Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 215: Ft Tim Stapleton

Episode Date: November 4, 2019

On Monday's episode of Spittin' Chiclets, the guys are joined by one of their funniest guests yet, Tim Stapleton. Tim joins to talk about his time in Russia, playing for Mike Keenan, his new company and a ton more. The boys also touch on some NHL news including the red hot Canucks and Islanders. The boys wrap up with Gambling Corner from Rear Admiral who has appeared to have turned things aroundYou 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 215 of Spittin' Chicklets, presented by Pink Whitney, the pink lemonade-flavored vodka from our friends at New Amsterdam Vodka. Lots of stuff to get to, boys, this episode, so let's jump right into the greeting so we can get cracking. Mikey Grinelli, producer. What's going on up early this Monday morning, or Sunday morning?

What's up, guys? Very funny episode on tap today, so much so that I actually... Oh, you're that confident we're going to be funny today? Well, yeah. In the interview, so much so that I had to tell you guys because you guys were laughing so hard that you had to remove the mics from your mouth because you guys were all laughing so hard from this interview. So it was a really funny interview. I remember it was like falling over on me. I do remember that. Yeah, it was a funny one. So I'll let you guys get to it. Next up, Ryan Whitney, the wit dog.

What's going on, buddy? How you been? I'm doing great, guys. I'm doing great. It's I love this Sunday morning shit. I feel like so I got a perfect I got like a whole plan for every Sunday morning. Wake up, get a tea, do some research. All right.

And then we just get to get at it. So and also there's football on. I mean, the fact I get to gamble on a football game while talking to you guys, this is like living the best of both worlds. And there's a tea time right after we record, so I'm living on this Sunday. Nice, nice. And next up, last but not least, Paul Biznasty. Biznasty, saw you working out in the booth.

They put you on TV last night. Naturally, you had your face buried in your phone. First of all, my sidekick there, that wasn't Bob Heat House they had in camera. That was Luke Lipinski, and he comes over and does the ads when we come out of break. So we were on break there. They throw that picture up. It looks like I'm fucking swiping right on Tinder in the midst of the broadcast. It looked like you were trying to smell a picture that a girl had probably just sent you. I was like,

does he think it's a scratch and sniff iPhone? Dude, I am pathetic. When I was at my phone, I'm like, I'm like an old man. I like the rounded shoulders, too. Maybe that's just a dad bod, but I'm always like leaned over, like reading the phone. I'm like this disgusting neck. Yeah, I was pretty grossed out by that picture. I try to put a little positive spin on it for you anyways, but it's like, I'm prepping for this show. I tried, you know? In all seriousness, though, I was texting you guys about today's podcast during

the broadcast, not while we were live. Yeah, I thought you might have been looking at my winnings from yesterday. So you try to pump his tires when he looks like a fool, but I get a broken stick by an NHL organization that is looking to pay me back from March 10, 2013, and you make a fucking hashtag about it?

Oh, wait a minute. Maybe if you didn't swipe, maybe if you didn't fucking super leave the stick away from me, I might have felt a little different. Me and R.A. are buddies, Whit. Maybe if you shot him a few texts once in a while. Fuck, you guys need, yeah, you guys like team up on me. We're playing tummy sticks.

It's like you're coming at the king. You guys are the people in the background just trying to come at the king, and I'm just like, you better come at me all as a group. Come with the king, you best not miss. Alright, you kind of poked at it.

You were Instagramming the, what do you call it, the story side of it. The Leafs flyer shootout, which I thought was pretty funny. I think you probably had about three joints in you, maybe even a couple pops. Take us through what went on and how much money you had in the line, and you got some people to thank. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. First off, Jason Spetz, I got to buy him a case of beer. Yeah, first off, I had Toronto. I gave them out as a Twitter pic last night, sort of an unofficial gambling corner pic. It wasn't a video, but it's me tweeting it out. I had 2,000 on Toronto flat. I had 1,000 of them on the puck line.

Once it goes to overtime, I lost the puck line, but I hit the over, so that offset the puck line loss. But now basically, Biz, I got a $4,700 swing on a fucking shootout once it goes to the shootout. Oh, my. Three first. I mean, there's some exciting parts there. Definitely, yeah, I got a $4,700 swing on a fucking shootout once it goes to the shootout. Oh, my. You got three first. I mean, there's some exciting parts there. Definitely, yeah, the overtime, too.

But it's just the fact of the shootout. It's a contest. I basically have almost a $5,000 swing on a fucking breakaway contest. And back and forth, back and forth. Freddie's stopping everything. Elliott's stopping everything. Finally, Konechny, he didn't go to, like, the eighth round. I'm surprised they saved him that late.

He scores. Now it's Jason Spezza. I need him to score. I lose fucking 27. Spezza comes down, boom, boom, backhand, ties it up. Freddie shuts the door again. And then as Andrea Shohanza comes down,

fucking five hole on Elliott. And it's like elation, dude. I'm wired. I'm like, I can't fucking sleep right now. I just went for it. Well, that's what I was going to say is, okay, now if you lose that type of bet, is it instant depression and then you're then you're right to sleep no it's like you got the 10 30s yeah exactly it's like all right i was like i'm i'm loving fucking vancouver lately they've been fucking hot as hell so uh yeah i mean i would

have been bummed out but you know i'd be looking to fucking see how i can get it back but so basically oh and add add as well we're going to talk about edzo later, but Eddie Olchek gave us the fucking Belmont. I'm sorry, the Breeders' Cup winner. I put some money on that. So I had a monster. That was probably one of my top five gambling days ever yesterday. Okay, so I guess we've got to kind of talk about that now briefly, Whit, is we did have Edzo on while we were in Chicago.

He was incredible. In the course of the interview, I think at the end, you guys asked him. I didn't even know what the Breeders' Cup was or when it was coming up. And you said, who is he picking? And he fucking picked the winner. Now, we didn't release that interview yet, nor the clip, or did we say anything. But if you were watching the broadcast that he was doing

or following him on Twitter, I'm imagining he'd already put out that pick. Yeah, he's on TV. We didn't want to spoil his pick for him. We didn't want to steal his thunder. Sorry, go ahead. I think we messed up a little bit because we should have said that he said it because he was saying that not knowing that it wasn't going to be out until after. He wouldn't have cared if we released that part of it.

But the reason I'm actually mad is because when he said in the room, he gave a great descriptive reasoning why this horse is going to win. And I was like, I'm betting that horse. Well, what happens? You know, the day goes on. You have a couple beers. You play golf.

And next thing you know, the race is off and I forgot to bet it. And then I'm sitting there at dinner and you text me, holy shit, it won. Or the group chat. I don't know which one of you guys. And I was like, oh my God, I knew it. He was such a good interviewer that at the end of it, he said that horse.

I was like, oh, boy, that's a lock. And I missed it. I missed out on what would you make, R.A.? Five grand? A little under four because I bet him on a future. He was six to one when I bet him. So it's like you lock in on those odds. It's like if you go at the track, the odds change based on how many people bet it.

But if you lock in in the future, those 6-1 odds are locked in. So I had a nickel on it. And the name of the horse? Vino Rosso. No, it was Vino Rosso. Oh, Vino Rosso. Vinny Viola, the owner of the Panthers, owns the horse, right? I think he has a piece of that one.

I'm not 100% sure. Maybe he was involved in another horse. Grinnelli, are you shaking your head you know or don't know? I'm pretty sure you're right about that. Thank you. I appreciate that. I won three grand on the future bet there, and then I had him 100 across the board, and I picked up another 750 there.

I got to buy a beer for Ed's next time I see him. That'll be the fourth time he drinks. It was quite a day. It's all fleeting, man. It's gambling. I can give half of it back to you on a stupid NFL bet. So you can't get cocky with this. Another thing, too, is you were obviously high when recording that, correct?

What, the Instagram last night? Yeah, the Instagram stories about the shootout. Honestly, man, I might have been whack on the pen, but people are like, oh, how high are you right now? One to ten. I'm like, I don't know, four, five. I mean, I wasn't like, oh, fuck. But four to People are like, oh, how high are you right now? One to ten. I'm like, I don't know, four, five. I mean, I wasn't like, oh, fuck. But four to five is like, that's how R.A. lives at four to five.

So that's like nine for other people. They're like, dude, you're so crippled. He's like, this is like, this is like four o'clock on a Tuesday. No, I was going to compliment you. You're a perfect level of high where I watched the entire video. I thought it was fucking hilarious. And you were going like round by round. And then after Philly scored, Konechny got one.

They put Flyers couple in the crowd. And Ari's like, oh, get that off my fucking screen. Yeah, yeah. And then he's like, they're going to get – and then they showed Leaf fans after the Spezza goal. And he's like, oh, those people are going to get mugged on the way out of the rink. They don't even know it. Yeah, and then I was like, hashtag not all Philly fans.

All right, boys. it yeah then i was like hashtag not all philly fans oh all right boys anyways so dude these saturday night hockey night in canada night's awesome man uh unfortunately we had some rough scene uh at the garden just an awful scene actually at td garden auto is scott sabran he threw a check at boston's david backus and upon the collision sabran's right cheek caught the left side of back as his helmet so he essentially knocked himself out so when he fell to the ice, he couldn't brace his fall. It was very reminiscent of the Kevin Stevens incident, the hit back with Richie Pilon in 93. Just an ugly thing. The whole building was quiet. Okay, Richie Pilon. The whole building was silent. David Backus was in tears.

Fortunately, Scott Sabrin did, I think it was Instagram, he went out and said, hey, basically, I'm fine. mean only had a cut above his eye I thought the damage is going to be way worse there's what was your reaction to this to this oh very scary and I read afterward that Bacchus ended up getting diagnosed with a concussion as well he did leave the game yeah so he ended up leaving the game and he stayed out there you could he was he was over on one knee and and i don't know if he was crying or not but you know back is a pretty emotional guy he doesn't want to see shit like that and and a guy who who has been through enough of his own for christ's sake so um it was nice to see scotty sabran post on instagram today letting everyone know that he thinks he'll be back out on

the ice soon and he's feeling a lot better but holy shit dude when they can't brace their fall and that when they smack the ice that's probably one of the nastiest sights you can see i mean we saw it earlier this year in that ahl brawl um i think it was between the edmonton and calgary farm teams but uh scary sight and uh you hate seeing shit like that wet so we were we were out to dinner. I had a decent view of the TV. It's such a veteran move when you go out to dinner. You sit at a table around the bar.

You should make sure you sit so you can see the TV. I knew the Bruins were on. I look up and all of a sudden I see right around the boards. The semicircular guys, Bacchus was one of them. I swear to God, I looked down and Grinnelli texted us. He said, have you seen what's going on at the Garden? I realized it had been. I'm going to guess at the end how long was he of them. I swear to God, I looked down and Grinnell, he texted us. So do you seen what's going on at the garden and then realize it had been like, I'm going to guess at the end, how long was he down for? I'm sorry if you already said this 15 minutes. I didn't say it, but it had to be at least 20 minutes, 20 minutes. So what happens? So

I'm, I'm looking at it and then the longer it goes, the longer it goes. I think I was thinking back to, to when this happened, when Colby Armstrong lit up some guys, he used to light people up coming around the net and he hit Trevor Latowski one time straight. I mean, at the time the hit wasn't illegal. He would just come down and hammer guys shoulder to the head.

I mean, he was a hard hitter. So he knocked Trevor Latowski out. And I remember this feeling in the rink it was so eerie like you're you're you're competing against each other and it's like a crazy game but when like one of you you're you're all kind of brothers if there's a guy that you don't know what's going on and and how he like how he is especially when they're unconscious and it's the worst eerie feeling and as this kept going on I keep looking up to the tv I'm like it's another

five minutes like you just start worrying more and more as the time goes on so you could see back as his face i didn't know he got a concussion you could tell he was visibly very upset about by the whole thing and now it makes more sense if he might have looked even worse for wear because he actually had a concussion he might have been completely out of it but you could tell it was really affecting him and i don't really blame him it's that stevens pylon i think it's pylon all right by the way maybe it's pylon whatever or whatever i don't even know what i said at that point but it's very eerie to watch that especially with what kevin stevens has gone through like he's i mean that that that could never be easy at all to come back from something that painful

and all the surgery had. And it didn't look like Sabren's is nearly as bad, but fuck, was it scary. Yeah, I agree. And earlier this season, that Jordan Orsoli in Arizona, early in the Nashville game, took a clapper right to the back of the net and he just dropped and he wasn't moving. And talking about the other guys on the ice especially teammates who who want to know what the fuck's going on with him step by step knowing if you know he's gotten

to the hospital what exactly is wrong and now you got to worry about going back to a game so definitely very difficult to change your mindset from not worrying about your teammate to now worrying about the you know the the task at hand and it's so it funny too. Sorry, just to end it. You slash a guy good and you go off and you can see he's kind of like shaking his wrist or he's hurting you. You're so happy. But when it becomes – seriously, it's so weird. Like you want to hurt your opponent but never seriously.

If that makes sense, I don't know. At least that's how I kind of always thought of it. You want to demoralize them. Yeah, you want to make them – You want to give them a reason to quit. You want to put them in pain. You want to make them suffer. You want to give them a reason to quit. Yeah. You want to give them a reason to just let me waltz up the ice looking off people on the power play, firing a breakaway to Crosby goal. Thanks, sis. Wait, I want to ask you in business. I got a question for you after. How do you go back to

playing after something like that? It wasn't like there was a minute left in the period. That was still 17 minutes left in the first period. How do you go from watching that to like, okay, now I got to go play hockey again? I actually was thinking that it is odd and weird. And I was looking at Cassidy because they kept kind of going to him and both coaches, I think.

Just to, I mean, the camera's got to do something. Who are they going to stay on? And you think of these guys who are just as rattled as the players. I mean, anytime you don't know what's going on, like I mean, the camera's got to do something. Who are they going to stay on? And you think of these guys who are just as rattled as the players. I mean, anytime you don't know what's going on, like I said, it's scary. But then you've got to kind of get the guys going. All right, guys, we know. And even the team will say, I think, all right, we've got to go. The first few shifts are always a little.

Oh, it's so weird. It's like shinny hockey. Everyone's kind of timid out there. Yes, yes. Nobody's going to bump into each other. Hey, no one's like, first thing I'm going to do is finish my first hit. That's like the last thought in your brain.

Sorry, go ahead. No, no, go ahead, Whit. Finish up. No, I'm just like saying, so yeah, the beginning is like he's saying, shinny, but what happens is a couple things happen. And say that happened, how much time was left in the period? 1652. And that was what period? First period first okay so that's what i'm saying by the end of the game it's two two and the third you've now forgotten about it which is even more to show like not what

a business it is but it's your profession like you are out to win and there is a scary time but it doesn't last that long in terms of game. You get hit, you get fucking run over. All right, I'm back. I got to play for myself and my team. Like, I hope he's all right, but we'll figure that out after. And it's crazy to think it is scary for some people, but you get back into it. You always have to.

Biz, I want to ask as a former Scrabble, when something like that happens, the guys like you, a fighter, do you kind of say to yourself, oh, man, not tonight? Like, do you have to make a mental adjustment? Or you say hey fuck if i gotta go i gotta go because you don't want to you don't want to have someone in that same situation as a result of something you do is there something i would say uh i would say just off the top of my head i can't remember an example of where something like that happened and then and then maybe had to fight later on in that game maybe if it was one of the opponents who caused that type of injury

and it wasn't a freak accident, then things might boil over. But when it happens accidentally like that, I think a lot of the physical play leaves the game. So I know we've spent a lot of time on this. We just wanted to maybe go through the psychological aspect of what these players are going through, seeing their friends and guys they love go down. All right. Thanks for the input, guys.

That's some good stuff. It was a rough night for the Stripes as well. Linesman Steve Miller was also hurt in that game. He had to leave the game. Looked like he might have wrenched his ankle. He was down and in some pain. And out in San Jose, referee Francis Sharon was hit by a puck in, like, the face, head area on a deflected Evander Kane shot.

Had some muster on it, too. He was down for a bit, but he finished the game. And, you know, we talk about the players all the time in the show. Well, Had some muster on it, too. He was down for a bit, but he finished the game. We talk about the players all the time on the show. Well, the refs are tough bastards, too, so we want to send our well wishes to those guys. They take beatings out there, too, and they don't get the glory that the other guys get, so hopefully those guys are feeling

all right, and they'll be right back at it. Boys, we got a new kind of chicklets bump out there. Last week, I went on a little bit of a rant about the situation in Denver with fans not being able to watch the beloved avalanche. And what do you know? Two days later, DirecTV and Altitude hammer out a deal. One down, two to go.

Is this a real chicklets bump or what, Biz? You know what I could picture? I could picture R. That's very funny you said that. I pictured something as well. Here's one for spitting chicklets memes. R.A. thinks he had a huge hand in this, which, hey, you know what? Fuck it, R.A.

Ride the wave, man. Enjoy it. Embrace it, right? And I'm sure all those Colorado fans love you for having their backs. R.A.'s the guy in Ocean of XI when he goes to the Mexico to the dice factory, and then he's having lunch with the Mexicans and then realizes they're not getting enough pay. So all of a sudden there's a delay on getting their illegal dice

because fucking R.A. is the guy leading the charge and their new unionization to get more pay. That's R.A. So put the fucking chicklets meme, put R.A.'s head on that guy at the picket line in Ocean's Eleven and you're welcome for a free one. Unfortunately, I've never seen Ocean's Eleven, so I'm just going on what you're describing.

Yeah, I know. I know, that's kind of crazy, but I was too busy passing pucks in my basement. This is what I pictured. I pictured some big guy. And now, was the company Altitude? Who was in the wrong? Who were we upset?

I'm not sure about it. I don't know if Altitude's in the wrong. That's why I didn't want to call anybody who was being the asshole. It, that's what I don't... I'm not sure about... I don't know if altitude's in the wrong. That's why I didn't want to call anybody who was being the asshole. It's business, so I don't know who's wrong. It doesn't affect my... what I pictured, Biz. I figured...

I pictured the head of the company that, like, won't budge, you know? That fucking guy who wakes up and goes downstairs and every morning has his toast cooked to perfection. A little brown, not too burnt, and the butter's exactly where he wants it,

and he gets his feet rubbed, and this is just big old big wig. And if his coffee's too cold, he throws it in the person's face. Oh, yeah, he'll come down and be like, Are you kidding me? I said seven blueberries in this pancake. There's eight, motherfucker. Well, what happens? This big wig, he's got memberships at seven country clubs, private jet.

He's got R.A. in a basement in Southie thinking that he thinking that he's going to bully this guy around. And little does it little does he know the chicklets listeners are fuck attack this guy all over the place. And our Ray creates a new season for the Colorado avalanche hockey fans. I mean, this guy's never been beat by anyone. This guy takes his dog. This guy, the guy that R.A. beat takes his dog, walks his dog, and the dog shits in your yard, and he walks right away,

and he looks at you up, and he sees you looking at him in your house, and he's like, pick up my dog. Hey, I don't know if you saw it. You know on the side of the highway where they have the altitude billboard, and then they have McKinnon in the middle and Rotten on the right and lannis kog on the left they fucking blacked out lannis kog and they're putting ra up there now so it's gonna be he's gonna be on the left hand so he's gonna be in the mount rushmore he's in colorado avalanche sweatpants that are way too big for him and a hoodie that's like for his press conference and then he's got like he's rolling a joint and

mckinnon's kind of looking over out of like this is our third guy if you know the seahawks have the guy who who lifts the flag every game you should be an honorary flag lifter for the colorado badge next game you should get season tickets you have seat don't you have a future on them winning the cup too i do not take it oh my god actually i gotta i'd have to double check because i do got about fucking 12 teams covered when you since you're now a member of the organization i would i just want to apologize now for that spanking that the coyotes put on you guys last night now sorry you can go back to it that's that's a beating but yeah you mentioned a basement in south boston people might think whitey bulger might have scared the guy when you say that but by the way direct tv

is the one who signed. They still need to get Dish and Comcast. No, I meant like a leaky basement where he's got one TV and one – Or your water board. He has Keno in his basement. Hey, this is a weird note, a tidbit from Saturday. On Saturday, all seven Canadian teams played in the U.S. That never happened before.

All seven Canadian teams played on a Saturday in the U.S. Never happened before in the history of the NHL. I thought that was a quirky little note. Like all seven teams. You gotta think every Saturday night one of those teams is at home for Hockey Night in Canada late or early game. Yeah. That's that's kind of weird. Yeah they were all in the United States on a Saturday all seven of them which never happened before. Boys did you see Milan Lucic got another highlight. Yeah dropped Cole Sherwood, kid on Columbus, first, well, it's his third NHL game, first of the season. You know, he's out there trying to make an impression. Dave Riddick makes a save.

Whistle hadn't blown. He gives a little poke afterwards. Well, Lucic skates in, just fucking basically drills the kid into Toledo. He only got four minutes. The poor kid got a two-minute fucking minor for slashing. Biz, what was your take on this one? I mean, there's protecting your goalie. There's also going a little overboard.

What do you think? Yeah, I mean, it might have been a little – it's probably overboard for today's climate. I thought it was a little bit unnecessary. I didn't see the entire play develop. Apparently, Looch was the one who turned it over at the blue line, so I'm sure the frustration had mounted, and then he saw him jab his goalie, and then the wires went – they crossed then and then he and then he threw a right hand so I feel like Looch is

really embracing kind of that like he's gonna slug it up this year like I don't he knows he's not gonna bring that offense I thought maybe he would help help them a little bit more offensively he has not had a great start as far as numbers are concerned um i don't know his analytics or how his play's been in the role that he's been given but i mean listen if this team ends up having success and and that little bit of meat and and and whatever he's bringing is is is helping them in that locker room listen do i think they won the trade no they're getting smoked on it right now. But if James Neal wasn't going to have success there, and that's what I keep hearing from their side of things, hey, let him slug it up, let him do his thing,

and maybe those other guys in the lineup feel comfortable with him in it. So, because, I mean, I know they didn't have the best start to the year either, but they've been playing well lately. Did he get – what did he get for a penalty on the play? He got a double minor for roughing. That was it. Okay. So if people are upset about it, he got a fucking penalty.

But you're going to go at my goalie. I don't really care. I don't care about taking this four-minute. The team doesn't care either, which I don't think they do. He's basically saying no one's going to give us any shit, and he drills the kid. I would hope people aren't all up in arms and calling. I mean, I'm sure people are calling

us. I'm still on the off the Twitter thing, but are people like all over? Usually those on Twitter people bark the most about the head hits and it was high. And if he gets up getting a game like with the rules in place now, I'm going to game for that. He does have a hearing

today on Sunday. He has a hearing on Sunday. I would imagine that he's going to get a game for that? He does have a hearing on Sunday. He has a hearing on Sunday. I would imagine that he's going to get a game, and I'm okay with him getting a game. Do I think when I was playing, would that have been a game? Fuck no, but you've got to try to prevent it a little bit, right? Okay, so if that is a game,

I'm just saying it's not the biggest deal. He doesn't give a shit. He's like like we're not being bullied around you said it perfect biz i mean i guess like that would never yeah that would never have been a game when i started playing hey listen i don't feel like getting in an argument about it eight years ago i would have said hey buddy don't touch the fucking goalie and stop embellishing it you fucking pussy you're gonna fucking slash my goalie you better fucking take that shot in the face like a man and then now it's like if you say that like they they're gonna throw you in the fucking don jerry category was he buddy don't touch my kid okay was the guy

what happened to the guy leave the game let's put it this way let's play this way right i but he went the way he went down it didn't look great i'll say this if i touched a goalie the way that kid touched a goalie, I'd be turning around and being prepared to be punched in the face. So fuck off with this new bullshit. I like the old school stuff. That was like, all right, I'm going to do this, but then immediately shed because somebody's coming.

Exactly. And actually that's going to lead to – If you don't want to get punched. Since we're kind of on the Luchich top and we played Colorado last night, i want to bring up something off the top of my head here that's a door off i like him i like him as a player i think he's nasty i think he's solid he's got he's got that natural mean streak to him something happened a few weeks ago we talked about on the podcast where it was luch zidora i've hit one of Looch's teammates. Looch went after him.

I don't think the hit was terrible. I think it just looked bad in the midst of the moment. Well, Zdorov fucking had his fucking gloves glued on. Like, there was no way he was going to fucking fight Looch. Well, the other night against Florida, that Hunt guy hits him, and Zdorov goes after and starts challenging him and I think they ended up scrapping and he's like challenging the bench where I'm like dude he gave you a clean hit now you're chasing

around the ice where it's like are you going to be a spot picker? Sure as shit last night against the freaking against the Coyotes he went after Keller a little bit and then went after Garland and Gloss and Kraus went out there and challenged him I don't think he wanted to fight him it's like fuck fuck, buddy.

Well, the best part is you missed the best part of the Florida game. I didn't send you the clip. He crushed some kid on Florida, like Howerluck or something. I'm butchering that name. I don't know. Mikey, help me out because I'll continue to talk until you look up the name. He crushed this kid.

Enormous hit. Keith Yandel, our boy, is coming up the ice. So like the guy got hit at Keith's defensive zones, blue line. So they're exiting the zone. So Keith's trailing up the play. The play goes down the other. The play goes down the other end, gets turned back up or it's down in Colorado's and Keith skates down the ice, slashes him in the shin pads, and shakes his gloves at him. Like, what a teammate. What a guy. Wow.

Because he's 6'6". He's 6'6". He's a mute. He's a mute. And you see him skate down. He goes, let's fucking go. Shakes his gloves at him, and the guy doesn't do shit. Maybe this was after the fact, because I didn't see the game.

I just saw that clip. And Grinnelli, I could send it to you after. I don't know if we're going to be able to link it. But I just like – Colorado fans are probably going to smoke me for this because a couple of them wrote me afterward, and they're like, oh, he's not going to fight that slug. He's playing 20 minutes a game. It's like, okay, I get that.

But then don't go after small skill guys and act all like fucking tough. I don't know. To me, there was a bit of code involved. Like if I was going after a little guy, I would expect this big guy to come over and then I was going to shed the mitts. The reason I was going after a little guy was to get the big guy's attention if he wouldn't fight me. Or how about like, oh, Keith Yandel, one of the best offensive defensemen

in the league is I could get this guy off the ice and I'm way bigger than him. Like it's just so bizarre that he wouldn't step up. I don't know and it's Jace Howard luck I hope I'm getting that right he hey Zdorov hit him so hard his letters changed on his jersey so you didn't know what it was yeah it was Howard Chuck now it's Howard Lee Luck that was a big hit hey now last comment I've said it already I I like Sidorov's game. I like what he brings to their team. Boys, I can't believe we've gone this long, and we haven't mentioned our guest yet.

Oh, Jesus. I mean, Tim Stapleton, you have been talking about him for a long time. I used to think it was Mike Stapleton because that was my generation of NHL. This interview, we're going to bring it up in a little bit, in all time. Tell us a little bit on how you and Stapes met before we get to the interview.

Well, I kind of go into it in the interview, but we met for the first time. We might have, I'm sure we had played against each other prior, either growing up or minors, NHL, whatever. But we didn't actually meet until I was in Russia, the year I was in Russia, and so was he. And we go into when you see a guy that's from America or, you know, North America and you're over there, it's you just you form a bond.

You kind of have to, in a sense, that's that's who you're you're similar with. You get similarities. Excuse me. So right away, I'm like, this guy's incredible. In like a 20 minute conversation, it was just a bunch of laughs, didn't know each other, but had one mutual friend, Josh Hennessy. And I think we go into like, you know, how it stemmed from there. And he's just a funny dude. I mean, Bill, you said it is Bill Burr, like the way he kind of was like, he was just kind of like, like, he's just like pumping his tires way too much. But he was like shrug his shoulders and just shit on stuff.

And, and guys like we, we always hear about all these Russian stories and we know a lot of these guys who played in russia and we get them unfiltered when we get them one-on-one not on the podcast i would say stapleton probably went most into depth about the russia situation and nailed it to a t now was there some there's always gonna be stuff that's left out if i ever if you're a fan and you ever approach me and you're like, yo, fucking tell me some fucked up shit that the guys have told you about Russia, I'll tell you some fucked up shit. You're going to have to put it in the vault,

and I would never acknowledge that I told you that. But this guy, I was in tears. One of those ones where, guys, I really don't care if you like it because I loved it. Yeah, I don't think collectively we have a laughed at or at a guess. Hopefully our listeners feel the same. We'll bring him up in a little bit. We've got a few other topics to get to.

We were just talking about Milan Lucic. He's a Vancouver guy. And a team that none of us were particularly high on at the beginning of the year. He's had a pretty remarkable start. The Vancouver Canucks. They're now 9-3-2. They haven't lost in regulation at home. And after Spank and San Jose Saturday night,

they extend their point streak to seven games, and only four teams have more than their 20 points. This Miller-Pettison-Bessel line, it's a monster. They're looking to become one of these dominant lines that become the engine that makes teams go like we're seeing in Colorado and Boston. A lot of fun to watch this team, huh, Whit, right now? Oh, it's a blast. So when you watch them play, the lines,

they have like perfect chemistry on all four of their lines. But the stat that really jumped out at me is after last night's shit kicking or Saturday night, excuse me, shit kicking of San Jose, who stinks, by the way. The Sharks stink. Their goaltending is atrocious. Their team stinks right now. I've lost so much money on the Sharks.

So you watch that chicken. They now have five or more goals in half their games this year. So this offense is just perfectly engineered in terms of what they want on each line. That first line, like you said, is as legit as you can get. Pedersen is so nasty. He looks so fragile, but he is like Datsoukian.

I think I said that last year. I wonder if people agree with me or not. He has certain abilities. I think that's already been said even on this podcast, but he has abilities to just make people look foolish and he just like slithers through everywhere. So he's like turning into a superstar. Besser can score at will, it seems.

Last night, he makes a play. It's a puck that ends up midair. Pedersen knocks it in, but Besser's getting it over to him. His shot's awesome. And then JT Miller, it seems like he's finally – I don't want to say finally. He's had some really good years. But, Biz, would you not say he's a guy that, like,

he's going to play a ton with two really skilled guys. He can be awesome. But if in Tampa where he's kind of playing third line and stuff, you're not necessarily going to get the most out of him? I just feel like right now it's fitting because, like, everybody's taking the attention away from everybody. They have so many, like, they have so many guys who are of top six caliber. I mean, of course, Pedersen's in a league of his own.

But, I mean, buddy, their top six right now is clicking and buzzing better than any top six in the National Hockey League. Maybe, I mean, you've got to take Boston into that category because their top six have been ridiculous. And, I mean, maybe a few other teams. I mean, washington would be another example just because their fucking power play so filthy but like you said this offense is has showed no signs of slowing down well their fourth line too so it shows how much this stuff

matters when you do have depth is that jay beagle he wins wherever he goes right and so all of a sudden he becomes a factor because now they have a competent bottom six where it's like damn okay and and Tyler Myers while catching heat for what he signed well you're bringing over a guy who can play 22 minutes and yeah I mean there's going to be mistakes like any player I mean maybe he's overpaid I'm not saying he isn't but he's still better than what they had so it's just an improvement on their D side with him and the other. And that Hughes, I mean, he got injured the other day, though, I think. Yeah, he didn't play the San Jose game.

Is that news out? What happened to him, Grinnelli? Did you notice? I don't know. Either way, he has looked so good. And you add a rookie that can skate like that, and it's just changed their entire team. They're getting two good goalies.

Markey looks good. That Demko is real nice. I i was gonna ask you about demko he's played five games this year his goals against averages is a decent amount under under two and and he's almost at a nine nine fifty save percentage i think he's got like nine he's got a 938 save percentage i believe right now he went to boston university you know anything about this guy? Second round pick, 36 overall. There's one shitty thing about this guy. I feel bad bringing it up on the podcast

because sometimes I don't air people's dirty laundry, but he's a shitbag. He played at Boston College. Oh, Boston College, sorry. Real loser for that. Just a dirt bag from BC. So, Biz, don't ever say that a boston college guy played for bu again okay but pretty high pick i mean there's all there's obviously been like

talk around him for years now on being like a future number one so markstrom too there was times i played with him uh in the minors and in florida i was like this guy's gonna be a stud and i i just they're fun to watch. I mean, they're out west. You always catch them in the late games, and you just get to enjoy some sick hockey. Well, going back to that offense, too. So they've only played five home games, 4-0-1. They have a shootout loss to the Washington Capitals.

They've outscored opponents at home 28-12. They're averaging 5.6 goals a game on home ice and it all start and why wouldn't you go to those games oh but they're so now all of a sudden they're fun to watch i wasn't that hard on them in our season previews i thought that they're going to be a solid team i just didn't think they were going to make playoffs now it's very early still um i they're seven one and two in their last 10 games. Overall, they're currently third in the league with 53 goals for it. So they're only trailing Washington and Nashville in that category. We're talking about Elias Pettersson.

This is, this is before this weekend's games. Okay. So this had been in his prior 10. I know he had two goals last night or Saturday night. Who do you have him against? San Jose. The shit bag starts. The shit bag starts. last night, or Saturday night. Who do you have him against? Sharks. San Jose. Sharks. The shitbag Sharks losing the – The shitbag Sharks.

Sharks. And this is from Dimitri Filipovic on Twitter, okay? So this guy's a fun follow. He's got all these – Oh, yeah. So this was in these 10 games, man. Four goals, 14 assists. Twelve of the assists were primary.

Seven penalties drawn. With him on the ice five on five Canucks had 61.4 percent of shot attempts 68.8 percent of chances with him on the ice Canucks were out scoring teams 14 to 4 at 5 on 5 and 25 to 5 overall this guy's numbers I would say they're they're second to maybe only Dreisaitl right now, who is on an absolute fucking heater. Now, not to take away from the Canucks, we've got to stroke them off just a little bit more. Elias Peterson has 86 points in his first 85 NHL games, okay?

So decent sample size at this point. He is one of eight active players who have a point per game or higher in their career. This puts him in an elite company with Crosby, McDavid, Malkin, Ovechkin, Kane, Kucherov, and Stamkos. So this guy is becoming elite, and we're seeing enough of it where it's okay to say that's exactly what he is. Is there any chance that the Roxy got a new waitstaff and it's bumping again?

And the guys are getting dummied there? I'll say this. I'll say this. The Roxy flew? Elias is not shy to buzz around town. He's got that style. He's got that little smirk. He's got that Swedish flair.

He's got the Swedish flair, bro. And another thing is we got to talk about the other guys too. Six guys on that team in double digits and points right now, one of which being Quinn Hughes, a.k.a. Grinelli. And we talked about them bringing over Tyler Meyer. Is he overpaid? Yeah, he's overpaid a little bit. But now all of a sudden he's a guy you said he could log that amount of ice time

and also take a little bit of focus away from Quinn Hughes as he's coming into his rookie year where where you got to have some other guys around who he can ask questions to and and find out you know I mean remember Tyler Myers came in the league and had an unbelievable rookie season was he not nominated for the Calder trophy I think I think he won it didn't he oh he might want it okay well he might even want it that's that just goes to show how my where my brain's at but and he also went through a lot of struggles in his second year so having a guy like that to mentor a young stud coming in the league who is expected to put up offense which when my Myers did he was putting up points and he still does at a decent rate it's good to have guys like that

around so um we talked about the the depth that, you know, everybody kind of rolled their eyes about the one contract they got to shed is Louie Erickson. And to me, that Jay Beagle deal doesn't look too bad all of a sudden, this could be a potential playoff team if they can, if they can fucking keep this offense going, man. I know you can't get an assist on your own goal, but Saturday night that play Pedersen made when he lightly touched off the board so that Besser come in and send it back to him,

and he bats it out of the middle of the air. That was an unbelievable goal that he set up himself. Anytime a guy can assist on his own goal, that's always impressive. You guys just mentioned Thatcher Demko. Like you said, Whit, he was a second-round pick back in 2014. A lot of hype came with him. 4-1 and 5 starts so far this year.

He's got a 1-7-8, 9-3-8. I know Markstrom pretty much grabbed the number one job the last couple years, but Demko's only 23. He's going to be 24 next month. He's looking like a confident number one guy out there. So you'd rather have two good goalies instead of none. Along with Ralph Kruger, I think a lot of credit should be given to Travis Green.

He naturally got it. He seemed like he was a natural coach right from the beginning. He wasn't out of the game that long. I think he won a college cup in Utica, right, Biz? Did they go to the finals? No, we beat them in the finals. He was unbelievable for them. I was happy that they hired him because, you know, typically they always go back to the old school coaches that had been fired and passed around.

And I think they saw enough connection with him and the players down there where they're like, this guy would be able to do it at the NHL level. Yeah, and one caveat, not to rain on Vancouver fans parade, but their October schedule was the easiest in the league based on strength of schedule. So things are going to toughen up for them a little bit. So we'll see what happens there. Now saying that, they have only played five home games.

Right. So they have a decent amount of home games coming. I believe they played, what was it, what have they played? 14 games so far. So they've played nine on the road. So that should help out too, considering they've been buzzing at home. And you mentioned, Jay. Hold on, R.A., that Dirtbag Bruins fan is like, oh, there's one caveat, Canucks fans. You burned your city down. You burned your city down.

I was there too. You mentioned Jay Beagle. Interesting tidbit, the Canucks have three of the top 10 forwards in face-off winning percentage with a minimum of 75 draws. Beagle, Horvat, and Miller. Beagle is at 65%, and he takes most of his draws shorthanded on his weak side, too, which makes it even more impressive. And the team itself is second at 55%. I know face-offs can be boring talk, but it's a huge part of the game, and Vancouver's killing it at the dot.

I will say this. I think if you're going to snap him back, and playing with the puck is important, we know that. Jay Beagle, is he underpaid? Is Jay Beagle underpaid? Today's hot take. One other quick note. Michael Furlan was sent to the I.R. with an upper body injury. Just one final connection note.

Moving along. You guys, I know you saw this on Instagram or Twitter or whatever. Some dude hit David Postanak's push, and then he hits him up for a pitcher after. Moving along, I know you saw this on Instagram or Twitter or whatever. Some dude hit David Pasternak's Porsche, and then he hits him up for a picture after. Mark Souza, whose Twitter handle sounds suspiciously like somebody else's, at Souznasty2.1, which is a little spin on you. I name Biz. He sends a screenshot.

I caught that. Wait a minute. I'm dumb. The kid who hit Pasternak's Twitter handle is a playoff of Biz's. He's a Biz fan. Suze Nasty 2.1. Dude, he 100% did this on purpose. He was probably saw Poshinok.

He's like, I'm going to bury him and text Biz. Biz is going to talk about me. He texts his dad. I got in a crash just now in Boston. His father doesn't write back. Are you okay? Is everything all right? He's like, how? Biz is going to talk about me. He texts his dad. I got in a crash just now in Boston. His father doesn't write back. Are you okay? Is everything all right? He's like, how?

I just hit David Pasternak's Porsche. No, you didn't. And then he sends a picture with him and Pasternak. I can only imagine someone hitting Wittscott. I'm still baffled R.A. tried to explain that joke to me. Like, do you think I'm that stupid? No, I wasn't explaining the joke. I was just saying it was a tribute.

He was a little tribute. I just was calling attention to it for the fans, Biz, more than you. But anyways, imagine somebody – It's okay. You can admit if you think I'm that stupid. No, guy. I didn't take it that way. I could see how you would.

I actually didn't take it that he was trying to explain, like, hey, Biz, now look in me eyes while I talk to you. This is what happened. Brings out the bar graph. He's like, so according to my calculations. Biz, imagine somebody hitting fucking Witt's car and then when he gets out asking for a picture. How fucking, how much would you

snap on Witt? I would have slapped his iPhone across the other side of the road, watching it run over. Are you fucking kidding me? Like, dude, you just buried my car. Wires crying in the back, shit in his diapers.

He asked for a picture. I'm like, yeah, hold on one sec. I just got to grab something out of my trunk. And I come up with a seven iron, like, ready to fling it out of. Jack Nicholson style. And then you choke, like, in our sandbag or invitation. That's why I have to carry the team. Or like I shoot like four under on the back,

and we run away against those two peasants. What do we got, R.A.? Sorry for going off the rails. That's quite all right. We got to talk about Matty Kachuk's between-the-legs game winner at the buzzer. What was it? Against?

Nashville. Yeah, Nashville United. Oh, my God. I mean, we're seeing these more and more, these between-the-leg shots. We're almost getting used to it. But to do that at the buzzer, at that rate of speed, man, like he even said afterwards, it was like basically instinctual. But there were some funny quotes per Sportsnet's Ryan Leslie.

He asked Brady to check about it. Brady said he's been doing this since we were little. He worked on it a lot this summer. I'm more meat and potatoes, working on the greasy goals. He's more flash. Big Walt said, if I tried that, I'd pull my groin. And then they asked Matty about it on Hockey Night in Canada. He said, people should stop talking about it.

It's a new day. It was like, boom, shut the door right on it. It was pretty funny. Who said that? Matt Kachuk last night. You know how they do the pregame interviews on Hockey Night in Canada? And he's like, yeah, people should stop talking about it. It's a new day and skate it off. It's like, yeah, people should stop talking about it. It's a new day, and skate it off.

Talk about a former player's son right there that just is all about the team. That kid seems like the man. I mean, I know we chatted with him, but... I said he's the most valuable player on that team. He must be the best teammate. He should have got what Marner got. Yeah, you have been on that train. People think I'm fucking crazy.

No, you're fucking crazy. The best part was, he tied it up. He tied it up with, I don't know, 40 seconds left or a minute left. That game was awesome. I think Austin Watson had four points, I thought. It was nuts, but he tied it up late, and then the gamer goes out. I was watching it. I didn't realize.

I thought he just offside one-timed it. I didn't see what had happened live, how quick it was. You go to the replay, you're like, oh, my God. That might be better than any of the ones we – I think that is the goal of the year right now for me. Just because of how fast it happened. That beats Sonny Milano's goal. That beats the Shevetchnikov.

That beats Pasternak's between the legs. That was just so quick. It's wild. To give people a breakdown of how this game went, it was 4-1 for the Nashville Predators going into the third period. Calgary came all the way to tie it back up. Then Nashville went ahead by a goal to make it 5-4. And then Matthew Kachuk had scored with under a minute left in the third

to force overtime. And then he pulls that stunt with two seconds left in overtime where, boys, that's just overtime where boys that's just listen that's unbelievable skill right time at the run right place but i mean you just got to credit his timing because you could see him coming into the neutral zone where he was planning on getting that rebound and then boom just i mean he and apparently the next night he almost had another in between the legs goal and an empty. So this kid's a stallion. That was his sixth goal of the season.

I don't know how many points he has, but the leader in the clubhouse. And maybe I've done a lot of reminiscing back to the good old days this episode, but, Biz, tell me if I'm wrong. If you tried shit like that and it didn't work, I feel like Lyle Odeline would have beat me with a bag of soap in the shower. Do you remember, Biz, when you tried shit like that and it didn't work? I feel like Lyle Odeline would have beat me with a bag of soap in the shower. Do you remember, Biz, when you tried shit like that? Older guys would be like, what the fuck do you think you're doing? Well, time out. Remember, two seconds left on the clock.

We don't know if this guy's doing it. He's like, if I miss and somebody churses, you're saying, fuck you, man. I'm just trying to get the thing off. No, no, no, no. That's a very valid point. I guess I mean overall for everything you see tried out there now it i just i just think there was a time when it was like if you tried it and it didn't work you would never try it again yeah you're saying like imagine like you know middle middle through you're up to nothing you're with the penguins you're young defenseman michelle perrion's your coach and your last guy

back he come over behind the net you look off sid and then you're going through your zone and then hosa fucking just strips you and goes in alone like like that type of ass reaming you're talking about and that type of skating back to the bench and seeing john leclaire and his old ccm bucket no visor wooden twig staring at you just disgusted well he'd be shaking his head like, is this fucking kid kidding me? And if he was on the ice for a minus? Oh, dude. You'd hear about that skating back to the bench.

Nice fucking dish, Whit. See you in Wilkes-Barre. Hey, boys. We got an update on a player we've been talking about quite a bit on this show, even though he hasn't played at all this year. Big Buff. Bob McKenzie came in with an update on him. He reported nbc ascent the other night dustin bufflin recently underwent

ankle surgery to take care of unresolved issues from the high ankle sprain he suffered late last season what that means for his future and whether it could in time lead to his return to winnipeg remains to be seen it's certainly premature to say buff will return to active duty this season but there is a sense if he does feel healthy again he may be inclined to report at some point it's believed one of the biggest factors why he opted not to play is because his ankle is so troublesome and there's per bob mckenzie that begs the question why not report to training camp go on ir rehab it or get surgery or whatever else and get paid to do so only one person can answer that and that's buff he's not too forthcoming on personal info in any case dustin buff and getting the surgery may and i the word may, open the door to a return at some point.

That would be contingent on when or if he feels well. We shall see. Again, that's per Bob McKenzie, TSN. So anything you need to add to that, boys? Well, I guess I got a question. So considering it was a hockey injury, so he still gets paid then, no? That's what they're starting to say that he could bring up. I saw Merrick bring that up.

It leads to a thing where he's like, wait, well, I got hurt, but he got the surgery on his own. So I don't know if that then cancels everything out. I really don't understand. It's a bit of a weird situation. And for people arguing like, oh oh he didn't show up to camp because he didn't want to it's like all right but it's like if he expected to get paid his requirement would have been you have to show up to camp you have to go on the iron there's a process

you can't just but that's why why wouldn't if he knew he was injured why it's just weird that he actually was like no i don't even want to. Maybe he's had a change of heart. Who knows? But anyway. Well, either way, he might need a new sweater for his men's league if he decides to play on one of those. So listen up, all you beer league all-stars. Your team needs new jerseys. Your team needs men's league sweaters. They make the best custom jerseys in hockey. If you guys haven't seen them, they made one for each of us back, I think it was last year. I still sleep in mine. It's not too often I'm going to get a jersey with my face on it. So I love the thing. Guys, if you're starting a beer league, a men's league, whatever, you've got to check these things

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So make your team the envy of the league. Outfit your squad with men's league sweaters. And, boys, we can attest to these bad boys. We all have our own personalized ones. They're pretty sick jerseys. That pink one is unbelievable. Yeah, where is that? You autographed it, and it's hanging in Eric and Argini's office.

I mean, that is a big-time sweater. I love that thing. The guy got my left ear perfectly bigger than the right ear, even on a cartoon. Yeah. They do a good job. You didn't like the team pigeons? See, this one sticks out.

Team pigeons. What else we got here, Ari? Boys, this is probably a captain obvious statement, but Tampa Bay looks absolutely naked without Victor Hedman. They were leading the Rangers 1-0 when he got hurt and left the lineup. They ended up losing that game 4-1. Since then, they've been outscored 11-9 the next two games. They went 1-1.

They gave up 6-0 to Jersey, gave up 5-0 to the Islanders on Long Island. They just look all out of sorts, totally discombobulated in their own end. And Tampa Bay and Buffalo, they got two games in Sweden next weekend at the NHL Global Series. They don't know if he's going to be ready for that. It's obviously a big deal going to his home country. Wits, you're a D, man. I mean, how does a team get so fucked up by losing one guy like this,

even though he's as good as Hedman? Because when you're relied upon for half the game every night it's just such a big hole that people really can't fill and having a stud defenseman on true number one d-man can't be replaced by two guys really like it's it's because yeah two guys as a unit can play awesome and they could step up and play more minutes but that's you that's you that means that there's another weaker player that you can always just put your number one with and he can carry them. Not necessarily weaker, but do you know what I'm saying? Like you can put a guy that needs to be carried a little bit and know that a guy like

Hedman will just carry him through games. He makes it easy on him. When he gets the puck, you get out of the zone. When he's on. When he has it offensively, he makes plays. He doesn't just rim it in. So the whole team can't really vibe. Like forwards aren't getting it because half the time they're on the ice, so is he snapping it up to them or carrying it up the ice. So they're not that good. I'm not that worried about them.

Biz, you made the great point last episode about they're struggling right now, but when the Capitals won the cup i wish i had a picture of the the thing at nhl network through the first 15 games of the year the year the capitals won the cup they didn't have a cup yet obviously people were questioning them why their playoff failures then that year they started horrible worse than tampa bay is right now and they won the cup so it's early uh It's just, it is weird, though, to see them struggle after what we saw last year. Yeah, it comes down to tendencies, Whit.

It's like, we talked about John Carlson last episode and how important he is to that team because, like, he's the one fucking sliding it over to Ovechkin, and he's the one going back. And, like, he's lugging so much ice, all these other players on the team are relying on those tendencies, where he puts it most of the time, how he turns and his timing on it.

So it's like hockey is like – it's almost like art because it's always in rhythm. You have to be in – like, I mean, it's like look at Dallas. Dallas, their offensive rhythm was so fucking off. And all of a sudden now, okay, now things are clicking again. Now it's going. And now it's just like they're lighting the lamp every night. I think they've outscored opponents a ridiculous amount in the last, like, three or four games ever since they popped off in that period.

That switched their season around. That changed their season so far. Now I think they're, what, seven and one in their last eight? I don't know if it's that good. I think they've won four in a row i i radulov's scoring he's being a not have to get once against montreal his old team um but yeah i don't i don't even remember how'd you just get into dallas how did it i mean like yes like tendencies right like their offensive rhythm it's just like headman like he's quarterbacking everything it's exactly so when Hedman wheels the net with the puck and Kucherov's out there

or points out there or even Stamkos, they all start getting open. They know that he's going to find one of them, whereas if another guy, when he's out, wheels the net, you're never like that confident enough that you're going to get the puck. You're more weary, all right, there might be a turnover. It's just easier to open up when a guy like that's carrying it up ice. It changes everything. And, you know, Tampa fans are hoping this slump doesn't last too long.

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I think we should send it over to Tim Stapleton right about now we've been going for a nice little run here what do you say yeah boikies everyone will learn about his boikies yeah we'll learn all about boikies alright well without further ado I hope everybody was as entertained by this fella as we were Tim Stapleton

we are now joined by a good friend of mine this makes me very excited very happy to talk to a guy who many people listening may not know a ton about. Well, no shit. A little bit of a chirp. But let me tell you before we start this thing, this suitcase played four years at Minnesota Duluth,

160 games roughly, roughly 160 points. How's that for stats? Before they won national titles. Sorry about that. He then went over to Finland, and he lit it up in Helsinki for a couple years, and then comes back and plays up and down AHL, NHL, before going back over to Russia in the KHL, Switzerland, Sweden,

and then finishes in Germany with over a point per game in his last year. Thanks for coming. Tim Stapleton, thanks for joining the podcast, buddy. Thanks for having me. I think we've got to open this podcast up with, I've been everywhere, man. I everywhere he really has he really has so the first time that you were gonna meet up with us and do this interview was at our disaster of a live show last year in chicago where there was no volume there was no audio we couldn't figure it out so i

said we'll come back and you said i want to do this in person so it's a pleasure to finally have you dude how you been? Good. And that's funny that time because you just called me on the spot because you did Reed Simpson. Yes, yes, yes. And I'm fucking, you brought me in. I go, hey, bud, I need you, I need you. Yeah, you were like talking about, you know, and I was sitting there with Reed. This was actually funny for me because I was like nervous.

And I'm like, Reed's sitting there and we're standing in the crowd. And I'm like, Reed, do you know what we're standing in the crowd, and I'm like, I'm like, Reed, do you know what you're going to say? And he's like, no, not really. And then like two minutes later, he was like, Ron Burgundy, he pulled out his sheet. Yeah, he had a million notes. And he had all the fucking stories. I'm like, what are you, you know, but thank God the mic's broke, because I had no idea what I was going to say.

Yeah, you were like, I need to prepare for this interview. I need to prepare. All right, so dude, it's been two years since you retired, right? Yeah. So what's been going on and why did you stop playing? I mean, it's like you were fucking buzzing around.

It seemed like you could play forever. Was it just, I'm sick and tired of playing hockey? Yeah, kind of. Also, I had my second child, my daughter. Thank you. On the sex?

Yeah. It works, I guess. But no, I just, yeah, it was just time to quit. And then I started a South African beef jerky company. So this was sent to my house. And it's legit. I'm going to tell everyone. We've got pictures over here.

But is boikies the correct way to say it? Yeah, boikies. What kind of meat is this? What are the animals we're eating here? It's a beef product. It's not squirrels with feathers? It's a real feathered squirrel. I thought squirrels with feathers? It's a red-feathered squirrel. Squirrels had feathers recently.

Not my brightest moment. So how's that going? I mean, is it like, because you're trying to hop into something after hockey, it's tough to be like, what am I going to do now, right? Yeah, no, it's, I got offered, my business partner is a guy, a Chicago guy. He's an older guy named Jim Mullins. It's a private labeled sauce for all the McDonald's.

So they make all the ketchup and barbecue sauce. Oh, they're doing alright then. Yeah, and they sold that company. He lived in South Africa. The Biltong is actually the curing process and it's just air dried as opposed to cooked and it's really healthy. No sugar, 30% more protein.

Yeah, so 32 grams of protein? Pass me a bag over. Yeah, try it out. All right, I'm setting this interview up. I'm just going to mock some. Anyways, thanks for having me, guys. Of course. Of course.

All right, that ad was brought to you by. Voikies.com. All right, and I'm like, why are you still here, dude? The interview's over. Where did South Africa come into it? So Jim lived out there in the early 90s. McDonald's hired their family to open up a plant out there to make sauce.

Have you guys ever eaten at Nando's? Oh yeah. I played in England. They developed Perry Perry sauce for all that company and that's basically the chili. Not many people know what that is but he lived out there for like 8 years 7 years did he like it yeah he loved it i heard it he doesn't stop talking about it have you gone i have not gone yet yeah have you seen district nine

no oh that's great fucking insult that it's just like the best south africa movie anyway really anyway oh yeah it's a science fiction movie about a spaceship science fiction i'm not who is it dart antwood or something? Art Antwood? There's a South African rap group. You've got to know who the fuck that is. Yeah, me. South African? I already know it's the South African rap group.

Yeah, yeah. South African rap group. Yeah. I think our Die Antwood's the name, and it's a girl and guy. They're a rap group out of South Africa. So you don't know much history other than the fact that they make great beef jerky.

Yeah. Yeah. It's probably just as well. Yeah, that's all I do know. I mean, that's all... Yeah, you're right, but I don't know much history other than the fact that they make great beef jerky. It's probably just as well. That's all I do know. You're right, but I don't know much about South Africa besides the bill tongue. This guy's a treat already. He's got their flag.

No, but Jim just kind of, it was his idea and then he just asked me to... No, it's because the logo, it's definitely an eye-catcher, man. It's not something you see too often. Dude, born and raised right outside Chicago, correct? Yeah. Forest.

Forest Park, about 10 miles west. So you're a year older than me, 37 now I believe you are. Yep. So what was Utah hockey like around here? I can't imagine it was that good growing up at 12, 13, or were you just traveling so much? It was all right. It just wasn't, you know, since the Hawks been doing good.

It's blown up. Yeah, it's really good. But, I mean, like I met my agent at a Rad Hockey, which is like you pay open hockey, you pay like $10. Like just go to go to. Yeah, that's how I met my agent. And Bill Zito, who's like the assistant. What, he was skating?

Yeah, he was skating. He's like, you're kind of fast. He's like a client. He's's like the assistant. What, he was skating? Yeah, he was skating. He's like, you're kind of fair. He's like, you're not bad, huh? You're like, yeah, dude. Yeah, he's like, yeah, that's basically how it happened, how I met him. And then. So you would go skate? That was at like 15.

Yeah, open ice. Was that before you were with the Green Bay Gamblers? Yeah. Okay. And did he get you to Green Bay? I don't know. That's a good question. I don't think so.

You were just drafted probably in the USHL. Yeah, I was just kind of good. You guys don't bring shitty players on here, do you? We just host them. Everyone's still trying to Google and figure out who the fuck I am. I was like, oh, we got Mike Stapleton. He's 5'7 and Asian? That doesn't make sense.

I don't know if I'm half Filipino, half Irish, or Wikipedia. Oh, worst driver ever, the Asian in him. He can't drive a car. He gets driven everywhere.

Then he's probably drunk with the other half of the Irish. Yeah, my mom was, my mom, brother, and sister were born in the Philippines. No shit, huh? Really?

Yeah. Your brother play hockey? Yeah, a little while, just when we were young. But he played growing up? Yeah. So when you went to Duluth, were you a big recruit then? Were you getting offers from a lot of people? No, it was the only school I looked at.

And you ripped it up. I know you got so buckled on your official visit and committed the next morning. Yeah, probably. I don't remember. But no, yeah, it was the only school. I didn't really know much about hockey, to be honest. Like, I wasn't. So you weren't a kid that was, like, really into, like, who else was good?

I was good when I was, like, eight. No, seriously, though. And then kind of when I was, like, 16, I started playing AAA. And that's. And that's when you kind of started getting noticed? Yeah. I mean, it was kind of a fluke, I think. I don't know.

All right. So four years at Duluth and some really good years like i said i mean you know 42 points your freshman year that that was probably guessing um that was the year before oh i think we were freshmen the same year either way i'm guessing that was probably top five in the country for freshmen i'm sure you have no idea but you lit it up for four years and the question being you never got drafted but you went right over to Finland. And a lot of times people try playing here, and when they can't make the NHL, they go over there. You did it from the start. How did that all even come about and begin?

That was my agent, for sure. He kind of built his agency around getting no-name guys, really. So he had Rafalski that went over to Finland. He had the same team, right? Same team, yeah. And then he has Tim Thomas, Vili Laino, who's a Finnish guy, but then he's got... This guy should be a fucking scout, is what he should be.

He's assistant GM now of Columbus. Well, that'll do it. Or that. A whole scouting gig. No, and that's funny you say that, because the entire time I had him for like 14 years, and the entire time he was saying he wanted to be a GM. And he's like, I'm going to get this done.

That's how talented this guy is. He can seek talent out of, like, no offense, fucking 5'7", Philippine men's league guys. Like, that's fucking talent, bro. That is like, come on, man. Yeah, that's true. This guy should be working for the Red Wings back 20 years ago. He crashed his car trying to park in the parking lot, but God, he can skate.

Didn't pass the driver's test. You would say you guys are friends, right? You're very close with him, right? Yeah. No, I am, but I don't talk to him as much anymore. No, now naturally, but I'm saying at the time you leave Duluth, were you not like, I can't get anything over

here? Or was he more like, dude, go here first. Go to Helsinki. In that time, it was like Tuukka Rask was in the league and a couple other anti-Niemi. So these goalies were obviously attracting a lot of scouts. Scouts, they're there, they're watching.

And I was trying to do the whole men's league thing like I did, just trying to catch someone's eye. Honestly, I had no intentions to play back over here when I went there. You're like, I'm going to go play in Europe for hopefully 10 years. Yeah, I was just like, I'll go. Finland's easy to live in. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Make sure you enjoy yourself.

100%. And then it just kind of happened. know, felt, you know, happened. Well, when you say it kind of happened, I mean, you lit it up. You go over there in the first year, you get 50 points in 56 games. And the next year you get 62. You get almost 29 goals. I mean, it must have been like, all right, all of a sudden, all these teams are calling me.

Zito's like, dude, people want to sign you back home. Is that kind of how it went? No, not at all. Really? No, it's – Villy Lano was my line mate, and he went to Detroit. Heard some funny stories about that guy. I don't know what he's doing now. He's like a –

He had a clothing line. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something.

He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something.

He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something.

He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something. He's like a painter or something.

He's like a painter or something. Oh, yeah. Play his podcast. Play his podcast. Yeah, dude. No, he, Toronto was the only team, really. And that's why I signed with. Pittsburgh was interested, but Toronto at the time just gave me like a bigger signing bonus, which. But why, you were like, I'm going to go get a shot? That's the only reason I played hockey was for money. Hey, dude, I've seen all the years you played in Europe. Like, yeah, you were there to make fucking money i

don't blame you no it's uh it was just in that's just kind of how it worked out but no i didn't really i signed actually back in finland for two more years what was the nhl out what was your first impression of pro hockey back in north america because i mean you go from playing a pretty fair schedule to now all of a sudden you've got to work for your money. You've got to grind through an 80-game season in the American League. I played nine games or so. I was going to say, before Finley, you were in Portland, right? Yeah. That was just a waste of time.

You were probably so mad you didn't get to do senior spring at the movie theater. I sucked, too. Yeah, you're right. We were on a team with – it was a great team. It was like Gillies, Kanopka. And I was like, we were on a team with like, it was a great team. It was like Gillies, Konopka. You know, I'm coming from college wearing like a full cage. And then, you know, I'm going to these guys who were. Oh, Konopka was a savage too.

I remember my first game, I was in warm-ups. And I forgot two guys were just fucking barking all warm-ups. Like, oh, they're going to kill each other. I'm sitting there stretching like, what the fuck is this? You know what I mean? Get off, coach. Probably the guy. You know, and then.

No refs on the ice. No. And I'm like, dude, this is fucking brutal. So I was skating off after warmups and both guys kind of like, at Portland they had the one door. I'm like, oh, God, like what's going to happen here? And both guys were just like, hey, I'm not even playing tonight. They were like the extras in warmups.

Then I was like, what the fuck is going on? Like, you know what I mean? You know, it was just like, hey, I'm not even playing tonight. They were like the extras in warm-ups. Then I was like, what the fuck is going on? Like, you know what I mean? You know, it was just like, it was. It was a sideshow. Yeah, I was just like, what is this, you know. So Penner and O'Brien were on that team too? Yeah, Penner was there. Who was, Obie?

Yeah, Obie was there. And they, yeah, they were great though. I mean, I didn't really say much, but I just followed. Yeah, that was a little stint. An Indian, not a chief in that moment. Just whatever. I was a yes man. Just tell me what to do.

I'll do whatever you say. Who else recruited besides our Minnesota Duluth? Nobody. No, I mean, yeah, nobody. Sorry, no, that was it. University of nobody. It was either legit go there or no. I committed right away.

Oh, wow. For me, it was more like I got a full ride, which I was very grateful for. And I just wasn't. It worked out. Fooled him again. Yeah. Fooled him again, you know. Yeah.

That's cool, man. That's cool. And, you know, yeah. Okay. So since you're so fucking modest, that first year, well, the first full season back in North America with the Leafs, you ended up playing four games. Playing the first NHL game. I mean, like, okay, now what? What fucking crazy story do you have for us now?

Who'd you talk against, too? You had one goal that year. Yeah, the one goal was. Hitching the face and going. Yeah, I did. Talk us through your first game. Was it a call up and right away? The call up was awesome.

No, seriously. It was like February. My agent called me. He's like, hey, I'm coming in for dinner. And at the time, like the Leafs were. And you were lighting up the A. Yeah, and the Leafs were mathematically like basically out of the playoffs. They were fucking pretty bad.

So we went to dinner. And you still couldn't make the game? Yeah. You should have seen my preseason. I played the game. Yeah. You should have seen my preseason. I played one game, and my line was me, Jamal Mayers, and Chris Newberry. You had no chance. No, I played four minutes, and then the next day, Ron Wilson was like, hey, you're not ready for North.

I'm like, what? Wait, I got one game? I was like, all right. I got to shower with the guys. I was like, fucking, you know, I mean, whatever. Got a little per diem. Yeah, i was like fucking you know i mean whatever but uh got a little per diem yeah i was like fuck um no but uh when i went to this dinner you know i was actually kind of bitching like i was like hey am i gonna get a nhl game i'm lighting up the hl kind of not not not like i should have been you know but like you're seeing other guys maybe get called

up i was just like am i gonna get one game one game? I never thought I'd get this far. I know, I came home to maybe get a game. And then my agent, I got called up right there, like within five minutes. Oh, he shot off a text? No, it's just like the game was on. It was right next to the Air Canada Center. I don't know. I think that's the name.

Real Sports? That place? No. Remember that restaurant? Yeah, yeah. It was money. It was a strip club, the Brass Rail. They were grabbing a couple of whiskeys.

And no, it was just someone went down, and they called me up right there after like five minutes. Like literally mid-conversation. Five minutes later, injury, and then his phone gets... So I had to run home, put a suit on, come back down, and I just got in a door. I couldn't even get in. The guy was like, you're not fucking playing.

Seriously. So I was like, I get in, and the team just went in a door. I couldn't even get in. The guy was like, you're not fucking playing. Seriously. So I was like, I get in and the team just, Toronto just won in a shootout. And then we got on a flight and went to Long Island. And that's when I got in. And the guy at the door was like, you don't play for the Leafs. 100%.

I wouldn't make that up. He was just like, you know, I'm like, no, I'm playing. And he's like, no, you're not. He's like, come on. How is that? To play for the Marlies though, like, AHL wise wise that's got to be pretty good i mean like oh it's a sick city like you have a ton of money within their like ahl team like it must have been at least like not what you were hoping for coming back but not like playing in a in a shitty ahl city no it was uh it was awesome

actually we had a great team. Bates, I think you had Bates on here. Old Bates Patagonia? Yeah, yeah, he was my... His bar in North Carolina just got pink Whitney. I don't think he resonated well with our fan base, first of all, because we have a lot of Boston people, and he was chirping... I don't think he knew what this podcast was all about or anything.

I think he was just like, what the hell am I doing? Yeah, yeah, he was chirping Cassidy a little bit, which, I mean... Yeah, he had a bad experience with him. But the reason we had him on is because we've heard nothing but unbelievable things about this guy yeah he's the best and that's no he he is he's uh just an awesome guy and uh i don't know that's surprising that he got well i mean i don't know but he didn't know like he just came on and he was just like what am i doing right now like i don't think he like had ever heard of our show or anything.

But it was still, I got a kick out of it. Who was the one guy that when he saw you, you connected with well? I know you weren't up for a while with the Leafs. It was just the four games. But who was one guy where you were like, oh, my God, this guy thinks I'm cool? Cool. I use that term very loosely. No, okay. Matt Stajan. Oh, yeah. I use that term very loosely. No, okay.

Yeah. Matt Stajan. Oh, yeah. He's the best, man. The best. One of the best guys I've ever played. Yeah, he was awesome. I can't remember.

I mean, it wasn't like the best team. Well, I just meant like, I mean, you always look back and think, oh, my experience there was quick. It wasn't the best team. Well, I just meant like, I mean, you always look back and think, oh, my experience there was positive. Curtis Joseph was an awesome guy. Who was that? He was awesome. We're going to get him on the podcast. I mean, everyone was pretty, but I know what you mean.

My roommate was Anton Strahlman, who, I mean, nice guy. He's still buzzing out there. Yeah, yeah. But, yeah, I'm just, no, yeah, that's a great question. But Stajan, probably, I still talk to him a little bit. Okay. Yeah, so. We can come back to that one.

Stajan definitely thinks I'm cool. I didn't mean to put you here. If that's what you're asking. Let's go back. Stajan will say I'm a good guy. I didn't mean to put you on your heels there. Well, yeah, I mean, you did a little bit. He's like, I don't know anyone that likes me.

Well, then I don't like you. Oh, my God. Hey, well, you know a little bit. He's like, I don't know anyone that likes me. Well, then I don't like your... Oh, my God. Hey, well, you know what? Actually, come to mind, I don't like this fucking beef jerky. Dude. I actually hate it. Get out of my fucking face. It's Bill Tongue.

Okay. Do you remember who the first talk was on yet? Huh? Who the first goal was on? Who you scored the first goal on? Brian Elliott. Oh, I just saw him in the log. Yeah, but I didn't score it.

Jason Spezza actually shot it in for me. And then you took it? Well, Jason Blake threw it at the net, and I kind of did the pull. Oh, Ryan Smith did. And then I went back door, and Spezza tapped it in. But they didn't change it? No, Spezza wasn't on my team. Oh.

Guys, this was like 2009. Yo, I'm thinking Spezza's on the lead. Oh, Stapleton was setting us up to fail there. You guys really know your stats. Big deal. Of course they played you one game against the Saints. Yo, I'm thinking Spezza's on the Leafs. Oh, Stapleton was setting us up to fail there. You guys really know your stats. Big deal. Of course they played you one game against the Sens. I'm like, I didn't know Spezza had one for the Leafs this year.

Did you sell it, though? No, because I knew it happened. And I remember Jason Blake was like, did you touch that? Of course he's wondering because he wants his fucking cookie. Want to talk about Jason Blake? No, I'm not going to talk about it. What do you want to talk about? You know him?

No. I'll say Jason Blake got traded. I don't know if he signed or got traded to the Ducks. He might have signed with them. I don't know. But I played with him. And then I got traded from the Ducks to Edmonton. And then the last game of the year, the Oilers were in Anaheim.

So all my stuff was still in Anaheim because I got traded and had to go that day. So after the game, I had already talked to Steve Tambolini and the Oilers GM and coaching staff. I was like, hey, I'm just going to stay here and go home. I'm not going to go back to Edmonton because all my stuff's here. The season was over. Not really many exit meetings things were changing so the game ended we we lost to the ducks they didn't make the playoffs either i go out to sharkies and jason blake was on the team and he came up to me i remember sitting at the bar and he's like how fucking awful is it for you that you're in Edmonton? And I was just like, dude, fuck off.

It was like just rubbing or kicking a man when he's down. I was like, I got four more years of my contract up there. But I didn't know him that well. I just remember that night him just like, you must be so miserable. I was like, thanks, bro. Can I get another shot, please? I'm going to have my own drink one day,

but I don't have it yet. You know, because my line was him and Dominic Moore. Oh, I know Dom Moore. And I think they hated each other. I remember Jason Blake came up to me like first face off. He's like, don't pass him the puck. What a team. I was like, dude, I'm 16.

So that's why I asked about Jason fucking Blake, all right, you fucking asshole? That's why I asked you. And now you're the one fucking spinning the roast here. No, no, I'm just... Oh, shit. Well, they always had beef. But that was my first game. I'm going to pass it to each of you.

I'm like, I don't want the puck, eh? Hey, listen. I was like, I'm just trying to not turn it over. Any don't pass to the guy on the line meetings was me leading them, and I was the guy who they shouldn't have been passing to, and I was leading charge, buddy. Fizz couldn't even get a pass in warm-up three-on-twos? Three-on-twos. Don't give it to him.

The two-on-ones. The guy would just basically do a big loop with the ice and go, because the goalie didn't want to get hit in the face. I couldn't control that thing. Come on. Well, I'm fast-forwarding right through the career. The next year you signed with a two-way with the Atlanta Thrashers.

It looks like it was a two-year two-way because you were up and down both years with Atlanta. Spent most of the... No, one year. And then you re-signed with them again? Then I signed two years. Okay. When I went to San Antonio. Oh, fuck. I played in San Antonio. If you want to know all my stats, I'll tell you. I'm looking at them.

AHL was a joke. I mean, like, AH'll tell you. Hey, I'm looking at them. I'm looking at them. AHL was a joke. I mean, like, AHL, you were probably like, this is too easy. You were kind of the guy. There's a bunch of people that was, like, too good for the AHL, but people said you couldn't play in the NHL. But perfect for Europe. Right? Yeah, pretty much.

Well, it was almost like you were, it was, AHL was too easy, yet. I don't know if it was too, I mean. I don't know. I mean, you're getting over a point per game. It certainly was like, you got to be in your mind, like, I can play in the NHL. I'm dominating here, but you're never going up and getting, like, first or second line minutes, right?

Exactly. No, that's... I mean, you guys know how it works. Yeah. But it was... You know how the AHL is. It's just a bunch of guys who, in their mind, should be in the NHL.

So it's... He's getting called up? Yeah, yeah, yeah. He sucks. It's like the guy... I felt like a lot in the AHL, He's getting called up? Yeah, yeah, yeah. He sucks. I felt like a lot in the NHL, you're sitting next to a guy who's sitting next to you all year, and he's talking to you, but he's hoping you blow your knee out so he can get on the power. You know what I mean?

He's like, hey, man, nice pass. He's like, spritz. Wow, three assists. He's like, oh, yeah, we're going out tonight? Sure, yeah, spritz in your drink. Was it cool at least playing in your hometown? The Wolves was awesome. Yeah?

Yeah. That was one of my favorites. Did you win a Calder Cup? No, I didn't win shit. He's never won anything. I was surrounded by losers my whole career. Okay? Legit shit.

I haven't won shit. Ever. Ever. He doesn't even have a veteran who thought he was cool. We're going to enter you in a beef jerky contest. He just got second place in a South African beef jerky contest. Still can't get a win. You should see me in these.

But it was in North America. And it was the only participant. They're like, we're just going to give you a second because there's got to be somebody better. No, it's actually awesome. Check it out, Boygees. All right. Well, then you get a chance. You got one full year in the NHL.

In Winnipeg, you had a great year. So what happened in signing there and playing, you know, 63, 65 games, whatever it was? The lockout. Oh. Yeah. That was after that? They offered me to go back, yeah. Oh, no shit.

And then I just went to Russia. We all knew there was going to be a lockout. Oh, here it goes. Let's start the campfire. I just wanted, like, the Russia thing. I hope there's another one. The Russia thing for you, did you know anyone over there? Nigel Dawes.

So you were able to talk to one person Well him and I think Soaps was before me So I tried to talk Yeah I think I talked to Soaps I remember I talked to Dawsey The king over there And he tells me Like the worst

Who's that Dawes? Is that Kevin Dahlman? Nigel Dawes He's still lighting up And he's making Banks Now, who's that? Is that Kevin Dahlman? Nigel Dahlman. Nigel Dahlman. I'm sorry. Nigel Dahlman from my area. He's still lighting it up. I'm like, is this? Oh, no. And he's making. Oh, just killing it.

Bank. Yeah. So, no, he told me all his stuff, and he's like, and then at the end of the conversation, he's like, everything I told you, just remember this. It's way worse. And it was unbelievable. And that's what this guy told me. He goes, everything I'm telling you, I promise it's not. You'll go over there and it won't be this bad.

It's probably worse than I'm telling you. Just petrifying to hear. But like you said, you wanted that money. What'd you sign for the first year over there? In Minsk? Money talk on this podcast is cool. Nobody thinks you're rubbing it in. Oh, yeah.

He probably doesn't even remember this. It was like a million bucks. A million bucks? That's fucking nice. Yeah, I mean, like, dude. So going around and once you were in Russia, like, was Belarus different or was it all the same? Yeah, it was a little bit different.

Yeah, it's not bad. You know, they call them Belarusians, but they spoke like a different, like a slang Russian. But, I mean, it was, no, it was all the same. And a lot of people come on the podcast and they say like, oh yeah, it was bad. It was bad. Do you have like in-depth stories you'd like to share? Because I feel like our fan base seems to like, oh, how crazy is it?

How really wacky is it? Well, the everyday stuff is what knows. That's how I view. I mean, whatever doesn't make sense, makes sense there. Okay, so what was the craziest experience you saw where you're like, what the fuck is happening? What the fuck is like what you say like once every two days. Once an hour.

Yeah, you're just like alone. Like, what the fuck? Trying to show how your blood comes out. Well, me and Henny Lived together Our water Our water was Permanently brown

The whole year We had to buy We had to buy like Like big water You know if we wanted To cook and boil Cook with bottled water Yeah yeah

This guy played with My good friend Josh Hennessey Who's gonna come on here At some point In Neftahemek And when I saw you The first time there It was like a Wounded dog Josh Hennessey who's going to come on here at some point in Neftahemek. And when I saw you the first time there it was like a wounded dog.

And Hennessey has a couple stories that he reminded me of. One is like do you remember just your meltdown when they ended up getting rid of Hennessey?

Because he wrote to me what you did and it doesn't surprise you one bit when you just completely snapped on everyone when Hennessey got let go. What?

Oh, man, yeah. Well, that's... This is the text. Well, make sure you ask him about his meltdown when he got into the rink the day I got fired in Neftahemic. He started screaming down the hall for a trade, told the video coach, the only guy who spoke English, to go to the head coach and tell that fat fuck I'm not playing one more shift in this place. I don't know if he remembers it as clearly as I do, but I just remember laughing because I was the fired one.

Yeah, well, we ended up having like five coaching changes that year. And we ended up getting a Russian guy. Yeah, before like November. Is that a record in the KHL? No, it's very. Five head coaches. That's not even a record in the KHL. Eventually it was just like, you know, is that the fucking physio guy?

Like, you didn't even know who the head coach was anymore. And half the games we played, because we lost. The head coach is giving me ice after the game. This guy's the Bill Burr of hockey. Half the games, we lost like 10 in a row, and they came in, and they're like, we're supposed to get paid. And they're like, we're just not paying you. No.

Yeah, until you win. And we didn't. You guys were shit. Like, we beat you guys. Yeah, yeah, we were pretty bad. You guys were trash. It was you, Tennessee, and Sexton. Sexton was nasty there. He's really good.

Is he still over there? Yeah, yeah, he's with us. So you guys lose 10 in a row, they're not paying you. Not paying us, and then we ended up winning one game. But they brought this Igor Krikinov. This fucking guy. Holy fuck. This guy.

Igor Krikinov is the perfect name for the bad guy. This guy was like old Soviet. We're making a t-shirt. We already have a t-shirt on the website. You're like, what up, Krik? Guys were like nicknaming him like Creek. I'm like, fuck, who's this guy? Dude, the second day, he had us running.

I don't know, did Henny tell you about it? Oh, you got to get Henny on here. But he had us running. I know his memory's unreal. Oh, God. His surgery stories. Yeah, yeah, yeah. One of the best stories.

What was the running story? Wait, wait, go back to the fucking whatever Creek and I. This is what Russia does to you. You just become fucking crazy. Creek dog. You can't stay on point. You start South African. You're like, This is what Russia does to you. You just become fucking crazy. You can't like stay on point. You start South Africa. This is not my fault, guys.

This is fucking KHL. Four years. Four years. Super late. I heard that. I heard that episode. It's amazing. That's so true

because you would be like, if you missed a breakaway, as you know, like a guy like would come down the bench that passed you and be like, Tim, why no score? You're like, fuck, I i'm gonna look this guy up after the game and he

had like one goal in fucking 25 years like this is the guy that's fucking yelling at me seriously and you couldn't it was just like you don't even know you're like who is this guy that doesn't use any shampoo or soap in the shower and the guy that said one goal in 25 years is telling me... Why you no score? Yeah, Tim, you no score! And I'm like, dude, I didn't score because I didn't want to see you celebrate your fucking assist. You don't even know who scored in that

league when you see a replay. There's four different celebrations. The one guy's windmiller who shot the puck. Yeah, yeah, yeah! It's like, who the fuck scored here? Yeah, it's fucking amazing. It's true. It's amazing.

No, you score and you turn looking for guys and there's just celebrations everywhere. No idea. No idea. So anyways, back to this run. Creek. Creek. This is no joke. He would have us running 10 kilometers in a snowstorm in the middle of the night and we would

get we just know i mean henny would run together like what the yeah like i'm not we would run halfway and all of a sudden we'd come across this like upon like this fucking jeep with his lights on and this fucking fat fucking creek he's got his head out the window this is a good day just sitting in the thing with his head out you had to run up to him make eye contact and run back you to run up to him, make eye contact, and run back. You had to run up to him, smell his Russian breath, and then turn around and run back. And he was just like he never spoke no English, obviously. And then Dawsey had him for like five years, I think. Yeah, but Dawsey got 40 every year probably.

Well, that's the thing is when I got traded to Keenan's team, which was like one psycho to another. Dude, that was the hero. We talk about him all the time. He's a nut job. Oh, so he probably went to the KHL because he could be that nutty in today's climate. That was some of the best times for me. Okay, let's go. Open it up.

That was the year I was with you. I was in the league that year. Yeah, he was. That's right. We met like in warm-ups. That's how it was over there. If you saw another North American, you just saw each other. We're like, man, keep going. No, dude.

No. You must not remember. You got Russianized. You came over in the morning. And he looked into my locker room. He's like, where? Where? And I was just like, was that Stapleton?

Like I didn't know him. He's like, come here. And we went out and we just like hugged. Not even knowing each other. He's like, how you doing, man? I'm like, good. How you doing? He's like, not good, man man? I'm like, good. How you doing? He's like, not good, man.

Not good. And we just shot the shit for 20 minutes. I was like, he's now my brother for life. And he's like, I got to go take him. I said, don't leave me. Don't leave me. I was like, hold on. I was like, hold on.

Let me get my phone. I got his number. It's plus 47777-3757-6473-54 plus 64. And I just texted wit. And then we would text like every night and he's like, I just got traded

to Magneticor so I'm like, oh dude, you're going to be here until like April 28th. You guys were nasty. That's when the ruble crashed. When the ruble crashed.

Oh God. Yeah, and Witt was buying Louis Vuitton over there because it was cheaper. Yeah, but I had millions back home in the beginning.

Yeah, my ruble didn't matter. because it was like it was smarter to buy that and then maybe resell it over here? Oh, when it crashed? Yeah, when the ruble crashed. I didn't resell it, but yeah, I remember being like, I'm just going to buy all this shit now. A couple nice Louis travel bags.

I bought some Louis shit. You had to. Well, they all had Louis sweatpants. Oh, dude, they wore the same fart suit. That's what we call them. It was like a full sweatsuit. And they wore it the fucking whole 10-day trip. Like, they would wear that whole thing. Oh, yeah, and they weren't getting a tri-clean at the Ritz.

Like, I just got my pants for tomorrow. And then if you came in with, like, a something Louis Vuitton or something, they would, like, fucking examine it. Is that real? They, like, knew a few. I was like, dude, this is fucking real. Big money, big money. This is real, okay?

Calm down. Fucking Jesus. Any Abercrombie shirts? Me? No, the Russians. Like Abercrombie and... Why is that a big thing? Aeropostale.

They would wear shitty American... I played on some wealthy Russian players, like the really good players. So these guys would... Like the captain of... What was Muziakin making? The captain of Magnitogorsk, Zh zharapov he had like fucking seven cars and everything he would always tell me about him and finally one day i caught him like coming to the rink and he comes

out of the back back seat of the car so he has a permanent driver and i'm like sitting there i'm like how the fuck uh you you know like how how do you how can you say this is a nice car you don't even drive it but that's the kind of guy that's the kind of guy the guys i was playing with is the guys that spent all this fucking money um so as far as abercrombie fitch and all that no it was always louis vuitton dolce gabbana and shit but yeah i don't know these guys man yeah they're out of control uh yeah it was different what Okay, what's the most ridiculous amount of money you saw a Russian teammate spend? Like, were you at a super club with him by accident? The one guy threw his, we went to, like, his son's three-year-old, it was his three-year-old

birthday party, and he spent $40,000. They had, like, fucking, you know, like, these lava funnel, like, ice cream cakes. They had, like, fucking Alaskan dogs. It's like a, like, circus elation for these lava funnel ice cream cakes. They had fucking Alaskan dogs. It's like a circus elation for a three-year-old. I'm like, what are you going to do when this kid turns 16? The kid don't even remember. It's like, here's a private jet, son. Hey, Malcolm. Don't drink

and fly. I'm not drinking. It was like Malcolm's kid's birthday recently. He hired a bunch of people to dress up as his whole team. There was a Crosby out there in a full Penguins uniform. There was a Malkin guy. I think there was even a Gonchar. And these guys just go over the top for the birthdays.

It's like Sweet 16 on acid. It was insane. He might have even hired Sidney Crosby to come over for the fucking birthday party. New Year's Eve was a goncho in that country. They went party. New Year's Eve was a gong show in that country. They went hard on New Year's Eve. That's like their number one. And then Putin always comes and talks. You probably don't remember that.

And everyone stops what they're doing and watches. Yeah, and they listen to him. Yeah, I know. They love him. They're like, Vladimir, tell us more. Let's go back to the other dictator first. Mike Keenan. Was he just all about head games?

He liked you, right? No. Oh, I don't know. Maybe he did i mean shit on you though oh fuck it was brutal um but here's the thing is he he uh you know he growing up he coached here right the early night so i kind of like iron mike like it was kind of cool for me to get traded to him at first until you caught that well he called me when i got traded and he was like my son was being born um like in a month and he was like the nicest guy ever uh and i was you know i kind of hung up and was just like man this guy's a pretty good guy and i knew all about you know his his whole story and it's all psychological and and then i get there and we had a day off and then i go meet him in person great guy and you know i believe in uh because they won it that year the year before i came yeah they were so he was like i believe that

uh you know i'm trying to win back to back you got to change you know about 15 of your team or 10 like all this whole theory and he's like that's why we're bringing you in and i thought it was great i was going to come in for like secondary scoring so where i'm going with this is the finally the next day after that was our first practice. And I don't really know anyone. I'm putting my skates on. He comes bombing in and he's like, where the fuck's Stapleton? He's got this high voice and his back's to me.

Stapleton, where the fuck are you? This is in front of the whole team. And you just the day before had a nice little. I had a phone call and I met him in person. And then he just, I'm like, hey, I'm right here. And he turns around and he's just like, what position are you? You're a forward, defenseman. I've never heard of you.

You know what I mean? That was just what he did. Just totally. Are you fucking kidding me? Yeah, that was his. You were probably like. Now, do you think that that was planned and he knew he was doing that or he's just that fucking senile?

I have no idea because uh i like you said it was it was different um you know there was me and him and one other north american i think so i i i don't know that that's i still wonder that you know and uh but it was pretty you know he would he was trying to be i think the old iron mike but people don't know the you know you other players that played for him probably ask the same question themselves. Like, is it personal or is it part of like, what he's trying to do?

The whole, the whole like. It took me about six weeks before. Well, I mean, I would have, I would have personally, if I would have had to have dealt with that and fuck, we talk about him so much in this podcast

and I'm trying to figure out like, what's the fucking angle? Cause I truly believe. How do we get him on? No way. I truly believe that someone isn't that fucking evil inside where I would have went up to him and called him in the office. And I would have said, hey, do you genuinely not know what position I play? Or are you just trying to fuck with me?

Yeah. And look him in the eyes and genuinely ask him and then hear his answer. And if he's still playing mind games, that's when you say, like, dude, fuck you. But here's the thing, though, is he, like, I, you know, like, knew all about this going into this, right? And it definitely was mind. I don't think it was. It definitely wasn't personal. It was just his strategy.

It fucking worked. Like, I was mentally. You were like. Dude, he fucked up. Well, wait, wait. It worked. It worked in what sense? Like, I was playing like everyone says.

Like, Jeremy Ronico. He says, like, my best years were with him. Like, I played. Playing scared. Playing scared. yeah and i was here i was 32 years now now the opposite for some guys in which a maybe he doesn't want those guys on board whereas there's some people in your situation which you said you played your best they fold why did i i don't even know if i played i had i had 14 goals going up to that and then i had four four with him. Okay, so you didn't play better. No, but I played. You didn't play as much, right?

I didn't play as much because they had the studs, and I got that. They were sick. But for me, it was more of like I played really as hard as I could. Did he back off considering that? Until I told him to go fuck himself. Yeah, you said it took six weeks, right? Okay, so I want to ask you, it took six weeks for what? It got so bad, I was like calling people that played for him,

like Renny Bork played for him, and I'm like, what do I do? I'm like trying to watch documentaries on this shit. And he was just, he was good at what he did on that. It's different, though. When he was in Calgary and he's torturing people, it's different when you are two of, some of the only English speaking guys. That's what I'm saying, man. That's evil. It's more when you are two of some of the only English speaking guys. That's what I'm saying, man. That's evil. It's more like, buddy, I'm over here

alone. That's what I'm saying. It's not like we're all in the NHL. You can see me in my face. Why are you fucking giving it to me this bad? I'm dying inside here. That's so true. And eventually you called him out, so what did you say to him? Tell the story. Let's say that. No, because he was just

kind of doing that a lot to me. And I just, I don't know. We were on the bench in one game, and we were playing at Kazan, and that was the team I was on. And you used to be there? Yeah, and I got fired. And I led the team in goals, so I got fired. I need to ask about that, but go ahead.

And we were getting smoked by them. So when he calls his lines, you know, if us three were a line, like he, you know, Whitney, if you were center, Biz, and then, you know, Stapleton. So that's what he does every time he calls a line. Says all three. All three. So, you know, it was the beginning of the second period, and he was just going, Biz, Whitney. And then I could see him, like, look at at me and he'd be like shake his head and then you just go like igor take the right side

so he did this for like a full period and looking at you i'm not playing yeah yeah and he did it for like a full period and then finally he put me out there with like you know a minute left um and the puck just kind of shot out i had like, like, a seven-second shift, and then he came down to me as I came off because he saw me. I was finally like, fuck this. I've just never been a guy that's been what you were saying. Enough's enough, though. Yeah, I just never really had that problem with coaches,

but enough was enough. And he came down and started saying something. He's like, you know why this team traded you? Because you're a fucking pussy, like, da-da-da. And finally I was just like, you know why this team didn't trade Because you're a fucking pussy. Like, da, da, da. And finally, I was just like, you know, this team didn't trade me. They fired me. It wasn't even a comeback? Yeah, that was my comeback.

What a shitty comeback. He's like, exactly. I can tell you're not used to conflict. I was like, I know I'm a pussy and I suck, but I didn't get traded. You know, honestly, I was like. You just had nothing to say. Here's the thing. I was trying to say, like, you fucking idiot.

And then he came, like, face to face he's he goes he literally goes what'd you say and i go i'm just like i i can't say anything i'm just like fucking so mad he goes tell me to go fuck myself i swear to god i go what he goes tell me to go fuck myself on the bench just on the bench he's like this far away he's like this far away. And he's like, tell me to go fuck myself. That's how crazy this guy was. And I'm like, no. He goes, tell me. I'm like, fuck you. And he's like, I lost it.

And I'm just saying all this shit. That's what I'm saying. This is fucked up. Yeah, that's bad. This is exactly what we needed for people to know how crazy this guy is on our podcast. And then every shift in the third, I went every other shift. Any two guys he called Stapleton, take the right side. He was waiting for you.

I went like 15 minutes in the third period. That's when you got on the Russian gas. I'm a Russian gas junkie. How good was that shit? I've done it like 25 times. I'm trying to get it on Amazon Prime sent to my host now. Russian gas. Get me going

every day. How good was that shit? The needle before the game? If there was a Russian gas rehab, I would be fucking leading meetings nothing no they're like you before the second period they're like russian gas they're like stapleton no more no more we're one time game one time oh i used to try to but i was you know that shit's really expensive it's like 300 bucks really yeah and these guys mosaic and so i was on teams that we had we had a russian gas like guy that traveled with us he was all gas all gas and one time i walked in on him because we had like an optional practice and then the trainer's like hey team guess and i was like absolutely it's 11

and 11 in the morning like i've gassed me up my brain is still recovering a little mimosa in there but gas you're like instead of having a sip on a mimosa, you have a guy fucking suffocating you. How weird was it? Because you're on your back and this guy, this Russian guy is just like, fuck. I never got the mask. I got the needle. What kind of gas were you doing?

You didn't even do the gas. No, my gas was the needle, though. It's still the Russian gas, bro. You're fueling your body with Russian gas via a needle. But I didn't do the... No, my gas was the needle, though. It's still the Russian gas, bro. You're fueling your body with Russian gas via a needle. But I didn't get the actual gas mask. You were doing the gas mask. Three minutes of like, and you're just breathing. And I was like, I was, you know, listening to techno music.

You're like, crystal meth's unreal. You know, and then you get up and you're speaking like fluent Russian for fucking 10 seconds. And then you come to and you drive home. But dude... Spas seconds, and then you come to, and you drive home. But, dude. Spasibo, spasibo. Yeah, yeah. Which team was it where the dude fucking the team trainer put the gas himself? Well, I was just going to say, that's what I was saying.

I wasn't on the team. The guy died, I think. Yeah, yeah. Not the light of it. No, but I walked in on our gas guy. He fell asleep? No, I walked in on our gas guy laying sideways, because I think he thought we had practiced, and he was gassing himself.

Swear to God. And I was like, I swear to God. He's like sideways. He's like gassing himself. So I kind of knocked him. He's like, oh, you fucking. Niat to Niat. And I'm like, I would be doing that all day, buddy.

Keep going. I mean, finish the session. Blow it in my mouth. Blow it in my mouth. Yeah. Yeah. But it was. Secondhand gas. Yeah, but it was... Secondhand gas.

Yeah, give it to me. I don't even know what it really did. I just know it was like an unbelievable three minutes. Wait, wait, it's okay. So you would do it pre-game? No, no. It was always like either like long travel. He said it was for like, you know, if you're traveling a lot or after games.

And you would notice a difference? Like what? You just felt like you were at your best? He's like, yeah. You ever smoked a monster bowl? Yeah. Yeah, it's like that. I like getting high.

This had nothing to do with my performance. This had to do with the three minutes of forgetting that I was in Russia. Have you ever hit a jewel 53 times in a row? Becoming a Russian. Becoming a Russian, yeah. No, it was... It's like making a murder, making a row. Becoming a Russian. Becoming a Russian, yeah. No, it was... It's like making a murder, making a Russian. You know what?

I'm like fucking... Henny was always like nervous of like, you can't like bash... The K-Show was great. Well, listen. Listen. K-Show was fucking awesome. It was awesome. We got great stories from it.

I got a beautiful house today. You got great stories. It was great. But Kazan, you brought it up. That's a big-time team over there. It's like Ska, Seska, Magnetogorsk, Kazan. What's the other really good one? Automobiles.

What city is that? Automobiles. What team is that? Metalberg or whatever. It doesn't matter. Who knows? Kazan, it's a big deal. You go over there, and you're playing well.

How did that firing go down? Did you get a call one day? Yeah. That was exactly what happened. And you never even found out what they didn't like about you? No. I think I had a bad playoffs. And it was like the first time they lost in the first round.

Like I said, I'm a fucking... You're a loser. Yeah. You never won a thing. I'm a mush. You guys want to go to the casino after and lose. Dude, I can't win anything No but he Yeah

No and that was the thing They I had a good Decent regular season And then Playoffs I was awful And then They weren't really happy

And then they I think they heard Like I was trying to like Trade myself Which you were probably Yeah I might have been Yeah I was

Fuckers And then they I just got a call and they're like you're fired and i was like all right and they paid me i was gonna i mean the next day really yeah yeah so i was like and then i signed enough to hemic that was enough to hemic selling point this coach called me and i knew about the town i'm like dude you know the what the town the town is this fucking a dump and uh It's for the God This guy was like Dude we got a Burger King

Like That was And I was like Wait what's that again? You have Burger King? And he's like Yeah man You know and I'm like

Really? Is that the I'm in Like I was gonna be like I'm in I love Burger King But that was like his selling point That's how bad this town

You like the new fries Or the old fries? I'm like the breaded chicken Like O'Shea's in Vegas Hey Every time you show up We're to give you a cardboard crown. Yeah, yeah. You are going to get a cardboard crown.

He was a Finnish guy, and he was trying so hard to sell me where he was. And I knew where he was. I'm like, dude, you can't. He's like, man, it's not that bad. You could tell in his voice, too. He's like losing his breath. He still has a gun to his head while he's saying it. He's like, I've been here three days, man.

It's pretty good. Have you got a bird king? And I'm like, what? Okay, well, what about the other thing, Henness it. He's like, I've been here three days, man. You know, it's pretty good. Have you got a Burger King? And I'm like, what? Okay, well what about the other thing Hennessy had? He's getting waterboarded while telling you. Tell him there's a fucking Burger King. Yeah, he's got like the guys in the back of the car.

He's got a blockbuster too. He's got the two red dots on his chest. We have internet. Tell him. Alright, so how about this one enough to you know, every KHL point matters, right? You know, these games are, you get win bonuses over there. You win a game, you fucking make a little money. So Neftahimic goes to a shootout.

This guy being one of the most skilled players on all the teams he played on. The coach says, go ahead in the shootout. Nope. This guy goes, nope. Turns around and goes, I ain't shooting. So the first two guys go and coach goes please tim shoot please and you ended up hennessy you ended up going fuck fine you went down and buried it low blocker for the game winner but why the hell were you saying no

originally um that's probably that's a true story i don't know i mean it was my third year in russia i didn't know what the fuck too much russian gas? Like, dude, I don't know. Like, that's just how I. You were just like, no. Yeah. And doesn't know why. But I'd just be like, no, I'm not going. The Krikenov story. The reason I got traded on that is because I was by the like the 10th game with him.

The same thing happened. Third period came. And every time my line came, I just said, I told it. I was like, Max, go. And so like after like fucking eight shifts, they fucking were like they fucking realized I was just at the end of the bench. You were basically. I benched myself. I was like, I'm not playing anymore.

And then I got on the plane and my agent called me. He's like, Igor Krikinov has seen some crazy shit, but he's never seen someone bench themselves. And I was like, dude. I'm like, I don't know. This table is too crazy for me. We need to cut him. He's crazy. Yeah. Overdosing on our gas.

I was actually kind of hurt. I was hurt. And I was like, they didn't believe me. They didn't believe me. Did you guys hear the story, though, how they said we went on strike? Oh no oh yeah that made like the washington yeah what the hell is that that's this whole story okay let's hear well it's just basically kind of uh i forgot it it kind of just goes after that because i was just um the next game you're growing yeah i was

i was that's the thing it wasn't like i was like you couldn't i was like dude i'm fucking brutal out here like i don't even want to play. You know what I mean? And I was just like, I just can't play. And this guy didn't believe me. And so the next game, I finally called. I told my agent. I'm like, listen, I had to bench myself.

So they let me sit out that game. And then Sexton had a concussion. He sat out that game. And then our import goalie was running like, running around the rink from finish getting, like, sprained his ankle. So we had three guys. And this was, like, literally when the ruble crashed. So they thought we ruble crashed imports aren't playing.

And it came out that we were on strike. Oh, my God. Yeah, that's who was phantom. And then the next game, my agent called me in the morning. He's like, hey, like, everyone thinks you went on strike. You have to play tonight. And we were in fucking. Dude, my groin's still full.

Dude, listen to this. We were in Novo Kuznets. You ever been? Yeah, we talked about it. Oh, we talked about it. It was Soaple. It's like the drug capital of the planet. You see soaps now.

I'm kidding. I love soaps. I know. We guys are buddies. I hope he laughs at that. I love soaps. I know. We guys are buddies. I hope he laughs at that.

And they made me do an MRI at this fucking... I can't even... They put me on a... You ever seen the movie Kickboxer with Van Damme? No. He might have. I've seen Kickboxer. That's when the brother gets his back broken and they just carry him out on this piece

of wood and throw him in the fucking parking lot. His MRI comes back. It's a color by now. No. No. It's in a fucking view mask. They put me on this... It wood and throw it in the fucking parking lot. His MRI comes back. It's a color by now. No, no. It's on a fucking view master. They put me on this... It's a bright light.

This like wooden board and they fucking threw me in this thing and it was just like... And then they had this squeeze thing. They're like, and discomfort. You squeeze this. I'm squeezing this thing

like within 10 seconds. And nobody's coming in. No, no. And what I was going is like we didn't do it. Like it lasted like four minutes because I was like, I can't fucking do this, you know? So so they fucking we get to the rink and i

just get there in time for practice and they give kriken off like this thing like he's gonna read an mri i know in my head no pull no tear i know in my head this thing was a four minute you know so i'm just like whatever he's like doing the thing he's like four-minute, you know, so I'm just like, whatever. He's, like, doing the thing. The coach. He's not injured. You know, I'm like, wait a minute. Like, you know, so then I played. I go medical school, too.

So you fucking play. I played. Dude, this story gets even crazier. So I played, and then I ended up scoring the game-winning goal. So then we came back, and we finished that road trip and went home. Do you remember who it was against? Oh, no, because that's, sorry. Yeah, some Igor.

You know the goalie's name? Oh, Igor, Igor? I don't know, yeah. Ifgeny? No, I forgot the team. We have a 50% chance. And Muhammad. We've covered all bases.

The next day we had a day off, but we never had days off. It was like you had to come to the rink and take a sauna or play soccer. You were like, gas. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we came to the rink, and the coach gave this fucking speech. And he's like, I'm hearing my name like every five. Da-da-da, Stiglitzin, Stiglitzin. And I'm sitting there kind of like.

That's never good. But I'm kind of, I took it as like, okay. He's pumping. Yeah. Why can't you be more like Stiglitzin? Yeah, battle through injuries. Score a couple. You know what I mean?

I was injured, MRI, and I scored and all this shit. So in my head, I'm like, okay, you you be more like State? Yeah, battle through injuries. Score a couple more. You know what I mean? I was injured, MRI, and I scored and all that shit. So in my head, I'm like, okay, you know, like I'll take that. Yeah. And, yeah, so he said all that shit. And then the team, you know, after the meeting ended, the team went and worked out. And they took me downstairs. And they did these, like, bike sprints. Like, me downstairs, and they did these bike sprints. I'm in this dungeon doing these bike sprints,

but in my mind was like, I'm just doing a separate workout. So I'm down there. Holy fuck, dude. And the assistant coach is just screaming at me, and I'm like, okay, I'll work hard. Such a fake work hard. And then I got done, and I'm just down there, and then another player showed up, and I'm just by myself,

and he's sitting there, and he's biking by himself. And I'm like, what are you doing? And he's like, I'm sick. I'm sick. You know, faking a cough or whatever they do. And he looks at me, and he's like, how do you feel? He was a Russian guy, and I'm like, what do you mean? He's like, about what Krikunov said.

And I'm like, I feel great. That was in Russian, bro. Dude, he ripped my MOU off. He was covering my tire. He's like, he's a doctor, too. You didn't know? I figured I'm going to be getting the captaincy here.

You know, and he, no, and he's like, well, he said that you fake injury, you're fined $1,000, and you're no longer part of the team. And that's what

they were punishing me. Wow. Yeah. The fuck? Yeah. You scored the game for a game winner. Yeah.

And then I, and that's, and then I went nuts. But I called my agent and said, get me the fuck out of here. This Krikov guy still coaching? I have no idea. Well, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to say this on behalf of you is Krikov,

because I would imagine this is going to somehow get to him because we have Russian reporters that do listen to our podcast, is this is the type of shit we're talking about when we bash on russia so what you're what your boy what your boy creaking off did to stapleton is fucking bullshit and then he lied about him and then challenged his character so on behalf of the spit and chicklets podcast mr creaking off can lick my fucking balls i don't know i don't know i don't know We should fucking talk To him about his His doctorate He ran his practices With like a A stopwatch

And he would Like his theory was like So we would do like A two on one drill For like 25 This guy wouldn't like Run the practice He would just say go

Do this drill And then he would just Be like talking to people Like texting on the phone And we would like Do a two on one For like 30 minutes Like the guy was just

Real old school Soviet Union. He was a moron. Mr. Krikunov was a moron. He knows nothing about the game. He's a fucking drill sergeant. He's had pretty good teams. I mean, like pretty good record.

Yo, you brought up something so funny, and I remember there was a meeting where my Russian coach was like, blah, Whitney, Whitney, Whitney, and he said it like four times. Same thing. You're like, I think this is good. I'm playing okay.

I don't know. And then I remember he walked out of the room and all the Russian guys were like, I was like, what, what? And then I remember

one kid was walking by. He goes, no, not good, not good. And then one kid told me, he said, you're soft. You play like shit. I was like kid was walking by. He goes, no, not good, not good. And then one kid told me, he said, you're soft. You play like shit. I was like, fuck. Yeah.

I was like, I thought that one was going good. But even the players would do that too sometimes. You just get like five guys in a corner. Oh, you hear your name. And they're blah. They tell me like, what the fuck is going on? What are they saying over there? Yeah, yeah. You're sitting alone in the cafeteria.

Do you have baza? Oh, Kazan was, I was going to say that about, yeah. Baza, explain it again. We've explained it a couple times. Yeah, yeah. You're sitting alone in the cafeteria. Do you have Baza? Oh, Kazan was – I was going to say that about – yeah. Baza, explain it again. We've explained it a couple times. Yeah, go ahead. Just night before games, you've got to go, and they consider it like you're with the team, and you're basically in like a barracks. NFL style.

A barracks, like dorms kind of, right? Army setting. The one in Neftahimic was straight up like – Barracks. Oh. But the one in Kazan was actually like – Nice. Yeah, but the weird thing is the whole team lived in this gated security thing.

And they had a – where our apartments were, they had baza still in this thing where we had to check in the night before a game and stay, and it was literally like 10 yards away. They didn't want you sleeping with your family or anything. And they had security everywhere. And I remember one time I came home at like 3 a.m. with a bag of McDonald's all fucked up. And the next day, they called me.

It was on camera. Well, this is a different city. And then the next day, they called me in, and they're like, you can't be coming in with McDonald's at 3 a.m. And I'm like, I didn't. And they showed me the video. No.

Yeah, they had to get up. I'm like, holy fuck, this place is fucked. It's fucking quiet for sound. Yeah, holy shit. That's how I looked at it. Like, it wasn't fun. I couldn't even get McDonald's. Jay-Z's ate J.B. Spiegel's, popped out of the corner, eat all that fucking McDonald's.

Eat it now, and then do a 10-mile run. Oh, my God. Pops out of the corner Eat all that fucking McDonald's Eat it now And then do a 10 mile run Oh my god Well so When Russia ended Switzerland Switzerland Cause That must be Because listen

When I went back We were together I know you went back You sicko When we were together I remember I remember a dinner with you In Sochi

And we were like Dude we gotta get to Switzerland Switzerland's like Andy Dufresne Leaving Shawshank when you're in Russia. You're just like Switzerland. You're like 40 games, rich, beautiful country. And then you ended up getting to pull that one off. Where did you end up going in Swiss?

I went to Biel. Which is a good spot? All of Switzerland. Switzerland's awesome. Well, my son was born, you know, and that's why I went to Switzerland. Like, it wasn't – I think I still would have played maybe in Russia. But good dough in Swiss. No, I was terrible.

Yeah, that was actually terrible. Like, I was in Biel, and then I got traded to Lugano. Well, that's where Hennessy was, too, for a little bit. Yeah. But the Swiss league was – I mean, every league was different. Every league was like, what the fuck, kind of, you know, especially when it came to hockey. Like, no one thought the game, I mean, everyone just made it so hard. Like, you know, the Switzerland team I was on, the guy played man on man.

On Olympic sheets. Yeah. So you would be like in the D zone, just like, I got my guy. So a guy would, like, if a guy fell down. Breakaway. He had a breakaway from like the hash, you know what I mean? And then like everyone's like, I got my guy. I had my guy.

Like basketball. Yeah. And then they would do video on that and be like, Steve's lost his guy. And I'm like, it's called support. And fucking, there's another way to do this. The other guys were in the corner just being like, putting the guy against the wall.

And being like, leave your guy that didn't matter and help me out when I fell. You know? So it was just different everywhere. What was the best? I obviously wasn't Russia, but Germany, we didn't get to that yet, but what was the best European country you played in?

If you had to go back and play in one more European country. Yeah, that's a great question. Lugano. Well, fuck, Helsinki was awesome. Helsinki's a great place. Helsinki was awesome. I heard they love the heavy metal there Oh yeah Raskin's Iron Maiden fans

Did you embrace the culture at all? No If you speak English in Helsinki you're a god Oh yeah and that was easy Because everyone spoke English too No but if you spoke good English They would just want to talk to you Am I right?

Well, you're white. So for me... You're an Asian. They're like, get out of here. I don't want to buy a purse. That's a Philippine staple. I know it's a fake purse. I never really had much of an anger in my career.

But when someone would call me like, hey, you fucking little Jap. They call me Chinese. I would get so... I'm not fucking Japanese. That's what I would get most mad. Because no one ever knows what Chinese. I would get so, like I'm not fucking Japanese. Like that's what I would get like most mad because no one ever knows

what I am. But I am Filipino. I'm Irish. Yeah, it's a good mix. And Russian. And Russian. Because of all the gas.

Yeah. So after Switzerland, you did a little stint in Sweden? Or am I reading that league right? Yeah, I went to Sweden. Oh, you were such a frigging

suitcase at the end, dude. I played at 18s in four years. Yeah, I traded myself. So maybe Keenan was right. Yeah, maybe Keenan was right. I would buy a Keenan I went to Sweden Oh you were such a Friggin suitcase at the end I played at 18's In four years Yeah you I traded myself So maybe Keenan was right Yeah maybe Keenan was right I would buy Keenan a beer

Like I want to get back to Keenan Cause he's actually a good guy Like I would buy him a beer At the bar I saw him at a charity event He's not But I'm obsessed with the fact Like how can you turn it on

To being such a fucking asshole But it worked He's sick in the head I mean it worked I mean he was a successful I'm not saying he was the head. I mean, it worked. He was a successful guy. I'm not saying he was always successful. That's just how it was, though, back then. He actually told me one of the best stories. He said that

early in the 90s, they brought fucking... This is an example of what guys would yell back at him, like the old school guys. They brought the Hawks to charity or training camps and bamf or something. I don't know if you guys heard this story. No, I haven't. They get away. Yeah, and it was a

ski resort and Keenan's like, I'm giving this fucking speech to everyone. People brought their wives and girlfriends and you know, I got my wife and I'm like, there's one fucking rule. No fucking skiing. I don't want anyone getting hurt. Is that a euphemism or actual skiing? R.A. does blow. I don't know if you do all right

yeah yeah keenan's like uh so after you know we practice he's like so me and my wife go skiing and we're like strolling down this ski hill and he said all of a sudden two guys one and each side go bombing by me ski poles like laid out like they're fucking downhill racing jeans on fuck you keenan it's kelly and ronick so that's you know what i mean like that's that's like so he that's how he loves it that's how it was back in the day though right so that's why his method was that was his method dude when he would yell at these fucking russian guys it was comedy because these russian guys these russian guys would just you know that dumb look of just like, and Keenan would be like, Max, you fucking pussy, like fucking da-da-da-da-da, you know?

And then Max is just sitting there like arm up, like hanging, like, you know? And then Keenan would walk out and Max would be like, Tim, what do you say? I'd be like, keep going, man. Like, keep flying out there, Max. You're buzzing, dude. My point is like, he didn't have a Russian coach say stuff after. That's why he fit well in there because he would just yell. He thought he was pumping them up.

He was Tony Robbins. He was Tony Robbins. He thought he was a Russian guy. This guy's the best. He's spitting in their faces. And he's like, wow, this guy. You can do it. But no, and that's what I didn't

Understand at times It was like Dude no one's Like this This isn't gonna work So stop yelling at me A And B

That is so funny Oh man he's fucking But that Shelly Roenick story Is fucking And maybe I'm Quoting it wrong So don't But that's

No no no We don't give a shit It's real It's now real If it's not real It's real That's real As feathers on That's as real as feathers on a squirrel. So we're good.

Just blue jeans on. So how do you end up... Like fucking Paul. Jaboz. Yeah, yeah. Hilarious. How do you end up back in fucking Russia, though? Like, how'd that play out?

Money? No, actually... Got held hostage? No, he's like, I need the gas. I was playing. I was going through gas withdrawals and um no but i just uh i didn't i don't know i just wasn't when i was sweden was tough for me yeah um great country but they fucking uh i i just went there and played like third line and

and you know i'm at that time i was like i should be playing power play or something you know you want to play what you think you're you know right right. You still said it. It's not... Yeah, and it was late in my career, and that was kind of my mentality. And I figured, like, well, fuck, if I'm going to hate playing, I'm going to go to fucking Russia. You get high every day. Where'd you go? I actually liked Russia when I think about it. Yeah, because you're a sicko deep down.

No, I went to Moscow. Oh, so... And that was awesome. That'll work. That was awesome. And we had... Gilroy was on the team. Oh, you were on Spartak?

Yeah. No way. Gilroy was money over there, dude. I had one goal in like 20 games. Things didn't go well. These guys were like fucking. You talk about like your teammates just looking at you in disgust. They hated you.

Well, yeah. I mean, they probably did. But they were just like couldn't believe like how bad hockey was. Not earning his gas. Yeah, you know. So then the last year, you end up in Germany and then that was it. I started in the Swiss second league. Yeah.

How – And they wanted – they were mad and I was leading team in scoring and that league was like imports have three points a game. Like that's what they average. And then some of these guys – I just couldn't figure out how to play that kind of hockey. Like I wasn't a fucking – It's kind of all over the map. Well, it's just like if you have any one-on-one skill, you can dominate.

Because it's the second league. It wasn't bad. Guys can skate well and stuff. But it was just... More of individual efforts. Yeah, and I need to play with other guys. I need to use my teammates. A lot of my good years, if you want to say that, I had really good lines.

I mean, it's not like... It was never a one-on-one... So over there, they were expecting me to dangle dangle around dude i need some line mates but yeah i'm like you know exactly and then uh i went to germany um my old my coach for my very first year in finland was a coach in germany and he's like i'll put you in on the power play and that was a good way to end he's got one of those globes in his house where he puts a needle every place he's been. You can't even see any water at this point. Dennis Mapps.

He's the only guy that has a business in South Africa but hasn't been there. No, the business is here. It's just a South African. Let's go back to that. Boyke's Bill Tongue. I know you weren't dealing with it. Get it. Live ad read.

Boyke's.com. Yeah, you want me to do it? Yeah, do a live ad read. I-K-E-Y-S. No, B-O-I-K-E-Y-S. Boyke's. Live ad read. Boikies.com. Yeah, you want me to do it? Yeah, do a live ad read. I-K-E-Y-S. No, B-O-I-K-E-Y-S. Boikies. Chili Biltong. Biltong.

Biltong. Tender slices of air dried beef. Check it out. 32 grams of protein. Made in the USA. U.S. inspected and passed by the Department of Agriculture. That's a phantom. You guys definitely fucking...

It was... First of all, it was tasty. You're telling me there's less sugar And that shit than there is in like There's no sugar in this Zero grams of sugar What's the most negative Half the amount of sodium

The stuff's like off the wall like healthy We didn't know that until like a week ago My wife's like I'm like wait a minute this is healthy When you sent that she she looked through it. She's like, wow, this stuff's actually really good for you. If you grab some of the beef jerky in a gas station, you're like, dude.

You started this or your buddy? We both did. Tell him we can get in talks or some swipe ups, a couple of biz 20 promo codes. Steve, you're the man for coming on. This has been fun. I did want to tell one story. Let's go.

This is brought to you by Boinkies. This is the story. This is the ad of a Boinkies. Yeah, go for it. This is my favorite Russian story, and it's not like you guys talk about the everyday-to-day stuff, right? So in Minsk, there was an import player, Kevin Lalonde, goalie. Goalie. And he was there

for like five years, and I don't know if you know, like, when you play in these countries for a certain amount of years, they offer you a passport. Dawsey can play for, like, the Kazakhstan Olympic team. So Minsk was doing that. And so Kevin had a Belarus

passport and a Canadian passport at the time. And, you know, the first month we get there, he gets his apartment. And he's got this, like, decent apartment, but he's paying, like, fucking almost $4,000 a month, which is a lot there. And he's paying it in cash to the landlord. You know, and the landlord, the first month he paid, the landlord came over. We met him. He came with his wife. Nice couple.

he paid the landlord came over we met him he came with his wife nice couple and uh you know a few months go by and as the season's going by kevin's all got suddenly got this thing going on where he thinks there's a ghost in his apartment he's like dude there's a fucking ghost in my apartment right and i'm like we're laughing about it says that you don't believe yeah yeah yeah he's just like there's things being moved and there's like this and i'm like well dude we are in fucking belarus whatever so jan January comes around. We go on this road trip, and we went to Finland and Prague, had a team, and then we were going into Russia, and Kevin forgot his Canadian passport. So two days into this trip, he's like, fuck, I can't go into Russia.

So the team had to fly him back. So he comes back, and he gets in at 2 a.m. in Minsk, and he's got to get back on a flight in four hours. So he gets to his apartment, and he puts the key in, and he's got to get back on a flight in like four hours. So he gets to his apartment, and he puts the key in, and he's going to open the door, and it won't open. And he's like, fuck, am I at the right... He's like, yeah, I'm at the 23, and he hears a dog. And he's like, what the fuck? So

he realizes his door is like bolted from the inside. He's like, what the fuck? So he's just pounding on this thing. Somebody's in there. Dude, the door opens, and this guy opens the door, and he's got like, he's in his boxers. No shirt on. It's the fucking landlord. I swear to God.

When he was gone, he would move the family back in. I swear to God. He was charging this guy like four grand a month and then we would go on these 10 day road trips and he would move his,

Kevin said he came in, the kid's sleeping on the couch. This guy's there, the wife's in his bed. They got the family pictures up. Yeah, you swear to God. So what did he do? He said it.

Nothing. Eventually that stopped, but he said at the time, he's like, I couldn't process what was going on. So I was just like, we got to talk about this later. I need to get like three hours of sleep. So he's like, I'm walking to my room and the guy's like, Kevin, can you use a spare bedroom? My wife's in there.

And then the best part about it was that Kevin was like, every month they always asked me about a cleaning lady and it was always in there. And then the best part about it was that Kevin was like, every month, they always asked me about a cleaning lady, and it was always right before we went on the road. So they were also charging him. They wanted it clean, too, for when they went in. No, after. For after. So they would stay there and then get it clean, and Kevin had to pay for it all.

Oh, fucking double bubble. But how fucked is that? That's incredible. That's fucking... Yeah. That's incredible. And it's not like the funniest story, but it's just like fucking... Yeah, that's... For me, it's more like just like... Sums it up. That's insane. That's fucking... Yeah. That's incredible. And it's not like the funniest story, but it's just like fucking... Yeah, that's...

For me, it's more like just like... Sums it up. That's insane. That's fucking... Russia. That's Russia. That's a great way to end it, dude. Hey, Stapes, that was awesome.

Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. Let's go have some dinner and tell some stories that we can't tell on here, unfortunately. Hey, thanks for dinner, Stapes. That interview was brought to you by Quip. What actually makes a better toothbrush? Industrial strength power? Claims of miraculously trendy ingredients?

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a mirror mount. These thoughtful features make brushing something you actually want to do twice every day. And good habits matter to live a healthier life. So help form fresh oral habits with Quip. Quip starts at just $25 and you'll get your first refill free at getquip.com slash chicklets. There's a simple way to show support to our show and start brushing better, but you have to go to getquip.com slash chicklets to get your first refill free. Go right now to getquip.com slash chicklets. Big thank you to Tim Stapleton. Great interview.

Very funny guy. And Boinkies. That's the name of the dry meat? Yeah, Boinkies. B-O-I-K-E-Y-S. Boinkies. He sent me some golf balls, too. Just a classy move,

with number 19 on them, pro V1s. Thank you very much. So guys are coming on and giving us gifts now. Geez, we're getting spoiled. Well, me. Us meaning me. That's true. Got to talk about the Islanders a little bit more.

I know we brushed on them last week. Before the season, I said, I don't think they're going to be able to sustain the goaltending that they had last year because they didn't re-sign buddy. And then they signed Semyon Varlamov. I didn't think he was going to have that big of a year. Well, guess what? Because I said it, I'm getting it right up the hoop. No spit, no lube, sandpaper finish. We know, we know. Their numbers, Varlamov, excuse me, seven games, five and two, 2.14 goals against average with a 9-2-9 save percentage and one shutout.

Thomas Grice, seven games, six starts, five and one, 2.15 goals against average with a 9-33 save percentage. So these guys are fucking standing on their heads. We mentioned it. It's probably a big reason for them limiting shot opportunities to the inside because they play so well structurally. So you Islanders fans who've complained, we haven't been stroking your awesome team off long enough

and how we've been doubting you. I'm sorry. Do you know what they lead the league in? That guy Mike Kelly did a thing when I was in Jersey. When they dump it in, when they chip the puck in, they lead the league in getting it back. Every time they chip it in, they get the puck and they lead the league and getting it back every time they chip it in they get it back like 43 percent of the time or 42 i don't remember the exact number but to lead the league and that shows that you just go out and outwork teams i mean

that's what they do yeah and you're you're you're placing the puck they but what was the term hitchcock used he's like don't call it a dump in like he's a call it a puck placement yeah puck placement yeah so he i mean it's true if you put it to the right areas where the goalie can't get it and it's not easy i mean hey the defensive team might touch it first but you might get it back because of where you put it guys would be like fuck off hitch he'd be like oh fuck you revo oh hey how about the kirby doc f-bomb count was it that bad oh wow i was stunned when we were sitting there i was like holy shit this kid swears more than me and wit combined on our first few episodes back when me and wit were wicked bad with the f-bombs but i don't know i thought it also showed his personality he was probably a little nervous too like you know being on

chicklets 18 year old kid i think that's like a nervous thing saying i swear more when i'm nervous for sure yeah aka when i don't know what the fuck i'm talking about all right so last week we talked about the so-called michigan goal the lacrosse goal with thought we should call it the mike leg goal craziest thing we talked about it happening in two continents in two leagues at the same day. Well, there was a third one in the AHL, and this is even crazier. Saturday night, a kid on a Bantham team in Minnesota pulled it off, too.

And this kid did it, like, off a rebound. It was wicked fucking smooth. Make sure we tweet it out from the accounts. But I'll tell you, Witt, I know you said it should be called the Mike Leggold. Well, I poked around a little, and apparently Mike Leg learned it from a fellow named Bill Armstrong, who was a career journeyman, played on the IHL, AHL a while ago, and they used to train together in London, Ontario,

and Leg saw Armstrong working on this thing. So Mike Leg actually learned it from this fellow, Bill Armstrong. So I want to give props where they do. Bill Armstrong basically taught Mike Leg. So if it should be called anything, maybe the Armstrong goal. Well, Bill Armstrong, I mean, fuck this guy. This guy, he played a lot of years pro. Just hockey, he beat him in a one NHL game with the Flyers too.

Is there any more guarantee that he was just called Army? Every single Army. There's 7 million Armies in locker rooms around the world. I guess around North America, there aren't many Armstrongs in Russiaussia but still i i guess the credit is credit is due to army absolutely now we also mentioned the sports equinox equinox last episode but we kind of glossed over the fact that witt's favorite league is back and uh the nba might have more fights than the nhl already this season hey witt oh my god guys i saw it all go down like in replays, right? Because I wasn't seeing this at the beginning,

but I was here and there's a rumble. There's a rumble in Philly. That's where it was. Philly Timberwolves, right? Yeah, Minnesota. Okay. Dude, the picture that ended up coming out, it's like Jesus touching somebody with the right finger.

How perfect is that? It just looks like he's barely just scratching an itch for Carl Anthony Towns or whoever's getting who. So they're rolling. It was a full-blown fight your brother. That was how I fought my brother. It was like you would do anything but punch him in the face. It was basically like going in, hey, bud, free reign to wrestle our dicks off, but we cannot punch each other in the face. So they're like headlock trying to headlock each other instead of maybe as like you're headlocking the guy with your right hand

drilling the guy with your left hand no no punches thrown at all meanwhile it's being called a brawl they're laying down i then see i think it's ben simmons He is on top of Carl Anthony Towns. I was like, that looks like how we made Ryder one night years ago. I mean, this is like – they're just – he's just humping them, like choking them a little bit. I'm like, what is this? Is this a fight? Now, meanwhile, you go to the Golden Knights Jets last night, two Saturday night.

Lowry runs over Tuck. Reeves comes on the ice, says, let's fucking go. Winnipeg's going to change. They're going to change. They're like, not make Lowry do it. Lowry looks at the bench, goes, I got this. The refs come in. They realize no matter what they're going to fight, let's let him go. It's honorable. He's answering the bell. They square off.

They square off, have an awesome fight. Lowry did well? Yeah, he did pretty well. Reeves went, he kind of slipped and went down early, but then got up throwing. He looks petrifying when he fights, too. He's just so enormous. But Lowry was throwing some. I don't know if it hit him, but Reeves ended up with this jersey over his head.

So it's so funny. They showed Martial Show on the bench. He's dying laughing because he couldn't get his head back through. Takes it all off. Probably shows the tats and his nice new haircut when he got in the box. But my point being, they squared off and tried to knock each other out. Yeah, maybe we sound like goons. Maybe we sound like old moron Neanderthals.

Well, hockey is so awesome because you do have to answer the bell. And when there are fights, there are real fights where guys are going at it. Instead of basketball, wrestling move wwe style style tickling him under his armpit as he's rolling down on the floor and then tweeting at each other and and instagramming at each other after the game like then they're tough guys it was just what a shitbag league and it's so much bigger and more popular than the nhl but as i've always said um the the the amount of individuals and guys who care about themselves and their image over like team play and caring about your team winning and your players that you like are considered family

with is embarrassing it's a shit bag league it happens a lot it's a baggy it's a brutal fucking product i don't know how people love it so much. I'm obviously in the minority. Not every team's like that. You can't just, but there's a lot of it. Biz, not every team is like that is very true. The point is the only teams that they're talked about, that they talk about are the teams with all those issues.

Correct. So if you have ESPN or anyone on, you don't hear about any good teams like in the NHL. You hear about dramas between individual players that are fucking so selfish. Not a lot of loyalty. So sick brawl in Philly, like Embiid. He actually seems like he's a funny bastard. He's going off like throwing his fist, like pretending he's Rocky cheering.

Everyone's going nuts. Carl Anthony's mom comes bombing down the – where do you walk? The aisle. Couldn't even think of the aisle. Couldn't even think of the words. She's bombing down screaming at him like it was like an AAU game. I was like, this league is – It's a sideshow.

It's amazing. It's this popular. People love this bullshit. Well, I mean, it's drama. I would say it's just as popular for its non- like non-basketball playing drama off court shit i mean hey um so do you like that stuff is am i like the old grumpy guy i mean basketball twitter is quote unquote lit you know it's lit that's what the fucking kids say um i mean dude i i read it i follow it yeah it's hard not to because it's always like it's the Twitter headline

if it's going down. Now, shit, man, credit to Adam Lowry for going. I just watched that little scrap. He held his own, and I'm happy he got out alive because you never know how those are going to go. But that locker room must have been like, that good for him he goes i'm going to answer the bell boys fuck that i'm good we will never forget though we will never forget the night dave schultz knocked out he had his 25th knockout for the broad street bully flyers

and the night mb'd tickled call anthony towns and it was called the brawl oh another note on that lowry reese fight shout out to the linesman for letting them fight we've And the night Embiid tickled call Anthony Towns, and it was called a brawl. Another note on that Lowry-Reeves fight. Shout out to the linesmen for letting them fight. We've seen a lot of active linesmen breaking up fights way before they should, and those guys let them go. The Revo took the helmet off the whole nine yards. And, hey, when you have a scrap like that, you need to relax a little. And with hockey back, now's the time to get on the Black Buffalo train.

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Yeah, boys, that was a absolutely great scrap. Like you said, Lowry and fucking Revo. We don't get too many of those nowadays, but we got a couple other notes here before we do finish up. We want to send condolences to the family and friends of our hockey hall of fame.

Remember Jim Gregory, the former Leafs GM and longtime league executive passed away last week at 83. He was inducted into the hall of Fame as a builder in 2007. So again, condolences to his friends and family. We know they're extensive throughout the hockey community. We also want to send our deepest sympathies to the family of Logan and Briggs Connelly. These are two young brothers and hockey players from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, who tragically lost their lives in a house fire last week.

Just such a sad story. Their family told people who attended the services to wear their hockey jerseys, and many people placed their sticks outside their front door for the two boys. The hashtag sticks out for Logan and Briggs was trending for a little bit. The Detroit Red Wings also wanted the two boys. There's a GoFundMe that we'll have Grinnelli tweet out or share on the Instagram if you guys want to contribute to the family. Just an awful story.

And, you know, like we always say, hockey's a big community and these little guys, they played hockey and they had a huge love for it. So if you can help them out, by all means, please do. Getting a little cheery here, as I say, Hockey Fights Cancer, but our buddy Edzo was named the ambassador for Hockey Fights Cancer's 21st annual campaign. Since 98, this joint initiative between the NHL and NHLPA has raised over $25 million. We talked to Edzo in Chicago a couple weeks ago, and we'll be bringing it since 98 this joint initiative between the nhl and nhlpa has raised over 25 million dollars we talked to edzo in chicago a couple weeks ago and we'll be bringing into that very emotional interview soon he gets into his battle how he was able to fight on and how it wasn't always easy edzo also gave us the winner for the breeders cup like we mentioned so shout out to edzo

speaking of gambling boys i've been a little bit of a heater lately the last corner made some people some money my pick saturday night made some people some money. And hopefully we got another one this week. I'm looking ahead to Tuesday, the Vegas Golden Knights. They're at Columbus. They blew a home lead fucking Saturday night. I think they're going to bounce back. They're going to be in the road a little pissed off.

They're going to be in Columbus, so it should be a nice price. So we're going to throw a dime on the Vegas Golden Knights on the money line and add a nickel on the puck line as well. So Tuesday, Vegas at Columbus. We're on Vegas. And, Biz, I was watching the Flyers game the other night, and Couturier, he put a fucking Forsberg move on to winning the shootout. Did you know Couturier was born in Phoenix, Biz?

He's not even listening. Biz. Biz. Hey. We're keeping this in. What? Biz, did you know Cout We're keeping this in. What? Do you know Katori was born in Phoenix? Really?

I didn't know that. Yeah. I already figured that out. Were you guys trying to get my attention? Why am I mic on mute? I was letting him do his gambling corner. Fuck, yeah. You guys are fucking throwing me under the bus just like the TV crew the other night.

He caught me on a surprise attack. No, I was caught. I was caught in a black, giving me a broken stick. So what was the joke going on when I wasn't paying attention? No, I was given the gambling corner, and I said how I won money on the Flyers the other night, and Couturier pulled off the Forsberg stamp move to win in the shootout. So I kind of poked around about Couturier.

He was actually born in Phoenix. I didn't know that. His dad was playing for the Phoenix Roadrunners. I actually think he might have told me that when I talked to him at the NHL media tour. Yeah, his dad played for the Roadrunners back when the old IHL, back when guys averaged a point and a penalty minute per game. And, yeah, he was born in Phoenix, although he was raised in Canada.

So I'll put that in you if I can vape and smoke it. I will. All right, boys. We've covered a lot today. Are there any other final notes we want to go over, send to anybody, or what? Oh, yeah. We have some merchandise dropping this week. I want to give us –

It's Nike merchandise, and it will be very cool. It's very cool. Cool designs coming. Sweatpants, jackets, rain jackets. So a lot of cool stuff coming. So I want to give a shout-out nate mckinnon because his uh point streak ended to business uh in a loss to business coyotes on saturday night he had a point in the first 13 games of the year though just a complete beast it ended but he was the first player to have a 13

game point streak to begin the season since henrik Zetterberg did in 07-08. All right? That was the year that the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup. Okay? So look out, Avs. This could be the start of something special. Fuckin'. Was it 07-08?

Did I lose in 07-08, R.A.? Is that the one you're at? Yes. Okay, so I got the year right. I lose 07-08, R.A.? Is that the one you're at? Yes. Okay, so I got the year right. I got the year right that I lost. Thanks. Coyotes made him look like an AHL team on Saturday night. All right, boys.

I think that should wrap it up. Again, hopefully everybody enjoys Stapleton as much as we did. I have a great week, and we'll see you Thursday. And as always, we want to say big thanks to all our sponsors and to the listeners. Hopefully you guys are supporting our sponsors because they're awesome. If you want to check out men's league sweaters, go to mensleaguesweaters.com slash chicklets or use the promo code chicklets. For Roman swipes, go to getroman.com slash chicklets. To check out Black Buffalo,

go to blackbuffalo.com. Use the promo code SC. And to get those chicklets looking their best, go to getquip.com slash chicklets. Thanks, everybody. Have a great week. Thank you.