Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 252: Featuring Kevin Bieksa

Episode Date: March 12, 2020

On Thursday’s episode of Spittin’ Chiclets the guys are joined by Kevin Bieksa. Kevin joins (43:43) to talk about his media career, his new podcast, some funny stories from his playing days and a bunch more. The guys also touch on all the news in the sports community surrounding Coronavirus and its impact on the hockey world. The boys also talk some NHL news, including some injuries, the LA Kings and Devils goalie MacKenzie Blackwood.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. Thank you. Hello everybody. Welcome to episode 252 of Spittin' Chickens, presented by Pink Whitney from our friends at New Amsterdam Vodka here on the Boston Sports Podcast family. What's up, gang? A little over three weeks left in the season. A lot of jockeying for those last two wildcard spots, but we got some real-life news we got to talk about, too, in a little bit.

But now let's say hi to the boys first. Producer, Mikey Grinelli, what's going on, man? What's going on, boys? I'm doing pretty well, despite the fact you have a national pandemic on our hands. But we'll get to that. Wait, oh, we're not going to talk about your Bachelor reports online? I love The Bachelor. It's my favorite show in the world.

I'm fully sold on The Bachelor. And it was the biggest nightmare finale of all time. We don't need to dive into it for all you Bachelor fans, but this Barb is quite the character for those of you who do watch. Barb. She's America's most hated person in the entire country. That's a prime example of why you don't go on those reality television shows. They kind of direct the script as to how they want it and not saying that she got you know led that way but holy shit she made

a fool of herself and i feel bad for that peter guy because that whole family is they took a major major l yeah how is that relationship gonna last now the mother hates the girl and she just blasted her on national television yeah we don't need to get into it people are probably already fucking punching they're hanging up on us yeah that's the that's the voice of paul biz nasty bisonette on national television. Yeah, we don't need to get into it. People are probably already fucking punching this team. Hanging up on us. Yeah. That's the voice of Paul Biznasty. Bissonette, what's going on, buddy?

You still on the road? That doesn't look familiar behind you. I'm in Gainesville, Florida. We're at my girlfriend's apartment. Yeah, yeah. We had a good trip to South Beach. South Beach is quite the place. Oh, my.

Very expensive. I think I saw more Lamborghinis than Honda Civics. Completely unpredictable weather. When you go to Florida, do you ever go to South Beach? I would not go to Florida ever again before I ever went to South Beach. I hate it. It's a different place. I ended up going to some unreal meals.

You guys, this is karma kicking me right in the ass. You guys know I'm cheap and i usually you know skitter off to the bathroom when the bill comes well i i was tipping 20 the whole weekend and i was going to these restaurants i think this is kind of how it goes in south beach they add 18 gratuity no matter what so i was tipping 38 the entire week and uh it must have found that found that it went out the hard way um and and right now i'm a little upset it's i think it's still affecting me so uh we can move on from that so if you're going to south beach uh just just be wary of that 18 percent gratuity added on it

doesn't even have to be a party greater than two just me and my girlfriend just took an l on that as well wow so i think it's a lot of the place it's the judgment call of the fucking the server too so they're probably prejudging it too anyways last but not least ryan whitney what's going on buddy what's up guys uh not too much not too much i'm i'm uh here hanging i've had a lot of issues some people have had some serious issues with me on my uh coronavirus yeah take now all right why don't you explain kind of what's going on, and then come back to me. I have to speak.

Okay. Yeah, this story, you know, I'm not going to lie. We were kind of joking about it early on, maybe a month or so ago, because, you know, I'm 47 years old. There's been one of these viruses every couple years that kind of pans out or flames out, and nothing really happens. Well, this one obviously is a different story, and I think we're all kind of learning as we go here.

And, you know, last week, even as recent as a week ago we were kind of cracking wise about it well now it's a different story the whole fucking country of italy is shut down uh people aren't going to restaurants in most of europe and we're starting to finally see effects here in north america particularly the sporting world and this just come over the wire literally minutes ago uh the columbus blue jackets home games are going to be closed to the public ohio has an order forbidding mass gatherings which i don't know how they come up these numbers over the wire literally minutes ago. The Columbus Blue Jackets home games are going to be closed to the public. Ohio has an order forbidding mass gatherings, which I don't know how they come up with these numbers, 500,000, depending on the season.

San Jose is a thousand. They said anything over a thousand. That's why the Sharks games too, but that's in like a week. Sorry to interrupt. That's all right. And so right now admission is limited to home and visiting club personnel, credentialed media and broadcast partners, essential club and arena staff and nhl officials

and literally five minutes before we started recording san jose followed suit well they they were kind of the first ones that had the get their local government tell them they couldn't commiserate in their arena and they were waiting to see basically basically what to do uh columbus had to make a decision first now the sharks they're going to play their last three remaining home games without fans at their arena in San Jose. The Leafs and Habs, they've grounded their scouts. They're not flying their scouts anymore. Harvard administration, they barred their teams from competing.

So the poor Harvard hockey team, they can't even fucking play this weekend. They had to forfeit their series versus RPI. And it's ironic because RPI is the place that had a person with the coronavirus. So we'll jump it over to you. I know you had some opinions on this as well. Okay. So when we talked about it last time, I think I said everyone, um, that that's overreacting. People are being pussies about it is, was that exactly what I said? Pretty sure. I'll quote you on that. Um, I'm somebody who's kind of known with my friends. I can admit when I'm wrong, you know, sometimes I'm a guy that's just, you know, that if he makes a mistake, he's

going to come to the bench and he's going to say, guys, that was on me. That was my turnover. That was my guy. I've been doing it my whole life. So I'm able to say I was wrong. In the end, I do not think people are being pussies. I'll take that back. This has gotten way more serious.

I did some research. I've been doing some reading. I've been doing some listening, been doing some news watching, and it's pretty serious. Now, I will also say, I will also say that the high, the high, what is the word? Hysteria? Hysteria. Hysteria. I have a tough time saying that. Always have since seventh grade. I remember in front of the class, I couldn't say it. That's a little crazy. And I think part of it would they you know the news shows the pictures of the germs that look like the blowfish from the ocean like the odd shaped puffer fish like you know those germ pictures like those are scary and those are those are like in the those are the main

picture of the tweet along with like man dies in new jersey which did happen but sometimes they don't necessarily include many of the health issues that these people are going through. All right. So having all said that, if you were listening to me and actually got rattled, you're the biggest moron of all time. This is a hockey podcast. Okay. I watch golf, hockey, Curb Your Enthusiasm, office episodes from the early seasons when you could say funny things before people turn into babies and you can't say shit. And then I play golf. That's literally what I do. So if you're looking for like any of our takes on the coronavirus, I don't know

shit. If you didn't understand that you're a moron of epic proportions because I do not know anything. But now that I'm trying to read and I'm trying to learn, I'll say this. It's scaring me because, in a sense, when you start seeing the world shut down, and I feel so bad for seniors and not just the athletes that had, like, lacrosse canceled, Ivy League. I think three of the top five teams in the nation in lacrosse were Ivy League schools. Their seasons are over. Seniors trying to win a national title, boom, done.

That's heartbreaking for a kid. And then also, you got to take the side of the seniors in college that are just like, oh, my God, I got senior spring at Georgia. I'm going to go after every single girl I've wanted to in the last three and a half years, but I've been too much of a... And all these kids have everything ruined because there's going to be no school soon. There'll be no college in the country that has kids in the next two weeks.

They're all going to be gone. So that's what's scary is like the panic. And I think the media does add to that. I definitely think that. But I got a text I got to read. Okay. And this is from a guy who I'll say is in the know in these type things, work related. I'm not going to say his name, but he writes, it's a little long,

so bear with me guys. And sorry for the coronavirus talk everyone, but this is actually what's taking over the world news, including now a hockey podcast. So as I said before, take this with a grain of salt. We all have had many concussions, but just we have to talk about it. This is the text. So I've been in the weeds with this thing since the end of January because my boss is obsessed with it. I've had to build logarithmic, crazy word, logarithmic death rate models for each country with reported cases. It likely originated when a Chinese national who was also a Canadian citizen stole vials of harmful pathogens from a lab in Winnipeg and brought them back to study at Wuhan University. Sometime in early December, this strain of flu was contracted there

and it started spreading like wildfire. It went for at least four weeks before the Chinese even acknowledged it publicly. They are known to doctor any number they release to public and likely have undershot their cases slash deaths by a factor of 10. It is very real and serious for everyone. But the key takeaway is that the average age of all death cases across the world, this far as 80, I think our cohort, even if we contracted it, we'll be fine because we are young and live in the medical capital of the world.

It will continue to grow at an alarming rate in the U.S. as the growth rate in cases has yet to plateau. So does that not scare you a little bit? Oh, big time. Now, I'll say when you start shutting things down like this, you got to think that why can't they play the games, right? If the games start getting canceled, then I'm going gonna be in a real panic but for right now why do you have to cancel games have no fans in the arena that really sucks and it's gonna be weird to watch and weird to play in but but the games will still go on and all these people who may be quarantined hopefully not will be watching the games imagine the ratings in the next few weeks if these cases continue to get worse and worse so I just think that it doesn't make sense to me as of right now, because as scary as it sounds to shut down everything,

if they start canceling games, like, is that really what you have to do? You can't, you can't make measures of having no fans. The games have to be canceled. Is that not a little overreaction or am I, am I not knowing anything? Like I need your guys' opinions on that. Well, I mean, we're talking about a game here. I get that there's a major business involved in a lot of money exchanging hands but i mean i don't know i i feel like we're in a bad dream at this point yeah go ahead it feels like it's got to be like

almost all or nothing because like well why can you go to the movies if there's say 200 people there well i know that different than a game that maybe only 200 people show up at it feels like you can't have fast you gotta say everything down or fucking shut nothing down. And then we're going to Hawaii. We're going to Hawaii now. Rich man. Jesus. Why?

But but is in seriousness, you talk about what's going on and and are you scared to travel? And what happens if you get there and you and you come back? You're going to be quarantined. You ask all these questions. Well, or how about it? But hold on. Let going to be quarantined. You ask all these questions. Well, hold on. Let me just say this. But do I stop living my life?

Like, I'm not going to stop living my life. I until maybe I sound like a more maybe when I'm dying from it, you'll be like, oh, remember clown boy with the ears sticking out talking about he is going to keep living his life in Hawaii. Well, he's dead. So maybe, maybe, and now maybe I continue to just live my life until the government says, like on the news, breaking news, don't leave your house. Then it's panic time. Well, in your situation, considering you're going to Hawaii, you're on an island, right? What happens if it goes to the extreme that all flights are being canceled?

I mean, I guess it's an okay place where you get to hang out as long as you have to, considering that flights are canceled. Yeah, but I'd be broke'd be broken like three years well that's what i'm saying i'd be like i'm back on south beach so in the end guys everyone listening i'm taking it more serious now everyone that i i had so many messages some of you people are you that hurt are you that mad at me like take it easy dude i can't believe you would speak to all of your followers about how how much people are being pussies how could you even use that language and call people pussies for for what a disease that could kill everyone dude relax i was watching like live from the players as i was saying i don't even remember saying all right well all right just a couple

other notes uh while we're at it um so far Austria Germany Poland Norway and Slovakia have all canceled their hockey seasons or what was left of them uh the Swedish government amounts that announced basically the games that were being played Wednesday night will be the last of it um they're going to decide whether they're going to keep on going or just cancel it in the entirety uh the Connecticut State Hockey Tournament could cancel but Massachusetts will go on the last of it. They're going to decide whether they're going to keep on going or just cancel it in the entirety. The Connecticut State Hockey Tournament could cancel, but Massachusetts will go on. Yeah, okay, so what the hell?

Why are they doing it? Exactly. Why is Mass still doing it in Connecticut? I don't get it. I don't get it either. And one other note, Biz, that you had on there, the Simpsons clip that said the Simpsons called it 100% fake. They never called it the coronavirus. I know you didn't make it up.

Yeah, somebody mentioned it to me. I'm like, RA would know if they called this one. They pretty much did what? I mean, Simpsons have predicted how many ridiculous things. Way more than you would ever guess, but that one they did not call it the coronavirus way back in the day. So as much as I'd love to give them credit for that, I can't. And now I hate doing the like, what if, because nobody knows anything.

But if this goes into the fall, then what happens? It's like, that's the scary part for me. No one has any clue when this is going to kind of die down, if it dies down at all. I heard it was supposed to die down in the summer, and then it's supposed to pick back up once the weather gets bad again. Oh, good. So I could have like a last once the weather gets bad again. Oh, good. So I could have like a last summer of a golf hurrah.

Sorry, babe. This coronavirus is going to kill me right when the fall hits. So I'm going to play 400 times in June, July, and August. It'll be crazy. I'll need a couple massages, but I'll get it done. Yeah, I think it's clear. It's going to get worse before it gets better. I mean, if people are getting sent home from work right now,

then, I mean, they're going to probably be out for a little while if it's already at this level. Would you go to Hawaii in a week and a half if you were me? Let's do a Twitter poll just like we do with everything else, and then you'll base your trip on our fan base. I've been told planes are, like, clean right now. They got the new air filter systems plugging in there, and it's, I mean, nobody's in airports.

So you got to think I'm in New York city. I'm going to die way before you do for going to Hawaii with. Yeah. The thing that sucks is I, when I, when I did call the people cowards, I'll, I'll change it.

I didn't think about like the, the chance of a kid bring going to see his grandmother. And like, that's what's happening is you're, you're, you're bringing it to people and it's so contagious. And then there's a couple possible cases where I live now, and then you start thinking of your parents and older people.

It's like if someone battled chemo, imagine how much this could affect them. Their immune system isn't as strong. So it starts to just get a little scary when you think of it that way. And I hate to bore people, and this is all bad news, but this is what's happening. So we'll move on to some hockey stuff. Absolutely it's real life stuff so uh we will move on from that tuesday night fun game fun night in the nhl shitload of playoff teams or teams battling for playoff position we're going at it uh personally i thought tampa toronto was probably the best game

of the night the leaves nipped tampa two to one and a possible first round preview there's what we watching the other night well i, I said it last podcast. They just play up to their competition, and I don't mind that first-round matchup for Toronto if they end up getting it far better than the one against Boston. William Nylander continues to impress. 31 goals on the season now. Of course, Austin Matthews chips in for his 47th.

And, you know, before that game, they were under fire a little bit and it's like these people need constant reminders that this core group is still very very young there's not a lot of older leadership in that locker room you know as opposed to the guys they brought over like kyle clipper they got i guess muzzling around a huge huge fucking boost to that blue line with morgan riley stepping back in and and from what I saw and from what I've been reading online is he didn't skip a beat. So they get a much-needed player back in the nick of time right before a nice little playoff push.

But, you know, a very good game by the Toronto Maple Leafs. And if they're playing like that, boys, if they catch stride here, look out. Anderson also stood on his head. I don't know if you watched the game I saw the third period I was kind of back and forth I was flipping all over there was a bunch of good games but Anderson was awesome but I don't know if you saw the the Justin Bourne had a tweet I responded to it was I think it was this morning kind of talking about their win and and I I agree biz they I they could give Tampa a great series,

but the way he describes them is pretty good. So he says, my biggest Leafs takeaway, that's their recipe. Freddie Anderson has to be all world or it just isn't there. When he can negate like five grade A chances against per game alone, they're freed up to do what they do best, and they look pretty darn good. When he's average, they don't. So you mentioned he was he was phenomenal like if he's not phenomenal they struggle to win games that's

not exactly a recipe for success so i i think that they definitely do play up to who they're playing against and that shows that in the playoffs they could get going but i i i would have a really hard time picking them to win a series in the first round whenever the playoffs do start. And Florida's not that far behind them, are they? No. Or is it four or five points? I think it's only three right now. Three.

And they have a game in hand. But, I mean, we'll see what happens moving forward. But Matthew's 47. There's a big log jam on both sides of the conference as far as teams fighting for that wild card position and that third spot in their respective divisions. Excuse me. And Matthews has, sorry, he needs two more goals at home, I think, to tie, maybe three to break the single season record for home goals by a leaf.

So that'd be a pretty cool stat that early in his career. And to get 52, I mean, it's wild. You got the game winner, which was his 47th of the year. And also worth noting too, is Morgan Riley returned to the lineup. And that obviously was a huge factor in shutting things down defensively for Toronto. Cause they were. Oh yeah. Biz said that. And he, and that guy, dude, he gets out there. He played the second most minutes. I think Dermott played a little more than him,

but in the next two, three games, Riley will be at 26-27 and changes their entire team. We've said that for a long time when they did have the stretch where they really struggled. And, Biz, you just mentioned, you know, the races on both sides. Well, there was one game that factored on each conference. The Canucks beat the Isles 5-4 in OT. Both teams got at least a point, but Vancouver jumped up to the second wildcard spot while the Isles dropped out of the wild card for the first time and in a couple months uh they got two hit two games in hand on columbus they're only a point back so it's not all that dire but uh vancouver man is this one of those teams we were talking last episode uh they're gonna get in a knot man

i mean if markstrom's out but this demko from uh former bc goal he's been fucking outstanding lately whit yeah that game was drunk. I think it was 2-1 Vancouver three minutes in. I couldn't stay up for the whole thing. I lasted the first two periods. The Islanders, while having not won a game in what seems like forever, I think

four of the losses are an overtime or shootout now. They've played some really good games and they're just – while not playing great defense and goaltending not being fabulous, they've had also some shit luck. So as much as I dog them, that was a good game. But I just took away, like, Patterson is so nasty, and so is – Barzell, too, he made a couple moves in that game he came out of his own zone

with a silky silky head fake to somebody don't remember who it was then came in on kind of a one-on-one two-on-two spinorama hit the post almost in my mind made me think like i did i call it i said he's not exactly a superstar yet so he he shows that but but then peterson like he had this dish over to Foley for the goal. Who's been unbelievable since getting acquired by them. He's got 24 goals now, I think. Maybe 27, right around there. But the pass Pedersen made was so perfect.

I don't know if I'm saying his name right. Don't get mad, Vancouver. The pass was so perfect. It was this sauce that had speed on it, and then he just buried it. So fun to watch. Quinn Hughes, I think he had two assists. He might have just had one, but he was flying around. Your old teammate in Pittsburgh, Gino, he got two goals, one assist,

and Pittsburgh's 5-2 win. The Pens got that nice little cushion between them and the wild card. They're not dropping like the Islanders did. I mean, another team, they've had an unreal amount of injuries, and they're just fucking hanging in there. And Gino's probably getting unheralded this year. I think we've almost taken him for granted because he's been such a superstar for so long, you forget this guy just keeps getting it done night after night.

I would have hammered them against the New Jersey Devils. I think they lost eight of their last ten before that one, and they needed to get back on track. And what's just weird is they've been overachieving all season long with all those injuries in the first half, and now that they're slowly getting guys back and getting healthy you know all of a sudden they're starting to struggle heading into playoffs and I remember taking a little bit of abuse online because I didn't have them in my top three teams as far as teams that might go on to win the Stanley

Cup they're just not peaking at the right time right now so maybe they can feed off that 5-2 win against the Devils and get things going here. And I think four of those losses in the eight out of the last ten were to four of the worst six teams in the entire league. So, I mean, talk about a team playing down to their competition during that stretch. So let's see if the Penguins can get things going. So Malkin has not spoken to the media, think in the last couple days because like he's sick of it i read an article in the athletic by rob rossi who just talks about he's he's had enough he's

gonna let his play do his talking and what a year he's had and the article this summer we talked about where he he really went in depth of his life and what he thought about his career and back home in russia and he talked about him and Mike Sullivan have a conversation where Sullivan told him like, you have great years left. And, and this year he's been awesome. He's been, it's, this is going to right now, this would be the first year he ever ends the season winning more face-offs than losing. He's never done that. And right now he is. I think there's seven guys in the NHL averaging uh over at least 1.3 points per game he's the only

guy in his 30s that's doing that 74 points at 55 games I wish I was a little better at the quick quick math like in terms of what that translates to an 82 game pace maybe somebody could help me there but domination by him and I think the team really needs it because as they've struggled, you've seen that when he doesn't go, I mean, it hasn't been easy for them. And Sid's called himself out in terms of having a couple off games and efforts that isn't very common for him. And, I mean, dude, Biz, you said it earlier that the loss of Gensel, it hits you harder than you think it will, right?

I mean, Russ has had a great year, but still it's losing a goal scoring a top, a legit top line player that can get you 40 goals. I mean, how I was leading their team and scoring when he went down. Yeah. Obviously there's going to be times where they struggle. I don't think anyone thought it would be this bad. Just jump back to Vancouver for a sec. Brock Besser also returned to the lineup as well.

He didn't score on Tuesday night's game. And I just said the word outstanding. I was talking about Thatcher Demko. He's been pretty good. He hasn't been outstanding. I don't want to get fucking drilled for that. He was on a bit of a run there when he was actually the glorified backup. Now that he's been relied upon more heavily,

he has been struggling a little bit, at least compared to his older numbers. R.A., since we're on the Pittsburgh topic, did they not just land a top prospect out of college? They certainly did, yeah. We had a couple of undrafted college free agents. The Pens picked up Dartmouth forward Drew O'Connor. He had 38 goals in 65 collegiate games as a freshman. He was on the all-Ivy second team,

the only freshman on either the first or the second team. He's had 17 goals, led the ECAC. He was the second most in the NCAA of any rookie player. This kid sounds like he's a bona fide sniper. I mean, you know, you throw him out there with Gene or Sid, and if you're talented, man, you're going to produce. Are you familiar with this kid at all, Whit? I asked a couple scouts about him,

and they said that he's very big and can move. So right away, you know a guy like that's going to get a chance to be able to score in college. I don't think that his upside is necessarily like his hockey IQ, but I think that he can move, and he's a big kid, and he's shown that he can score at the college level. So he's definitely going to get a good look. I feel like there's like a group of teams and when i

mean a group i mean like two or three teams that always land these guys it's either the penguins the range the rangers always end up getting the college guy and i think they just actually got one as well didn't they another one yep rangers signed another undrafted free agent uh santa patrick uh khodorenko out of mich State. He was with the National Training and Development Program a little while ago, a couple years ago, rather. He'll report to Hartford of the AHL while on an amateur tryout. The California native played in the development program, like I just said, with current Rangers defenseman Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren.

So he knows a couple guys in the organization. But because these guys signed after the trade deadline as free agents, they cannot play in the postseason. But there was one other signing who was a guy who was drafted, guys signed uh after the trade deadline as free agents they cannot play in the postseason uh but there was one other signing uh who was a guy who was drafted the la kings biz they signed 2019 draft pick alex chaircloth to the three entry level deal start next season he'll join your old squad on ontario rain the 19 year old just finished his freshman year at wisconsin nine goals 17 assists in 29 games uh what biz i know you had a few other things you wanted to address

with the old LA Kings as well. Well, I saw that tweet towards you the other day about an LA Kings fan complaining that they've been on a bit of a run lately, and he thought that it deserved to be mentioned. And you know what? Hey, bud, guys are going out before they play your team. You guys were the joke. Like, you win six in a row, and you're in last place it's honestly

not a big deal sorry to burst your bubble well it's not all bad and and uh and one guy in particular i want to talk about with john was jonathan quick um you know he's he was obviously a major contributor to those two stanley cups when they went on that run he's been playing a lot better as of late and and people forget this guy you know he had hip had hip surgery. He's been on the IR quite a bit, and it seems like he's finally finding his game here towards the end of the season. I mean, in his last five starts, he had his first shutout of the season, by the way, against the Leafs when the Leafs rolled in there

in that 1-0 game. It ended up going to a shootout. I think William Nylander was the only guy who got a puck past him all night. You know, he's posted a 951 save percentage, you know, 1.4 goals against average in those last five games. And he's won all five of them, as I mentioned. And just happy for him because he's such a good guy. And I'd imagine, you know, playing at that level for so long

and then all of a sudden, you know, with the injuries and not playing as well, that pressure, especially with the contract he got delivered, it would probably weigh in on him a little bit. But just going and diving deeper into their organization, I actually talked to Mike Sutter, who's the coach in the American Hockey League. I had him as a coach. I was talking to him about their prospect pool, and he likes a lot of them.

And right now they're ranked second as far as prospect pool of all NHL teams. I believe New York Rangers are number one. But Alex Turcotte obviously being a big part of the future was the fifth overall pick. He's a centerman. They got Akil Thomas. I think everybody knows who that is. He ended up scoring the winner for Team Canada at the World Juniors this year.

We're going to get him on the podcast soon. A few other guys that he mentioned was this Bjorn Foote, who's right now playing in Ontario. Now, a lot of comparisons get thrown around when talking about prospects. He mentioned Lidstrom as one of the guys, but as far as efficiency, so this Bjorn Foote,

he plays with efficiency, okay? He's very calm. Great word. Very calm in his demeanor. He's not wasting energy out there. He's got great vision, unbelievable hockey sense, and he just learns fast. He's not making the same mistakes over and over.

So he's another guy. He's a left-handed defenseman who's coming up. This Arthur Kaliev, I hope I'm saying that well. He's an American kid. He lit it up at the World Juniors this year. He had 51 goals last year for the Hamilton Bulldogs of the OHL. He's already got 44 so far this season with 98 points. So there's another

stud and a steal in the second round a few years ago. They got that Grundstrom who's been, he's a bit of a wild card. He's been up and down a little bit this year. They have their goalie of the future. This Cal Peterson kid is the real deal. He's got a nice seasoned veteran in Jonathan Quick to teach him the ropes in order to learn how to become a

true professional uh mike anderson's another guy who kind of came out of nowhere he's a left-handed defenseman playing with uh matthew roi who uh or excuse me matthew roy i'm gonna get slaughtered because i know it's roy he's an american orA. Kings fans are just loving this right now, just rubbing all over each other. They're one of the best teams at drafting. Mike Fuda has done an incredible job there. When Rob Blake took over as general manager, too, he was getting thrown to the wolves.

This is a rebuild, and I think he's done an incredible job. They have eight picks in the first three rounds of this draft coming up this year. And they're going to be high. Well, yeah. They have eight picks in the first three rounds of this draft coming up this year. And they're going to be high. Well, yeah. Well, you'd hope so if they end up getting lucky with the lottery ball. They got, of course, a first rounder.

They got three second rounders and two – oh, God, I'm struggling here, boys. It's a lot of information for me to get down. Yeah, you're going on like an NHL network like rant about the Kings. I am. You get down. Yeah, you're going on like an NHL network rant about the Kings. I am. You're right. Yeah, so I've never even heard you have this many stats on one team. These fans are going to be loving it. Another guy they got is that Fagamo. Am I saying that right?

He makes the shoes? No, not Ferragamo, you idiot. Fagamo. He lit up World Juniors for Sweden as well. So they got some good things in the pipeline, and I think as a Kings fan, it would be very comforting to know they have still a decent, solid

core group there with Doughty and the Kopitars, and I don't need to keep listening to them off. And as one of the best teams with the best prospect pools, I think they're in good shape. So there you go, LA Kings fans. We just stroked you off for a little bit, and sorry about my Kings rant. And thank you to Mike Stothers for talking to me today

and wishing me a happy birthday after letting me pick his brain. Wait, Grinelli, Elliot was on NHL Network chirping you. I'm on his side. I mean, you've got to be able to make the guys look good, not just throw a bald spot on the front page of your TV. Yeah. Uh, just trying to get a new producer chase,

uh, into the, into the mix here. Good. I'm not going to throw him under the bus, but I will say I did not make those promos. Okay. But yeah,

Elliot, you heard it. Unacceptable. Speaking of angry fans, uh, Grinnelli, probably a good time to let people know we have a Rick and Red Deer shirt that dropped, right?

Yeah, we've dropped two, one in red and one in white. So relax, Rick. Your shirts are on sale now. There we go. All right, there we go. Hey, look, a lot of people might be laid up for one reason or another or don't want to leave the house, so getting food to their old homestead might be tough.

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It was eight picks in the first four rounds of the 2020 draft for the LA Kings. So the shocker that I made a mistake while trying to list off all that shit. I thought you crushed it. Thanks, bud. Thank you. I really did. I actually wrote

down a bunch of stuff for the new jersey devils as well well i was gonna say did you want to get into that now do you want to we we can only do uh one of the top five worst teams in the league per episode well i i didn't really want to go into the team i was going to go more so into mackenzie blackwood but you know oh yeah we could he is unreal i saw an argument that he could, if you look at certain numbers, definitely be the rookie of the year. Absolutely. He should be in the conversation. Some people would think I'm crazy or you'd be crazy for saying that.

He actually has the second-best five-on-five save percentage since December in the entire National Hockey League. Behind who, guys? Guess who he's behind. Hold on. Give me Connor Helbuck. Darcy Kemper, baby. No, he's been hurt.

Well, I thought it was a Coyotes guy. What a dummy. I was teeing you guys up because you guys like to stroke off the group. Yeah, Tuca, Tuca. Oh, you know what, though? People get you convinced in this city that he stinks. Morons. Rugo, I'm just talking to you.

My buddy Rugo thinks Tuca stinks. I'm like, you watch every Bruins game. How dumb are you, doctor, to think that this guy stinks? He's unbelievable every year. Best Bruins goalie they've ever had, you ask me. And as far as that Calder trophy race,

RA, you read The Athletic more than I do, but that Dom, and I can't say his last name because it has three sounds. Lucision is, I believe, how you say it and I can't say his last name because it has three sounds lucid as I believe how you say it. Yeah. He's a, he's an intelligent guy. It comes out with some awesome articles. A Blackwoods war wins above replacement.

An advanced stat to measure a single player's impact on a team getting wins is 2.6, which is the highest, not only amongst rookies, but amongst, amongst all goalies. In that time, the devils have played at a 110-point pace with him in the net. They also, as an organization standpoint, they can have potentially three first-round picks coming up this year. Their own, Vancouver, if Vancouver makes playoffs, acquired via Tampa Bay and Coleman trade.

And, of course, Arizona's, unless it's a top-three pick, because the pick is lottery protected. So if Arizona misses playoff and wins the lottery, that pick moves to next year. So that Ty Smith is one of the most promising prospects, mobile puck-moving defenseman. He was a WHL defenseman of the year last year. So a lot of positive things.

Also moving into next season, if we want to dive deeper into the Devils, they have between $27 and $32 million in cap space available, depending on what they decide what the cap is going to be at. I think you mentioned him within the last month, that Jesper Bratt. Oh, I saw him walk around Pareko with his filthy little open of the hip moves. He's been good ever since he came in the league. Yeah, he's very silky up front. So they been good ever since he came in the league. He's very silky up front. They've got a lot of things to look forward

to. Of course, we've talked about Jack Hughes quite a bit. Just a difficult season for him. He's only had one assist in his last 14 games. Doesn't have a ton around him. I think Simmons was playing on his line for most of the year before he got moved over. I don't see that as a negative. I think that's

going to, going into the offseason, he's going to be very amped up to you know get in the gym put on some weight and he's going to want to come back and have a big year so uh and then of course we've talked about his share and and i think i think i'm going to have to take the l on that one is what you took one on uh earlier in the episode with admitting you were wrong with the coronavirus i think we were a little hard on him. I talked to their insider, Pasha, my videographer, who's probably the biggest New Jersey Devils fan in the entire world, surprisingly, because he's from Vancouver. So when they were winning all of their championships when he was growing up,

he just completely jumped ship, that coward. What a bandwagon fan, Pasha. He seems to think if he can get a few weapons around him and the offensive numbers come up, he could be a Selkie-type candidate player moving forward. And at a $7 million cap hit, I think we were really wrong about his top end. So there you go. There you have it.

Both organizations have been struggling mightily throughout the season, but they got things going in the right direction. Probably worth noting that Joe Thornton had three goals and four assists in his first year in the league, and he's turned out all right. So sometimes that first year is a struggle for guys. This kid, and hopefully Corona doesn't take down the world championships for the men as it did for the women,

but that would be perfect for him to get over there, and I think he'd have a lot of fun. He'd be playing with some better players. It's like the new start to a season, the same way playoffs are for some guys. Don't worry about him. I think he's going to be great. And I also think many people said when he was drafted, do not expect much the first year.

They kind of knew it wasn't going to be a Patrick Kane or Austin Matthews type situation where he lit it up from the get-go. From the get-go. So the good news is I think the New Jersey Devils have found their starting goaltender moving forward. From some people I've talked to within the organization, they seem to think he has an incredible work ethic and just a recipe to learn. And I think moving forward, they'll be all right.

As far as him winning the Calder Trophy, considering they're so far out of the playoffs, I don't think you can consider him. I think that he finishes third. I think that would be a fair number for him. Yeah, right now. I mean, Olofsson's been real good. McCar, Hughes, I don't know.

Yeah, top three, boom. Yeah, boys, I want to jump back to Tuesday, too. A couple other guys I want to recognize. Nicolas Delaurier from the Ducks. He had a first period. Natty Hattie was the fastest in Anaheim history. He went from four goals to seven goals overnight. But I also want to give the shout-out to the organization, the Ducks, as well.

Wednesday night, they donated 19% of all merchandise sales and half of the 50-50 to UC Irvine. That's where Jay Bomeester was treated. That's where the 19 came from, the 90%. So they were donating some extra money on his behalf. So a nice little gesture there by the Ducks organization. But how about this kid from Carolina with Morgan Geeky? First NHL game, has two goals and an assist.

Scores again in the second game. He scores three goals on his first three shots on goal in the NHL, dude. And actually, dude, he's the seventh guy to do it since 1997-98. I would have guessed like maybe two, three guys did it, but seven dudes have done it. As far as scoring on their first three shots? Three goals on their first three shots, yeah. I believe Christian Fisher for the Arizona Coyotes scored four goals

on his first four shots. Am I wrong? He's on the three-for-three list. So, yeah, he must have been him. That as well. So, shout-out to him as well. And the Bruins, they played in Philadelphia. They gave Carter Hott just his third regulation loss at home this season.

And the Bruins, the first team to pass 100 points. We got a pretty good viral clip out of that one. Fucking Z sending Sean Couturier's stick up to the heavens. Yeah, hold on, though. That thing had to be 50 feet in the air. I didn't even get to talk after the Morton Geeky thing. Okay, sorry. I got to bring up a little other fact about this kid and his family

because they're buzzing right now because this kid's in the NHL, lighting it up easy, making the game look simple. Well, his brother was just picked second overall in the WHL draft. So you can imagine soon enough he'll be riding the bus, probably getting Ronnie Textile and a lot of people back home riding the bus from Prince George to Everett to moose jaw to Regina. So congratulations. I mean, you could tell the geeky kids are feeling it. No doubt about it. And our same game, Sebastian, I hope two goals,

one power play one short handed in an assist. He's been having another month's the year for the Canes. It keeps them in the wild card. One spot, they keep on chugging along. Got some injury news to get to. Nate Dogg, our buddy, Nathan McKinnon, he left the Kings game early Monday with a lower body injury. He's going to miss one to two weeks.

Kael McCard just returned Wednesday night. But how about this for the Avs, man? They're missing McKinnon, Calvert, Grubauer, Kadri, Ranthony, Burakovsky, Nemesnikoff, and Colin Wilson. That's seven of their top nine forwards in the starting goalie, man. It's a miracle they're still where they are right now. Hey, guys? It just shows that this team, if they can get healthy, is for real.

I think that when they're at their peak and if they can get everyone back, and who knows if they actually will, but when they were on, man, I think they could actually go for a run and win the Stanley Cup because especially when McKinnon and Rantanen, I don't know if it'll ever actually happen again this year. I mean, that's why luck is involved so much in going on a run because if these guys could ever get healthy, who knows what they could do.

McKinnon, they're saying, I'm sorry, they're saying week to week? One to two weeks. One to two weeks. All right. So, I mean,, they're saying week to week? One to two weeks. One to two weeks. All right. So, I mean, what's left in the regular season? Three weeks? Yeah, three weeks. I mean, season ends three weeks from Saturday.

All right. So, you got to think, if he gets back and you get two games in before playoffs, you don't worry about him. But the other guys, you just got to hope that's going to change very quickly here. We had another injury too, Biz, in your neck of the woods. Spock plugged forward. Connor Gowan, he a lower body body injury as well versus calgary he's listed as week to week uh that's the last thing that team needed right now biz to lose its leading goal score he's got 39 points in uh 68 games third and points as well yeah yeah they've just been very

inconsistent down the stretch here i'm sure most of you've seen that graphic they put out since acquiring taylor hall which I thought TSN was just stirring the pot a little bit. There's been a lot of other factors other than Taylor Hall coming over and the reason why they're two games below.500 since he has moved over. Very difficult loss. The good news for the Coyotes moving forward here, they have 12 games left, eight of which will be at home,

and they are at control, a little bit of their own destiny as far as playing teams of which will be at home. And they are at control, a little bit of their own destiny as far as playing teams that they will be competing for those final playoff spots with. But, yeah, just a lot of inconsistency. They were up 2-0 the other night on Winnipeg on the road as well, and then they ended up blowing that one 4 unanswered for the Jets. So, you know, it's a tough setting right now, and losing a potential 30-goal score is very difficult.

And they didn't mention that their star goalie's been out pretty much the whole time since hall's been there right yeah so that has to have something to do with the team not being as solid as they thought they they might have coming down the stretch well we all know that connor godwin can certainly put the puck on the net which means it's the perfect time to tell you that the Budweiser red light is back on for 2020. This thing is awesome. You use the Budweiser sports app. You sync it to any NHL team in game. And when your team scores in real life, your red light will go off right in your own home. Basically because of Budweiser, you can bring live game action to your living room. This thing is legit. It's a fully working replica of the real thing. And it's perfect for bringing the atmosphere to your home. It connects via Wi-Fi and the Budweiser Sports app.

Just let the red light do its thing. Go to BudweiserRedLight.com and use the code CHICKLETS20. All right, boys. I think it's about time we had to send it over to Kevin BX. I'm not even sure we mentioned we had him yet, did we? No. No, we didn't. No talk of that.

Actually, yeah, we had him on a couple years ago. It's been a while, and I happened to bump into him randomly. We were in, I think, either St. Louis or Dallas, one of those cities, and we ended up bumping into him, bringing him on a couple years ago. It's been a while, and I happened to bump into him randomly. We were in, I think, either St. Louis or Dallas, one of those cities, and we ended up bumping into him, bringing him on, and had a nice long chat with Kevin Bieksa. So without further ado, let's send it over to him. Well, our next guest is making as much anticipated second appearance on the show. He was a hard-nosed D-man for 13 NHL seasons,

racking up 808 games between Vancouver and Anaheim. Today, he's a budding media star between his TV gig with Sportsnet and his new podcast, Kessin Juice, with longtime teammate Ryan Kessler. Welcome back to Spittin' Chicklets, Kevin Bieksa. Thank you. What an intro. That was very good, R.A. A hard-nosed defenseman. I like that.

I don't know what the hell it means, but I like it. I like the sound of it. I saw R.A.'s Instagram. He was up two hours ago still, so I'm surprised. That was a solid intro right there. I was up at breakfast at 730, pot of coffee. I've been ready to go. So how's the podcast going?

I was listening to it earlier. It's pretty good shit. Podcast is good. Obviously, you guys are at the top of the mountain, right? And we're way at the bottom, but we're having fun with it right now. Try to give you a little chick that's bump here. You know what I mean? Get some listeners for you.

Appreciate the support. Kessler, if you've listened to any, he's you a little chick let's bump here you know what i mean get some list appreciate the support kessler is uh if you've listened to any he's getting a little bit better so he's he's obviously a pretty entertaining guy and you play with him when and i told him when we started this thing i go don't try to change who you are right like you're a prick you're a miserable prick be a miserable prick don't be the nice guy right like i'm a little bit of the more of the nice guy you're the prick so we're starting to figure out our dynamic like you guys got a dynamic here too right and it works it works i'll tell you i listen i can't tell the difference in whose voice is who if it took me about 20

minutes of listening to figure out i think you two sound exactly alike it's a fucking insult right it's actually a good thing because when you don't want to show up and you're a little tired you'll just have him give both opinions and you guys can get away with it no because catch is like if you're not talking i'm not talking juice fuck this just silence it's funny the first couple episodes and i love cast right but i have to chirp the guy but the first couple episodes i got my notes out and my questions and i'm looking at his camera i don't see shit right sitting there you know like leaning back in his beautiful house in his office and so we're starting to figure it out where's he at right now he's in michigan yeah he's got a nice little compound on the water right only place he never bought

anywhere we played and he only had this place in michigan which is beautiful he always was renting always renting that's i wonder what guys end up thinking like horikoff remember had this huge awesome house but then you got to deal with selling and stuff so there's times when buying's great and then renting you're like see you later i'm out of here it's just so much easier at times well if you get yeah if you get traded or whatever mid-season then you have to deal with all that garbage but he's always on long-term deals but just that was his advice that he got now he's still technically an employee of the ducks have they put any sort of parameters on like what he can and can't say is he just like fucking like daring them to you know do whatever i don't think he's asking permission right now

just like fucking like daring them to you know do whatever i don't think he's asking permission right now i think he's blazing his own trail like sometimes i scratch my head and i'm like can you do this and then i ask him and he's like do whatever i want all right sounds good i mean he's he can do him i guess yeah all right i think everyone was aware of your your humorous personality did you expect them to get the the media right after you were playing? I don't know. Like, I always enjoyed, I can swear, I always enjoyed fucking around with the media when I played, right? Murphy, you were always fucking with Murphy. I loved it.

But he was my boy, right? When I went to Vancouver, I hung out with Murph my first year more than any other player on the team, right? Because we were just, we lived downtown, me, him, and Burroughs. You know, we were, at the time, we had no family or anything in town so we hung out all the time we developed a friendship and then every time i was with the guy i want to mess around with him right so i don't know if i wanted to get into the media like i don't even really consider myself a media guy i'm just having a good time people people love it i know like when you hop on people are like more bx

and more bx and i mean you're like uncle no no no no it's great man we need these types of personalities and keep more people engaged uh like even going back to when you were playing like shit you were doing on the ice uh when i think you who did you have laughing which coach when you made fun of verne fiddler vigno right la vigno fiddler made fun of me, and I just took it. Everyone's seen that clip, and I always joke around. I saw him actually in the rinks this year because he's got an 07 son. I have an 07 son.

We're coaching against each other, and I'm like, I put you on the map. You making fun of me put you on the map. And that's what everyone knows him for. But he's one of those guys. We were just talking about Colby Armstrong, who we love. Fiddler is one of those guys who's a little bit of of a rat right like he wanted to kill him on the ice but he's from what i heard he's an unbelievable guy off the ice now i was listening to your show earlier uh you were talking about zach castian you had him on what did you get in a fight with him when you were a teammate with him in an elevator that was one of the fights i got in

like he and if if if you're not going to listen to any of my episodes listen to five minutes of that episode when he talks about his sobriety and growing up and hitting rock bottom when he was in montreal and he got in the car accident when they hit the tree and he grew up and he's a pretty impressive guy now like articulate well-spoken and i'm like where did this come from when i play with you you're just a mutant right like running around like hitting guys spitting like fighting guys like fighting teammates so yeah we got into it the one night and then we had the gm meetings the next morning and we got into a dust up in an elevator and one of the young rookies frankie crotto no fan you guys ever played with frankie he's babcock

him and babs have a special relationship that's how we talk to him so frankie's trying to break up our fight in the elevator at five in the morning and he gets suckered and hes have a special relationship. That's how we talk to him. So Frankie's trying to break up our fight in the elevator at 5 in the morning, and he gets suckered, and he's got a big shiner for his meeting. So he walks into his meeting with, I think it was Mike Gillis, with a big black eye, and he's like, what the heck was that? And he's like, a juice in Cassian got into it last night. Yeah, sure, you weren't at the Roxy. I remember early in Cassian's career, I won't say the NHL player,

but he had some junior issues too, and they're like, I don't know, this guy's going to end up getting in legit trouble. He's just too much of a wild man. And then since that incident, he actually really has changed things. We're now not only off the ice is everything better, but he's playing really good on ice. He's a legit difference maker. Yeah, like figure it out, right?

Finally. You stay sober and you keep your stuff together, and he's married now and he's got a beautiful little girl and like his he's grown up yeah life's all coming together and it's it's awesome to see because i saw him at his probably his worst and now he's on top of the world which is awesome i want to talk you quite a bit but about you excuse me quite a bit but you you're probably going to do a good job of explaining these relationships you have with these guys and give us some more in-depth look you spent some time with lo wongo like just what like what the fuck is this guy like off

the ice this is one of those guys that before like instagram and twitter came out he had no personality right he was just a quiet reserve guy loved to like sit sit in his room on the road and just play those eight hour poker tournaments never go out for team dinners then he gets instagram and this guy's like a comedian all of a sudden right he's popping out with all these and he was able to express himself through that outlet which was weird and now he's turned into this personality where i know he's trying to stay out of the media until the end of the year but and he's and he's he's advising for the florida panthers which i don't understand goalies don't really know shit about hockey. That's what the legends, they get that job.

You're an advisor. Yeah, you're an advisor to the GM. I think he sits up top during the games, like the eye in the sky. Because the one game I'm texting him, and I'm like, what are you doing right now? He's like, I'm advising. I'm like, who? Like, who are you sitting beside? He goes, I'm sitting beside the goalie coach right now.

So anyways, what a personality he turned out to be. And I was hanging out with Darcy Hordachuk in your neck of the woods, Scottsdale, last weekend. And him and Luongo used to just go at it. And Hordy would just go at him all the time. Like, you're overpaid, Lou. Like, $62 million mistake. Like, he'd say stuff like that in the dressing room all the time. And that dynamic was one of the best things I saw in my career i got to play with hordy in edmonton actually i saw him uh bury ziggy palfrey so hard that he retired the next day when he was on nashville but i just remember hordy just selling

every guy something he's like hey i got a great deal on suits for you wit check these suits out i was like hordy's a legit salesman to his credit though when i was there he he had the keys to the city he's like you want to go to bar's like, you want to go to Barry Jackson? You want to go to Barry Jackson? And I'm like, what's Barry Jackson? Oh, car auction. So I'm like, oh, whatever, man. So we walk in, and he's like shaking hands, walking around, VIP, grabbing like a roll

and eating a piece of bread while he's walking to get a free drink. Like, this guy is connected in the God's name. Yeah, he's a Thunderbird now. The group that runs the Waste management open, like the whole tournament. So you have to wear this weird little costume with the necklace, and you have a hat, and you've got to cruise around. But you're running the tournament. So during the waste management, he's got the key to it all.

He'll drive around in a golf cart. He gets me in back door every year. Well, this year I got tickets because I'm caddying for Shane Doan. But he's done a good job of networking down there. He's always been a networker. Oh, yeah. All you tough guys are, right? Well, we got to do something because, you know,

the money's not coming in very long, right? Horty does it all. He's like renovating houses. He's got his hands in everything, Horty. Yeah, he is. And you knew he was going to be like that when he played because, like you said, he used to steal guys' sticks during the game while we were all playing. And he was healthy scratch.

He'd steal all the sticks and he'd bring them into his car and then he'd sell them. Right? And then we'd come back and all of our sticks are gone. And we're like, where the hell are our sticks? And he'd go, I don't know, I don't know. And then we went to the security footage and actually saw him taking them and putting them in his car during the game. It's a hustle. It's a hustle.

I'd say Lil' Ango is probably one of our most requested guys that we haven't been able to get on. He just flat out, we don't even get replies from him. Were you around when Horty, I think he bought a car off one of the guys on the team and then resold it for more money. So I think the story you're thinking about is he finally convinced Luongo to sell him his G-Wagon at the time.

That's when G-Wagons first came out. So he's like, just sell it to me. You don't want the hassle of you putting it on Craigslist and having people come to your house. So he sells it to Horty. Horty's driving it around the city, but he doesn't change the registration. So he's getting parking ticket after parking ticket after parking ticket. And they're all going back to Luongo. Luongo has to pay for them.

So he did this for like five months or whatever before Luongo finally caught on and said, are you kidding me? Like, you didn't even change over the registration. He goes, I didn't change the insurance either. He's like, I'm going to park wherever I want. That's unreal. He used to bring, I know we're talking about Horty too much,

but the guy's so entertaining. He used to bring tours into the dressing room after the game, right? So much that they canceled it, like no more tours, right? Because he would do it for a kickback of some sort, right? And then after, he used to take tours to, he'd take his tour from the rink to Luongo's apartment building because him and Kessler lived on the same floor of an apartment building. I think it was like on Seymour.

And there was only two units out of three on that floor. And he would go up. He'd be like, that's Kessler's suite. That's where he lives. And he'd knock on it. Let's see if he's home. And then he'd go, that's Luongo. And Luongo would open the door a little crack and see him.

And he'd slam the door shut. It's another Hortichok tour. This is like during the season. Game day. He's trying to take his pregame nap. He's like, well, that's Luongo sleeping. Yeah, you go through. This is the pool and the amenities. This is where Luongo comes after a game. game day he's trying to take his pre-game nap he's like well that's long go sleeping um yeah you like go through like this is the the pool and the in the amenities this is where long go

comes after a game and just soaks and and like he's selling it like that's what he does i love it what are some of the challenges you've run into starting podcasting you know there's always bumps i know me and what was that no you know have some bumps along the way what are the yeah you computer savvy like who's doing, the editing of it and stuff? Well, not me. Yeah. We got a producer. We got the brains behind the operation like you guys do, right?

Yeah. No, we stick to doing us, but you guys know, like, the content part. Like, by the time we talk about things, it feels like everybody in the media has talked about some of these issues, right? So how do you – but at the end of the day, people want to hear, like, players' perspectives, right? Exactly, perspective right so that's kind of our angle is that we we played the game and yeah the media has their opinion but like this is kind of what we think the players or this is how we feel and i think a lot of other players would feel similar yeah you were saying i think

it was easy i could like i said i couldn't tell if it was your test of it was it saying you hate the code like the how they talk about the code in the game was it you saying you can't i don't like the term i don't like the term the code i don't know do you talk about the code in the game. Was it you saying you can't stand that word? I said I don't like the term. I don't like the term the code. I don't know. Do you like that? The code. I don't use it frequently. I talk.

It's the game within the game. Yeah. That's the way I always say it. The game within the game. Like there's so much going on that the average fan doesn't understand. Oh, buddy. Don't even get me started. Well, I think if you're talking average fan, they're like,

I don't even know all the rules on the ice. You're talking about an unwritten rule, the code? How do I figure that one out? It's like fans can never understand what it is. I get that. So wait, when you went to Vancouver originally, who were the rookies with you your first year? Was it Kess?

Kess was like it was his first full year because there was the lockout the year before. So I think the year before that, he played maybe like 20 or 30 games. So basically all year, that's the first full year. Kessler, Burroughs got called up like a week after me because I actually got called up with Rick Rippin, if you remember him. And he scored his first game against Edmonton.

I don't think your pronger was there, so I don't think you were there yet. And then I think he broke broke something a week later and then burrows came up and that's no way yeah so burrows actually got in the door because ripping got hurt so you had a long i mean burrows you cast so that's a lot like you guys played together a long time after being rookies that's pretty special to all come in together yeah it was good all had like kids around the same time and married and stuff like that so yeah we had we had a good little nucleus there what was burrows like uh night the other night, the ring of honor? He must have been busting his balls.

Yeah, he's like, why didn't you come? And I'm like, well, I don't know. I work. I had stuff going on, right? So he's like, are you going to Hank and Danny's night? And I go, well, yeah, of course. I'm hosting it. Were you there for their final game?

No, I wasn't. At home, I meant? No, I was watching it on TV. I don't know why. No, I wasn't. At home, I meant? No, I was watching it on TV. I don't know why. No, I wasn't there. It was wild. They were standing up every TV timeout the whole time. It was just a very special night.

And obviously, the one ended up scoring the goal. He's got one for you. No, about those two, the craziest thing I've ever seen was when, listen, I never know the difference between Daniel and Henrik, but one of them won the scoring. Henrik's or Henrik but one of them won the scoring an inch taller one of them won the scoring title the last game of the year with like a dish between the legs from the brother and then the other uh that was Henrik how sick was that so with Calgary that last game I think he was like two points behind Ovechkin going into the last game and they said they pulled the g or sorry the coach pulled me in and edler i think it

was edler and he goes you you and kevin and the twins are going to play the whole game together every shift and don't dump any pucks in just it was the funnest game i've ever played we want him to get the scoring title we want him to get it so i didn't like i i had a couple turnovers like at the blue line that i normally wouldn't do right just holding on the puck making plays and he ends up getting a four having a 4.9 and winning the scoring right so we were so happy that's awesome man you're out there for every shift playing so free so free i think i had like two goals and i'm like two assists like just playing like the way i probably should have played the rest yeah you're like why didn't i do this every game my trip in the pocket for like stupid

so the first time we had you on you were still playing i think it was your last season in the league and then you finished up basically with the Spengler Cup in 2018, correct? I did, yeah. How did that lead up to that? Fill us in on that story. I was on the golf course, and I got a call from Sean Burke. And he said, hey, do you want to play on the Spengler Cup at Christmas? And I said, oh, yeah, I'll consider that.

Who's on the team? He goes, well, nobody. You're the first call. And I go, oh, I guess I'm in then, right need somebody right i'm captain right yeah so i i kind of asked a few questions and then i'm like yeah family's coming cool little vacation in the alps the swiss alps and that was pretty cool experience we end up losing in a shootout in the finals to who one of the some team in finland finland's always had my number, right? And I just, it bugs me, but like we had four or five chances to win where we had like our

shooter go last, like Zach Dalby, like all these guys that are ex-NHL guys that should have, somebody's got to score, right? Like, come on. Somebody put the puck in their hand. Shoes on the bench like, Jesus! I'm blowing guys up all over the place. I'm doing my job here. Let me score a goal. Did you guys get a chance to talk about Bowling Green last time he

was on? And how you ended up there? Brought brought it up but we can talk about it again people's yeah yeah it's been a long time i chose it i chose bowling green so bowling green was the first team to offer me like a full scholarship right and it was in like an early bird tournament in like 40 or like your neck of the woods i believe and they they were the first team and then after one team offers you a full ride the other teams catch on it's like boom boom boom dominoes right so I had like 14 or 15 after so you get to pick five schools to go visit and Bowling Green was I think my third school that I visited and I just you know it's like like you just like to feel the guys and the coach and like the the campus and it just felt good and it was like far enough away from home but not not a flight it was like a five-hour drive so it was school in the middle of nowhere and awesome experience

you loved it there i mean rob blake went there right yeah so like blake dave ellick gary galley like a ton of nhl defensemen came out of that's kind of what they were known for and i was in a good division against playing against michigan michigan state ohio state so i kind of got the best of both worlds but it was a small enough school that I would play a lot too right so and then after your freshman year you were drafted like fourth round or whatever it was but not much expected at the time like you're still thinking oh I got three more years in college I'm even thinking about the NHL yet yeah people are like how come you uh played four years in college? I'm like, well, I never got asked to leave, right? I had no other option.

I drafted my first year. I had this guy from, I think it was Octagon Sports, who was like my family advisor agent. And every year, like, he talked to me less and less. And then my last year, stopped returning my emails altogether. Couldn't get a hold of my agent my last year of college. So your senior year, you're not even sure you're going to have someone to to play the next season i'm hoping that i could get into either the east coast league and maybe the hl after the season if i'm lucky right and like i had a i played hard and i was a captain and i thought i did well but like our team stunk we lost a lot of games so like leading up you're

trying to set something up i want to go to like like the Toledo Storm. I want to play somewhere after my last season, right? And it's February. We get beat out. And next thing you know, I'm scrambling. So Jordan Siglet, who's the goaltender coach of the Calgary Flames now, he was on my team. And he had this agent, Kurt Overhart. He goes, hey, my agent kind of likes you.

Do you want to talk to him? I'm like, yeah, I want to talk to somebody, right? So we talked. And he started representing me from then on and he's turned into a really good friend he got me right into the hl dusted some russian in the parking lot and next thing you know i was in the hl damn so that old agent he just didn't reach out and like didn't care to to tell you hey i don't want to represent nothing got a little bit of a scumbag well yeah and he fucking lost out on probably a million

million bucks at least good loser yeah i don't even want to say his name because i don't even want to give him the credit right but my dad was like i'm like dad like what do we do here like i can't just walk into an east coast league dressing room on my own like i need someone to set this up right well we've had guys on our podcast who've represented themselves as agents nello ferraro so you should have called him but i feel like we're burying the lead here you wait you dusted a russian in the pocket what the hell is that story yeah you guys know that story right i do but you got to retell it for the new list so brian burke just absolutely tells that the crap out of the story and loves it so i get called up and i haven't even played a game yet

because the team's technically still in the playoff race so like sean pronger's there dallas heakins is the captain n Nolan Baumgartner's the captain. He's nasty. Yeah. I think Mike Keane was there. And there was an afternoon game at the old Winnipeg Arena. So I'll tell the story quickly

because it's been told a few times. No, you don't have to. It's that good. So we go right to the Earls on Polo Park right after the game because the old Winnipeg Arena was right down the street. Guys start drinking, having a good time.

It's like fast forward to midnight now and i'm like nervous drinking right like i'm a college guy i just got called up haven't played a game yet and i'm sitting with uh sergey fedorov's brother fedor fedorov who was this big like six foot four 230 pound russian like all the skill in the world should have been an unbelievable nhler but a little bit of an attitude issue right so i'm sitting with him and his billet dad and his billet brother, and I'm playing with my straw, play with it, flies out of my thing, hits this other little Russian in the back. He turns around laughing, big misunderstanding,

and he comes over and says, what the fuck, what the fuck? And I go, relax, man. It was an accident. He goes, what the fuck are you doing? And I go, shut up before I knock you out. And Fedorov goes like this, and he grabs my shirt, and he goes, don't say that. And I go, and I before I knock you out. And Fedorov goes like this, and he grabs my shirt, and he goes, don't say that. And I go, and I smack his arm off me.

I go, get your fucking hand off of me, right? And he looks at me, and he gets up, let's go outside. And he gets up, and he walks outside. Minus 20, he's in a t-shirt, right? So I'm sitting there, and everyone's like, don't worry about him. He's just a hothead cab, don't worry about him. And I'm sitting there, and I'm like, I got the biggest chip on my shoulder when I was that age, right?

And I'm like, ah, I'm going to go see what's going on. So I get up, and I go outside, and he's bouncing around. And he's like, yeah, you don't talk to Russians that way. And I'm like, okay, whatever. So I square off with him. And then the other little Russian comes out. So now I'm fighting the both of them. And so I square off with the big boy.

And then I go in to throw a punch, And I get leg kicked by the little guy. And I'm like, what the hell? I got this little gnat leg kicking me. So I'm like, okay, I'm going to forget about him. And I'm going to concentrate on the big guy. And I come in. I throw a sloppy one. I miss him.

And he pops me. Then I eat a leg kick again. And I'm like, this is not going well. I get so mad inside. I just want to murder somebody. So then finally, whatever I connected, dropped them. Puddle of blood in the white snow trickled in. It worked out well.

Like a Coen Brothers movie. I was going to say, it kind of led into, when you're coming out of college, your game, it didn't really translate to college because you're so tough. That's a pro hockey type thing. So you get to the Manitoba Moose and guys are like's this little college defenseman like all right let's see like you know right away that was going to be a part of your game i love the way the game was right so then berkey finds that brian burke finds out he was the gm of vancouver at the time and i'm scared i'm like i'm i'm gonna get sent call my dad dad and messed up they're gonna send me home back to

hopefully i get into toledo when i get back there and berkey calls and he's like yeah we're gonna send me home back to hopefully get into toledo when i get back there and berkey calls and he's like yeah we're gonna sign you to an entry-level deal so the story as he heard it he's like i love the kids sign them never even see me play or anything oh that's it worked out well i never talked about it for years and years and years i'm like this is not a good example to be telling kids in the media but how long was berkey around when you were in the organization not too long. Only my first year or two. And how did you get that chip on your shoulder growing up,

just the way it was? I mean, I know you're from Grimsby. Yeah, I'm from Welland. Tell me, like, what do you think of when you think of Grimsby? I think of the Peach Kings. That was your guys' junior C team or something? Yeah. And, I mean, I used to go to grimsey to play games but uh yeah i mean everyone

really from that area you know they you have to be a little bit tougher you hard nose we used to call the gthl the toronto kids the cake eaters oh yeah you know they all get all nice equipment they all you know they're i think their head coaches were getting paid 40 grand at the time and we're just you know you had to you kind of had to be a little bit tougher and try to bully them we're blue collar and i i grew up in ashton hamilton for my first whatever 10 years do you remember like the old barton double rings in downtown hamilton right in between the two steel plants i get dropped off there at 8 a.m five dollars shinny all day long and it was just open to the public and it was all steel workers that would come on their lunch breaks and their shift

work no way so that was my first on ice fight was fighting some steelworker and stulco with no referees or anyone around. There's two pads and you just get into a fight with a guy and it's awkward. You go over to the other pad and you start playing over there, right? So you'd hang out there all day. You'd take your skates off at lunch. You'd walk across the street to

buddy subs. You'd get a $1.99 sub and then you'd go back and you'd play another couple hours. So you're just kind of fending for yourself, yourself right and i had a couple buddies that were punks and we all started trouble and we fought and we won fights we lost fights and we just kind of hung out that way so a little bit of a school of hard knocks uh like who who uh do can you thank for your development when you're in the minors because you've never you haven't had an easy road you just spent four years in college and you end up spending what the better part of two three seasons in manitoba settle down i had one year the lockout lockout year and he lit he was all rookie all rookie he

beat me out for all rookie team i had fucking many points and someone goes yeah you didn't fight as many people you went there oh three oh four for a few games at the end of the year then you that's after college yeah i played four games games just to get my feet wet. And you knocked out Federer. All right, well, then the next year you spent half a year. The next full lockout year, 40 points, 15 fights, 200 pins. Great year. I had fun. I was trying to make it a come-up story here.

I'm trying to sell you to our... After I couldn't get an agent to call me back, things changed quickly, bitch. Agent helped a lot. Oh, that was good. So actually, though, you kind of went over it quick because you called Overhart, Siglet's agent, and then he right away was like, dude, don't worry,

we'll get you something. Called me like a week later and says, yeah, you're going to go to Manitoba and the HL for Vancouver, like where I probably should have been going since I was a Vancouver draft. It's not like, why are you going to... Okay, this is good. Yeah.

They have my rights. Seems like it makes sense, but he got that done right away and never made me any big promises or anything, right? He's like, he got me in the door, and then I had to kind of take advantage of it. The last couple years in the league, we have a certain amount of coaches we talk about that always get a chuckle out of guys.

Randy Carlisle, I know Whit played under him. What was your experience playing for Randy Carlisle? How many Norrises you got, DeAndre? That's what he was saying to me when I was like a rookie in the AHL. I walked by him in the hallway and he'd like stick a shoulder

into me and I'm like, what? And he'd go and he just got off the bike and he would ride those old bikes. Remember, you could put on 60 RPM, 90 RPM or 120. The Monarchs.

It wasn't a Monarch. It was older than that. It was old. It was what he rode when he played. And he put a towel under it and It was older than that. It was old. It was what he rode when he played. And he put a towel under it, and he was just sweating everywhere, and he was just wearing spandex. And that's not the first thing you want to see in the morning.

So I had him in the minors, but I wasn't in awe of him, but I was like, this is an NHL defenseman, a Norris Trophy winner. So I listened to everything he said, and he taught me a lot as a young guy. Fast forward to 13 years later, I have him as an older guy. Not as big of a fan when I was one of the older guys. I just expected maybe a little bit more communication and a little bit more respect, but didn't get it. Did you butt heads with him a lot?

Not really. We just didn't talk a whole lot. A lot of the older guys seem to, and you see how he did in Toronto and stuff. He's a good coach and he knows the game, but sometimes his people skills are lacking a little bit. Right. Now, before the Spengler Cup, had you got any calls on teams?

Were there no offers on the table? Did you kind of see basically the end coming? No, I had calls, and I had opportunities. And that's the thing. I didn't talk about it too much, but I had opportunities to play. I could have played in Columbus and a few places like that, but I was selective, right? My kids didn't want to move from, from Newport beach at the time. I just moved them four years ago from Vancouver. So ideally I was trying to find something really

close. So I was really selective and I'm like, you know what, if I can't get a job with, you know, Dallas or like some of these close teams, Phoenix, then I'll just, I won't play. And I just kind of stayed and waited to see what would happen and kept some doors open and went to the Spengler just to kind of play some competitive hockey and nothing fell in my lap and I was okay with that yeah so you were actually like ready to retire like it wasn't like oh my god like some guys can't get a job anymore it was easier for you mentally like this is over I think so yeah I chose right and when I came back from Spengler I had options again I talked with Paul Maurice and and Mark Shipman the owner of the jets at the uh all-star game i was working last year and they're like what do you think about coming and i'm like ah and i was selective and i was

like i just want to be honest like if i'm gonna play i'll come but if i'm not gonna play i'd rather be home with my family right so had some offer a lot offers in europe but like same thing am i gonna go over and live in europe for six weeks and live in a hotel by myself in the middle of Gothenburg or something, or am I going to raise my kids and hang out around Cali and do some hockey night? I've been away for 13 years a lot, right? It's time to be around more.

Where are you guys at now? We're in Newport Beach. Started a hockey academy there. I'm on the ice every morning with my son and we have 22 kids this year and it's at the new arena in anaheim or sorry in uh irvine california beautiful is that their new practice arena yes the old one was brutal what was that called it was like inside yeah oh my god the anaheim ice come on that's where that's where my i don't know if you've heard the story i went

spray tanning before training camp and i didn't tell tell anyone. I told them I was tan, and that's where I got in the shower, and all the orange just started. You wouldn't look good with a spray tan. Oh, dude, I don't look good either way. So I was like, I certainly don't look good when half of it's falling off the shower. Just puke if I saw that. Tan my hose. One thing we didn't mention, I don't know if you did last podcast,

but when you broke in, Todd Bertuzzi, Marcus Nazan, those guys were legends in Vancouver. Did they take you under their wing? Oh, yeah. Yeah, Bertuzzi was awesome with me, and he's one of those guys where he'd kind of not bully you, but if you didn't fight back at some point, he would just run all over you, right? So him and I, like, I was super respectful rookie, right,

to those guys especially but we kind of butted heads or not butted heads but i came i fired back and i'm really in the dress room the one time and i'm always like holy shit you know and then awesome like awesome had him on as my first guest on the podcast he's doing really well now kind of took a like a little absent uh like 10 year span there right maybe not that long but he wasn't around a whole lot there was a lot of shit going on and then now it's like i see him every summer and i i just love the guy like and i would i would guarantee that with you he's probably like i fucking love that kid just chirp me back like right away he's like i don't know but then he's like yeah but like wait not

not chirp i'm like in a respectful way but he's doing i think some tv now for detroit and he's he was really good like he's starting – it's like all these guys get educated after they're done playing, right? He's joking around. He's been reading some books, but he was super articulate. I want to go back to when you got traded from Vancouver to Anaheim. How bad was that for you? Were you pissed off with certain circumstances behind the scenes

people weren't aware of? Was it financially related? What was that? No, no. It was at the end of the – I had one year left on my contract and the gm told my agent after the season listen we're we're rebuilding this team so out of respect for kevin we'll allow him to go wherever he wants so like it was a little bit of out of respect for kevin and like i want to get rid of this guy's contract and let some of the young guys come up so whatever right understood that so they were actually good

because i was able to choose wherever I wanted to go. So right away, San Jose calls me, Doug Wilson, and is like, we want you. Like, come down here. We want to meet with you. So I fly down for the day with my wife. They wine and dine me.

They promise me this, that, term of the deal. And then just the business of hockey, that ended up falling through. And then the Anaheim thing was kind of one of my plan Bs or whatever. So I didn't really want to go to anaheim at first because you guys hated each other we just hated each other and i just didn't know how i'd feel playing hockey in in southern california but i i loved it like i'm still there i'd say the number one thing that sticks out from anaheim right now in my head is the superman punch that ended up going viral and

i don't i don't remember who you ended up punching but couple times well he was like you were like it's no big deal i'll i've done that a million times was it was that planned or or have you had you done that before i've yeah i've done it a lot and like i've done at times where i've missed i did it once to aaron voros and i skated from the far blue line and he came off the bench i tried to meet him when his leg came off i missed him and i slid into the other. I said, playing against, remember you in Anaheim? So what happened was we're skating around, and this guy chops me in the leg

in between the first and the second before the referees are on the ice. And I look at him, I go, what the fuck's your problem? And he goes, F, like, fuck you. And I just hung out with the guy in a charity event earlier that summer. So like I'm just, wires are crossed, right?

Puck drops. Bobby Ryan changes from one side to the other, and I see this out with a guy in a charity event earlier that summer. So like I'm just wires are crossed, right? Puck drops. Bobby Ryan changes from one side to the other and I see this guy's leg because Randy's doing that thing with his stupid thing with his finger. Right when the puck drops. And he's doing this, right? I'm looking over and Bobby Ryan takes off and I see this big mutant come off the board.

So I draw my gloves with the far blue. I sprint over, Superman punch, miss him, slide into my zone, get back up and get to him before the linesman break it up and then i broke his orbital it's just like felt so good flashbacks of the russian yeah like like to actually really want to kill someone and then two seconds later break their orbital i mean i i would guess there's no more satisfying feeling poetic justice that's the only time i've not the only time, but usually I have respect for the guy after

and there was no respect. So do you get road rage? I don't think I do, but everyone tells me. The one time we were coming back from a team dinner and this guy, this guy kind of like cuts me off and I don't say anything, right?

I'm just taking it. And then all of a sudden he like stops and then he like slams on his brakes and I'm like, what this guy and then he pulls over the side he opens his one he goes i'm getting fine i'm getting yeah i just spit in the checklist and he goes f you and i go what and then we're like we slow right down and we're like just mother effing each other in the car and then i go to the rink later for the game and gets love saw the whole thing gets he's driving behind me and he goes what's wrong with you and i go what are you talking about he tells me the whole thing and i'm like oh that didn't happen he goes i was right behind you i was watching you guys like you were like swerving and you're driving like 20 miles an

hour on pacific coast highway fighting like and he's like pull over pull over i'm like where it's a four lane road like there's nowhere to go oh yeah so when your wires cross you probably forget everything that happens yeah but i'm trying to calm down well what about now like coaching you're like is it still like are you snapping on other coaches or anything or is it just way different now you're not playing you still have that combination it's a combination i've snapped one time this year really? I like to set the example for the kids, right, and keep it. Because once you become unraveled, they're all at the age where they're going to lose their minds, too. There's one coach in particular from London Junior Nights that, if I ever see this guy again, he was one of those idiots, too, has a shaved head and a little line of mohawk hair on the top.

Dude, you're a coach and little kid. And I'm like, settle down, hero. And just some of the gestures he made to me during the game were gestures that if it was just him and I in a room, he wouldn't make, right? And when we were shaking hands after the game, I go to shake his hand and I hold it and I squeeze it really hard and I go, just so you know, you're a fucking clown.

And he stops and he holds fucking clown and he like stops and he holds my hand and he's like staring at me and i'm like let go of my hand and he's like this is in line on the ice this is in line on the ice right the kids are all like coach bx are you gonna beat up the other team's coach i go i'm gonna beat up the whole staff how how would it get you that mad like what was he doing to trigger you one of our kids got one of our good kids who was a bit of a disturber he got chopped in the back of the legs hard by their big captain and their big captain came over after and apologized to me i'm like don't apologize to me like you just play like don't worry about

the adult stuff so he chops him our guy goes down he's flailing around referees don't see it i'm like slash i call the ref over i go that was a slash in the back of the leg like nobody i go if you didn't see that fine but if you saw that that's a penalty and then the other coach calls him over i goes what was that all about i go it was about the effing slash you didn't see any and then we start going back and forth and then he makes a gesture and i could sewer this guy right now and tell you exactly what he did but he made a really offside gesture referring to my kid with like a sign that he made with his hands and i just lost my mind. Oh, I don't blame you. I'm like, that's wrong, Michael.

But if anyone saw this, if any of the kids saw this, you'd be kicked out of minor hockey for good. So I just lost my mind. So I told him after, you're a clown. Yeah, you're the type where you don't want to throw him out of the bus until he gets fired. You'd rather just handle it like men out in the back alley. I'd just buy him a coffee and have a little conversation.

Bring him to Earl's. Yeah, no kidding. You ever heard of Polo Park? Well, I would always think with guys who played in the NHL and they're coaching their kids or whatever, it's like some other coaches are probably very respectful, but then there's the guys like, I'm going to out-coach the NHLer. And you're like, buddy, just get away from me, please.

Shut up. That's exactly what it is like, I think. Most of the time it's respect, right? And I show tons of respect back, and sometimes there's the hero. Yes. He was a hero. Stupid haircut. I still remember it.

What are you doing? Is dealing with parents the worst part of coaching kids, probably? Well, you got to be careful there. But there's challenges for sure. And I think growing up where we grew up everybody thinks they know everything about hockey right and to a certain degree they're pretty educated parents but like think about where i am i'm in southern california most of these parents don't have a lick about any knowledge of hockey and i have a couple moms that are telling me they don't

like what line their son's on i'm like excuse me you don't like what line their son's on. I'm like, excuse me? You don't like what line your son's on, right? Yeah, so you probably have to balance it where even if your kid is better, and I don't know if that is the case, do you have to be cognizant of not throwing them out too much where they might think you're favoring them? There's three lines. These guys all play a ton. Okay.

I don't understand where this comes from. It's just a little bit of the mentality down there. Everybody plays a ton. I'm putting kids out sometimes. I'm just looking at the bench like, who's the least tired? They're playing a ton. And we're on the ice. We're on the ice two hours a day, Monday to Thursday,

two-hour practice Tuesday and Thursday night, and then games on the weekend. We're traveling all over the place. These kids are getting tons of hockey. So it's just a little bit of the mentality, a little bit of the culture I'm trying to change. I think, too, it's probably shift of parenting where it used to be like, you know, if your kid screwed up, you gave him a dope slap. And now it's like a kid fucks up and parents are way overprotective.

You know, you still let your kid scrape his knee a little more. You don't see that. Discipline's tough for some of these kids. Yeah. Like, it's hard to discipline them. I'm looking around. I'm just checking out some other things online. What's the story when Kessler wouldn't talk to you

or Burrows for two weeks, giving you guys a silent treatment? So we all play through injuries in our career, right? And the way we'd walk out to go on the ice in the tunnel was Kess, me, and then Burrow. We're always in a line. And the one time, like, I love Kess, right? You know he's a warrior. The guy would play through anything,

but sometimes he would sell injuries a little bit, right? So he took a shot block like we all did. And to his credit, he actually found out he had a little bit of a crack in his foot. And he's for like a month, he's walking out and he's like limping onto the ice. And he's like limping. And then he gets on the ice and he's just flying around the ice like no problem. And he played the game. This went on for a month.

So one day day he's limping out and i kind of slap her behind me i go watch this and i start mocking him like limping behind him right onto the ice and he sees me like in the reflection he turns around he gives me the death stare right so from there on he is a good one too yeah like didn't talk to me like i find out through my wife and his wife he's really mad at me and burr so this for about a week there was no and like awkward like walk by him hey cass nothing right like in the locker room sitting around the room like hey cass how's it going bud nothing right so finally burrows comes up to me and he goes hey like i'm gonna apologize to cast like this enough is enough right and i go go ahead man like but now

i'm at the point where i'm mad at him because he's mad at me. So Burr apologizes, and then for another two, three weeks, I didn't. So we just kind of did like, you know, the – Two stubborn guys. What broke the ice finally? I apologize. Ah, you cave, you fucker. I apologize. Because what happened was in warm-up, the one game,

I was so mad at him that I was shooting pucks down the ice at him, trying to get a response out of him. I just wanted to like – I don't know. I was so mad at him that I was shooting pucks down the ice at him, trying to get a response out of him. I just wanted to, like, I don't know, I was so mad, right? And then we almost came to blows, and Rick Bonus broke it up, and he's like, what are you guys doing? You guys are, like, best friends. And I'm like, not anymore. I hate the guy.

Like, he's mad at me. And so, anyways, I ended up apologizing. Game within the game. Game within the game. Yeah, there ain't no code. People don't realize, like, you're with a guy so much all season. At some point, you're going to drive each other crazy. You spend so much time.

We were roommates for six years. But to the twins' credit, I spent every day with the twins. Those guys didn't aggravate me one time. They are so nice. They're perfect. They're perfect human beings. Do they get pissed off? Not really.

Yeah, they're just always always just kind of chill. They just take it. They would get a lot of bad publicity at times, especially early in their career, right? For being too soft. People would call them soft, call them sisters. And I knew it bothered them, but they would never complain. And I'm talking about like the three of us sitting around in the room eating cheesecake where you would feel comfortable complaining.

They would never complain. They would just take it. They're like the two most mentally tough guys ever yeah because early i mean huge high draft picks tons of expectations took them a little while so to deal with like people saying you're too soft that long and never ever have teammates like hearing them bitches that's a testament to like just being able to just grind through it well just even their professionalism. They were like robots in their routine where they just, everything was, you know, they earned everything. And think about for me as a young guy, like we're the same age,

but they were there a couple of years before me and I'm a roller coaster of emotions, right? Like so good for me to see guys that are just like even keel the whole way. Like it kind of brought me down a little bit, which was good. Any funny stories? Were they ever pulling off pranks. Like it kind of brought me down a little bit, which was good. Any funny stories? Were they ever pulling off pranks? Like did they ever come out of their little bubble? They did the one commercial years ago, the Swedish Twins one, which I thought was hilarious.

I think it was at the All-Star game. Yeah, the guys were ordering. Search it. If you know them, they were so uncomfortable doing it. And they do this stupid little dance at the end where it's so forced. And just watch it. It was funny. But they weren't, like, prank guys.

They just sat back, and they are what they are, right? About the hockey. They're just good guys, right? So you guys, obviously, so close with Burrows. You and Kessler, like, were you ever giving him shit? Like, you're with the Sedins. You're not going anywhere. Remember, he could have signed UFA, but he just stayed there.

He knew what was going on. got sucked in by by the french coach the french coach is like you sign this deal right now like you're my guy i brought you up i got you into the nhl you sign this deal or we're trading you tomorrow so he signs it it was like the worst it was like four years two million a year yes and then he puts him on with the siddines and then he scores 30 goals, then he scores 30 again, then he scores 30 again. So I joke around with him.

I go, you were the most underpaid guy in the league from 2008 to 2012, and then you were the most overpaid guy in the league from 2012 to... Because then he made 4.6 for five years, and he was like third, fourth line, right? But I like it. Who did he sign that with?

It all evens out in the wash. He signed a big deal with Vancouver, a 4.6 a year, and then he got traded to Ottawa, and then he signed like a 2.5 or something. Oh, I never... So he ended up getting a big deal from Vancouver. He did. I thought it was just that...

And a guy that earned it, right? Yeah. He earned it. At some point, it would be sad if he retired and didn't make his money. Yeah, exactly. He's a good... He's one of those guys where you probably hated him.

Great teammate. Yeah, but that's what almost makes it even funnier is that people despise someone that much, but all the teammates are like, dude, he's great. That's hockey to me. And you meet him in the summer. You love the guy. He was our version of Colby Armstrong, right?

Like, right on the ice, but wanted to win, and just everybody on the team loved him. So how did the TV work come together? Did you have to seek it out? Did they come to you? How did that all come together? No, they came to me. I'm trying to think of the first thing I did, I think, was an Edmonton-Oiler LA King game in LA

just after the Spangler Cup, and that was kind of my first thing, and then they brought me in for the All-Star game, the trade deadline, and just the panel, and just trying different things right now. So it's good. Like, that dynamic's pretty cool. Like, the panel in Toronto there with, like,

Elliott Friedman and Bergie. Oh, he's a fucking stud. They are. They're just a good guy. Kelly Rooney. Chris Johnson's a great guy. And they all know so much. You're like, this is sick.

So I'm sitting around like this in the studio, and we're watching every game. There's, like, 14 games on and all the screens and everyone's just sitting there and some guys are making notes but we're basically just talking and like clipping things that we think we might talk about in the intermissions and these guys know everything yeah like everything and i'm like holy crap like i come in and i'm in california i'm watching a little bit of hockey but not like this and these guys are telling me about this and they're they know everything about the leafs, obviously, right? So for me, I'm like, I better be on my toes when I come in here.

But it's a good group of guys. They kind of rib each other a little like we would. And then after, it's like knuckles after they get off. It's an awesome atmosphere. But it's pretty early for you. Hockey Night in Canada on the panel. I've seen you on there. That's sick that you've done that good of a job. I think it

takes people usually a lot longer to get in the mix there for the main show at 7. It's been nice to get in there and just see where it goes. They want me to think do more, and I want to do more. It's just the whole LA to Toronto thing. I can do it. I can do Saturday morning fly in, do the show,

fly home, but I can't do it every weekend. I'm going to try to do it as much as I can. How was your relationship with Vigneault? It was good. It was good. He was one of those coaches where at the end of his tenure, I was having a coffee with Trevor Linden.

And, you know, like when you have a coach for seven years, there's going to be times you don't like him. And I'm kind of complaining a little bit. And Trev's like, who I thought Trev would be on my side because he was healthy scratch at the end of his career and everything he goes i guarantee you at the end of your career you're gonna say vino was one of your best coaches and i'm like you're nuts like i had mark crawford before vino i had guys at brood row willie desjardins towards i had guys after and standing here now saying he was probably my one of my best coaches if not my best but he had rick as assistant, who was by far my favorite coach.

People love Rick Bonas. Exactly. You must have been psyched when he got the gig there then, huh? Yeah, I was pumped for him. I think he's coached the most games in the NHL history. As a coach or assistant, it's like 2,900 games or something like that. He got the Bruins to either a couple of the conference finals back in 88 or 90, and then, like, he didn't get, like, a head coaching job for a while.

Well, then he was in Ottawa. He was the head coach in Ottawa, and he hired Vigneault as his assistant back then. Oh, that was their beginning of their relationship? Yeah. We've kept you long, but I got to get your memory of a very funny incident in which John Tortorella and Bob Hartley went after it,

because you were front row seat for that one what do you know side row what do you remember about that all going down I remember and I grew up McGrath and I are the same birth year so we grew up playing together right so I talked to him about this because he was on Calgary so his his understanding of it is they had a really good game the game before the fourth line, him and Westgarth. So they wanted to start them just as a carryover thing. Whether you believe that or not, I think it's bullshit. But they were trying to get a spark. And then I think McGrath and Westgarth decided,

we're just going to go out for a shift and try to beat the wheels off these guys. So Torts comes in, and him and Hartley have a little bit of history. And he's like, I'm so mad. And I listened to when the New York-New Jersey brawl, remember that line brawl started and I listened to torts's speech back then it was almost the same speech he gave us he comes in he goes I'm so mad that you know he's doing this and I know this guy he's like but I can't start the twins so well uh he's like our fourth you guys are going right here we go you don't have to fight I don't want you to fight but like protect yourselves and then I think I think I'm like can i go like i want to go all right juice you're going and

garrison you're going garrison was big strong oh he's not a fighter but mutant right like so strong good looking dude shreds yeah canada residuals a lot of residuals gary you busy this weekend hey what's up buddy oh my christ yeah gary i love that you're like oh i'll go so go ahead sorry to interrupt no so then i see westgar trying so we had this young kid playing his first game but he's he was huge six six college guy but he i guess when he signed he goes i don't want to be a fighter like i'm not a fourth line fighter so here he is lining up against westgar and westgar is like you are now stick is over the dot like he won't even let this kid get a stick in the dot like he's over top of the dot like he's never taken a face

off for which he probably hasn't so he's just staring at the kid the kid's looking around like what do i do so i'm like i come up and i go to west garth and i and i had a couple beers with him like two weeks before and i go hey man like what are you doing he goes not doing anything i'm like okay i know we go i know this game right so then i'm like let the kid get a stick in he looked at me and he just didn't say anything so then i'm like switch with me kid figuring like i just had a couple beers with westgarth a few like a few weeks ago in nashville like he's gonna be cool with me and bug drops and like i snap it back because i'm trying to go like 100 in my career face-offs and he grabs me right away i'm like what are what are you doing? And he goes, and he shakes me a little bit,

and he goes, oh, I don't know, nothing. And the next thing you know, everybody starts fighting around me. And then Westgarth kind of like goes around me and goes and finds the kid and beats the wheels off of him. And then I see that Schmeed guy who I absolutely hate. I hated that guy. And I saw him going at my boy, Garrison, and wires crossed, and I went over and grabbed him and beat the wheels off of him.

So then it was just – so we're coming in the room after, and we're all, like, laughing and high-fiving. Played one second. I'm like, this is a waste of a warm-up, right? And then Torts comes in, and he's losing his mind. He's still furious. At the end of the period. And then he just takes off and goes down the hallway,

and then we can hear all the commotion so i go through the dental room medical room dental room and i open the door and torts is trying to get in there and guys are he's alone i think obie had him and was stiff arming him obie the good guy trying to break it up right let's get this game over with so we can get to the roxy boys come on man and man. And there's like Joel Colburn and Lance Boma right there. And I'm like, and I'm just in my like spam. I'm like, come into here. Let's come in here and let's fight. They had a big tough team. They did.

Yeah. They were tough. Oh, so you're still calling guys out of your gear? I tried to pull Colburn in and I'm like, come in here and let's fight in here. I have no, and he's like. In the dental room? In the dental room. And I had no socks on, just spandex and my Under Armour shirt.

And Boma's like, shut up, BXL. Like, you're such an ass or something like that. And I'm like, get in here. Let's go. Let's go. And the dentist came and was like, get out of my room. So that's kind of. That's so good.

I guess last thing, we got to talk about that run and just coming up short. I mean, unless you don't want to. No, no. You beat Chicago game seven that run too, right? up short i mean unless you don't want to you beat chicago game seven that run too right was that a difference we're up three nothing against chicago and then taves goes in the media and says we're and we dominated all three games and taves goes in the media goes we're giving these guys too much respect like we're way better than them and i'm like what like that's a pretty ballsy comment and then sure enough they like rally off three wins in

a row and then we go and we win game seven that's the the slaying the dragon that bros did so then we won the next series against nashville cast tells everyone he single-handedly won that series for us he was good though awesome he was incredible who says that right so then i said well if you won that series, I certainly won the San Jose series for us because I had four goals in five games, right? But everyone was good, right? And then we got to Boston. I remember watching Boston-Tampa game seven of Easter.

And I remember thinking, fuck, I hope Tampa wins. We just match up so well against them. And Boston's a little bit too big and too tough for the way our team was because we were fast and we hit and everything, but we didn't have any tough, tough heavyweights, right? I think Tanner Glass was our toughest guy, and he was kind of still a middleweight, and they had Thornton and McQuaid and Chara,

and Looch was just dominating the league. And then when we got to them, we won the first two games in Vancouver, and then when we got to Boston, we just got bullied. Bullied, right? They beat the tar out of our Vancouver, and then when we got to Boston, we just got bullied. Oh, it was a different series. They beat the tar out of our forwards, bullied us. Like, even our parents were getting beat up in the stands.

Really? Well, like, just getting, like, like, after the Rome hit, like, Rome's parents had to get escorted out, and... Oh, fuck. I was at all the games in Boston. That hit kind of changed

the tide of the series. I thought it was... I didn't think it was that bad, but everyone reacted so negatively towards it, and then they just built this momentum off of it. Nowadays, they put them in prison for that. Yeah, and that wasn't even as bad as Scott Stevens.

If that hit happened in Vancouver, it's just such a different story. It was like the fact it was there, that was right in front of me. It was scary to see Horton like that. But it was true. It was like two different series, the games in van. Then you guys went and got game five. We snuck out game five. We scored in the last minute of the game.

So now we had two chances to win the cup. So then some story comes out that we're already planning the victory parade or something like that. But you actually have to submit your plans to City Hall before. Right. So somebody takes that scoop. And it was probably like one of you guys from Boston. Yeah, it was Grinnell. Fucking Grinnell.

R.A. still has it on his computer. So we go to Boston, and we have to fly the charter out with our family, just in case we win, and we get piss-pumped there. And I remember we had a chance to score in the first period. Henrik had an empty netter and missed it, and that maybe would have gave us a little bit of confidence, and then they just wiped the floor with us. And then we went back to Van,

and probably the most nervous game I ever played in my life in Vancouver Game 7. Didn't enjoy it at all. They won 4-0, I believe. First goal was kind of like, come on, Lou. Right? Second goal was kind of like, eh. And the next thing you know, we're out of it.

I've told this story before. I'm glad Biz brought it up and not me, but I was in the arena early that day, and I'll never forget. I was walking around, and I've never been in the arena before. I happened to almost literally bump into the Twins, and they were taping their sticks, and they just looked tense and nervous. And then I get 50 yards down the hall, and I hear hooting and hollering, and the Bruins are all doing their pregame soccer like it was the middle of the summer.

And I was going to ask you, were you guys tense going into that game? Obviously, it was a Game 7, but it seemed like you guys were just too tense going into it. And that and the game seven game against Chicago, the two least favorite games I've ever played in my career. Just too nervous, like couldn't sleep the night before, couldn't sleep pregame. You just wanted the game to, you just wanted to blink game over and win. You don't want to play in it. That's how I get before interviewing superstars like yourself but it's been a great ride and we appreciate you

stopping by you gotta check out Juice and Kes he put his name first Kes and Juice he won that series for you thank you so much thank you guys huge thanks to Kevin

BX for joining us. A short notice. Back, like I said, I don't even remember what city. We were in St. Louis, Dallas, somewhere out in the Midwest. But he's a hot shit, man. Really enjoyed talking to him. He's a great storyteller. He's a natural with the media.

So it was good shooting the breeze with him. It was also good to see Johnny Boychuck back on the ice, even if he hasn't returned to action yet. You know, we took 90 fucking staples, stitches, rather, up by the eye. And you think he's going to be out for a little while, but no, he's out there skating already. So hopefully Johnny B will be back in the game soon. And there's some other news.

We thought the E-bug was dead. Not dead yet. Baseball Hall of Fame and former Colorado Rocky from the baseball, not hockey. Larry Walker will be on it before the Avs game on Sunday, and he's also going to serve as the game's emergency backup goalie. You know what, guys? This is what feels gimmicky right here.

I know everyone's saying, oh, it's a 42-year-old guy. What was he doing? Now you're going to get a 53-year-old former baseball player. I know it's probably unlikely he gets in the game, but this feels a lot more gimmicky than anything to do with David Ayers. Know it? Oh, yeah. If he got in, there'd be another emergency couple private jet flights

back to Naples for some more GM meetings. And we'd be like, guys, if he got in, there'd be another emergency couple private jet flights back to Naples for some more GM meetings. And we'd be like, guys, all right, in between the three rounds over these next 48 hours, we've got to change that rule. They're making a mockery of us. Yeah, I mean, all respect to Larry Walker. The guy's a Hall of Fame, a great ballplayer. Was he drafted in the NHL? No, that's Tom Glavin.

Yeah, but no, he's one of Canada's proud sons for sure. But what's your take on this, Biz? I mean, I'd love to see it. I'd be lying if I didn't say otherwise. I agree with that. Well, whether he gets in or not, he'll definitely want to be hydrated, and so don't you. And with Hydrant, you can jumpstart your mornings.

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drinkhydrant.com and enter the promo code CHICKLETS. Speaking of CHICKLETS, I think a few people in the federal prospects hockey league might have lost that was crazy that was absolute insanity this wasn't just a fight i'm not sure if you saw that if you saw the clip i g have we tweeted out from the account yet oh yeah we did the other day so check out twitter account for it uh this is the first time i've seen two coaches rip their sport jackets off and look like they were getting ready to go they were separated but then the coach ended up fighting

one of the players by the bench. You've never seen a coach versus a player before. He got him over the boards, too. He dumbed him pretty good, and then he was strutting around, went back on the ice. So you have to see it to believe it. This is just straight out of Slapshot, folks. The coach is getting involved.

I mean, that's when everything – that's when you say, what league is this? What league is that again? Ever since we started this ring shrink segment, that's when everything... That's when you say, what league is this? What league is that again? Ever since we started this rink shrink segment, it's gotten worse. Maybe we need to cut Brian Yandel off. I think all the talk is just igniting people. The Federal Prospects Hockey League, formerly the Federal League. The Federal

Prospects Hockey League, where the state correction officers arrived from all 50 states to look at some former and maybe future inmates. Yeah. Prospects for what? The oil rig? Yeah.

Maybe to be Dana's understudy for zillion beers? Prospects of dummying someone who's trying to get into the strip club you're bouncing at without paying the cover? Yeah. Prospect for fucking OHL education. Can't even spell. Prospect of showing up at our pond hockey tournament and not shutting up and then falling asleep on the way home, like Ben that pigeon.

We got a weird story out of the coast, boys. I mean, we got a lot of weird stories out of the coast, but this one is one I've never heard before. A player named Will Petschneg. It's P-E-T-S-C-H-E-N-I-G. At this point, they're just fucking with us with these names. Seriously. Dom's got three Z's in the last one.

I mean, throw us a bone here, bro. Well, he had his contract with the Fort Wade Comets terminated effective immediately after he alleged the team forged his name on documents in order to place him on injured reserve uh it's a weird story that guys get basically saying the team either faked or forged his signature uh the player did release a statement he said a few weeks ago my signature was used without my knowledge to sign a medical document that is commonly referred to as the injured reserve the team excused this breach of my trust by explaining that it was a necessary decision to not

lose another rostered player in action to help achieve their goals at my expense. Now, the Fort Wayne comments, they had nothing on their Twitter about this. The player was picked up by Kalamazoo per Justin Cohen, but have you ever heard anything like this before with a player having a signature? Nothing to see here.

I'm calling bullshit on the player. I mean, you're going to double down on the player. I mean, I can't. You're going to double down on the corona, and then you're going to call this guy out. Okay, let's hear it. Let's hear it, buddy. Well, dude, I don't know the story.

This is kind of like my first opinion on corona. That's a game. Well, I mean, stay hot, Whit. This is exactly why if any of you listen to any of my points, put it this way moving forward if i know what i'm talking about i'll make it clear to everyone listening i know exactly what i'm saying like when we're talking about golf i know what i'm talking about everything else take it for a grain of salt i am an idiot i i actually when i went to wit's place i walked down to his

basement where he records and there's there's a there's a thing that he spins on each topic and it's and it's and it's split in half and it's just either negative or positive so whatever it lands on he can also be a part i mean i enjoy getting a reaction i'll say this though have you ever heard of a team doing something like this maybe besides like bussing a russian kid underneath the bus to try to get across the border. But forging signatures? I've never heard of a team doing that. Speaking of international flavor, I need to give a shout-out. I need to give a shout-out to a few guys. The imports that are over in Belarus playing for the Minks,

KHL team Dynamo Minks. Dude, these guys didn't make the playoffs season ends end of February. The owner who I believe is the president of Belarus is making them stay and work out 90 minutes in the gym, 90 minutes on the bike and skate until April 20th, two months after the season ends, these guys have to go and skate and work out

and lift and nothing is, it's towards nothing. The next season doesn't start until September. Don't ever sign in Dynamo Minx. I got the word out for these guys. These guys are going to have a head start on their summer bodies. Not really because, yeah, I mean, I guess, but in the end, these guys are going to have a head start on their summer bodies. Not really. Yeah, I mean,

I guess, but in the end, these guys are going to go home and not do one thing because they've been tortured for two months with no games. And I don't think they've been paid in a little while either. So shout out to I mean, Spooners on that team. I'd like to see their bar stats after that little training camp pre-summer.

Every night, you're like, oh my God, we have training camp postseason for two months. Deet, deet, deet, deet, deet, deet, deet, deet, deet, deet, deet, deet, breaking news, breaking news. Just coming over the wire thanks to Grinnelli. President Trump announces all travel from Europe will be suspended for the next 30 days.

Oh, my God. There will be exceptions for some Americans who have been screened. This is a wild episode. Yeah. Dude, and also, you see, you got to show that this Utah Jazz guy who was like openly mocking Corona, he was in Corona's face like outside a bar saying, give it to me, Corona,

by rubbing his hands all over the microphones at a press conference, then was questionable for being ill, and then started getting sick, and they ended the game. Utah Jets, this is what's going on right now. What's the guy's name who was doing that? Rudy Goldberg or something like that? Rudy Goldberg. Dude, he got into Corona's face, and Corona put him in a rear-naked chokehold

and broke his arm in half. All right, you weren't kidding in the text where you said this is a minute-to-minute problem right now because we're just getting everything over the wire. I said that to you and literally 10 minutes later, the Sharks made their announcement. So it's been fucking insane, man, and we'll keep riding it out. But meanwhile, back to the news and a couple

more. Congrats. There's a goalie goal in the WHL. Congrats to King's prospect, Lucas Parikh. He scored for the Spokane Chiefs and got the shutout in a 3-0 win. It's a pretty nice little double bubble for the goalie. He had a nice little selly as well. Also, the Erie Otters had the first female scout in OHL history.

Kiana Scott took part in the International Scouting Services Mentorship Program for nearly two years. So congrats to Kiana. Good luck with her in the future. First female scout in the OHL. Good for her. Hey, going back to that goalie goal, is that the first time a goalie has ever scored and recorded a shutout?

In the WHL or in general? Or in general. Yeah. I think it might have happened in the NHL before, but I can't. That's one of those, like, I'd have to fucking be raining. That's a big night. Yeah, it is. Now I'll get on to some goofy stuff.

Apparently, Rob Gronkowski, a.k.kowski aka Gronk is going to sign with the WWE and G was wondering if you guys know any NHLers who might be good in the WWE no but I would love to try it you get to put on this different persona you get to be I would be the cockiest asshole

I'd be chirping I'd be getting in fans faces that was my whole point of bringing up this topic. You'd be born. You are born to do it. I would let those guys chop me right in the chest as hard as they could. I could take a beating. I mean, you guys watched me play in the NHL. I don't think I want to fight. But the thing is, I was preparing

for my WWE career during my NHL career. But they still take a beating. And a lot of people reach out to me because I mentioned something. Well, that's great for his body. And that they've changed. I guess they don't hit each other over the head with chairs

anymore. That's good. I guess they don't jump off. Maybe I'm misinformed, but I think they've changed rules a little. But they still battle injuries, bro. You're running into 250-pound monsters. You're getting separated shoulders. You're running into 250-pound monsters. You're getting separated shoulders. You're getting a busted-up elbow. You're getting

a Whitney ankle. Who was the... Did the guy from the movie, The Wrestler, did he win an Academy Award? No, he should have, though. Mickey Rourke. He lost... Mickey Rourke. Oh, who the fuck did he lose? That was a great movie and a great way to show how it used to be in the bumps and bruises.

This was a sad movie. Yeah, because he kept doing it and he's jumping on the thumb... What are those things called? Thumbtacks. He lost to Sean Penn for milk. Mickey Rourke definitely should have won. Penn was awesome that year, but I would have given it to Rourke.

Every once in a while, I think about the scene where he shoves his hand in that meat slicer. Oh, that's gruesome, dude. That is a fucking gruesome scene. Jesus. Let's see. Hey, this is a very sad day for Irish Americans all over America. There's pretty much no St. Paddy's Day parades.

Chicago, New York, Boston. I haven't checked Savannah yet. That's another big one, believe it or not. But, you know, it sucks, though, for people who do spend all that money to travel. They take time off work, and then they fucking get here, and there's no party. But I won't miss people pissing in my alley and all over my streets all day Sunday. I'll tell you that, Whit. I'll tell you that for free.

Yeah, I can't believe that. I mean, instead of – there's usually what? Like a solid 11 nice, good fights outside the bars in Southie. I mean, you got none of that this year. I'll tell you, I talked to my buddy Shazi. He owns Fat Baby, Loco, all the great spots in Southie. He said these younger kids don't give a shit about coronavirus. They're out there.

They're getting sent home from work. What are they doing? They're going to the bar. They're probably all whacking each other. They're going to be getting this thing passed around the entire city. You can't have a bunch of 25-year-old single people not having

to go to work living near bars that are open. What do you think is going to happen? I don't know what Barstool is going to do for fucking Content Monday with no fights in Boston all day, but hopefully nobody went into the whole book in the same patch trip because as most of us have found out the hard way, getting into debt is easy, but getting out of it is hard, especially if your credit score isn't great. Thankfully, now there's Upstart.com, the revolutionary lending platform that knows you more than

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Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson test positive for the virus. So this is, we can't get away from it. No, you're fucking with test positive for the virus. So this is... We can't get away from... No, you're fucking with me. Dude, I just read this on... I mean, unless somebody's fucking with me, so... Forrest Gump? He has Corona?

No. Yeah, he was down in Australia. By the way, I think they're the only Hollywood couple that have ever made it, right? Have you ever heard of a Hollywood couple that hasn't been divorced besides them? Oh, yeah, there's plenty. Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward come to mind.

I know they're both dead, but... Don't, never heard of them? You never, Paul Newman, Reg Dunlop, Slap Shop, come on. Oh, oh, wait. Paul Newman. Oh, I thought you said, I didn't hear you at the beginning. I heard the second name you said. Yeah, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward.

They were a longtime couple, but... Joanne Woodward, I don't know who you said. Yeah, Paul Newman, Joe Ann Woodward. They were a longtime couple. Joe Ann Woodward. I don't know who that is. I hear about them because they're not getting divorced. Wow. Yeah, holy shit. Tom Hanks. Jesus Christ.

Fucking run, Forrest. Run. Didn't fuck someone. I got to go back to Phoenix tomorrow. The band, too, from Europe. This is kind of crazy, this episode. A lot of shit's happening. Seriously.

This is starting to scare me. What if we got a note like we had to keep doing a podcast or else the whole world would end and we just had to keep on podcasting? I would be texting while recording a jet and then I'd hang up the computer real quick and just sprint over to it

and it'd take me to Haiti. I got a quick note. Listen, these fucking dummies out there who think I'm insulting the Rangers when I call them the rags, that's not an insult. The New York Post has been calling them the rags for 70 fucking years. When I was in college, I used to read the Post all the time because I live close to New York State. It's from a fucking headline.

But you don't even like the Rangers, so who cares if it is an insult? Well, that too, but I'm just kind of educating dummies who think I'm insulting their team when I call them the regs. It's like, no, it's fucking shorthand for Rangers. It's like the New York Post. Unless you're a diehard Islanders fan, you cannot tell me you don't want the New York Rangers in the playoffs. The atmosphere in the garden, Panarin, Zibanejad. If you're not rooting for them to get in, I know players are.

Escrow money back. Well, we just I mean, we talked about about zabinajad next our last episode excuse me he uh he ended up getting his 40th of the year the other night uh in his last 21 games since the all-star break 22 goals 13 assists 81 shots on goal 131 shot attempts and he's averaging 21 47 of ice time per game um what i did finally catch ford verse ferrari it was excellent very good movie man highly recommend it yeah it really was it was what you call a crowd pleaser um i know i know like car nerds like oh they took liberty with it it's like yeah that's what movies do but i wouldn't know the difference because i'm not a fucking much of a gearhead and also uh one last note congrats to our pal joe vitale out in st

louis on the birth of his daughter I know he's got two or three kids already I know he added that one to the brood Mikey Caruso made a funny joke on a little text chain the other day about it but Joe seriously great guy one of the best guys in the game it's a pleasure knowing him so congrats to him and his wife and the rest

of his family. Oh alright before we finish this thing up I gotta give a shout out Norwich university, which has been a dominant powerhouse in D three hockey for a long time. Keith, a coin played there, just a great program. They're in the midst of a nine game win streak with nine straight shutouts,

which I've never heard of anything like that in a competitive level before. So Tom Aubrey's the goalie he's got 13 shutouts this year i think in 28 games so that guy has to get a shot whenever he's done playing there somewhere pro maybe it's the coast maybe it's the ahl dude those numbers nine shutouts in a row have you ever heard of that in in anything no that's so i haven't heard that in anything? No. I haven't heard that in soccer. They never score in soccer. But other than that, everyone stay safe, stay healthy.

Root for me to get to Hawaii. You gotta be thinking of other people staying healthy, staying free away from this shit, and I guess do whatever you can in terms of staying out of big crowds. But I'm not stopping living my life.

I'm a little scared, a little nervous about what's going on. Are you thinking about canceling your trip to Hawaii at this point right now? Have you moved the needle at all? No, we said that we're not leaving unless the government comes. We're not going unless the government has breaking news. Like, don't leave your house. All right, Fair enough. I'm not, I'm going. So we'll see. Maybe people think I'm foolish. Maybe people will think I'm smart. I think there's plenty of people out there that think both. And I think there's, I'm not going to say millions,

but hundreds of thousands of people listening right now. They're probably annoyed of hearing our voices. So thank you guys very much. And once again, don't forget, I'm a guy who admits when he was wrong. Coronavirus, I think I was a little wrong. But watch out for the hysteria. I said the word correct. Good night. As always, we want to say thanks to our awesome sponsors. Big thanks to everybody over at New Amsterdam Vodka and Pink Whitney.

Big thanks to everybody over at DoorDash. Appreciate you. Big thanks to Budweiser, of course. Thank you to Hydrant for joining forces with us, and a big thanks to Upstart. Check them out as well. Have a great week, everybody. Thank you. I will find