Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 221: Featuring Bryan Berard
Episode Date: November 25, 2019On Monday's episode of Spittin' Chiclets the guys are joined by former NHL defenseman Bryan Berard. Beast joins to talk about his career, playing for Mike Milbury, losing his vision in one of his eyes... and a ton more. The guys also talk some NHL news, including Cale Makar, Ottawa Senators, the Flames and more. Rear Admiral wraps up with some movie talk and a Gambling Corner.You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/schiclets
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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 221 of Spittin' Chicklets, presented by Pink Whitney, the pink lemonade-flavored vodka from our friends over at New Amsterdam Vodka.
What's going on, everybody? Hope you all had a nice weekend out there, enjoyed some pucks. I know these knuckleheads did, so let's go say hi to them first. Producer Mikey Grinelli, what's up, G?
RA, you mentioned Pink Whitney there, and Barstool's Rough and Rowdy was last night, and that Pink Whitney ring looked awesome.
So I'll leave it there, boys.
Yeah, I was kind of like a proud pup of seeing that.
It's pretty cool to see the logo there.
Let's go to Whitdog next.
What were you feeling like, buddy,
seeing that Pink Whitney logo all over the Rough and Rowdy ring Friday?
I loved it.
I was getting chirped a little bit for not being there.
I had some things going on, but Big Cat, just an incredible line.
He said he's probably playing golden tea.
I got to catch up, and I was laughing at that.
I would love, listen, I'm putting it out there.
I would love to do the ringside announcing with those two.
That is some funny shit, watching those fights.
Shout out to the kid from Braintree.
Don't know his name.
That's a South Shore town that's where I'm from, Biz, south of the city.
I'm from the mean streets of Scituate.
Braintree, that's where I went to high school, Thayer Academy.
This kid was an absolute killer.
He dummied the person he fought.
I think he was one of the pre-fight, pre-event bigger fights.
Pre-fight?
No, pre-event.
He was a fight that was being built up.
This kid had done a video
where he just showed true i thought you said fright no there was fright in the guy there was
fright in the guy's eyes he was fighting him but still seeing the logo everywhere that was that
was beauty yeah that kid was a fucking bull and last but not least that buddy paul biz nasty
bissing it you home right now buddy i don't recognize that background i am in vancouver i
just had my trials with the lacrosse team i'm not going to say anything more uh you guys are gonna have to see for yourselves on how
things went down but great bunch of guys we're recording this podcast on saturday by the way
because i have a travel date tomorrow and including a game with the arizona coyotes where we're taking
on connor mcdusty and company they come to town The two-headed monster of Leon Dreisaitl and Connor McDusty are going to stroll in
to Gila River Arena, and
we are going to spank them.
Kiss my ass, Connor.
I hope you're listening. Actually, you'll be listening to this
on Monday after we already kick your ass.
You guys caught Toronto
in their first game with the new coach.
Didn't work out so hot for you, did you?
You guys loved Toronto in that game, too.
RA, you loved them. I mean, you loved Phoenix, didn't work out so hot for you. You guys loved Toronto in that game, too. I was, RA, you loved them.
I was a little, I mean, you loved Phoenix, didn't you?
No, what I said was I usually better team the first game out with the new coach,
but the last couple of years it hadn't been cashing,
so I was a little cautious and I pushed out embarrassingly enough.
I will say, boys, they looked like a different team.
Arizona did not play their game, but I was very impressed with the,
I mean, let's go down the line.
Nylander looked incredible.
I think he's been pretty good all season long.
Matthews looked great.
I'm really impressed with that Hyman.
He is just a worker bee.
He's kind of like a Kunitz in the sense where he does all the little things.
Remember in the podcast when Sid talked about just having a guy on your line who's willing to go
forecheck and get the puck back
and create
net front presence and just all the little
things that
you add on to intangibles to make a good
player. I really liked his game.
I really liked that Andreas
Johansson as well. He's another guy
that you don't hear a lot about just because they have so
many names.
So very interesting to hear Tavares' post-game comments.
You could tell he was fired up.
And that group just, they were having fun, man.
And when a team with that much skill and guys who can make impacts in the lineup
start playing and having fun, it's amazing what they can do.
And I said it, I think that they're going to go on a run here.
Did Hyman get traded for a silky, smooth, head-up,
great passing defenseman?
I think he was drafted.
Oh, okay.
So you said Kunitz, so I didn't know.
But the best – one of the funniest moments of the night was, of course,
of course Tyson Barry scores first game when Babs is gone.
Everyone had complained.
Well, they'd been complaining about his play,
but they'd also been saying haters of Babcock would say he doesn't let his
D play offense.
He doesn't play his top guys enough.
Well, Barry makes an incredible move.
The announcer had mentioned this is kind of what Leafs fans thought they were
going to get.
The player from Colorado sees that he's got open ice,
takes a couple of strides,
shelves one over the goalies glove glove. First goal of the year.
Well, what do they do?
The camera just pans to the bench, and Sheldon keeps just laughing.
Just got a big old smile on his face.
It's just so classic because he probably told them.
Well, actually, I'll bring up a memory I had.
Now, when Herrian got fired and I was still on the Penguins,
I lasted one game, one game before I got traded but
in that one game we played against the Islanders and Bilesma came up to me and I was having a poor
season and he's like listen I know that guy he didn't say he wasn't a big fan of you but I know
he was hard on you every mistake you felt like you got shit on blah blah blah go play loose and
free man new season I know what you can do as a player.
Really pump my tires.
Now, naturally, when a guy, a coach comes in who isn't considered a hard ass,
especially compared to the prior coach,
he's going to come in and be positive with every guy.
You know, that's kind of how they do things.
So he was doing that with a bunch of people, I'm sure,
but it still made me feel so good.
I went out and played pretty well.
We lost the Islanders.
I ended up getting traded.
But still, I'm bringing this up because I'm guessing Sheldon Keefe
sat down with Tyson Barry at some point before the game,
whether it was five minutes, and just said,
dude, I know how good you are.
Don't worry about what's happened prior to this.
Try to take some of the pressure off yourself in knowing that I'm not going
to be upset at mistakes.
I need you up in the play.
Be that fourth guy.
Be the roamer that we know you can be
in what you've done prior in your career.
And he gets a goal.
So we'll see if it continues,
and he starts producing offensively like last year.
But you could tell by the smile from the coach,
it was pretty funny.
He got one the first game Babcock was gone.
And now, Biz, you gave him a chicklet's bump.
Unfortunately, you cut your own throat, your own dogs.
I was like, why didn't those selfish fucks wait until the end of the road trip this is more about than leaf this is
more about leaf's nation than anything right they get the whole feng shui turned around things are
happy and now the coyotes got to get a loss fuck you guys has matthew scored every time he's played
at home no surprisingly going into that game he had six games played, two goals and an assist, okay?
Coyotes had won both games last year.
They won in Toronto and at home against them.
And listen, they just looked really good.
They looked like they were playing loose.
I mentioned those other guys in that roster where I'm like,
oh, shit, man, they got way more depth than I even gave them credit for.
And guys, let's not forget, they're missing a very important piece right now.
So, Carter's coming back, I'd imagine, in two, three weeks.
So, I think we've talked enough about the Leafs. In addition to Sheldon Keefe, he ended up getting the game puck.
And very cool, because he actually played for the Coyotes organization.
He met his wife there.
I believe his kids might have even been born there, his parents.
Did you have all this written down, R.A.?
No, not this much.
Oh, okay.
No, this is expensive.
It was good for him.
And Tyson Nash, I was talking to him a little bit.
And you stressed it.
This guy, he's had to, I don't want to say battle demons,
but he hasn't actually exactly had the easiest path,
and he's had to
work for every inch that he's received all right let's turn it over to the news we'd like to get
to uh the st louis blues lost three of their forwards to injury in just the last handful of
weeks most recently sammy blay so they went out and signed the familiar face troy broward to help
with the depth up front the 34 year old forward he was on a pto so he signed a one-year two-way
deal for 750 grand that's a two-way deal which could factor in later if they get some bodies back.
The Blues lost Alex Thien, Vladimir Tarasenko, and like I just said, Sammy Blais. Troy Brower
had 12 goals, 9 assists in 75 games with the Panthers last year. And of course, he scored
that huge goal for the Blues back in 2016, Game 7, game winner versus the Blackhawks.
What does Troy broward bring to
this team right now well he brings it some depth i mean you you're in a position where you're looking
to get help from wherever you can and he's a guy who's played in the league a long time so
i think it's easier for people like that to hop into a system he's also somebody who could easily
play on the fourth line or the second line i mean you can kind of really move him up and down the
lineup it'll be interesting to see i know know, he's not the quickest player anymore,
but he's hard to play against, kind of a blue-style player
where he's heavy on the puck.
But before we get to any more, like, blues players news,
those jerseys they wore, those old-school blues jerseys,
I'm guessing that was, like, when Gretzky was there.
I think that's what they wore.
What a look.
The little red on the bottom of the pants.
Oh, my God.
They got to wear those jerseys all the time.
I love them.
So they got to win.
But still, I think signing a guy like that's just going to help fill some holes
and wait for some guys to get back from injury.
I mean, as you know with Tarasenko, you're looking at, they said,
five months, right?
It's a long time to kind of battle without your best player.
Yeah.
I mean, nothing much to say other than, yeah,
adding a little bit of depth.
I know that some people, you know, fans at least of St. Louis were like,
hey, like, I mean, we could have had Maroon, you know.
Like, I don't know where their cap issues are at.
Well, that seems to be a guy who's playing a very similar role,
not the fastest guy, good along the walls, good net front presence.
So I don't know what their cap
situation and how much more uh pat maroon is making but uh that was some of the feedback that
i was reading online but uh hey this is a team that uh i heard a story recently when they they
got to vancouver that their their coach chief was like hey bags in the room we're all going out
the whole fucking team.
I ended up going to the Roxy.
Like that's just, those guys love each other.
And that's why they're winning right now.
And I mean, it kind of goes back to the comments about the Leafs.
Like once you're having fun and you're moving and shaking,
of course, coming off a cup, I mean, you're,
you're playing with the house's money, but you know,
these guys still love each other.
They're still playing hard for each other.
And despite some of the injuries they've suffered,
they're still playing some decent hockey we've
been talking a ton of milestones so far this season and we got another one congrats to the
Bruins head athletic trainer Donnie Del Negro he worked his 2000th NHL game Thursday night
I went to school in his hometown way out in North Adams Massachusetts and I know they're very proud
of him it's a it's a tough time to grow up it's an old mill town there's not a ton of work there
so it's uh he's kind of like a role model to a lot of the people out there. So, you know, these are
the guys we talked about last episode. They're kind of the grease and the gears of the league
that without these guys, the league doesn't run. But maybe you could explain. I think a lot of
people confuse trainer and equipment manager. Basically, the trainers from an injury front and
the equipment guys just deal with all the equipment shit. I seem to always hear them get used
intermittently or vice versa.
I don't know if you guys notice that.
Like, in other words, they'll call the trainer the equipment guy.
They're a big team.
Yeah, R.A., we group them all in the same boat because, you know,
even the one, the athletic trainers and the physio guys,
the guys who are working on guys' bodies when they're banged up,
those guys are helping late hours of the night unload bags too.
I mean, that was the case on your team, right?
So it's just easy to group them all in the same boat,
and they all have those awful hours and all get tipped out
at the end of the season because of that.
I want to bring up the Florida Panthers, man.
They've been incredible.
What a wild team.
Okay, on November 12th in Boston, the Panthers came back from being down
four goals to win the game for the first time in franchise history that ever happened.
Nine days later, they did the exact same thing versus the Ducks.
They were down 4-0 with a minute and a half left in the second,
come all the way back to win the game.
What's crazy about them is Florida, they're like a 1980s team.
They've scored the second-most goals, but they've also given up
the third or fourth-most goals.
They're playing this run-and-gun sort of style.
Not really style.
They're just giving up a shitload of goals but scoring more i'm telling you man if bob roski
finds his game this team could make a run for the president's trophy right now he's not playing that
great and they're still winning so if he gets his shit together man look out for florida whit
no he hasn't been good at all and and this has been their their mo for three years now they've
they've or maybe two they've scored scored as well as anyone in the league.
They just give up so many goals.
But the comebacks, those have been wild because it's so rare.
They were also down three to Jersey at one point this year.
So they have two four-goal comebacks and a three-goal comeback.
And when you see that happen that many times,
you know there's no quit in that group.
But it just shows how easily they can score, right?
They can have a period where they go, they go to two games and they easily
get 10, 11 goals, but they're just giving up eight, nine at the same time. So it seems like
even, even when they're scoring at will, they're not even blowing teams out just because of how
often they've been, they've been struggling to keep it out of their own net. But like you said,
I think you sent our group, the the futures some nice futures on the Panthers
right now for how they've played without good goaltending so if he does step it up which
I mean I'm sure they plan on happening because you got to think all right well you're going to
get comfortable in a new in a new situation it's almost Thanksgiving kind of should be by now but
let's really pick up the play as we get into December and if he doesn't then you kind of
start panicking a little bit because it's just the first year of a long ass deal for Bob all right I don't know if you got tagged in that tweet when I threw out the
comment about betting them in the overs and somebody said that their overs have hit like
75 percent of the time oh I saw that I did see that tweet yeah and then of course we said because
we said it that it probably wouldn't happen anymore. But I think that's a team, the high-flying offense,
there's just bound to be goals every game.
And, I mean, how are they doing attendance-wise
now that they're so exciting to watch?
Has that been elevating a bit?
Because they're probably the worst in the league now, right?
Honestly, I hadn't checked the attendance.
I mean, what I've seen on TV, there definitely seems to be more people there.
And the other thing about Bob, too, he might be having a bad game.
Like, he'll give up maybe two, three shit goals early,
but he bounces back within that same game.
He kind of buckles down.
Obviously, you don't want to be behind the eight ball that early.
And as far as the odds went, man, if you can find 20-1 on Florida right now,
that's a really nice price for this late, well, not late in the season,
but for where they are in the standings, they still have 20-1.
I would jump all over that if I already didn't have it at 28-1.
All right, gambling corner mid-episode.
Oh, a little humble brag there that you love the odds now,
but you're still even better off than anyone who would take it.
Still got them at 28-1.
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Have you ever worn those jeans?
Oh,
absolutely.
No,
I'm not.
Oh, they've sent you some pairs?
Oh, yeah.
I think they were one of the first pairs we actually had for an advertiser.
I kind of want to see you hit the squat rack at them.
You might have to point me in the right direction where the squat rack is.
How much do you think you could squat, R.A.?
And when's the last time you squatted?
When I just hit the hopper
right before the show no no like with weight on like have you ever have you ever done a back squat
no no ever in your life i don't know what's a back squat like when you like when the bar is on your
back yeah well back squat you'd put it on your back honestly maybe when i was a kid it was funny
one of my one of my buddy's fathers used to always rank on me when i walked in the house they were
all weightlifters he's like look at this kid with the chicken legs.
We've got to get him in the weight room.
And I tried it, man.
It was just like weight's on for me.
So I'm probably through the bar and a little bit more busy.
A lot of weight, guy.
What do you want me to say?
I mean, I don't know.
I think there should be a gambling corner when people bet if you could squat one plate on each side,
which is 45 pounds.
I mean, you've got to think a grown man can at least squat
150 pounds. That's less than your body weight. Dude, I guarantee you could squat 150 pounds.
All right. But that's just basically the strength in your legs, right? That you need to,
that's a 40, that's a 45 math guy. That's one third, 45 on each side's 135. And then you'd
need a five on each side. That would be one 45. Then you need a two and a half on each side is 135, and then you'd need a five on each side. That would be 145.
Then you'd need a two and a half on each side to get you to 150.
And if you couldn't do that, it'd be curtains for you.
You know what we're going to do?
You know what we're going to do?
We're going to put you through the NFL Combine.
We should do that.
What do they have to bench press?
225?
Oh, I couldn't do 225.
I mean, I haven't been in shape in 20 years, boys.
I mean, you know.
You weren't in shape 20 years ago.
There's no chance.
No, dude, I was running five miles a day in my late 20s, believe it or not.
Well, here's the thing about people who run five miles a day.
I've seen a lot of people out there, fat as shit, that are running five miles a day.
No, no, I'm not saying.
No, no, no, I'm not chirping.
I'm just saying some people, like, I run all the time. Like not chirping. I'm just saying some people like I run all the time.
Like, dude, I've seen plenty of disgusting bodies that run all the time.
Yeah.
No, it's just last time I really hit the gym was about 20 years ago.
But hey, listen, boys, I had a fall.
Asked me a really good question.
They asked me if there was a line on Ottawa having more points than Tampa Bay at Thanksgiving.
I thought it was a pretty sick question.
And if I were to make the line, I would have said Tampa Bay would have been minus a thousand
and I would have put Ottawa at a plus 800.
Well, we're not at Thanksgiving yet, but the head-to-head between these two
is certainly closer than many expected.
And as of this recording, the Sens have one more point than Tampa,
though Tampa does have four games in hand.
But, Biz, never mind the lottery.
The Sens are aiming for a playoff spot this year.
I talked to you the other day.
This team plays hard for DJ Smith.
Anders Nelson has been fucking lights out.
I like watching this team play, Biz.
I feel like this episode, the topic conversation,
is just going to be coaches.
And you said we talked about it on the phone.
And, I mean, this is a lineup where if you look at it compared to Tampa Bay's,
I mean, it's almost laughable.
I mean, I feel bad because in the season previews,
we might have been a little bit hard on them.
But you're seeing guys playing loose. I know it's easy to season previews, you know, we might have been a little bit hard on them, but you're seeing guys playing loose.
I know it's easy to say, well, you know,
they know they're not making playoffs, so of course they're going to play loose,
but it's just like, well, fuck, they're playing hard for them.
Brady Kachuk's continuing to excel.
I'm really happy for Anthony Duclair.
He's a guy where, you know, I wasn't sure.
He kept bouncing around.
I didn't think he was going to find his game.
I don't think coaches took him seriously in a top six role in order to sustain it.
And right now, he's getting his reps.
And in the sample size that we've seen so far earlier in the season,
I think he's got eight or nine goals.
I believe it's nine.
He's playing good hockey.
He's a very dynamic one-on-one player.
I think there's some other
things about his game. If he can end up rounding out, you know, this is a guy who is getting
confidence from his coach being put in that role. I mean, of course, they don't have other guys
maybe available to play in that top six, but it's good to see. And not only are the guys
thriving there, I'm sure they're having a blast. You know, the Ottawa Senators fans, they get a
nice little treat expecting their team
to have been probably at the
bottom of the barrel all season long.
Now, it's still early.
There's still some things that need to happen,
but hey, they're not laying over for
anyone. They had a nice overtime win the other night
in Montreal, and
they're continuing to roll and play well against good teams.
You also got to pump the tires
of one of my favorite names to say in the NHL,
Jean-Gabriel Pajon.
This guy's been on fire.
I mean, he looks like originally going into the year,
I looked at a couple guys on Ottawa's big-time trade targets
possibly come the deadline when they're out of it,
just figuring that's kind of how it was going to go, like most people did.
How good would he be going to a playoff team but like i
already said maybe ottawa can sneak into the playoffs it's shocking to see where they're at
but if you look at his season he's got 13 goals in 23 games as of right now he also i think is one
of those guys that is along with a few others on the team like duclair mentioned like tyler ennis
there are a bunch of people that kind of their
pride's challenged a little bit everyone says your team stinks everyone says like can this guy still
play and they're proving a ton of people wrong by i think what you said at the beginning biz or
are a of playing really hard for dj smith they enjoy playing for him he's probably got the same
similar new age style coach uh coaching ability as as you talk about Sheldon Keefe and you talk about
some of the other new age coaches that are more positive Ralph Kruger and it's a team that I think
not only is surprising people but they're probably surprising themselves a little bit I think going
into the year you're you're pretty honest in in looking at your team and how good you think you
can be and I I'm sure these guys said we can compete. Well, to be where Tampa Bay is right now,
they never would have guessed that.
That's like you said, Ari.
And that also has to do with Tampa not playing as well
as they should have been early in the season.
But it's a fun team to watch.
Even like Ron Hainsey, I'm kind of looking up and down the lineup right now.
He comes over as a leader.
And they brought in so many guys from Toronto with Zaitsev.
Who was the other guy that came over?
Nemesnikov.
Connor Brown was there.
Nemesnikov came over in the deal with, I think, the Rangers or something.
But, yeah, like I said, a lot of guys that were counted out,
and they've played great.
Yeah, they've won five of six, seven of nine.
And I'll tell you, Anders Nilsson, he's a guy.
He played – that was the sixth team of the decade, Ottawa.
He bounced around quite a bit.
And it sounds like he found a stable home in Ottawa. 12 starts this year. He's 7-4
and 1 with a 2-6-3 goals against.
9-2-8 save percentage. I think has him
4th or 5th in the league. He's
29. He's got one more year left at 2.6
mil. They were still hungry.
Even the game Friday night, they're up 4-1.
Two minutes left. They're still diving. They're still killing penalties.
You got to appreciate what they're doing.
Go back to Brady Kachukbis. He had
nine shots on goal through two periods last night and he got the big overtime winner in montreal so
like i said man fun team to fun team to watch and fun team to win money on too
uh two things one quick correction it's 10 goals right now for anthony duclair so far this season
and one thing we forgot to mention last episode and we were hardening ourselves in the group chat
about it was bobby ryan and and right, you might have had this written down.
If you did, I'll let you tee it up right now because we want to dive into that
because we're a player-friendly podcast, and that's kind of a serious topic.
Great call, Biz, to bring that up.
Yeah, last week the NHLPA and the NHL announced that Bobby Ryan
will be stepping away from the Senators as he takes part in the player assistance program.
And, you know,
we hate to see anybody here or know of battling this stuff.
Addiction's a motherfucker, anything to do with substance abuse.
We're obviously pulling for anybody in that type of situation.
I know what you got a little more you wanted to add to this.
Yeah. I had the chance to play with Bobby Ryan. Ironically enough,
I was looking, going through old pictures the other day,
and I have a cool picture from when Bobby and I got back
from the Olympics in our USA jerseys,
holding the silver medals with Anaheim right before I got traded to Edmonton.
But just a really good guy.
Everyone loved playing with him.
And for people who don't really remember how dominant he was for a little while,
go YouTube some of Bobby Ryan's goals.
Filth.
I mean, dominant player, second overall pick.
And when you've gone through what he's gone through in his life,
no one really has it easy.
This kid's been through a lot.
And so to know him and to, I don't know what's going on,
but I want to send my best wishes,
know that the whole hockey community,
all the guys he's played with are thinking of him
and knowing that even in a tough time,
we know a guy like Bobby would be there for us.
So I hope he considers everyone there for him,
and I hope he reaches out to talk to whoever he needs to
and things go well.
But do yourself a favor and check out the article he did
with the Players' Tribune.
I think it was like two years ago.
It might have been even longer.
But it was about him and his mom, dear mom, after she passed away.
And I think that somebody like that deserves for you to check out this article
and what he's been through.
I think you'll appreciate once you read this.
And you'll really wish him best moving forward and fighting the good fight,
whatever he's going through right now.
I'm thinking of him.
I played junior hockey with him in Owen Sound, one of the most talented players.
How nasty was he? His was incredible it was in in junior it was a joke too because i mean he's like these
kids are getting thrown out there again he would truck people too i've i've never seen a guy walk
more guys one-on-one than bobby ryan in the half a year i played junior with him but uh as you said
we don't know what's going on. We want to send the best wishes.
In his case specifically, he's a guy who's making a lot of money who has had an unfortunate decline.
It's kind of like the Corey Perry situation in the last few years in Anaheim.
All of a sudden, he's making all this money,
and he can't really get it done like he used to.
And sometimes fans can be hard,, you're online barking at him.
You know, there's news stories about it.
So now that it's gotten to this point, whatever he is going through,
send him some love.
Back off.
It's not about the game at this point.
Yeah, and having it be a public thing doesn't make it any easier.
I mean, we all know people in our lives who go through this stuff,
and having it be in the newspapers and stuff certainly doesn't make it easier.
You said, you know, his mom mom he recently lost his mom he had
a very difficult upbringing so i don't want to say it was recently i'm not sure but i know that
the article was written recently after she passed away okay um yeah we just want to wish barbie the
best as he deals with this going forward so uh hopefully he's doing well and we'll continue to
do well uh boys we haven't mentioned our guest this episode, a New England legend, Brian Barad.
I know you were pretty fired up to bring on Barad.
I'll just quickly say about that interview, Beast, he's a great guy.
I think people are really going to enjoy this.
This is one of the ones that ended right away.
We kind of looked at each other like, that was great, Brian.
We really appreciate he came on.
But I do want people to know when the interview goes on and after,
he's probably um
i've never seen more people say a guy's like loyal right i texted a bunch of his buddies before hey
having beast on what you got anything for me and they'd send a couple little quick stories or
something to ask him about and all of them ended with but honestly he's just the most loyal person
in the world the best friend you could ask for so hearing that from a bunch of different people
leading into the interview i think you guys should appreciate what he's been through.
And it was a fun conversation.
Yeah.
We'll get to that in a little bit,
but for us,
we got to stroke off and sewer a couple more teams.
One contender that has come out of the gate,
stumbling is Nashville.
The Preds have lost six in a row,
eight of their last nine.
They're currently five points out of the second wildcard spot.
Thursday at home versus Vancouver,
their penalty killing gave up five power play goals.
That's an obscene number.
But even at 5.05, the goaltending, plain and simple, has been their Achilles heel.
I feel like people probably think I pick on Pecorine, but, I mean, it is what it is, man.
He got pulled again, five goals on 17 shots.
He started the season off good, but since Halloween, it's been rough.
Six goals on 27 shots on Halloween, and since then,
he's given up at least four goals in four of his five starts.
Currently 8-4-1.
I mean, he got two shutouts, but a 3-0-6 goals against an 8-8-9 save percentage.
That's not good.
His backup, Yussi Saros, hasn't fared any better.
Seven starts.
He's got one win with a 3-3-4 in an 8-8-8.
Tough road to hoe right now if you're a Predator.
Biz, what do you got on these boys?
Well, I mean, I don't know what the odds are,
but that would be a good team to bet on if the odds are pretty good.
And going back to last year, they had a decent start to the season.
And then I remember getting closer and closer to playoffs.
Their power play was absolute dog shit.
Basically cost them a run. I mean, they had opportunities in that playoff absolute dog shit. Basically, you know, cost them a run.
I mean, they had opportunities in that playoff series against Dallas.
I think they ended up losing that one in six games.
But I don't mind this for them.
I like the teams that are favored or up there.
They're probably a top six or top 18 coming into this season,
whereas they're dealing with their adversity now.
They're going through some things.
And I don't imagine a coaching change would come.
I think Laviolette's a well-respected coach.
He's got a resume long enough where I think the guys in that locker room
still love him and want to play for him.
But this, I mean, for that lineup, this is dreadful.
They have, I mean, I know Rene's not getting any younger,
but he's still a competent goalie.
Their back end is still up there in the West,
and their depth up front is insane.
Down the middle, I mean, I think Kyle Turris is their fourth-line center
right now, or maybe he's their third-line.
He's been getting scratched.
He's another issue.
That would be a deal he signed.
Right, yeah, but I'd imagine if he's able to fucking turn it up and finally
find his game him playing fourth line it's kind of a situation where they had mike richards playing
fourth line for los angeles kings when they want it like that's a guy who can you know get get hot
and provide offense being a fourth line player wherever he may be but regardless an underachieving
team i'm sure the fans are frustrated there but but like I said with the Maple Leafs, not necessarily a bad thing this early in the season. Last year, as you said,
the penalty power play killed them. Well, this year the penalty kill stinks. They're worse than
the league. Special teams have to be consistent. They don't have to both be near the top of the
league, but they got to be better than the past two years in terms of one year it's power play
can't score and now they can't keep the puck out of their net when they're shorthanded and a lot of that has to do
in short the best penalty killing teams i always say they have the best goalies the goalies you
number one penalty killer so if you're not getting goaltending and r.a you're talking about how
renee's been since thanks uh holy shit halloween name another fucking holiday maybe july 4th will
come out of my mouth next.
Since Halloween, the guy can't stop the puck.
How are they going to penalty kill?
You say LaViolette's job safe.
I feel like Poyle, it would take a ton for him to gas him midseason.
But, dude, there's seven points out of the top three in their division.
There's six points out of the playoffs wildcard, or five maybe.
If they continue to lose and struggle, I wouldn't be shocked if he got fired.
I think it would take an enormous struggle the next month or so.
Guys, I don't see it as them afraid to fire him.
It's who the fuck are you going to replace him with, right?
Obviously, their minor league coach doesn't get talked up like the Toronto Maple leafs always will being in toronto but i don't know who it is
maybe the guy in milwaukee's a stud is their ahl team even even milwaukee anymore yeah i i feel
it's a different situation where i don't think the guys have like turned on him and his message
is getting lost i just think they're just not playing good hockey right now i think that they're
able to turn around and It always cracks me up.
Peter Laviolette's from Massachusetts, Biz,
but he sounds like he's from Moose Jaw.
He's got this Canadian accent.
I think his leash is as long as if they went on another five-game slide,
he still wouldn't get fired.
Well, interesting you brought that up.
I'm not sure if you say his name, Adam Vingen, V-I-N-G-A-N.
He covers the Predators for the Athletic um when he was covering the press conference somebody asked peter laviolette if he
felt any pressure from the higher-ups excuse me if he felt any pressure from the higher-ups during
this run of shit play and laviolette said i haven't felt any so i don't know if he's just
like putting out putting that out there or if they're not he's not worried about it because
like you just said well biz david poyle he's only used five coaches 37 years as a to, he's not worried about it because like you just said, well, our biz, David Poyle, he's only used five coaches, 37 years as a GM.
He's literally only had five coaches and he's only fired two of them during the
season. So, uh, you know,
the likelihood of Flavio led based on those numbers getting fired,
probably unlikely and he has signed through 2021.
So we'll obviously keep an eye on this situation.
Now saying that it would be insane to see that lineup miss playoffs because
they haven't really dealt with a lot of injuries either.
This is just self-inflicted.
Yeah, absolutely.
They should be doing better.
Hey, Biz, I know you want to talk about that scrap the other night.
Tom Wilson, Brendan Lemieux, nice little do-si-do as an expert.
What was your take on that one?
Well, listen, Brendan Lemieux had a high hit in that game.
I don't know if that was the reason why there was a fight,
but I really liked that
lemieux's game not the fact that he fucking high hit the guy just overall he's got sandpaper all
over um i thought it was a very spirited bout for his for his oversized as wilson was on him i
thought he did pretty good what do you guys think i thought he did great yeah i was actually
surprised because right away i was like oh this could be ugly he hung right in there there's actually an awesome clip on i don't know if
anyone follows the i'm giving them a huge plug hockey collective instagram but they have this
little video of uh lemieux and he's like spitting out blood then he looks up he's got a black eye
it's the most hockey it says brendan lemieux equals hockey guy so it's a pretty cool little
video you could check out that kind kind of describes how he plays.
But, yeah, he's shocked.
He did real well.
Wilson's a fucking man child, man beast.
Biz, did you think Lemieux might have gotten in a little bit too early
because Wilson hadn't had his gloves off yet?
I think, okay, so as a fighter, I'm going to tell you this.
I think he thinks that Wilson's going over there.
Now, remember, I didn't watch this game.
So that could have been before that high hit.
I'm assuming it was after he's thinking Wilson's coming after me for that.
And,
and listen,
I would,
I would like to have Lemieux on my team.
Why?
Cause he's a fucking rat.
And I like having a guy like that around.
Right.
And he's willing to fucking go to,
and he's playing hard and he, he's the type of player you can't really find around a lot anymore
because he still does have some game to him okay he's just he's adjusted nicely um he's he's going
to be the type of player though that wants to get the jump and yes i will agree he jumped early
there but hey you if you're going to go around him and you're going to peacock
and take a run, you got to be ready for that type of thing
from that type of player.
Is it the type of player I was?
No.
I was a tap on the shin pad, nod, yes, are we doing this okay?
He's getting the jump.
Yeah, it's probably better to be early against the guy like Wilson
than being late and ended up fucking knocked out in the ice too I suppose exactly uh hey why you know speaking of the
caps while all the teams have been streaking one way or the other the Washington Capitals have kind
of quietly took over the top spot in the league uh the team had its best 20 game start in franchise
history uh they lead the NHL in goals for six more than the number two team Florida with 87 goals
34 year old Ovi continues to fill the net only three guys have more than the number two team, Florida, with 87 goals. 34-year-old Ovi continues to fill the net.
Only three guys have more than his 15 goals.
And after a bit of a slow stop, Braden Holtby has got back to the form
that's made him one of the best goalies of the last decade.
What do you got on this one, Whit, the old caps?
Not surprised at all.
I think they'll be right there competing for the Cup this year.
I think if you were to say the favorite in the league right now, it's them.
It's obviously not breaking news.
But you got one of the best defensemen in the league in Carlson.
Probably going to win the Norris this year.
I know it's very early, but he'll be right there in the
top three. Ovechkin, obviously,
what else are you going to say about him? Bastrom, Kuznetsov,
Oshie, so much depth. Guy
like Lars Eller, how much of a difference does he
make, whether he's playing third line, fourth line,
their goalie, Holpe. I didn't even
realize he had kind of a slow start, but he's looked
awesome lately. His record's still like 11-2
or something crazy
around there. But
they won the Cup. It was a long run.
They took the year off. They lost in the playoffs.
This year, they'll be right back there.
They're that good. They're loaded. Great home ice
advantage. The place is always rocking.
Even you look at like Hathaway, he gets
suspended for the scumbag spitting incident.
Well, he's a pain in the ass to play against.
He helps that lineup.
There's a bunch of players like that.
Even having Gutis come over, he's made a difference defensively
and kind of tried to at least replace Brooks Orpik
in the physicality that they lost when he retired.
But I like this club. How can you not?
Has there been a more spoiled fan base over the last 10 years
than the Washington Capitals?
Yeah, Penguins. more spoiled fan base over the last 10 years than the Washington Capitals is I mean I get that yeah
Penguins sure I get that they haven't had the the postseason success but regular season wise
how many have they won the president's trophy two or three times in the last 10 years I don't know
the exact I would say they've been I would say one minimum but it's man, they're just a fun team to watch,
and they keep reloading.
It's like, oh, is this skill guy they got from Europe going to pan out?
Eh, eh, oh, shit, okay, now he's on the scene again.
And, I mean, they're star players in that core group.
It's just like they've got the fountain of youth.
I mean, actually, they were jumping in it after they won the Stanley Cup.
So they just proved my point. They actually were swimming in the fountain of youth. I mean, I know actually they were jumping in it after they won the Stanley Cup. So they just proved my point. They actually were swimming
in the fountain of youth.
Well, also, I mean, Vrana, and you kind
of talk about a European, and I
think he got his 11th goal this weekend
against Vancouver, and
Canucks ended up winning that game. I
retweeted Patterson's goal.
Oh, my God. Just
a rocket one-timer, bar
down. Pretty cool goal. Check that
one out. But it's still, this team is
right there, R.A. It's no surprise. I'd be shocked
if they don't win the division. And
I do, well, actually, fuck the Islanders.
Jesus. Can the Islanders win the
division? Jesus Christ. What's going
on in Long Island?
No, Washington's not gonna, they're not
going anywhere. They're nasty. And that
second line of Veronic, whouznets off on Wilson,
they've had 26 points in the first six games in November.
So they're obviously clicking well.
And you mentioned Carlson, eight goals, 28 assists in 24 games.
This kid is a beast.
He's led the team in ice time pretty much all but, I think, two games.
So the Caps, like you said, they'll be there.
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Another team, boys, that had a rough start but
really picked it up is uh the dallas stars they came out of the gate at one seven and one before
going on a 10 one and one tier uh maybe they've been overshadowed by the aisles a little bit but
12 one and one their last 14 with the 10 game point streak as well uh they played in some tight
ones as well with 11 of their 23 games decided by one goal. We talked about the Montgomery callout.
The Stars have gone 5-0 since.
Pretty good stuff.
What do you got, brother?
They're doing what everyone expected them to do.
It's got to be one of the top 10 teams in the league, right?
If not top five going into the season.
And I think that Biz said it in our group chat.
Sometimes guys need to be called out.
I'm not saying that they want it to happen.
I'm not saying that it's the right thing to do.
But now two years in a row, proof's there that when they get called out,
something switches.
Something changes for the entire team.
The way they played, it changed last year.
It's now changed this year.
And Sagan's really picked up his play.
And we talked about him last year and
saying that on a lot of other years uh Heskinen would win rookie of the year but this Miro Heskinen
you want to check out a stud young defenseman and fuck they're everywhere we're going to talk
about another one a rookie in a little bit out in Colorado but this Heskinen is playing a first
top pair minutes he plays 25 minutes a game. He plays in the power play, plays in the PK,
skates as well as almost anyone else in the league,
and he's made a huge difference.
He's second in scoring on that team.
He's got 17 points in 23 games right now, and he's 20 years old.
20 years old.
He's dominating.
It's just normal to see now, but it's still wild having played the game,
seeing someone have it come this easy.
Pavelski still, I mean, kind of a slow start,
five goals through 23 games as we record.
And you'd like to think that he'll pick it up at some point
and really kind of get going and go on one of those 30-game runs
where he gets 15.
That's kind of how he can run and really attack it offensively once in a while.
You've seen over his career how good he's been.
And Rupe Hintz is another guy you've got to mention.
So the team is playing like they should.
They're playing like everyone thought they would at the beginning,
and it was a struggle, but something's clicked.
And if it's calling them out, then I guess that's what's going to happen every year.
Fuck, man.
I think you covered it all, man, and especially the coach call-out.
And I know he went
back on it but yeah like you said the like some guys they just need a peepee whack and it's just
they they play better they like that pressure where they're like oh yeah you're gonna fucking
challenge me you little bitch let's fucking go and jamie ben's another guy he's been starting
to put the puck in the back of the net um and uh and things are just clicking for that team
and another thing too boys they've gotten all this done,
this turnaround, missing Klingberg for some time too.
I mean, this guy's an all-star defenseman,
and once he comes back, this thing,
if they can keep going with the guys they got going right now,
it'll be a full, well-oiled machine ready to fucking make a run in playoffs.
Also, pretty cool clip.
Check out Jamie Benn's goal against Winnipeg.
He ran over Scheifele, scored later in the same shift, I believe.
So that's kind of his game.
Shows how Dallas has really turned things around.
So we'll be down there, boys.
We will be down there in about 35, 40 days.
We'll see what Big D has to offer.
I'm sure Biz will be out until 3 in the morning crushing everything in the city.
God knows that Biz Nasty's in town, but I'm
looking forward to it. He'll be bringing his Big D
to Big D.
You want this big?
I'm in Big D. I got my big
covered wagon in Big D.
Oh, shit. I just said
the Stars have gone 5-0 since Montgomery
called them out. And in those five games, Ben and
Sagan have combined for seven goals and eight
assists. So you might say message received.
Also the goalies, too.
They came out of the gate really slow, Darby and Bishop.
They've really turned around the both of them.
And more of the goaltenders we've been used to.
So keep an eye on Dallas.
I don't think they're going anywhere.
That was a delayed chick.
Let's bump for Bish.
I think we stretched that one out as long as possible.
Yeah, exactly.
Unfortunately, we've got to do a little injury update,
and Buffalo Sabre Kyle Ocposo suffered yet another concussion,
his second this calendar year, his fourth since joining the Sabres.
It was one of those incidental contact things.
Ryan Hainsey was getting off the ice as Ocposo was coming off.
I'm sorry, coming on the ice.
They bumped into each other, and he dropped like a stone right away. Do you know
Kyle at all? I know him a little bit.
Awesome guy, and you said
another concussion.
There was just an article
that came out. It talked about his past
as well. Just another guy
who's been through some shit, and I hope
he gets healthy.
That's the most important thing right now.
Absolutely.
It's tough to see guys.
You know, we've had one, but when you've got two in a year, man,
because we know he's going to be good.
Very well-liked guy, too.
All right.
Good team guy.
All right.
Next, the Penguins continue to see guys drop like flies.
Defenseman Justin Schultz is out, quote,
longer term with a lower body injury,
and forward Nick Bugstad will miss at least eight weeks.
He had surgery on a core muscle. Not to mention Crosby and Letanga both out,
and they've lost Malkin, Hornquist, and Rust at various points this season.
But, you know, the Pens have persevered.
They're sitting in a wild card spot right now,
so they can kind of hang tight until Crosby gets back.
You know, I'm sure they'll be in the playoff hunt late in the season.
I haven't been able to watch these guys at all.
Have you guys?
I haven't seen a ton of the Penguins, to be honest with you.
I think considering how they've done with the injuries,
what's their coach's name?
I'm drawing a blank here.
Sullivan.
Mike Sullivan.
Sullivan.
I mean, he's doing a hell of a fucking job.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's tough to do when you're missing a superstar.
And Calgary defenseman T.J. Brody, he skated under medical supervision.
He's doing some more testing and evaluation.
Of course, he fainted in practice a couple weeks ago,
so they want to be very cautious with him.
But the team is optimistic.
He'll rejoin them in the near future.
He was placed on IR retro to November 14th.
Speaking of Calgary, I know they won Saturday in Philadelphia,
but prior to that, they had lost six in a row, had been outscored 23-5,
shut out three games, hadn't had a lead in two weeks.
Maybe today they turned it around, but up until then, Biz,
they've been struggling, eh?
They did not look good when they came to Arizona.
Their offense has really dried up.
The shooting percentage on Monaghan, Goudreau, and Lindholm is atrocious,
which is not necessarily a bad thing if you're a Calgary Flames fan
because eventually that's going to even out.
They just can't put the puck in the back of the net right now.
But Matthew Kachuk had a very interesting soundbite.
Grinnell, why don't you play that for us?
Yeah, it's getting pretty old.
It's getting old.
I don't know.
It's not that our starts have been horrible.
We just can't get this lead.
And when we trail, we press.
And then they put a six spot up on us when it's a pretty tight game
until the third period.
And I don't know what happened.
But we just kind of let them run away with it
and leave our goalie out to dry countless times.
It's getting old.
What's the feeling right now in this locker room?
I mean, I'm sure they're sensing some frustration.
But what is the feeling? Oh, this locker room? I mean, I'm sure they're sensing some frustration, but what is the feeling?
Oh, it's disgusting.
It's bad.
It's bad right now.
We need to change this around.
Maybe going home for one game can do this and spark us going into this road trip.
But something's got to change here.
We've got to get back to the old us and get out of this little funk we have here
because this is not fun. It's not fun right now. So, you know, when we're playing our best,
it's fun to come to the rink, play with the guys. And this last little stretch, we've struggled.
And it's not fun being down in games and it's not fun leaving your goalie out to dry like that.
And it seems like we've done that a little bit too much here. But, you know, fun being down in games and it's not fun leaving your goalie out to dry like that and and uh it
seems like we've we've done that a little bit too much here but uh you know our we had same with
those chances we have some of those chances and um thing go in but the difference was um you know
they probably outworked us and all played us tonight but it's it's it's getting a little bit
older now and yeah i mean he he's pissed off and
he's been you know he's kind of established himself as the leader of that team and um you
know g or dan was another guy who's who's been a little bit frustrated too but uh for how bad it's
gone i still feel like they're a confident group inside that locker room i know brad tree living
had some interesting comments uh recently he i believe he got asked
about the coaching situation he said hey we're not even considering firing peters um nothing's
going to change around here we feel like we have the right personnel just things aren't necessarily
going our way right now so brad tree tree living's another type of guy where he's very loyal and he
sticks to his guns and you know he he won't throw anyone under
the bus so you know he if anything he's going down with the ship so uh i think i think they're
going to be turning some things around although their strength of schedule doesn't get easier i
think the next two games after that there's a pocket there of about four or five games that i
think they they're very winnable so as far as maybe the gambling corner
RA the next couple be weary but after that there's going to be a stretch of hockey when they're
winning a lot of games yeah well big win Saturday in Philly they got it in the shootout Kachuk scored
a beauty um saw those highlights but sometimes you wonder um you know you hear you hear rumblings
from around the league,
the way we do having played biz,
talking to guys that I don't necessarily know if guys love playing for
Peters can be a little bit of a hard ass at times,
I'm sure.
But still no excuse for a team with that much skill to be struggling.
They have,
I mean,
shut out three games in a row on the road before that is wild.
I mean,
talk about some tough locker room scenes after road games
with Canadian media like, what's going on here, guys?
But still, I do like their team.
Maybe Larry Flowers met up with them in Philly
and took them to the same spot and played a little Gloria,
tried to get their season switched around,
even though, granted, they aren't in last place like the Blues were,
but they're not exactly playing like they did last year,
how they envisioned this season going.
So Goudreau, I think, will turn it up a little bit.
Still, though, I think you said it best in that fact
that this team's still going to be there.
They play Pitt tonight, Monday night.
That should be a good one.
They try to build on their win in Philly and get a little momentum
because after that, they could go on a little bit of a run.
I just wanted to jump in there quickly all right because we're talking about
a lot of coaches you mentioned the Peter situation and I'm going to use this one as an example I'm
not trying to throw him under the bus again for the fact that James Neal didn't work out there
but it's amazing how much heat general managers take for for trades that they make when in fact
they're relying a lot on the coach
because if that's the coach that you believe in that can get you there
and you're taking his word for it where, yo, this guy is just –
I don't think he has it.
I don't think he's good, not only here, but I think we should just get rid of him.
Whereas, like, I mean, he's your guy and he's your coach.
You have to listen to him.
So think about how many times maybe like here's another example of it.
I don't think that talk, it was necessarily crazy about Max Domi's game.
Okay.
He didn't have a great year too.
And it was the perfect storm where he ends up getting moved where, I mean,
fuck we gave up on a pretty good asset early because
there was not a good connection between the coach and him and maybe they had their differences
and how they thought both their games should play out.
So sometimes stop looking at the general managers for the bad moves and start maybe addressing
coaches and them not believing in certain guys to get the job done.
Well said, Biz. Well said.
And I guess there was actually a groundswell from some fans to trade Goudreau.
They actually got the hashtag fire Goudreau going,
which just shows how fucking stupid some fans can be, not just single-eyed.
Yeah, picking on Calgary, but that's just brutal.
Like, why the fuck would you want to trade Johnny Goudreau?
That's the type of trade when you trade a potential heart candidate for a second pair defenseman.
Okay?
So just pump the fucking birds.
No, that would be a third trade.
It's like four pieces that don't add up close to what the one guy is.
It's like you're not going to trade Johnny Goudreau.
Even an average Johnny Goudreaux is a very competent top six forward
in the National Hockey League.
If you're a GM, how do you trade a guy who eats ham and cheese sandwiches
like a horse?
Brings them into a sushi place to boot.
Yeah, and just motors around out there at 5'0", 100, and nothing,
and lights it up.
Like, come on, Calgary fans, figure it out.
Although, thank you for buying the Pink Whitney.
It's really selling in Calgary.
Hey, maybe they got out of their, thank you for buying the Pink Whitney. It's really selling in Calgary. Hey, you know,
maybe they got it out of their system Saturday with the win
in Philly. And as bad as it's been, boys, there's
still only one point out of the playoffs right now.
So, things could be looking up for Calgary.
But I think we should send it over to Brian Barad right about
now. I really enjoyed this chat as well.
So, without further ado, we're going to
send it over to Brian Barad.
We're now pleased to
be joined by somebody that I have vivid recollections of being young
and really looking up to this guy from Woonsocket, Rhode Island,
the second American ever to be picked first overall in the NHL draft.
Ironically enough, the first Brian Lawton played at the same exact high school,
Mount St. Charles, where there's a legendary high school program.
A guy who's been
through a lot and just released a book relentless and i think is uh a perfect example of perseverance
and somebody that anyone who's ever met him would know how loyal he is so brian barard thank you for
joining the spit and chicklets podcast thanks for having me guys it's about time exactly really
this has been a long time coming dude i. I know, but recently we realized that before we would delay guys because we're like, no, we need them live.
Because we know it's going to be so much better because there's always that delay on the phone and you can't get in rhythm.
Whereas we wanted to wait.
It worked out.
We're close to you and thank you for coming.
And we got to mention that new book again.
And I love to be on the road, too.
You love road trips.
Beast is like, wait, we can go on the road go on the road we're not doing it over the computer i don't even like doing interviews i just
do it so i can keep traveling and crushing randoms work so dude well first off i'd like to get to the
book we can go into so many other things but when did you decide to write this how did it go down
in terms of like i'm guessing you you were speaking it and somebody else was typing it for the most part absolutely
that's how hockey players write isn't it definitely i mean uh ty domey actually when
ty wrote his book um still good buddies are up in toronto and and um i kind of had him reach out to
kevin hansen with simon schuster and uh probably about three years ago we met in new york sat down
um and i really just wanted to get my story out there.
Really not, I guess, about my injury and some off-ice stuff we'll get into a little bit
later, but that's in the book.
So it's not really just a hockey book as well.
But so it took about me and Jim Lang sat down.
He wrote Probert, Clarks, a bunch of guys.
Max Domey just wrote as well.
And he was just easy to talk to.
We got it done in about eight months.
So when he's talking to you and
you're retelling stories and you're remembering
things, at least for me, I would
definitely forget some things I'd want to mention.
Was he good at bringing stuff out or
is your memory good enough where you knew what you wanted to bring up?
Memory's not that good, that's for sure.
Mine's terrible. It's awful. Short term
for sure. But he was great
and Ty actually helped me a lot too.
He said just start writing down stories. If you think of some things that are out and stuff, just start writing down and
just some, you know, some key, key pointers here and there. But Jim does his research. I believe
he's a big hockey fan, good guy. And it was a lot of fun. It was a fun project.
What made you want to do it?
Really to kind of get, really to get my story out again. It's, it's about, I guess,
kind of never given up. Obviously, I thought I was done with
the eye when I was 23 years old. Kind of fought back. Kind of wanted to prove myself I could play
at a high level with one eye. And then the financial stuff as well with my financial advisor.
He's been in jail for about six years now. Stole a lot of money from a lot of NHL guys. So I wanted
to kind of get that out there. Some guys are embarrassed about it. It was at first. And then
I also wanted to try to help and educate some guys so it doesn't happen to them.
That's good on you, man.
Well, we can get into that in a little bit,
but I like starting at the beginning more so with the hockey parts,
and part of that is because of the questions I have.
Talking to everyone that's your age around New England,
from the time you started playing hockey, you were just the best player.
I mean, it was like you would dominate.
Everyone knew who you were, 10 years old, 11 years old. Who even got you into hockey? Because Rhode Island, I mean, even with the Mount
St. Charles historic high school program, it hasn't produced that many incredible players.
And there you are all of a sudden, like the best player in the country at ages 15, 16, 17. You just
kept getting better. When soccer Rhode Island is, it's kind of an old textile mill town,
and a lot of French Canadians came down.
So in that town, it was a huge Canadians-Bruins rivalry.
So kids on the ice, we'd be in the ponds early, street hockey,
and it would almost be fun.
I mean, fights.
I grew up with Brian Boucher, so we grew up from six years old on.
He was a huge Habs fan.
I didn't grow up a Bruins fan, but other people did,
and it's just a big hockey town.
My father played men's hockey.
That's how I basically got into it.
Me and my brothers, he got us into it.
It actually is a big hockey town.
Mount St. Charles, obviously, was a high school.
They boarded some students and hockey players from Quebec
back in the day in the 70s.
So growing up in Woonsocket, you wanted to play for Mount.
It's a good dream.
Yeah.
I mean, it produced like Matthew Schneider, Keith Carney, Gar Snow,
you know, guys that kind of – Dave Capuano.
So it goes back to – it just has a really good history.
Was there any moment when you started dominating there
and you went on to play in the OHL where college was going to happen?
Or were you one of those kids where you kind of say,
the only way I'd want my son to go play junior hockey
is if he's going to be the first overall pick in the NHL.
Did you kind of know that was going to happen?
To be honest with you, I was lucky.
Every year, I was 6'1", probably 190 pounds at like 14 years old.
I got big, quick, and just kept getting better and better.
Skating was getting better.
I wanted to play. When I started playing like select 16s and stuff against like
Aguinla, Redden, these guys, I knew I could compete with them.
I wanted to play junior.
I kind of, you know, not that I was tough, but I kind of, mind you,
I didn't love school.
Great story is that, you know, my mom was a big,
she wanted me to go to college and stuff like this, and I didn't want to.
So she made me take my SATs.
I went into the SATs.
I literally just kind of sat there and flipped a coin and just went straight through the sats and just marked anything
i think i still scored 780 did you really i never read that's hilarious 700 to play d1
at that time and i still did it i 70 i still like harvard at time i think harvard and maine would
you know the old uh walsh was recruiting me illegally at that time.
That's how it was.
You mentioned that rivalry between the Habs and Bruins.
You said you were scrapping in pond hockey games?
Guys, I mean, the town I grew up in, yeah.
It's a tough town.
Were you specifically scrapping?
No, I'm a lover of this.
Okay.
I'm going to hop in some defenses and go with it. The two guys in the red shirts on the end of the couch, we weren't fighters.
We were dishers.
We can move the puck.
All right.
Fair enough.
All right.
So leading in the junior career.
Did you have a question?
I'm sorry.
I was going to bring up Catholic Memorial.
You must have had a pretty good rivalry with them.
That's a big high school in Boston.
I don't think they were as popular, as good as they are today.
But how often did you play them?
We did.
We probably played them my freshman and sophomore year.
We probably played them two times a year.
Arlington we've played.
I think it was at St. John's Prep in Boston.
Even BC High at the time.
So we played a few schools and then St. Sebastian's as well.
So we played against Mike Greer and Holbig and those guys.
They were, I think, a couple years older than me.
But, I mean, at that time, the Rhode Island hockey was a decent competition,
but I knew it was time for me to, you know, move on to junior hockey.
Did you get recruited by colleges on your office, or did you even bother with that?
I pretty much, they knew I was kind of—
Flipping coins at the SATs?
Yeah, exactly, yeah.
I did. I actually graduated, as smart as I am, I graduated a year early after my junior year at Mount.
So I actually signed a letter of intent to Boston College.
Oh, no shit, huh?
That's when Milbury was there for that brief time.
Oh, your boy!
They knew I wanted to go to OHL and I wanted to play for the Detroit Junior Wings.
So we kind of fooled
a lot of the other teams in the OHL that I was going to go play college
so they wouldn't draft me.
Did you get money back then to do that?
What are you talking about?
There it is.
I'm like, fuck, they better be paying, Beast.
Who were the studs you were playing against
in the O when you were there?
That's the year of the lockout, too. That's 94.
Todd Harvey came back to our team.
I played with Jamie Allison.
It was like Jeff O'Neill, Todd Bertuzzi.
We had the big tough guys.
We had Matt Johnson.
The league was pretty strong.
Now, was it in Detroit or was it in CompuWear?
We got lucky enough that my first year there, we played out of the Joe Lewis.
Wow.
I was a rink rat.
I was done high school.
I didn't go to school.
So a lot of guys, we'd go watch the Detroit Red Wings practice, which was awesome.
And then we'd kind of go on. A lot of the guys that went to school, we didn't practice about 3.30 every day. So we would we go watch the detroit red wings practice which is awesome um and then we kind of go on a lot of guys went to school we didn't practice about 330 every day
so we would just go on the ice with shinny and play ball hockey kind of working some skills and
stuff like that it was great stories coffee paul coffee used to join us and come out and skate with
us and and he took a liking to me so this is a good story on the book how we changed the uh
the blade sides on my skates so So one day he literally grabbed me.
I wore like a 9 1⁄4 skate, which was like a 280 tuck,
and he literally grabbed me.
He said, come here, we'll put bigger blades on your skates.
So he took me in the Detroit Red Wings locker room,
and the trainer put bigger blades on my skates. No way, just more glide?
That's what he wanted.
He wanted more glide.
Did you end up keeping that?
I did, the rest of my career.
No shit.
Still have them, yeah.
And actually, the whole plastic actually hangs off,
like probably about a half inch,
but he wanted longer blades on my skates. I can tell the difference right away.
Which is cool because he's probably seeing this young player like him,
this offensive defense, when he takes you under his wing.
That's a cool situation.
It was awesome.
Which is kind of weird that it was there because in that area,
Al-Aifredi was big into the stick thing,
where he was taking guys in and videotaping them and their shootings.
Have you ever done anything like that?
I did not,
but big Al,
I met too.
Cause his mom,
his late mom,
Mrs.
I afraid he worked for the company organization.
Right.
She was a great woman as well.
So I was lucky enough.
And at that organization,
Jimmy Rutherford was a GM.
Paul Maurice was my head coach and Pete DeBoer was my assistant coach as
well.
Do you,
do you think that now that you experienced that you're qualified to watch a guy skate and say,
yep, that guy needs longer blades?
No.
I just think a few guys are.
That's for sure.
That guy dangled that, dude.
Lucky enough to play with Messier, too.
Coffey and Messier are definitely the two guys
I've never seen that are more crazy about their skates.
It's insane.
It just seems like a bit of a drastic move
where can't Oates look at your blade or the way you pass and shoot and say, hey, these are the alterations you need to make,
where it's like that's kind of like he's a bit of a genius of the game in a sense.
Oates is a savant, no doubt about it.
Well, so you go to the O and just looking at the numbers, you immediately light it up.
You're saying you're on a good team, but it came pretty easy to you.
So when the draft year comes, say November, December,
are you like, I'm going to go first overall,
or are you still like, there's no chance?
I didn't know, to be honest with you.
I knew there was – at that time, was it the Red Line Report or whatever?
I remember the monthly release of that.
It's going to have my name in there.
There was like three defensemen.
It was like myself, Red, and I think it was Ake Berg or whatever.
I think, did LA draft him or something?
He's a Finnish kid.
And then, I mean, that draft was pretty good.
So I was probably the biggest bust on that draft.
Ginla, Shane Doan had great careers.
Who else?
Lankau was up there.
Terry Ryan, who kind of.
Get the fuck off.
He had the same draft as Terry Ryan?
Terry Ryan in an All-Star game.
So I actually gave it to him pretty good don't donor to Jane Don't she don't he won seventh wow it was good it definitely was and that
was fun too because we got the that was like the central you know was it the central bureau
scouting whatever so we traveled a little bit and visited some teams as as that group of guys so I
got to know a lot of those guys and really you know was fun doing it. Was the draft in Edmonton that year?
It was in Edmonton.
How hard did you go that night?
You know what stunk?
Which actually went to Barry T's afterwards.
And I had a 5 a.m. flight to Ottawa.
So they made sure I was excited to do like Good Morning Canada or whatever.
Oh, that.
Yeah, so I was kind of upset too.
You had to?
Yeah, I had to.
So I kind of wanted to light it up with the boys, especially Barry Teese.
He was such a good old Edmonton.
Well, you bring up Ottawa, and you never played for them,
but you ended up being the first overall selection,
but your first NHL team was the Islanders.
So the trade where I've read, I don't know the exact story.
That's why I'd love to hear it.
Did you request to be dealt?
How did that all go down?
That's a good point, Whit. So it's kind of got a bad rap i think yeah early on it
sounds worse than i think what happened it totally is um it was after the lindros thing that happened
with quebec too so i think they didn't think i wanted to play in canada which was totally
bullshit um i wanted to i actually wanted to play as an 18 year old is what i wanted to do
went into training camp.
The team was just right when I got there, I could tell the organization was a mess.
You know, I met Alexander Daig, which I couldn't stand.
The Daigle.
The Daigle.
Yeah, it was just arrogant.
Like, just the locker room, just you could tell it wasn't.
The organization was in a tough place.
Randy Sexton was the GM.
I don't think the ownership was really kind of behind the team.
And they were just kind of screwing around with it. And I was the first year of the rookie salary cap.
So it was a pretty easy day.
You took a hit, dude.
Of course.
Oh, I didn't know that was your first year.
Diggle fucked that all up.
That's probably why you hate him.
Exactly.
That's why you fucking hate him.
What did Diggle get?
What was his salary?
10 million.
That's a big deal.
So it was Digg, Jovo, and then me.
So Jovanowski and then me.
And then I was the first year of the rookie salary cap.
What a mush that was for you.
Oh, my God.
That's why I quit gambling.
I think he was guaranteed $10 million on that rookie deal.
Yeah, I think you're right.
It was like two years, something like that, something like that.
But, yeah, so I was the first year of that, so it was an easy deal to get done.
Yep.
And they just – what was the old reporter there, Bruce Garriott?
Yeah, yeah. deal you get done yep and they just uh it was the old uh reporter there bruce garriott garriott yeah yeah something like that so they kind of he was kind of doing some research and and they and i
thought i could play when i went into camp and uh they didn't want to even pay me like my signing
bonus was like only 425 000 i say only but only 425 000 for professional sports so they were
going to send me back to junior anyway so we got that word and they're like screw it and just
because they didn't want to pay and the year, the year before, you played in 50-some-odd games,
had 95 points.
Like, I don't need to go back to junior, right?
Correct.
You know, I wanted to.
And just to say I could play the 18-2 is kind of, you know,
it's an ego thing.
You had that swagger.
You know, I think I had the size.
Maybe, you know, you can handle myself a little bit.
Let's put it this way.
I almost made the Pittsburghittsburgh penguins as
an 18 year old defenseman and i still brag about that you got to actually play you didn't just get
per diem you got to play yeah so i mean it hurt so it was a you know eagle thing and then so i
went back by junior we got kicked out that's when we got kicked out so we had to play i had to play
half the year at oak park in michigan with stunk and then we had to move out to the uh the palace
what happened is carmona and uh Illich got in a big fight,
so we got sent out to Auburn Hills and played there.
So we played half the games there and there.
Paul Maurice moved on, got a head coaching job in the NHL.
Mid-season?
No, just before that, and then Pete DeBoer became the head coach.
But it just kind of was like I wanted to be in the NHL,
so it was a little bit of a letdown.
So when did the actual deal go down, and how did you find out,
I'm going along on it?
It was actually right after World Junior Championships that year.
We were actually in Boston.
So Park was my head coach.
So me and Dre were captains of that team.
And we had, like, Boosh and a bunch of guys.
I think even Buck was on that team.
A few Boston guys.
So it was fun.
But at least got to do that and play that.
And right after that, I didn't be choked, we got beat by Finland
I think, dude, Biz, this was
the most ghetto world junior
tournament, they had games being played at
Marlboro
it has
four rinks and Saturday and Sundays
from 7am to 4pm
there's four little
minor league kids hockey games
going on, They had World Junior
games. And because it's an arena
where you just are watching little kids play, there's
windows so you can be up top in the warmth.
They were putting paper
mache over the windows so you could pay
the 10 bucks to go into the World Junior game.
There's 80 people at Russia
Finland. It was not
impressive. So they didn't exactly have a big...
It wasn't like playing where the Buffalo Sabres play
and the place being packed.
I do remember that.
I'm a little fired up.
Yeah, he was.
Because I was young.
But he's right, though.
He's right on.
It was my age where I knew everything.
I was, like, dreaming of playing in this tournament.
I was wanting to go.
I'm like, this is the World Juniors at Marlboro?
I played in the Nahas here last spring
against the Middlesex Islanders.
Why am I watching Federov or whoever was on Russia?
And Parker was grabbing.
Is this guy out of control?
He's out of control.
But Parker was great.
I mean, I enjoyed Parker.
He was funny to play with, and he was calling me Spicoli the whole time.
Stop trying to crack me up.
It was great.
He's a good guy.
Now, when you told Otto you wanted to get a trade,
what was their reaction?
Well, Sexton just got fired, and then was it Pierre Gauthier took over?
So they basically said – and then I basically, for playing junior in the OHL,
Milbury started showing up to a lot of games, and he was GM of Islanders,
so I knew something was going on.
Yeah.
And there was actually one game we played in Oak Park,
and who owns the London Knights there?
The brothers there. The Hunter brothers.
And I was going to fight, actually, with Sarnia's
head coach, one of the Hunters there, too,
and Milbury loved it, and I could tell right then that
he was going to...
He was chirping me from the bench, and
we kind of almost went at it right in between.
One of the Hunter brothers? Was it Dale or Tim?
It must have been probably Dale at that time or Tim.
They got a nice little thing going in London now, right?
Isn't that awesome?
Good for them.
They've built a complete wagon.
We need to buy a junior team.
I bet you the London Nets.
Put them in a wound socket.
I bet you they wouldn't sell it for $20 million.
They're supposed to.
What are they making?
$10 million a year?
Oh, is that what they're making a year?
I would assume that they wouldn't even laugh at it.
Kitchener's supposed to be making a million.
I know.
That is crazy.
But you were a great trade ship, though.
I mean, you were an asset, so they'd probably go,
you know, they knew they could turn you into something.
Yeah, I mean, they pulled off, it was like a three-team deal, too.
Yeah, it was a blockbuster.
Redden was involved.
Milbury got a little, I think, a little tiff with Redden.
Milbury then was, he liked to, I was getting some stories about that,
but he liked to challenge guys. And I think, and Redden was abury then was, he liked to, I was getting some stories about that, but he liked to challenge guys.
And I think, and Redden was a tough kid.
He could throw them too,
but I think Redden was just a little more shy
than what he liked.
And that's why he kind of made that deal.
You're saying that he was like Keenan
where he wanted you to get back in his face?
Absolutely.
He would do things in the locker room.
And that team, I mean, my rookie year,
we had a lot of young guys.
So it was like myself, McCabe, Bertuzzi,
Brett Lindros was struggling with a concussion at the time,
Ziggy Palfey.
Holy shit.
We had a decent time.
Then we drafted Eric Brewer, Z, Chara.
Oh, my God.
The defense, we had Scott LaChance, we had Kenny Janssen.
We had six defensemen that could have played forever,
and he started trading the guys away. Islanders fans
are punching their stereo right now.
Then he drafted Luongo. He traded
Luongo.
You mentioned your rookie year.
Modest guy, but you light it up.
You win the Calder Trophy.
Jerome McGinley, I think, finished second.
Just a monster rookie season.
The next year, the points per game even better.
It came pretty easy to you right away, huh?
It did.
I mean, just offensively.
But to be honest, Ziggy Palfrey was unbelievable to play with,
especially in the power play in the half wall.
He just created things that so it made it, you know,
not only made it easy, but offensively it was.
And then you probably, as an offensive defenseman, you know,
Milbury started getting that.
Second to love it.
Second to love it.
But then I started getting in heat about my defensive game, you know,
because of plus minus and all that kind of stuff.
We weren't a great team either, but we were always on for empty net goals.
You're trying to make plays.
Exactly.
Because when a skilled guy does his thing, there's going to be turnovers.
I say in the book, if we're down 4-1, if I make a pinch and something happens, I don't care if I lose
5-1 or 4-1. What's the difference?
If you create some offense and make it a 4-2 game,
it's a different hockey game. Some of these coaches
just... Some of them are soft.
They'd rather lose 4-1 than 5-1.
It makes them look a little better, I guess. But it's also
changed where you're seeing guys in the league
that are given way more leeway because of
offense. It was different.
That's 97, right? Or 98? That's 96 96 97 it's so it's so different now always say it i mean you know i was either
born too born too late or too early we missed that that whole you know every pretty much everything
i would love to play in the game today oh i know of course well islanders you know you guys are
going on and like you're mentioning they're trading away just really good players.
You end up getting traded, I think, in the middle of your fourth year there.
It was my third year, actually.
Well, I was hoping we were going to dive in more to the Milbury stuff.
Oh, shit.
I mean, fuck, where are you going, bro?
We got to talk Milbury.
I know, I got ahead of Milbury.
I can, yeah, there's some Milbury.
And me, I love Milbury.
We have like a, I'm like the redheaded stepchild.
There's a love-hate relationship.
And he was tough on us, but like I said, he would challenge guys.
And we had a lot of veterans, older veterans, that were kind of on their way out,
so they didn't want to stand up.
So I can tell you one story.
So the end of the year, we're all cleaning out our lockers and stuff,
and there's no hockey bags.
So I'm like, what? So I go to Joe McMahon, who was the equipment manager at the time. I go, Joe, all cleaning out our lockers and stuff, and there's no hockey bags. So I'm like, what?
So I go to Joe McMahon, who was the equipment manager at the time.
I go, Joe, what are we supposed to put hockey bags in?
So he brought garbage bags.
He said, Milbury isn't allowing you to take your hockey bags home for the summer.
I'm like, are you fucking kidding me?
Yeah.
Like, this is a joke.
I mean, we're playing the NHL.
So he's sitting in the office waiting for somebody to come in.
So right when I walk in the door, he literally looks at me and goes,
I was waiting for somebody to come in.
And this was, I think, my second year.
This was my second year in the NHL, and I'm the one going,
busting in the general manager. Where the fuck's my gold?
My bag.
I need my bag.
So his leadership group at the time were probably jellyfish.
Yeah, I mean, they just were towards the end of their career,
and good guys and good guys.
It was a different era, too. I i mean we could get into some stories but that's when we would
you know go on road trips and we drop the bags in 10 minutes and we'd be down in the lobby and
and having 20 beers before dinner and you know having dinner and you're in bed by 11 because
your shit face pretty much he was like checking the balls on the team who's gonna come in and
that's what he would do exactly huh so do do you think, in general, he gets a bad rap, Millberry,
because he's got quite a few detractors out there?
He does, and I think it's just, you know, and I know him.
He's a good guy, like Boucher now.
NBC, Boucher loves him.
He's going for dinner with him and stuff.
But I think back then, maybe he was going through a tough time and stuff,
but he just liked to challenge guys and push guys' buttons.
Yeah, Boucher's done an unreal job, though, the analyst role.
He's good. His personality's funny. he's like the canadian version of sharp he's uh i told him
they gotta do bush's corner now or whatever canadian no no he's from so we me and brian
grew up uh basically from six six years old first grade to uh we all fuck up come on guys cte no i
think i've had a lot of head problems.
I was just like, wait.
I was like, I think I think I go boosted sharp in my head work together some nights.
What am I missing here?
Well, you mentioned old school days.
I have a specific memory of landing in Dallas and then going out.
And it was like, yeah, 12 beers.
You're loaded.
You get to dinner.
Crush.
Crush a steak.
End up passing out.
That that was how it
went and what was like what was your rookie party even your first year the rookie your rookie party
was just me and eric fischel so the guys actually they actually took us easy maybe like 6800 bucks
in new york and that's when a good i mean the good old scores vip i think we were at the morton
that's a a Wednesday for business. We did. Yeah. Exactly. That's a Wednesday for you down there.
No, I'm not that crazy with the money.
I don't ball out that hard.
That was the –
We were lucky that, again, because the veterans that weren't –
they weren't around too much.
Oh, they were around but kind of on their way out,
so they didn't want to kill us too bad.
It's like guys like Kinger and Mick Vakoda, Rich Pilon.
They were good guys and tough guys.
That would be a Shane Doan move where it's like, hey, we're capping each guy off at this amount,
and then the rest, the fine fun, I'll take care of.
So that's good that you had veterans that were good guys.
Exactly how it was.
So, I mean, you've got to have other wild Millberry stories.
And, listen, we're not here to share on the guy, but anything that stands out where you're like,
oh, yeah, he was definitely more grumpy that day than others.
I'll tell you guys a story, and I'm not going to name names or anything,
but we got snowed in.
This is my second year.
So Casper Ritus, Brian McCabe, a few, Travis Green, a bunch of guys,
naming those names.
We were playing cards.
We got snowed in Detroit.
We were staying at a shit hotel out by Detroit Airport. And a and uh a few of us are card games we're stuck in a hotel stuck in a
hotel and and um so we're playing playing cards um and a guy just starts pounding beers i mean just
pounding beers and uh he's losing money losing money and he's starting to get angry a little
bit and we're like oh here we go and he's tougher than pretty much tougher than all the guys in the room so like oh shit here he goes
so he goes to grab a tv and throw it out the window we're like what the hell like here we go
turns around grabs the one of the phones plugged in and throws it right through the window of the
hotel we're like here we go so now he starts taking beer bottles and throwing them all outside
the window we're like some all some young guys are looking like myself and cable looking at each other like we're gonna get the
hell out how quiet was it we're like we're like what are we supposed to do everyone's just looking
at each other like and you can't text each other because you guys don't have cell phones
that's how old i am they tell each other what the is going on? So we hear a big pounding on the door.
Guy goes to the door, opens it, security.
He's like, basically, get the hell out of here.
We're like, oh, shit, here we go.
This is even going to get better.
So now we're like, all right.
So guys, we start leaving.
So some of us start leaving.
And I guess about five, ten minutes later,
Milbury knocks on the door.
And this player chased Milbury down the hallway
straight to the elevator.
It was going gonna kill him
so whatever we got like a 6 30 wake up call in the morning we all go out to get on the bus so we all
get on the bus milbury comes on late and he's like everybody off the bus so everyone's like oh his
shit here we go so we walk around the hotel walk around the corner hotel and just beer bottles
everywhere a phone sitting in the middle of the parking lot. You see the broken window?
So we cleaned up all the beer bottles and stuff,
and now Milbury starts yelling at all the guys that were in the room,
saying he's going to suspend us, all that kind of stuff.
And this is how good this guy got in a little bit of trouble.
He's a great team guy, and he's like, you know, it's all me.
This is me.
I'm taking the suspension.
The guys did nothing.
We were just playing cards.
And Rick Bonas was assistant coach at the time now, too.
And Milbury and this guy almost start going at it.
And I think it was myself, Caber, and
Bonas basically had to get in the middle of these
guys, and they were ready to go. Milbury wasn't backing
down either. And I think he
would have got killed. In a parking
lot. Yeah, in a parking lot.
That was it. It's a little
long story, but you got to hear this, Piss.
Basically, I'll make it short.
We get on the team plane.
We're flying back.
So it's like 6.30, 7 in the morning.
So we have breakfast, juice, water, flight attendants.
You guys get nothing but beer.
That's all you guys get to drink coming from Millbury.
Guess what the guy, the player does?
Starts crushing beers all the way back to New York, Long Island.
And none of us are drinking.
We're looking at him like, are you fucking serious?
And that's basically how it went.
And then he got traded pretty much.
No, the guy's a great shampoo effect.
He's like, I'll be wrecked after two of these.
And I love him.
He's one of the best guys I play with, best team guys, and a tough guy.
He was awesome.
He didn't throw anything out the window from the fucking airplane.
Milbury was one of those guys, though,
there was something about me that I'm like,
I don't know if I even hate this guy
because I feel like there's some things that I would embrace
about maybe how crazy he was.
And you're making me turn the corner.
I kind of like him.
I sense that he's kind of like the grumpy old man.
He'll be pissed off about things,
but people know him all seem to really enjoy hanging out with him.
They do.
And the last Millberry story I'll tell you quick was he was on the other day.
A friend of the show is Kevin Kahn's.
So Conley was Kahn's.
He did that 30 for 30 with Millberry and Spano.
So I went to the premiere and stuff.
It was at the Tribeca Film Festival.
And he calls me before and Kahn's like,
I might need you and a couple guys
help tonight because Spano and Milbury don't like each
other so he's like they're gonna
be there and Spano's got a few friends coming and stuff
like this and so like alright
but he's like you gotta do me a favor if they start fighting
you gotta let it go for like three minutes
it's gonna be great for PR
it's gonna be great for PR
and I thought it was great
Con's love him
once somebody starts bleeding
For the third time, you break it up
Oh my god, that's funny
So you were there after all that crazy ownership
Stuff happened, correct?
That was my rookie year, no
I'm in the 30 for 30, that rookie year
Is when John Spano frauded Fleet Bank
Out of like 90 million dollars
And then almost basically bought the I I think he had like two –
A house of cards.
He had nothing but 20 grand in the bank.
Yeah.
He brought us – he lived in Dallas and he had like a – it was weird.
He had like this barbecue at his house in Dallas and his house was empty except the bedroom and like this.
I remember Grandfather clocked.
I was like in his bedroom but he showed it.
He had a hot wife too though.
But he literally took us there. There was nothing in the house.
It was just a weird thing. But he's around all the time.
He's hanging out at the Garden City Hotel.
We were like, oh, this guy's going to be great.
He's like, you know, he's a boy.
Exactly. So it was kind of, and then we, you know,
the 30 by 30 is unbelievable.
Make sure we got better stuff.
You're getting sold the dream.
This guy's going to be getting us pros on the road.
So at the time,
when it all went down,
did it affect the team at all or were you guys kind of like,
oh shit,
that's fucking kind of crazy.
We were just out of it
to be honest with you.
I mean,
we were like,
oh,
it's the Islanders again
and that's kind of
how that franchise
buzzer was after.
So it wasn't the late 90s.
I want to ask,
you mentioned Char
a few minutes ago.
You played with him
when he was very young.
Did you ever imagine
that he was going to have this 22-year career?
I'll back Whit up.
He was awful.
Yeah.
I mean, he could not skate.
But I'll tell you, I think he's a 77 birthday, but he's a late birthday.
So he was drafted.
I was in my second year when it was his rookie year.
And I remember seeing the kid talk about the weights and stuff.
But he was in the weight room, and I think he was warming up at like 315,
doing it like 10 times
And I'm like
This guy is a monster
But I heard the push up competition too
I mean the pull up
Yeah
You know the record he has too
With the Bruins
So
Should I ask Whiteside
Who has the bench press record
For the Bruins
You do?
I do
What did you bury?
225
How many
Hold on
Record for that camp
I'll guess two
I'm going to say 225? Hold on. Record for that camp? I'll guess two. I'm going to say 225 33 times.
I was going to say.
You said 33?
Yeah.
I'll say 37.
36.
Four!
Closest without going over.
Suck on that.
It was me, Grossick, and Marty LaPointe.
Marty LaPointe was a strong guy.
Oh, yeah.
He was.
Is that why they call you the beast or more for the off-ice hat?
Probably just because I was juiced up at the time.
At least I'll admit it.
You were taking juice?
Probably right around that.
Great.
All right.
It wasn't illegal back then.
I admit it in the book.
I mean, you know, obviously with my eye injury and stuff,
when I played, when I got hurt, I was 23 years old.
I was 6'1", probably 205. And that whole year of, you know, six eye surgeries and stuff i you know when i play when i got hurt i was 23 years old i was 6-1 probably 205
and that whole year of you know six eye surgeries and stuff i probably got to 235 and i lost
everything i lost all my muscle i mean just was obviously with all the anesthesia you did what
edelman did you said i don't give a fuck i'm getting back i need to get back and i need and
and i needed some help and i did the right way way. I wasn't like that, but I did it with the doctors and stuff.
But I needed some help.
Wait, Ty Moe, so you say Edelman basically came out and said, listen, I –
He didn't come out and say anything.
I just said that.
Oh, you think that's why a lot of guys –
When Edelman got busted, he was injured, and I'm guessing it was like, I need to get back in.
He needs that advantage.
He's not as gifted physically.
I shouldn't have said it like that where I knew he did that.
That was a right-handed guess.
Oh, okay.
Now people might say that's an excuse you're giving a New England Patriot
because they've been bending over the NFL for a decade.
Everyone's got to go after the Pats.
Yeah, because they hate winners.
I mean, should we talk about the eye injury?
Yeah, I actually want to get into it.
I'm sorry.
I just want to go in quickly.
Yeah, I actually want to get into it.
All right.
I'm sorry.
I just want to go in quickly. Like, it's like following you and knowing in like where your career path was headed towards.
I feel so bad.
I just want to like say that.
Not that you, I mean, even need to hear that.
But I can't imagine going through a tragedy like that.
And I'm more interested in when it happens.
Do you even remember that night?
And did you ever even like think there'd
be a time where you were questioning everything you've ever done leading up to that moment
no i mean it's um obviously obviously there's an accident and there's no hard feelings but
do i look back and wish uh i had two eyes and what i guess would have seen what my career could
have been with with with both eyes um but i remember it i mean i've watched it i have no
issues talking about it um i've seen it probably over a thousand something times i remember it i mean i've watched it i have no issues talking about it um
i've seen it probably over a thousand something times i mean it was a freak accident um the host
didn't need to swing the stick um no um but it was something i was jumping up in the play and
i turned around and as soon as it hit me i knew i was in trouble i mean that's why everyone said
oh did it hurt and if you watch the video i mean my feet are wailing and stuff but it was kind of
i was just yelling back at kujo i'm like um i can't see i'm like i cannot so it makes me sick and you're like there's no
going back i'm like this i'm in one i'm like it's black i'm like there's no way and everyone's kind
of there's a lot of blood if you look at the video too there's a lot of blood that ruptured a couple
arteries as well so it was like leaking blood and they're like oh you're fine you're fine and i can
still remember so they got me back in the locker and honestly it didn't hurt i mean but it was swung hard because it uh cracked my uh orbital and my cheekbone and stuff as well
but it was just i couldn't close my eye in time so my eyeball basically ruptured so it was basically
slit in half oh my god back to when i got back to the uh to the locker room there was a couple guys
in there i think it was like gary valk and big chris mccallister and stuff that either healthy
scratch or hurt we got back the doctor's like oh it, oh, it's just a lot of blood, a lot of blood.
And when they put the eye wash in, I just saw all the guys' faces.
And I was like, get away from me.
I'm like, now I know I'm in trouble.
And do you immediately start thinking about your entire career?
I did.
And then the doctor's like, oh, it's just a cut.
It's just a cut.
And then it gets worse.
So basically, I wore a girdle.
I'm still in like a girdle, whatever it is. So everything else is pretty much gone they get me in the ambulance get me to
the first hospital in ottawa and um i'm sitting there and the doctor the same thing they put me
like in it felt like a dentist chair i'm sitting there in the room the doctor's all kind of flying
in because it's obvious it's canon and stuff and i was lucky enough it happened in in ottawa because
it was an eye trauma room we get in there there. Doctors come in, same thing. They put the eye wash in.
And I still remember the doctors are like, we can't do this here.
And I'm like, you've got to be fucking kidding me.
And I literally saw a trash can, and then I got sick,
and then I remember a nurse putting a shot in my ass.
But, I mean, honestly, it happened.
Nothing I could do for it. And lucky enough, I was able to come back and play.
It happened.
Nothing I could do for it.
And then lucky enough, I was able to come back and play.
Well, that's jumping way ahead in terms of what you ended up deciding to take.
Because you had insurance and all that, that whole story.
Because you ended up coming back and giving back a lot of money.
$10 million.
You were so young.
It was basically $6 million.
So I had my own disability insurance that I paid for, which is tax-free.
So it was $6 million. And then I think the PA in the league, it's another $300,000.
But I had a disability policy, and this kind of gets into a little bit of a – we talk a little bit about a book, too.
So I had a disability policy on myself, and I'm permanently disabled.
And then the other $300,000 is a career-ending policy.
and then the other $300,000 is a career-ending policy.
And it was written at the same time by – it was ASU, I think,
but it was all written by Lloyds of London.
And I was – later on, we found out after I already paid all the money back that I was – they basically put a little something in there
that kind of defrauded me.
I should have been able to keep the $6 million and came back and play because I was permanently disabled.
Because you were disabled.
But because of the same policy,
so they were able to get their money back.
Because they fucking scammed you.
An insurance company being dumb bags?
No way.
Insurance companies, exactly.
Wait, so you can't go back on it now?
We tried to, and because I signed a release,
we just went through the thing.
It's funny, we contacted them,
and it was like they were
ready for it and they actually ended up suing me um in new york because they knew that because
i signed a release and the judges threw the case up insurance company still going yeah it's logical
i mean i don't know if they knew well we can we can definitely get so they knew how to get
they knew how to get it thrown out they knew how to get it thrown out that's exactly how they was
and they knew they because they would have probably had enough effort to pay me you know
interest and all that kind of stuff.
But basically, I screwed up, obviously, when I look back.
But again, hockey players, I should have had insurance lawyers instead of a person.
And really, the insurance broker, which was a local guy back in Woonsocket, kind of should have knew it was a disability policy, too.
And I should have been able to keep that $6 million and keep playing.
And when the decision came or the time to make the decision of, all right, I want to do this again,
because that's the thing that I think a lot of people when they hear your story don't realize.
You weren't 34.
You were so young, dude.
It's like, what do you mean?
I'm only 23.
I'm taking this money, but it had to weigh on you.
Am I really ready to give this back?
What if I don't make it up?
It was an awful financial decision, but at 23, hockey's all I knew.
So I would do it again.
But again, when you're retired and then, you know,
obviously then we'll get into my story about the fraud with the financial advisor.
I wish, you know, again, it was a poor financial decision.
But, you know, I played another six, seven years in the NHL,
and I wouldn't give it up.
Go ahead.
I'm sorry.
I just want to go back to the accident for a sec.
Did you fear for your life at all right when it happened
just because of the magnitude of the injury?
Right away was the first thing I thought is,
basically I thought I was going to lose my eye,
which I didn't want to do, obviously.
And then the second thing was my NHL career is done.
And I thought I was.
That's why I collected the disability policy
because I really thought that I was done.
I thought my career was done at 23.
Right, right.
How much vision did you end up regaining?
Where are you at right now in vision out of that eye?
I have zero.
I have no vision.
So if I shut my left eye, which is my good eye, my brain will pick up a little thing like light and stuff I can pick up.
But as soon as this eye opens, the brain just shuts that down.
So just black.
And then when you were playing, that was the same thing.
Same thing, yeah.
That just shows.
That's crazy.
You were playing in the NHL on one eye for a long time.
What was it like getting used to being back on the ice?
How did you even overcome not knowing what was to the right of you?
It was tough, especially the first year.
I mean, the Rangers stuck with me.
I was probably a sixth or seventh defenseman.
I played all 82 games.
Dude.
You know, so I got the – but, again, they stuck with me.
So I gave them a lot of credit.
But then I started to feel like the next year I signed with Boston.
I put up some decent numbers.
I think I had like 38 points or something.
And then I felt like my offensive started to come back a little bit.
Bruins didn't want to pay me so i went to chicago
yeah exactly chicago's great chicago's a great city a lot of fun there but i put up really good
numbers in chicago i think i put up almost you know 40 something points in 50 some games
um and i felt like my offensive game was back um it was then the lockout yeah then i agreed to a
deal this is great too i agreed to deal with pulford couldn't sign it because of the lockout
we go to a three-year deal um and then dale talon came in and basically nixed the deal on me right
after the lockout which i was pissed because i wanted to stay in chicago yeah i just wanted to
get new you know his own guys in there and then i signed in columbus which was great i get to play
with you know nasher and verborny and guys like that and then i'm you know i think i played 40
something games i think i had 14 goals, 30-something points,
and then I blow my back out and I have two back surgeries,
and pretty much my career ended.
You had come back with one eye and were producing offensively
at a really high rate for a long time.
I mean, dude, that's just incredible.
I can't say enough about that.
And I remember the agent was going to contract an arbitration,
and they said at that time, I think,
games played, I think the only guy in points was the arbitration, and they said at that time, I think, games played,
I think the only guy that in points was the only guy that was ahead of me
was Gonchar.
On the back end.
On the back end.
And when you go back to, like, the disability side of it, too,
is, like, that $6 million is probably a fraction of what you would have
gained if not for the eye injury.
We would have had a lot more fun in the summer, Biz.
You wouldn't find us private here to do this interview.
Right.
I'm sorry, Biz.
Oh, no.
Actually, we'll save the Bonnaroo talk for later, I guess.
We'll keep on with the trajectory we're going on because the first time I tripped on mushrooms,
this guy was there.
So go ahead.
He's like, yeah, Biz, I remember you wouldn't stop talking.
I think he was sleeping with his Superman underwear on.
I think that's what I caught him.
After the injury, did you ever feel that guys let up on you physically
because of the disability, or did they just treat you like one of the boys
and they'd fucking bury you in your blindside?
I talk about it in the book, too.
Veteran guys, so much respect.
I mean, they'd still, I wouldn't say bury me, but they would say,
some guys would be like, all right, yeah, exactly.
Sean Thornton always said, heads up, coming.
Yeah, coming.
And that's how they were.
One guy I could always feel, it was the two guy.
Like if you get the pucks and two guys are chasing you,
that's where I would get.
That's where I talk as well is the defensive zone was tough
because looking around, I have no depth perception.
When pucks were flipped up and Bill is like tamping stuff was a little dark
i couldn't see the puck at all and then i wouldn't want to go catch it because if i miss it i look
like a real donkey too so i would say so it was just you know that's when the game was tough
um and passes through legs and stuff like that but then you know towards the end of career guys
started coaches i should say and started blaming on the eye and stuff and i was But towards the end of the career, guys started, coaches, I should say, started blaming it on the eye and stuff.
And I was like, it's not.
I mean, to be honest,
it's the back end of my career.
Hmm.
Oh, shit.
Well, when you talk about the money
and the fraud and what happened to you,
is that all post-career?
Had that even began while you were still playing
where you were giving someone money
and it all ended up going to shit?
I was giving him money,
obviously, while I was playing.
Is this your financial advisor?
Financial advisor.
He's in jail.
Let me ask you quickly, how did you find him?
He was a friend, too.
He went to RPI with Joe Juno.
I worked at a state street bank in Boston.
And him and Derek Sanderson.
Derek Sanderson had nothing to do with the stealing stuff,
but he was kind of a business development working for State Street.
And he showed up at my house when I was like 17 years old
before I went to junior knowing I was going to be a high draft pick.
And he was a buddy.
Spent probably two nights in Lincoln, Rhode Island at my house for Christmas.
You just never would have thought.
Never would have thought.
And a lot of guys didn't.
I mean, I think myself and Ethan Morrow was like his first two clients.
And he was a good guy.
And then something happened because the wheels fell off.
And then you could see it.
And all of a sudden it snowballed.
Yeah, then the 2007, 2008 happened, real estate market.
A lot of the investments we made that started real estate was with Lehman Brothers, who obviously went under.
So it was just like a perfect storm.
How much did you lose personally?
Over $3 million.
He stole, basically stole from me.
And there's no chance that that does not.
I mean, thank God there's only one real, I don't know if you talk bad about Mexico,
but that Diamante down in.
I actually went there.
It's sick.
No, I talked about bad about Mexico in terms of drinking the water.
You got to drink bottled water.
Biz got the shits there.
I'm just showing the fan of the show and I listen to you guys.
What's the something revenge?
Somebody called?
Montezuma.
Montezuma's revenge guy.
That's the only real property that's kind of still alive today.
And hopefully we'll get a chance to make some money back with that.
Oh, that's great.
So hopefully, yeah, it's good for the guys.
And were you helping bring other NHLers on board for, like,
personal investments and all that?
No, I wasn't, thank God.
I mean, and for me, I'm still, you know, I have no family.
I'm still single and stuff.
So there's a lot of guys that suffered.
I mean, families and stuff that this guy stole from.
Not only professional athletes, but some police officers in New York and some families.
I mean, the guy, he's a bad guy.
How long is he in the clink for?
He hasn't been sentenced yet, which is crazy.
The government just asked to give him 20 years.
But he got no bail.
He's been in there, I think it's six years now in October.
He's supposed to get sentenced hopefully before this New Year.
He hasn't been sentenced in six years?
The government works very slow, but it's a whole forfeiture process.
That's how complicated this case was.
It's crazy.
So if you don't mind me asking, do you remember where you were when you found out that money was gone?
I was.
I was actually at the Phillies camp.
So that was, what, 2008, kind of when I retired from the NHL.
Paul Holmgren is one of the most honest guys I've ever met
because I thought I – you can ask about being loops and those guys.
I really thought I made that team that year.
You would have been with them?
I would have been with them.
The Legion of Poon plus one.
Plus one.
Godive.
I went to their camp in 2008, so Carter was there, Richie, all those guys.
And Tiemann was probably the top – That's why they cut you. Probably. That's probably why they sent me home. He would fit in too well. I went to their camp in 2008, so Carter was there, Richie, all those guys.
That's why they cut you.
Probably.
That's probably why they sent me home. He would fit in too well.
Dry Island would have been its own fucking continent that year.
So, yeah, so I basically, that was the end of my NHL career,
and I went over to Russia.
And I found the feds called me like two weeks before I headed over to Russia.
And I lived over in Russia with Chris Simon.
So me and Big Chief, he was a client of Phil Kenner's as well.
So we just started kind of discussing some stuff.
And basically, we were like, we're in trouble here.
So all that time over in Russia, sometimes you got it on your hands.
So we just started searching emails and started calling a bunch of guys.
And again, it was like you had a different story for everybody.
And there was never a place you could look and see your money in an account.
No, because at that time, like I had a separate account.
Yeah, it was all invested in real estate deals.
So it was just a big Ponzi scam.
Some were fake, some were real.
He was forging signatures for power of attorney, open up lines of credit, spending on lines
of credit.
Flying guys in with your money and then flying
somebody else in. Just everything.
So at one point... I mean, the worst nightmare.
At one point, he had power of
attorney over there. Yeah, and he signed it. What he did,
he lived in Scottsdale. He lived out there.
And he had... I don't know how he did it,
but he had a notary republic.
He had me... I remember looking back, I was
playing in Buffalo one night, and he had me in Scottsdale
signing, doing a Notary Republic.
Like the stuff he was pulling off was just like.
Well, now time out, but at one point you gave him power of attorney.
I never gave him power of attorney.
He forged the power of attorney signature.
So then how could he steal your money?
You could just tell the banks, call the bank.
Okay, so then you weren't responsible for the lines of credit
considering you'd never signed, correct?
What happened is we didn't know he opened up the lines of credit,
and then we opened up money at a bank.
And then what happened was when the lines of credit were toasted up,
those bond accounts went straight to the lines.
So the money was gone before it was getting priced.
So it was scammed in advance.
Exactly.
Oh, my God.
A lot of guys, it's awful.
Is he currently locked up he's locked
up uh he's either in brooklyn or queens i believe he's at federal prison there does he get the
wheels beat off him and shit in there um that's gotta be a white collar but yeah it's it's it's
white collar crime but i don't and he hasn't been sentenced yet so he hasn't been uh let me know when
he does you know i know i had one guy went soccer soccer with at one time. It was too late. Yeah, damn it.
Not to get too deep here, but then eventually you stopped playing hockey.
You lost a lot of your fortunes playing hockey.
So how dark did it get?
Or were you all right with all that?
Again, I was lucky enough where I wasn't family and kids.
So that's why I was living in New York at the time.
I went back to living in Providence, Rhode Island. i started working for a financial company called whale rock point partners
in province rhode island who i wish i would have met when i was 16 17 year got 17 years old hockey
guys that played at harvard um you know wealth management worked with a lot of you know families
wealth old money and if i would have been with these guys just they taught me unlucky you got
really unlucky in who you picked yeah that's what happened and you got to trust somebody i know i
know you that that's that's just that turned it out to be or just an awful it happens a lot and
that's kind of again i wanted to tell my story to try to help some younger guys and kind of
give them a little bit advice of what questions to ask and kind of uh you know don't be shy of
of asking questions first and talking to other people.
In your book, does it give that advice for younger guys and how to maybe vet a situation?
It does a little bit.
And, again, it just goes back to talk to – if you're going to – younger guys, if you get a sign with somebody, like we talked about, you get a sign with a firm somewhere, wealth management. So ask to talk to their clients.
See who their clients are.
I think that's the biggest thing.
And especially if you're not with a big agency too.
I love the idea of guys wanting more personable agents and a guy who only might have 10 guys,
but then they're going to maybe have less of a reputation, especially if they haven't been around a long time.
So the people where they're directing your money, well, once again, these kids really don't know how to vet that situation
where if you do end up going with one of these big agencies,
typically they're going to get somebody
who's got a long line of history
of not fucking over clients.
Yeah, I also remember for me,
it was that I got lucky Bobby Orr was my agent
and everyone knows Alan Eagleson
stole everything from Bobby Orr.
Well, when I signed and got my signing bonus, I don't know what to do with it. Lucky Bobby Orr was my agent, and everyone knows Alan Eagleson stole everything from Bobby Orr.
But when I signed and got my signing bonus, I don't know what to do with it.
My parents don't know what to do with it. And having Bobby Orr have been through what he did, the guy he used, Brian O'Rourke, he's been my financial advisor since then.
I'm like, if I'm going to trust anyone, it's going to trust Bobby Orr, who's been fucked over once.
Who went and told Brian, I think.
I think he told him, do not lose my money.
Maybe different words said because of what he'd been through before.
But I got lucky having somebody to trust that had been through what Beast went through.
That's just in terms of bad luck.
Good luck.
That's why I wanted to do the book.
That kind of why.
I want to get the story out there to help the younger guy.
It doesn't even have to be athletes, too.
I mean, Madoff thing.
I mean, there's a lot of smart people that have been stole from.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
And I wrote down Eagle since it was the exact same thing he did.
I mean, he fucked a lot of guys.
He was telling guys back then, Biz, like, oh, you don't want people knowing how much you make.
Your neighbors will know how much money you make.
So they can keep salaries down because he was colluding with the owners.
Correct.
That's wild.
What about Russia?
Russia was great.
Yeah, he loved it. I was wild. What about Russia? Russia was great. You loved it?
I was scared.
I wasn't scared to fly, but I would have went back.
Those old planes I could not get on again.
And unfortunately, the year after is when that plane went down.
It was the year after?
It was the year after.
I was going back.
I actually went to McGilney's team.
Good story.
So I played with Czechoslovakia with good old Nikolai.
I think he's in jail now in Russia.
But, you know, he's obviously part of the Russian crew.
It was myself, Chris Simon.
We had a blast.
I mean, the first night I was there, Paul Theofanis, you know,
was my agent and stuff, and we went over there.
And I was pretty beat.
It was like 3 in the morning.
We're drinking all night.
And literally, it's the first night in Russia.
So I go to sleep.
I'm like, Paul, I'm exhausted. Can you please tell the owner? You know it's the first night in russia so i go to sleep i'm like paul i'm exhausted can you please tell the owner you know i'm going to
bed and um so i go to sleep i'm just passing out probably good old ambient in me at the time or
something a russian and literally i just hear this pounding on a door and i'm like you you
shitting me the first night in russia so the p you know i look through the the hole and it's
my agent of time and i'm like my paul i'm exhausted he's like you got to open up you don't have a choice so i open up and there's
two rockets no way two rockets and uh nicolai said welcome to russia i'm like i guess i gotta do it
he's fucking folding his dick inside these escorts because his dick's so soft from the ambient.
I'd have a time to take a C.L.S.
Origami cock.
Hey, origami cock.
He's just fucking tucking it in.
So this is the league I want to be in.
And he had a full compound.
I mean, it was what a Russian sawn is.
And, I mean, big mahogany deck with chiseled out big hole, you know, ice.
You know, the plunge, the ice plunge you could jump in.
It was a fun year. I mean, could jump in. It was a fun year.
I mean, I can honestly say that it was a good year.
I've talked to guys who went over there when I was in the NHL during that lockout,
and they were saying like $1,000, two of the hottest chicks you've ever seen,
and they'll fucking eat your arse with a spoon.
And me and Chief were lucky.
We would basically go to these dinners and be like 10 to 15 Russians.
Our bodyguards and drivers or whatever spoke English,
so they would talk to us a little bit younger guys.
So we'd sit there through this whole meal.
Chief doesn't drink.
Chris and I didn't drink at all, but I'd be drinking,
basically drinking for him.
And then the dinner would be over pretty much,
and the doors would open up, and the girls would just come in.
Because Chris is obviously how tough he was and stuff.
He had first choice, and I had second choice every night free the owner paid for every night
it was just it was fun the smorgasbord as they say this was the super league or was it the khl
it was khl so we're gonna this is gonna shift our our momentum in our favor we're gonna only tell
positive russian stories from now on exactly that's a very positive one we were talking to a russian reporter earlier today because you know sometimes we tell crazy stories
now are there any things that you saw that were like holy shit like i'm definitely in a country
that's got different ways um yeah i mean it just uh we went out quite a bit too so we were only
about about an hour from russia so we got to go to moscow quite a bit i meet up with like the late
ray emory and stuff so we did we go out with some guys an hour from Russia. So we get to go to Moscow quite a bit. I meet up with like the late Ray Emery and stuff.
So we,
we go out with some guys that were a lot of fun and,
but we'd go out with,
you know,
our bodyguards or whatever.
They just basically would tell us,
we get tables and stuff,
but they'd be like,
keep your head down.
You know,
the guys are going to show up with 20,
30 women.
They're going to leave.
They're going to,
there's going to be some stragglers and then,
you know,
you'll be fine.
You'll pick them off.
Yeah.
And we used to just,
you know,
and then we stay in Moscow,
go for nice dinners.
I had fun.
But if we get two days off over there, I would jump on a first class.
And they pay for it.
I'd get on a quick Delta flight right back to New York City just to get on the US.
Oh, shit, really?
Have two days off.
Oh, you had the best KHL experience of all time.
It was good.
It wasn't bad at all.
Why didn't you go back?
I literally, I guess
that's where I was getting to. Oh, sorry. So Nikolai
was kind of, thanks for reminding me though.
So Nikolai was kind of pissed that he wanted me back at
VT's and I kind of wanted to go
for a different city. So I talked to McGilney
and I was going to go play away in that Amur.
A-M-U-R, over it was. Near Korea.
Told pretty much, yeah.
And it was a good town, so I went out there and then
all of a sudden I could not pass
the KHL physical.
So they got you gassed.
They basically gassed me.
So the coach didn't like the MRI results?
They made up some excuse or whatever it was.
I was like, give me my eye.
They said something that I wasn't healthy enough or something like that.
It was total bullshit.
So the owner fucked you?
Pretty much.
Well, he's like, I've given you all these hookers,
and you're going to repay me by leaving my team?
Are you fucking – I don't disagree with the guy.
I guess you don't play with him.
You had over 100 penalty minutes.
Were you fighting?
I got my ass kicked more in Russia than I have anywhere.
Oh, shit.
So the league's good.
I mean, the first top line, I mean, the top two lines are good, skilled.
So Chief, big Chris Simon, would get challenged every single game.
He didn't want to fight there.
He just wanted to play in the power play.
He wanted to have fun.
And he'd end up snapping by the end of the game.
He would end up snapping and just, I mean,
I don't know if you ever fought him at all,
but when he would snap, he would just turn into somebody else.
So usually a lot of times I was on the ice when we'd get in a fight,
and he'd be destroying somebody, and I'd be like, Chris.
And he would take him.
I'd be like, Chief, Chris.
And it would take him a few seconds to wake up.
By that time, he pretty much destroyed a guy, so he'd get jumped.
So he'd get jumped and would just start line brawling.
And then you'd be in there.
And then I'd be in there.
And a lot of times a guy that he destroyed would get back up
and then try to get in, and I'd get stuck with him.
I'd get gooned up.
So it was a lot of fun.
I mean, there's some on YouTube that I literally just get my ass kicked
because some of these kids were trained to fight Chris Simon.
So I get stuck.
But, yeah, literally, I mean, I fought more there, I think, my whole NHL career.
Did you have to do the training camp?
No, I weighed out smart enough.
So I went to Philly's camp.
I waited until November.
I went over there.
So I was there November to March or something like like that what was it like just on the training
aspect of it because once the season's over sometimes they keep guys where you have to stay
there till a certain deadline just because it's like the it's like the army they own you till that
month i uh he he backed out he still owed us a little bit of money but we didn't make the playoffs
so as soon as i said heard i wasn't paid, I was on the next flight out.
I came back.
Yeah, like, dude, you're not going to pay me.
Is that a big reason why you decided to maybe move teams, too, because of the money situation?
I just want to try a different city, to be honest with you.
I mean, there's some great cities.
I mean, Kiev there.
I mean, Riga, Latvia is my best city I've ever been to.
Better than Prague.
Better than...
We just said this today.
Once again, the Russian reporter, we went to Riga, Latvia for an exhibition game before the World Premiere Games.
And Shane Doan was like, hey, you're going to see the hottest girls on the planet there.
It was amazing.
Do you know why?
I played a 3 p.m. game and I didn't go to bed.
I stayed up the whole night, went to the casino.
I went to the hotel room, showered, and went there and played shit face.
Because apparently not a slap shot.
Apparently back in the day, the king grew up.
I'm going to piss all over myself.
The reason it is because apparently back in the day,
some king who owned the land there would send out his, like,
I don't know if it was his army men.
His lackeys.
His lackeys, and they would go be like, yo, you're hot enough.
You're coming to this city and we're going to take care of you.
He was just recruiting all the hottest chicks.
Best city I've ever been to.
Wow.
I'll confirm it.
Well, speaking of cities, dude, first time I ever met Beast,
I don't know if you remember, but get to Vegas for Brian Yandel's bachelor party.
And obviously I know who Brian Berard is.
He's sitting at the table with Boynton.
I'm like, he has five hands going.
Wait, every hand's $5,000.
He just doubled.
He's got $45,000 on this hand.
And he's like, what's up, Brian Berard?
I'm like, he's a rock star.
It was the high limit room with the hard rock,
and I got like $200 out there.
I'm like, is out there i'm like
is this what i'm supposed to do in the nhl the old peacock lounge yeah the peacock that place
was a phenomenal rock you were betting that much ahead you were i used to get up being points used
to have some we used to have some good sittings together either there are the palms um yeah we'd
go for i mean some days we play 18 hours straight sometimes and just rip it.
Wow.
We had some good times.
Hard Rock was great.
I mean, I started going there pretty much because I was playing for Boston at the time, and I met this big Greek guy out of Boston.
He played monster.
He used to play probably anywhere between, at that time,
5,000 was the max at Hard Rock for a lot of players.
There was about five to ten guys that were allowed to play more.
He was one of them, and he averaged about $30,000 a hand.
No shit.
And you'd be going with him.
So it'd be like five, six of us
at those times would jump on a plane.
They'd fly us in a G2.
We'd fly back.
And there were some very good times.
That's the old Hard Rock days, though.
Well, there's probably some dark ones, too.
What's the most you won in a day span?
And what's the most you lost?
I was, I mean, my lines were, and I was kind of smart.
I have a couple spots, but I kept it, I mean, I don't want to say small,
but 65,000 would be my, if I lost that in a sitting, I would get off.
But I would have it at the pomps, too, so I would kind of sometimes jump along.
So the number's actually 130.
You can say that to them where you're like, this is my limit.
Even if I tell you give me more, that you won't.
That's where the buddy of mine we're talking about,
that's where he got in trouble.
He had lines in a lot of spots.
And I remember going out for a Super Bowl trip during the lockout.
He was up 1.1 million at the tables.
And I flew out there on purpose just to grab,
because I knew how he played.
To grab him.
To grab like 700, 800 grand, put it in my safe,
and just be like, he ain't touching that. He he left this was his downfall because he lost his job and lose his job and stuff he ended up losing he left vegas down like 2.2 million so that was
3.3 million so he went from he was at the palms hard rock and then what killed him he went to mgm
because uh mgm he stuck us up with the mgm mansions back at the time too. He's got a place there, doesn't he?
The people we'd see playing
they wouldn't even use chips, they'd have those plots.
You guys know Cody
and stuff at LA. Oh yeah, he's got some
things. We were up there, not even
gambling, but we were at my buddy's place
in mansions and Cody got one of those
little motorbikes or whatever
and he's bombing around the high roller room
with one of those little motorbikes. Cody, and he's bombing around the high roller room with one of those little motorbikes.
Cody's family's worth a couple hundred million, isn't he?
Cody's great.
It was awesome.
We would just die laughing.
It was like a circus.
Yeah, it was fun.
Vegas was great, but the old days were great.
So what's the most you won in a day?
The most was 220, my biggest winnings.
How was that night?
All right, suck on that.
Is that all you play is blackjack, or you play other things?
I play blackjack, but when the big guy would show up from Boston,
I play baccarat with him.
It's a fun game when you get around the table,
and it's a little slower game, so you can't lose as much.
Craps?
No, baccarat.
I know what I'm saying.
Did you ever play craps?
I do a little bit.
I never learned that game too well enough to play, to be honest.
Same here.
I couldn't grasp it. I want to jump back a little bit. I never learned that game too well enough to play, to be honest. Same here. I couldn't grasp it.
I want to jump back a little bit to Toronto.
Absolute legend you played for, Pat Quinn.
What was that experience like?
Pat was my type of coach, old school.
And that team we had in Toronto was run and gun, which was great.
Everyone can skate.
Guys like Sylvain Cote, Michael Johnson, Todd Warner, some guys. And obviously Matt,
Stevie Thomas.
We were a good run and gun team and Pat never
said a word. He just kind of, I was on the bench,
opened the gates, let us play.
Things weren't going well. Obviously back in the
room we'd hear big Irishman,
big man, would pound the fist on the board or the
water cooler. But if you weren't playing
well too, he'd call you in. But one-on-one, he would never
disrespect you,
especially in front of other players.
Really great guy.
That's probably the biggest thing I regret is he was really upset that I didn't sign back in Toronto after my eye injury,
and I bumped into him and he said that.
He liked coaching you.
Yeah, he did.
He would give me shit, which is great, but in a good way, in a positive way.
But he was upset that I didn't sign back in Toronto.
I guess if I look back, I kind of wish maybe I did.
It was great that the Rangers did that,
but at that time I just thought that, especially in Toronto,
all the eyes would be on me too, and I wasn't the same player.
I knew I was going to be the same player,
so I thought it would be a lot of pressure for people
watching me play now with one eye.
Yeah, fresh style is probably a better thing.
That's what I thought.
Hey, is that your nephew on the under-17 team?
Berard?
It's not.
No.
No, that's Dave Berard.
Played at Providence College.
Another Rhode Island, though.
Another Rhode Island, yeah.
He's on the new Mount team, too, that program we were going on in Mount.
I think he's on the U-15.
Another good player.
He's a younger brother.
No way.
No relation.
Nice.
I got my nephew there that's coming up, though.
He's going to be a stud.
You showed a couple clips.
Where did you show the clip?
On Instagram? Yeah, on Instagram. And then that locker room speech I sent you guys, too, when up, though. He's going to be a stud. You showed a couple clips. Where did you show the clip of him? On Instagram?
Yeah, on Instagram.
And then that locker room speech I sent you guys to when he's crying.
He's a beast.
He's like 10 years old, defenseman.
That was before Biz joined the podcast.
We'll have to replay it.
We'll put it in on this interview.
Yeah, dude.
Brody, he's an old soul.
But the kid, I mean, he's making plays at 10 years old that I never even thought of.
He's good.
He's just a big kid.
That's awesome.
Defenseman, right shot.
He's got the genes, dude.
I told him, just keep YouTubing Dowdy.
Watch Dowdy play.
Holy fuck.
How long have we gone?
This has been incredible.
I knew it would be.
We had to do it in person with you.
There's so many other things I had to ask you about.
So when did you become real close with Loops and Uppy and Mac L and that crew?
close with like loops and and uppie and mac l and that crew um oh mac andy mac l was just basically against boston college uh with marty reasoner and uh buckley uh brendan buckley marty reason
with the bc together so when junior would end i'd go up and spend two weeks in the dorm at
boston college chasing the women up there going to our buck played like junior brewing together
yeah like basically 12 years old on together yeah So Buck's one of my best friends.
Buck's one of the best people.
And then Andy and then Marty Reisner.
I mean, that's how I met.
Andy was their roommate.
So me and Marty grew up together too.
So that's why I nicknamed Marty's younger brother Adam Tripod.
It's a Vegas story too.
Talk about a hammer, bitch.
You gave him that nickname.
I like that.
Talk about some good pub For Adam right there
Well as much as we want
To keep going dude
I guess we gotta
Kind of hit the road
For a little
Pink Whitney action
But Beast is coming
Well let's finish it off
With I went to
A Bonnaroo
Oh
Music festival
With this fucking guy
Was this the one
With like Avery
And you had the
Yeah I had Avery there
That's the one
I always tripped on
I had the bus rocking
That night That's the night where I was
or the weekend where I was like oh now I
know why they call him the beast this guy
you're like this Berard goes is a
consumer that's all I'm gonna say and I
tried to keep up with the big boys that
weekend although I did do pretty good
there on the last night with the girl
from Nashville I don't know if I ever if you ever heard the story on the last night with the girl from Nashville.
I don't know if you ever heard the story on the podcast.
I ended up staying another night where we drove back to Nashville because that's where you had to fly out of. Yeah.
And I went back to her place for the second night.
I think I do remember that story.
She was gorgeous.
And then the ex-husband showed up.
And I was in the bathroom.
And shit got weird. But that weekend with you, Beast, was a fucking good time. up, and I was in the bathroom, and shit got weird.
But that weekend with you, Beast, was a fucking good time.
Yeah, you passed out in my bed with a Speedo on.
It wasn't a Superman Speedo.
Superman Speedo.
In between me and my girl.
I'm like, this is great.
Yeah.
But Beast is cool about it, and ever since then, buddy.
Dude, thank you so much, buddy.
I love you guys.
Thanks for having me.
I appreciate you coming on.
The show is fantastic.
Thanks for listening.
Thanks for listening. Everyone check out his book.
Put it that way.
Relentless.
My Life in Hockey and the Power of Perseverance.
And if he sells 100,000 copies because of our fan base,
he'll come on again and tell even crazier stories.
He'll tell the stories that he didn't say in the book that didn't make the cut.
Deal.
Thank you, buddy.
Thanks, Pete.
Thanks, guys.
And huge thanks to Brian Baroff for joining us joining us beast that's a great nickname man i didn't know they called him that but he's a great guy and i love that he
was an open book when i see told us before i ask about anything you know he talked about the
financial stuff his injury i thought it was a real good chat but hey boys we don't find an
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colorado defenseman kail mccarr dude a fucking magician out there he's got to be considered the
chalk on the call the trophy race right now he leads rookies in goals assists and points uh he's
got eight more points than number two quinn jews 25 points in his first 22 regular season games of
his career that's an unreal stat with the other
form of puck moving defenseman tell us what's so special about this kid there was not one aspect of
my body and the little amount of fast push muscles i had that were comparable to this freak you want
to watch a guy and uh somebody else said this but it was the perfect analogy. He's, he's like a, he's like a running back. He's like Barry Sanders was in the NFL. He's the most dying, one of the most dynamic
players I've ever seen, I've ever seen in my life. And I'm talking superstar soon enough, if not now
watch this guy somehow lap, he is the best lateral skater. I've, he moves laterally better than
anyone I've ever seen. I'm not kidding. People go, he moves laterally better than anyone I've ever seen.
I'm not kidding.
People go,
people move laterally.
They walk the line as defenseman.
He gains speed as he moves East to West.
It's so cool to watch his fast twist.
Muscles are,
are able to just,
he pulls away from anyone he wants.
He's got sick hands,
curl and drag goals. His shots ridiculous.
There is not another defenseman in the,
in the league i would rather
give an eight-year deal for 84 million dollars than this guy i'm call me out call me out this
guy's deal comes up in a year or two whatever it is give him whatever he wants because he's he's
incredible to watch and if you think about the fact he he just turned 21 right before Halloween, October 30th, 1998, this fucking savage was born.
So he just turns 21.
Three years ago, this kid was playing in the AJHL, dude,
for the fucking Brooks Bandits.
Oh, come on down to the Bandits game.
We got this kid, Cale McCarr, running around.
He's got 24 goals.
He gets 75 points.
It's a joke.
And he goes to UMass Amherst.
He dominated the World Juniors.
They won gold in Buffalo.
I think it was his second year.
He led defensemen in scoring.
It is the fourth overall pick in 17.
If you want to take a crazy look at that draft,
take the three, four, and five picks and make it the one, two, and three picks.
I'm not going to say what order.
You can go and decide, but it's Heskinen, McCarr, and then Elias Peterson.
No, what's his fucking name?
Quinn Hughes?
No, Elias.
Yeah.
Is it Elias Peterson?
Did I just give him a fake first name?
It's Elias, right?
Oh, I thought you meant the other defenseman.
I just got to trust my brain sometimes.
So those three, four, and five in that draft,
they should have probably been the top three picks.
He's here and Nolan Patrick are one and two.
But check out Avalanche Games.
Watch this stud.
And he's even better in the NHL level than he is when he was at college,
when he was one of the best college players I've ever seen
because guys at the NHL level can play with him.
And obviously you get a guy like McKinnon and Rontan,
and all of a sudden he's on the back end walking the line,
dishing one-timer passes, getting shots through.
Yeah, call the trophy, lock it up.
Done deal right now.
I just mushed him.
I mean, your wrist must be sore because that was a hell of a stroke off.
No, this type of player I would jerk my dick right off my torso too.
Well, at this point, I'll just finish it off.
I guess I got to swallow the load here.
I know, that's a little greasy.
Some people are like, oh.
Yeah, but that's the relationship we have, buddy.
Yeah, buddy.
Okay, two things.
Calder, Calder.
I keep hearing Calder.
Dude, this guy might be up for the fucking Norris.
Fuck the Calder.
He's easy.
He's taking that mushroom.
What's that? Super Mario or Brothers? Super Mario, yeah. He's taking that mushroom. Super Mario Brothers.
Super Mario, yeah.
He is second in scoring among D.
So this kid's astounding.
There's a great breakdown of him.
One other crazy thing about this kid for how much ice time he's lugging
and the matchup he has, because, I mean, he basically doesn't leave the ice.
This guy's got not one penalty minute this year.
He doesn't have a penalty minute as a defenseman.
And listen, he's not a liability defensively.
This guy is hard to get around.
You mentioned how good he moves laterally.
He's just such a smart player.
Just stick on puck, stick on puck, stick on puck.
So this kid is the real deal.
You guys got a gem.
And I hate to beat a dead horse,
but a big reason why they were just able to say,
you know, Tyson Berry,
we know how much you've done for this organization
and how good of a player you are,
but we can address other areas
because we now have a guy who can step in
and do what you're doing maybe a little bit better.
And he's on an entry-level deal.
And nowadays, these kids are signing after their second season.
So once they go into the last year of their entry level,
which kicks in July 1st of next summer for Kael McCarr,
he'll be getting probably, what, eight years at $10 million a year minimum?
Happily.
Happily.
So, yeah, he's going to be paid.
He's not giving it to a guy who's 30 it's given to this 22 year old
rocket bruce brujo said he goes i'd love to be this guy's agent this guy's gonna be a gazillion
he's gonna make he'll be the highest paid defenseman of all time by the time he's done
when he retires he would at that point he would have been the highest paid defenseman of all time
because he's he's getting a carlson deal out of his entry level for fuck's sakes yeah hey if you deserve it man he's got seven goals 18 assists uh on the power
play he's got a goal and nine assists so this kid is just fucking getting it done two of his seven
goals uh game winners as well so uh this is a kid i'm gonna be looking forward to watching for the
next 15 20 years hey boys those stadium series jerseys speaking of colorado stadium series
jerseys drop they might
want to give propercloth.com a call to maybe redo those bad boys i don't know what they were thinking
did you get a look at them biz they look like plain janes or something yeah i just i wasn't
crazy about them i hate that uh how they have to do the covers over the pants i wish they were just
the actual pants so the color wasn't off and it's like a different
shininess um but yeah i definitely wasn't crazy about it now i actually like the la one better
than the colorado one oh dude they're both horrible you know when you eat like an edible
and then you're like it's not hitting me it's not hitting me and then you eat more but then
you're so fucked up you end up like getting sick not this has ever happened to me but i've heard it's happened to other people and like you want to
puke and you but you get you have you know you have to puke to feel better just pull up these
stadium series jerseys because dude la's is so bad la's looks like what uh a cartoon like
abominable snowman would wear in like a new age Pixar movie.
That's a great way to put it.
That's what I was thinking. I thought Abominable Snowman when I saw it
and that's why I think it's better than the Colorado one.
Yeah, tough looks
and I don't think they're just taking fans for granted.
They know they're going to buy them no matter what, but
I mean, if I was a fan of either of these two teams,
I don't think I'd plunk down the fucking
collector's piece.
Collector's item.
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use the code chicklets clean up your nuts and make santa proud this year hey speaking speaking of um
collector's items i read a funny story some dude uh some student at the university of north carolina when michael
jordan was going there beat him in a game of pool and took five bucks off him and jordan wrote him
a check and the guy never cashed he saved it now he just he's putting it on auction now get the
fuck out of here how much you're going for i don't know i kind of wish i'd i either don't remember
reading the story or it hasn't been put on auction yet, but enough where the guy's like, dude, this $5 check from Michael Jordan in 1980,
whenever, is going to go for bank.
That's RA move written all over it.
No, RA would have given it to a guy for an eight ball
and been wolfing it down his nose that Saturday night in North Ave State.
No, I disagree.
I think RA would have kept it too.
Yeah, I'm pretty good with tucking away autographs that I get my hands on.
It's at over $1,200 with 18 days remaining.
Oh, that's it?
I would have expected more.
Yeah, same.
Yeah, that's taking like $10,000.
But if you pay $10,000 for a $5 check, you're kind of foolish.
Well, that's the story.
I got a Pedro autograph.
I wouldn't sell that for junk.
Pedro Martinez.
Pedro Martinez is one of the biggest
legends of all time. It's on a Hooters napkin.
It's on a Hooters napkin.
Actually, Biz, you know what it's on?
You know when you get a tin of Altoids,
the little piece of paper that comes in the Altoids?
That's what it's signed on.
Oh my God.
We just went from the most R.A. thing
of all time that didn't happen to even
more bigger R.A. thing of all time that didn't happen to an even more bigger RA thing of all time.
No chance you had one Altoid to help your breath either.
You're just like, give me that paper, bro.
Dude, it was the funniest thing.
I was leaving a club over at Tremont Street in town.
I never go to clubs.
It's just random night.
We were standing there, and, dude, Pedro just happens to walk out
of whatever club is over there.
And we're like, holy fuck, it's Pedro.
And we're like, hey, Pedro, what about the Bambino?
And he was lit up.
He's like, fuck the Bambino. We were like, what? He hey Pedro what about the Bambino and he was lit up he's like fuck the Bambino
we were like what he's like fuck the Bambino
we said it twice and we're like holy shit
I was like Pedro just before everyone
had cell phones so like you know getting a
picture wasn't really a thing we thought of but like
hey Pedro can I get an autograph he's like yeah
I need a pen so someone pulled out a pen he's like
I need something to write on so I was like fuck
and I grabbed my Altoids case and I pulled that piece
of paper out and fucking signed it.
And he signed the fucking, and he writes Pedro Martinez,
and he puts all his Cy Young years on the fucking autograph, too.
You got to post a picture of this now.
Absolutely.
Post it to your Instagram.
I will do that as soon as I hang up, and maybe I'll post my Rodney Dangerfield.
As soon as he hangs up, he runs to the store to buy some Altoids
and write Pedro's autograph on a piece of paper.
He's like, shit, I got to back this story up.
I kind of got wrapped up in a lie there, didn't I?
Oh, fuck, bitch.
You said you were going to post a picture.
Oh, my bluff.
There is one thing I want to go back to.
We were talking about Michael Jordan, how big of a degenerate gambler he is.
You mentioned the pool game.
Oh, the Grove.
The Jumbotron story when he found out who would win in advance
and take money off teammates.
The guy is a fucking generate gambler.
Now, you told me something insane about this new course that he just designed.
Yeah, so Michael Jordan, diehard golfer,
and this is a guy who regularly is playing 36 holes a day.
I mean, I'm not going to go on a limb and guess,
but maybe if I were, it's 36 holes five days a week.
I mean, great golfer.
He loves the action, plays with PGA Tour guys, gets shots.
You got to pay him right when you lose.
He's got the cash on him, just known as a gambler.
Well, he built his own course because he's got so much frigging money.
What a dream.
God, building your own course.
So he named it the Grove 23, but the 23 is in,
what are those things called?
Roman numerals?
Yes.
Yeah.
So it's a cool logo.
Well, what's interesting about his course, and I've been told this,
is that your handicap is going to change depending on the weather and the wind
and which direction the wind's coming out of every day you get to the course.
So if they built the course and when the wind's coming out of every day you get to the course. So if they built the course and when the wind's coming out of the east or the north, say the
wind's coming out of the north, this course plays way easier.
Well, your handicap is going to be a little lower.
But the days the wind comes out of the south and the course plays way harder, your handicap
is going to go up that day.
So because of the gambling that will be going on in an awesome course like this, the individual
Nassau's, the action daily with the drinking and the caddies
and the music and the cigars and get me down to Florida.
It's going to be a course that's built for people who love to gamble
and can understand that some days when the wind's in your face,
you're not as good as when you're hitting the ball downwind
and just sailing that thing, sending it downwind,
get it up in the air and ride that jet stream.
I'm going to Orlando in the morning to play golf for like 36 hours.
So I'm a little jacked up, but the course should be great.
You're just going down for what? A couple of nights?
I'm flying down, playing in the afternoon, staying over,
playing all day, flying back the next morning.
Nice. Not too shabby. Hey boys, before we get to the gambling corner,
I just want to issue a Babcock correction.
I said last week that he hadn't been out of the first round. I meant to say
he hadn't been to the conference final since 2009.
So I hate making mistakes. I want to
self-correct myself, but I'm going to swing
it over to the gambling corner right now.
And sorry to everybody Thursday night.
That was a rough one. I should have just stayed on
the Tampa bet, but I switched it to the Murley
special for a tie. That lost.
Edmonton, I was wondering why they were such a small
favorite out in LA.
That was the reason why they got fucking dusted
by the Kings. So fortunately, I had
Ottawa Friday night. Was able to offset that damage.
But we're looking ahead to this week.
And I'm jumping to Tuesday night. I like
a couple of games. My Boston Bruins,
I hadn't bet them all season. I got
them twice in two weeks. They're in Montreal
Tuesday night. They've been playing well up
there. I think they're going to want to come back from the last time they were there.
I'm going to take the Bruins on the money line for whatever unit,
dime, whatever you want to call it.
And we're going to take them on the puck line for half that as well.
And the same night, Toronto, they're the team I'm going to be jumping on,
like you just said, Biz.
Toronto, we're going to go with them on the money line in the puck line.
I honestly forgot who they were even playing because I'm going to be betting
the shit out of them either way.
I should take a look.
I forget who they're playing.
Whatever.
Either way, Toronto, Boston, both Tuesday night, both Moneyline,
and half of that on the puck line.
And one other quick note, we want to send our best wishes,
I can't talk, and good vibes to Mike M on Twitter.
He let us know that he got a tough diagnosis recently
and that he appreciated the Edzo interview.
It really helped him out, so we want to send our best wishes along to him.
Hopefully he's doing well.
Whit, you said you saw that Ford versus Ferrari the other night at the show?
I'm going to put my movie reputation on the line
and say that if you don't love this movie,
if you don't think this is a great flick, you can go take a hike.
Or as Eddie Shaq said, you can put an egg
on your shoe and beat it. Is that what he's...
Some line like that that made me laugh.
Great flick. Oh my
God. And here's the thing. It made me laugh,
made me cry. It had it all. It was an
awesome movie. It's long too. Two hours,
40 minutes, right around there.
But I will say
for people who are into car racing,
NASCAR F1 kind of has a little bit of everything in there.
I knew nothing going in.
So the ending is a little different to me having known nothing.
I think if you don't know anything, don't even Google anything.
Just go in, check out this movie,
and check out the battle of Ford making a car that can compete with Ferrari in F1.
Holy shit.
Matt Damon does an incredible job playing
Carroll Shelby, who's this legendary
car racer.
Christian Bale plays another awesome character.
It's just...
I can't say enough. I was blown away.
I loved the movie. I left thinking, wow, I could
easily go see that again. I never see
movies twice in the theater, but I'm not saying
I will do that, but I could with this one.
Check it out. I think you'll enjoy it. it yeah i haven't seen it yet but it's certainly on my on my list of movies
to see i know it's got some good oscar potential so i just binged mindhunter 2 on netflix you ever
seen that no i'm not a big serial killer like yeah i didn't know any i i didn't really get get
into it knowing and it was serial it was really about serial killers or hunting them
down but i i love the show it's really good yeah people have been raving about it but i haven't
checked it out by the way toronto was playing in detroit tuesday night so uh just to get back to
that uh biz any other stuff you want to get get going to before we uh call it a day here or what
um i got some interesting notes from uh from some. So people think that Scott Darling is crazy to think that there are no sharks
in New Zealand.
And, Ari, I saw you comment on it that you thought it was a pretty wild fact,
too.
Well, when he said it, I was kind of, like, bewildered.
I was like, wow, really?
Because, I mean, how do you tell what shark's way to go in the ocean?
There's no exits and entrances.
You know what I mean?
I was kind of bewildered when Scott said that,
but I wasn't going to question him on his fucking shark knowledge.
The guy's a pretty worldly fellow.
So the guy who tweeted at us, he seemed to think it was fake news.
Yeah, I'm curious.
Maybe if Scott's listening, he can set us straight on sharks in New Zealand.
But what do you got, G-Forrest?
Around 70 species of sharks are found in New Zealand, but what do you got, G-Force? Around 70 species of sharks are found
in New Zealand's water. Simple
Google when you Google, are there sharks in New Zealand?
He was way off.
He didn't say on land, though?
Land shark.
Did he say there was no
deadly animals on the land?
Or did he say everywhere,
like including the ocean?
I don't remember.
I could have sworn he said sharks specifically.
Now, another thing that was mentioned in that episode were people thought
I didn't know what Xanax was.
No, the pills that you take before giving speeches that take the nerves away
are beta blockers.
Okay.
It blocks the effect of adrenaline and calms you down
so uh some people who do like ted talks or have to get in front of groups of people to speak all
the time fuck i can't even talk myself here is they they need to take these because they're it
stops their like lips from quivering and and i get man when i'm talking on stage or in front of
people i get fucking nervous, man.
And these things supposedly help you out.
So maybe I'll start taking them
whenever I have to do things publicly.
Yeah, Sharks don't recognize borders
the last time I checked.
What's up, Blake?
Did you have anything else you wanted to add?
You look like you were going to jump in.
Yeah, right before we close this episode out,
I made a huge mistake in not bringing this up
when we were stroking off Kale McCarr.
I'm really upset.
So as a listener, can you guys do me a favor and just put your mind back
in time to that conversation so it feels like we're right in the middle of it
and I drop this stat on you?
Kale McCarr, dude.
Kale?
Kale.
Jesus Christ.
That shitty vegetable.
Kale McCarr, in the midst of this incredible season, well,
he leads all rookies in scoring, which we went over.
He's the sixth rookie defenseman in NHL history to factor in on five straight goals by his team.
Think about how crazy that is.
Five goals in a row, this guy had the goal or the assist.
You know who the other defensemen were who did that?
Gary Suter, Matt Carl, hell of a
career. Played at Denver. Awesome player. Alexander Picard, great offensively. Willie Huber. Willie
Huber did it. I don't know who that is. I'm going to be honest, but I don't know who that is. It was
in 1979. And wouldn't you know, Ryan Whitney did it. I should have smelled that coming a mile away.
Ryan Whitney in his second and third game in the NHL
was a part of five straight goals for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
And I do remember after the second game of my career
where I had three assists in Long Island.
I was stuck on that Frankie Borelli.
Rick Jackman came up to me.
He's like, it ain't this easy, buddy.
Which ended up being true.
But still, I am very upset that in the midst of the kale talk,
I didn't bring up a stat that I was involved with.
Sad.
Hashtag sad.
Hey, one other show I didn't mention.
I didn't have any movies to bring up.
But The Mandalorian on Disney Plus+, the first three episodes of that,
it's a Star Wars TV show.
It's been fucking unbelievable, man.
Anyone who's been watching has been really digging it.
If you're not a Star Wars fan, you might be able to jump in and enjoy it,
but if you're a Star Wars fan, this has been right in that wheelhouse.
I saw the preview for the new Star Wars at Ford versus Ferrari.
It looks really good. i've never seen a
star wars i'm not i'm not the sci-fi guy but could i go see that movie all right like that one i
actually was like this looks sick or would i not get anything yeah you'd probably be really lost
because it's like the last it's part nine of like nine parts so you'd probably be like so the
original three with harrison ford and the are those before or after in time of this one?
Before.
Yeah, the Star Wars Empire Return of the Jedi were actually episodes four,
five, and six.
And then they made those shitty prequels like the late 90s.
Those are parts one, two, and three.
Those were brutal?
Yeah, I wouldn't even bother.
If I had kids, I wouldn't even fucking show them to them.
And now we're on seven, eight, nine.
And then, yep, seven and eight already dropped uh and this is nine i will tell
you though if you're looking for a star wars movie wit and you're not a star wars guy that
you might enjoy is rogue one it's on netflix it's it's a really good fucking movie why would i you're
saying i can't see this one why could i see that one because i don't know any because this part
nine is part of a whole story that's been going on, whereas Rogue One, it actually fits in between two of those other episodes,
but it actually works as a standalone movie because a lot of the people in it,
you don't even know from other Star Wars movies.
So it was enjoyable.
The other one I've been watching, too, is Watchmen on HBO.
That's been another show I've been checking out, too.
A couple of good shows.
So if you're not checking them out, give them a whirl.
But, boys, I think that might wrap it up right about now.
I had one more thing for wit.
Remember the story that Roenick told about MJ and how he golfed with him?
I think he played.
Yeah, best.
They said they played 18.
JR took money off him.
So they were like, let's play another 18.
Jordan had a game that night against Cleveland we went over that one right
no we didn't did we oh okay so that
story was from a couple
weeks ago but Roenick and JR
played in Chicago
and then after JR
took some money from him he's like hey alright
see there Jordan's like let's go again he had a game
this night so they got another 18
for the other 18 they grabbed some beers jr told this radio station in chicago they were gassing
beers for another 18 so 36 for jordan and i think jr won again i don't remember the stories a few
weeks ago but either way jr said well i'm gonna i'm i mean there's no chance you win tonight he
goes we're gonna win and i'm gonna i'm light it up. He ended up getting over 50 points, and I think the Bulls covered the game
one by 25 or whatever it was.
So that story was wild.
You have to check out.
If you Google J.R. Jordan golfing, I mean, it'll come right up.
Yeah, not hard to find.
Bet the Celtics too, man.
They've been a nice bet lately too.
They've been making some money off them.
All right, boys, I think that just about wraps it up for this episode. It was another good one.
Hopefully you all enjoy Brian Barad and you all have a great week at work and we'll be checking
back with you on Thursday. And one more thing, we'd love to say thank you to our awesome sponsors
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Take care, all. Have a great day.
The heart is a blue
Shoots up through the stony ground
There's no room
No space to rent in this town
You're out of luck
And the reason that you had to care
The traffic is stuck
And you're not moving anywhere
You thought you found a friend
To take you out of this place Somewhere you can land Thank you. See you next time.