Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 18: Featuring Hal Gill

Episode Date: February 16, 2017

Former Bruin and '09 Stanley Cup winner Hal Gill joins this week's show to discuss his lengthy career. The fellas also discuss the Canadiens coaching change, late Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch, and a pair of shady uses of sticks before answering #AllRightHamilton questions.You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/schiclets

Hey, Spittin' Chicklets listeners, you can find every episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. This episode of Spittin' Chicklets was brought to you by Blue Apron, the number one fresh ingredient delivery service in the country. So here's the deal with Blue Apron. Their mission is to make incredible home cooking accessible to anyone and everyone. And as we all know, fresh, high-quality ingredients make a huge difference. So it's important to know where your food comes from, and Blue Apron helps you do just that. So for less than $10 per person and per meal, Blue Apron delivers seasonal recipes along

with pre-portioned ingredients to make delicious home-cooked meals. Choose a variety of new recipes each week or let Blue Apron's culinary team surprise you. For someone as indecisive as myself, that's something that really can't be beat. Blue Apron has special delivery options so you can choose what fits your needs. Check out this week's menu and get your first three meals for free. With free shipping by going to blueapron.com slash chicklets. And trust me when I say this, you're going to love how good it tastes.

And feels to cook home, incredibly cooked meals. you're going to love how good it tastes and feels to cook home, incredibly cooked meals. So that's blueapron.com slash chicklets, C-H-I-C-L-E-T-S. Go get your free meals now. Blue Apron, a better way to cook. Hello everybody and welcome to episode 18 of Spit and Chiplets brought to you by Barstool Sports. What up? Ladies and gentlemen, Mikey Grinelli and Ryan Whitney. Big show, big show. We got action.

What did we say when NFL ended? Finally it's hockey season. It's hockey time. We got action. Spotlight is on us NFL ended? Finally, it's hockey season. It's hockey time. We got action. Spotlight is on us, boys. Spotlight is on us. And we're coming back with another great guest today, former Bruin and Stanley Cup winner with the 09 Penguins

and Masshole, I guess we'd call him. Hal Gill is going to be joining us shortly. He played for Tarion with me. He played in Montreal. Had some really good years there when they beat Pittsburgh the year after Pittsburgh won the Cup. So he'll have some input as to what's going on. A long, fruitful career. But we'll get to that.

Charlie, you did mention Ryan, Michael, Michelle, Tarion, or Michael Tarion as we call him here. Got shit-canned by Montreal, and they will turn around and bring in Claude Julien. How about the fact that he's been fired twice and both times been replaced by Claude Julien? Seriously, huh? You know Wally Pipps worked for him. Talk about getting cucked by Julien twice. Lay cucked.

Lay cucked. Lay cucked. He got lay cucked. That's got to be a t-shirt. Yeah. Lay cucked with Julien's face on it. With Terrian ripping a dart and just spitting out the smoke in somebody's face. That. With Terry and Rip on a dart.

Spitting out the smoke in somebody's face. That's really pushy. Yeah, I really felt really bad for him. I was like... I just couldn't... I couldn't believe that everyone constantly was like... Since Julian's been fired in the past week, they're like, well, Montreal's struggling. Imagine.

Imagine if. And I kept hearing it. I would laugh and kind of like say, well, that would be really cool. But I never thought it would actually go down. It wasn't like people are coming up with E equals MC squared. You know what I mean? When you see the same thing 40 times on Twitter, it wasn't the most illogical thing.

And it's come to fruition. Well, you look back, and I know that Bergevin is giving a press conference currently as we record this. And I think he's already mentioned the players-only meeting. I don't know if you heard, but last week, Bergevin held a meeting, and it was with Price, Pacioretty, and Weber, and Tarion wasn't in there. Can only imagine how that's going to go. I mean, he can say all he wants.

Well, I think he's already said, you know, we were going to have it with Tarion, but then it was the players' day off, so we had them in the next day, and I just had a meeting with Michelle the day before. It doesn't matter. When Tarion wasn't in the meeting, they're like, you know, I can't say for sure. They're like, fuck this guy. Get him out of here. He's miserable.

It's what happens. After two to three years, wherever he is, everyone hates him. He's a prick. Yeah, I mean, he just wears on you. It's not like this. He's a prick. Yeah, I mean, he just wears on you. It's not like, this isn't like... Yeah, a revelation. This isn't like, you can say all you want that the players weren't there

because it was their day off and the next day. It doesn't matter. If he wasn't in the room, they were probably saying, all right, we don't want to play for this guy anymore. This guy treats people like dirt. It's like the guy in Tin Cup. He hates women, dogs, and old people.

And hockey players. Is he just, dogs, and old people, and hockey players. Is he just part of that established old boys network where you're kind of in that coaching cycle? Guys are always going to bring you in and hire you? Because he does have that kind of initial success, but it's almost like in spite of himself. He's never won a cup, right, Terry? Nope, he's never won a cup. He coached to a Memorial Cup winner, and I think an AHL winner. I don't know for sure.

That's kind of on me. But this goes back to the French, they have to hire a French coach. What are you doing? My first note here was, if the Bruins just fired fucking Brian Sutter, I know it was 20 years ago, do the Canadians pick him up? Probably not, because he does not talk like these. If Mike Babcock got gas and was out there, considered the best coach in the league,

they won't hire... How can you tell me that you won't hire a coach, the best coach possible because he doesn't speak French? They have more fucking Russians on the team than French guys. Go hire a Russian. Yeah. He'll smoke as many cigarettes as Tarian did. I mean, I get it.

You know, that's the native language in the province. But, I mean, you're talking about, you know, the priority is coaching the fucking team. You know, the fact that he can speak to the media in their native tongue, it's fucking, it shouldn't be as big, I'm not saying it shouldn't be a factor, but to have it be such a prominent factor,

it's fucking outrageous. I don't care if they speak, if a coach speaks, like, Nigerian. Is that a language of Swahili prominent factor, it's fucking outrageous. I don't care if a coach speaks Nigerian. Is that a language or Swahili? Swahili is. Who cares if you can coach? What does it even matter? I don't even understand.

You could make a case for back in the 70s when they had the best French players. That's how things went. Whatever. All right. This is getting – it's just so ridiculous. For the media? You're doing this for the media? The French government – I mean, the Quebec government, too, will step in. And remember a few years ago when they hired the English-speaking coach in the...

Randy Cunningworth. Yeah. And it was a disaster. And the Canadian government was coming out saying that they think they should fire the coach because he doesn't speak French. You are talking about a region of Canada. They try to leave the coach. Exactly. They try to secede on their own.

They do this, an elitist factor at play here. Which was 51-49. Yeah try to leave the country. They try, exactly. They try to secede on their own. They do, there's an elitist factor at play here. Which was 51-49 the vote in the end. Yeah, it was pretty close. Now let me ask you this, Ryan. Okay, Ria.

Is Terrian a good coach? Yeah, he is. Okay. He is, especially when he gets somewhere, he demands, he holds people accountable. He demands people

to be very professional, to show up, to play hard. He gets teams playing hard. I think over time, like I said, his personality wears on you. But coaching-wise, he can coach. I will say that. Is it his coaching personality or is it his overall personality?

No, it's his overall personality. His systems aren't bad. I mean, I don't think he necessarily changes systems as often as he should. I remember we played Detroit in the cup finals. We went down 0-2, got worked both nights in Detroit, didn't score a goal. And like, we didn't really change anything. That's when I think he kind of can struggle a little bit. But in terms of coaching and getting guys ready to play, he can do it. It's his personality. This is a guy who had, he would go have this kid. I'm not even going to gonna name him He still works for the Penguins

And a locker room kid You know Helped out the Equipment manager Did all that stuff Great kiddie At this time I think he was 20 years old

Going to the University of Pittsburgh He would have He would send this kid To go get his food You know Get food at 4.30 And he'd eat in his office Whatever

That's not a big deal Double fisted No that's not a big deal Getting someone to send you Get your food I know I'm just saying It was for Terry And so he probably had a Double fisted No No, that's not a big deal, getting someone to send you, get your food. I know. I'm just saying it was for Terry, and so he probably had a double fisted. No, it was just like cigarettes and like a coffee.

But no, the kid would break. The kid one time brought back like apparently what he didn't ask for, and he just fucking hammered it, threw it right off the table. He was like, what the fuck is this? I didn't fucking ask for this. Burrito. This kid is like working for free, like helping out. Everyone loves him.

He's just a fucking donkey. I would never do that. You don't treat people like that. I'd never do that to anyone. That's indicative of character when people shit on the work and the help. I can get hard on waitresses. I'll be honest with you. I'm not a person like that.

But a lot of people. I wonder if he'll get another coaching job. I wonder if that's it. Terry in? Yeah. I wonder if that's it. That's three different head coaching jobs. two with Montreal, one with Pittsburgh. It just seems like now it's like, I don't know, after three, are you done?

Yeah. And like I said, the frothest he got. He went to the cup finals. Who did he get to the final? Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh. Oh, the year before when we lost. Oh, that's right.

Yeah, that's right. I'm sorry. Who's going to hire this guy, though? I haven't had my Buzz Coco yet. Yeah, who's going to hire him? I mean, I don't know. That, because I'm sorry. Who's going to hire this guy, though? I haven't had my Buzz Coco yet. Yeah, who's going to hire him? I mean, I don't know. That's what I'm saying. Is he in that kind of ring, like that washer cycle of coaches like that?

They're going to get plucked out, or is he thrown in the dryer of the final league coaches? But then you look at, I don't know. But you look at the Canadians. Yes, we'll find out. You look at the Canadians, and when price is good, they're good. Yeah. I don't even know.

What will Julian change? I kind of think they're similar coaches in a way, where they're good yeah but I don't even know what what will Julian change I kind of think they're similar coaches in a way where they're where they're you know they love they love grinding teams the offensive

zone getting it back to the point getting traffic in front I think they'll obviously be changes between their two styles but that team just depends on price everyone looks

at him all first place in the division like price hasn't been good they've been losing yeah it was amazing they're winning last year wasn't playing. They sucked.

When you have a guy like that and no depth up front, which they don't really have. They have a couple really good forwards, but after that, their depth isn't great. Their D's kind of slow-footed. I don't know. And you got Price saying to the media last week, though, we don't have any identity. And I'm like, oh, I thought this was Max Petruetti's team now. They made a big deal about making him the captain. And kind of obviously when they traded P.K. Subban, that was kind of –

They set their identity to Nashville. Yeah, yeah, I think so. I mean, you know, I mean, I don't know. Was P.K. taking up too much oxygen in that room? I don't know. I mean, they fired fucking Terry, and so what's that tell you? You know, it wasn't – I mean, was P.K. the problem they tried to imply? I don't know.

But coming back to Claude, I had a lot of, you know, a lot of our listeners and followers, you know, oh, I can't wait for R back to uh to Claude I had a lot of you know a lot of our listeners and followers you know oh I can't wait for IRA this week they I think people thought I was going to be irate and I was going to turn another fucking rant like last week but honestly I'm not I'm not mad I mean I'm not mad first off okay why would you be the biggest thing everyone was saying like oh well JJ I mean like people with theacob stuff i feel like it's 1992 again like the guy spends to the fucking cap i mean that's what you want your owner to do he does that everyone's like oh you don't want to pay him next year it's like okay do you realize that fucking he wasn't gonna have to pay it anyways because if montreal didn't pick up saint julian

he was gonna go somewhere else this summer like yeah automatically like he's probably waiting for fired yeah if you don't know he's not getting paid by the Bruins anymore. This now ends it. People still think like, oh, what? They're paying him to coach Montreal. No. No, but the Bruins obviously had to give him permission to talk to Montreal.

Why would they do that? That's what I'm getting to. First off, it's not a money thing. He was going to be gone anyways. His contract this year is basically paid. What I think, and people will be cynical or whatever, I genuinely think that after coaching the Bruins for 10 years, winning a cup here, bringing a cup back for the first time in 39 years, having the success he had there,

I think the Bruins were genuinely thankful enough where they're like, you know what, we're not going to prevent this guy from having a career opportunity I would hope so you know I think I think that's the case I think they were genuinely just being professional

like look Claude you know and I know people nearly didn't like him he nearly wanted to fire him as a coach allegedly we still don't have anybody on fucking records saying that

it's all speculation but let's assume it's true for a minute that doesn't mean he doesn't respect the guy I mean there's a these are grown men they're gentlemen

you know yeah they might not like a guy the way a guy does something or a style. That doesn't mean they shit on him, unless you're Michelle Terry and getting food off a kid. But that doesn't mean they fucking dump on these people and they have no respect for them. So I really think that the Bruins are like, yeah, you know what? What are they afraid of him now?

Like, oh, I mean, they just fight him now. They're afraid to have him in the division. And it was like, yeah, he's got an opportunity here to coach a team or have a job even. And we don't want to stand in his way. If we don't do that, then we're being dicks to a guy who was fucking great for us for 10 years. Yeah, that would make no sense for them not to.

I mean, if you want to look into it and be like, well, they shouldn't try to let Montreal improve. What do you really think it's going to make that much? This isn't going to be like a little... They don't play him again. It would be great if they played him again in the regular season. A little Loyal Malloy set. Yeah, for Buffalo.

Of course, they spanked him in the first game. But overall, it's like, yeah, we respect what you do, but we're not afraid of you. We could play you in our division. I heard some really hot takes on sports radio in Boston this morning. People were calling and saying that Claude's a turncoat. That he's a rat. So what was he when he came to Boston? I was like, this guy.

So this person's a hockey fan. And this guy's mad that Claude got gassed by Boston and then took another job? So Microsoft fires you. You don't go to work for Google because you fucking, you got fired? Like, yeah. I mean, well, you know. He's a tootie. He's a fucking turncoat.

Sports radio is weird. Guys just probably loaded already. It's nine in the morning. Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, I think, you know, there was definitely the Bruins, like, not wanting to, you know, keep him from getting another opportunity, as they shouldn't. You know, I mean, fuck it. The guy, you know, the guy did a lot of good things here, and he's got an opportunity to the Bruins not wanting to keep him from getting another opportunity, as they shouldn't. I mean, fuck it.

The guy did a lot of good things here, and he's got an opportunity to coach again, and they let him have it. Good for hockey, though. It kind of got hockey into a little WWE-ish in a way. And then there's that factor, the whole PR factor. It's fun. I mean, we've got the press conference on now. Bergevin's got a great head of hair on him.

Jeez, this is tough radio, but you should see this guy's hair. Holy shit. So basically, yeah, like you said, there's a really good possibility. I should say there's a possibility that they play Montreal in the playoffs this year. How fucking awesome would that be? That would be great. I mean, and also, too, of course, I mean, I felt strongly about it a week ago. But, I mean, after the Bruins beat them the other day,

they're six back with 24 games to play. Here we go. Here we go. I know you're trying to find it. I know. I know. Six points. It's not insurmountable.

No. And basically, the Bruins, once they gain one more point than the Flyers, they'll be back to control in their own fate, which is huge. I know everyone comes out with they've got to win X amount of games to get in the playoffs. The Flyers stink, too. Yeah, they do. So basically, if Toronto catches them for Andalota or keep them out of the Atlantic spot, then they've just got to stay ahead of Philly.

And once they control their own fate, I'll have confidence in them. But anyways, that's what I'll say. Imagine when Terry got the call, he's just like smoking a cig, he's just like, huh? Yeah.

Claude? Who you hire, huh? Claude? I'm going to call Aline. Double neck, let's call, yes. Say chowder. Say chowder, Frenchie.

Chowder. Okay, sorry. So, Claude off to Montreal, fucking Terry into the unemployment line, Bruins fans bitching for whatever fucking reason. So, clod off to Montreal. Fucking Terry into the unemployment line. Bruins fans bitching for whatever fucking reason. So,

all right. We're going to bring in Hal Gill now and we'll get his opinion on what's going on. He played, like we said, he played Montreal

and played for Terran in Pittsburgh. I was lucky enough to play with him. So, we'll get his opinion and we'll go into some other league stuff

post-interview. And now we're lucky enough to welcome in former Stanley Cup champion, current coach of Lincoln-Sudbury High School, Hal Gill. Hal, thanks for coming on, buddy. How you doing? Good. Thanks for having me. Of course. You're always a

Stanley Cup champion, Ryan. Did I say former? I was going to say, I'm not a former Stanley Cup champion. You can get that forever, I think. Yeah. Kind of like a Marine. Fuck. I don't have that, so I don't know. Listen, Hal, you saw what went down yesterday. You played in Montreal. You played for Terrian.

Were you surprised, shocked? You're a coach now. I'm sure you're kind of feeling for him a little bit. Did you send him a text to say sorry, Michelle? I don't feel too bad for him. You know what? How crazy is the NHL when they did the same thing 15 years ago? The exact same thing.

Who knows? Do you think the team's going to play better now or what? I have no idea. I don't think they will. I think they just depend on price. I just love that Julian just cucks Terrian every single time he gets gassed from the Canadians. Remember when

Terrian, were you there when he smashed the food when Taglionetti brought him the wrong food? Remember in Pittsburgh when he threw the food and he told him to clean it up? That isn't what I fucking asked for, eh? Didn't he do that a lot? I don't think it was a one-time

thing. But the one question I was interested in, I wanted to get your opinion. Playing in Montreal, and they refuse to hire anyone that you have to speak French. Does that make sense to you? Do you agree with that? After living up there, I understand what they're saying.

But they should know that they're way off base uh if that makes any sense they're they want someone that speaks for the people and what they really should want is someone that wins you know like do you i mean what day and age are we in right now where we actually care where someone comes from you You just want a winner. Would you care if Tom Brady was Russian and didn't speak English? No. Would you care? He might be. Oh, God.

Here we go. A joke. Settle down, Beavis. You're right. We were just actually saying that before, Hal. I mean, the guy speaks a language that the media is comfortable with, and that's one of the reasons for hiring a guy, which is fucking insanity to

me. It's an element that, yeah, maybe 5%, but it seems like it's one of the dominant reasons that Montreal brings you in. Yeah, and that's part of it. That's part of the culture up there, and so they can celebrate it, but it

limits them. It's a tough thing to if you're trying to hire a guy them it's a tough thing to you know if you're if you're trying to hire a guy it's a tough thing to do it's tough to work out yeah um so going back to your career and you know as i already mentioned 1108 games incredible career where do you think your favorite place was to play uh everything has a different reason every place you know like i grew up in boston i loved playing in boston that was obviously it's i didn't know anything different at the time so i was nine years in boston that was it was awesome uh after that i went to uh toronto which was like crazy big city awesome place to live, amazing organization.

So that was fun. You know, it was nice to get meals, you know, like they, not that the Bruins didn't feed you, but, you know, you're going from plain food to, you know, steak and, you know, flays on the plane. It's a little different. You're not getting treated. Aramok to Smith and Walensky's is a nice upgrade. Yeah, it was a nice, smooth transition there.

But then, you know, I was in Pittsburgh. I won the Cup in Pittsburgh. So, you know, Pittsburgh's a blue-collar town. Went in there. It was awesome. On a Tuesday night when you're playing against nobody, it was the biggest game, and everyone was excited about it. So then I went to Nashville. Nashville was awesome where it's just laid back, cool city. I kind of bounced around and went through everything. To say one thing is my favorite, it's kind of tough. Yeah, you've had varied stops.

I mean, for six teams you played for, you finished up with a couple quick games with Philly back in the 13-14. We're looking at your stats here. Obviously not as much, but you played for three original six teams, two from the 67 expansion, two, I mean, storied franchise Philly and Pittsburgh. Nashville has kind of a great reputation. In Boston, obviously, you know, things weren't always the best here for you what kind of feelings do you have for playing in Boston and for the fans here I know they weren't always kind to you but

do you have like some tough memories from being here or is it is it all pleasant well it's it's tough you know for me obviously Bruins fans are passionate and you know the typical Bruin fan wants to see Cam Neely. You want to see someone go down, score a goal, and then punch someone in the face. Make them bleed. Make them bleed. Yeah, yeah. For me, they want a 6'7 guy to go out and ragdoll Ty Domi and show him how tough he is. It's a complete letdown if you don't do that for me

being a stay-at-home uh shutdown d uh wasn't always good enough so uh i understand what the the bruins mindset the bruins fan mindset so i understand that uh but i did i did enjoy it and i think for the most part uh you know, I think, well, I hope someone enjoyed having me with the Bruins. Well, it's funny because you went from, I mean, and I got a hard time from every fan base in every city I played in, but you went from Boston where you were getting a hard time, and then in Pittsburgh and Montreal, you were one of the favorites of the fans.

So it just shows that it just all depends on the team you're on and what people expect. When I look back on my career, at least, I mean, I know they expected way more than I gave them. But for you in Pittsburgh and then in Montreal, you were that shutdown guy that they needed. So it was all great for you. That's why you get so much respect at Mario's.

Exactly. Exactly. Well, it's funny because I played in Toronto, and I really think toronto i probably had the best year of my career i had 20 something points which is what do you call that that's banana land that's banana uh but yeah i mean i like i remember playing like it was i remember playing against pittsburgh up there and Witt run the power play up there, which is hilarious because you've got Malkin and Crosby

on the other side of Witt, and Witt's just distributing assists all over the ice. Getting paid with my eyes shut. Yeah, that was some of the best hockey I played, and they kind of booed me out of Toronto. So to go to Pittsburgh after that and then to join you and be in playing with you and have some success there was was good Hal you know you we said at the

beginning of the show that uh you're coaching the Lincoln Sudbury high school team here in Massachusetts what's it like coaching now you uh you like it and and what do you think uh you see yourself with uh you know a deeper future maybe maybe coaching the nhl someday um i don't know i don't really know i i'm working on my future breaking news i think wit could probably uh agree you kind of soul search and look around for what you like and what you're good at uh coaching the high school kids has been great they're they uh they just good kids, and that's really all that matters. They want to have fun playing hockey, and I try and teach them as much as I can. But it really comes about having a good time.

And so, you know, Whit will tell you, I'm more about having a good time than anything else. Hal's a big-time locker room guy. He's actually being modest. It was down to him or Julian to take over Tyrene and the Canadiens. So we appreciate your modesty. The interview went well. I don't know what happened. You just said, LaCoye, Tabernak, and it wasn't with the correct accent.

Definitely a vibe we get on Twitter, which is a great vehicle for fans to interact with players because they cut out the medium middleman. So nothing gets censored or twisted or distorted. And you get a real vibe, Hal, when you interact with your former teammates. There's a lot of love and respect there and camaraderie and ball busting. And you must have played, I mean, obviously hundreds of players, if not thousands in your NHL career.

Who was the best teammate you had in your 16 NHL career? That's tough, you know. 16 NHL career? That's tough. You know? Yeah. People ask me that all the time, and it's like... You can't pick just one. You can't.

Picking your favorite kid. Yeah, it's tough to pick one, you know? And, you know, someone said, you know, Evgeny Malkin isn't a good teammate. I was like, he's a great teammate because he scores goals and wins you the cup. And that's fantastic. And that's the best teammate you can ask for.

There's a couple Russians that I played with that they just did their thing. That didn't mean they were bad teammates. They just did their own thing. And then there's other guys that would block a shot, fight someone, had your back all the time, went out drinking with you, was always with you for dinner. Does that make them a better teammate? You can debate it, but there's different ways to measure what a good teammate is.

Good. That's an interesting answer. Spoken like a true coach. Hal was the guy who, when I turned pro, I obviously knew who Hal was, and I started skating with the pros before training camp in Boston. You're so loud. He talks so much. I'm like, this guy is intimidating. But then once you get to know him, you were one of everyone's favorites.

So I loved playing with you. But going to the NHL now, do you still watch a lot of NHL hockey? Yeah. I took a year off where I was just like I don't I I you know I don't know if you went through this but I was jealous yeah I just felt like it was so weird it was so weird that first year you feel like such a loser everyone's dancing with my girl you know like it and I'm just standing there watching it so yeah I took a year off and then I've gotten back into it, and now it's kind

of, you know, it's kind of kicking me in the teeth now. Alright, so, everyone takes a little time when they retire, and now you're watching. How much different do you think this game is than when, I mean, when you played, when I played? To me, it's in, like, three years, or four years,

it's changed completely now. Like, I feel like, when you came into the league, you had to be 6'3 as a defenseman. You had to be a tall centerman. Now it doesn't matter how big you are. You just got to be able to skate. Would you agree with that? Yeah. I think that's the biggest thing is it's so fast.

You can't slow anyone down anymore. What's the sense of being big? When they changed the rules i lost i had to lose 20 25 pounds just to to keep up you know not that i could keep up but in an effort to keep up i lost a lot of weight um now guys are just they're flying and and there's no there's no real need to be overly big i mean obviously if it can be strong on the puck, it doesn't hurt Jager. He's still doing it. But to have speed,

speed is king, and quickness. These guys are so skilled now, and they're allowed to be more skilled. I just think the game is completely changing. Even, you know, my last year, I was kind of watching it change,

and now it's full on. Everyone's going. Now, Hal, you got drafted in the 93 draft by the Bruins in the eighth round, which not a lot of guys drafted in the eighth round ever even get to the show. You ended up playing, like I mentioned, 1,108 NHL games, won a Stanley Cup, you know, had a very successful career. Did it exceed your dreams by far? I mean, did you ever imagine that that's how your hockey career would play out?

People ask me, like, did every kid dream of being in the NHL? Like, obviously you want to be in the NHL. You want to play in college. You want to play at the highest level you can. Everyone wanted that. So I think the biggest thing for me is I took it as it came. I took it day by day. I had a games played bonus my first year, and every 10 games I'd get $10,000 or something.

It was like the biggest thing ever. I was like, I stayed up for 10 games I'd get 10 grand or something and it was like it was like it was like the biggest thing ever I was like hold I just I stayed up for 10 games I just made 10 grand and it was I was just chipping away at it I wasn't until really six or seven years into the league that I was like oh and now you know what am I gonna now? I kind of just chipped away at it. So maybe better for me, I never really took time to look at it and look at the full end game. I just kind of played. Does that make sense? Yeah, absolutely.

And you made a lot of people eat crow. I mean, I'm not going to blow smoke up your ass, myself included. You know, as a Bruins season ticket holder, you know, like I said, people weren't always great to hear, but you certainly got the last laugh and you certainly shut a Bruins season ticket holder. Like I said, people weren't always great to him, but you certainly got the last laugh, and you certainly shut a lot of fucking people up. You weren't one of them, were you? Come on, man.

No, actually, I... I know, seriously. I specifically didn't yell Gil sucks on one trip to Montreal, but go ahead, Grinnell, you got a question here. Well, no, I was just going to say, Hal, I read somewhere that you were a pretty good quarterback in high school. Was there ever a future in football for you? Oh, you knew that?

I didn't tell him this, Hal. How'd you know that? Wikipedia. Come on. Dude, this kid was like Brady adds six inches and maybe just as good looking, dude. You're a stallion, Hal. You know it.

Well, thanks. Thanks. I like to think of myself as a hard seven. Personality and wallet makes you an 8.5. The NHL card comes in handy with that. Yeah, no, I played some football growing up, and, you know, I could have played in college, and for whatever reason, I still don't really understand. I chose to play hockey, and I guess it worked out, but, you know,

it would have been nice if I was winning five Super Bowls and stuff, you know, but those are dreams. Yeah. What do you think? What do you think? I mean, yeah, those were dreams. You were just chucking bombs. What do you think Verm What do you think? I mean, yeah, those were dreams. You were just chucking bombs. What do you think Vermette should get for that suspension or whatever he's going to get for what he did to Spurgeon in Minnesota?

You see that? How stupid was that? Dude, what? Oh, I'm talking Nyquist. I'm mistaken. So Nyquist speared Spurgeon in the face and Vermette slashed the ref. What are your suspensions for both of them? Vermette.

All right. Well, which one's dumber? I think Vermette's one is so fucking dumb. It's unbelievable. Why? Why? Why? Why? Outrageous.

Why did he? It looked like he kind of, like, Will Ferrell blacked out in old school. I don't even, like, it was like you were slashing one of the kids you coach. Although nowadays, I don't want to get you in trouble. I just couldn't believe that. What was he doing? It's never even crossed my mind to be upset at a ref and hit him. You know, like.

And that was over a face-off. I don't know what he was thinking. And if you've got to do it, I mean, do it right. At least cripple him. You're going to take a penalty. Take a hard one. And then the Nyquist, he stares right at him. And then he spears him in the face.

So on that one, I have to call in the whole fighting thing. I listen to you guys talk to Bissonette, and I agree. The staged fighting, I don't have a place for it. But when a guy – did anyone even go talk to him, Nyquist, after he speared a guy in the face? It's crazy now. And this is coming from someone who openly – I think I had six fights in 10 years pro. So I'm not saying I was the guy that went and said something, face it's crazy it's crazy it's crazy now and and this is coming from someone who openly i think i

had six fights in 10 years pro so i'm not saying i was the guy that went and said something but it nothing happens now guys don't even get like pushed after doing stuff like that it's crazy i just i just i i don't understand i mean like that that's blatant disregard for someone's eyeball you know like like i'm surprised a ref didn't jump him actually after he slashed his ref we should blatant disregard for someone's eyeball. I'm surprised a ref didn't jump him, actually, after he slashed his ref. Wes McCauley would have gone in and dummied him. It is sad. Brian McGratton tweeted last night.

He's like, what a fucking joke. The guy takes a blade to the face, and no one fucking jumps in. No one did anything. It was embarrassing. And, yeah, like you said, Wes McCauley, that was a great call. Did you catch that, Hal, when Wes McCauley called the fighting mages the other night in the Bruins game? It was a very exuberant call. I did not catch it. He basically said, he gave the names and numbers in five minutes for fighting,

and he screamed it and made a fist motion. He did a little chainsaw. Yeah, chainsaw, yeah. Wes keeps it real. Yeah. Hal, so I got chainsaw. Yeah, chainsaw, yeah. Wes keeps it real. Yeah. I like that. I got to ask, you did play alongside Witt. Do you got any funny stories from when you guys played alongside each other?

We've heard stories of him having to drive all the guys to the casino. We've heard some pretty crazy stories. So what do you got for us? That I can – that W that wouldn't be pissed at. Yeah, you got to be careful. I have a girlfriend now. Yeah. I'll park all the other stories.

Don't worry about it. Yeah. There's so many things. I remember. Remember when I raced the rock things when you when you who when i raced george larock you remember that yeah well that's just the whole level of stupidity that we shouldn't get into george's i actually have to have george's on oh my god that would be hilarious um yeah you should no you know what was my my favorite thing was

probably the first time i got traded i was in boston i had the i had the flu i was in florida when i got the call to get traded so toronto left me in florida and they said oh just just sleep off the flu or whatever and then we'll meet you and then they they called me and said Scuderi broke his hand so we need you and so I flew up I was exhausted I get on the bus to go to the game for my first game as a penguin and Witt is sitting in the back of the bus right behind Crosby and he says you know we're just all looking out the window as we go to the rink and Witt says hey hey Sid will you just be like sick and score like a bunch of goals so we can win and get out of here and I was I was like that's the best thing I've ever heard. And Whit would constantly throw little jabs out like that.

And you know what? I kind of took that from him, and I used that with other players just because it made him feel – I think it made Sid feel like, yeah, I'm the man. And so I always liked that. Whit was a guy that would – self-deprecating. You got a big game today, so we'll let you go. We really appreciate you coming on, and I do

want to leave everyone to actually let everyone know that Hal is an answer to a trivia question. If anyone ever asks who the toughest player that Yarmir Jagr said he ever had to play against, he said Hal. Oh, shit. I can't believe we didn't bring up Yarmir Jagr. It's his birthday today.

Oh, well, fuck him. 45 today. 45 still playing. It's pretty cool today. Oh, well, fuck him. 45 today. Wow. 45 still playing. But it's pretty cool to have him say that you were the toughest guy that ever played. He probably made you a couple extra millions, so thanks, Yags. Well, you know what? That was a contract year. He said it, too. I remember. Oh, nice. It was good. It worked out well. You're going to have to say a little

to pay off Whitney for all the nice words you just had to say about him. Seriously, Hal, we can't thank you enough for coming on and giving us some time here and answering some questions. I'm sure a lot of fans around the continent are going to be happy to hear your voice. So thanks a lot again for coming on. Okay. Thank you, guys.

Thanks a lot. I love Whit. See you. Okay. I'm really tall. Huge feet, too. All right. See you, buddy.

Thank you very much, Hal. Good luck today. Love you, Whit. All right. See you, buddy. Take care. All right. Thanks. That interview was brought to you by Harry's Razors. Harry's Razors is one of the best things I've ever been involved with at this point. I love shaving with it. It's easy. It's simple. It comes to you quick and it's not expensive at all. It really honestly helps with the smoothness and the closeness of shaving. I used to get brutal razor burn, not anymore with Harry's Razors. Harry's Razor was started by two guys, Jeff and Andy. They were fed up with being overcharged for razors.

So was I. So they decided to start their own razor company to give guys everywhere what they deserve, a great shave at a fair price. They bought a factory with 100 years of blade making experience so they could make their own high quality razors, sell them online, and ship them directly to your crib for half the price of the leading brand. Yes, right, half. Harry's Razors includes everything you need for a close, comfortable shave. Five German engineer blades, lubricating strip, flex hinge for a comfortable glide, trimmer blade for hard to reach places like my butt chin and weighted ergonomic handle all of

this for two dollars two dollars a blade compared to the four dollars and more you'll pay at the drugstore for the leading brands you have to call and get online for harry's now harry's is so confident in the quality of their blade they wanted you to try their most popular trial set for free that's it free 99 nothing to pay Comes with a razor handle of your choice, five blade cartridge, and shaving gel. Free when you sign up. All you have to do is pay just a small fee for shipping. To redeem your free trial offer, go to harrys.com backslash chicklets right now. That's harrys.com backslash chicklets. C-H-I-C-L-E-T-S. Harry's Razor is where it's at. Special thanks to Hal Gill.

Great guy for coming on, joining Spittin' Chicklets. We'll definitely have him on again. I think one thing we do have to talk about, and I'm surprised we didn't mention immediately, is the passing of Mike Illich and what he meant to not only the Red Wings and the Tigers, but the city of Detroit.

A true legend who completely changed the entire Red Wings organization, became the type of owner that any single fan of a team would dream to have an owner like him. You know, the way that he, his whole goal, I read a couple things since he passed away and one of the things he said was, all we wanted when we got the team was to get the best possible players and keep them. Saying keep them, it changes everything as a fan and as a player. You just want to know that your owner's got your back. All he did was really make Detroit as good as he possibly could.

He spent what he needed to spend. He made sure he kept guys. He treated people with respect. He treated people with respect. He treated families with respect. He included everyone. So a guy like that made the Detroit Red Wings, you can argue, one of the greatest franchises in the history of the NHL, and a lot of it has to do with him.

Absolutely. First off, condolences and sympathies to any family or friends who might be listening to the show. Do you think his wife listens to Spittin' Chuggets, maybe? He might have a nephew or a grandson or something. I mean, you know. Hope so. We are international. No, condolences to family, friends, you know, his team, any of his players who might listen to the show.

You know, like you said, everything you read about the guy, he was a great guy. Detroit was, they sucked. He bought them, I want to say, in 82 or 83. They were a laughingstock. They were a terrible franchise. He had a little growing pains when he got them, but he looked at... I put it this way.

When I talk about the Patriots, I say they're the Detroit Red Wings of the NFL. Yeah, they were both a joke at one point. That's a good example. They were both... Exactly. Both jokes, and now they're kind of... Now the Wings were great before they were a joke, like in the 50s, whatever,

with Howe and stuff, but they still went, I mean, 70s and 80s. In the expansion era, they were insignificant, basically, from the 67 on,

they hadn't really done anything worth noting, really. And he changed all that. He also bought the Tigers, he did that. He's revitalized a lot of Detroit, which is a city

that's had some rough years, as everybody knows. He did a lot for the city. He's done that. He's revitalized a lot of Detroit, which is a city that's had some rough years, as everybody knows. He did a lot for the city. He's done tons. And like you said, Wits, his teammates all treat him as family. He treated his players as family, and that's not something that all NHL owners do. And going back, I'm sorry to bring up a bad memory, but

the 08 Cup, I'm sorry, yeah, 08 Cup in Detroit won when I was in the when I snuck in the locker room there. Hal won too. It's okay. Two of you guys got to appreciate lifting the cup. So when I was sitting in the room there and he come in the room, Illich,

with the cup over his head, and, you know, the place went nuts. All the players, like, they went over and hugging him, and you could tell it was, you know, obviously they wanted the cup, they had it, but there was a genuine kind of love there. It's like Robert Kraft. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. It was really cool to see up close. I actually tweeted out a picture the other day from the locker room.

Fun fact about him, too, is he paid for the last 11 years of Rosa Parks' life. He paid her rent. Wow. Rosa Parks, the girl who wouldn't go to the front of the bus? The Rosa Parks. Yeah. Or did she not go to the back of the bus? She wouldn't go to the back of the bus.

She was sitting in the front. She wouldn't give up her seat. I like the back. I never sat in the front. She made the back of the bus? She wouldn't go to the back of the bus. She was sitting in the front. She wouldn't give up her seat. I like the back. I never sat in the front. She made the back of the bus. What a nerd she is. Only nerds sat in the front. True.

Suck it, Rosa. But yeah, that's quite a thing to do for a historically relevant person like that. And there are tons of stories like that. I talked to a Red Wing, actually, who just mentioned amazing guy, amazing owner, called his players and their families when they got injured. He spent to the max. He stayed out of all the hockey business, minus the occasional phone call to Ken Holland to ask about this one or that one.

He always wanted the best player available and did whatever it took to win. Yeah, if you're a fan, I mean, what can you say? That just shows that… That's who you want to play for. That's a guy, I mean, and you just... It's so funny how, like, you can... The feelings fans have towards owners can be so different. Like, look at this fucking clown Dolan in the Knicks. Like, imagine, like...

You don't really appreciate it until... I mean, you appreciate it. We're talking about Robert Kraft. But a guy passes away and you really look like... You're a Red Wings fan. You're like, this could have been so much fucking worse. It really starts from the top. Absolutely.

He sets the tone. And another thing he did is he helped establish a lot of youth hockey in Michigan. I mean, Michigan has always been pretty big with hockey, but they've got so many great youth programs there. And he started at least two of them. The Little C's is what he got started. I mean, you know, that's something you never heard of. Who was the owner in Carolina that they ended up –

Peter Carmel. Yeah, then they hated each other and he started CompuWare or whatever. You know, he's also done a lot to, you know, basically create a feeder system for the NHL, you know, through his programs. A lot of guys did come through his program. So, you know, he's done a lot for so many people. You know, we just, like I said, wanted to acknowledge him. It's, you know, a death of the NHL family.

It's something that, you know, we're certainly going to talk about. And, again, sympathies to anybody who was affected by the loss or knew him or whatever. Yeah, but moving on. We mentioned this with Hal. Moving on from a death. He's so sensitive. Yeah, but moving on.

We mentioned this with Hal. Moving on from a death. He's so sensitive. We mentioned to Hal, but we have to get your, I mean, I want your guys' opinions on Vermette on the ref and Nyquist on Spurgeon. What the? I cannot believe he slashed the ref. It's like three seconds after the faceoffoff and you could see maybe if a ref... By the way, a ref also got punched by

Subban when he fought this week. Weidman started a revolution last year when he bundled that ref. But Weidman, what Vermette did, Vermette was ten times worse than Weidman. Deliberate, way more deliberate. Weidman was concussed and fucking bumped into a guy. Fucking, this was

assault. That's assault, brother! This was legit, legit fucking Dr. Hook, Tim McCracken. Like, legit. I mean, he fucking hands down challenged the Chiefs. And it was all Dave Zichella. Dave's a mess. It was all based on

him not being happy the way he dropped the puck, and it was a neutral zone face-off. And he lost the draw on purpose. Did you see? He just pulled up. Oh, I see. No, all right. So that makes sense.

I think he probably wasn't ready for the faceoff. He dropped the puck. And he was pissed off. Like, what the fuck? I wasn't ready. Definitely. And maybe he thought he was giving him like a love tap or something. Yeah, but you love tap guys.

You don't whack a ref. You love tap guys on the other team, not fucking, not stripes. I mean. That was a love tap. But, you know, he's got an automatic 10-game suspension because it was a Category 2, which is physical contact with an official. So he's got a minimum 10 games. And then can the league give him more games?

Yeah. Because Wyman, what did Wyman get? I mean, the league. Wyman got the Category 2, so he got the category 2 So he got the automatic 10 And then the league Gave him 10 more Didn't he get 20? Yeah I think so

Yeah well then it got reduced to 15 Yeah because you can You can appeal that shit But yeah It's fucking crazy man I mean that straight up Fucking Like hits the guy

I actually I don't know what he was thinking I can't even I don't even understand In his brain What he And this is a guy Who's never done anything.

He's been around for a while. He's had a pretty good name around the league. He's been the best face-off guy for 13 years. Maybe he's pissed he lost a draw. Maybe the draws would struggle. My fucking percentages are going down. You want to fuck with me? Definitely uncharacteristic for basically any player,

but especially a veteran who's been around. And I use my Dr. Hook fucking reference on the wrong guy. It's fucking the not an... What's his name? Nyquist. Fucking... No. What movie?

Yeah, Nyquist. Yeah, the fucking spear in the face. I'm all over the fucking road today. But two stick incidents. One against the ref. You can't fucking do it. That's a bad one, too. The one with Nyquist.

I mean, that's fucking insanity. That's Dr. Hook, Tim McCracken. That's what I meant. I mean, you fucking poke a guy in the face and you stick like that. I mean, you could have easily popped his fucking eye out, man. Yeah, that was one of the dirtiest plays I've ever seen. He pretty much speared him right in the mouth. And he declined in here in person.

They haven't come down with a... No, that's today at 2 o'clock. Oh, it's 2 o'clock. So we'll get that one in a little bit. Yeah, when i started i didn't i just kind of like i don't know maybe you'll get four or five games and i because i just kind of saw the clip and then i watched the in-depth a few a few a few times that was like holy slow-mo it's like yeah jesus christ but when you i mean when you and i know how i went into this when you do something like that i don't care how much the games change you how where how is somebody not grabbing him and minnesota's got guys like chris stewart guys who are tough bastards

and that's why i don't want to say like nobody did anything because he got he got the boot from the game i'm pretty and so and so they couldn't really do anything and if chris stewart's on the ice he would have grabbed him if you saw it so you you don't want to say Minnesota didn't do anything. But for anyone on the ice who didn't see it. Millennials, man. No, it's fucking the league. I'm joking. It's the league that's shifting away from the fighting, obviously.

But that's just pussification to me. That no one fucking just jumped the guy and took the extra two. Or even fucking one at him. It doesn't matter who you are, if you're a goon or not if you spear someone in the face something should happen if you spear someone in the face on purpose

you should at least get punched as hard as you can once in the head before like you deserve it the league has turned into like the Sedins

from the 2011 Stanley Cup when Marshawn was just fucking dribbling his face like a speed bag and he did nothing that's kind of like the whole fucking league now. And it's hashtag sad.

A lot of cheap shots. Or as Terry says, soft. I saw, you know, again, do you see Chara? Chara got a nice stick to the nuts. How often does that happen, Whit? How often are people...

We saw Looch did it bad a few years ago. Yeah, how often does that happen? Not that often. And usually, like, a guy like Looch, I mean, how often does that happen? Not that often. A guy like Lute, I mean, Char is going to try to kill Bolio. I'm so bad at saying his name.

He's so screwed. He's fucked. I think that kid was just like, oh, fuck. You realize right away. What did I do? It's like if you talk back to your mother and your dad's in the room right away, you're like, oh, no, fuck.

Char is a guy that you don't see that happen to. I would like to think and say that guys stay away from the Big Willie and the Twins most of the time. Yeah, I mean, that's dirty. I mean, guys know how bad it hurts to get hit in the nuts. So, you know, it should be off limits. I'm trying to make... You're trying to make a baby. You can't be fucking with the guy's hoes.

Not me. Snip, snip. Not you. Snippy, snip. By the way, guys, if you're at that age, don't be afraid of vasectomies. I saw a guy tweet asking someone in Boston, like, you know, I love to jerk off and I want to get a vasectomy. It's like, buddy, I don't think you took biology in high school.

You're fine. You got full clearance. Trust me. If I was getting snipped, I would just make sure I did it, like, first day of the Masters or first night of the Stanley Cup playoffs because you just sit on a bag of peas and you just chill and watch some TV. Yeah, it's actually not too bad. You could hang out with a dog who got snipped, too. Hernia surgery was a motherfucker.

Way worse. Yeah, vasectomy is fucking tit. You can golf two days later if you want. Yeah, you know. Play right on the internet. So we got any good All Right Hamiltons? Oh, yeah. We got some great ones. We got a got any good All Right Hamiltons? Oh, yeah. We have some great ones.

We got a bunch. We're giving a t-shirt away, too. Did you pick a winner yet, Grinnelly? Yes. All right. All right, Hamilton. We'll give the winner to Nick Comezzo because he put some audio in this one. Oh, fuck it.

Oh, did he? Yeah, so let's listen to the audio and then we'll get to the question. Oh, hilarious. If I'm here all year i guarantee you i hit mario one i know yeah one time you started laughing at me you got right away i just kept waiting and waiting and waiting like you can start so it's like you're smiling at me laughing i'm gonna hit him in the ankle i know it i'm gonna get sent down oh man i forgot about that.

So now the question is, hey, Ryan Whitney, did you ever beam Mario in the ankle that year? Thank God I didn't. But you know what? I think I played 12 games with him. Might have been 14, and then he retired. Because of you? No, maybe because he was like,

this is a defenseman on an NHl team i'm on i'm paying this guy what no i wasn't making bank yet well actually i still was but so what he did was he would anyone who's been to an hl game played hockey the main warm-up drill everyone does three lines from the red line go in shot from the left shot from the center shot from the center, shot from the right. Sounds like a Saturday night in college. I'll give you the laugh on that one. So he would be, instead of in line, which I would never expect him to be waiting in one of those lines to shoot. It kind of makes sense that he didn't do that.

But he would just do giant figure eights in the offensive zone where you were coming down and shooting. So he would have a puck, and he's kind of basically doing a figure eight around the circles. While you guys were doing the three lines? While the three line shooting. So you were basically you had to make sure that you got your shot but so the couple

times I would go down and then I'd wind up and lift up my head and I'd have to pump fake, almost fall over my feet. The puck would go in the corner because I'm coming down with force. And he'd be right in front of me. And I went back to Orpik. I don't know if I was miked up or Orpik was.

And I was like, dude, he's buzzing around there. Like not even looking. I'm not that good where I'm carrying the puck like head up, seeing where everything is. And then I'm not going to drill him. And I just remember thinking, I'm going to hit this guy. He's going to go down. It's going to be on video.

And I'm getting sent right to the minors. I remember Orpik's like, dude, I thought the same thing, but that didn't get on the audio. What's he, like, he got a force field around him? Who? Like, Mario? Yeah, he's fucking Mario Lemieux. I know, but it's also like, you know, someone could hit you. Why is he

doing that? Because he's just a fucking legend and he can, dude. If you own the team, you can do it every, and you're the greatest player ever. He just, he just was like, he basically was like, they're going to know exactly where I am. I do this. I'm not standing in a line or standing in this zone. I want to keep moving.

My back's probably a little sore. I want to loosen up. And if anyone hits me, they'll be traded. Luckily, I never hit him. Bingo. All right. All right. So Cam Sass asked,

what's the best hangover story you guys ever have, I guess? Best hangover story? I think it was in regards to the NHL. Oh, man. Brian Hamilton. So I will go into mine, but first, the best one I ever saw, and I can't name the guy. I won't say his name.

Got so banged up. Mine's in New York also. But this guy got so banged up, he didn't think he was playing. And we had a noon game. Comes home at like 6 in the morning. I'm walking to the rink with him. He's like, if I'm actually playing in this game, I have to pretend I'm injured. I'm so fucked up right now.

I'm like dying laughing. I'm like, this is unbelievable. I didn't think he was playing either. We get to the rink. Name on the board. I'm like, oh, my God. Oh, my God. What's this guy going to do?

He's looking at me just like, holy shit, what am I going to do? So we get out in warm-ups. We're skating around. I'm watching him. It's legit like Slapshot, the guy that's going to piss himself if you hit him. And I just hear crash. I look behind. He went down.

He pretended to fall, went into the boards. It was like, ah, my ankle, my ankle, my ankle. And didn't play. And I'm like dying laughing. I'm like, imagine telling this kid when he was 10 years old, you're going to make the NHL. And you're going to be so banged up one night that you have to fake an injury and warm up so you don't play in the game. Holy shit. That was one of the best ones I ever saw, and I won't say his name.

Give us a team. Give us a team. I won't even say that. It's one of three or four. I'm not even going to throw anyone down there. You don't want to break it down. But mine, and then you can go into yours. I'm sure you have one from many.

So in the middle of my... In the middle of the year that we went to the cup finals and lost my last full year in Pittsburgh, I was playing not great. Tarion wasn't happy, but instead of scratching me, he played me at fourth line left wing, and I would play... So, I would play power play.

And, um... So, it was two games in a row. No, I did it on a Thursday, and I was like, oh my god. Played like four No, I did it on a Thursday. And I was like, oh, my God. Played like four minutes, three minutes of it power play. Saturday we played the Rangers at home. Did it again.

Same thing. And then we're flying right after the game. We're playing the Rangers Sunday, Sunday night. And I'm like, all right, well, we won both games. I'm like, I'm still going to be left wing. So I got into New York at like 7 o'clock. And I went and met one of my best buddies, two of them actually that lived there at the time

and we went out, just had a night. I was like, dude, it's kind of just like, I'm like, all right, well,

I'm going to be playing four minutes tomorrow. I got it. It's just like, yeah, just get out of this rut. Just go have a time. So I wake up

and I wake up, you know, the next morning, go to the pregame skate for, we didn't even have pregame skates to play the night before. Either way, I got to the r morning, go to the pregame skate. We didn't even have pregame skates. We played the night before. Either way, I got to the rink, and I was playing D. Like second pair, I was like, oh, my God.

I know I'm at least playing 20 minutes. I'm like, oh, fuck. Oh, my God, no. What am I going to do? So I get out on the ice. I feel terrible. I come back into the locker room. I got off the ice early after warm-ups.

Rob Scuderi comes in the locker room. Got off the ice early after warm-ups. Scuderi, Rob Scuderi, comes in the locker room, and he just sees me, full uniform, crawling into the stall. I'm throwing up. I'm like, he's like, Jesus Christ, but I went out. I got it all out of my system. I went out. I played a solid game. Terry's like, that's how I need you to

play. I'm just like, only if this guy knew my last 16 hours. So that was my best's how I need you to play. I'm just like, only if this guy knew my last 16 hours. So that was my best one that I actually pulled it off, but not exactly my proudest moment as an NHL player. My biggest hangover moment happened a lot. I would drink 17

Gatorades, smoke a bunch of weed, and jerk off a bunch. That's my hangover story. I didn't play in the NHL, so I don't have a good one. That could be audio clips. Yeah, I honestly was going somewhere with my mother. We were going to get a suit or something. I was going shopping, and I

legit was puking out the window. My mother was like, we'll go shopping another time. I had to drop it off. You're going to have the flu, Mom. That's the only one I can remember. Seriously, though, when you're hungover, you get horny as a hostage when you're hungover? Then I'm hungover all day every day. Nice.

There we go. Yeah, so I'd say my hangover story, I mean, I played just about every club hockey game I ever played in college. Hungover as hell. Did you snipe? Of course. Of course. There you go.

It all comes down to sniping. That's what it all comes down to. All right, so Nicholas Rudawicki asks... Rowan Gardner. Rowan Gardner. Nicholas Rowan Gardner asks, what's it like on trade deadline day in the locker room? All right. How's it?

It's awkward. It stinks. Like the last 20 minutes of Goodfellas? Well, you're just like, you're just waiting. Especially if you're a team in... No, it actually doesn't even matter if you're you're just waiting you especially if you're a team and no it actually doesn't even matter if you're a team in the hunt because if your team's struggling you just know moves are going to be made most of the time every team does at least something and you just don't if you're in a place you like you're afraid you're going to get traded if you're

if you have a bunch of friends there you don't want to go or maybe you do want to go somewhere and then you don't get dealt just an awkward day that I still maintain. I don't know why games are played on that day. It makes no sense to me. It should be a day off from games. But it's interesting because I'll be up at SportsCenter Toronto this year for the trade deadline special. And from this side, it's great. I mean, now that I'm doing the media stuff,

you kind of live for these days. But I'm close enough out of the game where i remember all this day can suck for a lot of guys so more than anything you just don't you want the day to end and you want to be in a in either the place you are or a place that has a chance to win because um for my example of getting traded on the deadline day from from sunny newport beach on the ducks to edmonton who was in dead last place that was a tough one that was when i that was when i called my parents i'm like i got traded my mom goes what again she goes where i go edmonton, who was in dead last place. That was a tough one. That was when I called my parents. I'm like, I got traded.

My mom goes, what, again? She goes, where? I go, Edmonton. She goes, no! I was like, you think you're saying no? I got to go there. But in the end, I didn't mind Edmonton as a city. First world problems.

First world problems. Still making it. Still getting a paycheck. We got one more? Oh, yeah. What about you on deadline day? You're not going to answer? Oh, I was going to say that one year.

I thought I was going to Chicago. You probably snuck into a couple of locker rooms. Actually, deadline day. I thought you were going to Milwaukee that one year, right? Yeah, fuck God. No, you just said, actually, good point. You are going to be working up in Sportsnet, you said? Yeah, I don't know if that will be on NHL Network.

I think it is. I think you might. Yeah, I think they wired in that'll be on NHL Network. I think it is. I think you might. Yeah, I think they wired in. But anyways, me and Grinnelli probably, well, I don't know where I'm going to be that day, but we're going to try to do something at least leading up to 2 o'clock for Facebook Live, probably on the Stool Checkouts account. But yeah, deadline deals, man. Fun day for fans.

Yeah, although I would say the last couple of years have been quiet. It seemed like a lot of the major deals happened well before. Yeah, I think they're starting to learn. I think teams like adding as much time to get the guy playing. They get ahead of the curve, and they kind of almost dictate the market. But I'm trying to think of one slobber knock of a trade I'm trying to think of off the top of my head. I mean, I don't know. You might say the deadline trade,

but it might have happened like fucking three months before. So not off the top of my head, unfortunately. Yeah, I don't remember. I just remember when Armstrong got traded. These are NHL-specific questions. I don't really have a lot to add to them. That's the problem this week. They're all NHL-specific questions.

That's great for me. We'll do one more. And it's very NHL-specific. Well, then we can have you just talk about something you want to talk about. I'm not worried about it. Steven Lessard asks, how long do players typically keep the same gear? Do they change it up every week, every game, every season? And I saw that question.

I picked it because Ray Bork. Because you love gear. Favorite player, big gear guy. And I heard Ray Bork used to change his – wear new gloves every period and wear new skates every period. I don't know if that's true or not. I don't think so. He used to dry them.

I think he used to just dry them off every period. No, what he would do is he would go through three pairs of gloves every period. Oh, okay. And then they would dry all three of them, and then he'd start the period. I used two pairs of gloves every period. I was a sweaty bastard. I used a new stick every game. I probably used four or five pairs of skates a season,

but I use these old boots that just didn't break down as often as the current ones do. I think most guys, six, seven skates. Most everyone – actually, I shouldn't say most everyone's a new stick every game because a lot of guys, if they score, they'll keep using it. I just – because I could use a new Synergy every game, I did it. Fuck it. Why wouldn't you? Gloves.

I don't know. But the gear you wear on the inside, I mean, shoulder pads, shin pads, elbow pads. I wore those my whole career. What about the most important piece of equipment, which I believe your former teammate Sid still uses his original cup. Yeah, that's nuts. And by the way, Mike Green on Detroit doesn't wear a cup. I still think that's banana land. That is banana land.

Yeah, Crosby's crazy with gear. He still has the same cup from like 20 years ago, correct? Yeah, it probably has to get fixed by Dana Hines, the equipment manager. He has to sew it together like once a week. This thing is so old. It's like, I mean, probably 20 years old. So some guys are really, really specific on what they don't want to change and what they will change.

I still use the same Under Armour pants and Under Armour from when I was like a peewee. It still fits. I wouldn't play like with street hockey goalie. Like, well, that's why I always play. I wouldn't go. If I didn't have a cup, no, I wouldn't go out there. I think I did it once, and you feel naked, man.

I think I'd rather have no helmet on and no cup. Oh, yeah. No question. Absolutely. When your berries are exposed like that, your mind is elsewhere. You can't concentrate on the right ball. Yeah, I mean, but equipment's just, it's all about what each guy wants. It depends.

It's so funny. And so many guys, I put all my left stuff on first, left shin pad, left skate. People do things like that. Gary Roberts was, I would love to have him on here. That guy was a complete lunatic, savage.

He would do this, he would do a warmup in the gym that was harder than any summer workout I've ever done. And then he'd come bombing in, I'm not kidding, two minutes and 30 seconds before we walked on the ice. And he'd put his gear on like it was a zip-up suit. And then he'd just be ready

to go in a full sweat from the workout he did. So I would sit down 35 minutes before warm-ups and just kind of kick it. And All Right Hamilton was brought to you by Jack Threads. Now let me ask you, when was the last time you ordered clothes online and got to try them on before paying for them? Never, right? Well, that's exactly what jackthreads.com does. You can try anything on at home for free and you only pay for what you keep. Whether it's a big name brand or Jack Threads in-house line, you can be sure you are 100% in love with the items you ordered before spending a cent. Now, the Jack Threads tryout program is perfect for me. My biggest problem has always been finding clothes that fit me right. I actually think a lot of hockey players have that problem.

So instead of buying stuff that doesn't fit and being stuck with it, join the Jack Threads tryout program. Choose anything you want and try it on at home for free. You'll have seven days to decide if it's working for you. And Jack Threads gives you everything you need to send it back. Packing tape, prepaid, shipping label, the whole nine yards. So go to jackthreads.com and enter code CHICKLET when you submit your tryout

for 20% off anything you keep. That's jackthreads.com code CHICKLET to save 20% on anything you keep. Never buy before you try ever again. jackthreads.com It was just dependent on every guy.

Speaking of Gary Roberts, did you see him and Chris Draper almost get in a fight in the alumni game? No. Was it joking? No. No. It was legit serious. It was... Those are two guys that wouldn't really... I could see that. Yeah. I think... I don't know if Roberts is not finishing his check, but

I think he just kind of gave him an extra shove or something. And Draper, you know, took exception. I mean, the linesmen had to come separate them in the fucking alumni game before the, whatever the fucking outdoor game they played. Yeah. Wow. Look it up online. Like, the ref legit had to get in between Gary Roberts and fucking Chris Draper. Roberts was the only man George LaRock has ever been scared of.

Roberts was the only man George the Rock has ever been scared of he George the Rock used to just go around and just like punch us in the leg give us dead legs

or charlie horses and then he'd be like I make you learn it was fucking crazy and then finally like one day I think he like

was chirping Rob's or tried doing something to Roberts and Gary Roberts just got on top of him on the bus and was like his face

he wasn't serious but you could could tell when he gets serious, he's got the veins. And George was, the first time and the only time I've ever seen George just like, holy shit, that's not the guy you want to fuck with. I'll stick to fucking with Malone and Whitney. I'm going to leave Gary Roberts alone. The guy broke his neck and came back. I was going to say, I took the words, again,

any guy who breaks his neck and comes back and plays, I don't know, seven years or whatever the neck and comes back and plays like in all the fucking seven years or whatever the hell it was. Now he's one of the top hockey trainers, you know, strength trainers in the league

with a lot of superstars he works out. Can we get into the story about how you raced George Lorac that Hal Gill said or no? Yeah,

so, so George, you gotta know George. We'll try to get George on here. He is a very loud personality. But he's also a good guy. Like he showed up to our team and he went out and he bought Crosby, myself, Malone, Colby Armstrong, and somebody else placed like PSPs.

Remember those PSPs? And SOCOM. And he just showed up and he's like, let's play this on the plane. And I was like, what a guy this guy is. This guy's the man. He bought angel dust for everybody? I don't know. What's that? Fina Cycloquine? You ever see what

this stuff does to kids? No, I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm quoting a movie that you guys probably didn't see, Trading Places. Sorry. Yeah, 80s movie. 80s movie. Ask a millennial. 80s movie. The horror. He started talking shit that he was

one of the fastest straightaway players in the league. And the thing was, he wasn't good from the start, but when he got going, he was so big. He was like 250. He would just run on the ice, and by the blue line, he was completely flying. Big stride. He's like, I'll race anyone. Thousand bucks. And by the blue line, he was completely flying.

Big stride. He's like, I'll race anyone. 1,000 bucks. 1,000 bucks. Goal line to far blue line. So I'm like, I'll do it. 100%, George. Let's go.

So we get out there. The whole team goes. Tarion actually comes out there to judge it. And we had to warm up and everything. So the whistle blows. And I take off. I have a huge lead, which is what I knew would happen. I was like, I just got to make sure I get to that blue line.

And I hear this fucking guy coming behind me. Like, he's gaining ground, like, faster than I could even imagine. And I barely beat him by, like, the very tip of my skate. I got it done. So I'm going bananas. The team's going nuts. George is like, fuck, like, if it was another four yards, he would have caught me. And then I remember the team shit on me because I came back in the room,

and I grabbed my quads, and I go, how about these calves, boys? And they're like, you fucking idiot. That isn't even your calf. That's your quad. But that was when I took $1,000 off George Rock for a quick little race. Yeah, better than getting the shit kicked out of him. Getting shit kicked out of you by him. He was a tough bastard.

Oh, so tough. He would sit there and he would throw left bombs and he would rag the whole guys. That guy was not, I'd never seen people scared of someone like him. Even fighters, like other fighters knew, like George being a lefty and being that strong was just scary.

All right, well, thanks again to everybody for getting questions in. A programming note, next week is Spittin' Chicklets Week at headquarters down in New York. I should say half a week. It's basically later in the week. Three of us are all going to be down there. We're going to be recording a show.

We haven't determined yet. It's going to be either Thursday or Friday, but we're going to be down in New York next week. We're very excited about it. We're basically going to do a little bit more for the brand, get the word out a little, partake in hopefully some shows down there. I'm sure they'll have us on some of their other stuff down there. But we're wicked excited, as they say around here, to get down to New York. Grinnelli, are you fired up or what? I'm pumped.

I'm just pumped to see you running around in Manhattan. I bet you know all these underground bars and all these crazy places. That show 80s movies. Strictly 80s movies. Black and white movies. Where do I belly up? I love New York City. I love visiting there. Contrary to popular belief, not every Bostonian wants to move to New York.

Great time, Manhattan. There's a Stones exhibit at a museum in the West Village, an art exhibit. It's all their gear and clothes and everything that they've worn and instruments they've played for the last 55 years. It was an exhibit that was in London. They brought it to New York, so I'm fucking psyched.

So you'll have your Kleenex and your moisturizer for that trip into that place for sure. Yeah, let's make a masturbatory. I'm pumped to actually meet some of the guys not completely blacked out because every time I meet them, I'm blacked out, they're blacked out. That's who you are, Grinos. And I meet them and I have to introduce myself every time. So it's nice to be soberly meeting some people.

Yeah, actually a few of the guys I haven't, I mean, I've talked to a million times. Like Clem, for example. Someone like Clem, we've been trading emails and texts and tweets for fucking years now. And you feel like you know somebody until you actually get down. It's kind of like you're coming. I mean, you've been with bars for a long time. But this is like your people will finally kind of see you. Yeah.

Yeah. It's been a long time coming. This is your coming out party. This is our ass coming out party. I definitely am looking forward to it. I mean, it's, you know, like I said, I've had a very, very, very small part in this whole thing. They're not going to let you leave. They're going to hold you hostage. Hey, every man has his price, you know, I'm looking forward to it. I mean, it's, you know, like I said, I mean, I've had a very, very, very small part in this whole thing. They're not going to let you leave. They're going to hold you hostage.

Hey, every man has his price, you know. I'm fucking, I'm all ears. Take a match that I'm fucking doing now. But no, seriously, I'm really looking forward to get down there, you know, for something that I started doing on a lock, basically. I mean, I was a commenter. I started off as a commenter. And, you know, Dave, you know, they don't do this now't do this now anymore, but sending out, calling all cars on a blog, we need a Bruins guy.

I was lucky and fortunate to get picked, and I never would have thought the company would get to this level. I mean, again, I had a small part in it, but definitely a little pride. There's some pride in that. I had a part in Barstool early days, and now where they are, it's definitely something to be proud of. And I'm psyched to get down there, meet everybody. What's going on with Thornton?

I thought he was going to have a podcast. I guess he's waiting for a partner or someone who can, I don't know, match which with Jerry. That's tough. But as far as I know, I haven't talked to him lately, that he's just looking for someone to host with. You want to make it right. You don't want to just grab somebody to grab somebody.

When I've spoken to him, he said he wanted to get it right. Exactly. Yeah, he can't rush into it. He didn't want to rush into it. He wanted it to be perfect. Nice gig for him right now, though. Football's over. And there's no hurry to it.

Collecting those checks. Football's over, so it's not like real urgent. I'm sure he'll find someone and be up and running. Because Jerry's great. Obviously, the more content out of him, the better. So, yeah, we're looking forward. Next week, like I said, we'll be down recording or doing a lot. We might even be doing a live show.

A lot of stuff to be determined. Shoot a puck at Port North. And hashtag, chicklets take Manhattan. Yeah, that's what we're using. Are you going to do the shootout challenge? I'm going to have to. We'll see if Dave's around. I'm down.

I'm bringing my own stick. I don't expect to tune him up if I'm standing in fucking Jersey when we're shooting in New York. I mean, I don't understand how far away I have to be. I'll be making a complete scene if it's that far away. Aim for the helmet. Yeah, I'll be going high. High and hard. Any other programming notes or anything, Grinnells?

You got to offer any... What about you, Wits? Anything else for the weekend? What's up for me? I go up to Toronto tomorrow. I'll be up at Sportsnet. Canadian people, check out Hockey Central. 6 o'clock, 6.30 on Thursday, Friday night on Sportsnet.

I'll be there. And the next week, I'll be at Anshul Negru when we're checking out Barstool. Oh, speaking of Toronto, sorry, Grinnells. I'm be there. And the next week, I'll be at Anshul Negru when we're checking out Barstool. Oh, speaking of Toronto, sorry, Grinnells, I'm going to be up there the week after, the weekend after. I think it's March 4th to 5th. I'm going up to the Goon 2 premiere. I was cordially invited by Mr. Jay Baruchel, actor, director, producer, writer from such movies as Almost Famous, Million Dollar Baby. She's out of my league.

Tons of movies. Yeah, it's me at twitter like we always say how how much of a pain in the ass it can be but it's also has a good side to it and several years ago with bruins and the canadians and the playoffs i was just busting jay's balls online i didn't know him you know just nothing bad just you know having fun and we ended up kind of chatting and he invited me to the goon premiere the first movie down in new york and i went to that and we kind of hit it off pretty well. I mean, we don't obviously hang out a lot, but he's a great guy.

I mean, we had a lot of fun, a lot of laughs, and he said if they do a sequel, you're invited to that. And he manned up his word. He invited me a couple weeks ago. Inviting a Goon to the Goon premiere. Inviting a Goon to the Goon premiere. So I'm hoping to have a few beers with Ray Donovan or Stifler or somebody else and hopefully get some fucking, at least internet

fucking material, internet content. So yeah, we got some exciting weeks coming up for Chicklets. Content, content, content. Absolutely. Hashtag content. Well, thank you all for listening. Thanks for Hal Gill for coming on. Solid to talk to him again. So we will look forward to next week

when we're recording in New York, what it looks like and we'll talk to you then. Hey there, Spit and Chicklets listeners. This is R.A. here. Thanks for listening. We always appreciate the many listeners we have across the continent and the world. Just going to ask a small favor if you guys can help us out with a little survey we need done. It's to help our podcast stay free to download with minimal ads,

and it will also help your response. It will also help align appropriate advertisers for the show. So we're getting ads that will be stuff that you guys will want to use. It's a short survey. It won't take you more than five minutes. It's completely anonymous. There are two ways to go about doing it. You go to www.podcast1.com slash my survey or go to www.podcast1.com and click on the survey banner.

If you've done a survey in the past, we thank you very much, but we still like you to do it again because every little bit of feedback helps us out and it will help the show in the long run. So by helping us, you're helping the show. You do all of us here at Spittin' Chicklets and Podcast One a huge favor by filling it out. You do all of us here at Spittin' Chicklets And Podcast One a huge favor by filling it out So again go to www.podcastone.com Slash my survey

Or www.podcastone.com Click on the survey banner Again it's for the Spittin' Chicklets Thank you very much for supporting our program For supporting Spittin' Chicklets And for doing the survey Have a great day