Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 238: Featuring Mike Sgroi

Episode Date: January 23, 2020

On Thursday's episode of Spittin' Chiclets the guys are joined by former enforcer Mike Sgroi. Mike joins (52:14) to tell some funny stories about his career, playing with Whit, what he is up to now and a bunch more. The boys are also in St. Louis for the NHL All-Star game, so they discuss their plan for the weekend and also touch on some NHL news including Patrick Kane's 1000 point, Coach Q's return to Chicago, Auston Mathews dropping out of the ASG and tons more. The guys wrap up with a little wager on the all-star game along with a Gambling Corner (01:40:18) from Rear Admiral.You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/schiclets

Hey, Spittin' Chicklets listeners, you can find every episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Hello, everybody. Welcome to episode 238 of Spittin' Chicklets, presented by Pink Whitney, the pink lemonade-flavored vodka from our friends at New Amsterdam Vodka. Boys, we're coming to you from the mighty Mississippi for the NHL All-Star Game this Saturday night. We've got a full slate on tap. Let's say what's up to the boys.

Biz, what's going on, buddy? How are you enjoying St. Louis thus far? The Mississippi River. Is that the one that's running by the arches Biz, what's going on, buddy? How are you enjoying St. Louis thus far? The Mississippi River. Is that the one that's running by the arches? It is. The old miss. Mighty miss. Yeah, the big one.

Learn something new every day, eh, Whit? M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I. Ooh, shit. I don't think anyone can spell Mississippi faster than I can. M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I. That's actually mighty impressive. Pretty impressive. That, of course, is Ryan Whitney, the Whit Dog. What's up, buddy? Not much. Pleasure to bePI. That's actually pretty impressive. Pretty impressive. That, of course, is Ryan Whitney, the Whitthug.

What's up, buddy? Not much. Pleasure to be here. Another all-star game. Huge jump off for us last year. We went out on the West Coast Wagon Tour, and ever since then, Bugsy and Teddy joined. We kind of really took off as a podcast. This is another all-star game.

We had some great interviews today. We got some more big-time ones lined up tomorrow and the next few days. So it's great to be here. Now listen, I've had my beefs with downtown St. Louis. Today didn't help their argument against mine in terms of it was a Wednesday and we didn't see one human being right around lunchtime downtown, but we know the fan

base is strong and we know come Friday, Saturday the place will be rocking. So downtown has its issues, but still it's a pleasure to be here. What's the Will Smith movie where he's basically the only man left on the planet? I Am Legend. Great movie. I thought we were in I Am Legend today. Yeah, and I said

is it a holiday? He's like, no, it's Wednesday. Still more active than San Jose though. Yeah, man, Jose. And last but not least, Mikey G, the producer. Mike Granley, what's up, buddy? What's up, guys? A lot of nostalgia.

I spent all last night going through pictures and videos of the West Coast Wagon Tour. When did you add nostalgia to your bag of words? I actually have a highly extensive vocabulary. Whoa!

Jesus Christ. I just don't bring it to the table. Well, let me tell you something. As somebody who does this for a living, you got good words. You got to use them. I mean, what's the point of having an extensive vocabulary if you're just going to come on and grunt and growl and barely say anything? I guess that's a good point. Come on, buddy.

It's like play to your strengths here. What was the point you were making when I cut you off after nostalgia? A lot of nostalgia from all the pictures and videos of the West Coast Wagon Tour. Bugsy, Teddy, Dana B. Don't get emotional on us, Graham. Dana B, he was awesome. He was a great addition. Dana B was great, and he's had a zillion beers since that trip, so good for him. One of the funniest things

about that trip, remembering back, is when we went on the roof after we woke up one morning in Venice and I had a bunch of scratch tickets, and remember Bugsy goes, how do you play them? You scratch them, Bugs. Oh, Jesus. That was after a night of ice scooping that he asked that question.

So we're going to have to forgive him. I love Bugsy. Do you remember what Bugsy did that night where I ate mushrooms, and then Bugsy told me to start hitting a jewel? And I look over, you guys are all giggling. And I hit the jewel a couple more times, and he goes, have you ever smoked DMT? And I was like, oh, no, no, no, no.

I just took mushrooms, Bugsy. I can't smoke DMT. So I start freaking out. And he's like, yeah, man, that's DMT. He's like, you just go take a walk outside. I don't even know what DMT is. He's like, I'll calm everyone down. And I come back inside. And he said, it's just a jewel, dude.

I fucked with you. You got Bugsy. DMT, what is that? I don't know. I have no clue. It sounds scary. Crazy. Also, we got a couple other guys helping out this week.

Pasha, who's been here plenty of times. He's been around. And Chef Donnie as well. So we want to say thanks to those guys for helping out. Just got into town last night. Got settled in. We had a day of interviews like the Whit Dog said. We got several Blues alumni on deck. Going to a nice Italian

joint tonight with our pal Joe Vitale. Definitely looking forward to that. But we are here for the All-Star game. We do have a couple of big updates for you. This one literally just come over the wire. Austin Matthews will not be playing in the All-Star game due to a nagging wrist injury, but he's still going to come to town to St. Louis, still do the thing.

He's a young star. That's nice to see. He's not going to skip off to the Bahamas or anything. Not that I'd blame him. He's been replaced by Ottawa's Brady Kachuk, who's got 15 goals and 12 assists in 48 games. Of course, his brother Matthews is already playing for the Pacific Division, so that's pretty damn cool.

The St. Louis brothers in St. Louis, both playing with the whole family here. So a nice little story so far for the game hasn't been played yet. Whit? Yeah, I mean, how cool is that? You get to be not only make an all-star game, you're with your brother in your hometown where your dad was a star. I mean, it's like everything's aligning up perfectly for that family. And Matthew Kachuk, I mean, he deserves it, right? I mean, he's been playing the game clean.

He's been playing the game on the straight and arrow. No, I love it. I mean, obviously, we're biased. I'm a big fan of both those guys and Big Walt. But I just think that the chance to be an NHL All-Star is like you dream of winning the Stanley Cup. You maybe dream of winning an award. And definitely right after that, it's playing an All-Star is like you dream of winning the Stanley Cup. You maybe dream of winning an award. And definitely right after that, it's playing an All-Star game or games. So to get the chance to do that where you grew up and where hockey's certainly exploded as you've grown up.

I mean, both those kids have kind of been the wave of St. Louis talent that we've talked about. And all these high picks that they have. And it all goes back to Keith playing here with all the other alumni. high picks that they have and it all goes back to Keith playing here with all the other alumni so it's just a very special weekend for a hockey city that after winning the Stanley Cup is finally more so on the map and people realize like how great

of a place it is to play. Damn, you killed that. I am feeling it right now. Listen, we crushed it. Do Mississippi again. M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I I've been working my bag off all day and people think these interviews are easy. No, they're not.

Sometimes you've got to really grind it out. We've done that. Now we're recording. And this is the easier part. So I am buzzing. I am making a lot of sense. And I do have a lot of facts going through my head right now. And for you to call me out and basically say that you're doing a good job means a lot.

Because once in a while when you get a compliment from a co-worker, it goes a long way. Buzzing. Did you get into my mushrooms when I was gone? No. This is actually like dead sober. I even had a beer. But just to touch on the Kachuk thing, this is about the fans, the fact that the Addams added Brady's a no-brainer. And

this town is going to get to see two of the kids that they basically brought up in the hockey world. Because it takes a village. We know that. All the minor hockey coaches. I love that. All the the ex-teammates they're going to be proud to see these guys going head-to-head in this three-on-three competition all right absolutely i can't wait i'm not sure do we even know who's square off squaring off with who yet i haven't seen any lines yet so that's that's i'm guessing it's uh oh yeah it's metro atlantic pacific central so i thought you meant where guys were placed as far as the skills were concerned,

but that's just getting too far into details. Oh, that's when you're just like, please don't put me in fastest skater unless you're McDavid. Correct. People don't necessarily want to do that one. I would agree with that. And come to find out, the three-on-three for the females is on Friday, so that will beef up the skills competition as well.

So now we have two days to look forward to in the All-Star game. And the fact that Matthews is still coming, which I don't know if they're forced to do that even though they're injured. I could imagine he could have probably stayed home or went on vacation considering he is, in fact, injured. I think he would have still missed the game.

Well, regardless, kudos to him for still coming and enjoying the festivities. I think that for one of the young superstars in the league, he is down to be around and smile and interact with fans and does like that spotlight where that's not a bad thing. You fucking need guys like that

in order to grow this game. So kudos to him and it's going to be an awesome week. And we had another significant replacement as well. Chris Kreider replaced Artemi Panarin. Panarin withdrew to UBI. The bread man has been a wonder this season. Come on, baby. Everybody's going good tonight.

26 goals, 42 assists in 47 games. The Rags are still 10 points out, but he's been fucking head and shoulders worth every cent they've given him so far, no doubt about it. Absolutely. And a lot of people are disappointed because there's a guy who is very popular with the fans, and he's not shy to show his personality.

He's got that crazy hair now. Recently, he's been kicking the air after his scores. No, I think he did that prior to this season. Now I'm guaranteeing I'm wrong almost, but I'm almost positive that he did that leg kick before. Either way, it's a great celebration. You show the flexibility. You show the power.

You show the strength in your quad and your hammy. So the issue I have with the whole thing is that it sucks he can't go, but Chris Kreider as the replacement was a little bit surprising to me. You look at the season that Zibanejad's had. I don't know the health of these guys. Even like Ryan Strom, now I'm going through the list of scoring

for the Rangers, but Chris Kreider isn't exactly like the guy you're dying to see in a three-on-three All-Star game. Yeah, he's fast as shit. He might be exciting as hell in the skills competition, but you've got to lean more towards the real high-level skill for this game. I feel like you're still hating on him because of that offside. He went to BC.

No, no. He went to BC. Right, no, but I was making a joke on the fact that you posted a video recently of the worst offside in NHL history, and I believe he was a part of it. Yeah, it was a good one. He just skated 10 feet offside. He's too fast. But he also didn't really realize he was offside.

No, he was like, why didn't you dump the puck in? Because you're in the zone 10 seconds ago. Maybe in the case of players replacing players, they actually ask the guys, hey, is this something you want to do as opposed to getting voted in? So maybe they ask the manager that, and he's like, nah, dude, I'm going to Hawaii. Maybe he's got a few DJ sets. Do you think it helps the Rangers because they're trying to trade Kreider,

and now that he's an all-star, they'll probably get a bit more for him? Well, a lot of people are saying St. Louis is one of his landing spots. I'm going to say no. I'm going to say when you end up doing that trade, if it goes down and the Rangers deal him with the deadline, him making the All-Star game isn't going to bring you back anything more. I don't think. I mean, I think it would be a shot in the dark, whereas maybe a team like the luster of, oh, he is an All-Star.

It's easier to sell to your fan base. I mean, people are duped in less than that. You know, his agent will. Whoever's agent is will try that shit, right? Absolutely. No doubt about it. We also got some really good All-Star news for us, guys. You know his agent will. Whoever his agent is will try that shit, right? Absolutely. No doubt about it. We also got some really good all-star news for us, guys. Next year, we did find out the all-star game.

Assuming we're still in business. It's going to be down in South Florida as the Panthers will host it. So we don't have to worry about packing pants. Witt, sorry you're going to have to show your legs off, but at least you'll be able to bring the clubs next year. I cannot wait. Sorry. You think, one, I'll be on camera with shorts on, no chance,

and two, sorry, I'll be playing golf every day. Don't book me out for one interview next All-Star game. I'll just be in the suite, the Pink Whitney suite. By the way, these pillows, too. Oh, my God. Are you kidding me? Talk about a great pillow. We get the back.

I mean, this is bad podcasting, I guess. I forgot we weren't on video, even though there's a camera in front of us. Don't worry about me next year in Florida at the All-Star game. Trust me. I'll find a fun way to enjoy my weekend down there. I'll be an All-Star in life. Maybe we could have Brian and Keith Yandel join us, similar how

to Bugsy and Teddy Purcell helped us. Who knows? Keith Yandel should have been in the All-Star game. Hey, you know who I know will get down there? And I'm going to beg him to come on. If he doesn't, we're going to hunt him down outside of his house, is Roberto Luongo. Now, he just retired. He won't come on with us, I feel like.

He's hysterical. Hey, listen. He needs a little time away. He wants to decompress. He wants to count his money like Scrooge McDuck. Is that the guy's name? Yeah. Scrooge McDuck diving in his safe and swimming through the money.

That's Roberto Luongo right now down in Florida. But I think by then we're going to be able to rope him in. And as I said, if not, we'll just kidnap him. Oh, yeah. Pasha looks like Roberto Luongo. You look like Roberto Luongo and Trocek had a baby. And Mark Anthony. And Mark Anthony. And Mark Anthony.

He's definitely got the Mark Anthony douchiness. On to the next subject. I've got some goings on in Chicago. Sunday night, Patrick Kane scored his 1,000th NHL point when he assisted on Brandon Saad's third period goal in a 5-2 win over the Jets. In doing so, became the fastest American to 1,000 points, beating JR by almost a year.

I mean, Whit, I think it's safe to say he's one of the top two or three in the conversation of greatest American forwards ever, no? When it's all said and done, you're looking and you're watching what will be known as the best American hockey player ever. Not just my opinion, it's a fact. And if you're talking about Mikey Grinnelli

bringing in big words like nostalgia into the vocabulary of this podcast let's talk about the night in chicago the other night because not only did patrick kane get honored with a gold plate or whatever it was and a tiffany vase or crystal i don't even know what that was called i think you got a gold puck yeah there you go gold puck and tiffany vase thing you are then getting to witness an unbelievable ovation for the best coach in Blackhawks history in Joel Quenville. So I know I'm leading into a second subject, but the fact it was all one game in terms of Kane getting the celebration

because it happened the prior, and Quenville returning home to not one, not two, not three, but I think four different standing ovations. If you're a Blackhawks fan, that is full-blown nostalgia because you think back and you get to see Kane and what he's done and what he's meant to that entire organization and the man who basically helped him get it all done in Quenville. So that night was awesome to see.

I'm going to call out the network for whoever puts on the Blackhawks game because they didn't even get the fucking TV. They didn't even get the live Quenville feature on the scoreboard on the television. So if you weren't at the game, Hawks fans at home, they didn't get to see it live. That was special television that those people should have been able to witness. So the whole night was awesome. able to witness so the whole night was awesome Kane Kane's ability to continue to just light up this league as he gets older last year was I think his best year ever and it just shows that his his hockey IQ is above everyone else's so he's got the hands the skills the vision but the way he

thinks the game is what is the true like it gives him the true ability to like change games I mean you couldn't have said it anymore perfectly and if I actually would have listened to that while in the air at that altitude I probably would have teared up and although there is one debate are we considering Brett Hall as an American or Canadian

why well because you said by the time he's done he'll be the greatest American morning hockey player oh the Brett Hall's considered an American and he's he's done, he'll be the greatest American morning hockey player. Oh, the Brad Hull's considered an American, and he's better than Brad Hull. Okay, all right, fair enough. Brad Hull's a better goal scorer, but overall, the career, I think Patrick Kane has it. I definitely think by the time it's all said and done,

he probably would have surpassed him. I just think that maybe R.A., from a different generation, that may be up for debate. But other than that, Whit, that was a 10 out of 10. The one thing that was a little disappointing was, actually, I shouldn't say disappointing, but the Blackhawks fans, they

really gave it to Colleton when he was announced that night. And they had won five in a row going into the game. R.A., congrats. You're off to Schneid. Florida got that win. You picked them. He's back in the game. But in a special night and. You're off to Schneid. Florida got that win. You picked them. He's back in the game. But in a special night and understanding that the crowd loved Quenville and is

so happy to see him back. The Hawks have been playing some good hockey, so the new guy gets booed. I mean, it's almost like you feel a little bad for him, but still, it was overall just a great evening. And the Hawks didn't get the job done, but you almost feel right in seeing Quenville get a win when he's back there.

The other news on Tuesday, too. A dust-up you're not used to seeing. Jonathan Taves and Duncan Keith. I mean, these guys are two future Hall of Famers. You're used to seeing skirmishes and practice all the time, but it's usually not two future Hall of Famers, especially guys who have won three Cups. Biz, what do you think was behind

that? I mean, it didn't seem 100% serious, but it wasn't all that playful either. I think the same thing I thought when I saw it happen in St. Louis last year, that there's no way from the outside looking in, at least from my perspective, is that could be a bad thing. You have two guys who clearly still care, who based on what they've accomplished, some guys might have checked out by then, there's still there's still some fire in there and you mentioned that five game win streak um before losing to to florida the other night uh but i i think that this is a good this tells me that that older core group

still has some passion there and i was reading some comments online like oh like that you need to control your emotions more blah blah blah this i think you'd be naive to not consider this a positive that sounds crazy because they're like fighting so in the end it's like how is it happening in pre-game skate that's what i was wondering it was pre-game skate correct yes yes definitely an odd time considering there's no battle drills going on. Were they in an argument over a TV show or a movie? What the fuck started that? They were doing the skill drill when you go around the center ice doing one touches. If there is one show that could probably make someone fight, it might have been the ending of the...

What's the fucking one that just ended that had a terrible ending? Game of Thrones? Game of Thrones. Sorry, I drew a blank. What's the fucking one that just ended that had a terrible ending? Game of Thrones? Game of Thrones. Sorry, I drew a blank. What's the fucking one that had the terrible ending? There weren't shots thrown either. There's a lot of shows that have terrible endings, but there was one specifically that

that's all I read about online for fucking three weeks, and I never even watched the show. So that's the... Has a video come out that showed it from the beginning? I only saw the one where they're getting up. It's already over. Is there a video of the fight actually going on? No, and I actually dug into it.

It was actually just them tickling each other on the ice, and people thought that there was something going on. They were just having a tickle fight. So let's squash all the rumors about that scrap. The thing about Quenville, going back to that quick, is in any press conference i've ever seen of him and talking to guys he's i don't think he comes off as a very emotional guy you know he's giving you quick answers he's kind of a guy's guy you know what i'm saying but you could see like a

a little tear in his eye i think the third or fourth time in the videos they showed and if you do think back no matter how tough of a guy you are and this the three stanley cops like what he accomplished there it would have been near impossible for for anyone not to be emotional and coming back and seeing all that and the one cool thing to wrap it up was uh at the end after the game he said it and i'm just kind of like guessing on this quote yeah paraphrasing that there was no bitterness whatsoever. And like in the way it ended and leaving, and even though at the beginning you felt certainly one way,

I mean, once you go back and you've moved on, it's like there's closure. And I think that that was just great for all the fans to get to see that. He basically summed it up as saying the memories completely overshadowed any type of bitterness he might have had. But it takes a little while. You know what I mean? And it's been long enough now where he's completely moved on.

And Florida's playing good hockey. They've won six in a row. And they've covered every single over this year. And I thought once I said it that it would stop, but it hasn't. No. They just score goals. Since you've said it, it might be unbeaten. Somebody sent me the list.

I think they were second at the time in the league as far as covering their overs, and they were pumping at like 86%. Yeah, they're playing like 1980s-style hockey, and it's winning. And like I've said before, I mean, if Bob ever gets to the level he was at in the playoffs last year, look out, man. They're going to cause some fucking damage in the playoffs. Analytically, I haven't dove into it shocker um but i would imagine that maybe if they're if they're controlling play and they're out shooting teams maybe it's it's tough for him

to get settled in a role where he's not relied upon as heavily and he's finding it harder to get into games because he's not seeing those. Now, another area. That's our ultimate spin zone for defense of the draft. That's the mental aspect, and I'm just spitballing here. I don't know because I haven't fucking spoken to him. Another aspect, and why I brought it up analytically, was because they play so run and gun and that 80s style of hockey, how many high-quality scoring chances out of those shots they are giving up

are from dangerous areas. And I haven't dove into that because I don't dive into the analytics, but those are just some things to consider as to why maybe he is having struggles in Florida. I'm sure that fan base, based on what they've invested in this guy, he can turn around and learn how to play up to his quality of goaltending under his now new circumstances. And now I'm fucking buzzing because you're buzzing. Yeah, you are.

Mikey pulled it up. Washington's first in the league at hitting the over floor at a second. So they're both 64%. Can you pat me on the back? Does that remember that? Great job. And I actually noticed number one team in not hitting the over and going under is Dallas.

And every time I fucking take a Dallas game, it's 2-0 or 3-1. So thoughts out to that one. Like you said, that applause for Q. That was awesome. I mean, even if you're a fan of the team or not, it was such a fucking long applause. You're not used to seeing that from a guy from another team. And, you know, one thing, Coach Q's got one of the all-time dusters in NHL history. And I bet he uses a

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and washington and he's got four all his own that's like i mean a statistical anomaly but it's fucking hilarious another thing too about that game did he not have all three goals in the same period he may have i i had it on but i game, did he not have all three goals in the same period? He may have. I had it on, but I'm not sure. I think he had them all in the same period, which is remarkable. And he's just a goal-scoring machine. It's called a natural hat trick, I think, isn't it?

No, natural is when you get them all in a row. Your team's like three team goals in a row. That's natural. I don't know if they can be special teams. Or the three goals in a game in a row, not the other team scoring. And also, I don't fucking know. I think it's your – this is going to be – people are going to be fuming in their car right now. Like some dude is on the highway in between Calgary and Edmonton, and like you morons, a natural hattie I had won last night in men's league,

is three goals in a row for your team. No mix-ins from anyone else. So, sorry, Rick in Red Deer. Oh, man, that was fucking nice. What else were we talking about? Also, dude, how about Nolichari, right? He's got 18 goals already and 46 games played. He had 18 in his first four years in Boston combined.

180 games played. As our buddy Climey might say, he might win the fucking Cy Youngwood with his 18-3 record right now. 18 goals, 3 assists. Yeah, yeah. And I forget against what team the other night, but he ends up getting the winner with under five seconds to play. Minnesota.

Against Minnesota, and there's another collapse by the Wilders. Great deflection, too. Unbelievable. Surgical tip. And quickly going back to Vetrano, that's a guy that Boston, would you say they gave up on him a little bit early? Yeah, and I dogged him, too. Yeah.

I can take it up. I was like, I don't think he's smart enough. He doesn't make plays, but his shot is so good, and he's so fast so fast he's actually kind of like crider they kind of remind me of each other and and i believe vetrano is from um massachusetts right vetrano's from yes uh springfield area he's got a tattoo of springfield on his oh yeah that's right uh so sometimes maybe playing at home just at that extra added pressure and now he's in florida a place you can fly under the radar or not have to deal with friends and family constantly ask them about the bruins maybe that's benefited his career as well and back to the charry i think the bruins just had him pegged as a fourth liner and they weren't going to pay him more than x amount of dollars

obviously florida offered to him and my first instinct was like shit man maybe the bruins you know weren't utilizing utilizing the way they should. And I looked. His shooting percentage this year is 24.7. So I think he's got a pretty good dose of puck luck. I mean, not to say he isn't on the fourth liner. But, yeah, maybe the Bees probably should have had him in a couple of different roles. But that was a crazy percentage. He has to be leading the shot percentage by probably 10% for people who have over 15 goals. Yeah, that is fucking nuts.

It is pretty high. But either way, I hated to see him go. I love this game. A lot of sandpaper to it. I think he's perfect in a bottom six role. It's nice that you picked that out because a lot of people are probably like, oh, he could have been a superstar here, whereas he's a guy who now he's getting a little bit more of a role there in a season where he's really taking advantage.

But once the dust settles, he may in fact be exactly what they thought he was. Yeah, a lot of his goals, and this is not a knock. It's a compliment. It's right place, right time. He's just in the right spot a lot of times. A little bit of dose of luck there. He's playing three minutes more per game this year. Granted, that doesn't seem like a ton, but it ends up adding up.

And the shooting percentage, it'll always go back to the mean at some point. So, yeah, this year he's hot. But, man, unfortunately, it wasn't his contract year. But still, it's nice to go in and make a huge difference. I would definitely use that argument as well, the fact that he's playing three minutes more a game. And some people are like, oh.

If, let's say, he's all of a sudden going from the 12-minute range to the 15-minute range, you are so much more in the rhythm of the game, which it's very hard to describe to a fan. But most nights I would play under five. I felt like I was completely out of it. Every shift, I was going 100 miles an hour out there, where now he's kind of like in the flow of the natural pace of the game, and maybe that is why he's popping off and why his shooting percentage has skyrocketed.

And I think that if you're going to try to find a complaint about the Bruins in this awesome run they've had this year, like the toughness, the physicality, so the Achari scoring is just kind of a double whammy into the fact that you miss how hard he played. I mean, that guy was a beast. You saw what he did to poor Wieger. I mean, he was a hard guy to play against in Boston.

Not a bad problem to have if you're the Bruins where, like, you're having to make tough decisions to let guys like that go. But they got guys in the pipeline. So what else have we got? Well, we go from hot to cold, and I think the only thing colder than me gambling right now might be the Winnipeg Jets. They've lost 4 out of 5, 7 out of 10, 10 out of 14. They're a team that could have maybe won the Cup last year.

They were certainly a contender. This year they just can't seem to get it all together on the right page. Whit, I know you had a few things you wanted to say about them. Yeah, just a season that was kind of doomed to fail from the start when the whole Bufflin news came out. And a team that didn't really even have a good defense with Bufflin all of a sudden doesn't have him. You look at, like, trying to win in this league with, you know,

not enough top six D-men is near impossible. Because you talk about goaltending and scoring, but Winnipeg's back end is not good enough right now. So they have times when they're able to score, and then they have so many times when they can't defend. And 5-on-5, they have no ability to get flow and dominate teams 5-on-5. You have to be able to win games like that. As much as a special teams league it is, if your 5-on-5 play is just horrendous, it's going to be impossible to be consistent.

So they're on this tailspin now, and you just look at there's not much coming back. They'll get a couple guys back from injury, but no one enough to be able to say, like, all right, well, that's all they need to get going again. And there's been plenty of question marks about the goaltending. I don't think Hellbook's been that bad lately. But it's just like a team with all this promise.

They lose their best D-man right before the year and ever since then. And along with, who else did they lose? Was it Tyler Myers? No, they lost the guy to the New York Rangers who signed after they had to trade him. Fuck, how is this not coming to my head? Oh, Truba. Truba, sorry. So, like I'll actually say, and you've got to give credit, Pionk, who came over from the Rangers, has looked awesome.

He is like, he's been a really bright mark for them. But it's the other guys and the ability to not be able to get out of your own end, not be able to defend. And they do have some guys up front who need to get the puck with speed. They need to be able to get a breakout pass on their tape. And in Winnipeg, it doesn't happen. And it's just difficult this day and age to go out and get that free agent defenseman. And Winnipeg fans, don't take this as an insult.

You're not exactly the first spot that a free agent defenseman wants to sign. And if you guys are going to get him, it's probably going to be an overpayment. And also, I don't really know who's available here close to the deadline. Assuming that Bufflin's not coming back this year, I don't know. Has anyone heard anything about that? No, I think there's going to be a big beef about the money that we talked about before. I think before that gets settled, we're not

going to see him on the ice. It's evident that the top six, even top nine forwards there are not the issue. They're going to have to go out and land a defenseman if they want to even have a snowball's chance in hell of taking a run at the Stanley Cup.

And I think they were just in a playoff spot. They were playing good hockey and things are starting to turn around after the stumbling out of the gates, but it's going to be tough to sustain the winning if you just don't have a back end, if you're spending too much time on your own end. That's what I was going to say. The one silver lining about this slide is that as bad as they have been,

they're still just three points out of the second wild card spot with two games in hand. So if they can get through this, then hell, they could end up in the playoffs. And The Athletic did a pretty good piece on them this week. And shout out to The Athletic for not writing newspapers you used to expletive delete instead of putting a swear in. They just throw the swears right in there. For years, you never saw that.

Read newspaper stories. If I was a writer, that would be me. I'd be like, fuck, you never saw that. You know, reading newspaper stories. It's just, I don't know. If I was a writer, that would be me. I'd be like, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. The end. Sitting there like, sicko. And business fans are still like, great article, biz. Yeah, biz nasty.

Biz 20 promo card. Oh, God. Yeah, hey, we're mouth breathers. Love you, biz. We know who we are. Crush my girl for me, biz. Oh, God, yeah. Hey, we're mouth breathers, but we know who we are. Crush my girl for me, bitch. Oh, Christ. And some goofy stuff, I guess we can call it.

The Hurricanes, after they beat the Jets Tuesday night, you know, they've been doing the storm surge. We've had some fun with that. Well, after they came the other night, they played dodgeball. I mean, it wasn't a full game. They just kind of goofed around for a little bit. I talked to Sarah Sivian, the reporter at The Athletic. She said, no, it wasn't a full game.

They just fucked around. But I wanted your take on it. Is this going to get to a point like this is just fucking ridiculous or is it, ah, they're having fun. Who cares? Oh, I mean, I definitely think that the line is definitely being teetered on.

Next, they're going to have gladiators. Ready? They're going to be shooting the tennis balls from one of the goals. American Gladiator, one of the best shows of all time. I mean, I would do anything to not be the guy trying to win to be the guy shooting you with the rocket tennis balls. And the one where you jump down and you got to springboard up

and grab the balls and then put them back in your basket. That was a fun one. Yeah, but it was all about at the end trying to climb the aggro crag. No, that was a Nickelodeon show. I just combined game shows. Let me tell you something. You could talk about dodgeball being the one that's like, oh, my God. This thing had gone to the moon when they had a basketball hoop out there,

and they were like dunking on each other. It's already been long gone in terms of craziness so you might as well go completely ape shit now you can like like reenact the pacers pistons brawl but have it all be like with actors some fan jumps the ice justin williams suckers them but it's all part of the storm surge sally um i i will give them props, though. They have been creative about finding new ways in order to have these storm

surges. I thought the Halloween trick-or-treat one, although obvious, was genius. There's been some really funny ones. Gaston Cherry, he has his top ten list. Let's try to think of a few off the top. What would be another ridiculous storm

surge maybe they'll actually take our uh i'm sure i don't know i don't know it's just something i i don't have right at the top of my head i don't know i would think probably something from a movie or a tv show i don't know gladiator like uh no what's this brave hot like oh here's what i have with like the makeup on his face like mel gibson style? Here's one. Maybe they've already done it because I don't watch every game. Musical chairs? Dude, they should have a healthy scratch dress up in a full-blown NHL-issued uniform of the team they just beat and bring them out with an open casket

and then give it a funeral to that guy because they just buried the team. That sounds like some Vince McMahon. You bring out a guy in a Penguins jersey and then the caskets open and then the funeral starts and they slam it shut and the crowd goes nuts. It's a little dark, but talk about just burying

your enemies, no pun intended. I'm down with it. It won't go down. I don't think we'll see that one anytime soon but i'm trying to think outside the box right now maybe they could do a ladder match like like two they pick all like they bring a royal rumble in right but they could bring a stage in well we all know acting uh or sorry we all know wrestling's fake and they're actors so maybe two guys can play characters get two of the healthy scratches to play a play out a whole match maybe even lower down a cage and and then put the what do they use

to put they used to put tacks out yeah they but they got pads on so the tacks aren't gonna be the healthy scratches they'd have to have costumes oh okay they have to have like a ray mysterio mask on it i didn't realize you were such a big wrestling fan. I like wrestling. Yans used to watch, him and Jason LaBarbera used to watch all the old matches together on the plane. And I'm like, you guys already know what happened. They would look back at me like I had five heads, like, fuck you. So anyway, I had to become one.

Little controversy on Long Island. Even though the Islanders beat their crosstown rivals, the Rangersangers barry trot sat matt basal for the whole third period sending a message across afterwards he was asked about it trot said he's fine he knows why that's between matthew basal and the coach with a little bit of a smile on his face so you know i think he just got a little too individual and trots was just sort of just reminding him hey i'm the fucking boss here well i mean i guess i'll start um i've mentioned it on the fucking podcast before that there's a validation like fuck dude validation and listen some of you fucks online you come at me and you know what you know what i did

is i kind of backed off it because i'm like i don't really want to stir the pot because maybe they have kind of figured things out and and i i use the words creative conflict all the time listen matthew barzell is an artist he steps on that fucking ice and the way he works his edge he's a fucking easel he's an artist he is his poetry in motion okay and sometimes his thinking and his self-interest are maybe not in line with the teams or Barry Trotz's. Barry Trotz has dealt with personalities. One comes to mind in Alexander Ovechkin. He had to finally get him to buy in.

And sometimes with the talent that these guys are, it is difficult to get through to him. Matt Barzell is very young and early on in his career where you know there there might be also things going on in his head where he's feeling like well if i'm sacrificing all my offensive numbers in order to play this structured game that trots wants what's going to happen in contract negotiations and that's what i said the first fucking time i talked about it and then some of you fucking peasants online dismissed it and you and your little fucking no people were like you're making that up oh and i respected you you did you did i backed off you did you didn't want no smoke at the time but look what happens now biz a little

validation in your life because let me tell you something for a guy to get two assists in the first two periods and to get benched the entire third period, and this isn't just a player that is like maybe a random two assists in a game guy. This is your best offensive player. That is a message that is loud and clearly being sent by Barry Trotz that I don't give a shit how creative you are. I don't give a shit how bad you want to I don't give a shit how bad you want to try

to make something special happen every time you get the puck. We do not play hockey like that. We are not going to win the Stanley Cup, which you guys won't anyway. Sorry, Islanders fans. We have no chance of winning the Stanley Cup without playing the structure that has been here since I got here. And I'm not saying Barry Trotz is saying this. I'm saying that's kind of how it's going. I mean, like, this guy knows exactly how this team needs to win. And so, Matt Barzell, you get in the offensive zone, you get down below the dots, you try and do whatever

you want. That's what makes you an artist at business saying. But when you're at the offensive or the defensive blue line, don't turn the puck over. And I'm not even saying that's exactly where and when the turnovers happened or if that's exactly what it was, but it was an obvious...

What's the word I'm looking for? It was an obvious decision by Trotz in that he was doing something that that team cannot have be done regularly and win games. Now, perfect time to set an example i believe they were up three at the time and on the turnover the other team did not go back and score so they're going into that third period i believe uh check if i'm wrong here ra up three nothing so trots is probably thinking hey we don't need any more goals we can probably finish this game without him but i need to send that message now now going back onto what I talked about the first time

and the fact that everyone thought I was completely full of shit, is something has to happen here. There has to be a break in the levy. Is Matt Barzell going to buy into what Barry Trotz is selling? I'm not saying he has to. I don't know what their relationship's like. I don't know what's being said in that locker room. Now, if he's not, clearly there's going to be communication between Barry Trotz and Lou

Lamorello in saying, is this guy going to eventually buy in? And if not, what do you do? I think that eventually this is going to be fine and we're just kind of diving very, and we're just kind of diving very, very deep into it. But come contract time, as I said the first time, do not be shocked if there's a little bit of a holdout, Islanders fans. And I guess I can just leave it at that. But when I say things like that and I make comments, I would never make a comment like that without having any prior knowledge of it.

So I'm not going to tell you where I get my information, but if I'm saying something like that on the podcast, don't you fucking come at me. So all you fucking Islanders fans who did, I just fucking bent you over. No fucking spit. I think... No spit, no lube, sandpaper finished. I think

what you're trying to say is that any take you have moving forward, no one could tweet at you disagreeing or calling you out. So nobody's allowed to give you any sort of negative feedback on Twitter. Just I want to make that clear. I'm just saying if you are and you're going to come at me by my opinion, I would expect that you say, hey, I was one of those people that came at you. I'm sorry for coming at you. You were right. I want the fucking, hey, I took my lickings on the chin, and so should you.

He's the Nostradamus. Oh. Hey. Grinnelli's buzzing. That's a good line. Grinnelli's buzzing right now. I like that a lot. And to answer your question, Biz, it was 3-0 after 2.

Coincidentally, Bozell had to assist and then the Islanders made it 4-0 early in the third, which even gave Trotz more incentive to sit him. And of course, Barzell will be RFA after this season, and he did end up playing only 15 minutes in that game the other night. So, offer sheet city. Oh, fuck. I think he gets offer sheeted

right there. I'm not gambling all my chips that I just won on the initial argument, but I'm willing to. By the way, we got word, you'll hear in a later Chicklets interview that we did today, that Lou Lamorello just not happy with the way he's been mentioned on the Spitting Chicklets podcast.

So you're never going to hear one Islander ever be interviewed on this show and that's not our decision. So Islanders fans, take it up with Lou. Lou's always welcome to come on if he ever decides so we got an open door policy here uh well hopefully barzal was comfortable with whatever he was wearing something like mugsy jeans if you're an athlete you know how hard it is to find jeans and clothes that fit you well the truth is men's clothes are not designed for guys with big asses and legs especially when it comes to jeans well i got some good news for

you the answer to your problems is finally here. Mugsy jeans. They're designed specifically for dudes like us. Mugsy was started by a stoolie who was tired of having his balls choked out in his jeans. And his goal was simple. Reinvent men's jeans to look good and feel outrageously comfortable. He spent five years working with industry experts and athletes like former NHL player and Hobie Baker winner Blake Jeffron to perfect the fit and feel of his jeans.

The magic is in Muggsy's proprietary denim, which is made from a bunch of high-tech materials that make these jeans mind-blowingly soft and flexible. And when I say flexible, I mean these jeans are so stretchy, you could hit the squat rack in them, no problem. Well, maybe not me, biz. They're so comfortable, they make basic movements like sitting, bending, and kneeling feel like a dream. No exaggeration. You'll want to sleep in these jeans.

I got a couple pairs, and they are super comfy. Even better, Mugsy's come in a stylish fit that's not too baggy but not too tight, so you somehow look even better than you feel. Men's Health called Mugsy jeans the best jeans for athletes for good reason. Take our word for it. Give Mugsy jeans a try, and you won't be able to wear any other jeans again. Mugsy is so confident you'll love their jeans, they do free shipping and returns. So your comfort is 100% guaranteed.

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I got them with me, man. Super comfy jeans. I'm not just saying that. Give them a try. I love my Muggsy's. The NHL All-Star Game isn't the only thing making news lately. The KHL All-Star Game isn't the only thing making news lately. The KHL All-Star Game. And let's hope this weekend is as viral as the KHL All-Star Game.

They shot rifles. I'm not sure if you saw it. Instead of the classic coin flip, the refs used a bill. I'm not sure how many rubles it was worth. And it landed straight up. So, like, it wasn't heads or tails. It was just, like, quintessential KHL. And then during

the game uh one of the officials actually kicked the puck to a guy who was i'd sent them in on a breakaway but the referee had already committed to the puck so he was like way out of position so the guy basically had a slam dunk i mean i don't know how laughable it is in the khl but it's funny as fuck over this well he's dead good knowing him Got a eulogy written or what? You got the Tim Stapleton fucking treatment already. Imagine a Russian KHL game, Storm Surge, if they were the Hurricanes. They just have like a government-built tsunami machine that just washes away all the fans in the arena. They're just doing Russian gas and fucking hookers in the ice. This is a big orgy out there.

Fucking fembots for 400 bucks each. Oh, man. Ivan's going to be all over us. Just kidding. Oh, no. Igor. Igor. Yeah.

Krikenoff? Krikenoff. Yeah, because those things don't happen over there. Speaking of Krikenoff, I just saw that our boy Stapleton was inducted into the Illinois State Hockey Hall of Fame or something. So shout out to you, Stapes. That's a hell of an accomplishment, buddy. You're a Hall of Famer.

The Sandbagger will be coming out soon, which is sponsored by Tim's Boykies as well. Boykies. Boykies Beef Jerky. Oh, God. Guys, this isn't even an ad. It's not beef jerky. It's biltong. It's no sugar, 32 grams of protein, and half the amount of sodium that beef jerky has.

Biltong is the next wave. Jump on it. And speaking of Russians, Evgeny Malkin had some pointed comments for his own fans after they booed goalie Matt Murray during the Bruins game the other day when they fell behind 3-0 quickly. He said, It was stupid. I'm not understanding our fans. Muzz won two cups for us. You boo him? Why? If you come to the arena, support our team, all of us. We try. We play so

hard this year. We work so hard through our injuries. We play good hockey. Maybe not last couple games, not early this game, but we try. I understand you pay money for a ticket. You do what you want, but it's tough to sit on bench and hear that. I don't like it. We hear that in Philly, not Pittsburgh. And, Whit, you probably remember. Remember the late Cincinnati Bengals coach Sam Weich? One time the Cincinnati Bengals fans were acting up.

He goes, you don't live in Cleveland. You live in Cincinnati. There's this, like, old rival video. That's what it reminded me of. It was like old rival video. That sort of reminded me of. I love to see this because it shows that it can be hard on players. And I know there's so many fans out there.

I've had this argument with friends a hundred times where Foley, especially fucking mutant Foley, he's like fans can do whatever they want. They pay arm and a leg to go to the game. They want to boo someone, they can boo someone. 100%. That's a fact. I'll agree with that. My thing is, you're a donkey, dude, if you're there booing someone.

If you're a grown male adult and you're legit screaming boos at somebody on the ice, like playing a game, trying as hard as they can, you're a loser. So Malkin's kind of saying that in a nice way. Like, this guy has had an awesome career as a Penguin. As short as it's been, he's got two Stanley Cups. He's having a tough go of it, and you guys are booing him. Now, that's the fan, and there's so many people

probably shaking their head at me right now listening. But you're an idiot, because I'm telling you right now to boo somebody, if you care at all about the team and you want the team to win, what is that doing? What good are you doing booing a guy? Well, a prime example of that is I go to the game in Vancouver the other night, and every time Tyler Myers got the puck, if it wasn't right off the stick, you could just feel the tension in the building and i i fucking said to this in my section like some people around me i'm like

i'm like you guys are all over this guy like you're not helping your situation like he he his anxiety is probably through the fucking roof roof of rogers arena right now because he feels that you hate his guts i can feel it i i was blown away by how because i don't mean and listen i'm gonna rag on this because i'm bringing it back to arizona and people are like oh you guys don't even get fans but like there's not a guy in the lineup right now where that happens or in in recent memory so it's it's i mean some fan bases can be extremely hard and as you said what you're not, let me give you some legit personal experience. And I've talked about all the time where I joke around like, you know, that I was terrible for many parts of my career.

But it's easy to joke about it now. It was horrible, dude. And when you're getting paid money, and I'm saying Murray's going to through any of like same type of issue in terms of fan base hating you that I did but I know for a fact when your home fans are booing you it is the worst feeling in the world I had so much anxiety about it and it was so brutal because I was talking to my dad who helped me through my entire life and career and talking to other people and like you're sitting around and you care so much you have so much pride to make the money you make and you're trying so hard

and nothing's going right and and so even the games that start off good and you have a good first two periods if one mistake is made you start hearing it again and it's meant and it's it and i'll admit it's it's um not having um like you're like my mental game was not where it needed to be dude i didn't i didn't have the framework that you needed to battle through it but i'm not gonna sit there and say it's easy because when you care about what you do and the people that like are rooting for all your teammates and are that you know love the team so much if if they all can't stand you, dude, it sucks. Well, and this is also a guy who's helped them. Now I have a drink named after me and a pillow I'm holding.

But you know what I'm saying. I mean, this is like, it's a time in these guys' lives, whoever battles that, you're like, I need this to fucking change immediately. And the harder you try, the worse it is. And we're also talking about a guy who's helped them win two Stanley Cups. Yeah, exactly. And he's getting the Bronx cheer 10 seconds into a game. What have you done for me lately?

How are you? Like, it's just the way a fan thinks I'll forever be baffled by. Whether it's arrogant that I say that because I played at the highest level, I don't really care because you are insane in the way you act towards players. And we're not being biased because we love Pittsburgh and their fans, but they are a very hard fan base. Because remember when Marc-Andre Fleury was going through that tough stretch where it was like a football game when they played the Flyers in playoffs the one year.

It was like 7-6 every game. The most wild first-round playoff series I've ever seen in my life. And they wanted him gone then. They wanted Flower out. Yeah, that was a dark time. That was a dark time in Fleury's career. So ease off on Murray, guys. He's done a lot for you and also fairly recent.

Sorry, did you have a motherfucker fan to his face or did you just have to never cross that line? Oh, I motherfucked about 1 a motherfucker fan to his face or did you just like have to like never cross that line? Oh, I'm motherfucked about a thousand fans to their face. If you came up to me in the bar, which plenty of people did in Edmonton, like you're playing so bad. I'm like, where are you playing, buddy? Get out of my face right now. Like, what are you supposed to do?

Like, what are you going to sit there and take it? If you're going to come up to me, I'm at least going to be like, buddy, what are you doing for a living? Did you play hockey growing up? Better than you i mean i'm trying my hardest you want to if you actually come up to somebody and say like to their face you're you're a loser this is this is the same thing as booing them it's that's just to the extreme he's like hey uh you're fucking awful this year but my still my old lady still wants to crush you you fuck her yeah you're like uh no dude i'm I'm not Ray Whitney.

I'm Ryan. He's like, oh, yeah, you just suck. Biz, I know there's one other item you wanted to talk about before we go to our interview. By the way, did we mention we're bringing on former teammate of you guys, Mike Scrooge? Yeah, so wild interview here. Mike Scrooge, we'll go into it in the interview. He was brought in the lockout year. And as we talk about the AHL, the toughest league in the world that year. Mike Scroi is a name that a lot of people probably don't know.

Once you check out the HockeyDB and you hear the stories he tells us, you'll be interested to kind of find out his character and the type of guy he is. And there's a story that is told that is... The fact I didn't remember it is like really kind of has me worried about where my brain's at and my memory, but I think you'll enjoy it, so we're going to go to Mike Scroia right now. We are now pleased to be joined by a former teammate of myself

and somebody, if you check out this man's HockeyDB, you'll be sitting there for three hours reading through the 25 different pro hockey teams that Mike Scroy, the man that told me to call him the real, is a part of. I want to welcome, as I just said, Mike Scroy to the Spitting Chicklets podcast. What's going on, buddy? Thank you. Thank you, boys.

Thank you. So it goes back a long way that I played with you during the NHL canceled season down in the minors. It was a great league down there, 39 games. You came into Wilkes-Barre, started beating people up. And then since then, I haven't talked to you or seen you in what seems like probably 15 years, but we got in touch somehow. You were willing to come on the show.

So how you been? Excellent, man, excellent. We've got lots of people that I know listening to your show. I'm still very much involved with the hockey community. And I guess there's definitely been a few shows where you guys have just been some story stories sort of put on to the side. A couple of boys said I should definitely give you guys a call. And, man, I'm glad you guys had me on.

Well, I do appreciate it. And I will let all the listeners know that when we met, I think you said you were a pro poker player. You also took part. I believe you took part in the Battle of the Hockey Enforcers in Prince George, British Columbia. We'll go into that later. So we got a bunch of different stories.

But I first want to go to the Hockey DB. And I see, you know, you grinded it out in the North American League. Jesus, that was the Iron League. It was the tougher USHL. And you ended up at Lowell. Those junior leagues were like old pro leagues back then. There were nothing but 20-year-olds and 19-year-olds back then, not the young kids like today.

Beating the piss out of young players for the United States National Development Team. We were just trying to work on our skill. But listen, how did you end up at Lowell, and what happened there? You were just ready for pro hockey. Give me the breakdown on how that went down. Yeah, you know, as a kid I was a pretty good hockey player, believe it or not. My last season in juniors, I played with Kyle Weld

and ended up with 82 points and 50 goals. I got a scholarship to Hockey East, to UMass Lowell. I went there. There was 13 freshmen that season. I didn't fit into the program there. I would have stayed around and got the education,

but I wasn't there to be a scholar, if you know what I mean. Mike, there's no fight in here. Like, oh, shit, sorry. Fuck, you know, they could have told me that before. I didn't have a scholarship. Thank fuck. So you were there for six games. But the year before that, there's nothing on HockeyDB.

Did you take a full year off? No, I went to I went to I went to to come see Junior B. So I didn't really get the stats wrong. I quit I quit university after a semester

and that's the year I took off. I didn't take a full I didn't take a full season off after that. You didn't? And then so then you left university after that what was the play?

Toledo! Well, it was it was actually Detroit believe it or not so Tim Whitehead was actually the coach and I went in there and I was like look I'm trying to play pro hockey, I'm trying to be a hockey player, if you're not going to bring me on your team, if somebody's going to play next year

if I'm not going to play next year, I'm going to do the same shit I'm going to play pro hockey, he looked me right in the eye and he said bud you can't even crack my lineup in college hockey, you're not going to play pro hockey my mentor slash best, soon to be best man at my wedding, Tony Cacali. He made a couple of phone calls and got me to the Clapper City rookie camp where I got to show off some stuff. I ended up going to the Detroit Red Wings main camp from there and played five preseason games with basically junior b experience so and

then ended up in toledo and that was the start of the of the carousel of teams so starting off in toledo that building must have loved you it was chaos the glass probably went up about to your your eyes when you were on the ice the fans was the guy with the megaphone still there at center ice oh fuck yeah oh fuck yeah it was it was ken tasker was the guy right the megaphone still there at Center Ice? Oh, fuck yeah. Oh, fuck yeah. Ken Tasker was the guy right behind me who was an absolute fucking beauty. And that place was so loud with the low ceilings. I think they even allowed smoking up on them. And the only thing separating the fans, even the penalty box,

besides the low glass, was like a string. So you could just turn around, guys, we'd throw popcorn at you. There were so many brawls with players in the stands with fans it was hilarious and i think they had the the like sixth or seventh zamboni ever made and the thing would the thing would break down every game that wheeling would would go into there so i'm sure you got some great stories from that city and then i mean just the echl train kept on going into New Orleans, and I'll let Whit take over from here. Actually, I want to go back quick. You mentioned Tony Curtale.

Is that the man who used to coach the Texas team in the North American League? Texas Tornadoes. It was the Junior Blues, the Springfield Junior Blues at first, and then the Texas Tornadoes. He got me, and he has a lot of funny Mike Stroyce stories from ages 16 to, well, forever. But I basically begged him to take me on Springfield, and he saw that I was an angry kid that needed some guidance,

and without him I'd be dead or in jail probably. Oh, you played him. Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you, but I'm saying you played a lot of years in pro hockey and probably have thanks to him. But the first two years is what I'm looking at. And it's three teams, both years. I mean, six teams

in two years. Were you just getting used to moving around? What was that like for your lifestyle? Well, you know, some of that's self-inflicted. There's no doubt. There's no doubt. I created a bit of an alter ego. You remember me back then. I'm a little bit of a different guy right now. Not too much different, but I've created an alter ego. I mean, you remember me back then. I'm a little bit of a different guy right now.

Not too much different, but I've created an alter ego where I didn't listen to anybody. So I was an expendable commodity. There was a lot of teams that wanted to use me, but it was tough to keep me around the playoff time, that kind of thing. Well, you mentioned the alter ego, and I brought it up, but when did you start going by the real? How did that all begin? Call me The Real. Okay. So, Shakey Krause, a legendary equipment guy, okay, embroidered it.

So, Jim Montgomery, who I was playing with actually in Texas. I don't know what happened to him, man. He was a great fucking guy, great coach. You know, I'm really fucking pissed off. I hope he gets another coaching job somewhere else. But he was my roommate. It was meim montgomery and steve gaines and uh one day i was uh we're all taking a picture at this gym you know it's supposed to be like a tough guy utah grizzlies you know uh and shaky had fucking he put the reel on all my gear he embroidered it on my skates on my gloves and all that shit and it was from j Jim Montgomery. Just made it up out of nowhere.

So, and one day, we're doing this photo shoot at the gym, and I shaved. I went in the bathroom, and I shaved an R in my chest. And I came out, you know, like, surreal. And it hadn't really taken hold yet. It hadn't really taken hold yet. It's just a cartoon character. Everyone starts losing their fucking shit.

I just, I'm like, why is everyone laughing at me? I fucking did it backwards in the mirror. So the R was backwards, eh? So everyone from that day on was like, that's the fucking real. And then I just started talking to a third person for a few years after that.

That's what they called. I want to go back to UMass Law for a minute. You said it was a numbers thing. Was it that you weren't going to get enough ice time? Was it you not fit in the room? What was the fact that that led you not staying all too long? Well, I don't know. Tim Whitehead

was a little guy I got recruited by their assistant coach. He wasn't going to play me. The rookies on that team ended up doing really well. I mean, I could see the writing on the wall. He wasn't playing me. I only had four games that season.

I was hungry in practice. I'm a hungry guy, a hungry, passionate guy. I wanted it. He wasn't giving me a sniff. How much of your off-ice habits in the off-season were boxing classes and UFC classes and basically completely altering your game to the fact that you had to be a meathead in order to play pro hockey? I was kind of like that before. I was taken. It was crazy because I wanted to be a hockey fighter. I wanted to be a fighter that had a

little bit of skill too. I wasn't one of those guys that, I mean, I like to play. I wasn't one of those guys where they're like, hey kid, you're not going to make this team drop the fucking gloves. I was like itching to fight. And I would score sometimes, too. And I had some pretty good goal scoring seasons. When I was 17 years old, they used to have these tough man competitions, right? So I got a fake ID from one of my buddies and started entering into tough man competitions and amateur boxing with zero experience. I have 200 amateur boxing slash tough man fights

with absolutely no training at all. We're out fighting at one bar. One bar on Mondays, you just sign up. Another bar on Tuesdays, one on Wednesdays. That was my summer training from the time I was 17 on until I started going professional. Just bare knuckle brawls? It was fucking wild.

There would be these crazy bars. Some of them were huge Like the Roxy in Orlando Like Shaquille O'Neal, Michael Irvin All backstreet boys, they would go and watch this You just go and sign up They'd have two on two stripper battles at the end And they'd just put the gloves on anybody that would show up

And for me, that was great I'd be working out Some chum for the evening I got some really tough Some really tough big dudes in there, too. So it was solid. It was great training. So of all, I mean, the Coast, the UHL, the AHL, we look, you know, you look all around. Where did you feel like it was the hardest to fight every night?

I mean, no matter where you were, it was every game you got in one. Was it more difficult in one league than the other? Yeah, well, it's not one league than the other, but you know as well as I do that lockout year that we played together. That was the toughest year in sports, man. Every team had their NHL guy, their fucking American League guy, and then a couple of middleweights and then a light heavyweight. Every team kept everybody.

So that was the toughest year. Were you doing anything else to help out? I mean, it may be a little uncomfortable to mention, but any steroid use? Oh, I have no problem talking about my steroid use. All right, let's go. I absolutely do, and I have absolutely no problem with telling people that I did some of it, just as well as everyone else back then because they didn't test. So if they're not testing and everyone's doing it, it's pretty fucking stupid not to do it.

So, I mean, that's just, I mean, now that there's all kinds of people that are testing, everyone's testing, and you literally have to jump through hula hoops to get involved to do that. Then it's cheating. But when your competition is all doing it, then you're a fucking idiot not to. Yeah, you just love the level on the ground. Now, did it help you at all?

Did it enhance your game at all in any way or just help with the fighting it helped me stay in the gym for longer so like it definitely helped me in recovery it makes it made it made a pretty solid difference for me because my my qualities lie in my aggression and my quickness as a fighter just pure skill wise so the couple extra pounds i mean i would drop so much weight in a season and do whatever. I mean, I was eating fucking 7,000 calories, 8,000 calories during the season a day sometimes just to keep that weight on. So you got guys fighting guys like, you know,

Grenier and fucking McIntyre and Scurlack and these fucking guys, you need that extra 10 pounds. I've heard guys say that you can lift your max like twice a day and you don't even feel sore. It's unbelievable. Yeah, I mean, it does different things to different people.

So it makes you a little bit. How was your back knee? Were you getting all the backs? Oh, you had a couple bombs. I got a little bit of that, yeah. Well, hey, it's funny you bring that up because we can go. The question I have, and I never even got the answer, is when you got to Wilkes-Barre the lockout year

and we took the pictures on the ice, you know, you're posting in case you get a goal or a fight. Why'd you do it with your shirt off? For everyone, I don't know if you understand, if Squirzy got in a fight, his picture would go on the big screen in Wilkes-Barre and he'd have no tarp on. As soon as he got in a fight, his picture would go on the big screen in Wilkes-Barre, and he'd have no tarp on.

That was part of the ego of that. You don't say. The alter ego, that was the ego part of it. That was the pro wrestling mentality back then that I sort of took on to help me with the joke. Did you genuinely hate any of these guys you were fighting, or was it more like you were just trying to talk yourself into hating them because it kind of had to be done? Yeah, it was fun to hate guys. Even now, I've actually never met the guy like Brian McGrath.

I know I'll love the guy if I ever meet him in person. I've got so many mutual friends or whatever, and he's just a fucking dick on the ice. I like that. I enjoy the hating him. You know, Dennis Bondy, same thing. I'm sure they're fucking great guys off the ice. There's a couple of, like, cowards in the East Coast League

that I didn't like, and I want to talk about hated guys. I don't mind fucking tossing Carcillo's fucking name out there, but we don't have to get it out if y'all don't want to. No, I mean, yeah, we've kind of, we've talked a little bit about it. You know, obviously we might have some differences in how the game should be played and stuff like that, but, you know, he's doing his thing

and we don't really want to create another war and, you know, respect him for what he's trying to do. Those are the guys that I hate. I hate antagonizers with a passion. With an absolute passion. I hate antagonizers. Yeah, I remember they drove you nuts. It was wild.

It's funny, you bring up Carsello, so I started thinking of the post-concussion stuff. How are you doing now? Like, how's your head? I mean, I can't even imagine how many concussions you had.

You know what? This is the problem. Nobody ever fucking talks to any of us that are like, hey, guess what? Fucking life's going great. I killed it for 20 years.

Good for you. I played hockey like a man. I did everything I wanted to physically, and now I'm living the fucking dream right now. I really am. I got a beautiful girlfriend I'm about to marry. I got an amazing business going. I'm a striking coach at one of the top MMA schools in the world.

I have some of the best students from Florida. I've taken some of these kids as a coach, and now there's some of the best students from Florida. I've taken some of these kids as a coach, and now they're some of the best players in the country. I've got a beautiful son who's better than I could have ever been at that age in hockey. I mean, it doesn't get better than it is right now for me, I'll tell you that. That's incredible, and MMA is something you got into even while playing, correct? Oh, yeah.

Those tough man fights and all those amateur boxing sort of segue to that because I started just winning and winning and winning. And then next thing you know, I'm talking to some real dudes, and I got hooked up at a very early age. Actually, in Dallas was the first time I really got hooked up with the Lions. They're the guys that really took me under their wing, and that's when I started really starting to blossom because I was getting professional training in the summers.

And I was working with the top guys in the world in the summers. American top team, Orlando, those guys. Does all that fighting lead to any type of aggression away from the ring? Like were you getting in bar scraps at all back then or maybe even now? No, you were just whacking everything in Wilkes-Barre. I have extraordinary appetite just in general. That's who I am as a person.

I'm super passionate and I have extraordinary appetite. That actually took away from the aggression that I needed to get out. I needed to get it out. I'll tell you right now, none of the steroids, 200 pounds,

I'm exactly the same way. Right now, I'm exactly the same way. So it's somewhere to put that fire. You know what I mean? And if you're not exhausted at the end of your training session and you're in a pro gym, you're at the wrong fucking place.

Well, go into that battle of hockey and forces. Kind of explain to people what that was and how you got involved with it. And listen, that was 15 years ago. That is never happening again, let's say that. It did. It happened in Finland again. I think they did it in Finland. Okay, North America.

I should have said North America. North America, yeah, exactly. No, what was funny about that is I had signed a contract with New Jersey, with Lamorello and Armstrong, and then I agreed to do that but i didn't tell them about it so i went there it was an absolute war um all respect to dean mayran who's a very good friend of mine now who won that event who beat me in a split decision in the finals i still do not believe i lost that fight so in all respect that dude is an absolute killer. He proved himself as a killer over years and years after

and before that. I definitely think that at absolute least, that was a draw. $64,000 for the winner, $35,000 for second place. That was a big deal for me. Him and I went out and had a pretty good time after that. I bet.

When did you realize that it was over? And I see you took like a year or two off and you got back in, but I feel like you just would have kept doing this forever if they had allowed you to. I would have. That's the thing. It's not like I left unharmed or unscathed. I took my lunch just like all athletes do when they left. It was the second time I'd broken my neck.

The first time was a pretty clear break in Binghamton, and I was on my road that year. That was my year I was going to do it. And it took me a long time because I had muscle atrophy. One of my discs snatched into the right side of my body, the nerve, and my whole body was like nothing. The whole right side of my body went like all muscle atrophy. So building it back up was really

tough. And I did. And I played another six or seven years, I think, after that. And then by the time my last year in Evansville, I really went after it hard. I was trying to get back up there. And at the end of that season, the doctor was like, dude, you might get paralyzed if you

keep playing. So that was the beginning of the end for the career. So I stuck around and did some games for the Solar Bears and was a part of the local team here, the East Coast League team. Now I'm pretty sure I can play until I'm 50 and keep challenging these fucking 22-year-olds. They won't fight me. That's all.

I was able to play in a handful of games and do some decent stuff and help lead how young the game was getting. Was the second neck break that had happened from a hit, was it happening in a fight? What were the circumstances? Yeah, David Kochi, believe it or not. It was David Kochi. So we were buddies.

Played the year before, right? Well, maybe two years before that. So we do, right? Yeah. So I hit him. We're going at it pretty good, and I caught him with a nice one. And he had a hold of my jersey, and he went down, and I tried to keep him up.

I tried to stay standing. I wanted to kind of keep going. And his weight was all supported on that jersey holding on it, and my discs went bye-bye. That's terrible. And my neck guy supported all of his weight. Fucking big guy, too. Jesus.

Well, let's try to brighten the mood up a little bit here. You also played in the U.K. like our buddy Biz over here for the Sheffield Steelers. What was that experience like, and did you want to stay after playing just one year there? Or I should say 20 games. No, I'm glad. That was a super telling year for me. That year re-motivated me. My buddy Sean McMorrow re-motivated me.

He beat me pretty clean in a couple fights when I used to get a little bit of the better of him in our younger days. And that was when I decided. Because I took a few years trying to be a goal scorer. You know, I had 25 goals in the Coastal one year. I mean, I was doing okay. But getting no call-ups. So I went to Europe.

I was like, oh, you know, went to England. Make a little bit of money. Try to have some fun. And McMorrow was there. He smashed me a couple times. And I remember, oh, you know, went to England, make a little bit of money, try to have some fun. And McMorrow was there. He smashed me a couple times. And I remember going home from England going, fuck that. We're doing this. We're doing it the right way.

Back to the steroids. It wasn't even that. I wasn't even that. I kind of passed that point in my career. But I definitely went hard at the fighting for the next couple years after that. So, Scorsese, I didn't play with you we play with you a little bit when when guys come on we like to hear these stories that they they usually like to tell uh one of which wit teed me up for was uh your your lexus oh buddy can I hear more about the lexus with no power steering

this guy it was a workout no ac power steering and no AC. No AC. No AC either. How was it a Lexus then? Well, it was a really worn down one. A song. Were you just pumped to be driving a Lexus? No, it was like pretty much, it wasn't brand new,

but it was solid when I got it. When I left Lowell, I ended up being a manager at a nightclub and I ended up making some pretty good money for about eight months and I was able to afford one. Probably not the best purchase lull i ended up being a manager at a nightclub and i ended up making some pretty good money for um about eight months and i was able to afford one probably not the best purchase with the money going back uh but and then i just didn't you know playing playing you know in the minors ain't gonna you can't fix your lexus so i just ran that fucker into the ground and then once it became too ugly

then it was like this car is too tough you know, I can build my lats and make it more uncomfortable for myself, which will make me a better fighter. Like, you know, I used to do shit like that, like not use channel changers or straws or shit like that just to be fucking angrier. You know, just a little bit. Yeah, I remember you being like, I'm getting up to change the TV. It'll annoy me going into tonight's game. By the way, I love you getting the Lexus.

He's like, I got 56 grand in my bank account. The Lexus is 50. I can afford it. Yeah, for sure. Let's get this thing. What is it? Nazardine and Flurry, when they were hurt one time in practice, I don't know if you remember this,

but they got the snowblower and they fucking covered my entire thing in snow and just shaved off the Lexus emblem. So everyone's walking out to the car after practice. I'm like, what are you fucking going to go home for? Come out with a big old pile of snow with the Lexus shaved off of it. Well, Witt said you didn't mind the no power steering because it would help you work on your grappling skills

so you could fight. Not only that, but I didn't use two hands when I'm turning. So no power steering, not allowed to use two hands and when it was hot outside no AC I'm telling you just one hand just working on ragdolling guys you put the garbage bag on too get a good sweat in do you have any memories of like crazy celebrations

when you won fights because I know for a fact in some of these leagues you must have been going bananas after a win I go pretty nuts yeah when I score Because I know for a fact in some of these leagues, you must have been going bananas after a win. I go pretty nuts. Yeah, when I score or when I put the fight. But I got a couple good ones. The Terrian, the one year where there was no NHL that year,

so I think it was Josh Gratton. I had a really good one with him. In Wilkes-Barre. It was in Wilkes-Barre, right? It was 1-0. Michelle Terrian, I got so many great stories about him, the way he talked to me, the shit he used to say to me. So I was only up for a couple of games at that time,

and, you know, we started winning some games, and I was punching out some guys, and everyone was having a good time. And then I did pretty good against Grattan, and I sprinted to the box, and I jumped up in Wilkes-Barre, jumped up onto the box seat and started getting the Wilkes-Barre crowd into it. You know, let's go, let's go. And the place went bananas. We scored within 30 seconds after that.

It was against Philly. And then we scored a minute after that, and the place just didn't quiet down the whole entire time. I'm going fucking nuts in the box. And we ended up winning the game 2-1. Next day at practice, I'm skating around the ice on cloud nine. Terrian comes over to me and goes, hey, Scrooge, if we fucking celebrate like that again, I'll send you back to the coast.

He skates away from me. I was like, thanks. All right, take that out of my bag. What other Terrian stories you got? I know the coaches have been under fire, but I think that Terrian walked that line pretty good of where he would strike some fear into guys, but there was no kicking going on.

I got two great Terian stories. When I walked in for my first year, I was coming from Wheeling. I played a few games. I come in. I'm walking into his office, and I see I don't remember if it was Andy Chiodo. I can't remember I'm walking into his office, and I see, I don't remember,

Andy Chiodo. I can't remember who it was, but he has this binder, and he's got this binder open, and he's flipping through pages, and he's shaking his head as he's walking out of the office. That becomes relevant later. So I made a mental note of that, and I walked in. I extended my arm out to shake his hand, like, you know, thank you, Mr. Terrian, for this opportunity.

I was super excited, and he didn't shake my hand. He goes, sit down. And I was like, you know, thank you, you know, Mr. Terrien for this opportunity. I was, you know, super excited. And he didn't shake my hand. He goes, sit down. And I was like, okay. He goes, I heard you like to have a lot of party. You're not going to do that here or are you going to go to the coast? Plus, take off those earrings. You look like a rapper.

Get out of my office. That was my first meeting with Terrien. I was like, holy shit, this guy fucking hates me. So I guess that's how he was with everything. Come to find out, Andy Chiodo was the goalie at the time, and he had gone in before that, and it was supposed to be, he said, everything you need to know, Andy, is in this binder about how you're playing.

And he says, you can leave now. So Andy opens up the fucking binder, and his goals against average is printed out on 200 pages. fucking binder and his goals against average is printed out on 200 pages. Hey, Squidgey, I've told this a million times. My favorite Tarion is when he got the job in Pittsburgh the next year when Edzo got fired and he had a meeting with Malone the first day he said coach and he walked in. He's like, hey, coach. And he's like, I'm not here to coach rock stars.

Get the fuck out of the office. That's so him. He's like, hey, coach. And he's like, I'm not here to coach rock stars. Get the fuck out of the office. That's so him. That's so him. He knew that I liked to have a little fun off the ice, and he had a magnifying glass. We were about 13 games in. I think we started off that year like one and eight, and then they called me up, and we went 13 for 14 after that.

We were right at the end of that little streak, and he told me actually in that first meeting, it doesn't matter what night it is, Saturday night the team wins, you have an 11 o'clock curfew every night, no exceptions. And I was like, okay. And they put me in Dumas' basement. I was living in a basement. And we were doing really well that year.

After 12 wins or so, I'm like, fuck it, I've got to go to the bar and have a beer. So I'm at the bar having a beer, and I'm talking to this girl. I think it was Fridays or something. I'm talking to this girl, and all of a sudden I get this wave of smoke in my face and she kind of looks at me like yeah i kind of did that on purpose you know i could tell it was in her eyes and i was like well let's just not pay attention to it right kept talking to her happens a couple more times i turn over i'm like buddy you got a fucking problem and i'm looking carrying right in the eye it's 11 15 don't you think it's time for you to go home, Scrooge? I just took the money out of my

closet and put it on the thing and went home and just played it and gave it to Todd and fined me 500 bucks the next day or something. So he wasn't just blowing smoke in bus drivers' faces. He was literally leaning over my shoulder and I could feel it. I was trying to be good. I don't want to have to punch some guy out here or something.

Who was the best player in the AHL you ever played with? I mean, you mentioned you were a flower, but, I mean, you spent a little bit of time in the AHL. Anyone that you were like, holy shit, this guy's going to be next level in the NHL? Fuck, I thought Bezzo was really special. I thought Carter was special. I thought that Borg kid was special.

Dustin Bufflin. Fuck, I ran into him one time. Holy shit, I went flying. He didn't even know I was coming to hit him. That was when I fell over. So many talented players. Nobody sticks out like so. There was awesome teams, you know, but not one person.

Not one person, no. One of your teammates from the quick, you had Lowell still in the NHL. Did you know that? No, who's that? Ron Hainsey. Oh, Hainsey. Fuck yeah. Yeah, holy shit.

He's had a long career. I keep forgetting we were roommates. Anthony and Josh Kern were roommates. Hainsey's a great guy. Now, you were in the AHL for a little bit. What's the closest you came to an NHL call-up? Was that ever within grasp of you, or was that never going to happen? It was always so close.

I was just so close every year. It sucked. Dallas wanted to call me up, and they told Cutelli, we can't give that guy money. How about this for a line? I was in Albany, one of my best years in Albany, where I went a little kooky the second half of that year, jumping in a felony box.

But I was on the fourth line with David Clarkson and Cam Jansen, and I was killing it. And Lou Lamorello basically called me up and was like, I'm taking the two 21-year-olds. And I was so mad. I was so mad at the time. And looking Lamorello basically called me up and was like, I'm taking the two 21-year-olds. And I was so mad. I was so mad at the time. And looking back, he was kind of right. Any other wild stories you got that you were prepared to tell on the podcast?

I'm sure your mind was turning a little bit when you found out you were coming on. I can't believe, Whitney, you're not telling the gun story with Colby Armstrong. I can't believe you didn't lead with that. Don't you remember that? No. My memory is mush. Oh. You wrote it on the board.

You wrote it on the board the next day. You don't remember that story, eh? Fuck, I don't. I'm starting to. Why don't you tell it? Why don't you do it? I have mush brain. No, Colby Armstrong, fantastic.

Oh, my God. He was the best guy the best guy I absolutely loved him and he's he's harmless to the bars 2am

we're at the in Wilkes-Barre at the lodge or at the hotel whatever it was and somebody was mad somebody was pretty mad at him

and threw a water bottle at his head after the club at 2am and I was kind of away from the group and I went over there and from the group. And I

went over there in front of the guys. They weren't expecting me. Holy shit, I remember this. I remember this. You remember this now? Hey, was it at the Woodlands? At the Woodlands? Yes. Yeah, at the Woodlands. And I kind of embarrassed him a little bit, you know, because he

thought he was fighting Colby and now he's going to have to fight me. So, you know, his tune changed a little bit and there was a lot of people out there. So he got frustrated and we're all still hanging out. There's a bunch of people outside and he pulled up in the car, in a car, like about 10 minutes later, pulled a gun out, pointed it right at my head and everybody's diving for cars and let me, God strike me down right now. Shoot me, you fucking pussy. And he just, he just looked at me like, what the fuck do down right now, I'm like, shoot me, you fucking pussy. And he just looked at me like, what the fuck do I do now?

And then he pulled his gun away and he screeched off. And then I guess all the boys told that story. I was crawling out from under cars afterwards looking at me like I got three heads. No, I was crawling out of a brook with fish with three eyes in that little brook. And I remember being like, oh, my God. He just stood there and said, shoot me.

The fact that I didn't remember that shows I have serious issues. Or that you've just been around a lot of good stories with. Yeah. None that intense, though. I remember saying, this dude is a sick puppy. That's not true. Because we'll interview guys and he'll be like, what did we talk about? I don't remember much.

It's not great. Mike, other than the guy in the finals from the Battle of Enforcers, is there anyone else you still want to crack at? Ooh, wow. That's a hell of a fucking... The guy that I had mentally pictured my whole career was George LaRock. That's the guy I wanted. That's the one guy I wanted that I never got.

Hey, do you still fight now? Are you still fighting UFC and MMA, or are you just training now? Well, no, I'm coaching. I'm a coach at fusion xl right now yeah no that's what i meant that's what i meant but do you do your are you fighting on your own or no i don't no no no i don't know no i can't that takes all my energy that's where that's where my energy goes and why i do that more for drilling like i'm not sparring a ton with these guys but i'm using my athleticism and my knowledge while i'm i'm doing drills and i'll do shit with them

so that i can keep a high pace for the guys. It's definitely a passion technically that I've had. I'm very much a technical student as well as mental for fighting. What about a guy you're glad you don't have to fight ever again? How about that question?

Well, Bugard obviously was the toughest guy I ever fought. I was kind of lucky that I got him sorted on his way up and I was able to do okay against him. The one guy, honestly, that scares me the most is Steve McIntyre. Like, I just, I watched fights. I was watching fight after fight.

He's actually a great dude, I know. But fight after fight, I'm watching him, I'm going, and it's the first guy that I've ever looked at and go, how the fuck do I beat this guy? Like, he's the only guy I've ever said that about. I just, I had no idea how to beat him. What are you going to get, a left or right? One of them is going to end your career. That guy is, that's a scary man.

You're still playing a lot of polka at all? I know I read that you like to play polka. Oh, remember when you lost the pot and you were punching the tree outside my apartment punching the tree i just remember that one oh my god you guys it was so hard to play polka against you guys yeah you fucking you lost money it was ridiculous well that was i remember him he's like you can't bluff a fucking pot in this game, you assholes. Call everything. I was like, yeah, I'm just going to call just because I want to see. You guys, you and Merle bankrolled that little casino at your place that year.

That was fun. That was fun. Yeah, we've talked about that on the podcast. I was at a PCO making 38, and I'm trying to play with you big boys. I was like, fuck, there goes two weeks. Scroy, didn't you win a car at the World Series of Poker or something? No, I took 59th.

I can't remember exactly, but I placed. I won 15 grand on a satellite. I won the WSOP satellites. So I did really well. That was that summer. I went in and I got in. It was a million five was the total pot. And I lasted until the second day.

I lasted until day two. So it was a good one. Later on, after I played in Syracuse, I went on a hell of a run when I played in Syracuse at Turning Stone. I made a lot of money at Turning Stone. I remember Rammer, Ramsey Abed? Unreal guy. He'd be like, Scroy, I'm just gonna fucking call to see what you have.

Hey, remember when he won 20 grand when we used to jump in and go to Atlantic City and shit after our games? Get there like 1 o'clock in the morning. I remember he went on a... I saw him at the table and then I went upstairs, came back down and he was still at the table. I was like, oh my God, this is the biggest. I remember he went on a – I saw him at the table, and then I went upstairs, came back down, and he was still at the table. I was like, oh, my God, this is the biggest win I've ever seen at a casino. And it was in the minors.

Well, Scrooge, we got to thank you for coming on, man. This has been awesome. Anything else you want to say to the fans or any other stories? I mean, you guys – I could fill 10 podcasts if you want to call back any time, boys. Start writing those stories down. I'm sure we'll get a great response after this interview, and we'd gladly have you back on. Just one thing, yeah.

Right now I coach kids too, believe it or not. I'm a developmental coach, all ages. I got scroycontactandskills.com is my website. And I work diligently on developing young athletes. And so if anyone wants to check it out, by all means.

You might have already said it. Where are you at? Located? Orlando, Florida. Okay. We appreciate you coming on and we'll look forward to doing it again.

You continue to do well. I'm really glad to hear how things are going for you. Awesome, boys. Thank you so much for having me on. Thank you very much to the real Mike Scroy. Good to hear that he's doing so well. That was a really cool talk

to catch up with that guy. What a character he was. Moving on, I got to eat some crow again. Shocker. It's kind of what I do on this podcast. Ilya Kovalchuk talk about making me look a fool, he is lighting it up I believe he has four goals already with the Montreal

Canadians I was all over him right, but I mean Montreal does not look good, who knows if this turns into like a contender this is maybe a little bit of a trial for him Montreal maybe moves him, I don't know what's gonna go on but he's looked good, and he's kind of basically proven me wrong in saying that he's got a little left to give.

A little juice in his legs. Yeah, maybe Bergeron will flip him for something of value. Speaking of chicklets bumps, here comes an ad read from the biz. For a one-week period, EA Sports have handed the keys over to us to determine which players deserve a ratings increase or decrease in NHL 20. Hockey Ultimate Team. The Bumper Slump program will feature ratings changes to any player in NHL 20 for one week starting today. It's completely up to the Chicklets crew.

All right? So I picked three guys, and I got to start off with this Elvis Mer mers linskins mers lichis right mers lichis mers lichis okay and you know as you guys know i struggle with the last names here panthers got the wrong goalie from columbus and and and we're gonna we're gonna bump this guy up just because of his story and what he's done all of a sudden since the corpus allo uh injury and and i believe there was even a little rift between him and the media where he had to say, hey, I'm done doing interviews at some point. Right, R.A.? Corposalo?

No, Merzlikas. Not that I'm aware of 100%, to be honest with you. Anyway, he's getting a fucking bump. All right, Granel? So he was an 80. What's he going up to? He's going up to an 82. All right, so he's got a couple points there.

Next guy on my list, Justin Williams, welcome back. I don't even know. Was he part of that dodgeball game or not? Yes, he was. He was in the midst of the dodgeball game. Well, he's probably the one who thought of the idea. He had so much time retired and missing training camp. He's probably actually been thinking of all the storm surges.

So he was at an 82. That's a pretty generous rating coming right into the NHL out of a four-month hiatus. And he's getting bumped to what? 85. Nice, lovely three-point bump for our boy Justin Williams, Grandpa Williams. And last but not least, the superstar that none of you knew about.

I know I'm biased, but I'm going to give Connor Garland a little bump. He was at 80. I know I'm biased, but I'm going to give Connor Garland a little bump. He was at 80, the best value in the NHL based on point production, at 775 average salary over the next two years. And he is an 80, as I mentioned, getting bumped to a? 84. All right, so that's a big shout-out to EA Sports, one of our sponsors, NHL 20.

Go check out those three guys, and I'm going to pass it over to Grinelli for the final details. Well, actually, Biz, if you want to, if you want to bump someone up to a 99, you can. So going forward, any players out there that are listening, if you get on Biz's good side, you can get bumped to a 99. You can be the best overall in the game. Wait, so you actually

control, like you could make a guy the best player in the game. Wait, so you actually control? I'm the ratings adjuster. You could make a guy the best player in the game? That might be the most powerful thing you have in your arsenal of life right now. So if we have any hockey players currently playing at the National Hockey League level that are down to come on Chicklets for an interview and you play NHL 20 frequently i would be willing to to give

you the 99 no we should have them on and then our score is our the rating we give them is that's basically what we thought of the interview yeah and if you're shit we just fucking dump we're gonna make we put you to the ahl version of of nhl 20 oh yeah we're gonna make you skate around like me my last year you're to be an overall of a 40. You're going to have to. We'll dress you as a mascot in the game. And speaking of mascots, what the fuck is going on with Gritty, all right? Oh, I thought you were going to say me.

I'm like, come on, man. You're kicking me when I'm down over here. Here's a guy we haven't mentioned for a while. But Gritty is back on the news. No, not just for banging the barrel at the game with the astro sticker which by the way it's a gritty learnt from the astros spelled lea rnt which is fucking hilarious uh but no it just came out a little while ago that fire bush himself is being looked at for assault by the philly police department uh he allegedly punched a 13 year old fan now this story started way back in november when the boy

and his dad we won't mention names we'll just call them the father and son, they were at a photo op with Gritty during a game. The father's a season ticket holder, or he was. And per CBS Sports, the dad said his son patted Gritty innocently on the head. Once the pick was taken, Gritty got out of his chair and, quote, took a running start, end quote, and punched my son as hard as he could. That's what the father said. Now, conveniently enough, all cameras in the area are pointed elsewhere.

The Flyers conducted, Comcast owns the Flyers, they conducted a thorough investigation that found nothing to support the claim that Gritty, in fact, assaulted the kid. Now, this is where it kind of gets a little eyebrow-raising, I guess. The dad took the son to a chiropractor about a week after the alleged incident. Now, if my kid said he got assaulted or hurt, I probably would go to a doctor. And that's not an insult to chiropractors, but they're not medical doctors. I would go to a fucking hospital and doctor.

He took him to a chiropractor. The chiropractor said he had some sort of injury. So then he reached out to Comcast, gave him an email. And basically, they couldn't come to an agreement on, I guess, compensation. This guy wanted his kid featured on the Jumbotron or to be able to get pregame autographs in the locker room. Comcast countered by saying, we'll put him on the bench before the game. And then the guy calls the cops about a month after the, quote, unquote, alleged assault. So something's off here.

Well, I have a couple questions or thoughts. One, did you say it was a 13-year-old boy and it was in November? Yes. We were there in November. And Mikey, did you get assaulted by Gritty? I did. It was actually me. Was it you?

Yeah. Okay, second thing. I was standing up for Biz when he ruined his jacket. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. That's a fucking man right there. Thank you? Yeah. Okay, second thing. I was standing up for Biz when he ruined his jacket. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. That's a fucking man right there. Thank you, Ryan. And second thing, second thing.

You go to the chiropractor and you come back with this as the injury when you need to make money in some sort of lawsuit. It's basically going in there and saying, tell me the most longest confusing term in the chiropractic world so I can give this to the people I'm suing. Because his injury was a contusion to the lower thoracic spine with subluxation. What the hell is that? He got hit on the head by Gritty. I mean, what the fuck? So we'll see exactly what happens. And this 13-year-old kid and his dad, you don't want to try to take Gritty for a ride because if there's one mascot that'll do you dirty, it's a scumbag from Philadelphia. Now, just for the record, the father did say he just wanted an apology and something special for his son. So, I don't know.

If it was an actual assault, he probably would have called the cops when it happened, but that's not the way it went down. So, speaking of incidents with bullshit, we had another ugly incident, unfortunately, we have to talk about because that's what we do on the show. Branding Manning of the AHL's Bakersfield Condors was suspended five games for use of a, and this isn't my word, this is the league's word, a racial slur against the player on the Ontario Reign. The former Flyer did release a statement.

The game was on Monday night, ironically. Martin Luther King Day said, Last night I made comments to an opposing player that was stupid and offensive. After the game, I spoke with the opposing player in person, which I'm very grateful for. He allowed me to apologize, and I took full responsibility for what I said.

To say I've learned from the situation is an understatement, and I promise to be better. And then just about an hour or two ago, before we started recording, an article by Lisa D and I promise to be better. And then just about an hour or two ago, before we started recording, an article by Lisa Dillman in The Athletic. She actually spoke with the Kings prospect, Boko Emama, who was the person the slur was directed to. He himself released a statement.

He said, I have taken some time to reflect on what transpired on the ice against Bakersfield Monday night. What happened is unfortunate for everyone, no matter how intense or heated a game gets. There is no room for this in our game and no excuse. I am very proud to be an African-Canadian hockey player and to stand for all other players that are in the same situation as me. I would like to thank the LA Kings and the Ontario Reign,

Edmonton Oilers and Bakersfield Condors for their professionalism and helping me handle the situation. Last but not least, I cannot thank my family and friends for their professionalism and helping me handle the situation last but not least i cannot thank my family and friends for their continued love and support at this time i will not make any further statements or comments and i would very much appreciate if those wishes were respected which we will do as soon as we're done opining here uh you would think a that branding man would be old enough to to know better than to do that and b that we'd be fucking done with these stories by now unfortunately biz we're not oh so i i guess the only thing that we can say about it as we know for a fact it wasn't an n-bomb right it was not a rate it was termed and this is when you're really

splitting hairs like i said before the show wasn't a racist they call it a racial term which you know it wasn't it wasn't that word but it was something that could still be construed as offensive yeah and and it's just really unfortunate i mean first for the i mean the victim here i mean fuck man like you said with everyone that's going on lately that's probably the last thing he expected to hear on the ice and and he if he hasn't probably dealt with any if if not enough situations in the past um or not that's not the word i want to say too many situations in the past excuse me you know now he's got to deal with it again um and and at the professional level and as far as manning's concern i don't know him personally i have not reached out

to anyone regarding this subject or the type of guy he is um it's it's very unfortunate because if it if it isn't truly who he is and there is no past um you know if there's no past of any of that type of of racism and it was just spur of the moment for whatever reason made him say it in that moment this is something that's going to carry he's going to have to carry around the rest of his career in life and it's it's just unfortunate on all fronts and it fucking blows and these are the stories that we don't want to cover um you know if if in fact that he has been exposed to that type of racism in in his past then you'd hope that a situation like this maybe helps him think deeply and about it and changes ways once again i don't know anything about this guy. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, nonetheless.

Jesus Christ. Let's just leave it at that. He released a statement. He said he was very grateful that he was able to speak to Boco after the game and apologize. So, yeah, you hate this stuff. You have no place in the game for it, absolutely none. The fact that you'd ever even consider somebody's um skin color when you're playing hockey and battling for a puck together

like it's just like crazy to me so you like to see suspensions it's five games right that that's worthy of five yeah you just i mean you love to give people the benefit of the doubt but it's just it's like fuck fuck, dude. What would trigger you to say something like that based on everything that's been happening lately? Like, fuck. Yeah, yeah. Hopefully we do another 1,000 shows and we don't have to do any more of these type of stories. And hopefully if we do 1,000 more betting corners, I'll get a little bit better than I have been lately.

Although I did get a W the other night. But first, we want to talk about BetMGM. It is the home for spit and chiclets for sports betting this year. The same guys that bring you the world's most spectacular casino resorts and top-notch entertainment have a new sports betting app in New Jersey. You can download the app, deposit,

and check out lines from anywhere in the world, but you need to be in Tony Soprano land in New Jersey in order to place all your bets. And this week, we've got another offer for new customers on the BetMGM Sports app when you use the bonus code CHICKLETS. They're offering new users $100 in free bets when they make their first deposit of $10 or more.

That means if you deposit $10, you'll have $110 to play with. You've got to make sure you sign up with the bonus code CHICKLETS to take advantage of the offer. And like I said, you've got to be in New Jersey as well. Plus, we're introducing the old Chicklets Bump promotion for all BetMGM users. Check out the promotions page every Friday and opt into the promotion and place a pregame hockey bet of $10

and you'll get it matched in another $10 free bet that you've got to use live during the game. Talk about the old Chicklets Bump, eh? In that case, we're going to move on to the corner. And like I said, last week was the worst ever. 0-8, I believe, on just posted plays on the corner, plus a couple of tweets I put out. Awful. Thankfully, I wasn't doubling down like a younger me would have done back in my 20s and really gotten buried. But it was still ugly.

Fortunately, we got a few days off this week with the All-Star game. This is basically it, the last of the NHL until, I believe, Monday. But, of course, there's going to be plenty of things to bet on. And I think I'm going to bet on the most competitive game all weekend, which I think is going to be the U.S. women versus the Canadian women. And I'm going to wager on the U.S. women to win their 3-on-3 game. Now, the lines aren't out yet. There's still NHL games being played.

But today we're recording on Wednesday. It should be out by Friday. I'll have a blog up Friday with the proper line and everything. So me, again, for this week's corner, I am on the U.S. women over the Canadian women in their three-on-three match at the All-Star game. And one more thing, remember,

BetMGM is the home for chicklets this season. If you're a new user, sign up with the bonus code CHICKLETS, and you'll get $100 in free bets after making your first deposit. Plus, make sure you opt in to the Chicklets Bump promotion every Friday to take advantage of our special offer. Paid in free bets. Must be 21 or older.

Must be in New Jersey to place bets. Restrictions apply. Visit betmgm.com for the full list of terms and conditions. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. All right, boys. Any other final notes you had before we attack the Italian dinner here or what? Actually, guys, before we wrap up, Biz, Witt, you guys are going to make a little bet on the USA versus Canada game at the skills competition, correct?

And if I'm not mistaken, that bet is going to be brought to you by our new sponsor, Bud Light Seltzer. R.A., do you want to tell the listeners about Bud Light Seltzer? New from Bud Light, it's the Bud Light Seltzer. We know what you're thinking. No, there's no Bud Light in it. It's a light and refreshing hot seltzer with a hint of fruit flavor, and it tastes amazing. It's got 5% alcohol, 100 calories, and comes in four delicious flavors, black cherry, lemon lime, strawberry strawberry and mango as

well as in a variety pack go try it for yourself it's just hitting stores in the u.s right now sorry to all our canadian friends we can't answer for the your liquor distributors up there but if you really love chiclets try it the bud light seltzer mixed with a pink whitney and let us know what your favorite flavor is bud light seltzer brought us to the all-star game and is also the official sponsor of Boston's upcoming Pond Hockey Tournament happening in February. So give it a try now. The new Bud Light Seltzer. I have America

and I have them big. Just know that. But I don't know what we described as the stakes yet. We're going to go 2K. A guy. So me against you. Loser has to give the 2K cash to the opposite team. I'm obviously going for Canada.

I'll go give them loonies and toonies. I'm not giving them American cash. I'll give them the two grand, but I'm getting loonies and toonies. 2K cash and then each girl, there's 10 girls, so each girl walks. I love how you have to think about it. I don't know. Because you know what he is? He's not a new age. He said you got to you know what he is he's not he's not a

he's not a new age he doesn't he said you gotta win to get it that's what he was thinking he said we shouldn't give a losing team anything because you lost yeah and and quick math there's 10 players 2k that's 200 bucks a person so just i know you're the math guy but um we can wrap this up yeah everybody uh 200 bucks right yeah Everybody out there, enjoy the skills competition, enjoy the women's game, and enjoy the All-Star game, and have a great weekend. Also, we'd like to say thanks to Bud Light Seltzer. We're so happy to have them as a new sponsor.

Do check out BetMGM when you're in New Jersey, of course. And EA Sports, we're proud to be dealing with them as well. Get a nice little bump for your favorite player out there. Take care, everybody. There's a little black spot on the sun today It's the same old thing as yesterday There's a black hat caught in a high treetop There's a flagpole rack and the wind won't stop

I have seen it before inside the pouring rain With the water in circles Running round my brain I guess I'm always hoping That you'll end this rain But it's my destiny To be the king of pain There's a little black spot On the sun today

It's what I saw all day It's the same old thing As yesterday Thank you.