Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 205: Featuring Mike Richards

Episode Date: September 30, 2019

On Monday's episode, the guys are joined by two-time Stanley Cup winner Mike Richards for a great interview. Mike joins to talk about his time in Philadelphia and the Dry Island, some funny Olympics stories and then obviously the two Stanley Cups he won. The guys the break down some recent NHL news then begin their Pacific Division preview. The guys wrap up with the return of RA's Gambling Corner and with the interesting question, what are the best porn star names in hockey?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 205 of Spittin' Chickens, presented by Pink Whitney, the pink lemonade-flavored vodka from our friends over at New Amsterdam Vodka. Well, boys, another trip down to NYC in the books. A few beers, drinks, lots of food eaten. But most importantly, a lot of work done. We got some unreal interviews on tap coming your way. But, boys, highlight of the week might have been the pizza review.

Biz, let's go to you first to say hello. We were getting a little hate by people who don't know what we're about. But mostly positivity. I love that hate. Oh, I love it, too. Just feed off it. Bring it to me. Bring it to me.

Makes me work even harder. How I lived my whole career as a player. Everyone hated me. Bring it. I will say, I mean, him dropping the pizza could not have worked out anymore perfectly. I'll say this. You are very hard on Dave. You give

Dave a taste of his own medicine. I go to those offices and I just want to say hi to everyone. I want to put a smile on, you know, maybe work with them a little bit. And you, I feel like your say hi to everyone. I want to put a smile on, you know, maybe work with them a little bit. And you, I feel like your main objective is to get in there, get a bunch of awesome interviews bank, by the way, which we will be dropping one of those awesome interviews in about 45 minutes from now. But where you just love torturing Dave. Well, not really. I mean, usually I go in like a happy go lucky-lucky guy i am you know i'm i'm a sunshine

and rainbows type guy and i'm coming in there and he's going after me he's attacking me a lot so i just i i do think it's hilarious like that's like me and my buddies i mean it's like he's fucking good at that and it's funny people like oh just like shooting shit on you guys are ultimate ball busters i couldn't do it on that much. I love it. I think because most of the stuff he says to me is very funny, but I got to get him back. I got to think on my toes.

And not a lot of people have that. It's kind of a Northeast Boston sense of humor where you're just carving each other. Oh, that's like that. This guy, his apartment, he was trying to sell. You know, he had it listed forever. He had shared a roof deck. He didn't even have a private roof deck.

He claims I'm a liar about that. I'm 99% sure it was like Kyle. We got to get the background on that. He shared his roof deck. But still, that was a blast. I actually watched it. I was laughing because in meeting him just jawing back and forth, I didn't realize.

First, I forgot you tried to give the guy without a home your half-eaten pizza. That was just me off the top being a good person. Then I'm like, fuck. And then the funny part is you're like, Dave, can I say hello to my friends back home and his face, he's just like

so disgusted. So that was a blast. I mean, that was a blast. I mean, it was a gong show. It felt like it went by in two seconds, but what was it, seven minutes long? Yeah, I think they had seven minutes out of it. Also, true, most people don't give it back to him kind of like we do. Like we basically, you obviously hit him, go head to head,

but no one really busts his balls, and I think he kind of almost misses that in some way, like having guys just bust his chops a little. I think the people at the office love when we come in because you are are just giving it back to him and that doesn't happen a lot he's kind of the napoleon figure there where he gets to poke his chest around and never get called out you know he's 5 000 times more famous like i'm not even nobody knows who i am dave's legitimately i mean millions followers instagram million twitter i'll give him some credit yeah let me i mean i'll give him some credit. Yeah.

I mean, I'll tell him right to his face. Dave, what else you got on me? I got money. You're older than me. So we can go. We can go back and forth. I mean, he has a lot of stuff to come at me with. He knows I'm coming right back at him.

So for those of you who don't follow the Barstool channel, there's also another dilemma where Whit was nice enough to buy Shake Shack. Was it Shake Shack on the Wednesday? Shake Shack. Yeah. I ordered fries. I said fries and burgers, and Daniela just, like, she actually made an exact decision that she didn't think fries traveled well, so I didn't have fries.

People have mentioned about that. Everybody there at the office said fries don't travel well, which is a kind of a saying I've never heard before, but they would know because they work in an office environment. They have things delivered a lot. And so I said, oh, wait, do you want to split it? And he goes, no, no, I got it. So I said, okay, I'll get Chick-fil-A the next day.

Is that how you say it, Chick-fil-A? Chick-fil-A. And because there was a bunch of burgers left over, we ordered about 150, so about 10 fewer than you had ordered the day before. But Chick-fil-A is, I guess, the more popular sandwich. So a bunch of people who came down at first grabbed two, and there ended up being not any Chick-fil-A's left for a few people, so it caused absolute ruckus in the office.

Dave had a right to be mad and call some people out for that well i saw i mean i saw that elephant clay balls is having two i mean and the funniest thing is i i'm pretty sure it was him if not somebody else who hosts two without before people got one say like i i'm bigger i need more to fill up Dude, you're bigger, you should have less You have this thing Completely opposite So I could imagine Wasn't Dave one of the ones that didn't get a sandwich? Starts the whole company

Gives all these people life In the business He doesn't get sandwich Who else took too, Mikey? Give me some names I'm not really sure, actually. Smitty did, too. Smitty did.

Yeah, Dave rattled them all off on his blog. Oh, all right. I got to read that. I imagine there was even an intern. There had to be somebody that took two that would be ultra shocking. Yeah. He said a kid on the third floor took three, one of the business kids. So we had a pretty fun week at Barstool.

R.A., you ended up doing a few other things on Friday, did you not? Yeah, absolutely. Well, I did Gentleman's Friday, which if you're not familiar, Barstool Breakfast with Lodge and Willie Colon. Those guys start at 7 and 9, and they get at it. Like, we went beer and wine shop on Thursday, me and Lodge. We taped it. I think that segment, I'm not sure if it's going on gold or not,

but we taped us going to the Packy. And, dudes, these boys go at it i mean i was legit like blowing up like a 0.34 like nine o'clock in the morning you guys breathalyzed each other no no i'm just saying i was that fucking drunk that early because we started off at wine you got like the tall boy cause not cause like the original cause because like that's what et we made it that's what he got drunk off in the movie they he brings in a bunch of food mozzarella salami fucking hot peppers so when we were doing the show I had a buzz

on I was like I would like to announce after what I've witnessed the last two days I have cancelled my sushi order from Tao for the office because of all the dissension it caused yeah yeah that was fucking hilarious I saw that fucking Tao so but it was funny yeah people were grubs about it it's like you know go up

because I watched them do it the day before when Wick got the burgers. And everyone, like, kind of gets one. And they're hawking around. It's like, buddy, you don't know who's come down from the turf. Just take your fucking free burger. Wait, like, 45 minutes, right? Seriously, that's reasonable. And then I watched the tape.

Glennie actually said, oh, I saw Nate take two, so I took two. I was like, well, don't be basing your life choices around fucking Boston Navy. You'll have a cellar full of dead hookers before you fucking know it. Nate got him back pretty bad on that. Yeah. He went back hard. Nate goes right for the jugular.

Oh, yeah. He can be savage. He's probably going to go savage on me after he hears this. So, anyways, we did gentlemen's breakfast. Yeah, gentlemen's Friday until like 9. But then after, you know, we have a couple more drinks that a couple of pink Whitney shots. And literally like I was like shit faced. I ended up getting an early train home so I could sleep because otherwise I would have passed out in the office. And I guess last thing, you know, there are some personalities

at Barstool that some of you have never even heard of. And if you want to check them out, I mean, you just mentioned two there. So I know some of you are kind of anti-barstool, some of you who aren't, kind of wander over. And, I mean, Marty Mush is a pretty funny personality for the gambling side of things. They have some e-sports characters there. Smitty's probably the biggest e-sports guy, right? Yeah, he does the barstool game time on Twitch.

And actually, last thing about our time at the office is on Friday, who was that stranger who walked into the office? There was like a guy who came in off the street, and he was acting like you got catfished or something. Did you guys not see that? I heard Dave talking about it on the radio, and it was blogged. I literally haven't caught up because I get home, slept for a bit, and then basically got caught up on the show.

So I got to catch up on that blog. But Biz, dude, I don't know how you do it. You're a machine. You flew out, what, Friday morning? Then where did you fly back from? I went to Toronto. I actually did this road hockey to conquer cancer. It was a charity event on Saturday.

And years passed because the season's getting going and I'm out west. I wouldn't fly back to Toronto it was just like too much but considering I was coming back from New York I was okay I've said no a couple times let's see what this thing's about like Matthew Barnaby was a there Colton or John Scott came in and the lady even mentioned to me about coming in next year the whole crew and surrounding cancer maybe we could throw like a pink whitney thing and and raise more money but they raised 3.1 million and basically it's just like 3.1 million 3.1 million because they had about i think 200 100 or 200 uh ball hockey teams

and it's just like a big tournament and and there's a beer gardens um it was a blast met tons of awesome people actually met a guy who played in it last year and um he goes yeah i've been coming here for a few years and last year i played it and i wasn't feeling good and sure enough a few weeks later i went and saw my doctor and i was diagnosed with leukemia and he ended up he he just beat it he said he's he's getting back he's getting all all his muscle back and his strength and all that. So I was like, geez, I was pretty touched by the whole experience, and I'm going to try to make it a priority of mine to get out there every September for this big event.

And it was by the Woodbine Racetrack. I think it was in Mississauga. So cool event. Thanks for asking, R.A., and teeing me up for that. And thank you to all the other uh um celebrity hockey guys who went out and and helped you know raise all that money another cool thing as i saw john scott there and i told him i would plug him he's starting a christian podcast and i won't get into it right now because that could be for maybe for next episode because

we have a lot of things to talk about but just ask him how he got into it and if he's overly the religious guy it was interesting to hear his answer and i just wanted to help promote it so if you're if you're uh you know big into faith and you want to follow um john scott's podcast give it a listen yeah biz that's good stuff for you man raising money for charity but you are like t2 from the terminator man you are a machine you just get up next mission you're on it dead all right it's awesome i love it all that You are like T2 from the Terminator, man. You are a machine. You just get up. Next mission, you're on it. Sleep when you're dead, R.A. It's awesome. I love it.

All natural, too. Speaking of this episode. Yes, sound. We're going to be continuing our division previews. We're going to have the Pacific Division a little later, including the guy who won two Stanley Cups when he played in that division, Mike Richards. Get to that a little bit later. First up, let's catch you up on some signings,

a couple more big ones. We'll take a look at the first one here. Miko Rantan in Colorado signed a six-year, $55.5 million deal. Comes out to 9.25 average annual value. Still only going to be 28 when this deal ends. No bonus. The salary's $12 million in the first two years. It whittles down to $2 million in the last year. Boys, this is inevitable. We've talked about it. Add nausea and wit. Do you have anything you want to add, brother?

No, besides that, this makes every Avalanche fan just kind of breathe a sigh of relief. And the fact that everyone's talked about these cup odds and how good this team could be this year. Grinnell, did you pick them to win the division? I think I remember. Yes, I did. Okay, so that's just an example right there of the expectations. None of it could have happened without getting this guy signed. Now, he'll be I'm not going to say rusty, but he's not

coming in. It's nice when you get the full training camp. We've brought that up a million times with the Nylander situation last year. But still, he's that game-breaker. The salary, while high, I mean, when you look at McKinnon especially, million times with the kneeling situation last year but still he's that game breaker the salary well high I mean when you look at McKinnon especially still makes sense I mean he's only going to get better I think this year you're looking at 90 points and then you're looking at a guy who's easily worth what he is going to be making I said 9.5 I don't know if it was

last episode or the episode before I think that would have got it done I think that's a great number for this guy. I do think that McKinnon contract helped them get that number down where they're like, hey, listen, you're going to make close to what you deserve, but it doesn't look good that degree of separation. So I do think that slightly helped them get it lower than probably what he could have got. And looking at that Mitch Marner contract, I know I'm beating the dead horse here,

but to me, just comparing the two players, I think the Colorado Avalanche are laughing. And I mean, they still have some cap room to make some moves. I don't want to jump too much on it, but apparently Jack Johnson might be headed there, but Pittsburgh's going to have to hand over some type of asset in order for them to get him off the books. I don't remember what episode it was, but I did say I would trade Marner for,

and a couple people actually tweeted me and said, who are you going to say? Because I think we just, like, we interrupted each other. I think I was going to say Rantanen. Would you trade Marner for Rantanen, Biz? Like, right now, if you were Toronto, I would do that deal. What I don't like is now all of a sudden you're taking ranting away from mckinnon where he you've only seen him have success with him to that degree i just think also i think it's a combination of just like those two in their

environments are thriving i don't think they would thrive like they were now so i don't think it would work out for either side as much as it does where they are right now. No, that's a good point. But I just think, I think it was from when we were talking about what he was going to sign for, but a couple of people would ask. So that's what, that's what I was going to say. Strictly based on contract.

I would agree with that. That that's a fair question, but there we go. Abs ready to roll. Fucking rights. One of the team we've been talking about quite a bit lately, not all positive, the Winnipeg jets. Well, finally, some good news out of Manitoba. A couple of big signings. First off, Kyle Connor re-up at Winnipeg.

Seven years, $50 million. That's an AAV at just over $7 million a year. He's also going to be just 28 when his deal expires. He does have no trade protection. Those last two years, he's got 65 goals his first two full NHL seasons. Biz, go to you first. This seemed like an inevitability. I'm starting to wonder if these guys are doing this just to avoid camp, no?

I would say no because camp isn't as bad as it used to be. No, and guys are so fired up to go back. Camps are so short. Three days you're in, then boom, exhibition games start. So I think this is a tremendous deal for the Winnipeg Jets. I mean, you basically just paid them what Laine's going to make the next two years, but you got him for what? He signed seven, correct?

Six or seven. I'm sorry, Kalkanoff signed for seven, Laine signed for two. Seven years. And, I mean, this guy's back-to-back 30-goal seasons, and he can drive a line. Like, he can move the puck from the defensive zone to the offensive zone. So, to me, getting him locked in for that dollar amount, you knew you had a franchise guy with his body of work.

And now – and the fact that they could get him locked in basically for what they're paying line A for the next seven years, I mean, that's just massive. And to me, getting him locked in long-term was more important than Line A because you don't even know what you have yet with Line A. The way Connor skates, I mean, he's not going anywhere. He just motors around. I think he's only going to become more dominant.

I love that signing. Lion-A, that deal. How many Xbox Ones can you buy now? This guy, he got exactly what a goal score. I'm assuming that he probably thought he was going to get offered a long-term deal, but he's getting money. I mean, he's getting the right amount of dollars for the amount of goals he can score while having kind of a shit season. I mean, last

year wasn't even good for him. What did he get? 35-ish? He had 29 goals last year. Oh, holy fuck. He only had 29 goals last year? Jesus Christ. I mean, I think they've seen what he can do. There's just the nights that he's so good. The five-goal night, other times when he can

score from anywhere, anytime. He can one-time any type of pass, too. But that's a lot of money. I mean, if he's so good like the five goal night other times when he could score from anywhere anytime he can one time any type of pass too but that's a lot of money i mean if he's gonna be a dog again this year you're gonna be disgusted i'll probably look to deal him and all right i mean for me i like this for winnipeg fans of the fact that he's like you know what give me a two-year deal i'm gonna go out there and prove it because i I mean he he obviously could have probably got a seven eight year deal at seven million or or maybe even a little bit more like what Connor got but he said no I think I'm a supreme goal scorer in this league I'm going to show that I can add other elements to my bag and he wants to be paid like Alexander Ovechkin so let's see if he can add those things to his bag if I'm a Winnipeg Jets fan, I'm thrilled about both these signings

for those two reasons. The fact that you know what you're getting with Connor. Line A is very comfortable that he can excel his game, and if he does, look out league. This is, yeah, more of your classic Bridge deal than some of the other ones that have been called Bridge deals lately. Just to get you up to speed, I don't think it was mentioned, two years, 13.5 mil for line A.

That comes out to 6.75 mil AAV. This is a kid who had 80 goals after his first two years in the league. That's nothing to sneeze at. That doesn't happen by accident. But like you've said, Biz, his game has taped off. There are holes in it. He's still a young kid. He needs some fixing.

And I think, you know, Winnipeg, maybe that's his, okay, if we don't like what we see out of him the next couple years, they don't have to sign him and get his line at the same option. Are these two built to last? I don't know right now. We don't need this build, but we'll see. What's up, Wade? As we, like, kind of carve him, if he gets 50 this year, I'll be like,

oh, I won't. Yeah, no. Makes sense. It's that, like, back and forth he can go. Yeah, you're probably speaking sense. It's that like back and forth he can go. Yeah, you're probably speaking to some people who usually come back and say, ha, see, told you. It's like, no, I'm speaking of what has happened up to date. This is exactly what we've been shown,

and I'm going to evaluate his abilities on what I've seen. And like you just said, like this guy might pop off this year, and we'll be happy for him. So, I mean, it seems to be the case with a few got a few people thinking we're carving guys we're not no not carving at all but you know we do got to criticize when warranted and uh you know busy really went overboard on it not many guys and you know those are two potential headaches for the jets they nip them in the bud and the only one real if big fact i left i really really wouldn't call it a headache when a guy is considering that his future his big buff uh they don't know if he's going to be coming back if he does

obviously that's great fun if not that's a pretty big hole in the rear end so to speak so we'll keep an eye on that what's up is what he well I saw my red on twitter today they have 7.61 million in cap space remaining buff makes 7.6 so there's the obvious slide in and if if god forbid he doesn't come back there's there's some room to to add a big piece right there absolutely now i just kind of made a joke about it but but wait i'll ask you do you think some guys may have actually waited until camp is over to sign just so they can avoid it do you think that's something that might have actually happened in the past no i i I think Biz said it's true. It's not even that hard.

I think that they're just, for some reason, when you hold out and you want to make a point and you're saying, I'm not going to sign for anything less than this, you know you've got to wait until at least have the team come up from a little bit of where their stance is currently. And now, I guess all these teams have decided,

all right, we'll just get it. We'll both bend the knee a little bit a week before the season starts. All right. I mean, I think it would be naive to not say there has been a few guys over the course of time who haven't done that. I know a shit ton of guys do it before signing. Russia, that's what you do for a year ago.

Oh, my God. Hold on. I just can't go until the end of September. Well, some guys are good enough to say, hey, I'll sign there, but I ain't coming until two weeks before the season starts. But, yeah, some guys who don't have that type of luxury, they try to drag their foot as much as possible. Because in Russia, when do you have to leave?

Like end of July? July 26th or something. Oh, my God. You're missing all of August. Jesus. Just getting bent over with two days. Two on and two off. Two days with some borscht in between.

Nice. All right, boys, we got a packed episode. Like I said, we're doing a preview later for the Pacific Division, and we did talk to Mike Richards, which we're going to do first. Guys, Mike Richards hasn't talked to anybody for a real long time media-wise. Getting him I thought was a bit of a coup. Without getting into details, what was your take on this interview? I thought it was pretty awesome.

I was just thrilled during it. I know that sounds kind of goofy, but it was just awesome to hear from this guy. I didn't know him at all. I guess I still don't, but I just remember playing against him. I tell him at the end, you were as hard of a guy to play against as anyone out there.

He was just nails. It was dominant years. It was pretty funny because I was telling my dad about the interview because as anyone out there. I mean, he was just nails. It was dominant years. It was pretty funny because I was telling my dad about the interview because it was that great. I think everyone, you're going to love it. And he said, God, I remember a time being like, he's Philly's Patrice Bergeron, but he's almost better than him. I swear, he was that good.

He played the same style hockey while being even tougher to play against. He was such a prick. He'd fight. I mean, you remember R.A. when they came back. We didn't even talk about this, but when they came back from 0-3 against the Bruins, he's the one who buried Krejci with that. It broke his wrist. So it was a player that won everything.

We talk about that. And because he'd just gone away from the league and it happened pretty quick and no one had heard from him, I think that to hear what he had to say after accomplishing everything he did was just awesome. And I hope he enjoyed coming on with us because it was a blast and I think everyone's going to be chatting about this one. Yeah, this may come off the wrong way,

but this one, I don't give a shit what anyone thinks about this interview because every question we asked that I didn't know how he was going to answer, he dove in. This was so informative. We were sitting there in the studio as we were recording this, and we're looking at each other like, holy shit, this guy is opening up. You guys are going to love it. Let's throw it right to it.

We shouldn't fucking delay it any longer. And you're going to hear from a guy that, fuck, should get a lot of respect because he accomplished so much in an unbelievable career. This interview was brought to you by Ethos. One thing is certain in life, expect the unexpected. And if you want to be prepared for the unexpected, ethos can make sure your family is taken care of no matter what. Ethos is a faster, easier, and more affordable way to get life insurance to make sure your family is taken care of,

even if you aren't around to take care of them. They're committed to finding the plan that's best for you and your budget, all from the comfort of your computer, tablet, or phone in just 10 minutes or less. Simply answer a few questions online about things about your health, age, and income to get an instant estimate. Then finish your application in just minutes. Everyone is different, but a healthy 35-year-old can get a $1 million worth of coverage for only $50 a month. And with Ethos, you can rest easy knowing the people you love are taken care of. Confusing terms and piles of paperwork not included. And right now, our listeners can get started by going to ethoslife.com slash chicklets and clicking on check my price.

Again, get a fully personalized quote by going to ethoslife.com slash chicklets. That's E-T-H-O-S-L-I-F-E dot com slash chicklets, C-H-I-C-L-E-T-S. One more time, make sure to visit ethoslife.com slash chicklets so they know we sing. Chicklets fans, our next guest is a hockey legend. Yes, legend. Born in Kenora, Ontario. Dominated the junior ranks with the Kitchener Rangers. Memorial Cup, not a big deal.

Also won a Canadian World Junior Gold, not a big deal. And after that, dominating the junior ranks, he moved on to the NHL after being drafted in the first round, 24th overall by, yes,umbag philadelphia flyers and keep in mind that 03 draft was the greatest draft of all time because yes i was involved in it and after playing in philadelphia in los angeles and washington and accumulating a nhl career with 749 games playing over 11. Welcome to the Spit and Chicklets podcast, Michael Richards. What's going on, guys?

That was pretty good, no? That was pretty awesome. But here's the mistake he made, Richie, is the fact that he didn't include a Calder Cup, where I first saw you, where this menace to society, loses in the junior second round in the OHL, I think it was, comes right into the Phantoms, where I had been all year in Wilkes-Barre. It was the lockout years. Good league.

Well, him and Carter come bombing in. Light up. Light us up. We're like, who are these fucking two junior kids? He goes on. They win the Calder Cup, and all of them are in the NHL. So I'll remember the first time I played against you. That was pretty sick, huh, that run?

Yeah. Yeah, I wasn't going to bring that up. You're lying. Yeah, that was pretty cool. It was a little weird for us coming in, but that was pretty awesome, actually, for playing 14 games and then getting to call their cup. It doesn't get much better than that. Well, Richie, I was talking to Whit about my intro beforehand,

and I was like, oh, man, I get a little nervous during the intro. I was like, I've talking to Whit about my intro beforehand and I was like oh man like I get a little nervous during the intro it's like I gotta list off all the stuff and I said what does he want and Whit just goes can you remember this everything you've you've accomplished it all in the hockey fucking world like that's got to feel fucking unbelievable yeah yeah to look back at it now especially like a few years removed from playing um to see just pictures every once in a while you'll see something like posted online or um going through your phone and seeing a a picture of it every once in a while it's uh it brings back some pretty good memories and it's pretty awesome uh he did forget to mention the two stanley cups by the way i figured we should

well that's why i said that said it. That was it all. That was it all. It was everything. It was in there. People now know. So, Mike, how you doing, man? I think a lot of people have been wondering how you're doing. No one in the media has really reached out to you. Like, what are you doing these days?

How are you keeping busy? Just hanging out back home in Kenora. Just ending summer right now, so we've been fishing a lot. Other than that, not much. Getting ready for hunting season and just been hanging out, laying low. So I remember being told you were a huge fisherman and, like, I'm a golf junkie. So is this every day? That's what I'm working with.

Is fishing on the other side? You out there five days a week? Yeah, you know, growing up I used to be that way about golf. I was every day at the course, and even now I golf quite a bit throughout summer, but for the most part, it's just fishing almost every day. Probably four or five days fishing a week, and I'll mix around the golf with my old man

and some of his buddies in the morning every once in a while. What a week. What a week that is. Richie, you don't get bored up in Kenora? No. In the winter, it gets slow. My fiance and I, we go down to

Florida the last couple years in the winter. What part? You're a snowbird. What part, dude? Yeah, we go to West Palm Beach. I'm renting in Jupiter this winter for a month. Maybe we'll get together, Richie. Get around to golf and some fishing.

Yeah, I'd do that. I bring the clubs down, so pretty good way to spend it. I don't think Witt could hack it on a boat. I think he'd be the guy who's 100% you look like an asshole. I'm a bitch on a boat. Maybe a yacht. Yeah, well, we just go on the lakeick. I'm a bitch on a boat. Maybe a yacht. Yeah. Well, we just go on the lake, so we don't go on the ocean.

So it's not as much to get sick from. What kind of fish do you take down when you go fishing? I haven't fished for a while. Usually just bass if we're up here. During the summer, we'll go for walleye if we want some food and cook dinner. But it's mostly just bass. And fall musky fishing is pretty big around here, so we try to get some of the big ones in,

but mostly just bass. Do you know Willie Mitchell? I guess you play with him, right, Willie Mitchell? Yeah. He's got an unbelievable setup in Tofino. Yeah, I haven't been out there. We kind of talk on and off a little bit, but when I first got traded to L.A.,

he was like the first guy that I got along with right away just because of that. Maybe we could set up a content piece where we get you out there and me and Witt come fishing with you and Willie Mitchell, maybe even see if Witt can not get sick on the boat. Yeah, let's go out to Willie's place there in Tofino because I've always wanted to go out there and I

see some of the pictures that I have and look at some of the stuff he's catching and that looks way better. So let's do it out there. Fucking rights, man. Hey, write that down. He's already got you committed to something else. We haven't even started the interview. I got golf and fishing in Florida

with Wits. I got a fishing fishing in Florida with Witts. I got a fishing trip. R.A., what do you want to do with him? Somebody's going to have to bait Witts hook for him. Yeah. Who are you going to do it?

What would R.A. and Richie do together? Oh, that'd be watch movies. Do you watch movies? Yeah, I watch a little bit, especially in the winter when it's too cold

to go outside here. Yeah, there's all kinds of Oscar bait coming out soon. Do you watch hockey? Are you a big hockey fan, or are you just not even really watching the game these days? No, I watch in the playoffs.

I follow along then, but during the season, I don't watch a ton of it. I've gone to some Winnipeg Jets games with buddies, and if I have somebody that I know on the other team, I'll go and say hi. But for the most part, I haven't really been around very much. When I was in L.A. last year, I went to a game with Matt Green, but you could probably count on one hand the amount of regular season hockey games

that I've watched from start to finish. Richie, normally with our guests, I don't know if you listen to the episodes, but we kind of start off at the beginning and we like to run through it. And the reason I kind of want to do it in that order with you is because there's just so much. Like, we've got to cover the World Juniors a little bit, we've got to cover the Cup Runs, and yada, yada, yada.

He's like, yes. Growing up in Kenora, how was the development there? Like, how did you end up becoming so good? Did you have to move away from home or did you play most of your minor hockey there? Yeah, I played all of it here. I went away for summer hockey, or spring hockey, I guess it was. Back then, just a few tournaments, but for the most part, it was out of Kenora.

It was all AA hockey until I got to Midget. And then it was AAA here, but we played out of the Manitoba League out in Winnipeg. So that's kind of where I started getting the exposure, I guess, to be drafted in the OHL. So it's a pretty small town here. There's not a ton of kids from the area. So to be honest, to get out of Kenora to play in the OHL was a huge thing for me. Oh, yeah, really?

And Sue St. Marie, she's four or five years older than me, so I kind of had that to push myself towards. He kind of set the path for me, and I just followed along. Isn't that crazy that there's somebody that would have never known, that a legend in the game was just looking up to him when he got off to junior? Because you don't even realize as a Canadian kid, you think, or at least as an American, I'm like, oh, every Canadian can go play junior, but some places are so small that it takes an extra push to get there.

Well, not even that. I mean, the traveling your parents must have been doing. Where was your closest away game? Yeah, we were, like growing up, we would go to Winnipeg, so it was an hour and a half. And since we played out of the Manitoba Midget League, I had a lot of WHL teams coming up and asking about me. But I couldn't go there until I was 18,

so it was more just getting exposure I guess word of mouth it wouldn't be the biggest thing and then even getting drafted when I did to Kitchener um like it's a 20-hour drive from Kenora where Brandon's a four-hour drive for the Western League. I went to a lot of Brandon Wheat King's games growing up, but I never actually saw an OHL game until I went and watched my cousin there when I was probably 14, 15 years old. Richie, who were the studs that you were battling against in those leagues growing up? Who ended up panning out? Nigel Dawes was a guy that I played against

throughout um I remember playing a little bit of summer hockey against uh Taves because he always played up because he was so sick so he always played up against us we're older than him but I remember playing against him and um i mean there was a few guys in winnipeg that were always good but i never really kind of knew him just because we never had any like summer development camps together just because i was an ontario kid i'd never make it up there so you brought up nigel dawes just recently i saw he's one of the all-time leading scorers in russia he's made i can't imagine how much money, but a grind of 10. Do you still stay in touch with him?

I mean, he's been there like 10 years now, right? Yeah, yeah, he's doing well over there. He comes back. Usually he comes up to the lake every summer. I see him. And, yeah, he's got a good gig going on over there. He goes, he makes really good money. His family goes over with him, and he lights it up over there. He goes, he makes really good money, his family goes over with him, and

he lights it up over there. I don't know if it's I guess the best place for hockey-wise. You don't have to word it carefully on this podcast. I don't know if you've ever heard this podcast. I'm like wanted by the KGB.

Yeah, so you guys know what I mean, but he's got a really good gig. He's got a few guys on his team that he's good buddies with, and he actually just switched this year. But, yeah, he's got a good gig going on. He'll do it as long as the money's good and as long as his family likes it. So I don't know if it was the first time you guys had ever played with each other, but Nigel Dawes bring reminds me of of the

greatest world junior team ever assembled that's 2005 I'm pretty sure it's in North Dakota where he was a member you were a member and then we can also go down the list Shea Weber, Jeff Carter, Crosby, Seabrook, Dion Phaneuf, Ryan Getzlaff, Clark MacArthur I mean you're just going through Corey Perry, Cam Barker, Nigel Dawes, Patrice Bershon. It was, when did, like, did you know growing up, I mean, I guess not until you were a little older, how good that 85 age was? No, we didn't. We had no idea, to be honest. Before the internet, too.

Yeah, like, there was not really anything. Like, we had under 17, butada has three different teams for that or maybe four now i'm not even sure but and then even under 18 like we had a good team um but we didn't think it would turn into that and then when we choked the year before in finland and we coughed up that lead um and then during that summer the development camp in the summer, and you just saw the guys that have been drafted and some of the players, and Sid was obviously becoming the player in the world at that time.

It turned out to be a pretty good team, yeah. Oh, Rich, yeah. Oh, fuck, I forgot my question. God damn it. I was so dialed into that story. Oh, no, I was going to comment on the fact that you said you weren't sure. When we played under 17, when we went to that Selkirk and Stonewall, you were on that team, right, with Jeff Carter?

Every team's top-end guys were like top-end guys. Do you remember when Nathan Horton and we were playing, I believe it was Team Pacific, him and Seabrook ended up taking that draw against each other and it got fucking heated. The ceremonial face-off. Yeah, the ceremonial face-off. We were ready to scrap. The fucking teams were salivating

because it was that big marquee match-up and we knew every scout in the building was there. Yeah, and Hortz, I do remember Hortz slapped that thing back and he just screamed right in his face too after i do remember that what a savage oh buddy this was like and every everybody was like 6-2 220 ripped like like dion was dion finuff on that team i think he was yeah i i can't remember exactly but i do remember braden colburn yeah it was Western guys so they're just you know huge Getty just a meat Colberg yeah so yeah it was pretty intense so I always knew the 85 group

was special especially as it got to the point where you guys were like the like I think I think the year before where you quote-unquote coughed it up or whatever in in Finland it was essentially a lot of the same team because all the 85s had made the World Junior Team so good. They were beating out the guys who were a year older. Yeah, and then even Sid on that team, he was on it, but he wasn't Sid yet. Right. His first year he was good, but he wasn't the next year good.

And that one year he went from being like, I think he was like third, fourth line to like the guy on that team. And it was insane, actually. That team in North Dakota, there was not a team that could be assembled throughout that tournament, even with grabbing some Finns and some Russians that were going to beat us. We were top-notch there. Well, you brought up his name. He allowed me the ability to go down and play golf with you

and Jupiter Sidney Crosby. It's so funny because I think of my memories in Pittsburgh. It's the beginning of my career. It was the best time, so I'll always remember it. The games against you guys were just so fun. The playoff matchups. I just remember the crowds just hating the opposing team so much. It was

such a fun atmosphere. And you and Crosby... Well, that's what I was going to say. So I'm wondering, my most memorable play by you, I think, against us is just making one of the greatest hits of all time and running over Malkin. But what do you know?

The puck goes down the other end, and Malkin comes back, slow gets it, and we buried on you in the breakaway. So it's like you couldn't get past us. On a slap shot, too. He was completely out of it. I actually, I don't know where I saw the clip, but it wasn't long ago that I saw it.

And, like, now he'd be in the quiet room for at least a month. And you'd be sussied. Yeah, he got up. He was out of it. He just skated to the blue line, so we were on essentially a five-on-three, and the puck just ends up on his stick, and he rips a clapper from the ladies' tees and scores.

Mike, you finished the last season in Kitchin with 58 points, 43 games. Then you joined the Phantoms in the AHL. You have more than a point per game in the playoffs, won the Call of the Cup. Did you just kind of keep the confidence from juniors to AHL? Did you have to make some sort of adjustment to just keep kind of playing at that high level? No, there was no adjustment needed, to be honest. Since we were in playoffs, it was pretty high, and we actually just lost out to London,

who had a stacked team at that time, too. So, like, the hockey was pretty high, and then jumping in to the Phantoms, everybody there made it so easy for Jeff and I. Like, he was already there playing, and then I stepped in, so that made it easier, and we just had a really good team it was a little bit awkward for us just because we came from junior and now you're taking guys spots that have been there all year and they had a tough team too so you're probably taking a tough guy spot well yeah and then you get like Jeff was

first line I stepped into the second line so the guy who played all year on the first line was now bumped down to the third and so it got a little bit awkward but everybody on that team just wanted to win like they didn't give a shit about like who was playing the minutes so it made it a lot easier but for us it was a little bit awkward at first. Didn't you guys just have, like, the biggest mutant fourth line, too? You guys had three silky lines, and then the fourth line would just run teams out of the building. Yeah, we had a tough team.

Like, Josh Gratton, Fedorek, like, Fridge was there. I mean, it was your typical, like, Philadelphia team at that time where there was just, like, tough, tough guys that you weren't going to get pushed around. So that, like, when you go from junior to playing against, like, grown men and you look down the bench and you have, like, at least a handful of guys that nobody could stand up to or if they had one or two guys that could stand up to you.

Pretty comforting feeling, eh, Mike? If you had another three or four. What's that? Pretty comforting feeling, eh, Mike? Yeah, you didn't have to worry about the physical part really being an issue. Nobody could take your head off because we had four guys that were there just itching to do something so that made it a little bit more comforting and easier to to go up and play at

that level the next season mike you break in with the flyers that was a very veteran uh heavy roster was there any particular guy or guys who had a big impact on you maybe took you under the wing a little bit showed you the ropes a bit yeah actually keith primo was my first roommate for i think he played nine games and then he he got a concussion but um he kind of showed me the ropes through the early on simone gagne was on that team and we became really good friends and then ended up being line mates before he had his concussion problems and who else was on that team Turner Stevenson was a guy that would kind of bust our balls a little bit but he was always there to to kind of just guide us in the right direction so it was

a veteran team and we had some young guys like Jeff and I, but they were there to help us out too. They weren't there thinking that we were taking their spots. They were always kind of helping us. Keith was really good to me early on, especially going on the road for the first time and being his roommate was a little weird because he was older, but at the same time, he kind of taught me what it was like to be a pro. When you walked in the room the first time, were you kind of like,

holy shit, that's Peter Forsberg? Yeah, he was like my idol growing up. So I remember I was in the summertime doing something, and then I read that we signed Peter, and I had, like, instant chills. So then I go down to Philly, and I'm working out in the weight room, and he walks in, and literally the whole place just stops and just starts staring at him.

Like, I was in awe. Everybody, I think, was in awe. And then to see him on the ice, ice. I'll never forget the first practice. He was just throwing backhand sauce, cross ice, tape to tape. And I'm just staring at him like a movie star. And you're just in a room just staring at him. Nothing else was going on in the world. And you're just staring at this guy making passes.

So you said you idolized him. That was the guy you looked up to and tried to mimic your game after the most? Yeah. Yeah, I tried to. I mean, obviously not at that level, but he – Not bad. You're pretty close. Pretty good impression.

Pretty good impression, yeah. Yeah. But he was awesome. He was awesome to, like, the younger guys, too. Like, he would always grab you, no matter if it was for dinner, if you're going out for beers, whatever it was, he would always make sure everyone was included. So he had a huge impact on my hockey career anyways, unfortunately.

It wasn't a long time that we got to play together, but he was always awesome to me. I think we've got to go back to the Kitchener Ranger days before we keep moving on because you have a lot of fans there. I would say the greatest Kitchen Arranger of all time or one of these. Is the number retired there already?

No, no. Wow. Pardon? That'll be this winter now. That'll be this winter now. I'm coming up for it. That's our third trip together. I might actually... There's the event where you and R.A. can hang out at. We'll all go there and R.A. can follow you around. I'll bring my ride.

Yeah. But what a junior career. You guys, I mean, Pete DeBoer was there with you. He was probably massive in your development. Yeah. Yeah, he was. It was actually funny because I got drafted fourth overall to Kitchener. And like we talked about before, I wasn't really well known in Ontario because I was never down in that GTA area playing hockey or anything.

So I got drafted fourth overall. And before I even got to camp, the GM who actually drafted me, Jamie McDonald, he ended up getting fired. There was like a whole thing of nobody really knowing who I was, so everyone was kind of pissed off that I was drafted. And then Pete came in, and he was awesome. Pete and Spotter were, like you said, they were probably, other than my parents, the biggest reason why i had success in hockey do you think that guy got fired because he picked you and people are like who is this kid i don't know the exact reason i mean if you had pete and spotter yeah coming in

on the back burner it probably was just because of that but it probably didn't help with like so the memorial cup you won was early on and then the next year two years later i believe you had an even better team and like i mean look at least looking at the roster like that london team that that did beat you in the second round was just a wagon right yeah they were insane like they the names on them are probably not like all-star like other than like pairs and but in the oh they were in the oh they were sick in the ohl like danny fritchie danny subrat like they had like a legit team that nobody was touching i mean even prusty like prusty was a depth player on your team. Well, he was a solid depth player in the NHL.

You know, he was ready to go play pro hockey. Yeah, and he was a bully on the ice because, like, he was good enough to play, but, like, really tough too. So, like, you couldn't exactly, like... Fuck he was. Hey, Richie, I dropped the gloves with him one time, and as I was going to put my helmet down,

he pounced on me, and he broke my fucking nose. I was only, I had the biggest rivalry with him when he was in junior. Oh, yeah. And one thing about Prusty, too, he's got those long arms. So he, even though he wasn't as tall as me, I think he outreached me, so that's why he kept making contact and I couldn't because he could hold me out and get to my face. Yeah, and he was an actual, like, he was a guy that was a really good player too.

So, like, you couldn't send a guy out that at the time you have in OHL where you just have guys there that are kind of fighters. So you couldn't send a fighter out after him because he could actually play. So he could literally do whatever he wanted on the ice and he was a tough guy to play against. The All-Star game that year in the O, they had seven All-Stars. No. Seven guys from one team.

Rob Schrempf was there. The Knights practice. Yeah, Rob Schrempf was there. They had Dan Girardi, I believe. So they had seven guys. Where were we going to go after that? Oh, no, I was going to ask you about, like, you get to Philly and you have all these close friends and you guys had such good teams.

What was your favorite part of playing in Philly? Because you had beefs with the media. That's why I was like, I don't even know if we're going to get them on. And you might think we're media like the Flyers fucking media. But it just seemed like that group of guys with Upshaw and the Legion of Poon line we heard about. I don't know if you heard that. What a group you had.

Yeah, I heard that interview. It was awesome. Yeah, we had that group. And I still think to this day that if we would have kept that group together, that we would have won. The year we went to the finals, we lost to Chicago. We just had a ton of injuries, especially at goaltender. I think we had like seven goalies that year.

But eventually, I truly believe that we would have won if we would have kept that team together. But we were all right around the same age. We were all, by the end, living downtown in Philly. We just had a good time. We played hard. We had success on the ice, but off the ice, we hung out all the time. It was awesome.

How did you get along with Hitch? Did he scream at you in his high-pitched voice a lot? I actually got along well with him. I know I could see why some people didn't get along well with him, but I got along well. He was hard on certain guys. We had an older group, so it was a little bit shocking because I grew up with Pete in junior.

So you had to respect Pete. You had no talking back, no nothing. We had older guys in Philly where Hitch would kind of bark at them and then everyone would just give it right back to Hitch. So I'm like a young guy coming in and I'm on the bench and you just hear players just ripping on Hitch. And Hitch is just giving it back and I'm on the bench and you just hear players just like ripping on Hitch and Hitch is just giving it back and I'm just sitting there like what is going on it was it was interesting my first year and then you know by the end of the year you start getting confidence you get yelled

at then you give it back and then I like caught myself one time. I'm like, what am I doing? I can't do that. I'm a first-year young guy here. I can't be giving it to the coach. But, yeah, he did nothing to me. He was good. He didn't, I think he was only there a year and a half or a year and ten games to start. But he always liked me, and I had success with him.

From me and Witt's time with him, I think he loved when guys gave it back to him. I think, was it Ryan Reeves who said he said something to him one time and he was like, he went the next day because Reeves was like, damn, I went like overboard and he went up to Hitch and Hitch was like, I don't know, I don't remember hearing that.

And he was like, geez, he doesn't give a shit. Yeah, and it was funny we had um this i forget even who we were playing but um we had a guy named bronco radovojevic on our team and he was like kind of a bubble guy he was a really really good player um butitch just had, I don't know, just was one of his kind of whipping boys. Bronco! Yeah, he was just giving it to somebody else, like an older player, and he was just giving it back to Hitch. And Hitch just got frustrated with fighting,

and then just would look down the bench and be like, Bronco, what the f*** is going on here? And Bronco hasn't been on the ice for like 10, 15 minutes. So he just got annoyed with fighting with an older player and just started giving it to some guys that knew he wouldn't get talked to. It's like if your dad yells at you, you're like, I didn't even do anything wrong, it was my brother. Yeah, exactly.

Like, what did I do? I've just been sitting here. So I want to ask you about when Prongs came to the team because guy i mean like you're a leader of that club and wherever pronger goes he's a he's just an impact like in the locker room to a loud guy but so dominant and especially the year you went to the cup what was it like getting used to playing with him and how how much did he just add to that team yeah he was awesome i got along really well with him like he was good for me, too, because I was the captain. And I'm not the most outgoing guy, especially around the dressing room.

I'll say stuff if it needs to be said, but other than that, I'm not your rah-rah type of guy. So he came in, and he's obviously got a big personality and a big voice, He came in, and he's obviously got a big personality and a big voice, so he helped me as captain so much with not always having to be that guy. Kimo Tiemann was there, and he's kind of similar to me. Danny's a little quieter too, so he was that powerful voice. He was good for me. He was really good when he got there and one hell of a player that's for sure you guys ever get into it no no we uh we had a good relationship we didn't especially it was weird because i don't know when it was i think it was

after vancouver olympics where like the media started making a huge deal or i think it was before that actually that media started making a huge deal or i think it was before that actually that media started making a huge deal how him and i never got along and this and that and i'm not i can't speak for him so i don't know how he felt but i had no issue with him so like to go back to your point on like the media and stuff like that like i never had a problem with anything that they said if it was true like if you're just doing your job and like you're gonna rip me at some point that's fine but just as long as it's like factual that's the only reason why i had an issue with the media is because they would state things that weren't 100 fact just to like come up with

the story so like i said i can't speak for how he felt about me but i had no issues with him at all i never even realized you had that riff with the media until uh what told me today well i just remember just always like being in pittsburgh like, Richards put a boycott on the media. The funny story about that is we were on, like, a tear. And it was like, I'm making up numbers here, but say a 10-game winning streak. And we were on a tear. And then they decided to make this story about how we always went out and how we were living it up and how we were drinking to this and that and the other thing. So I got wind of that story before it was going to come out.

And so I went to, I forget exactly the guy's name now, but I went to him and said, like, if you guys were like run with the story during this time, like it's one thing if we're on a losing streak, but we were having success. So just to like come up with a negative story while all this good's going on, like that's going against us. Who's the guy?

That's like, there was one guy that like spoke for everyone. I don't think it was, uh, what's his name? Panache. I don't think it was him, but it was one of those beat writer guys.

Slimy. So I went and talked to him, and I was just like, if you run with the story, that's it. I'm not going to speak to you guys. I know I have to, but you're not going to get anything from me. So I gave him one-word answers for at least two weeks. You met Marshawn Lynch. Yeah, exactly.

And then I ended up taking Booth's head off that one night, and then I kind of had to talk to him. So that broke the silence. Okay, guys. Yeah, that was... All right, another defenseman I need to ask about. Can you confirm that Yoni Pickenden got the flu if Jordan Tutu was on the opposing team that night?

I've heard stories about that, but I was only there for one year with Yoni. Let's just say there was a few games that he missed. It was so funny when Uppy told us that he said,

yeah, Tutu's such a machine that any time Pickett had played against him, he'd be like, oh, my stomach, my stomach really hurts. Yeah, so the story that I heard, I don't know if this is true either, but apparently in Halifax when Toots was playing for the World Juniors there, apparently he just annihilated Yoni. And from what I've heard ever since then, I wasn't there for the first couple years, but ever since then he just didn't play against Jordan,

and if he did, it was not a great game. Lifetime case of the 2-2 flu. Yeah, I've got to be honest with you. I felt the 2-2 flu a few times coming down on me before playing him, so I don't blame the guy. Another character I want to ask about your play, Scotty Hartnell. What was it like having him in the room, Captain Wrench? Captain Wrench, is that his name?

We've heard a few tales about the Wrench. Richie, we had him on, and he was a little timid. He wasn't as crazy as we know Scott Hartnell to be. Yeah, I think you've got to get probably two or three beers in him, and then he is hilarious. He would be one of the best teammates in the dressing room. He would do anything for you on the ice. He would be probably top five teammates, I think.

Yeah, that's all we hear about him. Yeah, he was just awesome. Like, he would go out of his way to make sure every single person on the team was, like, invited to dinner, invited to a party, invited to anything that was going on. He would go out of his way. It didn't matter if you were there one day or 20 years. Like, he would go out of his way to make

sure everybody was included in everything yeah he's a larger than life personality he was he was the most popular guy in town on the team probably the most popular sports figure there yeah yeah i could see it and he the year he played with danny and villi um in the playoff run when we went to the finals. He was incredible. And like I said, just everybody on the team loved him. Like I said, top five teammates I think I've ever had. We had him on. He said, I mean, obviously he was a great hockey player, but he also viewed himself as an entertainer too as he was out there.

Do you think maybe more guys should take that approach? Not to be a ham and egg or like a wrestler, but he seemed to have fun out there. Sometimes it's all business. Would you like to see a little more entertainment of the Hot N' O style in the league? Yeah, I probably wouldn't hurt. Like I said before, I didn't watch a ton of hockey, but he was always entertaining to watch.

You could just ISO cam him on the ice while you're playing, and you would see at least three things that would make you laugh on the bench. Just falling down for no reason, which is why they started that Hartnell down thing a few years ago, and flipping pucks in the air. He was like a five-year-old kid playing in the NHL. Like he would just kind of go about his business, but he was a hell of a player and he would stick out for anybody too.

Well, I was just going to ask you about his smelly farts and if that was all true, if they're that smelly. His what? His smelly farts. Everyone talked about how smelly his farts were how he'd fart everywhere he'd always be farting i'm not sure about that really oh i've had maybe that was slander i don't remember it wasn't to me anyway it wasn't as obvious obviously 10 years later eight years later for me to remember so well i can't comment on that. Well, moving on from Philly,

I'll never forget as a player in the league at the time when Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, Philly decides to move on and trade both guys. And I say that because I remember talking to a buddy and saying, oh man, Richie went to LA and his boy went to Columbus. And that was back when Columbus really wasn't the team or atmosphere it was last year.

So how tough was that? Because you're excited. You're going to a good team and a great place to live. And he's like, fuck, I'm going to, at that time, one of the bottom teams in their division, really. Yeah, that was actually tough for us. Because at the end of that year, there was a ton of talk about him being traded.

And we had meetings with the GM after the season, and he gave Jeff his word and all that sort of stuff. And then leading up to the draft, there was still a lot of talk about it. But my name was never mentioned until, I think it was the night before the draft, I got a call from my agent. all i think it was the night before the draft i got a call from my agent and he kind of broke it down for me like this is what's going on there's a chance you're going to go to la um and since we didn't have a no trade that kicked in yet but we had like a handshake how shocking is that how shocking is that man yeah so he called me and was like well we could probably fight this if you want and i was just like you know what like it is what it is if they don't want me that's fine i'll damn move on and going to la wasn't a bad thing either so i was

just like yeah that's fine and so i called jeff and i was like, oh, good news and bad news. Good news is I don't think you're being traded. And the bad news is I'm probably getting traded to L.A. So I think it was the next morning I got traded. It was official, so I called him. I was like, yeah, I got traded to L.A. And got off the phone, and within, like, maybe two minutes, he called me back. And I was like, oh, what's up? And he's like, I just got traded to Columbus.

Oh, God. And I was like, oh, shit. Sorry, man. So then we played them early in the year, too, Columbus in L.A., so he came over to my house, and we're in Manhattan Beach, and we go for a walk on the strand and he just looks at me and he's just like how the fuck does it work out that you're in LA on the beach and I'm living in Columbus right now that's the business Jesus yeah so but I mean that was tough I was never traded before. I didn't want to be traded either, but it is what it is, and obviously everything worked out well. Richie, as silly as this sounds, do you think that dry island, that whole fucking debacle, had something to do with it, escalated it to the fact that they were moving on from you and Carter, who were arguably the two best players on the team?

Yeah, it could have. I know Laviolette and I didn't get along very well. He always thought of Prongs as the captain, even though I had the C. He thought Prongs was the captain, and all the guys in the room knew I was the captain, so it was just a little bit of a weird dynamic at that time. And that Dry Island thing was such a joke. I remember laughing. Like a grown man, like what was going on?

So we were fighting for, I think it was near the last month or last two months of the season. And we have a team meeting and he's like, all right, this is what's going on. We need this amount of wins. We need this and that. He's like, personally, I don't think alcohol is going to help us get to our goals. I don't think alcohol is going to help us get to our goals. So from now on, I'm not going to drink any alcohol until after the season, I think it was, or a stretch.

So I'm going to put my name on the board. Everybody else who is going to follow me also put their name on the board. So obviously all the young guys go up there because they have to. And, you know, a handful of other vets. And there was probably like five or six of us that didn't. And we were just being honest at the time, to be honest. Did you know this was going to happen or was that on the on the spot it was on the spot ambush yeah but what the biggest joke about all that was like i could tell you for a fact like 90 of the people that were on that board

didn't live up to that like didn't follow through with the x amount of days on dry island quotation marks. And I don't know about the other 10, but I do know for a fact, like, it was like the going joke. Like, hey, I thought you were on dry island. Right. You can't come over. And you didn't want to be the guy to go write your name down than fucking booze because that would make you a liar. Well, exactly.

And then, like, there was. I'm going to have a drink. Oh, exactly. I'm going to have a drink. It was like there were some other bigger name guys that weren't on the board either, but obviously we were the headlines of it. But we just weren't going to lie to everybody and say, no, we're not going to do it just to put our names up on the board. So that's why it was such a joke

is because nobody followed through with it anyways. Like it was just... So would it be fair to say that that might have sparked the fact that you guys ended up getting traded or... Well, I don't know if it was that alone. Like I said, Lavi and I didn't get along great. So that probably had a bigger part to do with it not it was probably just a combination of a lot of that's pretty wild like you're you're at one point in an organization's

history you either have to move on from what you think is a very good head coach or part ways with your two best players and your captain it's what's crazy though richie is is like when you look at that dry island like i'm you're thinking i'm showing up every night playing my balls off having a great year i'm gonna have a beer so no i'm not signing something and the fact that it's like brought about like a middle school like contract is like i'm in the nhl what the fuck is this well exactly and that's the the thing about it was it was, like, the heart of the season, too. So it's not like we were even, like, going out. Like, we were fighting for, like, playoffs and everything.

So it's not even like we were, like, going out every night. It was just the fact that, like, you couldn't have a beer with dinner. You couldn't have, like, a beer after the game. You couldn't have a beer after the game. You fight, you go out, play, literally break your body. You can't go home and have a beer after a hard-fought game. Or if you do, you're kind of lying to your teammates.

I didn't agree with it, and maybe I could have. I don't know if it got that much where that was the reason, but to be honest, it probably didn't help. So in hindsight, maybe I should have just put my name on the board. Who knows? I guess we can move on from Philly. L.A., I mean, Dean Lombardi was quoted as saying, when he got you, he got his Derek Jeter.

Yeah. I mean, Dean Lombardi was quoted as saying, when he got you, he got his Derek Jeter. You were, you know, I mean, I imagine early on in that relationship, everything was great. You know, you guys won a couple cups. And I mean, I don't know if you want to talk about how you feel about things now between you two. I won't comment on that. But when I first got there, we got there, everyone was awesome there. We stumbled out of the gates a little bit that first, I don't know, month or so,

and then I forget exactly when Daryl came in, but he was kind of exactly what we needed there. We had a younger team, actually pretty similar to philly to be honest with you like we had a bunch of good guys um guys that enjoyed being around each other had fun together um but when daryl came in he kind of like cracked the whip and he uh he was probably the reason why we ended up winning that year and we're so dominant because he definitely like held everybody accountable and made sure what was being done was needed on the ice and not just like you know take a game off here take a game off there sort of thing

was he the toughest coach you ever played for yeah yeah yeah no question just the demands and even when things were going well it's like you felt like you were walking on eggshells yeah yeah like we'd go on like 10 game winning streaks and like there was mornings after like say the ninth one that it felt like we were like losing 10 in a row but at the same time like i think we actually needed that though like we were pretty young at the time and like everybody can get a little high on themselves you know so and we didn't have much room to spare either because we did so crappy earlier in the season so we we needed to win all these games just to to get in so that year that you get to la and you're talking about when carter's at your place what ends up going down and how did you all find out he was coming i mean and all of a sudden your boys coming over

to la it's actually working out amazing that i get to get to play with him again and we're out here like how did you find out and and were you even told that there was a chance it was going to happen before anyone else knew yeah I knew there was probably a week before I got approached I'm not sure if it was Dean or Hexie but um Ron Hextall was there and just doing kind of like background is everything good what's he like and i just told him like this guy will help our team like he's a great guy everyone will love him and like we were struggling to score goals and he is just a natural goal scorer so i called jeff and i think he asked like what how he would feel about playing the wing so i called jeff and before i even got it out of my mouth he's like yes yes anything um just give me the fuck out of columbus yeah it's like

anything i'll play goaltender if you get me hotel a A. But, yeah, so I knew a few days in advance, and then when it actually happened, he lived with me for the rest of that year. So we were roommates for a bit, and obviously it worked out. Just going back to Sutter for a minute, how did you get along with him? Did you have any clashes with him at all, or did you just shut your mouth and do what you were told? Pretty much just shut my mouth and do what you were told uh pretty much just shut my mouth but i was told we uh there like there was a few things through like through the four years that i was there that obviously weren't seen eye to eye on but like he always

respected me and i was like really respected him, so it wasn't a feud from dislike. It was just a feud from him trying to push me and me being a little bit stubborn and a bit of a dickhead sometimes that could talk back a little too. But we never had any issues. talk back a little too so but we never had any issues like the thing about daryl is he you could generally like you could always see that he cared about the players he just really really pushed you you know like he you could see that he wanted you to have success and he wanted you to win but he would like he was just a dickhead about a lot of things but he would always

try to push you so i had no problem with that i'm looking down the list here it's like some of your teammates in in la and just how many characters there are i mean the name drew dowdy pops out pretty strong he is just something else isn't he he? Well, hold on. Before you answer, can I also have you go into when you first saw him at the Vancouver Olympics where he was 18, I think, and dominating? Yeah, so Vancouver was insane. Playing for the Olympics in Canada, in Vancouver, we had to stay in the village, but we were out every night after the game.

That was probably one of the best two weeks of my life. It was for me. I didn't even have to play. I just got to sit on the bench and party. It was incredible. And you know how insane it was. It was three days in between games. You'd go as hard as you've ever gone after every win in the Olympics.

Oh, yeah. Go as hard as you've ever gone after every win in the Olympics. Oh, yeah. So I think it was before the final game or the semifinal game. We have two days, and Steve, the Eisenman, comes to us, like Drew and I, and I think he went to Heater and maybe one other guy, and he's like, listen, I, you know, I've heard you guys have been going out. It's all good. You know, we've got a few games that we obviously have to win,

so just take it easy. So we're like, okay, that obviously makes sense. So we leave the room, and I remember Drew just feeling like, so what are we going to do tonight? Just like, probably not. So then we get to the finals. I think it's like a 4 o'clock start or something. So we have like a little meeting in the morning,

and we have a nap and then go to the rink, and I was always early to the rink. So I'm there, everyone shows up, and people are kind of like, you know, you see Drew around? You see Drew around? And I was like, no, I haven't seen him. And within, like, I don't know, maybe 10 minutes before our meeting, he walks in soaking wet, and I was like, what the hell are you doing?

He's like, man, I slept in. I had to walk over from the village, took a cab. I had to, like, walk through this huge crowd to get in. I'm like, you slept in for the gold medal over from the village took a cab i had to like walk through this huge crowd to get in i'm like you slept in for the gold medal game of the olympics never even heard of that before but that was the first really the first week that i hung out with you that is fucking incredible that is going to go viral um i feel like he crushes Laviolette's theory that alcohol is not going to help you get to your goals. That guy's a freak. He's a freak.

Yeah. He is insane how good of a player he is. I know. So, Richie, I had a buddy who was scouting, and he went to see him play. Quickly fill me in. Guelph. Guelph. And he told me, he's like, dude, this Richie, so I had a buddy who was scouting, and he went to see him play. Quickly fill me in. Guelph, Guelph. And he told me, he's like, dude, this kid getting drafted this year, I just watched him play.

He was like Bobby Orr out there. He's one of the best players I've ever seen. And he competes in his own end. Like, he plays with the chip. Yeah, he's probably the best, like, natural talent that I've ever played with. Just, you know, goes, does whatever he wants off days. He shows up and he would play 30 minutes with, you know, zero mistakes, probably a goal and an assist, and plays against the best players on the other team every single night.

Like, just a natural, natural talent. And probably one of the best guys that you guys have probably met him that you'll ever meet. Yeah, exactly. All right, so that first year in L.A., Karts ends up coming over. Well, what happens? You guys win the Stanley Cup. It went from complete disaster. Not disaster.

I mean, L.A. wasn't bad for you, but for him, he's Columbus, you guys are gone in shocking fashion, and less than a year later, you're raising the cup together on another team. What was the celebration like for that week? Because I remember knowing how much of a, the amount of beauties on that L.A. team figured it was a special five or six or maybe 45 days. Yeah, yeah. That was a time. Actually, Jeff and I, we we played jersey in the

finals but jersey beat out philly so like jeff and i were like kind of nervous that we were going to be playing philly in the finals because that it just would have been awkward and like tough so we were happy to play jersey but after we won like yeah that was the best party week of my life like we went la and it was like the first time the kings won so like we were down in hollywood like getting free like suites at some of the hotels down there. We went to Vegas, everything free there. Went back to L.A. By the time I went home, I think it was like 10 days after, we won. It took me a good three weeks, not from the season,

to recover from that actual party. You met David Beckham too, right? Yeah. How cool is that guy? When we won, we were at the Roosevelt Hotel. Beecher's Madhouse? Yeah, we were there.

That place is fucking nuts. The first time I was there, they dropped off midgets at our table with the zip line and they bring the bottle. They're dressed as Oompa Loompas. So they zip line them to your table and a oompa loompa hand delivers your bottle of alcohol yeah so i think we got in a little bit of trouble from the league about some of the pictures i'm not sure exactly what got out i didn't really know at the time but um like the amount of like celebrities and like people that would just show

up but it was funny because nobody on the team cared about that like everyone was just in their own little bubble together like partying with the cop and like nothing else mattered we could have been literally like at a house party with 20 people, and it would have been the same time. It was awesome. Did you ever have a teammate on any level as a goaltender that played the level quick? Did that yet? No.

No, not even close. He's so cool about it, too. He's just like the best dude. Yeah, and being in Philly before I got to L.A., we played against him. I think he had like 50 saves when we were in Philly the year before. And I knew who he was, but everybody has one night, so you don't even really kind of pay attention to that.

But then when I got to L.A like how good he was and is is insane like some of the saves he would make and just a normal guy would just show up kind of just quiet do his thing and then on the ice he was incredible and then packs huge dips or I don't know he used to yeah huge but i know we already talked i know we talked about how hard you went uh after you guys had won i heard that it was just one of those years because you guys had snuck into playoffs i believe is that the first time you guys won it where you got the eight seed knocked off vancouver and five you dusted everyone didn't you you got okay so you guys were steamrolling everyone. It wasn't even close. And I heard you guys were having a week off after every series,

so you guys would go get after it after every round because you're like, hey, we're the eighth seed. We just knocked out the first seed. We've accomplished more than we thought we would have. I know the ultimate goal is the cup, but you guys were enjoying every single round, weren't you? Yeah, yeah. cup but you guys were enjoying every single round weren't you yeah yeah we i mean we have we dusted vancouver and five um st louis and four st louis and four you guys phoenix and five

bullshit and six for the devils but i need i need a question answered for Arizona Coyotes fans. Okay. Did Dustin Brown, did he kind of stick out his knee on Roosevelt there? Because you know there's conversations in the room afterward, and Dustin Brown, he plays with that little... Yeah. Did he do it?

I don't know, to be honest with you. I have no idea. He does play hard um i don't know i have no idea i was getting a little too emotional there with the coyotes excuse me so um but that second round against st louis was probably like the, I know it was four games, but that was like an absolute war. Like with Reeves on their team,

they had Osh, Bacchus, I think Jackman, like they had a real tough team to play against and it was four games. But like after every game, I just remember like ice packs being literally everywhere jesus and then and then you're thinking we got fucking two more rounds to go here yeah yeah but let's go visit wet island in between yeah yeah hey so uh and then yeah looking at looking also looking up and down that team. So I got the chance to play with Matt Green at the U.S. National Program.

So a lot of people don't know, this guy's one of the funniest humans to ever live. Like, I can't imagine how cool it was playing with him in the NHL. I actually caught up with him briefly on text. He said, hey, I've listened to a couple of shows. They're funny. I go, Green, when are you coming on? He's like, ah, no, I'm not going to. I'm like, fuck.

You got to get him on because he he is the best storyteller i know like out there and when i brought up hearts he has like top five teammates i've ever had like maddie would be probably number one like he is that good of a guy to do anything for his teammates and like there were some days in LA where things weren't going well and you know Daryl was kind of running like on us that would kind of be miserable around the rink and if he wasn't there like that could have been a disaster because he he kept that whole team together for the most part richie i i believe wikipedia once in a while but it says you're the only player in history to be on two teams that came back from oh three deficits on either either of those teams did you ever like deep down like

think you guys would toast or like you know how do you keep your belief up that you're going to win when you're down like that not only once but twice yeah probably the one in philly against boston was i had more of a doubt the one against san jose i we were down oh three but i thought we we were easily the better team i thought so i wasn't as worried about that the one one against Boston, they had a really good team, and we just kind of got on a roll after we won that first game and ended up winning. But the one in L.A., I mean, you're down 0-3, so you're not 100% confident,

but we were still confident in the room because we played so well and we were carrying the play, I thought, in a lot of the ways. I think it's public knowledge that there was, I wouldn't say a rift between Sutter and the players at that point, but I think his, you know, him hammering the fucking, hammering you guys down all the time was just kind of wearing thin. Didn't Matt Green have a players-only meeting on the ice that kind of really rallied you guys in order to make that second run?

Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's a long season, like you guys know, but I think we had more than one. But it's just tough over a full year to just get pounded on, pounded on, pounded on. It kind of takes a little bit of the fun away, but, yeah, like I said before, if we didn't have Matt there just to kind of lighten the mood in the dressing room, kind of be the mediator between, like, the players and, you know, coach and staff and all the way up.

I mean, it could have went bad, but everyone knew kind of how good we were as a team, and he held us together. He was in my four years in L.A. I know, like, Drew and Quickie and Brownie, like Kopey, those guys were our best players, but Matt held everything together. The reason a big part of our success came because of him.

I don't really want to talk about you eventually getting sent down to the minors and how that all went down, but let's keep it on the positive note, I did get to play with you in Manchester when you did. And that was a blast. Richie would cruise around with his hoodie on. I'm still waiting for my ring from your guys' win that year. I haven't got my... That's bullshit.

Well, you didn't play any playoffs. Well, I was on the roster for a lot of seasons. Okay, all right. Well, maybe i'll talk to them and see if i can get you on maybe they thought that this guy doesn't want it yeah he's got a couple i have enough friends you never know what you're gonna need to sell them for more fishing gear um no but i remember you used to wear that sweater around we had this m&m machine and this guy would eat like probably the equivalent to like six seven packs of m&ms before games they're right in the front pocket you keep them in the pouch

you just cruise around i don't think mirzy really understood because when i first got there i was like oh no shit m&ms in the room like what's that he's like well it's good to you know he broke it down for me i was like oh sweet so. So then I have a sweet tooth. Everyone knows that. But just to have these things just sitting there, it's like every time you walk by, they weren't hidden or put away in a corner or anything. They were just sitting on the counter in the trineer.

So you grab a couple, grab a handful, and I bet you he went through about, probably tripled or quadrupled his M&M budget and probably whatever the month I was there. Yeah, he didn't get his Christmas bonus that year, that's for sure. But, man, playing with you, though, I mean, obviously, I don't want to insult you, you slowed down a little bit, but it was insane to see your hockey instincts playing with you

because you watch hockey on television. It's hard. You maybe play against them once in a while, but, man, just like your PK instincts. And you were, I think, third-line center on that team. That's how deep our team was that year. Yeah, yeah. That was fun.

It was obviously a tough time at that point in my hockey career, but I had fun down there. Like, there's a lot of. So that was, like, fun to kind of explain things and try to teach a little bit. And, like, I knew why I was there. I knew what I had to do. But at the same time, like, it was fun to kind of pass that along to different players. And, you know, everyone kind of knew it wasn't, like, the first choice of spots for me to be but

like everyone was good and everyone tried to um kind of keep me there not as in like in person but just keep me there and not like kind of spin out or anything so um yeah everyone was good i knew you i knew gratz um so yeah like i said it wasn't the first place i wanted to be but i did have fun while i was there and i was actually following you guys when uh you guys were in the playoffs and i was happy to see when you guys won i was pumped well richie we wereie, we can't say how pumped we are to just have this interview because this is one of the funnest ones I've ever done. It's funny, I'll let everyone listen in on two things we haven't even brought up yet because Biz just reminded me with the PK comment.

You're the only player that's ever scored three shorthanded three-on-five goals where you've been down two men. You have three of those in your career. You're also the first and only player in NHL history to play in two series in which his team came back from 0-3 deficit. Oh, no shit. Wow.

That's a cool stat, Richie. Did you say that, R.A.? I just asked him about it. Oh, shit. Sorry, buddy. Oh, I didn't even hear that question either. You know what, R.A.? I've been so listening.

I've been focused on him. Take no offense by that. I haven't. And so, Richie, listen, as I wrap it up, I was going to also mention I have a buddy who became a huge Penguins fan when I was on the Penguins. He was always into our series. And he would tell me at home, like, after the Flyers series, like, that Richard's just fucking nails. So you were the epitome of just a true hockey player.

You did it all. And I'm really happy you came on here because I think a ton of people are really interested in what you have to say with all your success internationally and with with cup so I I thank you very much and I'm glad you were able to join us yeah yeah thanks for having me I've listened to a bunch too so you guys do a great job and happy to be on and I'll uh I'll look forward to listening to you guys throughout the hockey season too yeah we're gonna have to get you back on to talk about uh your time in Washington like with Ovi and that and uh and then also we're going to be pushing that content as well so uh i'll give you the heads up about that rich we'll keep in touch about our uh our plans i wrote everything down we haven't even talked we didn't even talk about the shift remember the youtube clip with that one shift you had were you fucking yeah yeah did you get asked about that a lot

i got a lot of comments on like my instagram about it or like tagged in it a lot and yeah to be honest at the time i didn't even really know like think anything of it and then when you watch it again like a few years later chills you kind of get chills yeah that's fucking right well thanks again man you're the man a lot of people are going to be pumped to hear this interview they they really love you especially in the hockey world man you're you're beloved all right thanks guys that interview is also brought to you by can i brands as you know can i brands is a cbd company creating all natural hemp derived products for athletic wellness started by athletes built for performance and puts wellness at the core of everything they do and stand for.

Whether that's giving your day a boost, getting a better sleep, mending an injury or refreshing your mind and body. Can I brands has a bomb cream spray and oils made for you. We're also excited to announce that can I brands is also screening official partners to sell with in store. So if you are in a gym, health club, spa or therapy clinic and interested in carrying canibrands, which is C-A-N-I-B-R-A-N-D-S

.com to learn more. You have to love it. You know you want it. Go online and hit up www.canibrands.com and use promo code biz20 to receive 20% off your next purchase.

Live life feeling amazing and follow canibrands on Instagram to stay tuned for updates and sweepstakes, contests and promotions coming soon. There might even be a contest being announced next week. So keep your eyes on Can I Brands Instagram page for details. Can I Brands, the company behind your favorite all natural CBD creams, balms, sprays and oils. Can I Brands, feel amazing.

balms, sprays, and oils. Can I brands feel amazing? You slept through the gold medal game of the Olympics. That's a legendary story. But Drew Doughty, and thank you so much to Mike Richards. It's just great to hear from him. So that was a lot of fun and I hope everyone enjoyed it. All right.

There's before we break down the divisions, there's some other things to talk about. I'm pretty sure you got them all lined up there. Yeah, the signings were the big news. But there was actually an article my buddy Puck Daddy, Greg Wyshynski, over at ESPN wrote about Nate Schmidt. Of course, we had Schmidty in last year. He got that 20-game suspension for failing a test. And, you know, he swore up and down.

He was adamant, and we certainly believe him, that he didn't do anything he didn't it wasn't like oh i took this thing by accident it was nothing like that he he was like i have no fucking clue this came from the the uh he said it was the equivalent of like a pinch of salt in an olympic sized pool i'm not even sure they said the actual chemical but basically the long story short in the in the article, Greg Wyshynski basically said that the theory is that he ingested food, like maybe beef or poultry, that had been injected with some other chemical. You know how they use the human growth hormone on animals? All these fucking animals getting injected with stuff. Well, if you eat enough of it, or if you eat a certain bird or a piece of beef that had a lot of it, you can actually put it into your body. And this actually wasn't the story biz, but I

would compare it to mercury poisoning. People get mercury poisoning, too much fish because the mercury is in the fish. Well, it certainly seems like that's what happened here with Nate. I mean, he, you know, and he's kind of becoming the sacrificial lamb. So what he's trying to do and working with the NHLPA and the league, he's trying to do and working with the nhlp in the league he's trying to have the minimum threshold raised because like i said his level was so low it wouldn't even have had any effect had even known he took this thing so he's kind of like gonna try to be the sacrificial lamb like i said so this doesn't happen to future guys that guys don't get fucked in the same manner that he did i think anyone with common sense based on how emotional and how open he's been

about this entire process is telling you that emotional and how open he's been about this entire process is telling you that this was accidental and he's still just as confused as we are. Man, another aspect of this, he's an unbelievable defenseman and really hasn't skipped a beat since that suspension. That is something accidental where court of public opinion could maybe ruin a career. Whereas I remember Shane Doan once telling me, I forget who it was who'd gotten busted, and he goes, Biz, I would never in a million years take anything knowingly. He goes, if I end up getting suspended 20 games for PEDUs, it would break me. Because that's your reputation. That's all you really have, right?

I mean, some baseball players were knowingly taking it, and I think that ultimately they got paid, and maybe that's all they cared about. But to be a guy where that matters that much to you and then unknowingly testing positive, whereas I think that, like you said, now the stand's going to be he's going to the IOC and saying, hey, I don't want this to happen to someone else.

Let's raise it because it's obvious at this little amount that that person wasn't intentionally cheating. Like, let's get it to one where it would be obvious. So, Schmidty, I mean, my heart goes out to you for what you've had to deal with. But I would imagine that a lot of people know exactly what happened and the fact that you're not actually a cheater and great article by Wish yeah that was good

I would like to thank the guys who didn't do anything that have gotten busted you've heard a bunch of stories similar yeah there's idiots out there that'll say things but if you know that you didn't do anything it's like fuck everyone else he didn't do anything but you know that you didn't do anything, it's like, fuck everyone else. Like, he didn't do anything. But I know what you're saying, Biz.

It does suck to hear people, like, constantly say something like that if you know it wasn't true. But still, deep down, you know you didn't do anything wrong. And the other thing about mercury poisoning, I don't know how the fuck you get mercury poisoning. Because if I didn't get it, I had 57 spicy tuna on rice cakes at Ketch and tuesday and wednesday night if you can't get mercury poisoning if i didn't get it you can't get it i must have had 190 pieces of sushi those two nights i'm not kidding you either i did the remember i did the four orders of the spicy tuna on the rice at tau then you guys were digging it i'm like hey hey guys that's my order i got anything through the table.

You were beating the pot because you knew I was picking up the tab. Boys, you guys, man, especially Biz, you guys put on an absolute display when we go out to eat, especially with Larry Flowers the night before. Just like left side of the menu three times, fucking come back 15 minutes later, do it again. Oh, yeah. Everything gets fucking shoveled in.

I said, I said, the reason I work so hard is because the rest of my life, I want to sit down at the nicest restaurants on the planet, and I'm going to say, bring me all your best food. I love food. That's like my one thing where I won't. I ain't going to like a dive. I ain't eating where the wonton Don's eating. Let's put it that way.

It's always nice when the manager sends over the dessert tray as well. Yes. Which we promptly shoveled down. Thank you for mentioning that. Tao Group, awesome people over there. Jason Strauss is one of the starters of it. But never a dull moment. Great venues and unbelievable food.

And one other quick note on me, another fuck up on me. This is just my old school brain. We were talking about the Devils. I believe I was told I called Jack Hughes Phil Hughes, who was a former pitcher. So apologies to Jack Hughes. I'm sure I'll be calling his brother Grinelli 100 times during this season as well because he is a fucking dead ringer for him.

All right, boys. Like I said, the next division we're going to preview is the Pacific. Oh, I feel like it would be rude not to mention Sidney Crosby having his jersey retired in Rimouski and throughout the entire Quebec Major Junior League. All right, you have so much to go through. I just jotted that one down and forgot to send it over. So congratulations to him.

Very special night. And last thing before we send it over to the division breakdown, did you guys see Mark Letestu eating those mustard packs on the bench? I hate mustard. That was disgusting. What does that do for you? Yeah, is that like a smell and salt type thing? No, apparently it's one of the best cures for cramps.

It's like instant. I'd rather cramp than just eat mustard straight up while while like needing a gate i lied there's one more thing we need to talk about is uh johansson he ended up scoring in overtime again in carolina back to back uh pre-seasons and once again did the walk-off i wouldn't have done it considering how they got beat out first round last year i'm a superstitious guy i wouldn't know he it considering how they got beat out first round last year. I'm a superstitious guy. I wouldn't have done that. He probably doesn't even think of that. He's like, I did it again.

Let's get out of here. I mean, it is kind of an all-time power move to do a literal walk off the ice. There's probably not too many arenas you can actually do it in too, right? You know, Merle's did it. Matt Merle I brought up. We won the Eastern Conference in the AHL Eastern Conference overtime in Hartford to go to the finals, and he just skated right off the ice into the

locker room because the door was across the ice, like the way the Mellon Arena used to be. So he was just gone, and we won the series. He had to come back out, though, for the handshake. He forgot about that. Any other stuff, Biz, before we jump into the El Pacifico? No. I mean, other than you,

if you guys think I glanced over the Crosby having his Jersey retired too fast, I was, I was, I guess I was a little surprised that they agreed to retire at league wide. I know, I know we've seen it in the NHL, but were you surprised at all biz, that they decided to do a league wide? I know, obviously, you know, obviously how huge of a player is just not, it's not very common to happen in juniors, though, right? I think it's such a unique number that you've got to be a bit of a hero

to wear it now. It's not like eight, whereas a lot of guys were already wearing it. I mean, how many guys in the NHL wear the number 87 other than Sid? No one. That's Shepard Shev, didn't he, when he was over here? He's back in Russia now. I don't even know if he's saying his name. Sid's mom shipped him out.

I think he wears 87. Did he come over to the NHL? I don't know. I'm blanking. But, right, I mean, just like when Ho Sang was wearing 66, I mean, everyone's just going to be like, oh. Take a lap, dude. What?

Gino's going to come into work tomorrow. He's like, I want to change to 87, Sid. Three years Russian Super League. Buys him a Timex. Oh, man. And before we go any further, I want to talk to you for a second about Quip. What actually makes a better toothbrush? Industrial strength, power, claims of miraculous trendy ingredients,

multiple modes. If you ask your dentist, they'll tell you it's less about the brush and more about how you use it. Sounds familiar. Because Quip's sensitive vibrations with the built-in timer guide gentle brushing for the dentist recommended two minutes with 30-second pulses ensuring an even clean. Quip automatically delivers brush heads to you every three months for clean new bristles right on schedule. And the sleek, intuitive design is simple to use and comes with a travel cap that doubles as a mirror mount.

These thoughtful features make brushing some of you actually want to do twice a day. Good habits matter to live a healthier life. So help form fresh oral health habits with Quip. help form fresh oral health habits with Quip. Quip starts at just $25 and you'll get your first refill free at getquip.com slash chicklets. This is a simple way to support our show and start brushing better because you want your chicklets to look good. You don't want to be spitting them all that much,

but you have to go to getquip.com slash chicklets. That's G-E-T-Q-U-I-P dot com slash chicklets. C-H-I-C-L-E-T-S to get your first refill free. Go right now to getquip.com slash chicklets. All right, let's jump on over into our next division, the Pacifico. Just the top three Pacific teams made the playoffs last year, and the Sharks were the only one to get out of the first round. And like we've been doing, we're going to take a look at each team

in the order in which they finished last year. So we're going to kick it off with the Calgary Flames. They had 107 points last season, led the Western Conference, but like the other three division winners in the playoffs, the Flames were a first-round casualty, eliminated by the Colorado Avalanche in five games. New face in town, Milan Lucic, came over from Edmonton. The Flames said goodbye to James, the real deal Neil, and Mike Smith,

who went over to Edmonton. Getting Matty Kachuk back on the fold was huge. I'm sure we all expected it. They're going to go with David Riddick and Cam Talbot for a net combo. What do you think the Flames are going to do this year, brother? I like this team a lot. It has the makeup. It has every aspect that you need in a team to think they're going to go on

to the playoffs. And Giordano kind of comes to my head right away. I know a lot of people, it's Goudreau and the forwards. But the way he played last year, it carries an entire team every night. I mean, forget the offense, too. I mean, he's just such a force out there defensively. The way he plays in his own zone, he can PK. It's such a calming influence to have a guy like that in your team.

And with him not going anywhere, it's great. I don't think that he'll slow down. Yeah, he's 36 years old. So he's not probably going to have like as good of a season, but he'll be right there still. I mean, he's, I'm just kind of saying he probably won't win the Norris again, but I also look like Lindholm was just way better than I thought he was going to be. And he just gelled perfectly with that top line. They just have, I mean, if you think of their top six, Goudreau, Lindholm, Monaghan, Kachuk, it's like

those guys are good enough to really carry anyone else you're going to put on those lines, if you know what I'm saying, Biz. So you question a little bit the goaltending. You don't know exactly what you'll get, but if Riddick does pan out, I mean, if he doesn't pan out like

they do have other options it's just the fact that that's the one question mark when you look at the team I mean I don't really like to say this but I'm going to they kind of remind me of the new St. Louis Blues they have such a solid team just quite a lot of question marks and net going in and the one thing last year is they peaked very early they were not very good their offense really dried up after christmas time now saying that and getting away from being negative is a very good hockey team solid back end i think ham and it's going to come back and have a better year than he was last year i think noah hannifin's going to excel a little bit more um i mean, you just mentioned G. You know exactly what you're getting from him.

And then T.J. Brody. They can all skate. Their D can skate. Did I say that right? Yeah, T.J. Brody. He's a stud on the back end. Now I actually have been hearing rumors that they might be moving him. Now I don't know anything about that.

Don't mind the move to buy out Stone and then re-sign him because they did need a little bit of depth on the right-hand side defense. So some people were scratching their head at that. I think it was just a good move on the books. As far as their offense, I mean, it's still very solid. I like the addition of Lucic. I know I've been getting hammered online. Oh yeah, new year, new me kind of thing. I really think he's been working with Adam Oates. I think he's going to be able to chip in offensively and find a nice little spot in that lineup. And as far as I touched on it before I jumped into Luchich,

their top six looks really good. My only concern is are they going to burn out again like they did last year? So great team. I got them making the playoffs. What do you think, Ari? Yeah, it's largely the same team as last year, save for the crease, and that's a huge question mark for me. You know, Talbot was christened the number one in Edmonton.

He never played like one, had a rough couple of years, and if Riddick isn't ready, I mean, he's only got 67 games played thus far. This team could face an uphill battle early if he struggles early on. Having said that, like I said, it's the same roster up front on D. I don't know that they're going to win the division, but, yeah, I do have them make them to the playoffs once again. What about you, Whit? Yep, I have them in.

Now, last question. Do they have any young guys who might stand out and excel where, oh, my God, where the fuck did this guy come from in training camp? Because I find with, you know, these new kids on entry levels, you just never know with the skill level that these kids got coming out of junior are you familiar this kid Manji Payne I've I've heard his name he's he's sad oh he thought he was gonna get paid more but he's got I mean he he didn't have any arbitration rights he was restricted and he was holding out he was trying to get paid a little bit more but I think ultimately they were like hey buddy if you don't

sign for 700 and show up, you're going to fucking sit at home. Because they had a few other meat and potatoes guys at training camp on PTOs. I believe Tobias Reeder was one of them, and I think he's going to make that squad. And then there was one other guy on a PTO who was a meat and potatoes guy who I just, the name's not coming to mind.

No, I'm sorry. I can't think of it i was just talking i was just more gonna talk about sam bennett too so if you're looking at oh yeah like biz you're talking about guys to maybe make a step so we got i think two it was two years for five million uh this summer right to as an extension and so this is a dude this is a dude who i mean this is a very high draft pick so in in 14, he's a top five pick. And he really hasn't panned out offensively like a top five pick. But last year, even the year before he started hitting me,

he fought a couple times. So he's changing his game the way we've talked about a bunch of players that are unable to ever do it. He's kind of starting to do that. So they have a different guy in terms of they're looking at somebody that they're drafting as a top line center or winger. Well, you know, now it hasn't really

come to that, but let's see what you can do defensively being a rat and just kind of changing your game. So if he continues to get a little better offensively while also bringing that tangible of being able to just be a pest and also like a motherfucker, then I think that that's just another addition for

their lineup that could just change things for the better when i love you bringing that up if he can turn into a poor man's kachuk people need to stop worrying about what position he was drafted at right now what that team needs it's over that what that team needs is is a guy like you just said a sandpaper guy who's gonna muck it, be able to chip in offensively, and that could be a very big piece. So great fucking point, Whit. Love having you on the pod, man. His first rookie year, he fucking had 18 goals,

and then it's just 13, 11, 13 the last three. So I don't know. Maybe he breaks out this year. Maybe he gets 20 for 40 points. I mean, that'd be 13-point addition from basically the last three years. So that's asking a lot. But fourth year in the league, you never know. Or fifth year, actually.

Was Zach Ranallo the guy you were trying to think of, the veteran trying to make the team? Correct. He's another guy. I don't know. Apparently, I've been hearing some rumblings he may even make the squad. Yeah, Biz, and you mention all the times how these teams, you know, when they got guys on ELCs, entry-level contracts,

you need production from them. And they have, you know, as of today, cap-friendly, they got one, two, three, four, I think five or six guys on those deals. So, you know, those are players they're going to need production from. Jack Kowski is one of them on his third year of his entry level, I believe, who's a solid player, correct? He looks like he's going into the last year of his entry level, I believe, who's a solid player, correct? He looks like he's going into last year's current deal, and he's RFA after this year, so it looks like you are correct.

But let's move on to another squad here. Next up. What's up? It happened. He was correct. Okay. Shut the fuck up, bitch. Fool, me too.

Next up, San Jose. They had 101 points last year, landed them second in the division after an absolutely incredible comeback in Game 7 of Round 1 when they ripped off four power play goals in four minutes to stun Vegas. They knocked off the Avs in 7 in Round 2 before they were a little bit banged up. They finally ran out of gas and lost in six games to the Blues in the Campbell Finals. New face in town for San Jose Blues in the Campbell Finals. New face in town for San Jose, Sasha Chmielewski.

He's a rookie. Looks like he's projected to make the squad. They said bye to Justin Braun, Joe Pavelski, Jonas Donskoy, and Gustav Nyquist. Like we've said about most of these contenders, guys, the Sharks didn't make wholesale changes. They really didn't need to. But one huge goodbye was definitely 35-year-old captain Joe Pavelski. He went to Dallas on a three-year, $21 million deal, probably a little too rich for San Jose's blood.

Witty, what do you got on the Sharks? I don't like this team as much as last year, Pavelski being the main reason. I do think – I'll go positive quick. I think Eric Carlson is going to dominate. I think that you're going to see like the Eric Carlson of a couple years ago. You know, comfortable there. He's not battling injuries. It just seems like kind of a different vibe leading into a season for him than all the questions and everything else that's surrounded

his past few years in the league. So I think with him and Burns, right, I think immediately I'm saying they're a playoff team. But, oh, man, Pavelski is a tough loss. I mean, you've got to replace 40, 30. You know, you've got to say 35. You've got to replace those. I just – like, even Nyquist, he's gone.

Don Skoy is gone. It's guys that kind of matter depth-wise. It's not just – I will say openly, I don't know. I was looking at San Jose and Anaheim stuff today because I don't know about guys coming up for either one of those teams really. I'll admit flat out I really don't know about their prospect pool and the way Biz brought up with Calgary, any young guys looking to make it. I don't know if that's the case with this team right now.

But when you just lose your captain and a guy who could score and really kind of sets the tone for how the team played, which was great defensively as well, that's how Pavelski was, I just think it's going to be a tough loss. So while still being a good team, and I love Meyer and the step he made last year, and I just don't know if they're going to be as good as they were the year prior. Wow, I'm going to have to completely disagree with you. Hurdle's sick.

Didn't mention him. Well, I just feel that they're going to get more points than they did last year. Okay, here's why I disagree with you. I think Pavelski is a big loss, but you have to trust that Doug Wilson is doing exactly the right thing because he's had he's done such a great job of reloading this team he knows those young guys are going to be able to take over those minutes and produce and he saw he saw quite a bit of it from Timo Meyer that Kevin

LeBanc I mean I think that guys like that Sorensen can add depth and even secondary scoring they got some they got some good young talent that they had to free up cap space in order to sign and continue this reign of fairly – would you call it dominance in the Pacific? How he's been able to keep this team relevant for so long. And that's why I think he's been able to reload and reload and reload time after time. He's seen it.

He knows the direction of this team and of course they have a strong back end I mean I I I gotta think that Edward Vlasic is is still solid and he can still bring what he does because he has shown it I can't I can't see any signs of deterioration from him and especially at what he's getting paid he's not getting paid that much is he I don't think so i mean he probably signed a deal at the time you're like wow that's a lot but he deserves it with what he's done i bet you now mike maybe mikey look that up quick how about this though so they had i will say the reason can i just finish my yeah sorry quick point is i think that another aspect of this is how martin jones did have an off year last year whereas i think

my best pick i think you did you did pick him for us i think he's going to have a better year in net i think they have a very solid back end i think they have a very balanced offensive attack i think this is going to be a very good team i think for, for sure, playoffs. All right, well, they had eight guys get 50 or more points last year, and Carlson wasn't one of them. I bet you this year he gets back on that list. I don't know if they'll have that again. I don't know if Thornton will get 50 again. I guess I see what you're saying, but I don't know.

This team always looks a little underwhelming, though. They just quietly go about. You don't hear tons about them, and they're consistent. They're always great at home. So we'll see. You basically made a good point in saying that Doug Wilson, he's been doing the right thing for, what, 15 years now? It seems like every year they're good. So you can't really dog them until you see a season where they really struggled. I'll say this. I'll say they'll get at least seven players 50 or more points and tell me the last time a team missed playoffs that had seven players on their team that had at least 50 points i really hope it was like a team like two years ago someone's gonna look it up and it could be within the last

three years i would say the only possibility would be the New York Islanders the year where they led the league in scoring when it was a shit show, though. They were winning game 6-5, losing 6-5. But they also allowed the most goals against. They also, of course, signed Carlson, that eight-year, $92 million deal. Also, another big sign for them was the Meyer sign. Four years, 24 mil. Timo Meyer and Thomas Hurdle, what you just mentioned, Tim,

they're both coming off their first career, 30-goal seasons, a couple young guys, so I would expect them to build off that. And, Biz, you mentioned Martin Jones, particularly in the playoffs. The team wasn't sure what version of them they were going to get. Some nights he looked like a Conn Smythe candidate. Other nights, not so much. But the bottom line is they were able to pull out wins. I mean, he's the type of guy who gives

up four goals in the first period. Three of them, awful. But then he shuts it down for the last two periods of the game. He does it all in the course of one night. Probably frustrating as a fan, but also that rookie I mentioned, Chemilevsky. He was a six-round pick back in 17, and he's looking at maybe playing

some major minutes for the Sharks this year. Bottom line, I have them back in the playoffs. Biz, did you say you did? I did, and actually that Merkley kid that I've mentioned now the last three podcasts, he had a great camp in San Jose, was sent back to junior, and sure as shit, he was traded from the Peterborough Peets to the London Knights who were already ranked first in the CHL,

and now they're getting an NHL-caliber defenseman. So I'm assuming it's a financial move because he's going to get paid more in London than he would in San Jose on his entry level. So whatever. Regardless, good luck to him. I hope he can turn things around and light that league up. So Vlasic actually has seven years left at $7 million. So then you've got 3D. You've got 3D make at $7 million. So then you got 3D.

You got 3D, make it $26 million. I would say for what Vlasic does... He's fucking solid, dude. He's very solid. But in three years, that deal might be kind of ugly.

Yeah. For now, it's all right. That's the best tasting pickle I ever hoed. You are a fucking idiot. Yeah, for now it's all right. That's the best tasting pickle I ever had. That's an American commercial, Biz. I'm not sure if you get that one in Canada. All right, so did you have them in the playoffs or not? Yeah, I don't remember who I picked in the Central, though. I think I might have picked five. I think we all picked five in the Central, so we only got room for three boys.

And then Arizona, So we're done. Let's wrap this thing up. Don't forget your boys. I'm fucked. I think this, I'm screwed. I might pick 10 teams. You know what? We don't get fined.

So it's all good. Next up, the Vegas Golden Knights. They finished up at 93 points last year, which was seven points ahead of fourth place place Arizona. But their sophomore playoff run was short-lived as their 3-0 third period lead in Game 7 disappeared quicker than a stack of chips next to Ginger McKenna. Hashtag Ask a Millennial. Didn't really make any too big roster changes. They said bye to Eric Hall or Undy. Colin Miller went to Buffalo. And it's kind of

funny to say about a team going into its third season of existence that the time to win is still now. But, man, this is a good fucking team, and that's why it came back largely intact. Biz, what do you have on the old Vegas Golden Knights? They're shit. They ain't going nowhere. Next.

No, I'm fucking around. Whit, I'll let you start this one out. You probably know more about this Golden Knights team than I do. Yeah, well, so if you look at the team and you look at every team around the league, I'm putting their top six forwards, say top seven, top six in the league. The worry is their D a little bit, but if upfront, dude, this team is loaded Carlson stone, Marsha show patchy ready Stassny and either talk or Riley Smith. So the worry right now is, well, I don't think it's a huge worry, but they're, they're battling

a couple injuries. I think talk might be questionable to start the year. Carlson might've had something going on, but just when they get buzzing those and all those guys, especially Carlson stone are unreal on going on. But just when they get buzzing, and all those guys, especially Carlson and Stone, are unreal on the defensive side of the puck. Like, guys who could win the Selkie Trophy. So it's not just scoring. It's like both sides of the ice, which makes them good,

which really helps out the question marks on D. I don't know. They're not going to catch anyone by surprise. That was evident last year too, after the first year when I was used as calling them doormats and used in their run to the cup finals on the big screen as being that wrong. But I still think that like, it's just so hard going into that, that arena that they're going to win enough, enough games at home to get into the playoffs. Like their home record will be good enough.

I think that they will almost for sure make the playoffs. You also look at a horrible power play. That's another question along with a D that you could wonder. I don't know if their power play will be able to do it, but last year it just struggled. With those guys up front, you should be better than you were. A really good team. Fleury's

right there. I don't think his season last year was as good as the first year in Vegas. Understandably, it was a long run, but I don't think you're looking year was as good as the first year in Vegas. Understandably, it was a long run. But I don't think you're looking at worrying that he's just going to fall off a cliff. You know what you're getting with him. And that's just consistent, solid goaltending that kind of gives you a chance to win most every night he plays. With R.A., it's a very good hockey team.

And I will agree on with everything you said. I think their biggest weakness is the back end. Now you're like, Biz, how are you going to sneak Arizona in? I'm going to go with the luck has ran out. I just feel like Vegas is going to give up a lot of third-period leads. They're going to be maybe taking some undisciplined penalties. Maybe the offense will dry up. Whatever it may be, we're going to fucking need it

in order for Vegas not to make playoffs. Now, I know they got a horrendous call against them last year and they ended up getting bounced. Cost me money. It was a joke. Cost the biggest lush in playoff hockey gambling history, Ryan Whitney, some more cash. I am the lush during the playoffs too, I guess. I will say

it's just, there's not a lot of negatives with this team. They're coached well. They have an unbelievable home ice advantage because everyone's out playing roulette, losing their face. Anyway, let's just hope they don't make playoffs and that's going to be my pick. They are not. They're going to somehow miss playoffs.

Okay, no surprise there. Those trades i mentioned too getting rid of holler and miller they actually shed about six and a half million in salary they did pick up some picks and uh gm gm george mcphee he was able to take this winning core that they already had with flurry schmitty wild bill macho so smith and he immediately supplemented it with guys like stone and patchy ready and stasting. He just really done a great job of solidifying this roster. One other quick note, Marc-Andre Fleury, he's going to be 35 in November. He's definitely going to pass 800 games played this year.

He may pass 700 games started. I'm sorry, let me double check that. Hold on. Yeah, he's got 798 games played, but he's only started 643. So depending on how many he starts this year, a couple of milestone potentials there. Once again, Malcolm Shubin will be his backup. Hey, man, this Vegas team, they were a contender last year.

And like we always say, good teams often get bounced out early. I think they're right back in it. They're a contender once again. I got them in the playoffs as well. What did you say you did or didn't? I said I did, I think. Okay. And we know business.

So I got my eight teams. Okay. All right. I, and we know business. So I got my eight teams. Okay. All right. I just go with the chalk. Basically, you make the playoffs last year, I'll pick you again. Yeah, kind of juiced up. What an analysis. All right, next up, we got the DNQs from this division.

Did not qualify. First up is the Bizmans, Arizona Coyotes. They finished just four points out of the eighth seed last year with 86 points. They actually had one more win than the Avs last year, but Colorado had more loser points, so they got in. New faces down in the desert this year. Kyle Soderberg came in from Colorado. Phil the Thrill Kessel came in from Pittsburgh. The Coyotes said goodbye to Kevin Connaughton, who went up to Colorado.

Alexander Galchenyuk went to Pittsburgh in that Kessel trade. The Dogs also made a huge commitment, biz over $57 million to Clayton Keller for the next eight years, making him a cornerstone piece of the franchise. And the D returns with essentially the same core. I want to hear your thoughts, Paul. Well, I mean, let's start off by, when we talked about the luck that the gold knights had last

year let's talk about the luck that the um venus coyotes didn't second most uh man games lost due to injury in the nhl last year i think i think maybe anaheim was ahead of them they could not stay healthy our back end dwindled early on we lost ronta finally by the time kemper had gotten his footing in net they were behind the eight ball. But unbelievable second half of the season, guys started getting healthy. You started seeing what the Arizona Coyotes were. Rick Talkett's second season, I really think they're starting to adapt to their systems, or to his system anyway.

Looking in net, we've got a healthy Ronta. We've got a healthy Kemper. Two starting goaltenders. That's a 1A, 1B combo. Then shifting to the back end, I would say probably one of the most well-balanced back ends in the Western Conference. You've got an experienced defender in Jason Demers and Alex Goligosky. Alex, oh my God. Alex Goligosky, very solid and usually providing the same amount of offense. Good for a second unit power play defenseman. Can get you between 18, 20 minutes a game.

I think it goes without saying, Oliver Ekman-Larsen is an all-star caliber defenseman. Very consistent. Now with more weapons up front, I could see his point production getting bigger. Keep in mind, too, he had an incredible year last year. He was battling through a knee injury in the second half of the season, which was cool to see because I think it gave him that do-or-die time

type of feel in-game situation, and he hasn't had that in a while. And he rose to the occasion. They were in the playoff hunt for, I would say, most of that second half of the season especially after all-star break shifting to offense that's where they struggled a little bit last year clayton keller was our leading point getter i don't even i i don't have hockey db up right now i don't even know if he hit 50 points so something something needs to start clicking with the offense the power play was terrible well we've addressed those issues we had schmaltz come over from chicago he had instant chemistry on the power play especially with clayton keller and he ended up getting injured soon thereafter so that kind of decimated and they've added phil kessel as well um i think

clayton keller is going to have a breakout season now that his contract situation's done and they had they had second most shorthanded goals last year was 16 um in the league their penalty kill might have been the best in the league i know it was top three it was incredible they just need to match that special teams play on the power play and if they do that and they can stay healthy i think this is a fucking playoff team i think they squeeze in and uh and a wild card role in a very tough western conference keep the fucking change are you guys gonna get any fans oh season tickets uh and and tickets in general went crazy when they signed kessel really and and? And also, thank you for kind of bringing things up with the fan situation.

There's a lot to look forward to. They got Schmaltz, who we believe is going to turn into a player. That's why they committed to him. A guy like Dvorak, who we think is going to morph into potentially a second-line center, if not a very solid third line center who could play special teams. Chicker needs to pop off. And who's the one other guy that needs to step up?

Christian Fisher. Really need him to show something this year. I think they got a stud in Lawson Kraus who they locked in for three years who's just going to bring – he's going to kind of be their enforcer. I don't think he can hang in with the Ryan Reeves and stuff, but he brings that physical element every night and, and he's just a solid two-way player. Well, that, that team's a, that's on you, Biz. So you got them in,

that's your squad. Good luck, Arizona. I think you guys are going to need it. Yeah. I, I'm not sold on the, on the goaltend. I know Kemp had a great year last year. Ranta hopefully can give a little bit of a battle. But I already got my eight teams in the playoffs. Sorry, Biz. I don't have the desert dog returning to the postseason this year. Whit, I think you already picked seven teams.

I don't think you – nine teams or whatever. And we know, Biz, you got them in the playoffs, obviously. So, any other notes you wanted to add, Biz? You're all set with the Yotes. No, I think I'm good. I hope Brad Richardson has another year like last year. That that's going to help and then grabner's got to stay healthy he only played like 35 games last year he had a pretty serious eye injury oh that was crazy hey this guy reddit oh go look at his instagram he looks like a prison inmate he looks like a

prison inmate he's got like uh he's got like a deck of cards tattooed across his belly and stuff, like where the thug life is supposed to go. This guy's an animal. He's just shredded. No regrets. No regrets. All right, so one of you guys have them in the playoffs. Two of us don't.

Hey, real quick, guys. Let's talk about Stitch Fix. Describe your look in one word. Casual, sophisticated, playful, in my case, slobby. However you dress, Stitch Fix has the expert personal stylist that can help you look your best. Believe me, I need all the help I can get. Because Stitch Fix is an online personal styling service that delivers your favorite clothing brands right to your door. 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. And with Stitch Fix, everyone can look their best. They have solutions for men, women, and kids all over the U.S. and now the U.K. There's no commitment required, and you only pay for what you keep. Shipping exchanges and returns are always free. Can't beat that. Plus the $20 styling fee is automatically applied towards anything you keep from your box. You'll never have to think about looking good again with Stitch Fix. Get started today at

stitchfix.com slash chicklets and get an extra 25% off when you keep everything in your box. That's stitchfix.com slash chicklets. Once more, stitchfix.com slash chicklets. Next up, the Vancouver Canucks. They finished in the dreaded Philly zone, 81 points, no playoffs, no lottery, but they got some new faces over the summer. They brought in Tyler Myers from Winnipeg, Jordy Bent from Montreal, Michael Furlan from Carolina, and JT Miller from Tampa. They said bye to Ryan Spooner, who went to Switzerland. Luke Shen went to Tampa, and Ben Hutton went to the Kings.

The Canucks kind of remind me of the Wings, you know, minus the whole dynasty before the downfall pot. You know, they got a couple of real nice pieces in place, Besser and Pedersen and Hughes, but then you realize that, like, they're at the cap or pretty much over it, and it's like, what the fuck did you spend $83 million on? Jim Bennett has his work cut out for him when he started, and I'd say he still does.

Wits, what's your take on the old Canucks? It is a weird time. There's some great young pieces, and then there's some questionable guys with contracts that you kind of wonder about. So it's like, all right. I actually think they're in. If I'm a fan of Detroit or Vancouver, you compare the two,

I think I'd rather be in Vancouver shoes because of, like, Peterson. Big time. Is it Pedersen or Peterson? What the fuck? Dude, they have, like, four or five big pieces. I think we settled on Pedersen. Okay. Fuck, I think it's Peterson.

Either way, P-Dawg. He's the main reason. So then Besser. And then the one that doesn't get enough credit, I think, is Horvath. Oh, yeah. Because last year, you're talking about a guy like Mike Richards in the interview this episode.

I mean, dude, this guy's an animal. I think he's 27 last year, which is his career high in goals. So you think he'll get better. He's another year. He's a young guy. I don't know. It's just like something there that they don't – they have like this top-end talent that's really young,

and then they don't really have the veterans around to help. Now, JT Miller could be good. He could have a nice year. But that question – I mean, people questioned it a little bit, him coming over there. I think they could surprise people. I actually don't think they'll be as bad as some like you know uh previews have said they'll be or some you know guesses at how the division will

finish up but i certainly don't have them making playoffs no i don't have them making playoffs either but i do think that they have a better foundation right now than the detroit red wings do i think they have about four or five solid pieces. Obviously, Besser, Horvat, and Pettersson, as I like to call them anyway. I don't think that Antoine Roussel deal is bad. I think he's worth every penny for the energy. He's hurt, I think. Oh, is he hurt coming into the season? Yeah, I think he's starting the year hurt.

He had surgery or something. But, yeah, he could help. I mean, getting him out there. Biz, you brought up earlier when we talked about Winnipeg a couple episodes ago about Myers, like, you know, you weren't going to pay him what he got from Vancouver. So now he's their top pairing guy. And that's when you kind of say, oh, like, if that's your number one, like what kind of team are you?

I know that kind of sounds a little harsh. I just don't know if he's going to be able to kind of carry a defensive unit. No. That being the main issue when I look at, like, weaknesses for them. Not him in general, just the D. I would argue that Edler's probably their number one, and I would say that Quinn Hughes, I mean, we saw a nice little sample size of him at the end of the year last year.

Over the course of an entire nhl season yeah we're gonna probably see some downturns especially for how small he is and and i wouldn't say he's a liability in his own end because i really haven't watched him play a whole lot on the back end but you know you're he's a pretty small guy coming into nhl where you got big guys moving around fast it's not like handsome – Handsome Devil too. He's a real handsome devil. Oh, fuck off, Grinnell, you fucking doppelganger. Anyway, but I just think they have a better situation going on than Detroit. I think that they'll remain competitive and the games will be fun to go watch.

Jake Furtanen is another guy that I got to mention where I think that he hasn't really turned out to what they hoped he'd be, but he's also the type of guy who has a few other things in his game where he will play physical. He is a great skater. He does four check hard. So I think if he can kind of step it up too, he's part of that core group moving forward that you can build around. R.A., I laughed at your point, but you're right.

They're at the cap, and there's no reason why they should be. That Luongo deal's bending them over a little bit. They took on that JT Miller contract and shockingly gave up a first-round draft pick for it, knowing Tampa had to get rid of him. But I think moving forward, it's going to take them a good two, three years to get their feet grounded. I don't have them making playoffs, if I've already said that 10 times.

Yeah, I don't either. Like I said, Jim Benning, I mean, he had his work cut off for him when he inherited this team, and he still has a lot of the same problems. Just his allocation of funds isn't really doing too good of a job here right now. I mean, we didn't mention the Erickson deal, R.A. I don't know if you know if we needed to. I mean, it's almost like at this point, it's sort of like the Vancouver version of the David Backus deal

minus the team's success. You know, Louis Erickson signed the six-year $36 million deal three years ago. He still has three years left. His production, you know, he wasn't a very physical guy. Last year, 11 goals, 18 assists for 29 points in 81 games. That is not getting you $6 million worth. It's not a deal you're going to be able to just get rid of unless you eat some money, you throw in a draft pick or something.

Basically, Canucks fans, you got some, like I said, nice pieces in fucking down the line already here. I don't know, maybe you're two, three years away from being a contender, and that's with a lot of work done to that salary cap this might be a crazy statement but they might have been better off trading louis erickson with that first round pick than fucking giving it up for jt miller hey guys i i gotta bring it up i know biz it's a canadian thing like when we were talking to mike richardson you were like how you say make playoffs not the playoffs and Whit I noticed you started

saying you used to always say the playoffs but now you just say make playoffs am I the only one who notices this other people have commented on it is that a Canadian thing what do I say you say instead of saying oh they make the play they made the playoffs you just say they make playoffs and

Whit never used to say it but I've noticed Whit says it now make playoffs instead of the playoffs shut You just say they make playoffs. And Witt never used to say it, but I've noticed Witt says it now, make playoffs instead of the playoffs. Shut up, R.A. Really? Yeah, yeah. Witt's like, get me the fuck out of here. I don't know what you're talking about. I'm already missing succession, and I got to listen to this asshole

for fucking four more teams. Not making the fucking playoffs. Yeah, I never even know. I mean, I'm pretty illiterate, so that's like the least of my worries. No, but it's like I said, Canadian thing, because other Canadians say it. Anyways, that's already fucking high thought. Playoffs. Playoffs.

I mean, he did say playoffs, not the playoffs. Good point. All right. I'm fucking losing my mind. Anaheim Ducks up next. The Ducks finished sixth in the 18 Pacific with 80 points last year. New players, Nicholas Delare came in from Montreal. Michael Delzotto, they actually traded him at the deadline. He won a cup and then he came back. He re-upped with the Ducks. They said bye to Corey

Perry. He went to Dallas on that free agency deal. And while it's largely the same roster they finished last season with, there is one significant change, and that is Dallas Eakins is now behind the head coach. He was a guy who was kind of touted as like sort of the next big thing in coaching back when he was with Edmonton. Well, they shit-canned him after 113 games. He had to go back and sort of remake his bones down in San Diego. But I'm sorry, Dallas, your career is going to take a step back,

which means you have to go from Edmonton to San Diego. That's probably not something you hear every day. Biz, didn't you play under him or didn't you know Dallas Eakins well or no? I imagine that. No, I played against him. Boyd Gordon was on the Oilers when he was there. I think he's a well-prepared guy. He means well.

I think he just tried to completely change the culture where he's telling grown men that they can't have sugar or certain things on the plane. He micromanaged too much is the consensus. So good coach, though. He's had some success down in San Diego with their farm team. His team's not very good. Bob Murray, fuck, that guy hated hated me he was so mean to me jesus like i wouldn't even say hello in the morning he'd walk right by a guy hated my guts so um i don't

really care about the ducks i kind of feel bad saying it but all right so you look at three three guys that you have to see if these guys can make steps and they're young players, it's Troy Terry, Sam Steele, great porn name, and Max Comtois. Max Comtois. Holy shit, they're fucking starting their own browsers. So it's the – oh, Gibson. Fuck, you got to love Gibson. Hey, the Anaheim fucks.

You got to love Gibson. That guy will win you some games. But Peter North playoffs, I don't know anything about them. Besides the fact that they really struggle to score. It's going to be so weird. Getz off playing against Perry. That first game. That'll be some must-watch TV right there, but

not expecting much out of the fuck squad. Besides maybe just a half-off ice season for Sam Steele. Goaltending is unbelievable. It's amazing how quickly their young back end has imploded. They lost Um, goaltending is unbelievable. I just, it's amazing how quickly their, their,

their young backend has, has imploded. I mean, they lost, um, God, come on, Montour's gone. Montour to Buffalo and then the other, Shea Theodore. So like, it's, to me, that's, that's probably their biggest weakness. And then besides that, I mean, you just, they've had some, some young guys just really not show any type of acceleration in their careers. I mean, those names that you mentioned are – fucking Jesus Christ. They had a lot of injuries last year too. A ton. They led the league.

So, God, sorry, boys. I'm struggling right now. It's been a long week. But they need some guys to pan out, and they need to stay healthy. And I still think with all that. And pray. And fuck a lot. But, yeah, they're not making playoffs. Sorry, boys.

You think this duck season preview could make, like, sports net? Oh, my God. My brain is fried. Let me hit the bowl again. They fuck in. They suck. They're me hit the ball again. They fuck in. They suck. They're not making the playoffs next. We sound like Twitter trolls talking about their preview.

You know, one thing, like you said, Biz, the problem is definitely not the goaltending. John Gibson, he did an unreal job on really not good team. And you can put those kind of numbers up on a team that's getting shelled. That always impresses me. But Dry Island for chocolate? Treat me right fucking now. I would rather give up booze for a month than fucking chocolate.

That's just not happening. One thing, too, R.A., I don't know if last year he was, but Gibson's had a hard time staying healthy. He always has one issue every season where it's a coin. Oh, he's getting peppered every night. No, listen, I hear you. But I'm not saying whose fault it is. I'm just saying that he needs to stay healthy if they have a snowball's chance in hell.

They don't got him. They're fucking chop suey. Get it? West Coast by the water. If you're GM, would you ever get in the elevator with a kid on your team biz and not say a word to him? No, no. What the fuck?

I'd be like, how many kills, Bob Murray? Say hello to me, for fuck's sake. I'll be like, where are you guys going for a rookie party? Can I come? Just be like, hey, Whit, good morning. You could even say need more from you. Just say hello. Still Scott.

All right, so obviously none of us have the Ducks return into the playoffs this year. Going to Whit, though, do you not know maybe it's a social awkwardness or a social anxiety? Is he playing Tommy Six with the other guys? No, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know because I don't talk to him.

Maybe one thing if he kind of gave you like a mean mug, and then next thing you know, he went to toast his bagel, and there was another guy, and he was like, hey, man, what's going on? Great to see you. Yeah, true. I don't think he talked to anyone. I mean, I know he talked to Getz, but Getz is different.

I don't know. Yes, I don't understand. Maybe he knows of social awkwardness. Who knows? I don't understand that whole angle of coaches and GMs being so distant from the players. I think that's ridiculous. Yeah.

Well, see, I think it's changing a little as you get fucking less of the old school Harry Sinden types. Anyways, none of us have them go into the playoffs. We've got a couple more teams left before we round up the old Pacific Division. Witt's old team, the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers' 79 points was the second

worst in the conference last year. What was their latest disappointing season? Not a bunch of changes made. They brought in James Neal. They brought in Mike Smith, Riley Sheehan, Josh Archibald. They said goodbye to Milan Lucic, who went to Calgary. Chiarelli had shit-canned Todd McClellan after 20 games. Then he brought in Hitchcock, see if he could do his Hitchcock magic.

It was basically a last gasp effort from Chiarelli that didn't work. But this year's coach is Dave Tippett. He had previously been consulting for the Seattle Thingamajigs. That's coming into the league in a couple of years. And he last coached for the Coyotes after an eight-year stint. This is a coach you know well. Why will he make the Oilers better this year? Well, that's one thing. I got my three teams already in the Pacific Division, but this team does scare me a little bit because they got a genius behind the bench.

And why I say that is he's the smartest guy in the NHL, at least when I played, because I was on his team and he kept me around. And some of you might be like, you suck, Biz. No, I really didn't. Because in my last year, I had six assists, and I was 10th in the entire league, 10th, at points per 60 minutes, five on five.

You can check that out, all you statisticians out there. 10th in the league, Witt, okay? But he was smart enough to only make sure I played about 200 minutes that season. Now, this guy is a genius, as I mentioned. He's a very smart structural coach. And I'm going to give you some more stats here, Witt. Dave Tippett,

first years, Los Angeles, 25-point improvement, made playoffs. They didn't the year before. Dallas Stars, 21-point improvement when he stepped in as head coach there. They made playoffs. They hadn't the year before. Phoenix Coyotes, 28-point improvement when he stepped in as head coach after Wayne Gretzky. They didn't make playoffs the year before. He did when he got there. So there's a very strong correlation with Dave Tippett walking into organizations and whipping things in fairly quick into shape, excuse me. So I think that he's going to have that team in a lot better competitive spirit than last

year i think there's going to be a very solid team to play against i'm going to hand it over to you to break down some of the players and then i'll follow you up after i'm going to but but i have to say that i don't think they're going to make playoffs but you're going to see a drastic improvement with this organization i think they're going to be way better I think they're going to be way better. I think they're going to be right there at the end. It's just goaltending. I know you're talking about a team that had two guys with over 100 points. They missed the playoffs. But their team save percentage was 896.

I mean, so Koskinen got that contract. I don't remember if it was last year. I think it was. And then they still brought in Mike Smith. So I think the Tippett's looking at it like, I've seen how good Mike Smith can be. He was a horse for me in Phoenix there. So it makes sense for him to come in.

But when you look at the improvement of the team, coaching can matter that much in terms of just system you're going to play. And figuring out a way that Edmonton can keep pucks out of the net. They need consistent goaltending, but they need to just be better defensively. The whole team can be better defensively. Tippett knows how to do that. He made some teams that if Biz could make the team in Arizona and they

made playoffs, he can make the fucking playoffs with anyone. He had Biz on his team. Biz isn't here right now for anyone who's... What's up, dude? If you also look all right Darnell Nurse he's on this path and I'm pointing my hands straight up in the air he's he is tough as shit too not afraid to shit him at all he'll do that a couple times a year he'll actually beat the bag out of some dudes. Over 40 points.

So I really like him. I think Clefbaum at times has looked awesome. So they need him to kind of be as good as he is. If you're looking at somebody going into last year, who's our best defender, you're probably saying him. He needs to stay healthy, but there's times that he looks so good.

And then Larson, I mean, it's not a great trade. That's been discussed for a long time now, but that's a guy who can play a good amount of minutes. He can PK and get the puck out of your zone. The question is, can they just get a little bit more scoring? You got two guys with over 100 points, one of the best in the world in McDavid. Dreitzel is one of the best scorers in the world.

And Nugent Hopkins quietly goes about his business and is a hell of a player. But after that, you just think James Neal, real deal. Did he get 30? What the hell? This team, if real deal gets 30 and they get goaltending, dude, they could get in the playoffs. I wouldn't be surprised at all.

So it's a very interesting year going into Edmonton because, all right, we got McDavid. We've had him for years now. We got to game seven, the second round, his second year. Well, then it's been kind of a disaster. If this year's a disaster again, then it's complete panic time. But I think the tip, it's going to make that much of a difference that they'll be competitive all season. I mean, you touched on it briefly. They brought Mike Smith in, but I think that tip it's going to make that much of a difference that there'll be competitive all season.

I mean, you touched on it briefly. They brought Mike Smith in and I'm telling you that's, that's tips boy. And if he can, if he can massage him in and get that confidence in him, that he had the year that we had when he came over, I tell you what,

man, that is one point pony you can ride. Cause I've never seen a goaltending performance like that. As far as their back end, I completely agree with your assessment. They got some guys there. I think Oilers fans, we mentioned it earlier in the episode on a breakdown.

Who was it? It was Calgary and Sam Bennett. They need to get over the fact that Hall was traded for Larson. Wipe that out of your memory. You have a decent top four defenseman in your lineup, and you have a general manager that wasn't here to make the trade. So get over it. Now, looking at the offense, I completely agree.

A lot of this team's success will lie on their somewhat secondary scoring in a guy like James Neal. Another guy I love is that Jujar Cara. Is that how I say it, guys? Solid two-way player. Wondering if he could find a way to chip in more offensively. I like he's got a little bit of bite to his game. You know, another guy who they have who's a little sandpaper finish on him,

Zach Cassian. I wonder how he's going to have a good year. He adds that physicality you need in the Western Conference. You know, we know it's a little bit tougher side, a little more run and gun on that East Coast. But I don't see this as a playoff team, as I've already said. But they're definitely headed in the right direction. And going back to the coach and biz, you know, last year,

like I mentioned, they had McClellan. They fired him after 20 games. He was 9, 10, and 1. Chiarely threw a hail mary brought in hitchcock and hitchcock only went 26 28 and 8 i mean that's a guy who tends to get immediate results wherever he goes and i wouldn't say he did that great of a job not really any fault of his own i just don't think the roster was uh really a playoff roster tippett should get some improvement out of them, but I don't know, man. I don't see them getting back. And they're such a top-heavy roster, duh,

with McDavid and Dreissel, that I don't know if they get the secondary scoring to make up for that end. And speaking of porn names, Witt, you've got to love the name Colby Cave on Edmonton. That's definitely a great porn name that actually works for either gender. I put my bat in her cave. Come on down.

Yeah. Let me come on your face. Colby's cave. Because you can, like, it works for a woman because it can be a cave or if a guy. I got you. I get that. I get that. All right.

All right. Next week on porn names. All right. So obviously none of us have the oil. Oil is going to the playoffs. Wait, let's ask our fans a question. What do you think the best porn name in the entire NHL is? Cal Clutterbuck?

Cal Clutterfuck? Let us suck. What's a good porn name? Let's get that going. Let's get the hashtag going, porn star names for NHLers. Has it already been done? I think we know we should start it. Yeah, NHL porn stars.

And we'll name the best one. This one's kind of subtle. Patrick Kane. Oh, he's like, can I get back in the league? Fuck. Patrick Kane. Well, he doesn't have a really good porn name. Yeah, but he's like, I'll get involved. Try to think of one off the top of your head.

Oscar Clefbom. Oh, dude. What about Grant Clitsom? Oh, yeah. There you go. He was always a tough guy to find on the ice, though. Come on, this. I'm a brother.

I know you want to laugh. Listen, there was a delay, and then I got it, all right? There was a slight fucking delay. Lay off me. You got the joke, or you got the other thing? I can't think of one right now. I got the fucking joke, all right? I'm so fine on the ice.

Not for me, though. I know where it is. I know where the glint is. I know where the boat is. All right, boys. Last fucking one of the night. LA Kings, 71 points with the fewest. They're not making the playoffs.

Yeah, next. Only Ottawa had less points, a few points last year. New face, Ben Hutton. They said bye to Dion Phaneuf, who is still an unrestricted free agent. A lot of miles on this roster. Not much change. Not sure what to expect other than this team isn't going to the playoffs. Whit, let's go to you first.

Yeah, you said the miles on the tires. Let's go back to the porn stuff. They're fucking – Oh, man. Burn rubber. Debbie does Dallas. A lot of miles. Kopitar, Brown, and Dowdy.

Toffoli, like you guys. Carter, you guys are great players, man. You guys are good players. It's going to be a long season. It's about being proud, giving it your all every night. You guys have won Stanley Cups, but, you know, your team's got nothing. I mean, I sound like a dickhead, but they just – they don't – they're right in the middle of trying to figure out

what they're going to do in the next few years. Guys are getting a little bit older, but it's a tough year to be a Kings fan going into the season. Maybe they go and surprise everyone and I'm an idiot. It wouldn't shock me. I am an idiot. But they have not a lot to be hopeful for. Is that correct of me to say? I would say this.

I think that team, and I would love to see it, might have one more kick at the can. They were kind of my – you said – who was your Vezina pick last year again? Jones. This was kind of my Vezina pick. I thought they were going to have a bounce back year last season. They ended up finishing second last in the entire NHL. I just – they're going to need this wave of young talent

to come rejuvenate their roster in order to make one more kick the can. I just – I mean, I don't see it right now. They don't have any young studs in the pipeline who are going to step into that lineup and just surprise a lot of people. So this is going to be – like, to me, and no offense to these guys because I love a lot of them and they've accomplished so much in their careers, I think this is still on the downturn where they might have to look to trading some of these guys off

in order to gain some assets, in order to start the rebuild. Well, it's kind of started, but it hasn't in a way. I mean, man, it's the whole core group is older guys, like guys who are 30 and above. Is Doughty 30? Doughty's two years younger than me, I believe. He's the same age as Sid, which is an 87, so he's 31 or 32. Doughty's 29.

He's going to be 30 in December. Oh, I thought he was an 87. Okay, so he's going to be 30, though. I mean, fuck, I thought he was in 87. Oh, he's in 89. Oh, is he? Late 89, too. Oh, okay. I thought he was Sid's age. God damn it, Biz. Lay off the weed,

man. Lay off the weed. Hard-hitting journalism in the game of hockey. Yeah, you fucking don't know anything, Biz. But no, he, their core group's just older. Like I said, I said what I said. Shut the fuck up, Whit.

I know, not much to be said. I mean, maybe we should have had on some King's beat writer or something. Give us something. I don't know. If we get Mike Richards here, that was that fucking Pacific mention anyway. It's been a long 10 days. My Kings assessment was bullshit.

Just don't hold it against me. A lot of my assessments were. Hey, you know what? Let's swap out. This is my best division. Let's swap out the Anaheim fucks content for the breakdown of the Los Angeles Kings. Can we call it even? The LA, it stings when I pee.

No, that was probably your worst one. That is the worst one, baby. You were forcing it because you liked the where's the clit. You were forcing it. You doubled down, man. You threw one right through the middle. You had a four checker on you, a back checker, and you tried fucking feathering a soft one through the middle.

It picked off the other way. Yeah. But you already had two apples, and you were a plus two, and your team was up 3-0 late in the third and you just cost your goalie the goddamn shutout. And now Briz Golov's breaking a stick over the crossbar and he's going to ream your ass out in the locker room.

I netted him my cup early. Sorry, boys. Alright, that's going to take care of the Pacific Division. Needless to say, we do not have the Kings going back to the playoffs this year. A couple final notes. The gambling corner, obviously season's kicking off Wednesday night. I have been looking at some Stanley Cup picks. I know Colorado's a very fashionable pick. They're all the way down to 12-1 right now.

One team, another team I should say that everyone's jumping on is Dallas. I see them at 12-1 on other sites. I actually got them at 17-1. I think there's some pretty good value there. If you can find them higher than that, jump on them. The Predators, I've seen them as high as 20-1. Another strategy, too, it's kind of if you want to roll the dice a little, is wait for the season to open. And if a team you like doesn't come out of the house of fire, sometimes those odds can work in your favor.

If they stumble out of the gate, lose four of the first five games or whatever exact ball st louis yeah yeah exactly yeah wait for them to go to i wouldn't i wouldn't recommend waiting up but dallas is a team right now i see some some pretty good value on it at 17 to 1 you know the flyers i know people i don't know if they're high on them but 25 to 130 one, you might get some odds there. As far as Colorado, yeah, I like them, but not at 11 to one. I just think that's too much of a make-up for too short a period of time. So I'm going to wait and see on that. But I do advocate sprinkling the infield with a bunch of Stanley Cup futures.

That way there, if you get one team who does get there, you can obviously hedge the other way. I found myself in that situation last year. And the bottom line is turning a profit. So you might have six or seven or eight tickets. If you make money at the end of the day, that's all that matters. So, again, Dallas is not necessarily my number one pick to win the Stanley Cup. But as far as value pick, out of what I've seen, that's a team that jumps out at me.

Whit, have you done any prognosticating yet for the Cup this year or no? A little bit. I just said earlier, the Dallas and Flyers are kind of my teams I'm going to start betting on. I'm going to hammer people against the Kings. And last year, the audible little run I had. But it is tough because the Colorado odds, they make no sense to me. But I'm not a big future guy. I never win them.

I never win them. So I actually don't think I'm going to bet any. I'm just a game-by-game degenerate. One other point, too, that just stuck out when you said Philadelphia Flyers is every year they're good for a solid losing streak and then a solid win streak. I bet you the last two or three years they they've lost seven or eight in a row. And then went on that season to win close to 10.

Check it out. Check the stat. That just came to my mind. I'm like fucking rain, man. Over here. Fucking rain, man.

Over there. This is the longest episode, isn't it? We ready to wrap this shit. Yeah, we are ready to wrap. I was going to say, you guys have any final notes you want to show at the crew or should we

call it a two? I love you guys have any final notes you want to show at the crew or should we call it a – Two things. No, I love you guys. Larry Flowers, thank you for buying dinner one of the nights we were in New York. And also thank you for getting Roman Yossi for us because he's close friends with them. Also got him his engagement ring for his wife. Quick shout-out, Larry.

Don't fucking bug me anymore for that. And last but not least, shout-out to the guy in Saskatoon at the bar Hudson's who asked me for a picture and his whole entire ball bag was hanging out and he got me with the sneaky nut. Have you ever taken a picture with someone already? And then like you saw the copy of it and this guy and someone had a sneaky nut out. Oh yeah.

I used to call it hanging brains back on the day. Now, now I think you're a fucking sex offender if you do it these days. Wow, that guy better hope that picture doesn't get out because I've seen it, and I tell you what, he's got some big brains. Chewed up all the time. All right, guys. Sat in gum.

All right. On that note, gang, everybody, have a great week. We'll check back with you with our final division preview for Thursday's episode. The league will have already kicked off, so enjoy the NHL. It is a great week. We'll check back with you with our final division preview for Thursday's episode. The league will have already kicked off, so enjoy the NHL. It is back this week. NHL! See you guys.

Once again, I want to send a big thank you to our sponsors and our listeners. And listeners, if you haven't tested out our sponsors yet, by all means, give it a try. I'm going to give you a little bit of a rundown right now. If you want to try Ethos, you want to go to ethoslife.com slash chicklets. If you want to give Can I Brands the old world, go to canibrands.com. The promo code, as you know, is biz20. If you want to give Stitch Fix a try, go to stitchfix.com slash chicklets. And if you want

to try Quip out, go to getquip.com. Thanks for supporting us. Thanks for supporting our sponsors, and we'll catch you later.