Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 191: Featuring Joffrey Lupul

Episode Date: July 10, 2019

On Wednesday's episode of Spittin' Chiclets, the guys are back to one episode a week for the summer but luckily were joined by Joffrey Lupul. The fellas interviewed Lupul in his beautiful mansion on the beach in California and talked about his departure from Toronto, life after hockey, prank wars with Whit and a ton more. The boys also discussed his recent free agent signings, athletes going broke and about their trip to LA.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 191 of Spittin' Chicklets Presented by New Amsterdam Vodka I'm looking at Moe, Larry, and Curly on a screen right now All in the same room What's going on, Mikey Grinelli, producer? What's up, boys? I survived the Jersey Shore And now I'm here on a nice little work

project in los angeles with uh paul and ryan yeah let's say hi to the boys with dog and biz nasty this is kind of weird seeing all three is all at once uh you guys are in la right now biz i guess i'll take it over yes 14 hour work day we're here for something very special we not talk about on the podcast now but in the near future um our listeners will be filled in on exactly what we did in L.A. Good news is, Witt, do you want to break the news? Hold on. No, no. We can't talk about what we're doing, but when we can, folks, this is Witt, by the way, when we can, I have so many things to say that we almost wanted to record something tonight, so I don't ever forget what we want to talk about. But about but yeah you'll see it at some point well what did you think i was going to bring up

well no i was going to say do you want to spill the beans on the fact that when we were here i mean people obviously know because they're listening and it was posted but we were able in the midst of what we're doing uh to go down to newport and get a live interview with joffrey loophole um he's been a guy that I've wanted on forever. Very exciting for us. That was another two-hour trek yesterday in traffic in order to go do that. But we feel that a lot of our listeners wanted to hear Joffrey Lupo on this podcast. There are a few stories that we need to tell because afterward, as always,

he was like, oh, damn, I forgot to tell that one. And I know it's going to do the one story justice. Oh, just get into it right away? Yeah, why don't you tell the one afterward that he forgot to tell? Okay, and so we were hanging out after just, you know, I think I've always said this, we're just shooting the shit. Oh, that was fun. And for some reason, every single time you think of another story,

and right when Loops thought of this, he slammed his hand down. He's like, damn it. So we actually, before he told it to us, we had a video taken. So that'll be out there. But if you never get around to seeing the video, Sheldon Brookbank and Shane O'Brien were teammates

of Loups in Cincinnati during the lockout, canceled NHL season, whatever, 2005, RA? Is that what it was? 2006? Yeah, 2004, 2005. So as we've always talked about, the league was really good. Brookbank and O'Brien were good players. They're also very tough.

But not at the time in that league, in the way that league was built, heavyweights though. I mean, they were fighting guys that were out of their weight class all the time. Lupo told me O'Brien had 400 penalty minutes that year. He was a first-round pick.

And he's a player. Both of them. Both of them ended up being good players in the NHL, and they're having a fight, like meat that just pretty much only fight. Every team had two of them then. So Lopes is one of the assistant captains. He said he's with Mark Popovich, and I can't remember the other guy that was the captain. He said it. And they went into the coach's room and they were like, hey, we need some help. Obi and Brookie, they're going to end up getting murdered out there.

They can't continue to deal with this. This is ridiculous. So he's like, well, what do you want me to do? Well, it turns out the local bar that they went to once in a while, one of their boys there was the bouncer the guy was an animal and he happened to mention to him one time i think they were probably having beers talking about how brookie and up and brookie at what and what was happening was coming up was they were having a three and three with the philadelphia phantoms yes yes and these guys right and and they had about fucking 10 fucking heavyweights on their team so i think obi was kind of bitching to him about it to his buddy.

So they were talking to their bouncer buddy, and the guy's like, hey, I was a Golden Gloves boxer, and I played hockey. I will come and fight anyone that you guys want me to fight. And they're like, really? He's like, yeah. So when they went into the coach, like, we got our boy, actually. So he came down. His name was Luke.

I got it here. No. No, Lee Jacobson. So his name was Lee Jacobson. So he comes down to practice, and Luke's just like, yeah, I mean, you know. There was some rust there, but, like, good guy, great guy. He's out there. So he finally gets into a game.

He fights Fedorik in the first game of the 3-3 three times. Three fights. He goes everywhere. And Lupo said he played three seconds all right. He got on the ice at a face-off. Puck was dropped. Fedorik and him, toe-to-toe. He got on the ice before another face-off.

Pucks dropped toe-to-toe. And once more it happened three seconds because they got to take a second off the clock when you drop your gloves right as the pucks being dropped so and you know what he did he skated out of the box this animal and he's skating by the philly bench and he's going tomorrow night we go three more times this is a local bouncer at a bar and he fucking fought and he ended up i think he ended up playing 18 games that year and had over 100 penalty minutes and loop said he would fight anyone didn't give a shit so he told it he told it better better than i did but it was just so

funny that that came to him right when we finished the interview what's even crazier is he kind of got the spark there and his his love for hockey kind rejuvenated. He ended up going on to play, what, two or three more years pro? Yeah. Is that what he said? Yeah, you're right. He went and played in the ECHL. You're right. Because Loops was like, I'm not sure exactly what happened.

He played and he scored a goal, Loops said. He looked up the hockey DB after. That wasn't just that season. He kept going. I mean, imagine. We got to get him on the podcast. That's the bounce that some little piece of shit opens the wrong door and chirps, and it's a Golden Gloves animal that just punches your head in.

Speaking of punching your head in, all right. Oh, I was going to ask you about the concert, but you were going to say something. Oh, I was going to say that's just like the fucking Goon plot. The dude was a bouncer. He became a fighter. Doug Glatt and Goon, same story. Oh, that's how it all went down. Yeah go ahead were you gonna ask me well um i mean bouncer security guards all the same things and you had a bit of an issue recently when you went to the

rolling stones show the other night yeah i mean this is the epitome of first world problems let's fucking let's like get that out there first yeah i was i went to the stones concert i'm a huge stones fan i've seen them dozens of times, and they have this little stage that juts out from the main stage. Yeah, you were lit going in, too. I saw you in. Oh, I was feeling pretty good going in. A couple Billy Lanos? Now, when they

walk out to this little stage, like typically, well, I've gone to other shows. I get tickets right next to that little stage, so when they come out to that stage, they let you hang on the rail, and I'll tell you, man, I've've been a concert there's nothing quite like having a rock and roll fucking icon looking directly in your eyes there's he's five feet away there's no fucking it's euphoric it's like he's looking like in your eyes like you're making eye contact dude 100 when when there's no one between you and they're six seven feet away dude and you're like fucking

pumping your fists or whatever 100 it's the best feeling you can get in a concert so anyways i've been to stones a bunch of times i've sat in these same seats and they always let you go to railing well the first time he came down but they let us go out in the rail and you could see one of my instagram videos jag is fucking five feet away i saw that i noticed that i saw you looking at that i saw you looking in his eyes yeah definitely man but then when they came out to do the two song set biz theyiz, the security was like, no, you have to stay in your seats. I was like, are you kidding me? I was like, it's a fucking rock concert. And I waited between songs, and there was a little bit of a lullabit,

and I screamed. I was like, Keith, tell them to let us on the real. You guys are the fucking stones. And I asked my wife, I'm like, do you think he heard me? She's like, I don't know if he did, but everybody in your section heard you and everyone was like yeah they were pissed because like they were making us like kindergarten they're sitting on fucking seats how much you pay for the seats or do you sneak in no i paid a nickel for them which wasn't you know that's fucking well what does that mean shout out to ckeek shout out to ckeek oh no ckeek got you the seats biz you've

asked what a nickel means 700 times where What is that, $1,000? $500. No, $500. Nickel being five. Dime, 10. Add two zeros. I can't even read. Fuck you guys. So the security came over because she heard me yell, and she's like,

this is how the band wants it. Which I was like, if they do them, they're fucking soft after all these years. But it would just suck because you think you're going to get close and fucking practically high five, and they keep you contained in this little cage. But having said all that, it was still a fucking awesome show. It's like these guys, the four stones that are still there, they're a combined age of 300 years old. 78, 72, 75, and 75. And they sell out a 60,000-seat arena to sing 50-year-old fucking songs.

And the place goes nuts. I'd like to see their STD list of everything they've beaten off or not beaten off. All right. Longer than the set list. You don't think it's like, you don't think it's like, hey, enough, boys. Like, it's time to shut it down here. Like, they're so old running around that state. I don't know.

It's at some point. What are they, in their 80s? 78's the oldest one. Charlie Watts, the drummer. 78, 75, 75, and 72. And I know you're saying they're old, but the first time I saw them 30 years ago in Foxborough, and people were saying that back then,

oh, how many more times are they going to tour? This might be the last tour, which is funny, because they were my age now fucking 30 years ago. But when you see them do it, I'll go on a tour. I'll be inspired by seeing these basically senior citizens fucking rocking around, especially Jagged, dude. He's 75.

He just had fucking heart surgery, and he runs around the whole stadium, man. You can't help but think this is awesome. I would say that's hardest on the drummer because that has so much impact all night long. Does he go the entire show? Does he take breaks, the drummer guy uh not really i mean there may be a couple like acoustic songs he can kind of go slow on and jag it takes us two song break when richards comes out and does two of his songs they take a quick break and play a little shuffleboard in between sets change here a couple of butter scotches

um a couple other things before there's a hockey um we we we had a more of a discussion slash bet in the car between um Grinelli and Witt and it was a bet what was it before the year 10 years yeah 10 years from now so 2029 Whitney believes either Conor McGregor or Floyd Mayweather will file for bankruptcy. Now, I don't see Conor McGregor going bankrupt. I'm 50-50 on the Floyd Mayweather because I know he's made a shit ton, but you got to think this guy's spending at least two, three million a month. Now, he's 40 years old. The way he takes care of himself, he doesn't drink, doesn't do drugs.

I don't think he's ever had a sip of alcohol in his entire life like i'd imagine if he ever was at uh desperate for money he could always fight again till he's probably till he's 50 and make a substantial amount of money i'd say at least 10 15 million do you think that he could blow through i would guess he's got what 500, $500 million left in his bank? He doesn't have $500 million. There ain't a chance, dude. He has $500 million right now. Thoughts, R.A.?

I would think Mayweather would probably blow through it first. He'd probably be more likely to get sued out of the two of them. Plus, he can't read, so he'd probably have trouble with contracts, so he might get more likely to get fucked out of some money. But I don't know. McGregor's pulled some fucking stupid stunts, too. But didn't he make, like, hundreds of millions off that whiskey company? Like he's like, so I think fucking McGregor has been much truer with his

investment. So, yeah, I think Mayweather would be more likely to blow it. It started. I don't remember exactly how the discussion started, but we were talking about Tyson and how stupid some of these guys are. And then I was like, Mayweather, Mayweather or McGregor will go broke. And Grinnelli's like, no chance, no chance. I go, in 10 years, one of them will go broke.

We made the bet, and I actually said, oh, shit, I wasn't even thinking about what's his whiskey, whatever. Proper whiskey. So that's everywhere. That could end up being what makes him not go bankrupt. Mayweather is a scumbag, wife-beating maggot who could get sued, arrested. He gambles. He's got his $6 million winning tickets.

He's not showing us the losing tickets. Dude, if you have or have made $400 million to $500 million to $600 million, whatever, he's made $700 million, and you spend $40 million a year, dude, you're going broke. So, yeah, he could probably fight a bunch more times i mean at some point people are going to stop buying it maybe not with him he's never lost so he gets he can get another 30 40 million but when these guys go bankrupt dude they they they owe more than what they're already down he does have a promotion company which i don't know what's pulling in a year um he does spend it like ridiculously he's buying birkin bags for for random chicks all the time which is like i don't know like

a hundred thousand dollar purse for a girl made by her may is not a big deal keep the change uh he does buy all those bugattis and cars but a lot of them are like one of one and rare cars where they're not going to depreciate. So I don't know. I would say a lot of boxers end up. I would say you're going to lose that bet, especially by 2029. I think there's no way that either of them do. And Mayweather may be down the road. I would say if it wasn't you that made the bet with me, I'd be like, dude, you made the

bet with me. So you're probably going to win. They'll probably both be like multi-billionaires. But you're a going to win. They'll probably both be like multi-billionaires. But you're a mush too, so it's not like this is – you should be no more confident. 500 bucks too. I need that money. In 2029, yeah, I mean, that'll be like –

that'll be legit change. R.A., should we probably get to some hockey here? Yeah, yeah. I was going to say, Biz, I tweeted out – my mother-in-law is a listener of the show, and she heard me talk about the fanny pack. I told her she bought me one. Well, one of our listeners was on Rodeo Drive and he tweeted a picture from the Prada store of actual fanny packs at Prada. I said, how much? He goes, they're too expensive. They don't have the price tag on them. And I didn't want to ask because they know I couldn't afford it. You'd probably rock a legit $3,000 fanny pack. No.

Really? No, I'm a little more conservative than that. I mean, I like fashion. I'm into that stuff. He has his Gucci sandals on. If I bought a nice bag for myself, it wouldn't be a Louis Vuitton or like a Gucci. It would be a Bottega Veneta, a nice mesh duffel bag. I think they run for about, I don't know about $6,500 to $10,000.

They're gorgeous. I've had a Bottega Veneta credit card wallet and it was a gift from my ex. I've had it for, I would say, four or five years. It still looks brand new. That's because you never pay for anything.

You never take your wallet out of your pocket. Don't fucking laugh. I can see you on the computer screen, you piece of trash. He's like, this credit card looks brand new. Speaking of not paying for anything, how about Doug Wilson? Wow, did he get a deal? Did he get a bargain? Big time. San Jose signed forward Kevin LeBanc to a one-year,

$1 million extension. Now, this is a guy who had 17 goals, 39 assists last year, 56 points, 82 games played. Should have been probably getting a lot more money than this. You got to think Wilson probably told him, take this deal now, and we'll take care of you in a year or so. But $1 million, Biz, what were you thinking he was going to get? At least two, no?

I mean, I know that they're pretty close to against the cap and and uh tip of the cap to le banc for for being a team player and he's a guy who's probably going to be in the top six this year and contribute i know towards the end of the year he he was more of a a top six all the time but holy shit dude you're still rolling the dice a little bit he lives in california do you guys know what the state tax uh it's ridiculous out there i'm gonna puke i i say after cost of living and everything that guy's gonna take home 150 grand us next year yeah it cut cut it in half right away then you got escrow then you got agent's fees, cost of living.

And what's the area in San Jose where they all live? The Bay Area. That's fucking crazy. Yeah, yeah. There's like an area that they all live in where you're not renting anything less than three, four grand a month. Plus, as you mentioned, the cost of living. But it's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. So for his sake, I hope he puts up 40 and 40,

and he puts on a fucking sandpaper finish on his hammer, and he bends that organization over for fucking eight times eight. Because he deserves it. He's taken a million-dollar deal after contributing 50. I know he's restricted with it, but come on. I'm curious, though. I know he's restricted with, but come on. I'm curious, though. There can be like an agreement where, hey, we're going to take care of him,

but right now the issues we have with the cap, this is what he's getting. That could be false completely. I will say I tweeted out, what did he sign this? What did I say? Did he sign this contract while being hostage? And Robin Brownlee, a reporter in Edmonton, who I knew from when I was with the Oilers, he said, well, sort of. No arbitration rights.

Wilson had the leverage. Why not use it? And some guy wrote back to him, it's the best value deal to be signed so far this summer, though. And he just mentioned that players can crush teams when they're UFA. That's their time to cash in, right? Well, Wilson had all the chips this time. He didn't have to give him anything, and he's like, hey, if you want to play here, this is what you're going to get.

You have no rights. But what if he, once the season starts, gets an extension? What if that was a deal and they were just doing that for this year to be under the cap? I don't know. But he had a hell of a year. Dude, that four points he put up in that power play in Game 7 and that ridiculous comeback after one of the worst calls I've ever seen that made me lose all that money against the Vegas Golden Knights. That guy, he did it all.

He was the hero for them. So what a deal to get him at $1 million, and we'll see what happens. I think he's going to get a deal from them coming up shortly. And how about that swing? I mean, I know they lose Pavelski, but now they get a guy who, I mean, he hasn't proven what Pavelski's proven, and he hasn't scored at the rate Pavelski has, but that's a great replacement.

And for a team that I was a little bit worried about moving forward, if Joe Thornton comes back on a fair deal, I mean, you've got to imagine they're going to be contenders again. Do you think Thornton really makes or breaks him though? No but I mean to have him as a depth center because I would say that he's

moving forward he is slowing down a little bit and he can't put up the type of points five on five that he was able to in the past he's still a solid player he's going to play power play he's going to eat some valuable minutes and I'm curious to know what type of. He's going to play power play. He's going to eat some valuable minutes. And I'm curious to know what type of deal Joe's going to take.

He doesn't need money. I know that that kind of sounds like goofy. Everyone should get what they can. But he's made so much money. If he really wants to keep playing, which it seems that he does, you'd think he would almost be like Spezza. Maybe Spezza didn't have an option to make more, but I think it's a million dollars or even less with the Maple Leafs.

Is Joe willing? Like, hey, give me 1.5. I was going to say 2. 1.5, 2, and I'm the third-line center, and I'll play some power play. And you're telling me that is the best chance they have at winning in the Stanley Cup is with him. So you said, does he make them or break them? I don't know, but I think they got a way better chance

of winning with him on their team. I know he doesn't care, but this really hurt Mitch Marner's DMs and Twitter activation. Because all the people just tagging him after that signing being like, this is what a team guy does. And it's like, okay, well, totally different situations. But nonetheless, that's a very valuable player they got for $1 million. Yeah, he's still only 23.

Like I would say, he did not have arbitration rights this year, and he'll be RFA again after this season. So I don't like you said, Biz, maybe you'll stick it up there. Hey, hold on, fellas. I want to talk to you for a second about Tommy John. As the summer sizzles, do you feel like you're cooking in your clothes? If you can't handle the heat, you need new underwear. And Tommy John is the perfect solution. Tommy John's innovative cool cotton underwear for men and women is a summer must-have.

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That's TommyJohn.com slash chicklets for 20% off. TommyJohn.com slash chicklets for 20% off. Tommyjohn.com slash chicklets. A couple hours ago, the Bruins dropped the news that they re-signed that Danton Heinen to a two-year $5.6 million deal. That's a $2.8 million cap hit for two years. Avoid arbitration. That's a pretty fair number for both team and player, I'd say, if Heinen progresses as he has his first couple years.

He could end up being a bargain in the second year of that deal. He struggled a bit offensively in the playoffs, I thought, but he's certainly becoming a 200-foot player. I like what I've seen out of him so far the first couple years with Boston. I think it's a good deal for them. What's your take on this one? I agree it's fair. I think it's a better deal for him.

I was surprised he signed for that much on an annual deal. I thought he'd maybe get two. There's games he looks great. And even when he came up and went up and played with Bergeron and Marchand when they dropped Pasternak with Krejci in the playoffs, he didn't do much offensively, but he played good hockey. But then there's times he disappears. So I think offensively you were thinking he'd make a little bigger step this past year.

Maybe they believe it's still there and they saw things this year. Maybe he got some bad bounces. In a way, a guy can have a year where nothing's going in for him. But I still think that 2.8 a year, I thought that was a little high for him. How about you, Biz? Yeah, I would agree, and especially for a team like many good ones now, they're in a tough spot to get all their guys back and sign them. I mean, they have to get McAvoy and Carlos signed,

and I don't know why they have $10 million in cap space right now. It's seven now. Well, it just dropped down to seven. And Torrey Krug, we talked about it on the ride over here, he's got one year left on his deal, and a guy who's done a lot for the organization, I think he's making, what, 5.7? I might have been off.

Is it five? It might be under five. I think it's 5.5. Oh, it is? Okay. So what we were saying, the weird thing about the Bruins right now is McAvoy's going to want a lot of money. And nobody's made that much there.

All these guys, I mean, it would be weird to see him all of a sudden have the highest average value. Yeah, I could see him taking a bit of a hometown discount at around seven. You think for eight? He's going gonna sign eight years they gotta sign once eight they gotta sign carlo as well and this can kind of open up a different can of worms and and carlo speaking of carlo carlo koliakovo had a very interesting tweet he said nhl can learn something from nba salary cap system hard caps suck soft caps allows uh allows flexibility and ability to see blockbuster trades year after year

let teams decide about paying tax look at the buzz and hype with nba versus nhl free agency stars and trades drive excitement around the sport now a lot of people like the way uh the league has so much parody in the nhl now i like it i. I'm open to have a conversation about this because I think that there's plenty of ways you can go down this path because I feel like a lot of teams right now are being punished for drafting, developing well. And you're seeing Toronto deal with it.

And we talked a little bit about the last podcast. Well, now your team, well, I mean, not so much you, Witt, but Grinelli and R.A. No, Grinnelli's a Blues fan. Oh, that's right. Yeah. That's right.

Him and Loud Luxury. He gets like started shaking. Yeah, he's pissed. He's going to fucking hit you with a bottle over there. But now your team's dealing with it. I think that there should be some type of rule in place where if you draft and develop, you get a little bit off the salary cap if you're keeping players in the organization. You shouldn't be punished for drafting and developing well. And now a team like Toronto,

who has suffered for a long time, they haven't made it out of the first round in the last 15 years. They've done what they needed to do as an organization with the picks that they acquired and the players they did. And now all of a sudden, they might not even be able to keep them all where they're being punished. And I know a lot of people hate the Maple Leafs, but it's kind of their turn. They went through their shitty years

and their fan base suffered. Yeah, but all these teams, Pittsburgh and Washington, they figured it out. Well, I mean, yeah, years and their fan base suffered yeah but but pitt all these teams pittsburgh and washington they figured it out well i would i mean yeah pittsburgh and uh and and i guess washington did figure it out but more going back chicago figured it out more going ah but they yeah okay i'll agree with that one too they won their first one when some of those guys were still on entry level contracts but but you're also dealing with a few of the best in the world in Evgeny Malkin and Sidney Crosby where they're able to raise the level of play of players around them.

Now, that's a tip of the cap and a credit to them. I'm not saying that Austin Matthews and some of these other young guys in Toronto aren't going to be able to do that, but once again, I don't think they should be punished for it if they're not able to play to a level of Crosby and Malkin, who are our top 100 players of all time. Yeah, I agree.

All right, one thing. Go ahead, Raph. The thing is, you didn't see those teams, Chicago and Pittsburgh and Washington, pay not homegrown guys, and Toronto went out and paid Tavares, one of the biggest contracts out in the league. So when you get into that game, it changes everything.

It just changes for the guys that you've homegrown on those other teams. All right, sorry, go ahead. Of course, Whit, you took the fucking words out of my mouth. I swear to God, I wish I had a dollar every time this happened. I was going to say the same thing. I agree with you, Whit. I mean, teams shouldn't be penalized for drafting well and being successful. But, you know, Toronto did complicate matters on their own

by deciding to give Tavares $10 million. So you can't feel bad for them so much in that regard. But I know what you're saying, though. Teams are drafting well. There should be something else in place. The team shouldn't have to lose so many good players year after year. It does suck for them. But anyways, Danton Heinen's linemate in the playoffs, Marcus Johansson,

he was a UFA. I went out on a limb and said I thought he was going to get three years, maybe six million based on how good he was in the playoffs. And we saw Wayne Simmons get five million after kind of a tough ending for the year for him. But he got two years, Johansson and Buffalo, two years, $9 million. That's four and a half million a year. I think I said that that might be what he gets.

Yeah, it was much less than I thought. Like I said, he finished very strong. And like I said, Simmons, five million. I said, well, geez, Johansson finished a lot better than him. And I know Simmons is only one year, but were you surprised that four and a half went or what? No, I mean, when I said I think I don't know if I said four to five. I just feel like that kind of rings a bell, four and a half. But I do think that you can kind of get pigeonholed where if you've had some injury pass and some inconsistencies, I mean, it just can be bad timing.

He played great at times, but he also missed time. It just ends up affecting what you're going to sign for. And I do think it's a great signing, though. I think the Bruins kind of fucked up on that not getting him at that at that price but in the end uh if he continues to play the way he has when healthy for two more years he'll probably get a bigger deal fair enough uh right now I think it's Buffalo if they don't make playoffs it's a bust I mean that's uh that's that's pretty much all I got like it was a very good deal a very good

depth player that they got where i mean he's probably going to play in the top six there but a guy that can kind of bounce around if he isn't in the top six he's a good third liner i believe he was playing third line with uh was he playing with coil in playoffs yeah coil and high yeah and and they were great so i mean I could see him being in their top six, but just a nice guy to round out the lineup and some much-needed depth that Buffalo needed. I think this one kind of takes the focus off of their O'Reilly deal last summer. It's like, hey, all right, now that's a positive one in their books

and a bit of a change of pace for the Buffalo Sabres. Yeah, he's definitely a nice piece to add. And as far as the Bs, I know a lot of fans are wondering, oh, why couldn't they add him for that number? And things aren't always the same for one team as they are for the other. But I think the Bs are probably going to maybe give some young guys a crack at it and move a few things around. I would have liked to keep him, but whatever.

See what happens. The Sabres weren't done. They also made a trade as well. They continue to redo their blue line this summer as they acquired defenseman Henry Jokihayu from the Blackhawks in exchange for forward Alex Nylander. Buffalo sort of cut and bait with Nylander. Three years after taking him eighth overall in the 2016 draft.

They're going to bring in the offensively-minded Jokihayu. It's going to be interesting to see what happens there. What do you got going on this one, Biz? Listen, I don't know anything about either of these guys. All that I've heard is the Chicago fans are very upset. They think they gave away a very good prospect, and Buffalo fans seem to be thanking the Lord because they didn't see anything out of Nylander.

Had a very mediocre AHL career so far. And sure, is there some untapped potential there maybe and I don't know maybe maybe he ends up going over to Chicago and just fits in way better but uh just from what I've read online um it seems as if though Chicago got fleeced on this one it's bizarre because Chicago's talked about how they need D. Yes. They need D. And they had this kid who looked great. And they didn't draft that Bowen Byram kid third overall. They ended up picking Kirby Dock.

Yeah, I think Dock. Who just signed a three-year entry level. He just signed. So they pass on a D there. And then their young first-round pick D D they trade away for a forward who hasn't shown that much of anything I actually remember in the world juniors one year I don't remember where it was he looked awesome

so there's definitely something there in Nylander but who knows maybe he breaks out completely maybe they're looking at him the same way they're looking at Dylan Strong get him over there I'm just in your guys heads get him here. Get him playing with Kane or Taves,

and we can see that stud that was picked eighth overall. But if that kid ends up being a right shot puck moving, good skating defenseman for Buffalo, wow, what a deal they've made. And what's crazy is this kid, I think he played in the nhl this was it this year and then was playing good and and um quenville got gassed and calliton came up and he kind of got in the doghouse the kid's real young so he goes down to rockford well then he goes to the world juniors maybe went to the world juniors first and ends up in rockford after that and see you later that's all she wrote for Chicago

so you don't often see a team give up on a first round defenseman who can skate and move the puck in one year all right we'll see I'm not going to be hyperbolic about this one I've never watched either of them play so I'm gonna I'm gonna keep this one open I'm not gonna roast Stan Bowman like most people seem to be doing online. Let's see how it plays out and what you said. If it turns out like the Strobe one, he looks like a genius. Biz, we keep getting wit-cepted by Whitney. He keeps stealing

our ideas off us. It feels like one of those deals, just one of those mutual change of scenery deals where maybe each guy will fucking click on the other spot. But like you said, Biz, time will tell. Before we throw it over to Joffrey Lupo, just a couple more quick notes. A couple of coaches got extended since our last episode. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan was extended for another four seasons.

That will take him through the 24th season. Of course, he's the first American-born coach in NHL history to win multiple Stanley Cups. And Colorado's Jared Bednar signed a two-year extension as well. His extension runs through the 21-22 season. And Sebastian Ajo's offer sheet, as expected, was matched by the Habs. I don't know if you saw their tweet. They tweeted out a picture of their calendar on Sunday. And at 105 on the calendar, it said,

match offer sheet for Sebastian Ajo, like the to-do list. Their social media is pretty good. They're one of the better ones out there. So just a couple of other quick notes. And I think we should send it over to that man rocket, Joffrey Lupo right about now. And one thing before we send it over to him is an interesting thing. He told us afterward was he ended up negotiating his own contract when he's

with the Toronto Maple Leafs, when he had that extension after he had a few very successful seasons there. I don't know if it was in the midst or the year after he was an NHL all-star. Very successful NHL career. Had some ups and downs, excuse me. 701 NHL games played. Fuck. And one thing that pissed me off is every time we post about him,

which Grinelli did, as he always does leading in, a lot of negative comments on Instagram about him. This guy is an unbelievable guy. He's a guy's guy. He's a stud. I'd imagine all the guys commenting negatively on Instagram probably had their old ladies try and suck his dick at a cactus club in Toronto or something of another.

It was like their screensaver on their phone. Yeah. Loups firing a snapshot. Yeah, they were in the guest bedroom hitting the gluck gluck 3000 to google image of joffrey loophole where are people writing bad stuff about him instagram well just yeah just like oh like oh that guy's still alive it's like hey listen you're gonna hear the interview you're gonna figure out what he's up to an awesome guy and uh very excited that we got him on So let's throw it over to Joffrey Lupo.

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It's an incredible deal for a premium made-to-measure suit. Once you go custom, you don't go back. This former player was born in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta. He played his junior hockey in his home province with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League for three seasons. After his second season in the WHL, he was drafted seventh overall in the 2002 NHL Entry entry draft by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

After spending one final season in the Western League, he then went on to have an incredible NHL career playing 701 NHL games with four organizations, including one All-Star nomination as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Welcome to the Spititting Chicklets podcast. A guy who I've been begging to come on forever. The man rocking himself, Joffrey Lupo. Thanks, boys. Oh, and let me just, biz is pumping your tires. We just, it took us about three fucking hours to get down here.

So I came in, I said, Luke, this better be good. I mean, and he goes, I would have taken a helicopter. I just didn't say that just his eyes did if i signed two big tickets like him i would have got a chopper down here too what a beautiful place though if i could describe this it's we are directly on what beach is this newport there we go newport beach we are looking at the the ocean the sand we actually had to shut the door. The sounds outside were too nice. And I remember when we played together, you bought this property, but nothing had even started. So it came out perfect. Thanks, boys.

Thanks for making the drive. Of course, for you, anything. You actually just threw one of your infamous July 4th parties, although it was backed up a couple days. July 4th was on a Thursday this year. You had your party on a Saturday. up a couple days july 4th was on a thursday this year uh you had your party on a saturday i attended uh one of your july 4th parties and let me tell you there was no shortage of attractive women at that no chance you brought a thing by the way to that i i actually i well crunch bag of chips is this uh is this maybe it's time to drop my yellowtail wine joke? I usually drop one every other podcast.

I brought a nice box of wine. I did have a stand-up 69 in your guest bedroom, so thank you very much for... In this house? In this house. Oh, that's great. We got to go up and take a picture of you on the spot. Yeah.

Should I put a plaque there? A plaque on the floor? No, it's like the chalk that they do for murders, which is his nose, so the chalk's three feet out, longer than his dick. Well, I mean, thanks for joining us. It's been a while since we've wanted to have you on. Obviously, now that you're retired,

or we're kind of forced into retirement, and we'll get to that in a bit, what have you been up to lately? I mean, you guys would know better than anyone, when you're playing, we're so focused on hockey all year round and then when you're when you're done you're like wow i can i can kind of do whatever the fuck i want here man it's pretty sweet whoa so i mean i play some golf i've done a lot of traveling um got back into snowboarding actually i used to love snowboarding when i was

a kid and then didn't do it for like 20 years and now i'm back doing that are you like good are you like are you someone that's like going down black diamonds and shit are you more just out there chilling i have a little bit of both i'm not gonna kill myself out there or anything but because that's the reason i ask is we'll get into the back i mean how, how is your back? It's good. I mean, if I take care of it and I'm doing, I mean, see therapists and I do a ton of yoga now. So that's 100% you need that. I need that.

Or I'll be a grumpy bastard. Usually with our guests, we start right from the beginning. So you were born in Alberta and you played your minor hockey there. You were born 20 minutes outside of Edmonton. I would imagine you played your minor hockey there yep you're uh you were born 20 minutes outside of Edmonton I would imagine you played your minor hockey in Edmonton no I played it in Fort Saskatchewan oh what the fuck do I know small place like 13,000 people uh but all the

all the guys I played with I played every year um same group of guys for like 10 years and it was an awesome place to grow up awesome place to play play hockey. So you're 83, we're 83s. 83. So that was Bo Meister, right? Oh yeah, I played against Bo the whole time and then we were,

we played together for Medicine Hat. So he was filthy growing up. He was so good, yeah. I remember hearing about him when he was like 14 years old, this kid from Edmonton skated like the wind.

But you were always right there too. Like were you a high WHL pick? I didn't get picked at all. I just went to a camp one year. You had a growth spurt. You were 5'4".

I was tiny. I was a late grower. And then one year, I just sprung up, and I'm like, I'm going to give this a shot and go to camp. My parents are like, fuck you. You're going to college. Really? When you're a kid in Canada, you want to play in the Ontario League the ontario league the western league so i'm like i'm going to this camp i remember the the first exhibition game because you play that first exhibition game you can't go to college anymore

yeah my dad was like you're not playing in this game i'm like i'm playing in this fucking game so i mean i mean that's pretty crazy you're what're like, Dad, no, this is what I want to do. Yeah. So the draft's what, 15, the year before? I can't even remember. Whatever it is, it's too young. Like, kids are not developed. You're drafting bantam hockey players.

Yeah, I know, but it's crazy that you would grow that much and not lose coordination. Like, usually there's a tough year or two in there when guys have a growth spurt like that. You just didn't even didn't matter you seem to be all right worked out for me you seen my money with so your first year when you went to camp you ended up having a pretty good season yeah i ended up at the start of the year i think i was like kind of playing on the fourth line i just cracked the team and then by the end of the year i ended up um playing good and then and i mean i was starting to realize then i'm like wow i could probably really do this because my draft year

wasn't until the next year and then i was that year got a lot more serious and came back and was like with the goal of of getting drafted and like making hockey a full career it's crazy that quick tore it up you end up having 106 points in your draft year. Is that right? Is that good? You haven't seen – there's a picture on his fridge of his stats that year printed out. Just don't want to forget this 100-point year. So that's a pretty crazy two-year swing where you're arguing with your old man that you could even play in an exhibition game in the Western Hockey League

to end up having an incredible second season. Were you expected to go that high in the Western Hockey League to end up having an incredible second season were you expected to go that high in the draft I kind of it just I kind of gathered momentum as the year went everyone was talking Bo Meester like he was going to be the first pick we were on the same team that was think that I was like a lot I think a lot of people were coming to see him at the start of the year and then I was playing well and yeah, I think then I was projected third round, second round. And then by the time the year was over, turned into a first round pick. No shit.

And yeah, right after you were sixth or seventh? Uppy was sixth. I was seventh. And I was fifth. Oh, yeah. I remember later on you told me, like, when you got picked, I'm like, who the fuck is this tall kid? This is like tall goof. Uppy's the last man standing now.

Well, he's trying. We'll see. I guess already he is last man standing. Yeah, I mean, he's played more previously than we have. Well, I mean, especially after his Instagram antics, I would imagine that he's playing first line. Yeah, do you put your workouts on Instagram? Yup, dog. I love seeing him do these.

He'll just do, like jumps i'm like i can watch this all day yeah i don't know i do yoga i don't know how it goes over if you start flashing a camera around in that room so all right so you end up getting drafted that's 2002 you go to camp that what was that 2002 2003 season yeah and you made the team right out of camp no okay they sent me back to i went back to junior that was uh no one back then no one it was i wasn't even going to that camp to make the team like they had already told me they're like come play some exhibition games you're going back to junior yeah and that's kind of just how it was i think easier almost you know you don't have

crazy expectations right i think did bowmeister play? I think he did. Yeah, Bowmeister played, but I don't think anyone else did. No, Nash did. Oh, Nash did. Nash did. I got one question about Bowmeister. He's so quiet, but once you got beers in him, this guy was just a wild man. Well, it's all relative, right? If you go from not talking at all to just talking, you're like, wow, this guy, he's going nuts

tonight. So he wouldn't say shit in the locker room? No, he was a he's a great guy nicest guy i was so happy to see him win so was i man yeah there was actually there's a bunch of guys on that team i was steen i was very happy for him and steen o'reilly bozak like lots of these veteran guys that are like seem to be getting like phased out of the league and then like a team full of these guys won it i was i thought it was pretty cool. It's a copycat league, so maybe they'll start bringing all the old guys back.

I might put my resume in. Stop your blades. All right, so the first year you play in the NHL, is Babcock the coach then? Babs is the coach, yeah. What a crazy difference to what that was with the Ducks and then what it turned into, right? Like Randy came and it was just the uniform changed.

But you saw the mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The mighty purple uniforms. What was it like that year? I mean, were you the only rookie on that team? Who else were you hanging with? No, another guy, Garrett Burnett. Do you remember him? Garrett Burnett?

No. Massive. College guy? Massive dude. Oh, no. Oh, no. Eric Burnett, no. Massive.

College guy? Massive dude. Oh, no. No, no. Massive guy, huge, like heavyweight fighter in that era when these guys were just getting monstrous. Oh, he was one of the meats. Luke's had to put needles in his ass. Too jacked to reach.

No, he was a great guy, but that was that era where every team had two of these guys that could literally kill each other. How crazy was that? You end up having a pretty good rookie year, and then the next year, all of a sudden, boom, work stoppage. Luckily for you, you were able to go down and play in the American League where a lot of these guys were just sitting at home.

Yeah, and you know what? That was one of the more fun years of my career because everyone was back in the minor leagues and there was no competition, though. There was no NHL to get called up. And so it was just like we were all between 19 or 20 and 22 and we were just having it. We had a great time.

And some of my best buddies that I've kept in touch with, Sheldon Brookbank, Shane O'Brien, were on that team. Chris Kunitz, Dustin Penner. Oh, God. Don't bring up Kunitz because that's Witt's art's nemesis. Oh, I'm happy for him. You would have took one of those four cups off. Just give me one of the four, bud.

Jesus Christ. So before we get into the O'Brien connection, what was it like playing in Cincinnati in the American League? I mean, for the AHL, that's a good town. It's not a bad town for the AHL. I mean, I was like 20 years old, so any town seemed – I'm from Fort Saskatchewan. Like, any town seemed good.

It's not Newport Beach where I was the year before, but it was still – I mean, it's better than it could have been. When did you become so close with Upshaw then? Because you guys have been thick as thieves, but you never... Yeah. No, we played... Well, he was a six pick and I was a seventh. And we had always...

We would train together in the summer. And we lived together in the summer in Edmonton. Good times we had there. But yeah, we've kind of been best buddies since we were like 16 17 years old and then played together in philly for a couple years what was it like playing for babs it was i mean he young too he was young he's he's a good coach i mean he's a smart guy he's an extremely hard worker like noticeably harder than other coaches I had had, like watching him in there do video and practice plans.

And he's a tough guy to play for. He's demanding. My criticism with him is I feel sometimes that when I watch their team, even this year, seeing these guys, he won't necessarily jump on the grenade for the team sometimes. No, he really won't. By any, like, the team loses, he'd be like, my defense isn't good enough.

I had my guy. Yeah, yeah. The goalie didn't stop the puck. I'm like, well, he's one of the best goalies in the league. That's very true. And sometimes that's the only criticism I would have with him. I was like, this guy could easily bail some people out here and just take some of the blame.

But Ruby did that in the playoffs. Plenty of times, yeah. One game he's like, I took a lot of responsibility. That's a good point. He doesn't really do that. But yeah, in the room, I mean, he's had success. So people can, like, we have Commodore on, just dogs him. But obviously he knows what he's doing.

He knows what he's doing, and he'll make adjustments, he's he's not like stuck to his ways um so he's good that way all right so then you know the the big trade Chris Pronger wants a trade out of Edmonton uh after that incredible run they go on did you have any coup and I'm guessing sixth overall pick you're playing well for this team you're like I'm part of the future. And boom, you're back up. You're traded to your hometown. Yeah, we had a good run in the playoffs. We actually lost to Edmonton in the conference final.

Oh, is that when Getz and Perry joined? They joined. They came up like midway through the year. And then that's when they kind of were getting their feet wet. And they started playing really well, which probably at the end of the day made me expendable but no i didn't think i was going to be traded and certainly not to edmonton which is my hometown which at the time it wasn't that great really uh i was so young and you're just like got away from home and you're enjoying living down here and then i would kind of came i think it would be a complete different story if you came back if i went later in my career and played for edmonton

and and uh you you would enjoy those moments and and having your family and friends all around but at that time i was kind of like shit like i want to i want to be on my own right now i want to be on my own and maybe you didn't think it but you're like pressure's on i just got traded for fucking pronger like yeah yeah you you know that they're gonna you know how the fans can get there oh yeah it's it must have just been tough it was tough it was a tough year i got traded the next year to philly um and and that was awesome i loved philly great place to play hockey. We had an awesome group of guys with Richards, Carter, Hartnell. That was a treat. Yeah, Upshaw.

It was a super fun team to be on. Unfortunately, we kept running into you guys in the playoffs, and we just couldn't quite beat you. Yeah, Sid and Malkin, it was like the difference. Yeah, they were good. Well, I want to go back to Edmonton and talk about the distractions. Was it just the off-ice? Was it just like family constantly asking for

tickets and friends and just having to really balance the off ice and on ice a little bit but everyone is pretty respectful I just from what I can remember I just like at that time I was just like oh shit I just got I just left Edmonton to kind

of start my career and now I'm back here at 22 but I think like right now at my age if I was still playing like going back to Edmonton and playing in front of friends and family would be awesome yeah you'd be fired up yeah but right at that point in time it was kind of like I was one wit touched on it then it was off to Philly and I gotta ask uh who is the other uh member of the legion of prune line that is That might be one of the best line names. We got to make a fucking t-shirt, Grinnelli. Imagine NHL Network and the Legion of Poon line

strikes again. You could basically insert anyone between you and Upbeat in the Legion of Poon line. I can't remember exactly who was working the middle, but... The guy working the middle was like, yes, great spot to be. It was. I think that was Tim Panascio said that one day.

We were, like, walking in, and I was, like, walking out of the locker room, and he's like, there they go, the Legion of Poon. I'm like, what did he just say? The reporter. I was like, wow. Wait, how do you guys know that? Jesus, I guess we're having a time for ourselves. Oh, I don't think it was any secret that you guys were having a good time off the ice.

Philly's a great town to go out in, and you love being there, young guy. Yeah, I did. Yeah, that was my first time ever living in a big city where we lived right downtown, and we could walk everywhere. And that was the first time I'd been in an East Coast city. Yeah, yeah. And it's pretty cool. And the fans are awesome.

They get a hard time for being tough on their guys, but they're awesome. Yeah, they're scumbags. They love you. Wits hard on Philly, as was I after that outdoor game, because they just get sloppy. Oh, yeah. But they're rabid fans.

Oh, it's a blue-collar town. They like to eat and drink and cheer on their sports teams. Play with Eek there? Maybe chuck them in the stands. Oh, yeah. They're chucking them for sure. Playing with Mike Richards, man. This guy was – he did it all.

Richie was – when he – the years I was there, I know injuries and stuff caught up to him later in his career, but he was so good. He was one of the best players in the league. Awesome leader. Just a great player. And he would just go fight too. He would just do whatever

he needed to do. He was a great player, a great guy. And then you had Jeff Carter as well. I mean, that could have been another member of the Legion of Poon Lion. What a stud. Yeah. For sure. I think he made an appearance or two playing in the middle for the Legion.

He got a couple months with the Legion. He got a couple months. He certainly got an opportunity. Then you end up going back to Anaheim. Yeah. That's when we met. Yeah, that's when I was playing. Traded back for Pronger again. This guy was just chasing toasts around.

He's your Kunitz. Yeah, yeah. The old shit. Because they won here. They did win. Yeah, yeah. The dream hunter. Yeah, because they won here. They did win. Oh, Jesus. Yeah, then I came back here, and unfortunately, that's when probably halfway through that year, I first hurt my back, and I tried to rehab it for a bit, then had some infections, like a whole bunch of shit.

So I want to get into this, i'll never forget uh going to visit you you were at your house dude you couldn't get out of bed for a month right maybe even longer that was i remember going into your room with brookbank it's like what's up buddy and i actually remember thinking you were in a lot better mood than i thought like you were like what's up guys but in the end like what else were you gonna do it's just crazy no but how many times were you like i'm not i don't know if I'm going to play again at that point? Yeah, when it came later and I had this bad infection and they couldn't diagnose it, it got pretty scary. And I saw different people and they did prepare me for that.

They were like, there's a chance that you're not going to be able to play anymore with the damage that like to the, to the disc and the spine and stuff. So, I mean, that sucked. But yeah, I mean, when you're coming back from an injury, if you're not staying positive at all,

you're, I mean, you're fucked. What was the original injury? It was just a herniated disc that they, um, I went in for. And at that time it was kind of like,

now that surgery is like, it's nothing like guys are back in like eight to 12 weeks. But then it was like, but it was the, and then I had to get a second operation. And from that one I got an infection. So it was just like anything that could go wrong did. And, um, yeah, that was brutal. I missed, I missed a full year and I came back and I was, even when I was coming back, I was like, I'm giving this a shot, but i don't know exactly what's going to happen here oh was there any other risk that you like

could potentially lose the ability to walk i don't think so i mean the only the scary part was they couldn't diagnose what exactly was wrong so they're like you have an infection your white blood count is way way too low and and but we don't know exactly what it is so they i mean you're like goddamn legion of poon line yeah that's how you threw it out just going to town started uh luckily before that you ended up getting or signing a pretty nice deal so at least mentally you're like hey right i think i had two or three years left on a deal and then right when i came back i played like three games and then uh they traded me to toronto suitcase yeah i was oh i was choked i was building this house i was like come on i'm like give me a shot here like

i've just missed a year like just grinded to get back yeah so. So, I mean. That ended up being a great thing, though. It did. When I first went there, I didn't really know much about Toronto. Like, I hadn't spent that much time there. Like, in for a game, out. And it's just, it's an awesome city. And it's like, every year I was there, too, it just got better and better. It's like, it's kind of booming.

And it's awesome. The team went through a bit of a rebuild there. But you ended up having one of your most successful seasons there you ended up getting nominated to the all-star game you were kind of the the heartbeat of that team well but yeah it was kind of just a transition period for the team i think they had all they had berkey had just come in i think he had been there for like a year so so. He was trying to put some different pieces together. That was when he was like, what's he always say? Truculence?

Yeah, he wanted truculence. I was just trying to think of the word. Yeah, yeah. He was like, so he was trying to trade and get some bigger bodies. And who else came in at the same time? We had like Colton Orr, Commissar. He's bringing in big guys. Big guys.

Morgan Riley was a young guy on the team at that point. Morgan was not quite there yet, but, I mean, he came in. I can't remember what year it was, but he came in, and as soon as I saw him play, I was like, wow, this guy's going to be a cornerstone piece here. Oh, really? Right away with him? He's just a natural. Well, he was like third overall.

Yeah, I know. I guess he should be, but, yeah, he's just a good player, a good kid. Any funny memories with Phil? Like, what was he like to play with it feels great oh i mean he's so awesome his teammates just love him everyone loves him and except the media in toronto hated him because he just because he wouldn't like give them what they wanted which is that but that's his personality he doesn't he wants to play hockey and that's it and joke around and in the locker room he doesn't necessarily want to work out he wants to play ping pong can you blame a guy for that well he's like he's like i'm scoring 40 what the fuck do you care that was actually then we then we traded phil and i was like reading and hearing all these people saying i'm like they're like the team's gonna be better off without phil like there's

gonna be other players filling that role. Am I missing something? And I was like, are you guys fucking nuts? The guy gets 40 goals every year. Wait till we're trailing by one in the third and have a power play.

Like, we're certainly going to miss this guy. You're having a bit of a hard time keeping that mic in front of your face. Oh, shit. Do we have to take it from the top? Yes. Where were we? We were talking about Phil Kessel crushing hot dogs in the press box.

Yeah, but that was bullshit, that whole story, wasn't it? I don't even know if I know about it. What, he ate a dog in the press box? No. Who hasn't? No, he was eating. Well, I have a picture of him just crushing nachos with a load of cheese. He loves those cheesy nachos that you get at sporting events.

He got them at the Women's Gold Medal game, and we were playing the next day in Vancouver, and he was like, I love this nacho cheese. He loves those cheesy nachos that you get at sporting events. He got them at the Women's Gold Medal game and we were playing the next day in Vancouver and he was like, I love this nacho cheese. How could he not like that guy? Exactly. He's flying out there. You went through two lockouts. The other one, you ended up playing the KHL for nine games.

He lasted nine whole games. Now, be careful what you say because guys who have came on our podcast and talked negatively about the KHL and Russia have been put on a Putin hit list. Yeah, I'm done. TJ Gallagher most recently. Did you leave without your gear?

Did you literally leave in the middle of the night? I left in the middle of the night, but I took my gear. How did you get your gear out of the locker room? Tell me you broke in before. No, it was on the Olympic. Do you know they have those national team breaks? Yes. So I was like, I'm just going to take my stuff home

and do a little work to my gear. But I was there, and it was... I mean, it's not a great experience. Some of the cities are beautiful. Other ones are like... They're like, don't leave the hotel room. I'm like, sweet. This hotel with no Wi-Fi.

I'm just going to sit here for three days. Just stare at myself in the mirror. I was obviously following the lockout closely. And I'm like, fuck, it's just about to end here. And then I got so sick. I got food poisoning. And I was in the hospital. In Russia?

In Russia. And they were just like everyone's speaking russian and just like pumping like orange ivs in me i'm like i gotta get the fuck out of here what are you putting in there i'm like what am i doing here like at that point i knew we were gonna play that year like the lockout wasn't gonna last the it wasn't gonna stretch the entire time i'm there's an easier way to make a buck here there's got to be i got plenty of money start a podcast how crazy was it signing another big ticket after your career almost ended because of the back situation i texted you oh my god i mean that is i mean that that's one where you

can up the lifestyle even more and i mean you got the looks now you got the cash to match like you gave me the ernie mccracken i'm finally above the law coming off the court coming off the bowling alley it was i mean obviously so whenever you sign a big ticket like that you're that's i mean it's such a good feeling but like you said it was um it made it more rewarding being like knowing I didn't know if I was going to play again. I certainly never thought I would get a like whatever it was, $27 or $28 million contract. So that was pretty awesome. Because the whole thing is that there's a time like I just want to maybe play this year. Right.

I'm not even thinking about playing. I was just year to year. I'm like, I don't know how my body's gonna react to this and and uh it was all right for a while but started going downhill pretty pretty fast yeah so that's kind of what what was the beginning of all that i mean biz you kind of we were talking about it before like it's it's very it's very odd because so many people don't even really know what happened to what what? My time in Toronto? Yeah, at the end. Well, I mean, it's basically, it's not everything. Everyone's always like, oh, you're going to just write a book

or tell a crazy story. I'm like, it's nothing. He's watching the Home Run Derby. He's not writing a book. Nothing's really that crazy. I mean, my contract was, at that point, exceeding my production on the ice. And I was hurt. But just for one year i was right i was hurt a lot like i

was like it was always something it was back and then my groin and then it was like it was i couldn't keep myself healthy and also i had i had lost the confidence not like in my ability or skill set but just the confidence in like am i gonna make it through this game like i feel like shit today is there a chance that i'm just like gonna blow up my back or something and then so i mean they didn't necessarily want me back on the team that year and they they made that pretty clear but if if i had full confidence in my body i'm sure i would have put up a big fight and been like hey i can't i don't want to do this but i to be honest i wasn't sure and and you start at that age you start getting more thoughts in your head too about like i don't want

to fuck myself up for life going forward like i want to have kids and stuff one day and it's like when as soon as that stuff's in your head and you're trying to play hockey you probably know a little bit about about that with injuries that linger on. When that stuff gets in your head, you're like, you're not going to be successful. And that's kind of where I was at. What was the conversation like between you and Lou Amarillo, though? Because it seemed like there was a little bit of animosity towards the end. You did have a great Instagram post. From what I heard, it was kind of like, hey, just stay away and we're going to pay you the rest of your salary.

Was that something that you wanted? Did you want to go back and at least try to get back to where you were? I wasn't 100% sure. And it's one of those things, if you're not 100% and you're training for a season being like, God, I hope I don't get hurt this year. Are you going to play well? I don't know.

And I wasn't sure i thought the situation from my end could have been handled a lot differently like it could have been sitting across the table from each other chatting about it instead of the um the kind of the ways it went down but whatever i don't hold a grudge at anyone i mean we were just talking about i mean you made a ton of money since my back injury and with Toronto, and I wasn't producing, and I wasn't confident in my ability to stay in the lineup. So I don't hold a grudge against him. I'm not going to be a whiny baby like three years later and be like, oh, yeah.

Yeah, why didn't you? I understand. Well, everybody likes going out on their own terms, and it seemed that you didn't really have that ability. And then I also kind of feel like they might have shunned you away a little bit in the way they handled it. Did that hurt? Was that hard to sit on?

What were your teammates' reactions via text or phone calls? What were you going through personally? Send me pictures from the boat. Yeah. How's con film dusting? How's con? I mean, everyone always says that. Go out on your own terms, but who really does?

1%. No, I'm like... I did. Tore both my ACLs in my last... That's exactly how I drew it up. Yeah, and fought in a rink in front of 3,000. 300. 300.

You added a zero there. Dude how about the the quote i saw it was after i retired it made total sense i think it was bill belichick like the moment a player even contemplates like retirement is kind of like when you look back like that was the beginning of it and it i don't know if you agree like you're saying just to not be a hundred percent on that that five percent or ten percent is is enough to be like man i just i don't have it out of the drive is different for sure and and my whole my mindset had changed completely like i just went from like driving to the game like pumping like nirvana and instead instead i'm like listening to talk radio just pulling my car into

the garage being like please god get back here in six hours he's no he has his self-help dvd like on playing in his car how to stay healthy in an nhl game if things go okay you'll be back in this car in six hours if maybe you bang one in on the power play who knows yeah please just give me a tap in um i gotta ask you going back a little bit about a little bit of back and forth prank action between you and ryan whitney i'm just okay so here we go i'm just trying to this is a long time ago yeah i know i was i'm trying to remember exactly what happened i'm trying to okay i got traded and now i'm in toronto with still playing here in anaheim

and we go into boston to play the bru we had played the night before and I get a message from Witt I'm on the bus in Boston he's like man he's like this smoke that I I'm single at the time he's like this smoke that I know in Boston like I've always wanted a banger but she doesn't like me but she really likes you can I put you guys in touch I'm like yeah serious question I'm like serious questions, send me a picture. And he sends me this picture of this beautiful girl. I'm like, okay, yeah, yeah. Put us in a group message and then we'll see what happens. So I'm back at the hotel.

I think we have a game the next day too. So I'm like, I can't leave. So I'm trying to get her to come over for a drink. And she is trying to get me to come to some nightclub in Boston, which I'm like, I can't do it. It's like one in the morning. I can't get, we got a game tomorrow.

I can't be leaving the hotel. That being said, you can come over here. Yeah, come on over. I'm watching a movie. And so this goes on for hours and the text escalates a little bit. It got a little aggressive. Yeah.

So then, I mean, it's whatever. It's not happening. She's not coming over. I go to sleep, wake up the next day. I go to morning skate, and I'm getting on the bus back to the hotel. I'm like, I'm going to give this one last shot here. Pre-game.

A little pre-game. I'm buzzing tonight. I mean, I spent two hours talking last night. I may as well give this one last crack so I write and then I just get a message back and it's like hey this is uh Witt's buddy Sully uh Witt was just gave me this number to fuck with you I'm like what now I'm picking up the pieces I'm like have I just was I just dirty texting Witt's moron buddy from Boston for two hours last night? And now I'm going back.

Now I'm looking through. I'm like, God, I hope I didn't say anything too bad in here. Because I'm sure this guy's not above screenshot. I'm sending it to everyone. You're like, hey, can you delete those dick pics, please? Especially the one with my asshole. And I have my Maple Leafs jersey wrapped around my ball bag now i'm sitting at the pre-game meal and i'm like is this funny this isn't funny i'm like this is

this isn't a good joke and he's messaged me on the side he's like ha ha and he's showing me screenshots of like the the conversation oh all i message i'm just like, I'm going to fucking get you. I'm like, I don't know what I'm going to do or when it's going to come, but I'm like, there's going to be revenge. Were you nervous at the revenge part? Yeah, there's a couple things I got to fill in. So the kid's

full. He's a complete... He's like the best prank texter of all time. He does this for a living. That's quite convincing. And so he's like... best prank texter of all time. He does this for a living. That's quite convincing. And so he's like, he had me going. So I remember this all going on. I was like, oh, my God, this is unreal.

And then the way I think he told you, he sent a picture of himself. He's like, oh, yeah, I think that's what it was. Yeah. And Lupo goes, oh, my God. And I remember you wrote, this isn't funny. His brain was like, this isn't funny, though. I don't even get it. Mike, this isn't that good of a joke.

You motherfucker. You tricked me by sending me pictures of this hot chick, and then I spent my whole night texting. He's like, how am I supposed to know? So when he told me, I'm going to get you back, I remember being like, fuck. Because he was like, I'm going to get you back, I remember being like, fuck. Because he was like, I'm going to get you back. But I was still like, what's he going to do?

What could he do to me? Now I'm on the prowl. I mean, this is before Twitter. This was before it. Right? Right. Yeah, yeah. So I think I've waited probably like three or four months.

And I didn't have an idea. I was just like Anytime I would like See like wit on TV I'd be like That motherfucker I gotta get this guy So I waited And then it was

This is a long time ago But I believe Was it Christmas morning? Dude it was Christmas Eve And I'll never forget it I'll never forget it So it comes to me And I'm like

And at this point You'd started Twitter And because of You're playing in Toronto I had like 300,000 followers point you'd started Twitter and because of... Twitter and I think... You're playing in Toronto. I had like 300,000 followers or something or some big number. And this was like right when it was coming out. I don't even think he knew like what Twitter was.

Buddy, I didn't know what anything was. So I messaged... I don't know if... I canceled my Twitter so I can't even look back and see what the actual tweet was. But I think it was like... Could you guys all do me a favor and message my special buddy Merry Christmas this morning? And then I put his phone number on there. And well, I'll let him take it from there because I wasn't there. But what I imagined happening was Witt's phone just blowing up with 150,000 text messages.

Buddy, I'm pretty sure I had a tough game like the night before. And I think I was flying to Vancouver for Christmas break. And I'm sitting there like in the Edmonton airport. It's like 8 a.m. It's like zin, zin, zin, zin. And I'm reading them. And they're coming in so quick that all I keep seeing, and what you wrote

was, please wish my special buddy Merry Xmas. And it's Merry Xmas, Merry Xmas, Merry Xmas, Merry Xmas. Dude, I had like 6,000 texts. It was please wish my special buddy Merry Xmas And it's Merry Xmas Dude I had like 6,000 texts So many voicemails So then my voicemail was Ryan Whitney And he didn't put my name

Which was actually cool of him So boom all these people were calling And they don't want to spy a number Now Edmonton people didn't like me This is a complete disaster I have voicemails like You fucking pigeon oh my god I just called this because loophole told me turns out it's the fucking pylon himself merry xmas you clown I'm retrieving these voicemails for months

on end just listening to them laughing and you deleted it after I want to say 30 minutes I was like you motherfucker. He's like, make it stop, make it stop. And then I remember the one message he sent me. He goes, I don't have an unlimited plan. My bill's at like $2,500. Oh, shit. Because you were in Canada.

I was in Canada. I was getting dummied. I was getting dummied. I remember being, I actually remember texting my friends in the middle of it, and they were like, this is the best payback of all time. And I've actually thought since then, since you've done that to me i haven't done it but i'm like whenever i really want to bury someone now i know what to do i'm just gonna do exactly oh i've done

it before you have oh absolutely i mean that'll it'll cause someone to have to shut their phone off you you you can make it so that it's just non-stop oh yeah you and it's a classic hey everybody wish my buddy a happy birthday yeah i was like i actually remember like oh you didn't put it with my number so i don't have to change my number it's like you kept it you kept it decent actually i thought you'd really try to crush me um fuck that's an unbelievable prank story uh one other story i gotta bring up i don't know if you're comfortable enough telling it if not we'll edit this out but uh your experience at another fourth of july party and it was when leonardo caprio was there larry flowers told the story on the podcast but

in larry flowers uh fashion he completely butchered it and it involved the volleyball game against leonardo caprio and i believe jamie fox was there too oh i don't know i i may have uh ate some mushrooms with someone at the party yeah i love my i don't know exactly who was on the other team but i do remember taking a ball right in the face when they were and like i kept trying to quit i'm like guys guys they're like no no no we got these guys we got these guys i'm like i don't got these guys i can't see the ball well you're like guys i'm on another planet there's a great party going on that you guys are missing playing volleyball. And I was with Kevin Connolly this morning having coffee, and the way he described it was it was all the athletes against a bunch of celebrities.

Leonardo DiCaprio was on the opposite team of you. Yeah, Connolly was on the other team. And Connolly was on the other team. And all he remembers was they kept serving you because you were an absolute liability because you were high on mushrooms. You're like, go to the guy who launched rooms. My girlfriend was there. She was standing. Now everyone's watching.

She's standing. She's like, babe, what are you doing? Come on. I'm like, what? She's literally embarrassing. I'm like, I quit. I quit. You're like, no, no.

And Connelly said Leo walked up and says, what the fuck is wrong with that guy? Leo said that about you? Leo said that about Luke. And I play volleyball all the time, too, so it shouldn't have happened. And your professional athlete was six-pack and as handsome as you are. Yeah, you came in and you got Leonardo DiCaprio

actually being like, who's this guy? And little does he know, he's the most unathletic kid from Melbourne. He was like, this guy might actually take some kills away from me at this party. Then he's like, wait, no, he won't. I'm Leo. Maybe up the dosage of shrooms to try to sabotage you. May have.

I don't know. I can't tell you exactly what happened. Do you remember back to your rookie party, NHL, any funny stuff from when you were younger? That must have been. Was Niedermeyer on your rookie team on your first... Yeah. Oh, man. Niedermeyer was there.

How sick was Norm at hockey? He was so good. I sat in the... My locker was always beside him. He would come off after a period. He'd play like 12 minutes in it. And he was just like... His hair is dry and no sweat.

I played like six. I would come in like... Ice pack on my head. He was just there just like, what is wrong with this guy? He was the biggest natural I've ever seen. It was unbelievable. Yeah, he was the natural. I mean, how many bad games did you ever see him have?

Never. Five? And he would get mad once in a while and then just go hammer. Oh, he'd take a suspension every couple of years? That was great. Any other stories you want to share with the boys? We were talking about Cincinnati, the minor leagues before. You guys actually made me think of this story

when you were pulling up my stats in the one year I had three games in Cincinnati. It was my rookie year. I got sent down. They were playing a 3-3, and I just wasn't getting enough ice time here. And they like just go play these three games then you come back monday so i'm staying at the hotel in cincinnati i've got no clue what's going on no one tells me anything i have no car i don't know how to get to the game and i'm like like when's pregame skate

yeah nothing it was like it was brutal so i'm at the hotel we're playing like san antonio maybe i don't know and it's the third game of the three on three and i wake up and i'm like fuck i gotta get it was like a 1 p.m game and i wake up and i'm like i gotta get some food and i walk everywhere in this neighborhood in cincinnati and there's nowhere to eat so i go back in and the other teams at the hotel and i ran into i think it was greg campbell and we had played world juniors together and i started started talking to him i'm like fuck i'm like i need a bite to eat would you mind running into your pre-game and grabbing me like and he's like he goes there's barely anyone in there just go in there so i go in i fill up like a big plate pre-game meal bowl of ice cream

and like put like a water in my pocket and leave go to the game i get a hat trick like in the first period and this one i think his name was jeff paul he was on the other team just like this big mutant tough guy and he's like we're going i'm like there's no fucking chance i'm going you are you out of your way for me i'm gonna have Stay away from me. I'm 19 years old. He's like, you ate the pregame. You got to answer for it. No, no, no. I was looking at the guys on my team, and they're like, if you ate the pregame, you may have to answer the bell here. And did you goal?

Fuck no. I was 19. The guy was like 35. I got another goal in the second period. It was funny, though. At the time, I thought nothing of it. Then a couple years later in my career, I'm like, you can't eat the other team's pregame.

I was a young guy. I ate their pregame and then lit them up in the first goddamn period. You got to answer the bell. You're going to have to answer the bell. The guys on my team, I'm like, is someone going to stick up for me here? They're like, did you really eat the pregame? I'm like, oh, yeah, ice cream, too. That was the final straw.

Oh, that's good. I remember what I wanted to ask you about. ESPN, the body issue. What was that like day on the shoot? How many people have seen your dick during that? Probably, no. Probably a dozen. So a real nice manscaping job leading up to that shoot.

Yes and no. We were at Bonnaroo music festival right before with the one i went to with you guys i think it might have been it seems like that's kind of in that time so i came back and like they had they had everything lined up so you could get like a spray tan or you could get like everything and i didn't have time to do anything any of that i got back and so i had like shorts i did my shirt was okay like i didn't but i had like shorts. My shirt was okay but I had like shorts lines so they had to come in and just put makeup

like all over my thighs and ass. As you're standing there? Yeah. Which was tough. You're like sorry about that thing. Oh, move. Heads up.

So what do you do? You got to like keep the blood flow going so you don't embarrass yourself? Do you pop a C-bomb before you go? I wasn't really sure one way or another.

I was like there's a chance I could get I was like, there's a chance I could get hard in here or there's a chance my dick could get really small. Both of which were horrifying things to think of. But it stayed pretty good.

So no... Dick was solid that day. Everyone is so professional that after like five minutes I was like, oh, they actually, they don't really care about my cock.

Were you alone? Were you with anyone? Was that just you doing that? Just me. Oh my God. Yeah. That's a long day of? Was that just you doing that? Just me. Oh, my God. Yeah. That's a long day of being naked. You must have turned them down.

It was funny. I had a bunch of missed calls from this Bristol number. It turns out it was not legit ESPN. They never asked me. I'm shocked. Grinnell, do you got any questions for him? Oh, yeah. So you've had some investments in your retirement,

one of which is, what would you consider it? A bar slash nightclub? Yeah, a cocktail bar. A cocktail bar called Due West in New York City. I'm one for one at Due West. Unbelievable establishment. Great food, good wine, great service. One for one on walking out on a check.

Oh, no. I picked up Larry Flowers' tab. Oh. So you got a check. That could happen to anyone. Yeah. Good old Larry getting some more FaceTime on our podcast. No, but a great spot.

And what made you get involved in that? It was my one partner, Andy McLaughlin. He lived in New York for a long time and we had talked about doing it because we just because we go to a lot of bars and why don't we decide why don't we see what we like and if we can find the right location we'll kind of do things the way we wanted and and it came out great um it's been quite busy. You guys have all been there. Are you hands-on with it? Not much anymore.

We want to do a second one, though, also in New York. And we were more hands-on with some of the hiring and the design and stuff like that. I don't know how to operate a bar day-to-day. Oh, you're not ordering the Peronis? I'm not ordering the Peronis, no. I'll do the Sam Malone and get behind there and throw a towel over the shoulder. Anything else you want to do now that you're retired?

I know for the first little bit you wanted to travel and enjoy your off time. Like you said, do things that you were able to do while you were playing. Do you think there's going to be a time where you're like, hey, I want to maybe a little bit more structure in my life maybe get a job or i don't know about that we're i mean the the bar and restaurant thing is something that i'm enjoying i don't know exactly how profitable that can be yeah i think you'd need a lot of locations to make that but it's

something that i enjoy and i think we did it we're happy with the job we did on the first one. And that other thing, I'll probably do the family thing one day. Daddy loophole at some point. Wow. That is crazy. You got anything else, Whit? No. There was actually one more thing I wanted to talk about.

Oh, yeah. So golf. We got a golf nut here, right? I mean, does the back affect it? It's awful, yeah. So golf. We got a golf nut here. Right? I mean, like, I am, but my back affected. It's awful. Yeah, I know. Like my handicaps went up. Like,

it sucks. So I got, I mean, I love golf, but I'll play like, I'm a two times a week guy. Like, I can't be out there like

playing four days in a row where I would just cripple myself. Yeah. And it's weird. Of all the stuff I do, like working out, snowboarding, that stuff, golf is the And it's weird. Of all the stuff I do, like working out, snowboarding, that stuff, golf, it's the

toughest one on it. It's just like even chipping, putting, like you're bent over the whole time and then the turning. So that sucks. I still love, I mean, I still play twice a week. I love being out there, but... That's the body. That's the body telling you.

And then we do have to give Upshaw, because we've had a lot of issues with sandbagging lately. Biz is a sandbagger. Upshaw right now is playing at a six handicap, Biz. And for people who don't know, I mean, he shot like 68 last week. So he's maybe the biggest... He's the best six handicap in the world, I'll say,

if he's actually playing at that. So Up, he's going to have to take a little bit of heat of playing above. What was the story with him and the PGA player? No, recently Loop said he just tested somebody. Yeah, it was alternate shot round in the tournament. It was Uppy and his buddy against, and Freddie couples in his buddy, who is a scratch. But they beat him gross by like six strokes.

Yeah, and Gross is no handicap, and Uppy's a six, and they're beating Fred Couples and his scratch buddy golfer. Was Freddie Couples pissed? I don't think he's ever been mad. I don't think he's ever been mad in his life. Freddie? Oh, my God. You travel quite a bit.

What are some of your most favorite places that you get to? I love Italy, and I'm actually headed that way this weekend on Saturday. I'm going to go to southern Italy, Puglia, and then over to Turkey, Istanbul, and Bodrum. Never even heard of them. I was asking. That's how you know they're good. They're like, when Biz hasn't heard of them, you're going to the right places. They're like, this is how we know we need to go there.

I like the all-inclusives. Yeah, Biz is like, Cancun's sick, I heard. there. I like the all-inclusives. Yeah, business. Cancun's sick, I heard. Me and R.A. are going to Daytona Beach next week. I said to him, I was like, so who sets this up? He's like, oh, we've got this company that helps us out. Then I was like, so you've got a boat one day in France? He's like, no, four days.

I was like, okay. What am I thinking? A yacht? No, we're on a big sailboat, actually, in Turkey. Supposed to be. That's just how they do it there. Looks pretty sick. They call it a gullet, actually, not a sailboat. Well, dude, I Turkey. It's supposed to be. That's just how they do it there. It looks pretty sick. They call it a gullet, actually, not a sailboat.

Well, dude, I mean, we appreciate you coming on. This is huge for us. And very happy for you. After seeing what you went through to where you're at now, dude, this is pretty cool to see. So we appreciate it. And I'm glad the spot you're in. Thanks, boys. That was a blast.

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Just download the SeatGeek app and enter the promo code Hockey today. That's promo code Hockey for $10 off your first SeatGeek purchase. SeatGeek, right seat, right now, right from your phone. Thank you very much to Joffrey Leupold. What a guy. What a guy. That was a blast. And that kid's pad is so sick. That's one of the best houses.

The PP? The Pussy Palace? That place is so sick. That was a great time. It's funny that the story about my buddy Foley and him being just this master prankster was involved with the Lupo story that we talked about. Because Foley, he's been up to some tricks again. And this is just so good right here. So Foley's down in Charleston. What's he doing?

Down with his wife family's hanging on the beach and he's just like i want to prank someone i know him i haven't even talked to him and i know he he's just like i want to prank someone so he texts yance text keith and he's like keith give me one of your teammates numbers i want to fuck with him so yeah this is probably i haven't even talked to yans i've to Jens. I have stuff to read here. So, Jens was definitely like, oh, God, yeah, for sure. And also keep in mind, the people involved in the story don't know it yet. So, we're breaking the story, which we don't.

Well, they might actually. I don't know if it's all been put together yet. Oh, okay, okay. I actually think it might be. But either way, for the folks that will get to hear this one, I actually had tears coming out of my eyes when we were telling this the other night at dinner. I was dying. So Keith says, oh, yeah, Foles, here's Mackenzie Wieger's number.

Here's Wieger's right here. So Foles decides to send Wieger a text. And now going into what I'm about to read if you remember Noel Achari the newest Florida Panther a very good signing for the Florida Panthers who played great great minutes for the Bruins he joined the team he also had a fight a memorable fight for himself a not so memorable fight last year from for Mackenzie Weger uh when they battled so now they're teammates is it awkward people always ask that. I mean, not really. Go in the locker room. What's up, bud?

They don't give a fuck. But that has something to do with it. So Foles says, Hey Uyghurs, Nolachari here. Super psyched to play with you. Any chance I can get number 52? I mean, I did beat your ass last year. Ha.

So, you know, Mackenzie Uyieger sitting around like, what the fuck? He writes, Achari, what's up, bro? Can't wait to play with you too. Happy I don't have to fight you either. Ha ha ha. Like, probably read the chart and was like, what the fuck? But like, yeah, he's a new teammate. He could be just completely messed up.

Depending on what their sense of humor is, it's coming in hot. So, Nola Chari, a.k.a. Falls, comes back with, what about the number? Because, you know, Weger didn't answer that question in the first response. So, Achari, Falls, comes back with, I make way more money than you, so I should get it. So, Weger at this point is like, what a prick he goes ha ha what and you know when you just write ha ha that's so phantom like that's just like holy it's like holy shit dude what so achari comes back again with i make more iron than you so I should get to wear 52 over you. We could still be friends. So all of a sudden, Keanu gets a text.

So Weeger's now like, okay, what's going on here? This is kind of bullshit if there's a Chari clown. I got to ask my boy Yance, who's a veteran in the league. I got to ask him a question. It's just so funny that he ends up texting Yance about it. And the fact that Yance just teed it all up, it's just too good. It's too good. So, you know, I'm

reading for weeks now. Hey Yance, if a guy makes more money than you, does that mean you have to give up your hockey number? LOL, he writes. So Yance, who's now probably just crying, just laughing, he writes, usually depends on how many games played. Why? So Mackenzie Weger then sends back the screenshot he's got going on with Achari.

Foley. Foley Achari. That's who this is. He sends the screenshot to Jens where you can see his answer to Foley's last text where Foley said I make more iron than you. We could still be friends. You can see his answer

in the screenshot but Keith then sending me a screenshot so you can't see the full one. But you can see Uyghur answer. Oh fuck. I completely forgot. I fucking love that number, but, and it got crossed off there. And Uyghur, underneath the screenshot

to Keith, goes, I'm choked, dude. So Uyghur has a response, fuck, well, who's played more games? And then Uyghur, now this is when he's sitting around and he's like, man, I love number 52. Like, this dickhead's coming in. I don't want to lose this number. And he's sitting around and he's like, man, I love number 52. Like, this dickhead's coming in.

I don't want to lose this number. And he's bummed out. So he texts back to Yance. I mean, he has played more games than me, which is fine. But to ask me like that, man, no respect. Actually, congratulations. It's not like he's a superstar. He's a superstar. fact actually got rattled it's not like he's a superstar now listen listen i okay so the yans response ha ha ha that's fucking incredible be like hey

moneybags you gotta buy me a watch or something that's what keith wants to respond now by the way when i'm reading that line by by wieger like it's all he's superstar that achari is gonna laugh so hard i mean this thing like people people people might be like why are you reading this like dude that's just so so funny achari knows he isn't a superstar and wieger does have a point this guy texting him is acting like it's like albert pool's join the, and dummy and a rookie for a number. So now I'm scrolling down here. Sorry.

And all of a sudden, you could see a screenshot from Foley Achari to Weeger. This is from Weeger. And at the top, you can't see what's said, but you see Achari Foley say, nice doing business with you. See you at training camp. So I'm pretty sure on the text that wasn't sent that he said, buy me a watch. And I think Foley's saying, like, all right, yeah, I'll buy you a watch. I think we missed that. So they brokered a deal.

It looks like they brokered a deal. So Uyghur all of a sudden realizes, wait, don't you wear 55? He doesn't even wear 52. So Foley Achari's like, not anymore. 52 now. Sorry.

Sorry, bud. Probably time for a change for you anyway. Period. So Uyghur's now now like this motherfucker's changing his number just to just to take my number and he writes ha ha ha ha ha round three at camp winner can keep the number i think at this point he might know because like all those ha-has. And then Foley Achari wasn't done. Yeah, I'll beat your ass again. Get in line, pal. Then sign a free agent deal like me and then you can pick your number.

So this Foley guy. So this Noel Achari has just come onto the Panther scene as a horrible teammate and a horrible guy. And poor Mackenzie Wieger is taking the brunt of it. But that is funny, good old-fashioned pranks right there that I think that in the end, Wieger and Achari will laugh at. Hey, don't you wear 55? Not anymore. 52 now, bud. Oh, that is fucking classic. Oh, man.

Well, hopefully we didn't create any chaos in that Florida Panthers locker room. I think that this is the type of stuff that's going to make them dark horses this year to go on a complete run. They're going to have a close room. So we're going to create the buzz kind of like St. Louis. Because guys love Uyghur. Achari guys love Achari. They'll probably end up boys. The Panthers eye.

18-1 right now. I think you sent the tweet about looking at their future. You're going to turn this into a gambling corner? Could. I know. I need a fix. There's nothing to fucking bet on this time, EFOM, except for golf. Actually, the Senators went a few weeks, Biz, without being in the news

until their owner, Eugene Melnick, he actually went to a Rolling Stones concert, too. Where was it? Somewhere outside of Toronto last week He got to look into his eyes He got to look into Mick Jagger's eyes Yeah, it's nothing like it And he said he thought it was a crazed fan trying to get over to him

And this woman says, do you know who I am? And he's like, no, I'm sorry And she's like, I'm your minister And you're a fucking piece of shit and a fucking loser Sounds like a Boston Project girl You fucking loser Lisa McLeod, a conservative party Ottawa-based MPP Loza. Sounds like a Boston Project girl, Sam. You're fucking Loza. Lisa McLeod, a conservative party, Ottawa-based MPP, whatever the fuck that is.

She approached Melnick. He was like he had no idea what was going on. And the next day she said, let me set the record straight. I gave Melnick some feedback. I was tone-concent. I apologized for being so blunt. And then later she actually came out with another tweet and said, I want to be categorical about my exchange with Eugene Melnick. I

regret my inappropriate remarks and apologize. So I guess he reached out to Doug Ford and Doug Ford and said, rein her in or something like that. So someone spoke to her because she come back like 12 hours later and apologized and called them inappropriate and shit. But imagine calling a guy a fucking loser. She must have been wrecked.

Yeah, you think? At a Stones concert? And dude, Biz, did you hear about Rasmus Ristolainen over in Imagine calling a guy a fucking loser. She must have been wrecked. You think? At a Stones concert? Yeah. And, dude, Biz, did you hear about Rasmus Ristolainen over in Finland? Oh, man, that one hurt me, man. I mean, you guys know him. I wouldn't say I'm cheap. I'm a little bit on the frugal side.

You look for deals. You cut out coupons out of the Sunday paper, but you're not cheap. I mean, I have a hard time paying parking tickets, let alone what this guy just went through. And we know in Finland that it is based upon your yearly income, what you get fined for speeding. So I'll let you take over from here, all right? Yeah.

Rasmus Ristolainen got a $135,000 speeding ticket and a possible three-month license suspension. He said he was going to pass an idle vehicle, but the car started accelerating, so he set up to pass it safely. He ended up going 50 in a 25. And like you said, Biz, Finland uses an income-based system for penalties. The Finnish newspaper said the fine is believed to be the most ever for a speeding ticket in the country, even more than Timu Salani, apparently.

He's been known to have a lot of lead for it as well. Timu Salani is he's been known i have well timu salani is actually third on the list so the the rasmus uh ristalainen takes the lead in the finished nhl players speed and ticket standings at number one his fine was 120 000 euros uh barkov had a 46 000 dollar uh 46 000 euro excuse me ticket salani comes in at third place with 40,000 euros. And Leo Komarov actually had one a few years ago for 35,000 euros. Could you imagine paying a speeding ticket for 120,000 euros? That is fucking ridiculous.

That's insane. How fast was he going? That's highway robbery. Oh, yo, I knew you'd like that one. Waka, waka. 50 in a 25, Whit. It's not even bad at all. Yeah, and he stopped for the stop sign.

He said he slowed down, but he said he's going to appeal it because he needs his license to do his off-season workout. So we'll have to see what happens with that. Maybe we could do a little fundraiser. We could sell some T-shirts for him. Go fund me? We'll take care of you, Rasmus. we could do a little fundraiser. We could sell some t-shirts for them. A GoFundMe? We'll take care of you, Rasmus. Guys, real quick, before we go any further,

we got to talk about the Peloton. Grinnelli, you won't shut up about this thing. So what's your experience with this brother? I mean, every time, I've had the opportunity to go home the past couple of weeks, you know, with vacation and summer, the hockey season's ending. And every time I do, my mom is on her Peloton bike. That's all she talks about. She won't shut up about the thing. So, I mean, every time I go home,

it's this Peloton bike is taking my mom away from me, but she loves it. So what can I say? Right. Everybody's been raving about it. And if you can't find a workout that keeps you engaged, well, Peloton is an immersive cardio experience with real-time features that will always keep you coming back. You can work up a great sweat at home for less than the cost of a studio class. The size is perfect. It's got a compact 4x2. The Peloton bike can fit in virtually any space in your home, no matter how small.

The tremendous value, you get one subscription. All you need for unlimited classes for the entire family. There's no commute, no reservations, and you get thousands of rides you can take live or on demand at any time, all for less than the cost of a studio class. The Peloton makes hard work fun. You can get in your zone with curated music designed to move and motivate you. Hip hop or country, Latin or pop, whatever you're in the mood for, we've got classes waiting for you. And with a variety of themes, difficulty levels, and training programs, experience something new every time you sweat. Live encouragement from top instructors makes you want to keep coming back for more.

Right now, Peloton is offering a limited-time offer. Get $100 off accessories when you purchase the Peloton bike and get a great cardio workout at home. Go to onepeloton.com and use the promo code Hockey to get started. Biz, didn't you have a couple other sign-ins that you wanted to mention as well, Pel? Yeah, there were. Nick Cousins, who was playing with the Arizona Coyotes the last few years. He came over from Philadelphia. Montreal Canadiens fans, you got a good one. An amazing teammate. Guys in the locker room

love him. I call him the Swiss Army Knife. He can jump up and down the lineup uh he's he's a bottom six forward uh he can play center ice he can play the wing um with injuries that the arizona coyotes sustained last year he he was able to jump up in the top six role um a type of guy who probably can't sustain a top six role but man having a guy who can jump in for a few games, great with the puck, good at working it below the goal line and protecting it. And as I mentioned, he's got a little bit of grit to his game too. Not afraid to shed the mitts.

He gets in guys' faces. I'd imagine that he's going to have a lot of success in Montreal, and I know that the Coyotes players are going to miss him in that locker room. So Nick Cousins, if you're listening, I'm sure you are. Congratulations on your deal, and we will miss you in the desert. Well said, Piz. Yeah, no, just a great guy, great teammate. I mean, when you watch guys that closely, especially for the last two years,

you just see how much the guys liked him and what he brought every night, man. Being a guy that small and playing the way he did in guys' faces and physical is hard. And he's a honey badger and a Swiss Army knife. So I'd imagine you Canadians fans love him. We had some sad news, boys, too. We have to report this week. Former NHL player Greg Johnson died at the age of 48.

He played in 822 regular season and playoff games over a 12-year career with Detroit, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Nashville. He was an original Nashville Predator and the second captain in team history. No cause of death was listed. But, you know, on behalf of the show, I just want to pass along our heartfelt condolences to Greg's's family friends and former teammates uh obviously tragedy a tragedy anytime someone this young dies so we just want to pass that along very sad news yeah way too young it's awful yeah i remember him when he's i remember him as captain of the predators that's that's just so it's so

brutal to see that we were we were doing that thing today and it popped up. So we're thinking of his family and his friends because hockey's a very tight community when it comes to tragedies like this. It sucks. Yeah, not to keep it too sad, but I just want to talk serious for a moment too. I know we don't do this often, but I actually wanted to dedicate this episode to an old neighborhood

pal of mine, Jackie Sullivan. He passed away Friday at the age of 53. And I've not acknowledged him just because he was a friend of mine. But Jackie was a big hockey guy and he was friends with dozens of former and current NHL players who are going to miss him as well. Him and big Jim Vesey have been lifelong pals. So he's met

guys for four decades in the NHL, going back to Tony Twist and Kelly Chase up until modern day guys like young Jim Vesey. So Jackie was a salt of the earth guy from Charlestown. He joined the Marines after high school. He was a teamster all his life. He was working on the movie sets.

And more importantly, he was a fantastic guy. He was going to be missed by everybody who knew him. So I just want to acknowledge a great guy that we lost too young in the neighborhood and dedicate the episode to him, if that's okay, boys. All right, sad news. And I had a tough one in my memo pad I had to read out today as well. I got a message about one of our listeners from his friend, who's another one of our listeners, Jason Wally from Vancouver. One of our lawyer listeners who's beat cancer twice,

his friend Brandon David reached out to me to say this. Hey, Biz, big fan of the show. I wanted to reach out because a really good friend of mine is 35 and unbelievably has been hit with terminal cancer. He's beaten cancer twice, but it's come back more aggressive than ever, and they've given him six months to a year for a timeline. He's a huge Chicklets fan. His line for access to his boat is Ass, Grass, or Pink Whitney's. Nobody rides for free.

I don't expect you guys to do anything for him or anything. He's not wanted for charity, but maybe a shout-out or something would really make his day. You can chirp him for being a liability on the ice as well. Our Beer League team sure doesn't hold back on him. Ha-ha. His Insta is jwallbanger. I don't want to tag him and have him know I'm reaching out.

If you want to check him out, all good. If you guys don't want to tag him and have him know i'm reaching out if you want to check him out all good if you guys don't want to i just thought i'd throw it out there anyways keep up the good work man love the show so obviously uh i wasn't not gonna uh mention this on the podcast uh even if our other listeners want to send him a dm and and just know we're all thinking about him because we are one big happy family. His Instagram is jwallbanger, as I mentioned. And I mean, fuck, dude, go down swinging. Wish nothing but the best for you. You've beat the fucking thing twice.

Why not do it one more time? So that's really all I got. So it's stuff like that sucks to hear and read. But I mean, I mean, what are you going to say? Yeah. You know, real life, real life rears its head on the show. And, you know, we do like to have to talk about it on occasion. But, you know, I know I ended on this week on a little bit of a sad note. But we got a lot of funny stuff the next couple weeks to talk about.

We've got some subjects we couldn't get to. And what do you got there for us? Well, if you guys are doing shout outs, you got to shout out the guy who, Logan's buddy who hooked us up here in LA. He gave you guys a nice bottle of Caymus. This guy. Well, Logan, first of all, what an addition to the crew. Hey, Dana, you listening?

Uh-oh. Yeah, dude. Hot seat. Hot seat. Dana wanting to be a hockey guy because you know why? Logan is a fucking hockey guy. He played goalie,

as weird as that makes him. And born St. Louis. What's your buddy's name? Because that was the nicest thing anyone's done for me in quite a while. John Barrett, longtime friend, huge fan of the podcast, loves you guys, knows you guys, love KMS. And he said that he couldn't have you guys come to the restaurant without getting you guys a bottle and uh he uh delivered he delivered he came right over near the end of the meal too so it was like the perfect time oh and we didn't even talk about what you did to me

at this dinner but it's okay wait we'll get into that but first of all uh we're in la and logan says hey we're going to this restaurant called the nice guy and i've heard of the nice guy this is where all the fucking celebrities and shit hang out. Yeah, you're walking in, no photos. And I'm like, how the fuck is our fucking camera guy getting us into The Nice Guy? Yeah, Dana was bringing us to In-N-Out. I'm like, who's boxed this guy eating to get us in the front door there? What's receptionist at the door?

Are you mocking her being so good? You must be doing the alphabet twice. She's squirting all over your face. But anyway, back to going there. And you talk about Caymus every other episode. alphabet twice so she's squirting all over your face but anyway back to going there and and and you you talk about camus every other episode i talk about yellowtail i never got my bottle of yellowtail by the way uh but uh we go there we have an incredible meal and i fucked up a little bit and i'll let wit take over i'm not perfect okay logan saw all this go down. I always try to let everyone know what biz can be like.

And when you're out to dinner, you're a full-blown caveman. You're a caveman that has a cell phone. So if there's any food in front of him, he's just eating it. But the whole time, he's kind of checking his phone and shit. So he's never really on your level. So I was starving. And when I get hungry, I mean get hangry it's like i'll admit it and i'm starving it was like 9 30 at night and i ordered the rigatoni bolognese with a spring

salad on the side with like chopped up apples it looks so good logan heard me order it and we like locked eyes like dude that was a pretty good order. He's like, dude, nice order. Like, whenever you get that, it means, like, people know. So, you know, we're waiting, we're waiting, and some food's brought out. We kind of ordered some things for the table, but I made it clear this was going to be my dinner. This wasn't to be shared. So some stuff goes on down the table while I was actually talking to your buddy. And I see, like, a bunch of dishes get dropped off off at the end but I'm in the middle of a conversation saying

thank you for the came. I'm so appreciative. Nice to meet you. And sure as shit, as that's all going on, I do see this. So when I'm done, I'm like, hey, what are you guys eating down there? And Biz out of nowhere, he's like, oh, this

rigatoni is unbelievable in this spring salad have a bite i'm like did you order that he's he's like yeah we ordered we ordered rigatoni ourselves i'm like okay yeah that's fine i look at logan who gives me like the no he didn't so i'm waiting i'm waiting five minutes and because i'm like i think logan knows the wayress comes over I said Miss I never got my Rigatoni bolognese

And spring salad With the chopped up apples She goes It's right down there I look down And Biz Has literally mixed A bite of salad

With some of the rigatoni And he's biting I go That's my meal dickhead He's like Oh We ordered a pasta I go It wasn't the rigatoni bone is it oh no it

wasn't you're right so i mean just the fact that logan saw like what i get to experience sometimes and knew right when biz said i ordered one myself he goes no he didn't so it was just one of those dinners where you see one of your good logan just looked over here like oh shit sorry for throwing you under the bus i I don't care. But guess what, R.A.? You're on the same page as me, buddy, because remember when we went to L.A. and you fucking woke up from your dirt nap

after dummying 1,000 milligrams of edibles... And ate Brett. And Brett went to the bathroom and you woke up out of your slumbered sleep and ate his entire meal and then Brett got back to the table from the bathroom. And, and I think you were back to sleep,

Brett. I love, I love how this ends up on me somehow. I haven't said a word in a fucking hour. You set the tone and you're rubbing off on me, buddy. I know I gotta, I gotta be out of it and steal someone's meal next time we're in

California. So Logan, before we wrap this thing up, what'd you think of, of, of kind of hanging with us? Could you hang with us a little more often possibly? Yeah, definitely.

Loved it. Love hockey. Love spin chiclets. You guys crushed it today. It was a super long day. And both of you guys were troopers throughout the entire day. No complaining. So, we can't go into it too much.

I don't know if you guys hear. There's no way Witt didn't complain out of 12 hours. Oh, I complained and I will complain. When we describe what really went down today. Logan was our man for a couple days. But you know why we did it? For our listeners. And I hope you people are appreciative. Witt spent a 14-hour day out on the field

and then came back and recorded this podcast. Grinding my dick off my torso. Logan, you and Dana. Dana's out of the shit list. Dana, I will say, has better flow than me. He's got the lettuce in the back. Yeah, he does.

He's got the hockey flow. I've got to start working on that. And you're also from St. Louis, so congratulations to you. Thank you, Grinnelli and I. A bunch of you and your friends ended up renting out a restaurant in NYC, and you guys celebrated that cup win for the St. Louis Blues. And back to John Barrett, thank you, and H-Wood Group.

Those are the people who took care of us and copped that bottle of Caymus. And that's pretty much it. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you very much for listening, as always. And we got some fun stuff coming,

so we appreciate it. And we will see you next week. Peace. always and we got some fun stuff coming so we appreciate it and we will see you next week you