Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 199: Featuring Nate Thompson + Brendan Gallagher

Episode Date: September 4, 2019

On this week's episode of Spittin' Chiclets, the guys are joined by a pair of Montreal Canadiens. Nate Thompson joins the fellas to talk about some funny stories from early in his career, then some interesting topics like his religion, meditating and his sobriety. Then the guys are joined by Brendan Gallagher, who discusses his time filming Biz Nasty Does BC, Carey Price, His Dad and more. The guys also touch on some NHL news including some retirements and the current RFA situation in the NHL.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 199 of Spit' Chicklets, presented by Pink Whitney, the pink lemonade-flavored vodka from our friends at New Amsterdam Vodka. And judging by our Twitter and Instagram feeds, it looks like a lot of people are feeling the Pink Whitney's this weekend. Let's say hello to the boys and check in first. Mikey Grinelli, our producer, how goes it, brother? Hello, gentlemen. It's been fun for me going through the DMs and all the tweets the past couple weeks for the Pink Whitney. So the launch on Sunday was awesome, and it's been great. Witt's wearing his Pink Whitney shirt now.

We just released a ton of Pink Whitney merch in the Barstool Sports store, so check all that out. Hey, you're not going to talk about losing to a 10-year-old at that beach volleyball thing game? What is it called? It's called Spikeball, and I will say this. I held my end of the bargain. Oh, he throws his fucking partner. Oh, my God. What a big podcast.

His first and their reaction isn't, yeah, we lost. It's fucking shriveling his partner. I held up my end of the bargain, and I will say, which sucked real bad, was we were the shit talkers we initiated the shit talking and then the kid just looked at us was like you guys are pussies we'll fuck you guys up in two seconds and they beat us so bad it was it was embarrassing you know what's even crazier is it was fudge kid for that fucked with whitney a few years ago he was eight at the time now he's 10 and he fucking beat grinelli at spike ball. So am I next? Is R.A. next?

Who's going to be the next victim? Well, next in introductions is you, Paul Biznasty Bissonette. Where are you right now, dude? That looks like yet another hotel room. Yeah, I'm in Toronto. I was visiting my family down in Niagara. It was a great time. Got to see some friends.

I went and saw my buddy who's coaching. He took four years off, and he's coaching the Junior B team in b team excuse me in saint catherine's and i i just went to see the practice i was a little bit late and i go in the coach's room to have a beer and and then he's like hey we're gonna go out there and like say some of the kids and i'm like dude like i'm i'm i'm feeling a little buzzed here i was hitting a little bit of the pen on the way. I ended up talking to the team a little bit. You know, work hard, come to the rink, have fun. I stepped on the logo. So I fucked up. So for all you media out there who listen to our podcast, I feel your pain.

So I step on the team logo right in the middle of the dressing room. And the whole team, oh deal oh you gotta pay two bucks two bucks they try to ding me for so i said fuck i said here's 102 i had a two in my pocket us and then i put another 100 us in there and their fine fund so those kids black out that night you're welcome to uncle biz um what'd you say i said what a move it's a classy move by you so this is pretty cool. Vince is reaching his pocket. He's like, damn, it's 100.

Because whatever you pull out, you got to give. He was hoping it was a 20 pull. No, no, no, no. I had US 20s in my passport holder. Come on, meow. Yeah, I actually only put out a few. But what was I going to say? This was a cool moment, though.

So there was this kid who's been playing Junior C. He'd never played a game of Junior B, and it was his 20-year-old season. So, yeah, the easy route would have been going back to Junior C and lighting it up and whatever. But he said, fuck it. He goes, I want to go to a winning Junior B team for my last year of junior eligibility. So he goes to St. Catherine's camp knowing that they already had

nine or ten 20-year-olds under contract. And keep in mind, you're only allowed nine now in Junior B, so you can't stack teams. So this Welland kid ends up going to training camp, and he works his balls off. And while I was there, my buddy Tyler Bilby, who's the head coach, says, hey, stick in the room. This is going to be pretty cool.

I get to tell this 20-year-old who's never played a Junior B game in his life that he's earned the final spot on our team. Unfortunately, they had to cut another kid, which sucks. But he called them in, and he fucking told them. And it was a pretty emotional moment, man. It was cool. It was probably the coolest thing he's ever had told to him in a hockey office. Did the boys go nuts for him?

Yeah, they were pumped. I mean, I'd imagine they went out that night and spent my $102,000 and had a little fun on the long weekend. But it was great being back home, good seeing the family. My neighbor, Tanbelly Terry, I got this funny neighbor. He's like the neighborhood watch guy. He's always on the porch, always knows what's going on. Like if you weren't home and you were on vacation,

he'd keep an eye on your place for you. He's like two packages were dropped off. And I don't think this guy's ever had a T's going on. Like if you weren't home and you were on vacation, he'd keep an eye on your place for you. He's like two packages were dropped off. And I don't think this guy's ever had a T-shirt on. He always had, and I call him Tan Belly Terry because he's all tanned up and he's got a big barrel on him. So I got to see Tan Belly. Every time I would come home, he'd be like, hey, you mind if I get one of those sticks off you?

And I'm like, Tan Belly, you don't play hockey. I'm giving you one pieces every fucking time I come home. But so finally I had to come cut them off eventually at like two or three one pieces. And, uh, but other than that, great seeing my folks, my, my sister, this is the longest intro ever, by the way, my sister's kids started school for the first time today. So I got to see that this morning. They, yeah, they went off to school. So that was cool. So sorry about that long intro. I had a lot going on on Labor Day weekend. What did you get up to? Hold on. You had a $2

American bill on you, you said? No, I had two singles. No. I misunderstood. Actually, let's introduce the last member of our crew, the man who started all this madness with the Pink Whitney's. Ryan Whitney, what's going on, buddy? Not much, guys. Hell of a weekend. We had a night at home with the pink whitney's orion whitney what's going on buddy not much guys

hell of a weekend we had a night uh at home with with the pink whitney went down like water here's the thing i'm not um what's the word uh i'm not uh familiar with how booze is sold how when how it does when it releases right i don't know but i'm guessing it's not usually what's going on right now with us because i'm liquor stores apparently are saying like what the fuck is pink whitney people are just calling them all you rabid fans i love just calling searching for them and we got we got every liquor store in the country's attention i mean people are publicly calling out stores that don't have their

beloved Pink Whitney. It's beloved. They haven't even tasted it yet. So I think the feedback's been phenomenal. It's actually shocking. People are like, congrats on the drink. I'm like, this is a joke. I'm like, Arnold Palmer had a drink after him. Ryan Whitney's got a Pink Whitney out there now. So it's

been crazy. It's been, it actually it made the night. I think it was Saturday night. I went with pink lemonade as my mix. My buddy went with soda with some lemon and we both loved it. So all is good. All is good on my end. Two things. I'm happy that everyone's

enjoying it as much as we did and they actually see that it is a good drink. And number two, I hope that this falls in Canada, but I'm happy how inexpensive it is because I don't want our – we have a certain demographic. I don't want people going out there and spending Grey Goose prices. It's a fairly reasonable-priced bottle. I think I saw them as cheap as $70.99 up to as much as $11.99.

But just to double down on what Whit said, the response has been unbelievable. We're going to try to get it in Canada as soon as possible. People continue to message me about getting it in Canada. Guys, when we know, we'll tell you. I promise. So just stay positive. It'll get there soon enough. And for all you other people who have went out and got it,

some people messaging me already, they've driven as much as two hours. Dude, one guy said he drove like five hours to a place to get something. I mean, we can't say thanks enough for the loyalty because they want to support the show so much. It's crazy. But to follow what's said, we're not too familiar with how alcohol gets distributed all the time. So we don't know which stores are getting it.

We don't have like a master list. We were told September 1st. But if your packie didn't order it, then it won't happen. So you might have like a master list. We were told September 1st, but if your pack, he didn't order it, then it won't happen. So you might have to like, you know, ask somebody to request it or whatever, but you know,

whoever ordered it, got it. So, you know, you might have to request the owner manager and say, Hey, can you get this stuff for us? Cause they might not be aware of it.

All right. You might've tweeted this also. If your, your liquor store isn't carrying it, I believe you can call them and have them order it so they can order it into their liquor store and then give it and sell it to you. I don't think it's going to cost you any more than what it would have retailed for.

Heck, it might even be cheaper. You can cut a deal with that liquor store. But Gallo has a lot of places they distribute to. It's rolling out slowly. At least give it another week, and if they haven't got it, then definitely make the call. Dude, the commercial, it's out. I saw it on Twitter today.

It's released, so if anyone hasn't seen it, did you retweet it, Mikey? Yeah, so only one of the commercials is out. We still have two more that will be debuting. I don't know if we can get too much. Actually, we can. They're going to be debuting on NBC and shit this fall, so it's going to be all over your TV screen. We got some really funny stuff that we filmed out in LA a couple weeks ago.

All right. And beside that, we never asked you how your weekend went. It was Labor Day. Well, I'm the old fuck of the show. So it's, you know, I don't tie it down like I used to, but I went out. I actually met some friends I hadn't seen in quite a while Sunday. I tied one on a little bit and I had a good buzz on. It was like last call, which is fucking 1.30 in Boston.

And I was like, Hey, you know what? I might go check that new casino out. So I took an Uber by myself to the new casino over in Everett. I it's, it is super nice. It's like you walk around. It looks like somebody transplanted a Las Vegas strip. Really? Right.

And fucking Everett mass. Wow. Hilarious. Yeah. No, like the signage looks the same. Like everything about it, like screams Vegas casino. I mean, they spelled fuck spent fucking three or 4 billion to build it uh but i i didn't stay too long i dude it was $50 minimums at every table oh fuck that whatever fun so i bought i know you need it way higher than

that to keep the fuck you win yeah what would you play at ra 25 i find even 25 high like 15 oh it didn't it didn't scare me away. I ended up buying a roulette for a little bit. The most I got up was like 50 bucks. I just play same numbers, hope you get a little hot, walk away with a dime, two dimes in your pocket. But I made a donation, a couple hundred bucks, and then fucking Ubered to my brother's and slept there.

But, yeah, I'm old, man. My labor days. I never went away on labor days. He's the story. Just Ubers to his brother. All right. Why don't you Uber home? All right.

So let's talk a little bit more about your weekend. What else did you do besides the casino? All right. I had a question. Have you talked to anyone or heard when the sports book's opening there? No, because they have to legalize it first in Massachusetts. Sports betting is still only legal in like a handful of states ever since the Supreme Court overturned it.

So they need the Massachusetts fucking lame-ass legislature to pass it. Now, that just means everybody's going to get their palms greased and fucking bribed and all that shit. But it is kind of ridiculous because they've built two giant casinos, open rather, two giant casinos, the MGM in Springfield, which is doing terrible, and this one in Everett. And if you want more money, man, you've got to legalize sports betting. It's the wave of the future.

Speaking of gambling, Ari, have you bet any of these football games that have been going on, all these college games? You know what's funny? I'm not a college football fan at all, but I've been jonesing so bad to bet a game since hockey ended because I hate betting baseball because it's boring. I actually bet two games over the weekend and went 2-0, but I don't watch the games. I just bet them because I'm a degenerate.

But people are like, oh, you don't like college football? I feel bad for you. It's like, really, buddy? You don't have to feel bad for me. I watched it for years. It's not my oh, you don't like college football? I feel bad for you. It's like, really, buddy, you don't have to feel bad for me. I watch the videos. It's not my thing. I don't care for it. Well, that reminds me to ask you, you sent out a tweet recently, and you said that the first two months of the NHL

is the hardest to gamble on hockey. Yeah, I mean, I don't have any statistical evidence other than my own losing during October and November to back it up, but yeah, I mean, for me, me historically those two months have been bad for me because everybody thinks you know this team's gonna come out good or that team you just missed there's just so many like teams that aren't ready yet teams that aren't throwing up cohesion and teams that have better since last year so I always tell people tread very lightly the first two months of the season one thing I would like to do this year with your, with RAs gambling corner.

Cause, and first of all, I might have a friend put, play some bets for me. I mean, hopefully no one, am I, am I legally allowed to bet as a radio guy?

Yeah. Or would the league be pissed? I mean, I don't know. I don't actually, that's a great question. I should probably find out before I start placing bets. I don't want to be the next Pete Rose and they won't induct me to hall of fame well brent musburger does

brent musburger does like the color for the oakland raiders and he has like his own gambling booth at a casino in the nfl yeah he does he's a degenerate that's unreal okay so i was he used to bring it up in games he'd be like oh yeah the line here is six and a half. We might not say the line. He'd be like, they really need that touchdown here. It was like 28-7. They're like people at home. Hey, they miss a field goal. He's like, fuck, fucking fuck.

You know he's been doing it. He's like, no, I'm just fucking the whole team. And he had a fucking field goal. He has a complete meltdown on air. Oh, man. That fucking guy's a piece of shit. I seen him banging some whore down the street. Maybe if he stayed in the night before a game, that fucking drunk.

Anyway, what were we just talking about? God, I lost track. Actually, well, I'll mention. Canadian. Oh, go ahead. Go ahead, Biz. No, I want to know what your record is i want to keep track of your record and and i want to piggyback you if i can legally uh with little

bets and i want to see if you can fucking win me some dough baby yeah if you want to do it i mean i don't keep track but we can certainly do it if you want to this year i like that and then what if you just go on the legendary run ra you.A.? You get in the gambling action at Barstool. And there's usually always one game where Witt likes to fade you. For you non-gamblers, that means go against what R.A. picked because I'm a gambler. But we should keep track of Witt's fades because sometimes Witt's like, I don't know, I don't like that pick.

And then you give a great reason why you don't. And then we should keep track of that as well. So, R.A., I'm looking forward to it, buddy. Last year, I thought you were very solid, and I think you can make some of our fans some money. I certainly hope so, man, because when you're on a heater, it's great, but when you give out losers, man, it's a fucking shitty feeling. I just, you know, but I tell people, be an adult about it.

We all lose. If you lose, don't cry. Oh, by the way, Canadians fans listening, you're going to like this episode. We've got a couple of les abatants we're going to bring you away shortly. Nate Thompson and Brendan Gallagher. Great interviews with both of those guys. A lot of personalities. We'll be getting to them shortly. Dude, we forgot to say farewell

to office manager Brett last week. I'm not sure if we knew he was gone yet, but what was he? Dignitary, whatever. When we were in California, he was our... What was his role, Grinelli? He was our drinking buddy. When we were in California, what was his role, Grinnelly? He was our drinking buddy. He was our drinking buddy, and he was Bugsy's just kid to pick on all weekend. And he almost got us fucking killed, and we didn't even know it.

We took the long way, the PCH, which is fun. It's a scenic route, and he saw his sunset. Brett loves sunsets. But going back, we should have took the inland road. I think it's the 101, and it's a lot quicker, and it's safer. We were on the fucking PCH one-lane highway on that gigantic camper with, like, a 200-foot drop. Thank God it was DACA.

We couldn't see it because it was pitch black. And I was like, dude, we should go the other way. He said, no, no, it's the same thing. Even the bus driver was like, I don't know why he's got me going this way. It's, like, three hours longer. But fucking, I mean, that could have been a nightmare. If we crashed off the road and all died, no one would have known it was all office manager Brett's fault.

But all kidding aside, he's a good shit, man. He always took care of me over the years at Boston. He's a nice kid, and he'll do good wherever he goes. So we wish him all the best of luck wherever he's off to next. Off to Austin, Texas. What a place to live in that would be. Geez, you could have some fun down there biz huh i've heard nothing good things i'm sure you would it is a city by the way i mean you

know if any city biz just has a time for himself office manager brett the ride i'll just yeah i mean he's he is a great kid very happy for him great to meet him i'll never forgive him for taking us up to pch like that that fucking what does dave call him that floppy haired fuck he went once we really i was like i think teddy on there it was teddy who said dude we should be there by now i just checked ways we have like three and a half more hours and we all kind of realized in the back of the bus what had happened then it came to a head brett took it took us that way so he could look at the ocean. Brett stared at the ocean for an hour and a half, and then that added eight hours to our ride.

I think it took 11 hours from L.A. to San Jose. I mean, I don't think it's an 11-hour ride, so I'll never forgive him for that. But still, good luck moving forward, Brett. He's a Saratoga guy. That's where I ran into him last summer, I believe. So he'll probably miss being around there. But still, it's good for him, and he's a good dude boys i'm not gonna lie i love that trip and i love

how it took an extra three four hours because i must have crushed i think i drank 25 to 30 budweiser beers on that that's when dana was puking dana dana and and office manager brett just got so bugsy that trip. They didn't know what hit them. And then Portnoy hit them at home, so it was just like a triple whammy. That was such a fun bus ride. And, you know, Teddy specifically and then, of course, Bugsy. During the hockey season, me and Whit and R.A. and the guys have talked about it a bit. We'll probably be seeing more of them.

Whereas, like, you know, maybe once a month or something and bring them on a little bit more frequently. I know Teddy kind of comes on frequently, but maybe Bugsy a little bit more and keep the regulars when it's harder to get guys who are in season right now. Yeah, boozing with Bugsy one day a week, one day a month. He's got to think of a good little term we could get involved in. He's going to have to bring his talking points. We're going to

have to see what the Bugsman wants to talk about. Let the fans decide how it all goes down. I sense that we're going to all be getting shit on by him. You guys fucking pounded that whole trip too because I had to lay down for a while. I'm like, man, those guys are still fucking drinking. Oh yeah, we all had 25, 30 beers.

No question. We walked off that bus. Remember, we were walking to eat. We were just like cross-eyed. I'll say this. I can party with the best of them. Like, I'm a consumer. But the come down is when I get I get got like I'll be sucking my thumb for three, four days.

And yeah, when you're when you're bend end, you just go dark for a week. Dark. It's like a mini hibernation. Yeah. Yeah. So, R.A., you kind of go a little more even keel. I mean, the worst you're doing is eating a million edibles. And then you wake up the next day a little bit tired.

Yeah. Yeah. I don't drink like I used to. I can't. I mean, I can't. I have a few beers. I get fucking sleepy know sleeping bad i ain't a kid no more and it's you know i got to pick and choose my spots these days unless you're at high school prom unless i'm cheating oh by the way speaking of cheating i screwed up last week when we were talking about the cocaine

use in the nhl i believe i said coke and meth were both um amphetamines what i meant to say is they're both stimulants. So I know someone corrected me on Twitter about that. I basically said Coke and meth are first cousins, but they're both stimulants, not both amphetamines. But point being the same, they both enhance your performance as far as I'm concerned. I don't even know what the fuck you're talking about.

Those words are too long. I thought you were going to read it back to me after that. You know what we should do one time is we should play the lost audios of me trying to do some of these ad reads. Grinnelli, there was one in your room one time where I was trying to do it organically. I must have been in there for 45 minutes. Yeah, we've had some pretty bad ones, me and you.

I must have been in there for 45 minutes. Yeah, we've had some pretty bad ones, me and you, where it's just like – especially during the NHL playoffs when I was staying up until 5 a.m. anyways. There were times I really wanted to kill you. So that Instagram or – was it Instagram message or Twitter message from that fan I dropped the bottle of booze at for? She'd probably love this story. It was a sentimental story because I was talking about her father, and I was like stuttering through it it and wit just started like dying laughing obviously

not because of what i was saying no because we play that audio if you ask her and we can like like these people need to hear she wouldn't care she wouldn't care but like long story short is i'm trying to read something sentimental and just sometimes like i just if the font's really small and my eyes aren't working properly he's playing with the font size i'm no wait no fuck you i'm gonna i'm kind of blaming the concussions a little bit because i know i used to be a little bit better at public reading fuck you already i see that grin but i'm laughing with you the concussions one is why i don't really laugh like i keep it in oh yeah you should have heard yourself last week grinnelly i wish you could put the the video too so like you were laughing your balls off as well i mean biz the thing is it's just so funny but i do feel bad if it's conkeys i really do but

it's like you get you don't take your time and just like read the word you kind of want to rush the word out and by rushing the word out you rush like the actual reading of the word. I don't think my eyes can catch up. So that's what's going on. No, font size, font size. Font size is the same as Grinnelli blaming his partner for the spike ball loss. You blame the font size.

Hey, should we talk about some hockey? What's been going on in the hockey world? Dude, can we talk about one thing that I saw today, boys, that cracked me up? And it all kind of stems back to when I said beginning of summer maybe end of the season how many rfas are going to hold out guys will there be one will there be two well now there could be like 12 because nobody signed yet camp's right around the corner

and then what what pops up on my tv today watching nhl network John Tortorella's quotes about Zach Wierenski. Hey, we're back, baby. And I'm like, dude, this is a guy you don't want to fucking hold out on. You do not want to come back. 100% if he holds out. Actually, Ari, why don't you read the quotes first so that, and then I can kind of go into my little rant about this. Absolutely.

Tort said that, like you said, quote, disgusted if RFA Zach Wierenski misses any part of training camp. I'm going to read the whole quote now. I'd be terribly disappointed. I'm not involved in the business part of it, but for a young man to miss one minute of camp, it disgusts me. That guy there, Wierenski, the way he has evolved here, he has shown so much determination, so much confidence and attention to detail, playing defense without it really affecting his offensive game. He has really grown as a player. I just don't want him to miss a beat here. I won't be disappointed. I'll be disgusted. And then I thought he started becoming a man last year. He's still up the ice. He's still making plays. His determination and playing in those areas, I thought he was soft a year ago,

but then he really came on. So needless to say, Torts doesn't want to see a holdout for Wierenski. Okay, so those quotes actually prove that he loves Wierenski. Loves him. I think he absolutely loves the kid. But at the same time, if Zach Wierenski holds out, and now Torts made it clear if he misses one day at camp. So he can either miss 30 days or one day. It won't matter.

This is what's going to happen. He's going to come in and I'm not going to guarantee this, but say this is what happens, that he comes in and they have their first couple practices and then an exhibition game. He's definitely playing in the first exhibition game. Or, you know, as long as he's had enough practice. He could go out and get four goals and three assists, be plus nine and play 33 minutes of ice time.

And I'm still telling you, Torch is going to find something to give him shit for. Because it's all about now, like him looking at it, this isn't about you, this is about the team. You're going to hold out. Basically saying, you're telling me the money they're offering you isn't enough for you to come back? That's kind of what he's saying. How can you be still arguing over this? I the money they're offering you isn't enough for you to come back that's kind of what he's saying like how can you be still arguing over this i know what they're offering you that's kind of what i what i sense there like you're getting offered

so much money are you really gonna hold out for more and maybe the kid does maybe he doesn't we have a question about so many guys right now but still still, he's going to catch shit from him all season long. That's honestly what I think after reading that quote. I couldn't disagree with you more. No shit. Yeah, and the reason I say that is I don't think – I think Torts has slightly adapted to where he knows he's vulnerable, where he can't lose Wierenski.

All he's got is him and Seth Jones now. I shouldn't say all year then, but he's going to give him shit all camp. I disagree. I think Wierenski, fucking tell he's going to give him shit all camp. I disagree. I think Wierenski fucking tell him to go get him a Tim Hortons cup of coffee before the game and he'd fucking do it because in reality, his two star players are now

Seth Jones and Wierenski. I know they got a couple decent players at Centerman. I believe it's Dubois. Is it Dubois? Yeah. He's a stud. Pierre Loup.

Man, now that all those guys left and they're going to have a team that they have a ton of cap space and they're not going to be the best team, why are you going to play there and take a little bit of a – not even necessarily a hit because we don't know what the number amount that they're offering is, but it seems like this guy's like, no, I'm not taking a little bit less because it's a bridge deal. He's like, you're going to pay me big boy money

because like every kid in this league nowadays who's played two or three years and now is a restricted free agent and knows he's one of the best players on the team, he's saying, pay me or I'm sitting at home. This league is going so young that these young players have the leverage, man, and it's turning.

Would you not agree, R.A.? Yeah, but at the same time, you've got to figure not all these guys are going to get all the money they want. I mean, some GMs are going to stick to their guns. What do you think they're offering him? Wierenski should be in no rush to go back to get an eight-year deal off Columbus at, I would say, minimum $8 million. I don't think he's getting less than $8 million.

He's a fucking stud. He's a top 20 defenseman now, I believe. If it's an eight-year deal, yeah, it would have to be more than that. I'm wondering if that's not on the table. I don't know. Unless Columbus is offering him a two-year deal or only, you know what I mean? It makes no sense.

These holdouts make no sense, Biz. I think that there's a few guys who have this type of leverage. I think Matthew Kachuk is one of them. I think he's the heart and soul of that Calgary team, and I think that he's probably going to get what he wants for that reason because he brings it in all facets. I think Gorinsky's that type of guy. Obviously, I think Marner can get paid what Matthews is getting paid.

Do I think the Leafs are going to have success if they have to pay him all that? No. Now, I think there's a certain guys coming out of their entry-level deals now where they're like, hey, I'm staying at home. I know you're eventually going to give me what I want. And I think those are three names that are going to get it. Who else is up for RFA? Fuck, sorry.

All right. Quickly, you know what else is such a game changer too when you can get guys that are doing it at the same time? All those years Anaheim got Perry and Getzef on pretty much the same contracts, remember? It was close, if not the exact same, very close. John Tavares is a perfect example. Okay, but why didn't Toronto maybe plan on giving Marner and Matthews

the same thing? Marner, I guess, hadn't had the, you know, last season yet where you can kind of argue that, but it's just so weird. They're now going against guys on their own team. Like, I need at least this much or if not more. That is not the way that I feel like a good team is going to be built, a great team. Of course, all this talk, transition and a Leafs talk, which it is.

No, I meant RFAs. You're right. Right, but no, but it is a good example, Witt. And in their case, I don't want to be too hard on their GM in Toronto. I think that because he's a younger guy and he's been unbelievable in a lot of areas. He's a great, young, smart GM. I think his lack of negotiating strength is going to be the demise of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

And I'm not saying that it would have been easier to get Matthews on a lower-term deal if you're Lou Lamarillo. But I don't know, man. I think that he was a little soft in negotiations, and I think he bent a little too hard with the Nylander situation, and that's going to eventually – I mean, fuck. Now he's easy to get got, and guys know that. So if this ends up happening this year where there is a bunch –

say you get like seven this year, right? Will that be the new thing? Whereas this is basically the option. The player knows that, well, if our team starts the season off poorly, everyone's going to be like, sign this guy. Give him what he wants. He's a young stud, right? And at the same time, there's GMs thinking,

I'd love to just tell this kid to fuck off. He can sit out the whole year, but I got to win games. My team needs to win. So it's like, who's going to end up winning the standoff? And if this year there's a bunch of them, maybe that becomes the norm. Dude, I'll just hold out. I don't care. I mean, are young kids going to not want to be playing games? I feel like if that becomes a common thing, it'd be very bizarre.

Here's a little tidbit on the recent thing on the Kneelander. Or not the knee lander, excuse me, the Marner thing that I heard. And you guys might've already heard this. And some of you who are listening might've already heard this, but apparently he offered a three-year deal like to, to the Leafs where in the last year of his deal,

he'd be making 15 million. And when you, so then of course he'd still be restricted, but the what's the sheet they send you when you're restricted? Offer sheet? Qualifying offer. Qualifying offer, excuse me. Sorry, RA. I was thinking the same thing in my head.

But then that's legally only allowed to be, I think, 15%, 10% or 15% less than what he made the year before. So they would have to pay him like $12.5 million a year for how many of your years that they wanted to sign him for. And of course the lease rejected it. Yeah. I mean, that sounds like what's appealing to that deal is that the average on that deal would have been 10 million. So they would have got Marner at 10 million for the next three years. But then of course, after those three years, they would have had to pay him $12.50 if they wanted to keep him. So that's kind of like the trick in order to get GMs to maybe sign it.

Obviously, he's not dumb enough to do that. So right back to the drawing table. So we can move on from this type of talk. Sorry, it got going a little too long there. No, that's all right. But like you said, Biz, these guys, they're coming out of the entry-level deals, and they're seeing what other guys are getting. And they don't think that, oh, I don't have to take a bridge deal.

This guy didn't. But the bottom line is not everybody's going to win the battle with their GM. So it's going to be real interesting to see how all these play out because, you know,

not every single guy is going to get every fucking ball they want. But I think we should send a little bit of Nate Thompson by now. What do you think, Whit? Sounds good to me.

And without further ado, we go to Nate Thompson. This interview is brought to you by Stitch Fix. Personal style is like a fingerprint. Everyone has their own. Whatever your style, the expert stylists at Stitch Fix are ready to help you express yourself. Stitch Fix is an online personal styling service that delivers your favorite clothing brands right to your door. To get started, go to stitchfix.com slash chicklets, answer some questions about your preferred style in your personal shop, or we'll ship you a box of clothes, shoes, and accessories. With Stitch Fix, everyone can look their best. They have solutions for men, women, and kids all over the US and now the UK. There's no commitment required,

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les habitants after they acquired him in february before the trade deadline he's a sixth round draft pick going into his 13th nhl season he's also played with six other clubs for a total of 697 games and another 62 in the playoff so he's been around a bit. From Anchorage, Alaska, welcome to the show, Nate Thompson. Thanks, Aaron. I appreciate the introduction. It was funny, I was thinking about that today with the introduction. I don't get a lot of good ones. I know one year I was in Tampa. I've been on the team for about two or three years, and they do the starting lineup for all the boys, and they forgot me.

I'd already been there two or three years, and they forgot to announce me to start a lineup for the whole season. They just pulled me out, just came out there to the red light, so it's nice to get a nice introduction. My pleasure. We're the English major actually comes in handy once in a while. It's nice. Appreciate it. You were born in Anchorage. Did you actually grow up there? Because I know

they always put the born on city, but some people don't grow up in that particular area, but are you actually born and raised in Anchorage? Born and raised raised yep uh it was a great place to grow up you know i know we have some you know some other pretty good elastics that's coming out there obviously scott gomez maddie carl davinsky uh ty jones i mean there's a lot there's a there's a bunch of guys that uh joey crab johnson joey crab yeah joeyrabb Jason Riznar the Riz the Rizzy Crapper

oh yeah so yeah there's a you know there's a good amount of Alaska boys coming out and I'd say

we're definitely or some of us especially are some special guys coming out of Alaska it's a nice word to put it I know he's a couple

years older than you but were you pals with Gomez at all? We know he's quite a piece of work. We've been trying to get him for a while on here. I am. I am good buddies with him. I grew up, a lot of us grew up watching him. He pretty much put Alaska on the map to be honest.

He was like a phenom coming out of Alaska. We used to go up watching him. Pretty much around high school time when I got drafted is when I used to start, I used to work out with him. And we trained together for a few summers when he was going back there for, you know, in Alaska for most of the summer. And then from then on, we kind of just created this friendship and then started playing against him.

And then from then on, it just kind of grew. So, yeah, he's a great guy. He's, like I said, he's one of a kind. He's very good to all the Alaska boys. And he obviously won a hell of a career, too. I mean, he won two Stanley Cups over a thousand games. You know, he's Alaska's home homeboy and they're very proud of him he didn't do well with montreal though so you're there to finish uh what he what he didn't what he

didn't finish well it was before after i got trained he just texted me and just started laughing you know i don't know what it meant he just it was just a laugh you know so hopefully uh i just told him i was like don worry, I'll pick up your slack. No big deal. So hopefully, I can do a little bit better than I would for him here. But he would probably say he had a great time here and he did, but sometimes it doesn't work out for guys in certain places. Tomer's like, funny story.

First time I met Gomez, shook my hand and then paid my parents mortgage. So yeah, that's the kind of guy he is. Fucking dude picks up every tab ever. We've always brought

that up. The only guy, yeah, he picks up every single tab. And if I try to do it, he's like generally pissed off at me.

Like he's fucking mad. Yeah, he thinks you're slapping him in the face. He's like, fuck you. Exactly. He thinks He's like, fuck you. Exactly. He thinks it's like a fuck you. You're like, come on, man.

Come on. I'm just trying to help out. But all right. I'll make you. You would like to help him. Oh, fuck you. I get jabbed so much. I get jabbed so much about the tabs. If you only knew how much. I got to start tweeting out the tabs that I pick up.

That's just a sign of a cheap guy. You've got to start putting out the tabs, seriously. Just have someone sponsor it. That's how I got my Amex deal, is I just pay all the tabs that I wouldn't have picked up with the kind of card that they give me. Quick shout-out, no free ads. So then you ended up getting scouted by Seattle.

Go play for the Thunderbirds. What a city to play junior in. It was great. It was. It was, you know, it's different. You know, you're playing in a big city in junior. So, you know, it's not like your normal junior city where you're in a smaller town. Everyone's close together.

You know, guys are kind of spread out. I remember when I was there. Better park bunnies. Yeah, better. Probably a bigger number of looking girls for sure and we used to hang we used to actually hang around uh university of washington too which is you know not too shabby either so uh i would say it was a great place to play junior um it was you know like i said it's it's seattle washington they're gonna get nhl team there so i think i think it's gonna be really really and they're going to get an NHL team there. I think it's going to be really, really good there.

You ever date a girl with hairy armpits from there? Works at Starbucks. I was a little after that grunge era, so I never got into the hairy armpit thing. Hey, Tom, you played with one of my best buddies in Seattle who left BU to join the Thunderbirds, Justin Miser. You remember him? Justin Miser, the Miser. The Miser. Don't you think he'd be great on here?

Oh, he's fucking awesome. Why isn't Miser on here already? I can't stop. I know, but I was looking through the teams you've played for. I was like, oh, my God, they fucking played together. I'm sure you can't even tell half the stories, but that really did crack me up. But did you guys ever make any – What?

There are a couple stories that come to my head right away, and I can't even repeat them. Yep, same here. I can't even repeat them. Did you guys make any runs in the WHL? You have some good teams there, or was it kind of just run-of-the-mill seasons? No, we did. A couple years I was there, we made it to the conference finals twice.

We always lost to Kelowna for some reason. They were always stacked. They always had really good teams. But we went to the conference finals, conference finals twice. We had, uh, we were playing with some guys that, uh,

uh, Brooks like was on my team. Um, who else do they have here? Uh, Thomas Hickey. He was a young guy coming in, but,

uh, not really. We had some good teams though. So, um, Dean Chanel was my coach for three years there. Now he's an assistant in Carolina. I actually had an assistant in New York where I was with the Islanders.

But, yeah, like I said, it was a great place to play. We had some good teams, and it was a fun place to play junior. Well, it's funny you bring up the Islanders because that's really where you became a regular, solid NHL player was your time on the Island. I never even knew. How did it – did the Bruins not resign you? Was that a trade?

How did you end up out of the Bruins organization after being drafted? Oh, yeah. So, I mean, I played most of the time when I was in Boston. I came out of junior my last year, played in the lockout year during the playoffs. And then I was mostly in the minors. I played four games. And I I was mostly in the minors. I played four games. And I played four games at Boston. And then, you know, always was I kind of at the end of every training camp,

almost like I had the last cut kind of thing. And I had to go on waivers. And I had Scott Gordon as a coach in Providence, and he got the head job in the Islanders. And when I got put on waivers, you know, Island he got the head job for the Islanders. And when I got put on waivers, you know, Islanders picked me up. There was that connection. He was a really good coach.

We had a good relationship, and so he picked me up for the Islanders. But I was thinking about stories because business, you know, we were talking about it, and I got to tell a story. My second game, we are – my second game was Boston. And this is okay to tell this, right, boys? This is fine? Oh, fuck yeah. Are you kidding me? All right.

Unless you murder someone on this story. No, so my second game was Boston. And I only played one at this point. And so I'm like, you know, we're in Providence, and you guys remember the AHL Rookie Party. Like, AHL Rookie Party is sort of, like, fucking best. Like, almost better than NHL ones because it's like, I don't know, but it's like more of a shit show, right?

And so we have our Rookie Party in Providence the night before. We're out until, I don't know, 3, 4 in the morning. We're at 6. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, you're at a couple hours. And I'm sure you know this establishment, the Foxy Lady, went to. Excellent buffet there. Excellent buffet.

Beautiful menu. Beautiful menu. So we're at the establishment of the foxy lady we close it down you know you get your two for one t-shirt there which sick t-shirts you know of all the new england sports you know whatever they incorporate

the foxy lady logo in there and uh so we just love that the most so anyways the next day we like a sweated out practice and we're at like a practice rink in Rhode Island. I can't remember the name of it, but it's cold. It's brutal. We're all over, just sweated out.

It was just our assistant coach running us through the practice. We knew we had a rookie party the night before. I'm like, you know, skating up and down the ice, barely getting up and down. Assistant coach calls me over, and he's like, hey, come here for a second. You got a phone call inside this room. I'm like, fuck, I'm getting graded, I'm like, great.

So I go into the room, answer the phone call, it's Scott Gordon. He's like, hey, you got called up tonight. You're playing in Toronto. You had to grab your shit and you got to drive to Boston. I'm like, what? I'm going to drive back to the main rink, the Dunkin' Donuts Center, get my shit, go home, grab my passport, throw a suit on, drive to Boston in like 45 minutes. I haven't eaten anything. If I ate anything, I'm like, I'm sick, hungover, I feel like shit.

I haven't gotten like two hours of sleep. And so I finally get to the airport, get my bags, get checked, everything, get through, and grab like a chicken sandwich with fries. I'm like, this is fucking my second NHL game, and I'm playing in Toronto tonight. I'm eating a chicken sandwich and fries. And I'm hung titties. That's a Whitney move.

And I'm hung titty. I'm like, what the fuck? What's going on? So I get on the flight, a small plane, like, you know, a quick flight to Toronto. We finally get over Toronto. The captain's like, oh, due to bad weather, we have to circle over Buffalo for 30 minutes. I'm like, fuck me. I'm like, this is going to be close. So we finally land in Toronto, and my phone's ringing off the hook, and it's the guys from

the roads, the team guys, calling me left and right, like, where are you? Where are you? I'm like, I've just landed. They're like, all right, we can't get a car for you. They're like, grab a cab and come straight to the arena.'m like uh okay in the cab rush out of traffic i'm like this is a fucking disaster so like we finally get there it's literally like not like not even exaggerating like 30 minutes before warm-ups i pull up and i'm like tabby's like, I've never even been at the time. It was a ACC center. I'd never been there before in my life. And I'm like,

he's like, where do I go? I'm like, fuck, I don't know. Pull up front. Pull up front. Get out of here.

I swear to God. Fucking pulled up front. People are walking in with their fucking Toronto jerseys on, walking through with their tickets. And I'm in my suit I look like shit grab my hot seat bag out of the back of this cab start walking in with these fans and this guy's asking me he goes hey come over here for a second I'm like yeah he's like you're with the Bruins obviously he's like hey come with me so it takes me down a lot um 20 minutes guys are like putting on their skis as i'm rolling in it's like glenn and then suddenly it's like glenn murray pj axelson marco stern like

you know older crew right and i'm like oh my god so i'm like going i'm like i feel like i'm gonna keep going change really fast everybody knows that we had a rookie party in Providence the night before except for the head coach. It was Dave Lewis at the time. Doug Huda, one of the assistant coaches, pulls me in to the equipment room

and he goes, Hey, we know that you had a rookie party last night. He's like, don't worry. Everybody knows. He goes, except for Dave. He's like, he's like, fuck.

He goes. Can you tell him, please? He goes, guilty hockey is your best hockey. How were you? Played two minutes. Almost had an assist the first shift, and that was it. That was back when the young guys didn't play, right? So, yeah, it was interesting.

It was definitely a story I had to tell. One guy I wanted to ask you about, I don't think we've ever talked to a guy who's played with him, is Mark Savard. That was his first year in Boston, his second ever point total as a professional. What was it like, the small amount of time that you were up with him? I mean, it was awesome just to watch him play.

I mean, he's so talented, so skilled. I remember he had on his sticks, which is hilarious, and that's kind of what he was. I like that. He had on his sticks the disher. And if I can talk about swag, man, like the guy had it. But, like, he could, man, the guy, he can make plays. I'm sure you guys remember, like, he was a really, really,

really talented player. Like, he just got points. I just remember him always getting points. So good. Hey, one more guy I got to ask you about quickly, and this is moving on to long island was playing with joel reckless the wrecker the wrecking ball the record are some of these stories true that when he was called up uh they wouldn't let him practice with the team they would send

him either down to the minors or he had to skate after with the with the guys who were getting bag skated i don't remember that i i i can't remember i thought he did practice for us but maybe right maybe now i look back at it every time i did play with him it was only game so i didn't know about the practice part of it but i do know that like that guy would he would run into a wall for you like he was like he is the nicest human I've ever met and like just would fight anybody but he like he he was one of the he was you know how you make those jokes about tripping over the red line of the line he is he is the guy he is the guy that you make fun of for doing that because he would literally trip over the blue line all the time

he'd be running off the bench and just fall as, you know, three strides under the ice. So Nate, you have four games with the Bruins with the Dave Lewis experience. I know there's only four games. What was that like? Because he was like a disaster as a coach. They cut Bade after one year. What was your impression in the short period of time there? I'm a really, really good guy. I mean, it was tough for me to give an opinion because all the games that I played were called up and sent back down, right? So I didn't really have a, you know, I guess it was,

they were kind of in a changing regard there. You know, it was a transition. They were exciting to new guys. And we, you know, we had some guys in providence that were really good you know like my last year my last year in providence like we had a really good team we had a lot of guys that are still there you know we had tuka we had david crecci uh we had adam mcquade we had you know some other guys like matt hundwick matt hendricks like we had a really really good team but they had a lot of guys coming up I think while they were doing that that really kind of I think it was a transition time so it's hard to

kind of comment on I know how he coached because it was you know it's such a short time and I wasn't there very much so well okay one other guy I want to ask you about the organization you played with Timmy Thomas your first full year in Providence were you surprised by were you surprised by his cup run in 2011 or did you kind of know he was somewhat of a hidden gem? I wasn't surprised at all. I mean, just from playing with him, where we got to play with him in Providence, and that's when I played with him in Providence,

where he got called up, and then the rest was history. And Timmy Thomas, I mean, it's self-explanatory, but he was such a gamer. I mean, he was just one of those guys that, like, you got into a big game and you knew that he was going to make the big saves. No matter how he did it, he was going to make the save. And he just, I mean, he was, like, I think that's the best way to put it. You know, you wouldn't really call Timmy Thomas an athlete,

but, like, he was an unbelievable goalie. He just knew how to stop the puck. He watched some of the saves. They weren't textbook butterfly saves. It was him doing his acrobatics, spinning around, doing 360s and that, but he made the save. I wasn't surprised at all when he did what he did. It was fun to watch.

That first year for you on the island, you got to play with Doug Waite and Bill Guerin. I can't imagine being in a locker room with one of them, let alone both of those guys. Unbelievable. Comical every single day I walk in.

Chirping everyone. Chirping everybody, but doing it together. So it was like, team up. Team up on guys like we're at the point where guys like losing it because they're like fuck you billy fuck you dougie you know what i mean but it was like that's just the way they were like i remember we we didn't have a very good year that year and billy and dougie lived right next to each other and you know billy and dougie like their they're beers, you know, as you know.

And I heard them have a conversation, and they were talking, Dougie's like, you know, Billy, like, let's, you know, we're not doing great. Like, let's, you know, let's maybe, let's not have beers tonight. And Billy's like, fuck off. No, I'm not doing

that, you know, whatever. So, they tried, you know, they tried, man. They tried, they're like, alright, we're trying'm not doing that. You know, whatever. So they try. They try, man. They try. They're like, all right, we're going to try not having beers. Next game, we get fucking smoked. And we're in the changing room, and I'm like just taking my stuff off, whatever. And Billy comes storming in.

Dougie's in there. He's like, I didn't tell you about the game. He's like, fuck, Dougie. I fucking told you. I fucking told you, man. We're never going to do that again. I'm always half of my team. What the fuck are these guys talking about right now?

We just got smoked in the game. They're talking about beers. But, like, that's the type of guy where, like, these are all guys, and just always, like, keeping it light. But, like, good pros and, of course, you know, both have hell of careers and obviously doing very well for themselves now. So it's pretty cool to say that I got to play with both those guys and, you know, still call them friends today.

I can't even imagine, like, those two guys meeting up for beer. They're next-door neighbors after a shellacking. They've both played a thousand games. Being a fly on the wall for those conversations. Did you see Tomer out there? What the fuck is he doing? Oh, yeah. All the time.

I walk into the locker room and be like, Hey, Nate, what's up today? Just stupid shit like that where it was never serious. So if you had like some new, like brand-new sandwich or you're eating it, Billy would come up and grab it and fucking take a bite out of it and walk away, you know, like shit like that. It's like every day. It's just the way these guys were, but they were great.

Well, Tom, I know there's not a lot more time with you because you've got a big night tonight with your NFL. What do they call those drafts? I got some time. I got some fantasy drafts. It's not for those 40 minutes. I got some time. Well, we do have Brendan Gallagher coming on before that.

What do you guys call them, fantasy drafts? Fantasy football draft, yeah. Who you got going first? I don't know what order I'm picking. We don't have whatever order we're picking at. I don't know if I'm one, two, three. I'm not sure, so I couldn't tell you right now. Do you have any type of strategy going into this thing? Is this your first ever fantasy draft? Definitely not my first one, two, three, I'm not sure, so I couldn't tell you right now. Do you have any type of strategy going into this thing?

Is this your first ever fantasy draft? Definitely not my first one, but I think probably a good running back or a receiver most likely. How about Biz not knowing it was called a fantasy draft? I drew a blank sometimes with my head. I haven't even been going on for like back to 20 years. Hey, some of us have to work for a living Tom or we don't just play hockey

and do fantasy drafts I had to work all day so sometimes I know a couple stutters in the brain I know you do I respect that you do you work hard you're a hustler I will say that there's no one that can deny that

hey usually I have those stutters when I'm reading my ad reads, though, not when I'm talking about fantasy drafts. But a few things that I wanted to get to before we let you go were the fact that you converted to Judaism. Is that how you say it? Correct. Really? Did you?

Yeah. So my wife is Jewish. She's from L. LA, Beverly Hills. And before we got married last summer, I talked about it because I've been around a lot of holidays and it's very family oriented and we talked about you know raising our kids jewish so i was like all right fuck it like i'll i'll convert you know like yeah so i i did like the whole conversion at no biz i did not have to get my fucking i did not have to get circumcised i already am circumcised so it's all good so i i saw him a few weeks ago in Hermosa, and I'd heard that somebody must have been fucking with me because that seems to happen a lot. Oh, 100%.

And I was talking to him about it. I'm like, hey, what was the process like? And I'm like, what was it like getting your foreseed chopped off? And he's like, what? I never got my foreskin chopped off. It was already chopped off. And I guarantee that whoever fucked with me is going to be listening to this and just dying laughing. Because you know in the hockey

it worked out perfect because they planned it. It was probably Teddy Percival throwing me. Oh, 100%. 100% Teddy was like, oh yeah, you got circumcised for sure. 100% Teddy. Listen, I'll say this. If I met a girl as beautiful as your girl and she told me to chop off my

foursy, I'd probably fucking do it. Thank you. I'm going to take that as a compliment. Thank you. I appreciate it. Now, what other steps did you have to take in order to become a Jew? It was kind of the easy, conservative way, I guess you could say. I had to do some reading and then I had to meet with a rabbi

and do something we call a mikvah. And yeah, I mean, it was not a very intense process, but it was a good process. And it was nice. It actually worked out pretty well. And then I got a Jewish name too. My Jewish name is Natan. Oh, that's got to be your new nickname. Natan. Get some T-shirts going. It already is. All the Kings boys and some of the guys.

I don't know if you guys hear it from Pat Wendovit in Montreal, but a lot of guys. I hear Natan a lot more now. How do you spell that? N-A-T-A-N. Oh, kind of like ta-ta. Exactly. Did you guys say that around the locker room last year?

Do you guys remember that viral video of the Habs fan going, ta-ta? Ta-ta, yeah. Well, I recall that or I recall tuna, a vintage tuna. Oh, I love it. What religion were you raised? Did you raise, were you raised with any religion Spit it out I was kind of

You know Christian or Catholic I mean my My mom's side was My mom's side of the family Was very Catholic And my dad was You know kind of Christian

Go to church Sunday Kind of thing So it was I really didn't have any Like religion that I followed, you know, intensely, you know. So that's why. But, you know, we wanted to raise our kids Jewish

and do the whole process and everything. So I said, all right, let's do it. You're like the Henry Hill of the NHL. So Karen tells me to get half Jewish. Natan. There's a lot of good Jewish jokes now and around, but it's all good fun. If you score a goal on a night I'm working at NHL Network this year, I'm going to be screaming Natan into my mind.

You have to win. There he is, the sniper. Now, I don't want to go too serious with this but we have a lot of different listeners from a lot of different walks of life and you went through some hardships towards the latter of your career and you now are what

three years sober yeah coming up in October I'll be three years I know you're pretty open about it what three years sober yeah coming up in uh october i'll be three years congrats buddy good for you i know you're pretty open about it and and we have some listeners that go through some things and i'd like you to just kind of start from scratch and and tell us what you went through how you overcame it and what you still got to do in order to stay sober yeah of course um you know i like i said almost three years ago uh i wasn't in a good place man i was in a dark

place and um you know drinking drugs you know went through a couple bad surgeries and um you know i think things you know i when you're younger and for myself you know it was it was fun for a while and then it just got to be kind of a numbing thing for myself. You know, I wasn't comfortable in my own skin. Just a lot of different demons, right? And I was in a really, really bad place and kind of just had enough. It was either get help or, you know, it could have got a lot worse. You know, I don't know how much worse, but it could have got a lot worse, you know, I don't know how much worse, but

it could have got a lot worse. Uh, and I wasn't ready to make it, you know, let it go that far. And so, um, yeah, I just decided to, uh, you know, change their ways. And, um, you know, I go to, you know, go to AA meetings all the time and, uh, have a great group of friends that, uh friends that are sober now. Like you said, it's all about people being aware and people being able to put out their hand for help because that's kind of what it's all about. I know it's hard and people don't know how, but it's you doing that and asking for help.

I know for myself, I had five days sober and I didn't know how but it's it's you doing that and asking for help I know for myself I had five days sober and I didn't know what to do and uh you know someone came up to me and said how you doing what do you need and that was all it took and now I'm sitting here today and I'm almost three years sober and my life is completely different than what it would have been. I know for a fact that if I didn't get sober, I wouldn't be talking to you guys right now and I certainly wouldn't be in the NHL right now. That's a fact. I'm extremely grateful every day.

It's a one day at a time thing. And, you know, it's, but it's, it's definitely a blessing. And I'm, I'm extremely grateful for where I'm at today, because I am sober. And Tom, there's one more thing we talked about when we were at Hermosa, and you mentioned meditation, and I was considered picking it up. And you said it's worked wonders for you. You want to get into that just a little bit yeah i mean it's actually been kind of a new thing for me too i mean i um you know i think being sober and going through different things you know i mean even being sober you still have your you still have your dark days you know it's not always you know you're not always riding the pink cloud and you know you have to be able to

uh get through certain days in different ways. I started meditating and trying to learn how to do that, and it's been a process, but it's been super helpful. I think anyone that you don't even have to be sober to do it, I think it's one of those things that can help anybody. It's been a really big plus for me. I want to ask this kind of random, but you had your best statistical season in 2011 playing under Guy Boucher.

I think you had a career-high of two goals. You went all the way up to 10 goals. Did that have anything to do with him? Was it just a randomness of that year playing with the talent you played with? What was it like playing for him, too? He seems like an interesting cat. Yeah, I don't know.

It was, I don't know. I'm not sure why. It was just because of that year. I think we had a really good team. I did. I'm not sure why it was just because of that year. I think we had a really good team. I did. I got a good opportunity to play lots. He was great to me. Yeah, Guy's a really good guy. His coaching's a little bit different, but he has had some good teams and some winning teams, and we had a hell of a year that year. We almost almost we almost won the whole thing lost to boston who eventually won it but um yeah i'm not sure what it

was i think it was just you know i was in i was in a good spot and um you know how it goes guys that you're in a good spot good situation you're having fun you're out here with a good group of guys and we had a great group of guys in tampa. So we played with them for a while, and you're just comfortable, and I think that goes a long way for when you're playing on the ice. So I think it was just one of those years everything clicked. Yeah, that team was so good too. Still, I think, one of the best games we've ever seen when you lost 1-0 Game 7 Eastern Conference Finals.

But, dude, we know you got to go. It was just such a good – I'll never forget watching that. But, dude, we could have easily done way longer. So maybe this year you come on during the year. We chat about how things are going. But we're real happy for you, dude, hearing where you're at in life and also, man, hell of a career after being a late draft pick and spending, you know, three full years in the minor.

So happy for you, and we appreciate you coming on. You just got to agree to come on mid-season for us. Of course. I would love to come on. We saw lots of different – Yes, we do. Lots of interesting things to talk to, especially I got some petty stories, some bugsy stories

that we'll talk about next year. Oh, now you're teasing us. Round two. Nice. Yeah, bring me over that. Bring me over that foursy. Oh, yeah. Give me that piece of calamari wherever it's at.

No problem, boys. Thanks for having me. It was awesome. Glad I came on. Thanks a lot, Nate. Take care. All right. See you, boys.

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and big thanks once again to nate thompson i've been chatting with him for a little bit on instagram trying to get him on so it was nice to finally get him on i felt like we could have done two hours with the guy he uh he was a pretty interesting character to talk to a biz yeah and he forgot to mention his give me one sec here he's gonna come long story short he's gonna come on shortly uh once the season gets going because he's got to talk about a company that he started so we got to help him plug that and as he mentioned he's got to talk about a company that he started. So we got to help him plug that. And as he mentioned, he's got some other funny stories with Bugsy involved.

So we got to get this guy on and we'll get an update on the Habs as soon as the season gets going. Absolutely. But meanwhile, back to the goings on on the ice. Well, almost there. Carolina Hurricane Justin Williams has, quote, decided to step away from the game, end quote. He's not retiring. I'll read his full statement. This is the first time in my life that I felt unsure of my aspirations with

regards to hockey. For as long as I can remember, my whole offseason until this point has been hockey and doing what was necessary to prepare for the upcoming season. Because of my current indecision and without the type of mental and physical commitment that I'm accustomed to having, I've decided to step away from the game. It's important to me that the type of mental and physical commitment that I'm accustomed to having, I've decided to step away from the game. It's important to me that the focus of attention is on the current, very talented group the Carolina Hurricanes have assembled as they prepare to build on the momentum and growth we established last season. I think the assumption out here, guys, is that he's just going to

probably come back later in the season. He's probably going to get healthy. I mean, he played late into the season last year. He's 38 years old. The recovery's longer. It's a long season. And he get healthy. I mean, he played late into the season last year. He's 38 years old. The recovery's longer. It's a long season. And he knows mentally. I mean, you've got to give him credit.

Mentally, he knows he's not there, so he doesn't want to go out and try it when he knows he's not there. But if I was a betting man, I'd say we're going to see him later in the season, and he'll almost be like a free agent pickup by then. I think you're dead on, all right. Makes total sense to me. I'm just wondering if it's definitely going to be with Carolina, I mean you don't you don't really know how it plays out but it certainly seems like no matter what he wants to play at some point this season but say Carolina's having

an awful year is he going to come back to them when they're out of the playoffs it's like I think he'll I think we'll see him somewhere though and that's good I mean he had so much to that team last year uh the whole the whole season was a, and I think that his play wasn't a surprise in that no one thought he could do that, but it was just he's still able to perform. He's getting the hold of it. He's played a lot of games, a lot of time in that league. The game's gotten faster and faster. He wasn't necessarily known as a great skater when he came into the league,

and it's only gotten quicker and quicker, and he stayed there because of how smart he is, how good he is with and without the puck the puck and then in the locker room guys love him so I think it's great that he'll still play if he wants to and I understand after this long of a time and being in the position you are if you're not ready to go after a long season well if you have the chance to someone else sign you if you take a couple months off as long as you're staying in good shape skating which he will it's a great situation for him i think it's a genius move and you mentioned how much hockey this guy's played with i mean we we usually count playoffs games as like playing two regular season games 155 playoffs games keep in mind two-thirds of those games those playoff games have been played in the

second half of his career so in the last you know eight years nine years here he's played a lot of hockey man and when you have a rap sheet like this guy I think you have the right to be able to say hey listen I'm going to sit at the start of the season I would imagine his first option if he comes back is going to be the Carolina Hurricanes and he gets to see how they get if they get a good start I mean with with I'm assuming how is in shape his body is at this point, which is, you know, it's probably pretty decent, but it does have some bumps and bruises. And in missing that first 20 to 25 games of the season,

if he goes back to Carolina, if they're doing well and they do make playoffs, he's going to be able to last throughout playoffs and he won't have done the 82-game season grind. I think he's got the right to do it based on what he's accomplished in his career, and I guarantee the Carolina Hurricanes would invite him back with open arms if halfway through the season they were doing well and they said, this is that extra little boost that we need in order to make a run.

He just adds that calmness to a lineup, and you saw it in playoffs again with a team that wasn't expected to do anything. So that's how I feel at R.A. How do you feel? Like I said, I think we'll definitely see him back at some point. You know, he didn't say it was definitely going to be Carolina. He is technically an unrestricted free agent, so he could sign anywhere. But he mentioned that he just built the house down there.

He doesn't really want to relocate. But, you know, like Witt said, I mean, if Carolina's out of it in March and some team comes a-knocking and wants his veteran presence and he can get a shot at another cup, I guess it's possible he could end up somewhere. But I don't know. I think he's really going to play it by ear, man. I think he's probably not 100% sure himself. But I am curious to see how it plays out because, you know,

if he does come back and ends up having a successful half of year or whatever, you wonder if we might see more often with other older players, you know, who are kind of at the end, but they want to play, but they know they're a little tired. And, you know, if they're unrestricted, they have the option of saying, hey, man, I'm going to wait until like February or March. Hey, R.A., it'll be like the new RFA thing for the old guys. They just sit out and miss training camp. And they're like, fuck that.

I got a good rap sheet. Somebody's going to sign me halfway through the year. Absolutely. Yeah. I'm curious to see what all guys do, regardless of what happens with Willie here. They're just going to follow each other's path. What else we got, R.A.?

We'll see what happens with Williams, but one of his teammates on the 06 Canes team that won the Cup is definitely calling it quits. Last week, Cam Ward announced that he was retiring after 14 NHL seasons and 701 games played, 13 of them with Carolina.

He was with Chicago for the last year. He won the consmite as a rookie, and then he played in the playoffs just one more time after that. I thought that jumped out at me. I didn't realize he only played in the playoffs one more time. That was in 2009, and he did get the team to the Eastern Conference Finals one more time. He leaves as the Canes franchise leader in games, wins, and shutouts. You know, Wood,

he was unreal that year, 0-6, and he looked like he was going to be one of these great young goalies, and the team just kind of faltered around him. Carolina had a rough decade. You can't really blame that on Cam Wood. I know he had a few off years himself, but, you know, we got to see the best of them early on. Another flash of it a couple years later, and then, you know, it's like, shit, I almost shit when I saw he only had one other year of playoffs on there but you know he had a great career man i mean he fucking won a cons might as a rookie won a cup so you know it was not all downhill from there but he definitely peaked early yeah 700 games played uh quite the accomplishment for a goaltender i agree ra it's tough to see a guy have so much success early on and you mentioned in playoffs only one more time,

and they did go to the Eastern Conference Finals. But, I mean, there were some rough years there, man. I'd imagine that was pretty hard on him mentally. But, you know, it's all over, and I think most people are going to remember him for those glory years. And, hey, he gets to take that Stanley Cup with him forever. Absolutely. What about you, Whit?

I just think it's incredible to think back what he did as a rookie. I mean, it was wild, the run that they went on. That cup final, by the way, was so underrated. It went seven. They had the crazy injury of Edmonton's goalie in the first game of the series, I think it was. Rolison, right? Yeah.

I remember Pronger being the most dominant player in a Stanley Cup final. I remember he scored in a penalty shot in one of those games. But that was incredible hockey by Cam Ward. Yeah, you guys said it all. It was a great run for him, and that team was never that good after that. In 09, I think the Penguins dummied him pretty good in the Eastern Conference final.

But yeah, he was not the issue there. He had some down years at the end, but as he got older, that's going to always be the case. All right, he was kind of like the Bennington before Bennington. He only had 28 regular season games played that rookie year before he went into the playoffs and ended up winning the Cup. Yeah, it is interesting. Again, Bennington, a rookie, won the Conn's Mike.

That was seen again right now. Hopefully, he has a little more success on his end. But yeah, he was an unreal goalie, but he wasn't the only guy to retire since our last show. Detroit defenseman Nicholas Cronwell, a guy whose last name became a verb due to his many thunderous hits, also hung him up after playing his entire 15-year career with the Detroit Red Wings. up after playing his entire 15-year career with the Detroit Red Wings. Of course, he won the cup back in 08. Sorry, Whit. He had 432 points in 953 games and another 47 playoff points,

and he'll remain with the Red Wings as an advisor to GM Stevie Y. Unreal career for the guy. Hell of a defenseman. You guys played against him. I mean, he was fucking – you must have been afraid of getting walloped by him out there, no? Before I send it over to Whit, absolute bro move by Nicholas Cronwall to retire 47 games before hitting 1,000. He would have hit 1,000 games next season.

He says, you know what, boys? I've made enough money, and I don't want to cost you anymore. I'm going to retire now. So a round of applause here for Nicholas Cronwall saving a guy. But not costing all the boys on the team a couple of applause here for Nicholas Conwall saving a guy. But not causing all the boys on the team a couple of Gs. About $800 off one of their paychecks next season. So love you, Cron. That's first ballot Hall of Famer stuff to me.

I don't know about you, Whit, but you saved the boys some money. You're on my squad. He's a great guy. He came on the golf trip to Scotland. And we talked about Bugsy Malone. We'll have to have him tell the story of when he got Cronwald in the cup finals that year. We were on the power play. He's like, I never thought he'd pinch with me when we were up a man.

And Bugsy had his head down for nine minutes. And then Cronwald put his – he just hit you with his back. He would hit you with his ass. He would take the sole right out of your body, and he'd turn around and be skating backwards. He'd be skating backwards and just level you with his back and his shoulders, his ass. So he had about 30 highlight reel hits.

He had one on Chicago playoffs. I think it was Martin Havlat. He crushed him right near the bench. Same exact type hit that he got everyone with. And you always knew where he was on the ice. And it was so funny. He didn't fight. He did not fight. And everyone's like, he should

fight. He should fucking fight. Fucking fight a pussy. After just murdering someone. And guys are going up. He's just like, no, no. I don't even remember seeing him ever get jumped. I think people just knew, like, dude, you got Cronwall, and we're not going to do anything about it. No, he got jumped after he hit Havla at that time in Chicago.

But, yeah, I remember. It's so true. At the end, you're like, okay, dude, pick yourself up off the ice. Get the garbage can. Go jump in it. Your own teammates are holding you back, being like, no, whoa, whoa, whoa, bud. You got Cronwald.

Yeah, yeah. Whoa, dude, dude, dude, dude. You don't touch him. He does that to people, and then he skates away. That's what we're doing here. Wald. Cronwald. Cronwald.

Go back to the bench. Interesting to go through all his hits now and see how many of them might be worthy of a suspension in today's climate. They weren't dirty when he did them under the rules, but when you go back and look at Scott Stevens highlights, he wouldn't even get to play because he would be fucking suspended every week. That was shouldered ahead, and then Cronwell

was back to face. I don't know if they would be suspensions. I think we should get a hardcore Detroit Red Wings fan to put the highlight reel Cromwell hits together and have them assess them so it's non-bias. A Red Wings fan, we're going to ask him

to, what would you say, do you think there's probably 20 highlight reel ones? I think he has 20 to 30. I would say there's 20 to 30 that he has 20 to 30 that would span the video and not one of them you'd be like oh, why is that on there? I posted a blog today on barstool and it has all of his best hits.

It's a compilation of like 50. Oh fuck. You could have. How many? 15 or 50. Yeah. It's about 15 hits. Oh,

one five. So you had the answer to the question. We're just arguing. And I was, I was fucking wrong. You didn't say anything. Gotta let the superstars do their thing. And just to clarify,

I'm not advocating or saying he should have been suspended. I'm just saying the climate has changed so much since when his career started that those hits are viewed in a different light. That's all. That's my point. Guaranteed you get a few Red Wings fans who tweet at you before hearing you say that after what you originally said. They're going to just

fucking... What other hockey... hockey oh can i bring up one random thing in in the mix of all this hockey what are your guys thoughts on the rock uh you know everyone knows the rock duane johnson so he got remarried or maybe married for the first time but i know he's got a a kid with another woman but for his wedding ceremony he had it at 7 30 a.m what are your thoughts on that is that a little selfish i mean if that's if it's the rocks wedding you know he's definitely flying everyone in or he should be to somewhere sick very small wedding and then you're just not going to bed you're just ripping it right into the ceremony although he probably had like a group wedding workout at 4 45

that's what i was thinking i'm like i'm like damn man like it's probably small and intimate i just thought like 7 30 because he instagrammed about it i'm like 7 30 a.m oh and speaking of weddings and this is not planned uh elliot friedman uh celebrated his 10th wedding anniversary so i just wanted to congratulate him he's uh has he been on the show yet yeah oh yeah oh yeah sorry. Sorry. That's the CTE working again. He's awesome. I think he's one of the best in the game, and he's a

pleasure to watch when they're doing those hot stoves. I love those hot stoves. No doubt about it. We've got one more note before we send it over to Brendan Gallagher. We also want to send congrats to the Reverend Ben Lovejoy. He also retired. The undrafted defenseman from new hampshire went on to have an 11th season nhl career won the cup with the 16 penguins

the defensive d-man also played with anaheim dallas in new jersey played 550 i'm sorry 544 career nhl games you know that's a hell of an accomplishment for a guy who wasn't even drafted to carve out 11 seasons won himself a cup he's a new hamps accomplishment for a guy who wasn't even drafted to carve out 11 seasons, win himself a cup. He's a New Hampshire guy, local guy, too. So I want to send a special congrats to him. Do you know him at all, Wits? Lovejoy? I do know him a little bit. I saw him just the other night, too, on NHL Network.

He's working at NHL tonight already, so I'm assuming he'll be there for the year. He was doing well. He was funny. He seemed to be very comfortable behind the camera talking about certain different players around the league. And it was the day he retired, and they actually called and interviewed Cam Moore. It was funny listening to them chat.

They're like, congratulations. No, you congratulations. Thanks for coming. So it was good to see him there. And also, I've been told he was a freak athlete his entire life, like lacrosse, unbelievable at that. So he went to BC first and and then left went to dartmouth and carved out like a great career like it was perfectly set all right it was uh it was a guy

that i think guys got a kick out of because he's just he's i guess you got to kind of meet him you know him at all biz oh i know him really well i play with him with more than you yeah you know how it's like hard to describe like he's kind of like uh early on i think some guys thought he was arrogant he was just very dry and and eventually obviously everyone figured out his personality and everyone warmed up to him excellent teammate great player extremely hard working and and another thing that stuck out to me is he he was very respectful and treated the fans really well he was a fan favorite in wilkes bear just like how he interacted. Certain players, they get

socially awkward and they don't have necessarily that much time for fans because they don't know how to interact or whatever it may be. I thought he always went the extra mile and did a great job. Fans loved him in Wilkes-Barre. You know when you get the booster

binders? Some guys are this big. I still have mine. I still have mine. Wits is like no pages. Like, you're a fucking asshole. No, it was a monster. This girl made it that loved me. It's a monster notebook.

Huge. I used to love getting them because, you know, you got to see all the articles in the local newspapers they wrote about you, which for me it was like two. But he would get like three or four binders. He would have all these girls following around wearing his jersey and stuff. So, Ben, congratulations on an awesome career. What did he win, two cups?

One with the Penguins in 61. He was a true pro. You say he's very professional. That's a perfect way to describe him. He's extremely healthy. He takes care of himself. The concept of pro. And he's a very intelligent guy.

I know he's going to have success on whatever the fuck he wants to do going forward. And he also has one of the great Simpsons-inspired nicknames in the NHL. Flanders? No, he's the ref. That's how well I know this. No, Flanders is the fucking goalie who's been around

forever. Oh, Buda. Buda. I played with him, too. He was Flanders. No, they called Ben Lovejoy the Reverend because the Reverend Lovejoy on the Simpsons. Correct. Sorry. I played with him, too. He was Flanders. No, they called Ben Lovejoy the Reverend because the Reverend Lovejoy on The Simpsons. Correct. Sorry. I played with both of them, so that's why I was all fucked up. Easy mistake. Wait a minute.

This is rock and or roll. All right. Enough of that silliness. Let's send it over to Brendan Gallagher from Montreal Canadian Part 2. This interview was brought to you by Indochino. Every man looks better and feels more confident when he puts on a suit. And Indochino is the world's most exciting made-to-measure menswear company. They make suits and shirts to your exact measurements for an unparalleled fit

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And this week, our listeners can get any premium Indochino suit for just $369 at Indochino.com when entering Chicklets at checkout. Plus, shipping is free. It's always great. That's Indochino.com, promo code Chicklets, for any premium suit for just $369 and free shipping. It's an incredible deal for a premium made-to-measure suit. Once you go custom, you don't go back. Our next guest is a forward for the Montreal Canadiens,

and he's going into his eighth season with the Habs. He was the Calder Trophy runner-up in 2013 and thus far in his NHL career. He's got 291 points in 488 games. Also added 21 points in 40 playoff games. I'd like to welcome to the show Brendan Gallagher. Welcome to the show, Brendan. Thanks for having me. Our pleasure.

Dude, eight seasons already, man. This has like flown by. It feels like yesterday you were a rookie already going into the eighth year. I want to ask you though, just some ago, did you take any big trips? I know a lot of guys like to go to Europe, do that type of stuff. What did you do? I kind of like just chilling in the summer. It was just nice to get back to Vancouver, relax, played a lot of golf.

Took a couple weekends, went up to Victoria, Whistler, went to Houston. Actually, that was probably the furthest I went. But other than that, just kind of relaxed out there and enjoyed my time off and just kind of chilled around my family and friends there in van. How's the golf game right now? What was the low round this summer? Well, low round was 75, which was very good.

I'm usually hanging around the 80s, though. So that was a – it didn't happen again after that. Low 80s, hey, sounds like me um you got a big fantasy draft coming up here nfl fantasy draft now we had uh tom or on who your teammate and he was just ragging on your fantasy draft saying that you like study it in the summer and that's why you don't travel and you got helmets in your office back home and he said you stink you're a liability what are your thoughts on that i i mean i'm the defending champ he needs to start showing me a

little bit more respect than that uh just a natural i mean it doesn't i don't study don't do anything it just it just comes naturally to me uh i'm also the commissioner so there's some there's some shady stuff that might happen in this league. But other than that, I mean... So nothing changes from the real NFL? Yeah, pretty much. I am Roger Goodell. I am the same guy. Yeah, Tommer, new guy to the league. Don't know what we're expecting from him.

Hopefully he's no good. He likes to... Just a donation. He was all state in high school or something like that, but I'm not expecting much from him. Where are you picking? We don't know yet. We find out here the draft is at 7.

Oh, okay. About 40 minutes here. Well, you're the commissioner, so you can back it up. What's that? Sorry? I said you're the commissioner, so you can back the time up, so you can give us a little bit more info on what we should be expecting from the Montreal Canadiens this season. I mean, I'd love to.

I've been shut down from my control. They're already trying to get me out of my role as commissioner. I don't want to push it any further here. I'm risking losing my power. Gally, I'm very happy to hear you are good as a fantasy GM because I watched the tour of your house on YouTube today and I saw you have this big office. I'm like, this kid has never stepped foot in this office.

But you did say that's where all your drafting goes down. Yeah, it gets used once a year and then that door stays shut. So it was nice to actually see that thing in the summer. I forgot what it looked like in there. I thought this was a bathroom. I bet if I checked your tax return, though, I would say you're using it as an office.

Maybe. How did Biz drag you into doing his documentary, Biz Does BC? What was that like? I'm assuming he was like, you're not getting paid anything, so can you just help me out? I mean, pretty much it was. I got Webbs' kids coming down here bugging me. Oh, shit, Webber.

Yeah, we're all at Webbs' house doing the draft right now. So Beckett's down here. Have Beckett on. He's the only Webber we can ever get on there, son. All right, Beck. Hey, let's down here. Have Beckett on. He's the only Weber we can ever get on there. Alright, Beck. Hey, let's play a little game. Let's have the kid run upstairs to ask his dad questions and then he can run

back down the answers, okay? Go ask your dad how many goals he's going to score for the Habs this season, okay? Alright, he said no and he told Biz to beat it so i think i think he's trained so nothing changes so just like just like shay but he actually i talked a minute him doing a documentary as well hey how pissed was that group of guys that we kept uh interrupting trying to get that little piece of film done yeah they were pissed they were not happy with you and i think they're still not a fan.

And, you know, it was nice for me, actually, to get a little break from the golf course. And the game was pretty suspect at that point. So I turned around after I got to spend some time with you. I don't know what that was all about, but you helped me out. Because you're like, that's bad. I ain't that bad. Must have been.

Must have been. Gally, where would you rank your acting skills compared to the other guys in the documentary? If you say you didn't watch it, I'm going to murder you. Of course I watched. Can't remember. Probably pretty below par. My acting career might have ended with that little bit I did with you.

It didn't turn out that well for me, but I'm sure you looked great. You should start acting a little bit because you could be the Mitch Varner as far as brand deals of Montreal. I don't know if I have that in me. I don't know if I want to spend that much time.

He's in front of the camera quite a bit. I don't know if I got that in me. I don't know if I want to spend that much time. He's in front of the camera quite a bit. I don't know if I got that in me. Are you starting the shit early with the Toronto Maple Leafs, are we? Okay, let's start. Put that on the Twitter account, Grinnell. Oh, man.

Bren, taking a look at the Habs, man. They've been on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoffs the last couple seasons. What are you guys going to do this year in order to get back to the postseason, you think? We've got a good group of guys. I mean, we all really, you know, we enjoyed playing together,

coming to the rink. Everybody was pretty disappointed last year to be so close. And, you know, when the summer's as long as it is and you really miss the playoffs by two points, it's pretty motivating to find a point in the season where you can pick up those points. And, you know, we're just hungry to get back and prove that we are a playoff game.

It's pretty lucky we got Carey Price behind us, and all you got to do is get into the playoffs, and who knows what he's capable of doing and what we're capable of doing as a group in front of him. So it's an exciting time of year. I'm sure every team says the same thing, but for us right now, it's something we're capable of doing as a group in front of them. So it's an exciting time of year. I'm sure every team says the same thing, but for us right now, it's something we're really looking forward to.

Hey, so I played with Petrie in Edmonton. I could tell he was just going to be nasty, but this year it was just a different step for him. I could tell he's kind of reached that ceiling everyone thought he had. What's it like in the locker room? Quiet guy, I don't know. Do you bust his balls a little bit? Is he still as quiet as I remember him?

Well, Petey's actually my fantasy partner That's how we do things around here Oh, you guys splitting up the money, yeah Yeah, so one guy kind of runs the team And the other guy's a bit like an owner Who just checks in every time he gets a couple losses So Petey keeps me honest as his GM But we won the thing last year So so he sent me a text saying,

anything but a win is unacceptable and I might be getting fired. But other than that, Petey is good. Saw him in the summer when I was in Houston, actually. I was with Petey watching ball. He's a big ball fan. No, pretty casual guy other than that. I want to ask about Bergevin. I mean, he takes a lot of heat in the media,

and I know that he's got a lot of pressure on him to make the playoffs this year, but everything I've heard from him, he's the player's GM, the players love playing for him. Can you just touch on him a little bit? Well, he's a guy that, you know, he's not afraid to make a big move that's going to benefit our team. And, you know, he's not afraid to make a big move that's going to benefit our team. You know, he doesn't really care what the outside perspective is,

what the media is going to say, what's going to be said of him after trade makes. If he believes in something, he's going to do it. And he's doing everything to help us win. And that's something that as players you really want out of your GM. And he's in there pretty much battling with us every single day. You can see how emotional he is, how much he cares about the team and how much he wants us to win. It's definitely pretty cool to have a manager that supports you like that. Brent, you cracked 30 goals in each of the last two seasons

after a previous career high of 24. What do you attribute that the most to? Was it just maybe maturity to your game? Who were you playing with? Why did that happen in the last two years years were you able to correct 30 goals i mean a lot of it was um you know learning obviously i was able to just kind of figure out the league a little bit learn a few things uh about who you're playing against but then a big part of that is just building chemistry with some line mates especially last year uh playing with a lot with bino and tatar

for the majority of the season we were able to you know mesh well together as a line we figured out what kind of role that we were going to have or where we're going to fit in the ice time that you're going to get and how you can excel in that role and I thought the three of us did a pretty good job of working off each other and helping each other out and it's pretty easy for me to do my job play with those two guys they they make you look good good on most nights, and it was something that the three of us enjoyed. Last two seasons, you played 82 games both years,

which is fabulous, knock on wood. And then two years prior, you missed 30 and 20 games. Did anything change training-wise, or was it kind of just one of those you were getting unlucky those years you got hurt? Well, I mean, I missed the majority of those games because i i took a couple slap shots in the hand so uh yeah first one was from boy chuck uh shattered my hand and then we traded for webs and webs obviously found a way to hit me in the same finger that i already broke so uh kind of back to back years ask his kid about that one. Beckett's like, suck on that one.

Yeah, probably. Yeah, it was just a little bit of misfortune, and I never really changed much, just kind of stuck with what we were doing, and you don't take it for granted. It's hard to play 82 games in a season. Pretty fortunate to do two years in a row like that, do it a few more if I could.

Well, it's partly got to do with your old man who you trained with in the summers, I believe, correct? I do. That's something I'm pretty fortunate to have. Obviously, someone that understands my game as a player but then who I am away from the rink, and he's been able to separate that as best as he could. He's been my trainer as long as I've been doing was, you know, he's been my trainer, you know,

as long as I've been doing it. He worked with us with the Giants, and he's always had a good understanding how to separate the relationship away from the rink and away from the gym. And then when we're at the gym, he's not my dad anymore. He's my trainer, and he's doing what's best for me, and he's got a pretty good understanding

of what I need to do to get better every year. So it's someone that I put a lot of trust in, and, you know, I'm pretty fortunate to have around. I know he's got a pretty good understanding of what I need to do to get better every year. So it's someone that I put a lot of trust in and, you know, I'm pretty fortunate to have around. I know you guys got a pretty good relationship and you got an extremely hard work ethic. Have you guys ever butted heads where it got really intense in the gym? Yeah,

we had, we had one, we had one, one little moment we always talked about. It had to have been six or seven years ago now at the track where he ended up, well, I can't remember. I think we were throwing pylons at each other. But it got pretty heated that day.

Come on. Oh, yeah. We were doing 200-meter runs, and I can't remember what was going on. Basically, we weren't getting enough rest, and it was impossible. And I stand by that, was going on. But basically, we weren't getting enough rest, and it was impossible. And I stand by that. And obviously, I started screaming. And he was doing as he did. He was screaming back, and then it just carried over into the next drill.

And I think I kicked a cone, and then he threw it back at me. And I will say this. When I was yelling at him, we were doing the 300-meter shows at this point. That was the fastest I had ever gone. The problem was we had about four more to do, and I couldn't move after that. So it was a bit of a struggle the rest of the workout. But, yeah, ever since then, we've been pretty good. And any other NHL guys train with you and your dad?

We've had a few guys in there. You know, Looch, probably the most noticeable. But he's out in L.A la now but he he used to be with us quite a bit comes out still for a little bit in august uh lance bloma uh someone that's kind of been around same thing with the giants for a long time and uh he's there troy stetcher from the canucks derrick grant um he's in anaheim now and uh yeah i mean it's pretty good group and then other than that it's's a bunch of other guys that are playing in the American League and over in Europe,

a lot of guys that I grew up playing with, and it's pretty cool to be with them as well. Now, this isn't a shot. You're a smaller guy in the league. How do you have to tailor your workouts in order to keep up with the big guys? Well, my game's always been the same thing. You know, I have to go to the front of the net. I have to battle, and to do that, you have to, you know,

you have to have a lower body base that's able to support you and you know that part hasn't changed it's a lot of lower body power but it's a lot of quickness and and I guess agility out of the corners as well as you know you you don't want to get hit as much as you can and the quicker you are more you're going to be able to avoid that to simplify it a little bit so it's it's always been quickness and and mostly just lower body strength and building up your base that's something that that hasn't changed ever since i've been training i want to go back to shea weber for a minute is he the most intimidating teammate you've ever had not opponent but teammate i mean he was uh i remember playing against him and even practicing with him here. He doesn't change.

When he's in that game mode and he gets intense and ready to compete, there's not a lot of people that are going to stop him. It's pretty special to see, actually. There's not a lot of personalities that can get to that level. Obviously, he comes with that size and that frame. the personalities that can get to that level. And obviously he comes with that size and that frame. I can't imagine it'd be too exciting lining up against him in a playoff series.

So it's definitely a guy you'd rather have on your team. Well, I don't know Carey Price, but I've just heard nothing but teammates love playing with him, and why wouldn't you? He just stops every single puck. But in practice and stuff, do you ever see him just get in grooves, or is it just the usual, like, you're not scoring on scoring on him i mean and he gets pissed off when you do well he gets pissed off when you when he lets in i think it's two two or three in a row you'll uh you'll see him get pissed off and it's usually one of those things where another puck's not getting by him for the rest of practice he really dials it in and His compete level, I think, is something that's very underrated.

He doesn't get a lot of credit for it. He's obviously incredibly talented. He's incredibly poised in the net. But his work ethic off the ice and his compete level and his want to win is something that I don't think a lot of fans and people outside our locker room really get to see. It's really only something that you can appreciate when you're in that locker room.

Is he as quiet in the room as he is kind of with the media and away from the ice? No, I think he's just simple. And that's really what the media get when they ask him questions. I think you get him talking about anything other than the last game rather than the game coming up. And he's going to have a lot to say. I think when he's talking about hockey, he just really keeps it simple.

And that's kind of his personality. But you get him away from the rink and he's like anyone else. He likes to joke around, likes to have fun. And, you know, he's obviously an awesome teammate. Someone that we love having as a part of our group. Brent, back in 2013 when Michael Ryder got traded to the Habs, you were wearing number 73 but switched to number 73, but switched to number 11. I switched to number 11.

Did he have to sweeten the pot for you to maybe entice you to give that number up? Because I know Biz would have held him hostage for it. Yeah, I'm actually a little upset about that still. I'm carrying a grudge. I was promised a Rolex watch, which for a... What? Like myself. Coming out of junior, that would have been the nicest thing I would have ever owned,

and I never did get that. So I gave up my number. I was promised a watch and never got it from Rydes. Wow. Oh, that new feed. No good. Wow. Oh, now we're going to be on alert now.

He's definitely going to hear about this, right? I was going to ask you who the biggest clown in the locker room is like i know max only he's got a funny personality from his time in phoenix uh you guys some got some other tricksters coming your way with uh oh what's his name i'm drawing a blank here nick cousins so who's right now last year who was the biggest clown well so last year was it was pretty much domes and shazi just going back and forth and uh i guess i can throw tatara in there too they're the three loudest guys we had and they've made their voices heard every morning at the rink uh we lost shawzy but we replaced him with another guy from belleville

in cousins so i'm kind of assuming that he's just going to fit right into that role and nothing johnny drama yeah pretty much but um we got some good personalities in our room. Domes obviously likes to talk, likes to be heard. He's got a real annoying laugh. You just want to find out what his laugh is. It kind of sucks. Oh, wow. We got to get him on to come back at you now.

I'm sure he'd be happy to talk to you, wow. We got to get him on to come back at you now. I'm sure he'd be happy to talk to you, boys. Gally, do you guys ever chirp him about how he's a hype beast? I mean, we chirp him about how big his head is, and after that, everything else is nothing. Hey, dude, you have a monster head and your laugh sucks. We love you on the team, though. I think it's kind of ironic that he's chirping his old man's head on his Instagram videos all the time.

I know. I know. Well, I mean, that's also a pretty large dome. But, yeah, he hears it enough. I think he's just recycling all of our jokes that we use on him that he uses on his old man. I've got to ask you about this young guy, and I'm not a good name guy. Jesperi Kotkaniemi?

Is that how you say it? Probably better than I would have done, so we'll leave it at that. He's like, which guy? I'm not saying it. Oh, fuck. What's he like? He's, I mean, he's a funny kid to have around.

He's one of those kids that just you can't help but laugh at. You know, he definitely brought a lot of energy to our group last year, and he's an incredibly talented player. But one of those guys you have to make fun of 90% of the things that he does. He's a little bit spacey off the rink, or away from the rink. So we had some fun with him. Him and Mete, the two of them were pretty much inseparable last year. Share a brain?

Hey there, share a brain? Pretty much. The two of them were, you would never catch them where they weren't side by side. Well, before we let you go before this big fantasy draft, which you're trying to repeat, last question. Who was your first NHL goal against? Marty Brodeur.

Oh, fuck. I didn't even know it was a Hall of Famer. Wow. Yeah. That's pretty sick. Home or away? It was at home. It was at home.

I think it was my third game, something like that. And Gal, yeah, it was at home. I think it was my third game, something like that and Galchenyuk made a nice pass. I had the easy part, open net, so it was nice.

Gally, guess who mine was against? Who'd you get? Your overrated teammate, Carey Price. Suck it, Pricer! I'm going to let him know that.

Every next time he cheers, I'm going to let him know that. Every next time he cheers me, I'm going to let him know that you got scored on by Biz. Hey, fuck you. All of a sudden, the locker room goes silent, and they're just over the line, galley, over the line. Hey, Bershman comes in, he gives him the finger, he trades him. I didn't know

that. What the fuck is this? You let that big-nosed fuck score on you? You're done. Alright, buddy. Thank you so much for joining us. We wish you all the luck this year, staying healthy and continuing to light it up. So, appreciate it. Alright. Thanks, boys. That interview was also brought to you by

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You ever been to Ireland, Biz, when you were playing it over? Yeah, I played in Belfast against them. They ended up beating us. But hockey's huge in Belfast. Adam Keefe, I used to play against him in junior. He ended up going over there and carving out a nice career in Belfast. Adam Keefe, I used to play against him in junior. He ended up going over there and carving out a nice career with Belfast. And like the head coach of the Card of Devils, Andrew Lord, he's getting into the management side of things.

So great dude. He loves it over there. I was talking to him about it. He wouldn't mind living over there for a bit. Yeah, it's a fucking great country to visit. You've been there, haven't you? Yeah, I golf there. It's so fun.

It's like you take a time machine back in time to go there. You know what I mean? Yeah, you go to pubs. Time machine back in time. Honestly, though, you go there, and there's a pub every three steps. Everyone's so friendly. Everyone's getting waffled. People just get smothered there.

Like, kids are in the bars and stuff. So it's just like you see all the – I mean, we walked around, saw some castles, some amazing golf. I'd go back there in an instant. I hope to go to Ireland. I honestly hope to go to Ireland eight more times in my life. I'd be happy. I'd be disappointed if I don't go that many more times.

Wow, that's a lot. Interesting quota number. Eight, yeah. I'm just like that. One golf trip. I've been once. I've been once, and I want to go eight more. Nine trips I want to do.

And that's like whether, you know, maybe I do a quick like three-day over there. You play 36 a couple days. You get buckled. It's just so sick. And quick flight too, dude. Do you think you guys would ever let me on one of those golf trips? I was thinking you just come

but you just walk with the groups. You don't play. Oh, are you saying I'm a bad golfer? No, this year I was thinking about maybe asking if you wanted to come. The issue is you play games every day that you need everyone to play and I honestly think that at some point you'd be like,

dude, I'm not playing this round. How high does the gambling get? Everyone just brings like, what was it, $2,500 or $3,000. Oh, that's not bad. I could afford that. No. And then, like, you're playing in a match. You play for something extra within your match. But that's the money set forward by each guy for the game each day.

Me and R.A. will go on our mini putt golf tournaments. We'll start our own little crew. We'll go down to Florida, South Florida. You guys are in Daytona Beach doing a bunch of wolf playing mini golf on YouTube. Dude, I got a mulligan. Come on, give me a mulligan, dude. I got a mulligan. That's the real sandbagger in the national.

Oh, man. All right, a couple of final notes before we wrap up. A little news out of St. Louis. Restricted free agent Ivan Babashev of the blue signed a two-year 2.95 million dollar deal it comes out to 1.4 science 1.475 million can't talk tonight he had 14 12 for 26 points in 80 games last year added six points in 25 playoff games and it's labor day it's back to school time for a lot of kids actually in some parts of the country it has been for a while.

And among the many kids who went back to school recently was Layla Anderson, the blue superfan who warmed everybody's hearts earlier this summer. Because of the medical condition she has, she's been out of school for the last couple of years. So we just want to tell her welcome back. It's great to see her get back into that regular kid routine and being around her pals again and, you know, just being able to go to school again. And she said, I love my parents, but I need a break from their faces,

which she's still a quote machine even since the Cup. So, Layla, great to see you doing well in your back to school, and we're wishing you the best here at Chick-fil-A. Could you imagine her strolling through the halls first day of school? You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. Good to see you, too.

Kiss my ring. They're all, like, on one knee. Yeah, it was a real great story. So it was really nice to see that. Like I said, she's a kid and she should be in school with her friends. So it's nice to see her back to that. So hey guys, real quick, want to talk to you about Tommy John for a second. There are a lot of underwear brands out there that claim to be big on comfort.

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your first order that's tommyjohn.com slash chicklets for 20 off tommyjohn.com slash chicklets what else is going on busy all right i got a few things jotted down here a few funny things i wrote down um the whitney one-timer some guy instagram directs direct messages me i open up the video it's a shot of vodka and then he drops it in a beer and he calls it the whitney one-timer kind of like a jaeger bomb and they did it obviously a budweiser beer because we're offside one-timer offside offside one time sydney crosby says the best he's ever seen. So are we starting a new drink, calling it the Offside Whitney one-timer with the beer in the glass, and then you drop the shot of Pink Whitney in it? I thought it was genius.

I laughed. I said, I'm going to tell the boys on the podcast this. Did you see that video of the Asian guy who put an egg in his drink? He lit his finger on fire, lit a match, drank a beer. Oh, yeah, that was the guy who sent it to me. No, it was a to me. No, it was a TikTok video. No, seriously, did you see that one? Like some Asian guy?

Yes. It was huge on TikTok. That should be a drink. They'll call it the biz 10 minute misconduct. TikTok's like the new app, boys. What is TikTok? TikTok is a video app. It's kind of like a video Snapchat. It's Vine. It's basically Vine all over again. It's just a bit. It's kind of like a video Snapchat. It's Vine.

It's basically Vine all over again. It's just a bit longer videos. So we're going to get on there. It's like white trash karaoke. I liked Vine. I was a Vine fan. I made a Vine in Russia. So did I. I made a funny Vine in Russia.

Should I send it to you, Grinnelli? Send it to me, and I'll post it. It's on my YouTube. What? We should start doing them and posting them to this TikTok thing and get our fans listening. I'm telling you, it'd be funny, especially when we're in the office all together. Whitney TikTok-ing from the golf course, I think, would be –

Oh, my God. I'd fucking pay to watch that. Have his caddy just film the whole time. The only ones I see is that Ken Jack does that, who does Lights, Camera, Bostel, and it's just like crazy, weird, white trash lip-syncing songs over and over again. So that's my... There's a demographic who might enjoy

that. So if we could think of different funny things that we could do on this TikTok, all of a sudden, next thing you know, you've got a huge following on it. While Whitney's looking at his phone for something... I just sent you this... My... What was it called? Oh, let's get the vine over.

I just sent you my vine. I'm laughing at my own vine. I just remember making it and being like, I love this vine up. I got to congratulate a few people. Matt Nickel, one of the creators of BioSteel. He trains all those guys down at St. Mike's in Toronto. It was his 10th year anniversary since he's been doing that. Obviously, a successful business.

More and more players come back every year. And I actually bumped into them at Marble the other night on Thursday. They had their end of camp, they call it, hashtag camp. They had their finale there, so that was cool. Ty Nash, who's Tyson Nash's son, went into Lethbridge with the Hurricanes and the WHL. Wasn't sure if he was going the college route,

wasn't sure if he was going to junior, but he had a really good camp, and they're like, hey, we think he can play this year, and he ends up signing a deal, so congratulations to him on making the Lethbridge Hurricanes. I always like saying that name, Lethbridge. I like the name of that city, Lethbridge. Is. Excuse me. I always like saying that name, Lethbridge. I like the name of that city, Lethbridge.

Is it a shithole? I don't know. I've never been to Lethbridge. Lethbridge just sounds great off the tongue. R.A., this one's for you. So somebody DM me this. I'm sure they DMed it to you. Listen to the podcast late this week.

Ray Ferraro just got his silver stick either last year or two years ago. He jokingly mentioned that he doesn't have one on TSN radio and got one like a month later while doing a game. I'm curious to see who I pitched in for it. Cause it wasn't the league or the players union. So someone hooked them up. Yeah. So I was interested in seeing that last thing I had jotted down was people

were, were barking about the Blackhawks' new scoreboard. It looks incredible, by the way. The last thing that arena needed was something more to get them fucking fired up. Crazy building to play in. I would say one of the loudest buildings in the league because they built it for Jordan.

It seats close to 22,000, and they've been in their glory years. But one thing i learned because the coyotes got a new score clock the year before uh this year or last year jesus christ i'm so stupid um and it takes like a good six weeks to learn how to use it and post these videos and and and get up with the these new school uh jumbotrons so some people were like oh why does it take it so long why isn't it up yet it takes a while to assemble these things the coyotes had bought theirs um off off an nba team i don't know if they were switching arenas or whatever it was the old body used one yeah but

but it is on it's state of the art they could it was just because they were they were moving and they it was whatever for whatever reason it actually the Coyotes more to ship it than the fucking Jumbotron itself. That's how intense these things are, man. And I'm telling you what, it completely changed the in-game experience of going to a Coyotes game. And I'm convinced it's not only with the team winning and doing better, but you get to see replays on it. You get to see way better crowd

reactions game is so important for hockey in order to grow and i think that the league is improving and getting better at it i'm watching the chicago one this is this is unreal they got the the panels come down like when there's like a goal score like you're Omnial Nightclub watching a hockey game. Let's put it that way. It looks like just an absolute rage. Would you not agree, R.A., that GameOps is huge and important in order to grow the game, especially in the United States? Maybe not so much in Canada

because people maybe understand. I disagree a little bit. You think that what? I don't think it's big for growing the game because I think anyone who goes to games loves it no matter what. It's the people that we need to get watching on tv and what are they going to get out of this new big well i mean game ops is important because it creates the environment which makes it fun to watch on tv if you're if you said like a fast drink that's not really into it it just it engages especially if you're bringing kids to games it keeps them a little

bit more in game engaged throughout TV times out, keeps the energy high. I don't know. That's just my opinion. I mean, you see it with Vegas. Their game ops are especially out of control. Yeah, in this day and age, you know, you've got to keep people entertained between the whistles,

between periods, because the crowd's now ADD. Everyone's got their phone out. People can't pay attention for more than five minutes. So, you know, a lot of people do go to the game hoping to maybe get on the Jumbotron so people can see them. So I agree, but it's not maybe essential, but you need a good game ops. Like you go to Tampa Bay, they have great game ops down there. It definitely enhances the experience if you're going to a game. And a hundred percent, definitely more important in Southern markets.

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. You know, you want, you want people like, yeah, they are being entertained when there's no games going on. So, well, yeah, absolutely. You know, you want people like, yeah, they are being entertained when there's no games going on. So, well, boys, we had a lot more to chat about than I thought. I had a couple of really good interviews, but I think we'll probably wrap it up right about now, eh? Yep, sounds good to me. R.A., quickly before I go, if you call your local liquor store and tell them to order the Pink Whitney, they'll do it for you.

Did I say that right after he said it? I'm an idiot. I'm a fucking clown. I am so stupid. It's like last week when I was arguing about the silver stick and he just said it and then I tried to double down on it. I didn't remember.

I remember there was another time a couple episodes ago. It was just so funny tonight. I love you guys. I gotta run. I'm starving taking it. I didn't remember. No, I remember there was another time like a couple episodes ago. It was just so funny tonight. I love you guys. I got to run. I'm starving. All right. No.

Great episode. Guys, last thing. What? This is the seventh last thing. Hopefully you guys didn't already say this. One month until puck drop for the NHL hockey season. Let's fucking go, baby. Yahoo!

Oh, boys. Here we go. One month, two episodes coming at you, and we will be live in NYC the 22nd through the 26th. We are going to be able to produce some content, and I hope that piece of trash Portnoy is fucking man enough to grow a sack and face me in a one-on-one goalie challenge, but he's not. He's not.

He's too busy stuffing his face with pizza. He's gone with his drone. And doing shitty push-ups with the chain smokers. And losing thousands of dollars. All right. I see. Love you guys. Everybody, have a great weekend.

The Whitney, the back, where is it? The offside Whitney one-timer. Once again, we want to send a big thank you to our sponsors. We hope you guys are using them. They've been great to us, so we hope you are good to them in return. If you want to check them out, go to Stitch Fix. Promo code is Chicklets. Seat Geek.

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Take care, everyone. I will try to fix you. Outro Music