Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 25: Featuring Eric Semborski

Episode Date: April 7, 2017

On this week's episode, the boys kick things off by ripping the NHL for their Olympic shortsightedness. As a 2010 U.S. Olympian and retired NHL player, Whits has a unique perspective to offer and he certainly does here. Next up, Eric Semborski (@sembo182) joins the show. The name might not ring a bell but Eric has one of the most unique stories in the NHL this year. He has already dressed as an emergency NHL back-up goalie twice this season. For two different teams. He fills us in on how things transpired so that a college club goalie came so very close to minding the net for the Blackhawks AND the Flyers. A wild story and fun interview. The fellas then finish things up by taking #AllRightHamilton questions from listeners.You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/schiclets

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and welcome to episode 25 of Spit and Chicklets brought to you by Barstool Sports What up, what up Welcome back from Florida

Wits all you can disappear again for the Masters tomorrow Augusta National Here I come Producer Mikey Grinelli What's going on pal? I just hope Witt

Doesn't need an IV At the Masters Jesus I know He comes home There's a fucking monsoon In Boston He jumps on another plane

Goes back to the Masters Gonna be swigging beers With fucking Trent And Portnoy And whoever else Down in Augusta Oh my god I got the IV doctor

That came to my house The other day That is the best Do you know what that is R.A.? An IV doctor? No I got the IV doctor, though, that came to my house the other day. That is the best invention. Do you know what that is, Ari? An IV doctor? No. It's like this genius company that now is in, I want to say, 20 cities in the country. I think it all kind of started in Vegas where you just pay.

It was like $250. I was so hungover, so dehydrated and tired. She came in, put an IV, Toradol. She put Toradol, which is an anti-inflammatory. She put a multivitamin and then a bunch of saline or whatever they put in. And literally 10 minutes after this thing, I was back. How much did it cost you? $250.

Dude, I would have very bougie. 32-ounce Gatorade, $1.79, I would have thrown you a joint, same pocket. My father was calling me wags because apparently some dude on the show Billions gets obsessed with getting IVs at his house. Wow. Hopefully, I don't make a habit of it, but I did have to post that picture. Fucking $200 hangover helper. Not a big deal.

Not a big deal. Thanks, Sid. Thanks a lot, Sid. Oh, Jesus fucking Christ. Hilarious. Well, what are we going to get into, Original Voice? Some horrible news last night. The big news, dude.

Listen, I mean, I wasn't looking forward to staying up until fucking 7 in the morning to watch hockey, but I was going to do it. But there's no fucking Olympic hockey at Pyeongchang in Korea next year or most likely China after. What a fucking abortion by the NHL. Okay, the NHL, We don't want to lose Two weeks of our season Because revenues or whatever They're so fucking short sighted If they realize

Get them They're so Okay for the sake of two weeks That whatever you Lost revenue of Unsold fucking popcorn Or whatever You're going to be able

To showcase the game To fucking billions of people On the other side of the planet Who don't know a lot about hockey This is what the NBA did Back in the early 90s And look what's happening in Asia. They globally marketed the game.

Exactly. Everyone in fucking China knows who Kobe Bryant is, but no one knows who fucking Sidney Crosby is. They know who like Stefan Marbury is. They know the Starberries. But, okay, so a lot of thoughts going on in my mind. A lot. I'm furious. Especially having gotten to a...

You're an Olympianian yeah i am thank you very much uh so you know granted i didn't play i've said this many times but just being there and the experience but i first want to go into the fact that you got okay you got to look you got to look at the sides of where they're coming from at least like we can educate people who don't don't know what happened and just saw nhL players won't go to the Olympics. Basically what it is, it's a complete fumble fucker, whatever, cluster fuck, whatever you want to call it. I like fumble fuck. NHL. It's a new one.

IOC, IIHF, WBA. I don't know. Keep throwing letters out there. It's all their fault. But the reason that they're thinking that is because, and you know I read a lot about when Tavares got hurt in Sochi and he missed the rest of the year. That's a huge thing with owners, all right? So the owners look at it like, listen, we're paying all these guys this money. I don't give a shit about any of these countries winning.

I want my team that I own and I pay to have healthy players and be ready for the playoffs. So whatever. There is that side where you can see. Okay. Absolutely. But that is so minor compared to what this game has, what the Olympics have brought since 98. You start in 98. Czech Republic beats Canada in a shootout.

Wayne Jetski doesn't shoot. Hasik beats, they beat Russia, I think, 1-0 in the gold medal game. Then you go to 2002. Canada-US in the amazing Salt Lake City games in the gold medal game. Then you go to 2002, Canada, US, and the amazing Salt Lake City games and the gold medal. Paul Correa scores that goal and Lemieux lets it go through his legs on a fake shot.

I don't know if you guys remember that. Mitt Romney? Pass from Chris Pronger. You get to 2006, which wasn't even a great one in terms of like, players complained about the living facilities in Torino,

in Italy, but Finland, Sweden, and the gold medal game. King Lundqvist fucking wins a gold medal for his country against his arch enemy rivals in the country next door. 2010, the wit dog was there. Canada, U.S.

U.S. wins the first game in an amazing, Kessler scored the best empty net goal ever. Gold medal game, Sidney Crosby, fuck him, sort of. I still love him and appreciate everything he did for him, but fuck him for doing doing that and then you get to sochi and canada kind of ran away with that but just the memories and that wasn't even i just literally thought of all those things you think of all all these memories that are now done and that people won't get to appreciate on other sides of the world and yeah you can say whatever china people don't play hockey that's not necessarily true because a lot of people have have gone over there in the past 10 years

and tried to teach and learn hockey over there. What could this have done for it? And in 2022, they're going to be in China. China. And they're not going there now, I guess, because they wouldn't go. I think the owners wanted to be in China and didn't want to be here. And the IOC was saying there's no chance if you're not in 2018, you're going in 2022. Right.

The IOC, exactly. If you're not going to be here for Korea, then we don't want you here for China. Paul Korea? Oh. He scored a big goal in the Olympics. He did. Yeah, exactly. It all ties together nicely.

And the players, the players love it. They love it so much. It's so cool. And forget the guys who don't even go to the Olympics. The other guys get the three-week break to get 10 days in Hawaii. It's so cool. And forget the guys who don't even go to the Olympics. The other guys get the three-week break to get 10 days in Hawaii. It was smashing chicks! Or your wife, which probably didn't happen

as often, but it was just like, it's just so disappointing. The NHL is, they're just fucking up. I mean, they're putting one foot in the Asian expansion and one foot not, because the Bruins had to send Pasternak and Boleski there for four weeks or three weeks. I forgot about that.

The Bruins did that. The Bruins did that. You're right. A couple NHL teams did. And it's because the NHL is trying to grow the game in Asia. Well, if they're trying to grow the game in Asia, why aren't the best players in the world going to Asia for the Olympics? That's the thing. I mean, you know, that would be the only excuse.

Well, it's too far around the world. I mean, it would be a poor excuse. Oh, it's so far away and people aren't going to be able the Olympics. That's the thing. I mean, you know, that would be the only excuse. Well, it's too far around the world. I mean, it would be a poor excuse. Oh, it's so far away, and people aren't going to be able to watch it. People will be up watching. Hockey fans watch it. But again, it doesn't matter what North Americans are going to do. The idea is to showcase this unbelievable game to these people who never see it. You know, and hockey's not big in Asia right now.

You know what? Like I said earlier, basketball wasn't big in Asia 30 years ago either. And the NBA, knock them as much as you want. We crush ping pong over there with basketball. And God knows we do. But the fucking, what's his face? David Stern, he knew there was a huge market there. They marketed everything right.

Everyone over there knows every NBA player, any NBA star. And, of course, that ties into the NHL's inability to market individual stars, which is another fucking issue altogether. But to me, clearly the NHL owners, the NHL dropping the ball, it's their call. If they don't want their players to go there, I understand they invest a lot of money. It's their commodity.

But just the lack of foresight to say, okay, yeah, we're going to maybe lose. We've got to look past. Everyone's going to be giving up something here. It's a minor sacrifice for a couple weeks. And then you know what, though? If you're getting fucking, if you get a half a million fans, then they're going to pass the game on to their kids. I mean, it could be perpetual. You can get fans for life, and they're just missing this Robert Toney.

Not to mention the fucking unbelievable hockey. Oh, and the other thing, the Europeans now. Before we get into that, sorry. That's a totally different thing that we'll go into. But we don't get to now see Crosby and McDavid play together. Matthews dishing it to Eichel. And that's what's robbery. And you can tell me that the World Cup will be played.

It's not the same. The World Cup is not the same. Especially when they mix the teams like they did this year. Yeah, exactly. And if you have another World Cup, I think with the success of the Young Stars team, they'll probably do that again, and then maybe you take away in whatever it is, five years, some superstar 18-year-old from the

U.S., and he's not playing with Team USA. That part just crushes me, the fact that we will not get to see the best players playing with each other on the highest level. And it's the Olympics. You could say the World Cup, but it's the Olympic Games. It's the history of it. And in terms of the IOC, how do you not – one of their things is that they wouldn't allow the NHL to –

first of all, with the Olympics, you can't even show clips of it. Nowadays, you can't even go watch Forsberg's amazing postage stamp goal when he won it with the one-handed backhand. They don't let you. Even you see SportsCenter when they're showing track and field. You can't even show replays. Yeah, like MLB with the replays. So they don't allow the NHL, and they wouldn't allow the NHL to sell anything with the rings on it. So that was just on them. And then the NHL is on. And then even a little bit on the players

of really kind of banding together and saying like, put it in the CBA. But I also don't blame them for that because it's a little different when you get in terms of CBA talk. But there was just so many people that fucked this up

and it drives me nuts. So we'll get to what you brought up. And now we're talking, who's going to this thing and who's not? Because for two years now, maybe even three years ago, after Sochi, Ovechkin was the first one who said, I'm playing.

And that goes into, and I'm glad I got to experience being in Russia, the love and the passion that Europeans have for international hockey and their national team. I thought you were going to say butt stuff. In dirty, dirty places. but no they they care when i played in russia the biggest thing in the world is the national team if you like to me they kept saying you play national team you play national team like that's amazing and the guys who played on the russian national team they do they take

breaks for the khl three times a year same in sweden same in switzerland and their national teams break when the national teams get together and they practice and play exhibitions. So those guys, and you know what? I have a good example of this because when we played Philly in the Eastern Conference Finals when we went to the Cup Finals and lost to Detroit, so 07 it was, I think. Before game, now we were up 3-0.

Before game four, or game five, I'm sorry. At home, we're five minutes before warm-ups. Malkin is dressed in his uniform except for his helmet and gloves. He's watching Russia play in the World Championships in a semifinal game. I think it was against Canada. Maybe not. And he was so into this game that to the point like, Gino, we got to go out for warm-ups. He's like, oh, national team,, like, Gino, we got to go out for warm-ups.

He's like, oh, national team, national team, team Russia, team Russia. And to them, you notice that Finns, Swedes, Russians, if they get knocked out of the playoffs early, if they don't make the playoffs, they go play for the national team. It's no questions asked. They never even consider it unless they're hurt and they can't. A lot of American guys choose not to go. There's Canadian guys, I'm just not feeling it this year. Yeah, you just played 82 games. Europeans, this is everything to them.

And the World Championships, which is held every year, is so important and meaningful. And let alone the Olympics, that's a different stage. So now we look at the situation of how many guys are saying, I'm going. Right. And now that the owners are on, now that you look at the owners, because in the end, are they making the decisions? No. If Longoist goes up and says, I'm going Right And now the owners are on Now that you look at the owners Because in the end Are they making the decisions? If guys No

If Longoist goes up and says I'm going Like what's the owner going to say? No Yeah well okay You're violating your contract Well fuck you You know what

I played 15 years in the league Fucking I'm done Yeah and I don't need I don't need the The 150 grand I'm losing Or two or three grand In those two weeks Which they really don't

I got 90 million in the bank Fucking fire me You fucking asshole Yeah I know. So now if those guys go, who insures them? Who's going to be paying for the insurance? Because the insurance on these contracts when you're away is fucking crazy money. Yeah, yeah.

So it's just like, I don't blame, and I honestly hope that every single guy's like, I'm going. And you'll see, there's going to be owners or GM's that say no to people well not everyone's going to be like yeah okay before the show producer Grinelli brought up a great point the Russians now there's eight prominent Russian players Markov

Radulov Kulikov Kuznetsov Orlov Yakupov Alv Tutinov Jackalv Jerkenhoff Wackenhoff And Bermistroff So you got that much talent So what are they saying in that though?

I'm sorry So Vladislav Tritiak came out And said he believes Multiple Russian players Will be coming to the KHL This offseason Followed up by another tweet And that was someone else saying

Russian free agents Markov All those guys Are expected to go So it was said by Tritiak Who runs the Russian Hockey Federation. So in a way, it's not that legit. But yeah, he was decent.

Good job taking him out in 1980. Stay hot. But I don't really... If he's saying that, that's a little different. I don't think those guys are going to sign in the KHL, especially a guy like Kuznetsov. He's going to get a monster deal, and Radulov wants a seven-year deal, everyone's saying.

But what are they going to say? Like, I'll sign this, but I'm going to the Olympics. Right. Well, they could say, you know what? Fuck it. You know what? If you're not going to let us play, then I'll go back to Russia for you. I mean, these guys, it's a home win.

It's not a big fucking deal for them to go home and play and then say, I'll come back and if I... They're getting cake over there. They'll get big coin over there, too. And they get like an envelope in cash after the game, too. You get a gun, too. You get a gun. A couple bullets.

What does clear check mean? Check clear, like Czechoslovakia? No, it's like they can just go to Russia, make even more money, and then they don't even care what their contract situation is. So they're running the risk of losing not just Russians, but Europeans that'll just say, fuck it. I'll go play over there. I'll get paid.

I don't care what my NHL stat is. My country means more to me than playing in fucking Nashville or Winnipeg or wherever, you know? And I wonder, I think of Crosby right now or McDavid. You think of Crosby. No, listen, you'll see where I'm going. Captains of their teams, two of the best in the world. When Ovechkin says, I'm going going and panarin and these other guys like are

they gonna then say oh i'm not like it's it's almost like they might be like well fuck if they're going like i i want to go i love my experiences there mcdavid hasn't even gotten to play in the olympics yeah yeah and and so it's it's just i wonder i think it's going to be a huge influx or not i mean i don't know if that's the right word i just hear people say that a lot there's going to be a ton of euros that are saying, I don't know if that's the right word. I just hear people say that a lot. There's going to be a ton of Euros that are saying, I'm going. And I really wonder if we're going to see North American guys kind of counterback and say, I am too. Yeah, and we're already seeing it. Well, it's funny.

The interesting dichotomy of the answers people are giving, like Toronto Maple Leafs last night, they were asked about it, and they all buttoned up because they don't want any distractions. They don't want the media. For example, last week, there was a story of Pia LeBrun. Austin Mantz gave a long, detailed answer about the Olympics, and yeah, I'd love to play. Last night, Chris Johnson asked them after the game. Nope.

They're not saying that because playoffs are coming. Leafs don't want any distractions. But then you have Hank. Hold on. Let's be really – we've got to really button this up before we lose in five games in the first round. Hold on here, guys. You get bare down here. There's no talking. Anything

else besides the Maple Leafs? By the way, quick shout out to Austin Matthews breaks the Toronto Maple Leafs rookie goal scoring record, breaking Wendell Clark. He's got 39. It would be so good to talk to him about it, Austin, if you listen. Maybe we'll get him. Maybe we'll get

the big dog when the season ends. I'm sorry, going back, Denning and Hank Lundquist comes right out and says, this is bullshit. You know, we're trying to grow our game. This is so, basically what I said. This is so short-sighted. It's terrible. So, you know, of course, he's a veteran. He's got really nothing to lose.

He can come out and say it. And it's not going to cause a shitstorm in New York like if he did play in Toronto. So, it's pretty interesting. Yeah, Mark Edward Vlasic yesterday, Pickles, Pickles Vlasic, he just tweeted out a picture of Pyeongchang 2018 with the Olympic rings yesterday and kind of a tweet of, I guess, a WTF, like, why aren't we going? I mean, he's got 1,500 retweets. So I just think that has there been one fan you've seen come out and say,

like, oh, good? Like, it just sucks to disappoint this many fans of hockey it's incredible i've never seen i've never seen the entire fan base agree on one thing like this so so we talked about the european guys but who who's gonna be the usa team well the usa team i mean you look at who they have i mean are you gonna see guys like like nathan gerby like you know you see oh you're saying who's gonna be there and yeah who's gonna be on the USA team? That's what I wonder. I don't know if that turns into the World Juniors.

Because there's guys playing overseas right now that are better than some of the World Juniors guys that aren't in the NHL that could slide right in there. Yeah, so you look in the Russian League and the Swiss and the Swedish and the Finnish League. They'll send their best players. And then the U.S., I mean, yeah, you've got to pick your best team of college and junior kids and then your best pros over there. But in terms of American guys playing overseas, I mean, usually you're not reaching a level of the talent that Swedish guys in Sweden. You know what I mean usually you're not reaching a level of the talent that Swedish guys in Sweden

You know what I mean? The U.S. might not be a very solid team if that ends up being the case And we don't have NHL I think NHL should borrow Big Cat's spin zone device And just say we're trying to protect you from Kim Jong-un And we don't want you anywhere in North Korea That would be a beautiful excuse Yeah, they should have just come out and said that

So anyways, yeah A lot of pissed off players And we don't want you anywhere in North Korea. That would be a beautiful excuse. Yeah, they should have just come out and said that. So anyways, yeah, a lot of pissed off players. Again, the owners probably. A lot of pissed off podcast hosts. Yeah, we wanted Olympic hockey. Doesn't look like we're going to get it in the next couple Olympics. But, you know, what are you going to do? Speaking of the Olympics, usually give young.

Well, it used to be an amateur thing. And they used to give young guys a chance and young goalies a chance. And we're going to talk to a young goalie who got a very young guy who got two of the greatest opportunities a young guy's ever had. So we're going to bring on now a guy who was a backup goalie for not one but two separate teams, Eric Semboski. And now for this week's guest, we are having somebody who I pretty much can guarantee you they're in the NHL record book this year that you could give somebody a million guesses and they won't come up with his name.

This fella, he's been an emergency backup goalie, not once this year, twice, and for two different teams. His name is Eric Semboski, and we're going to bring him on live. Eric, welcome to Spitting Chicklets. Hey, thanks for having me. Okay, Eric, maybe you can tell the story to us so we don't have to explain it. Tell us what happened back in, I believe it was December, and then what happened this last week,

how everything transpired for you about being an emergency backup. And then include when maybe you're getting your contract over from Vegas for next year because we assume you might end up being a star. Yeah, well, I'll keep you posted on that one if I hear anything about that. But, yeah, back in December, I got asked to help the Chicago Blackhawks out and back up for one game when they were here in Philly. That was, you know, something out of the blue for me that I didn't expect to happen. But that was just a normal Saturday for me. I was, you know, something out of the blue for me that I didn't expect to happen. But

that was just a normal Saturday for me. I was at work. I was on the ice running practices. And next thing I know, two hours later, I'm warming up with the Blackhawks. And that was something I'll never forget and something, you know, I never expected to happen to me. And I just couldn't be more grateful from the Flyers and the blackhawks for giving me these opportunities now when the first time you could call what we were like running a camp nearby or something and they someone calls you and says hey we you know the blackhawks back up as you got an appendicitis and they're too far from home to get the new guy when we need somebody is that like literally how it plays out yeah pretty much so the blackhawks called the flyers said they're you know they need

someone local that can get get there soon and uh i guess they reached out to the skate zones because i get because they you know know so many players and i was there working and uh i play uh skate in the mornings at the wells fargo center So a lot of those guys have seen me play, and they threw my name out there when they asked. And then the Flyers gave the Blackhawks my name. And, I mean, that's pretty much how it came about. And I never knew that I would be on a list for that at all. So when you showed up to the arena and you're walking into the room with the three-time Stanley Cup champion in the past seven years or whatever it is, Blackawks like how nervous are you did you talk to anyone

did anyone talk to you were you catching shit during the when everyone's getting dressed where was anyone shooting high and uh high and hard and warm-ups i don't know like how was it for you and how nervous were you uh well i mean that was they're a great group of guys they uh you know they made me feel welcome right away like i was supposed to be there um i walked in everyone gave me a round of applause and you know everybody introduced themselves to me They made me feel welcome right away like I was supposed to be there. I walked in. Everyone gave me a round of applause. Everybody introduced themselves to me. Scott Darling, the goalie there, who was starting that day, was phenomenal.

He showed me the ropes, made me feel at home. I did get a little bit of chirps from people for not wearing a tie and stuff. I was wearing rink clothes, so I looked a little out of place. They wanted to know how much money I was going to contribute to their Christmas party and stuff like that. So, yeah, we were having a good time. We were all joking around. And, yeah, they made me feel right at home. Now, they don't sign you to any sort of contract, right? Isn't it they just kind of call you the emergency goalie?

And isn't it true that you can't even sit on the bench because technically you're not on the NHL roster, that you have to stand in the hallway? Is that correct? Well, there are two different situations. For the Blackhawks, as soon as I got there, I signed a one-day ATO contract. So I warmed up with the team on the ice, and I sat on the bench the whole game. Flyers was a little bit different.

When I got to the Flyers game, I was technically the fourth goalie, so I was the second emergency backup because Stolarz was the first emergency backup that they called down. So I was pretty much just there just in case Stolarz didn't get there in time, and then I'd have to dress and back Neuwirth up. But he got there in time, so I was pretty much just in the building just in case

and up in the press box. But then when Neuwirth went down, gave us all a pretty good scare, I went down and got dressed. And at that point because i was the fourth one i had to wait in the locker room until they wanted to try and get me in there so i'm this is classic so i'm wondering like now deep down did you first of all did you you played hockey your entire life growing up and did you play in college or high school what was your story on that oh i actually didn't start playing it playing until i was you know 14 or 15 years old oh late

bloomer yeah really uh that's when i started uh i played you know some travel hockey then and then i played a year juniors and then i just went to temple and played on their uh acha club team for four years big club hockey guy i played club hockey myself. Very nice. You've got to get that in. So, all right, so you played in club hockey. So does any part of you, at least with Chicago, when you really had a chance to get in possibly, I mean, honestly, darling takes one stick, one skate, you never know. Like, did you want that to happen, or were you just shitting your pants

thinking of the possibility of getting in there, to be honest? Well, I mean, to be honest well i mean to be honest i didn't even really have that much time to get too nervous about it i got there and by the time i had my pads on i was on the ice warming up and by the time i realized you know looked around what was happening the puck was dropping um but yeah i joked and i joked around with them uh during the first period i told them not to get hurt out there but um i mean i definitely you know wouldn't have been ready for the nhl especially then i haven't been playing but uh i towards the end i was kind of hoping maybe you know i get in the last minute or two um just to

you know be out there um but yeah i mean then for the flyers i definitely wanted to get out there and i was it was kind of a little bummed out that it didn't happen. But I was, you know, thankful that they tried to get me out there. Okay, now I'm just going to get our listeners up to speed. Now, the Chicago, I don't call it instant, the Chicago time is December now. This recently, Philadelphia the other day, for those listening, the coach of Philadelphia, Haxtell, he actually put you on the ice during a face-off, correct? For an offensive, well, a defensive zone draw.

And what was it? The referees said that you couldn't enter the game because you were replacing, what's his name? Not Neuwirth. Who were you? Stolas. Because Stolas wasn't hurt, so therefore you couldn't come into the game. Wait, the ref? The ref made sure you weren't allowed to play?

Well, I mean, the ref didn't talk to me directly. But, so, yeah, Haxall, you know, had a pull-a-class-act move and tried to get me in with 25 seconds left in the game. It was a defensive zone draw for the Flyers. So, you know, I went out there, got a nice ovation from the crowd which is pretty awesome uh i set up in the net ready ready for the face off and just about as the linesman was about to drop the puck uh the whistle blew and uh i looked over to the bench and i saw stoli standing up and i just i knew what was happening i said, this must not be allowed. No one knew the rule at the time.

The coaches didn't know. Stolle didn't know. But, yeah, it was just cool to be out there for a couple seconds in the net. And it was awesome that they tried to get me in. Too bad it didn't work out, but it was still pretty cool. Now, because the similar thing happened to Carolina earlier this year. They had an emergency backup. But now in that game, if the referees let that fellow into the game

and there was no injury situation, is that correct? Or are you familiar with that situation? Yeah, to my knowledge, that was okay. But I think he was technically the first emergency backup. See, Stolarz was the emergency backup, and I was the second. So I don't know if that changes the rule a little bit. I it does but yeah i wasn't too too sure about it and i'm still a little little fuzzy on it but i mean like i said the flyers didn't know the rule either they tried to get me out there and thought that you know it wouldn't be an issue so yeah we were all kind of

scratching our heads at first so in 2010 when you when you're watching, you know, you said you were a Flyers fan. When you're watching your, you know, Flyers lose to the Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Finals, what are you thinking looking back? Like, holy shit, I played for that team. I ended up playing for the team that beat the Flyers. Yeah, for both the teams that actually was in that final. Yeah, I mean, well, 2010 was, that was a tough year for me and all Flyers fans. Did you want a two-hand cane in the locker room?

At that point, never in my wildest dreams would I imagine I'd be suiting up for either of those teams or any team in the NHL. And then this year I got to do it for both of them, and it's surreal, really. It's a dream come true. We used to joke ACHA to the show because it's rare that it ever happens, and then it happened to me twice in one year, and almost three times actually this year. I've been incredibly fortunate and blessed that I got these opportunities. It's so funny

because i was saying to wit before uh we had you on that's what all club hockey kids joke about is acha to the show we're all gonna make the show and then i said it's funny because he went from you went from essentially being me to wit you know you went from being a hey you know more ice time that seven seconds before the face-off than I did in a lot of games near the end. But, hey, you know what I was thinking, actually? So I'm picturing you skating out to a defensive zone face-off where it could possibly be a one-timer shot on you. You're in front of where you grew up in Philly.

Like, how cool is that? Do you have a girlfriend right now? Because now might be the time to figure something out. You'd be whacking everything. Actually, I'm married. I have a wife. Oh, okay. Well, she loves you, I'm sure. Yeah. She unfortunately wasn't able to make it to Philly, to the Wells Fargo Center for that game. She was out of town. But yeah, she tuned in. As soon as I let her know that what was happening, so she got to see it. Now, you said it almost happened a third time.

Did I hear you correctly there? Yes, correct. The other time it wasn't anything like the other two. But there was, I guess, a little over a month ago when Florida, the Panthers were in town when Luongo got hurt. They gave me a call as soon as he went down. And I came. I got my stuff.

I headed down. But by the time I got there, Luongo put his pads back on and went back on the bench, so I kind of just hung out in the hallway with my gear just in case. But, yeah, they didn't think he was even going to be able to sit on the bench because he said he couldn't play, and he wanted to take his pads off, but then I guess he changed his mind.

So do you play like men's league now do you still play at all uh i mean i don't i i fill in from all my buddies men's league teams whenever they ask but i pretty much just skate um at the wells fargo center in the morning with a bunch of employees um that's pretty much all i'm doing right now i'm trying to play more and more but but, you know, it's tough. I'm always at work or doing something. So I'm trying to get on the ice more, but, yeah, right now it's just pretty much morning skates. Just going back to the Blackhawks situation now, before that game, did Coach Q or does Scott Downs, one of those guys come up to you and say,

hey, look, if you've got to get into the game, like A, B, C, or D, did anybody come up and give you any sort of talk like that, or they just assume you know what the drill is? I mean, they pretty much let me go with the players. They didn't treat me too differently. I went in, I signed that one day ATO contract, talked to them a little bit. They thanked me for helping them out out and i was just happy to be there and then uh darling kind of showed me the ropes and uh for warm-ups just because you know every team has a little different warm-up uh just kind of followed his lead out there um but as far as the game i mean they they told me after the game they were trying to get me

in the last you know minute or minute or so at the end. But the Flyers got an empty netter. There was a whistle, but it didn't happen. Now, if I'm not mistaken, the Blackhawks, as a token of thanks and appreciation, sent you a jersey and a goalie mask, correct? Yeah, I got the jersey that I wore, which I guess was actually Corey Crawford's jersey with my name on it. So I got that. But, yeah, they really went above and beyond.

They took care of me. They got me a custom mask that you saw when I was out there a little bit with the Flyers. I got all the equipment that I was wearing when I was out there for the Flyers was from the Blackhawks. So, yeah, they really went above and beyond uh they flew uh me and my wife out to Chicago for a game and as their guests yeah they're uh they're definitely a world-class organization that um you know really took care of us yeah that is that's a quite a gesture from them now I have to imagine though you must have got the shit chirped at you by the Flyers in that locker room with the Blackhawks mask on, correct? Yeah, I mean, I practiced with the Flyers twice since the Chicago thing.

So they've seen me in my Chicago pads and mask, and they thought it was cool how well they took care of me. But everyone, the training staff staff when i walked in with my bright red chicago bag and my mask they said we'll have to do something about that and get that swapped out but uh yeah i mean most of the players i've seen it before and uh it's it did clash a little bit with the with the orange though so who had the best shot yeah uh from the flyers from both mean, out of everyone you saw. I mean, when I was in Chicago, it was, I mean, Patty Kane was obviously ridiculous. But pretty much every guy on both of those teams have the best shots I've seen.

Fraction with the Flyers, you knowoux Vorchek Simmons they can really you know they can bring it but I think the biggest difference is not just the speed is the release you know you're not quite sure exactly when the puck's gonna come off their stick so that was the biggest thing to get used to it's definitely definitely a lot faster so like in terms of the speed you're saying and the quickness when you were on the bench for that one game were you kind of shocked at how fast the game is down at ice level and being on the bench? Or were you more like, oh, this is kind of normal?

Because I feel like some people might be blown away. When you sit in the stands up high, you can't tell how quick everything happens. I didn't know if that would be the same for you. Yeah, I mean, you can definitely appreciate how big, strong, and fast these guys are when you're down close. I've been fortunate enough to you know see games up close you know a few times in my life so i i knew how fast it was but when you're out there standing in the net and the puck's coming at you it's it's a different

story so uh yeah getting used to the speed of that um in in the net is very different. But, you know, I know how fast it is from being close to the game before. A lot faster than those ACHA games, huh? Yeah, a little bit. I don't know. Kids on Temple do. They have wicked one-timers there. I've heard that. Now, do you think going forward, Eric, that, I mean, to me, like I said,

earlier in the year on our show we talked about this and how much, like, personally, like, I'm a scrub goalie. I love playing street hockey. As a kid, believe me, I was terrible on the ice, but I love to see these stories. I think they're hilarious. Now, do you think at some point we're going to actually see a guy get in to a situation where he's going to be an important part of the game?

I mean, it feels like it's almost inevitable that it's going to happen, and I've got a feeling it might be you that it happens too well i mean that would be it would be awesome if i uh if i got in i don't know how much closer i can get besides standing in the net during a game and not getting any time so uh you know maybe it'll happen uh maybe not uh but we'll see um if the it present the opportunity presents itself i'm going to be I'm more than willing and excited to do it. But, yeah, I just kind of got to wait and see if that's in the cards in the future. I'm not too sure. So we better keep an eye on you maybe creeping around the food area

where the fly is before the pregame meal. Well, no, I think having played, I just think back when stuff like that happens. It's really fun for players, too, because you see how cool it is for someone to appreciate a dream of just even getting to be in the locker room and stuff. So I'm glad to hear that guys are good, too. That's to no surprise. Do you hear any good chirps on the ice? Do you hear any good battles back and forth in front of the bench? Or was that game pretty subdued?

Most Flyers games are these days with them out of it. Boom. Dude, most Flyers games are these days with them on event. Boom. Well, I mean, both games, Chicago and the New Jersey game, you hear stuff out there that you know that hockey players say to each other, but you don't really hear on TV. Yeah.

But I'll leave it on the ice. He's planning on his career. He knows what he's doing. Oh, that's awesome. That is awesome. Well, Eric, listen, we can't thank you enough for coming on. I know it was really short notice. You're probably going to be the answer to a few trivia questions.

And like most NHLers, you seem to be pretty humble about your legendary status right now. Well, thank you. I appreciate it. It was a pleasure to be on. All right, buddy. Good luck. Keep grinding. Good luck, and we're going to keep an eye out for you again this year.

Good luck in Vegas. That interview was brought to you by us. Let people know that you're gas and beers and Chuck and Nucks and support our show by rocking our official gear. Get our shirts at barstoolsports.com slash chicklets. Great gear that we all like to rock. I wear my shirt everywhere trying to represent. Look what I'm wearing right now. In honor of our interview guest what I'm wearing right now. And R.A.'s got the...

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Once again, a huge thanks to Eric Samborski for coming on and joining us. Sembo. I mean, what a fucking amazing story, dude. Like, I would kill to be that in one of those situations. I know you would. I know you would. But only for the Bruins. And honestly, even if you went out and you got fucking tuned up by a Z-Clapper and he scores,

who cares? You're in a fucking NHL score sheet, man. Well, I wonder, too, like, if he does play. I asked him if he plays men's league because I'm interested. Now guys are going to be just looking to snipe. Oh, yeah. Yeah, exactly. Nothing.

Good job. I wonder if anybody's asking him who had the biggest rope on the team in the shower postgame. I'm surprised you didn't, you fucking sick prick. So, yeah, that was great, man. Great stuff. Like I said, it's something we've always had fun with all year, and to have a guy who's happened to twice and able to get him on the show,

it's great. It's made for a great interview. And that's bringing us into our next segment of the Always Plot Bill. All right, Hamilton, what do we got? Yeah, my boy Simbo putting club hockey on the map. So for our first All Right, Hamilton, Adam asked, what is the best bromance of any teammates you've ever seen? All right, Hamilton.

Bromance between teammates. Well, this could go any number of ways. I got to think that. It's 2016. I got to think that. 2017, I got to think that. It's 2016. I got to think that. 2017. I got to think that. Okay, that went over my head.

I got to think that just off the top of my head in Anaheim, Corey Perry and Ryan Getzef were, they were together. They were called up originally together out of junior. They went back and played in the AHL when, when Anaheim was eliminated. I think it was 2005. And then they were, you know, they've been stars in the NHL,

same age, same world junior team, same Olympics team. They're always together. So I think of them originally. I also think that texting's like so ridiculous now. So like, you know, you go to dinner with your buddies and sometimes you realize you're just all on your phone.

You're like, what the fuck are we doing? And I remember being in Anaheim and Getzlaff telling me, well, me and Perry would just go out to dinner every single night. We were rookies together, and finally at one point we had to make a no-phone rule because we were going out and not saying one word to each other throughout dinner and just texting. So at one point their bromance kind, really turned into actually speaking to each other at dinners. Perry's like has one of those reputations of a fucking lunatic on the ice because he'll just whack you with the stick.

He's kind of a psycho. He's kind of got like that quiet boy look about him. But he is like he's that guy's a competitor. He would he does the same exact thing. Like I'm talking getting dressed for a game like you see a lot of people, they get dressed the same way. He puts the bar, a protein bar, right next to where he sits and puts on his knee brace in the same seat at the same time, takes a bite of the thing, puts one skate on.

He's wild in terms of... Is he a lunatic in the locker room? No, no, he's really quiet. He becomes an animal once he gets in the ice, kind of like Chara. He gets on the ice and he's just a complete savage up there with his stick and scoring. I mean, actually, I know this is off the topic, but Anaheim, look out for them.

Just sneaky. Yeah, people forget about them. Sneaky, like all of a sudden be playing the Blackhawks in the Western Conference Finals. Yeah, we'll see what happens there. I'm sorry, I know. Who's your bromance? Espo and Kenny and nifty Rick Middleton.

I seen them down the bar. Hell Street Cabin. Fucking hilarious. God, that's fucking too funny. I would say probably, I mean, as players, you know, Bergeron and Marchand, I call them like Batman and Robin. But as far as like pottying off the ice, Sagan and Marchand after that 2011 Cup, that was some pretty epic shit.

That was tour de force. Boston was getting fucking picked. I think they had to get an extra email account for how many people were sending pictures of those two, topless and pouring champagne all over the place. With rockets, too. The Connecticut woods. So, yeah, as far as off-fights exploits, Marchand and Sagan were probably the funniest one I could think of. They left their mark on the greatest bar, let's just say that.

Yeah, literally and figuratively. So Jack Leslie asks, All right, Hamilton, most charitable player that no one knows about? All right, Hamilton. Oh, man. There's probably a lot of them, I would think, right? NHL got a lot of good. It's kind of a tough question if nobody knows about him.

I have one that comes to mind off the top of my head. It's Sean Thornton. He's a guy that's got a lot of shit lately. I saw his comments about Emlin. People, at least Montreal media, I saw that. We're giving him some shit because Emlin's got a faceplate

and Thornton's saying he should get his face punched in, but he should get his face punched in. Oh, he's thinking that he has a faceplate in. He's a figure of speech. Don't play dirty. Yeah, he throws dirty hits. Thority, that's a great one.

He does a lot of like, he has a golf tournament every summer that raises a ton of money. He's at the Sean Thornton Foundation too, doesn't he? I feel like next year, because this is his last year. He said that, right? Because it's his last game with the Garden.

I feel like he could come back here and host a radio show in Boston in two seconds. The guy's just a – everyone likes him. He treats everyone with respect. It's tough with charity because I'm trying to think. Yeah, because a lot of guys don't – they do it and they don't want any news about it. Yeah, like Bobby Orr does stuff and he's like, make sure this does not get out. So it's – you don't hear so many things, but there's way more guys than you think.

I will say that. Yeah, I think that's a question. Like you said, the NHL guys tend to do things and they don't do so many things, but there's way more guys than you think. I will say that. Yeah, I think that's a question. Like you said, NHL guys tend to do things, and they don't do it for credit. Going back to Thornton, the Emlin stuff, I know people are all Thornton. Yeah, he really plays the game the right way after he fucking suck at Orpik. That's a tweet I saw, too. But the thing is, that's when he punched Orpik.

I know he's your boy. You played him in a Pittsburgh one. And there. But that's the thing. When Thornton hit him, he was regulating the game because fucking Orpik just need know he's your boy. You played him in a Pittsburgh one. But that's the thing. When Thorne hit him, he was regulating the game because fucking Orpik just kneed Marshawn in the head. Thorne was practicing what he preached.

He kind of suckered him or whatever. He's basically saying, do what I did to Orpik. To Yemelin because Yemelin's a scumbag. And we mentioned, well, you were gone last week. You were on vacation. But the kid on fucking Mike Haley in San Jose, when he punched the guy. That was dirty as shit. Okay.

That was Callie Yarncroke. What about the hit, though? Okay. The hit. And the thing about the hit was that it was late. It was late, and the game was decided. But Yarncroke's like a buck 65. Haley's a monster.

And you could tell it hit Haley from behind a little. I don't know if his face hit the glass. I definitely think that it was an uncalled for hit, but I mean, he went and legit just suckered him. I was actually surprised he only got one or two games. I don't know.

I will say, in terms of Yarncroak, know who you're hitting there. Haley's like, fuck this kid. He's going to hit me. I'm going to drill him, but in terms of Yarncroak, know who you're hitting there. Exactly. Haley's like, fuck this kid. He's going to hit me. I'm going to drill him. But in terms of like, that was a pretty aggressive. And he threw a little extra mustard at the end, too. And I think that's what Haley took exception to.

Either way, he got his. The game was over, so it was a bullshit hit. But it was a straight up suck. He got his games worth. And one other thing with Thornton, too. This is tying in with the Florida Panthers, man. What a fucking mistake they made firing Gerard Gallant, bringing in Tom Rowe. I know they had some injuries.

The season kind of fell apart. Well, it was like the same. They were pretty much the same team with both coaches. They really were. I think their records were, in terms of winning percentage, really close. Okay. They butchered that Ekbald situation, though. Ekblad.

Ekbald. Ekbald, yeah. Leave me out of this, Grinnelli. I love it, Grinnelli. Good. Eckbald. Eckbald, yeah. Leave me out of this, Grinnelly. I love it, Grinnelly. Good old Eckbald. But I think that Tom Rowe came out and said he shouldn't have played him that time. But Florida, it was a tough year of injuries.

Yeah, their whole season, just the way it went was bizarre in terms of coaching change and when it happened. But it came out today, Tom Rowe will not be back as head coach next year, so I wonder where they go. Yeah, it seems like there's a lot of organizational chaos. They say Thornton's going to work for them after, so I'm curious to see how that works out because Sean's a straight shooter.

He doesn't like bullshit. Oh, is he really? Yeah, well, that was the plan. Yeah, because originally they thought he was going to do Meteor up in this neck of the woods. That's why I'm piggybacking off of what you said. I'm glad. He'd probably take my job at NHL Network. He's going to be good at whatever he does.

Yeah, I think he's going to try to work with Florida. But if they got this much chaos going on, you know what I mean? Yes. I think sometimes you bring in too many guys, and some of them may not be hockey lifers, and they're coming from more the analytical side. You know, I don't know. That'll be interesting to see. Sean doesn't tolerate a lot of bullshit, so I'm going to be curious.

I'm going to keep an eye on his situation down there. Sean, I'm watching you. All right, next one. All right. Last but not least, Chris Shannon asks, what playoff series are you guys most looking forward to? All right, Hamilton. Honestly, I think of second-round matchups. Go ahead.

I think of Pittsburgh-Washington in the second round. And it sucks they have to play each other in the second round But that's going to be awesome Well that assumes they both won the first round Yeah I think they both will If Washington loses in the first round this year Holy shit I just do not see that happening

I know the Bruins could be a really tough out If it ends up being them That's why the Bruins They'd love to get up and end up playing that third slot. I mean, get into that Atlantic 2-3 so they get to play Ottawa or Toronto. And then I think of, well, earlier I was thinking Chicago, many in the second half of Minnesota. What did we say about them? I said at the beginning they weren't this good.

And then they had this, like, ridiculous run. And the past frigging three weeks, they've been a joke. Yeah. I um i don't know what do you got i want to see edmonton calgary oh yeah oh and boston montreal boston yeah edmonton calgary be great two teams back in it um battle of alberta you know i got fucking oil money i got a cowboy hat on i like that game i got a big karate hockey get me me a Molson. That would be good. Yeah, Calgary-Edmonton, whether it's first round, second round, whatever, I just like to have those teams back in the playoffs.

I like that. Obviously, Boston-Montreal. Boston-Toronto could be another first round series, which would be epic. What do you got, Grinnells? You guys said it all right there. Boston-Montreal is obviously a big one. And then the Battle of Alberta. I think Boston would beat Montreal.

I've been saying Boston won't even make the playoffs all year, so now I know I'm full of shit. But the way they've been playing, they have some scoring that Montreal doesn't have. It would come down to the goaltending. I'm not big on Montreal. Yeah, they're going to have to beat, well, I mean, the Rangers. I don't think people are taking them.

So, yeah, that sucks that they have to play the Rangers. That's a good series, too. Exactly, yeah. You're so much better off finishing second or third in the Atlantic. I wonder what we're going to get from Hank. We had 6-10 on last weekend. You know, Hank, you'll look great one game and then not great the next game. I wonder what the chances are of us seeing Anthony Ratha in that series.

He's running out of time to get his cup. Yeah, he is. All right, we've got one more left, Mike. Oh, that's it. All right, that's it for Allwright-Hamilton. I feel like I had something else to say, but I guess I can't remember. It was playoff related.

Unfortunately, I can't remember. Well, they're going to be here soon. Oh, I noticed what you said. It's great now for, you know, we're doing this podcast and covering NHL. This is just the time of year, though. We finally get it. You know, the regular season, even as a fan of a team, like 82 games,

you're not going to see every game unless you're a complete diehard. And now this is the time where every night you've got three games at 7, then you've got two games 10 to 1. Overtime, it's just really looking forward to the playoffs getting going. Yeah, we've got two more days of the season here. As I head down to Augusta. Yeah, I know. Yeah, exactly.

Who's winning the thing? Actually, well, now we got you. Who are the picks for the Masters? I know they're already going to have started, so we can't retroactively bet, but at least you're going to look like a genius. Give me DJ. Give me DJ. I put money.

I bet in Vegas I put money on DJ and Rory in December when I was there. I mean, Spieth has just played the tournament three times. He finished second, first, and second. Recently played with Brady, too. What odds do you got on Rory? I got Rory 8-1, and I got DJ. I got it back then at 10-1. All right.

So, I mean, these are such crapshoots, dude. Sometimes some scrub wins, like frigging Mike Weir. Like Ernie Els. Oh, sorry, Canada. Like Ernie Els at the British 80 to 1 a few years ago. Not a big deal. Did you have that? I had that.

Biggest odds I ever hit anywhere. Yeah, 80 to 1, dude. That's sick. Had a 50 spot on him. Big easy. Big fucking nice. Hey, little golf talk. I know we're about to go.

It's all right. If anyone that is a golf fan saw, did you guys see what happened to that Lexi Thompson? Oh, my God. She tripped me. I'm a fucking white knight in women's golf over here. Tripping me on Twitter. Out of nowhere, too. That's a fraud.

And the funny part is, I actually retweeted. You were doing a Bruins puzzle. I retweeted Paige Cerenak like 10 minutes before that. That was hilarious. So if anyone saw that, holy shit. I mean, I'm a golf nut, but the fact that some fucking loser was sitting around and called that in, and it was a penalty from the third round. How fucking stupid is that?

After the 12th hole of the fourth round, they come up to her and say, we just looked at a call we got from a fan viewer about something happened in the third round yesterday. Like, if the round, maybe if you want to have this stupid rule where people can sit around and call in rules violation. Can you imagine picking up the phone and being like, oh, that person just moved the ball. Montreal would have to get a whole new phone system put in

if you could call in fucking penalties. But after the third round to do that, it's like if you called the Bruins and you're like, actually, you guys lost that game to Chicago on Sunday. Unfortunately, there was a penalty missed in the first period. That was just talk about golf. And then the ball marker. How many fucking people put the ball... I mean, it's generally within an inch.

Because I always wondered that. I think it's physically impossible to put it exactly where you lift it up. And then you get the golf purist. A rule was broken. That is what happened. A year ago, she would have been DQ'd for signing an incorrect scorecard. Fucking... Best thing about golf... Randall Ch. Fucking only... Best thing about golf...

Randall Chambliss. Best thing about golf is fucking Caddyshack and Al Servin. Imagine... And Tiger going and crushing Denny's. Look, shoot it, you're two. Imagine that loss if you had money on that. It was a major for this girl. She went to a playoff, so she beat the entire field by four strokes.

And she didn't... That just... I had to bring that up. I wrote that down on my podcast notes. But there's probably some asshole at the LPGA probably like, ooh, they're talking about women's golf today. Let's just keep doing what we're doing. Fucking pack of shitheads. Suck it, LPGA. All right. That's going to wrap

it up. We finished up a little golf with fucking Golf and Whitney over here back on the road. I'll try to get some pics of me at Augusta. Yeah, yeah. Maybe we can throw those on Spittin' Check, though. Yeah, or not. Thank you very much, everyone. We appreciate it.

Peace out. Take it easy. Have a great week. Mitch LaFond here. Please check out my new podcast, Rock Talk with Mitch LaFond, every Monday on the Jericho Network. I'm going to go.