you come on Chiclets?

Big Al, please. You shot at 107 with a Sherwood. Please. You had splinters in your thumbs. You were ripping one-timer's shelf. Come on, Chiclets. Make these guys' dreams come true. And also, I ran into Brendan Shanahan in the press box the other night when Arizona

was playing the Leafs at home. And he came up and he said, I listened to a lot of the shows. And guess what his favorite part of the show is? Listening to R.A. read ads. He says he loses it every time. He says he loses it every time

R.A.'s reading the ads. He cracks up laughing. Am I just overall fucking delivery or what? I don't know. I was like, that's hilarious. It's the first time I ever said that. But if it makes Brendan Shanahan laugh, R.A.'s reading every single ad other than Eagle Energy for the rest of his life.

I do anyway. Oh, yeah, that's right. Well, boys, that pretty much wraps it up. No, it doesn't. No, it doesn't. No, it doesn't. The stadium series is this weekend in Philadelphia. We'll be at the tailgate. Me, Grinelli, Biswitz on vacation.

He's not going to be there. I know you guys get in town Friday night. There's a meet and greet at a bar. What's the name of the bar, Mikey? The meet and greet is at Chickie's in Pete's, Friday from 7 to 9 p.m. at 1526 Packer Avenue with all the Philly people

along with Biz and I. There you go. All the Boston Philly people. Are we doing a tailgate? Yes. The tailgate is before the game on Saturday. Just follow social media. We'll let you know exactly where our location is. We don't know it right now. Come out. Have a drink. Have a beer. We're going to be giving out some shit. Say hello to the boys. We'll let you know exactly where our location is. We don't know it right now, but come out, have a drink,

have a beer. We're going to be giving out some shit. Say hello to the boys. And we're looking forward to it. All right. Well, that pretty much does things. And actually,

you know what? One last note with that zit on my neck, it's finally gone, buddy. I had it for a full month. That zit on my neck. You're never supposed to chirp a zit. Right after I chirped your zit, I had a whitehead sticking out

to Cohasset. I live in Milton. It's like four towns away. Never chirp a zit. For all you young hockey guys out there, maybe some high school kids chirping guys' zits, lay off the zits because you're going to get one next on a night you need it least. Also, before we shut this down,

thank you to everyone as always. I love saying thank you. I'm a very grateful person, so thank you. This is the type of episode where we all had marbles in our mouth. We're all in different parts of the country, so if you can't get a kick out of it, fuck you. If you can, I love you guys. Sorry about the issues with

us not being able to speak, but sometimes it happens. You said you're a pretty thankful person. You didn't thank that hotel you're at for that gift you received in your hotel room. Oh my speak, but sometimes it happens. You said you're a pretty thankful person. You didn't thank that hotel you're at for that gift you received in your hotel room. Oh, my God. Thank you, Biz. Fowler. This guy, Fowler. Unreal guy. I walked into my room, and he had a tray of New Amsterdam vodka.

That's our leading sponsor. That's our presenting sponsor of our show with a big old bucket of pink lemonade and a fifth of fucking vodka. My wife doesn't drink vodka, but we drank the whole thing. So I'm just going to say thank you to Fowler, a loyal listener, a guy at the Ritz. You're the man.

I appreciate your generosity. And yeah, so thank you very much. Well, thank you for biz for reminding you. That's all folks. I hope you guys enjoyed the pod love you i'm gonna tell you about my town i'm gonna tell you a big fat story baby Down by the river. Down by the banks of the river, Charles. Ah, that's what's happening, baby.

That's where you'll find me. Along with lovers, muggers, and thieves. Ah, but they're cool people. Well, I love that dirty water. Boston, you're my home. You're the number one place.