Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 254: Featuring Josh Hennessy

Episode Date: March 19, 2020

On Thursday’s episode of Spittin’ Chiclets the guys are joined by Josh Hennessy. Josh joins (41:51) to talk about his friendship with Whit, playing for his hometown team, playing in Russia and more. The boys also talk coronavirus, some NHL signings, Tom Brady leaving New England and a bunch more. Then the guys wrap up with Whit talking about the USGA (02:06:03).You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/schiclets

Hey, Spittin' Chicklets listeners, you can find every episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Hello, everybody. Welcome to episode 254 of Spittin' Chicklets, presented by Pink Whitney from our friends over at New Amsterdam Vodka here on the Barstool Sports Podcast family. We're chugging through this no hockey time, but we all getting through it. Let's say hi to the boys before we get cracking. Mikey G, how you holding up, buddy? What's going on, boys? Was doing a little apartment cleaning today and found one of the original bottles of Pink Whitney from the first taste test. So I think

in about a few years, this thing is going to be worth like 10K, 15K. It's a reserve. It's a reserve, baby. So we have some Pink Whitney news. I'll let you guys get to that. But I just wanted to let you guys know that I got a little jackpot over here for myself. All right, G, good to hear, buddy. Saved that for eBay in a couple of years. You'll make this guy proud next up. Paul Biznasty, this on it. There you go. Quick little jab. Okay, no problem. I'll take it. My girlfriend went back to Florida, so that's tough. Now I'm all alone, so I'm getting a little bit crazy, boys. I've been doing more laps around my island in the kitchen.

And, yeah, I'll throw it back over to you, buddy. Hey, listen, I'm happy to see you, though. I'm happy to see you guys. I believe you. Great to see you. Great to see all of you. Good to see you, too. And last but not least, the wit dog, Ryan Whitney.

How are you doing with the cabin fever, brother? I'm grinding away, guys. I'm really trying to stay positive, find that light, go outside, enjoy the fresh air. There's moments that are very tough, but I do have some great news. I do have something that I'm going to lead off with. Everyone knows the story by now. I won't some great news. I do have something that I'm going to lead off with. And everyone knows the story by now. I won't go into it. I won't tell it, you know, for the 47th time and drive you nuts.

But in September 2018, I'm sorry, October, we started talking. Biz mentioned, let's do this drink. And all of a sudden, come October of 2019, the drink was out there. The Pink Whitney, New Amsterdam vodka, spitting chicklets, barstool sports. Boom, we have a drink. And it's been great. It's been wonderful.

But we had one issue. When was it getting to Ontario? I got emails from guys in London, girls in Stratford, uncles in Hamilton, aunts in Windsor. Seriously. Second cousins in Ottawa.

Boys, it's there. It is coming. It is time. Saturday, March 21st, boys and girls. The Pink Whitney's in Ontario. And it's just like it's been so overdue. I know you guys are the most loyal fans. I love all the Canadian people that enjoy listening to our podcast, but Ontario had to wait and it's now there.

So that's great news for you guys. Go out and enjoy responsibly. Okay. Now I got great news for you. Americans. I didn't leave you out. I am American because guess what we got now? We have minis and you know what minis are where I'm from.

I don't know what you call them. I call them nips. Just, just a little babies, you know, the little babies that you could bring And do you know what minis are? Where I'm from, I don't know what you call them, Ari. I call them nips. Just the little babies. You know, the little babies that you could bring in, you know, to a tailgate, you know, to a concert. Just it's the perfect size. Those are now available or those will be available across the United States April 1st. So it's just I think it's the perfect size. They're at the counter right at the front.

Can I get a little mini of Pink Whitney? Actually, I'll take 10 of them, please. Thank you. Well, that's what you'll be able to enjoy soon. Now, when I say let's go enjoy them and be social, right now we're currently in the social distancing aspect of our new lives. So let's make sure that you're enjoying them six feet away from other people. But those two things have been so special.

And in the end, the third announcement I have is that we've teamed up with New Amsterdam and we're going to give back to the bartenders that are being really affected, right? During this whole shutdown that we're dealing with across the United States and Canada. These are people that rely on working and making money every day and tips. And you just, you've already heard so many stories about people really struggling already and, and restaurants having to lay people off. So,

so what we're going to do is we're going to make a t-shirt. We're dropping a t-shirt on the barstool sports store. So we're going to be able to sell that. All the proceeds, all the proceeds are going to go to the United States bartender guild foundations, bartender emergency assistance program. Oh my God, guys.

Jesus, that was a mouthful. But that is a hell of a program. Nice read, Biz. Thank you. Hell of a program. Marbles in my mouth. Hell of a program that we're going to try to help and get through these tough times.

But some fun announcements with Pink Whitney, and we appreciate you listening to me talk that much. And a very nice gesture by Gallo because they're the ones paying for the shirts, and I'm going to throw it back over to you, Mikey. Yeah, because we're also teaming up with Drizzly. So shout out to them. They actually delivered some Pink Whitney to my apartment yesterday.

I was slacking. I needed some. So Drizzly came through clutch. And if you use the promo code Barstool2020, you'll get $5 off your order. So you must be 21 to order. But Drizzly's coming through clutch with the Pink Whitney, right? Oh, that's big because then you can keep the social distancing. You get your booze and food dropped off.

Unfortunately, that's not available in Canada. Now going back to the launch in Ontario, that's my home province. I'm very happy about it. I see people already. I know it says March 21st. They've sped up the launch instead of April 1st to March 21st. So most stores, most LCBOs, excuse me, will have it.

Some LCBOs have already gotten it. So I've been getting DMs all day long here, and I'm very happy about it, but it is hard to celebrate something like this during difficult times like this. You know, you don't want to be, like, shoving it in everyone's face, but it's just nice that it is, you know, a beverage. And some people do like enjoying those in their households, especially during a time like this in order to take their mind off things. So I am very happy about that. Also, we know if this goes even farther that you guys are going to be creating, are craving more social, whether it's on Twitter, Instagram. We talked about those

YouTube videos that we're launching. We got 35 in the bank. You guys are probably like, yes, we've been hearing about them like crazy. Well, we're in the process. I'm trying to line it up. So we're going to get brands to sponsor them. So we're going to have ads at the front of the videos and we're trying to sell four blocks of them and we're going to get a sponsor for each of them and ten thousand dollars will be donated by each of them to the ECHL player relief fund so I'm in conversations with them I want to get these guys paid so listen hear me out okay so we're not going to shame anyone that we mentioned in the ECHL owners some of of them are just getting by. And

now that they're not getting these ticket sales for the last, whatever amount of games, that's what they'd plan on doing. Some of them might even have to shut up shop because of this. Okay. I played in the ECHL. I played for the wheeling nailers. I was fortunate enough that I was on an entry-level contract. So even when I was down in the ECHL, I was making my AHL salary. And if something like this were to happen, I would have been okay. But I also play with guys who are making $250 a week. I think the price has gone up. Some of my league minimums like four, four or 50, but these are young guys starting out their career as I was, who are now in a very difficult situation. So some of them, they're not going to get paid for their last three weeks there.

That might have been the difference in them renting an apartment this summer, paying for a better trainer, whatever it may be. So we figured as a podcast, we need to step up, help out the small guys, and we're going to donate as much as possible to the ECHL Player Relief Fund. So I got to talk to the ECHL more about that and how we're going to get the check to them and getting the brands on board. Can I Brands is one of the brands

that has already stepped up. That's the part of the CBD company that I helped found. I figured, yo, this is a wellness product. This is like, let's go here. Like these guys need it. It's a good look. And they said, sure.

And we're going to throw 10% of all sales into that same fund. Boykes, I talked to Stapleton today. He said that they're figuring it out and hopefully they're going to be able to do so as well. So I'd imagine by next week, we do have our four brands and it'll be cool. I think we, and we're also going to do a t-shirt for that. I don't want this also to take a focus away from the Bartenders Guild one too. We need to help out both and it's a good opportunity to do so. We're also going to be dropping a shirt. We'll wait on the shirt a little

bit in order to sell more of the Bartenders ones but also the proceeds to that will be going to that player fund as well. So hopefully all the guys can end up getting their last three weeks pay because who knows, maybe one of those players is a player that we can watch in the future that ends up making the NHL

and we all get to enjoy that so I'll leave it at that we've talked enough about that back to you R.A. so let's help these guys out alright well we go from good news to bad news at least for me Witt and Grinelli huge news actually that's why we're going to share it anytime the greatest of all time switches

uniforms at 42 years old, it's big news. And as everybody knows, Tom Brady is Dunzo in New England. 20 years here, nine Super Bowl appearances, six wins, four Super Bowl MVPs. Someone asked me if I was sad about it. I said, no, I'm lucky I got to see it. If anything, I'm baffled why it had to happen,

why it had to come to this. But what was your initial reaction? I wasn't surprised at all because if you were keeping up, there was a lot of pretty well-known and respected sources saying he's not coming back. And then you started seeing the gambling lines, the odds where it was showing like, wow, this really might be a possibility. And then he went to that Syracuse basketball game with Edelman and the camera panned over to him and Edelman kind of mulled, he's coming back,

he's coming back. And Brady like shook his head and was like, no, he isn't or whatever. I think people, people said he might've said different things, but it, it, it was just, there was so much where there was so much smoke. It was like, there's gotta be fire here. And I, I was, I was sad in a sense of like, it was like a happy, sad. I started thinking about this guy's first Superbowl title was my freshman year at BU bunch of us on one 15 Bay state road, watching the game, going out to Kenmore square, going nuts. I was 18, played the beanpot the next night, my first ever beanpot

game scored. Thank you. And I i just remember thinking like this guy's now gone it's my i've lived it's my life it's half my life and so just to see him and i can't imagine grinnelly and younger guys where they only know him but to see what he did it was a happy sad and just like so honored that we got to watch him and that this guy like the class he did it with he he was he was like the perfect human i mean they say well nick lidstrom i mean this guy, the class he did it with, he was like the perfect human. They say, well, Nick Lidstrom. I mean, this guy, everyone has skeleton in their closets, but Brady's just seemed like a great teammate, a great dad.

Everything he does was just done to perfection, and I think it was just so cool for us to witness him become the greatest player of all time after being drafted that late and just basically forging a career that will always be known as the best player that's ever lived. I mean, can you see somebody ever doing what he did ever again? You can't even find 10 good quarterbacks now in this league. Yeah, exactly.

Plus not drafted in the sixth round with my fucking physique to boot. Biz, I mean, did you always just kind of like, were you always in awe of him as a football fan? I'll always say this, and I'll say this about all sports. Even when Golden State was winning, I always like when there's such a dominant team because I don't care enough about football. I love the Packers, and I hope they win.

But if they're not winning, I kind of like when the Patriots keep winning because it's amusing to me to see that somebody's – it's like it's diabolical at this point, right? So this is – after thinking for you guys and being like, wow, what a fucking run. What a run. The reason why it will never be done again is just the amount of health

you need in football. The amount how much everything turns over. It's just like there's so many things that have to go right in order to win one of the fucking things. This guy's got six. It's ludicrous, okay? But considering I've been hitting every marijuana strand of sativa in the desert in the last week, and I'm bored out of my goddamn mind, I get thinking, oh, my God. I cannot wait to get the behind-the-scenes story of this

because there's way more there. I mean, Belichick. Who? Thank you. Belichick? Did I say it right? Belichick? Sorry.

No, you got it. Fuck you. Belichick? Did I say it right? Belichick? Sorry. No, you got it. Fuck you. He said all the right things. There's some major, major tension going on there, right? So now it becomes a bit of an ego thing where now Tom's like, I'm going to go to this organization that were basically bums. I mean, I think, what are they? Were they 500 last year?

But it's been a long. They're horrific. They're horrific. Okay're horrific, okay? They're the Buccaneers. They're hosting the Super Bowl this year. I don't think a starting quarterback has ever led a team to where they're hosting the Super Bowl to play at home, right? And now he's going to try to show people,

I ain't no systems quarterback. Watch this shit. And I'm going to a pretty smart coach and Bruce Arians who's going to allow them and allowed him to have a little bit of conversation in it where part of my the way I read this whole situation was Tom didn't feel like he had enough voice as far as how the offense was being ran am I wrong here because that was that was part of what he was excited about that. And a lot of people behind the scenes, like Randy Moss commented on it,

how excited Tom's going to be to have more of a say. And then you got to think on the Belichick side of things, you're going to say, bro, watch this. I'm going to keep doing this. There's some major, major ego involved here. And I love every goddamn second of it. I cannot wait to see how this plays out. RA and Witt, will you guys root for the Buccaneers?

Oh, I will root for Tom Brady every single game he plays until they play the Patriots, which they don't play next year. Yeah, they play them in New England. Oh, the Bucs play the Patriots. Oh, yeah. Oh, shit. I'm going to eat the bill of chicky, and you're going to eat that one. Yeah, it's six months away.

You shouldn't be expected to memorize a football schedule six months away. Nope. You're good. You're good, but I'm good now. We're even. Suck it. We're both minus one. Let's move on.

All right. Yeah, basically. Hold on. I'm not done with this. Jesus Christ, let's move on. Biz, you take a seat with Polachek and just let me continue to talk. Mikey, yes, I will root for them.

Okay? I will root for them to win all their games. If they play the Patriots, when they play the Patriots, I'll say now, I hope we win 77 to nothing and we embarrass them. That's just how it rolls. I think that their relationship,

Belichick and Brady, I think it was just, it had gone on long enough. It was too strained to continue. Brady – and Belichick's never wavered. He does not care. He doesn't – when you were – He's a robot. When you were going down and you've reached your peak

and he considers you to be deteriorating as a player, he's going to get rid of you. And I think that it just upset Brady so much that it wasn't, he never really gave in to him in a way that he gave in to anyone else. Here's where I think the relationship went even more sour, is when Belichick was forced to move Garoppolo, considering that Brady wanted to keep going. Brady had earned that right, and they would have looked like idiots

if they would have moved him then. But everybody knew it was going to be this. So they basically gave up Garoppolo for two more chances at it, which I'm sure as Patriots fan you're like, oh, he's earned it. But the robot side of it, Belichick was probably really pissed, and I feel like it got a little bit more resentful after that. You guys might think I'm dead ass wrong on this, but I'm very interested to see who the first one to balk is as far as maybe there's a shot fired.

There's been no shots fired yet as far as comments. And I doubt it would be Belichick first. I could imagine when Brady retires maybe down the road he actually speaks what what happened it would be wouldn't it be refreshing to hear exactly how it played out Brady's first Super Bowl he got the ball with a minute 22 or whatever was on the clock and John Madden is on the telecast saying you got us down the ball go to overtime and this young stud takes him on a game winning super bowl winning drive and it just you you said is this gonna last yeah it lasted 20

years and he won five more of them and he went to nine total it was just something that you will never see again so thank you so much for everything you gave us, Tom, and good luck next stop in Tampa Bay. The best part of that story is Charlie Weiss saying the same thing to Brady, saying we don't have to do anything crazy. And then he walks away, and Drew Bledsoe looks at Tom Brady and says, fuck that, go out there and sling it. Really? Yeah.

So a lot of people don't know that. Love that. To answer your question, G, any guy who wins one of my teams the title has a pod that i always root for him no matter where he goes after any guy on the bruins team you just hey man they got you a title so you're gonna root for them as far as behind the scenes if there wasn't drama it could have just been you know belichick has no sentimentality when it comes to fucking cutting guys like wood said he might have said dude i'll give you 18 million but i'm not giving you 30 and that's the rumored number he's going to sign for.

It's like fucking he didn't make an exception for Brady. He's just kind of sticking to what he's always been doing. I find it very hard to believe, even winning six championships in that period of time, that over the course of that relationship, that there's not things that are being resented towards one another. So it's an amazing, amazing achievement. We may not witness a reign of dominance like that ever in the history of our lifetime, and bravo to both sides of that one.

All right, let's take it to the ice, mix it up, what we're supposed to be talking about. What an old teammate he was. I know you weren't with him a long time, but goalie Jonas Hiller, you probably hadn't heard his name for a while. He officially retired from hockey. He was an undrafted 25-year- but goalie Jonas Hiller, he probably hadn't heard his name for a while. He officially retired from hockey. He was an undrafted 25-year-old goalie playing in the Swiss League for six years.

The Ducks signed him. He came over here. He played from 07 to 2016. Seven years in Anaheim, two in Calgary, 404 total games, 914 save percentage, 255 goals against 23 shutouts. Wait, he was a pretty fucking good goalie, man. He, when he was on, it was, it was insane to watch. He made it look so easy, silly cider, you know, lefty goalie.

And when I got to Anaheim, um, it was kind of in the process of, of him taking Jaguar's job a little bit. And, and I don't know if that's correctly how I should say it, but, but he came in and was just so good in this run to the playoffs. And we got to game seven of the second round against Detroit. Dan Cleary scored under a minute to go. But Jonas Hiller, that run I had with him, I mean, he did 45, 50 save games, no problem.

He was incredible. Before games, he'd stand on one of those balance boards, Biz, and do exercises on it. He was just such an athlete, he'd stand on one of those balance boards, Biz, and do exercises on it. He was just such an athlete and a great guy, too. He was just a fun guy to be around, and I didn't stay in touch with him once I moved on. But if I ever ran into him again, he's for sure somebody you could have an easy conversation with, just kind of an easygoing guy.

And did he battle? He ended up battling um vertigo vertigo right yeah when he was playing in anaheim and it was a shame because like he was on the way up i mean um yeah he was having so much success and you gotta wonder like i don't know him personally enough to know how much that vertigo ended up affecting him long term but you know you know you always ask about guys around the league, and I never heard a bad word, just a really good guy. And hopefully that it wasn't all cut short because of that,

because that's a shame. I mean, you said it. When he came in, he was starting to dominate. Yeah, and like I said, he left the NHL in 2016. He played for four more years in the Swiss League. What's it, Beal? Was that how you – Beal Hockey Club? Yep.

And finished up. So congrats to him on a nice career. I just want to – we like to acknowledge guys when they finish up, so that's what we're doing here. We've got a couple signings to get you up to date on as well, a couple of college signings, undrafted free agents. Western Michigan hockey senior defenseman Cam Lee signed a two-year entry-level deal with Pittsburgh.

Contract will start at the beginning of next season, whenever that season starts. Let's see. Per college writer Brad Schlossman, it hasn't been confirmed by the team, but he said the Bees are going to sign Minnesota Duluth senior defenseman Nick Wolfe, 6'4", 217. Looks like he has some snarl to his game. Oh, wow. 121 penalty minutes in the USHL a couple years ago. He had 80 penalty minutes twice in college.

That's a pretty high number for college. That guy's clogging the Billet family's toilet. Fucking. That Billet family, you know, you get the check every month for groceries. They're like, motherfucker, we got this guy. He's eating up that check in two weeks. Dumps, clogging up the toilet fucking billet you're fucking sick they are the brooms did have another signing actually this one got tweeted out by the university of maine hockey team they signed their fourth round

pick on the 2017 draft maine goalie jeremy swayman i played three years up in maine 47 40 and 12 he'll basically get jump in with the the two other goalies down in Providence and however long Tuca plays for the three or four guys in line to battle for his succession. But what else we got? One more. Buffalo Sabres signed undrafted free agent forward Brandon Barrow to a two-year ELC.

He played four years at Penn State, was the captain last season. So good luck to those guys on that. Let's hope that guy becomes another superstar because that fucking organization needs a bounce right now. Although, hey, man, if this continues, there's some teams who dodged some major issues this year. I don't know. I feel like Chicago, this benefited them if it doesn't end up playing out.

Because they need some guys to get a little better. I mean, Stan Wilson – or not Stan Wilson. Stan Bowman's job is kind of on the bubble. And there's a lot of people's jobs who – if you miss playoffs now, you might be gone. We saw how many coaches are getting snipped left and right. And you still got Gallant ready for a job unless Seattle is ready to stroke him a massive check.

I know I kind of went off the rails on that one, but you're good at that. You're good at that. Speaking of Seattle, they're going to, somebody said in, in the most obvious news ever on, on Twitter today,

they're going to wait to, to unveil the name. Correct. All right. Yeah. Yeah. It was, I had that a little further down with that.

Well, we, unfortunately we have a Corona virus beat now and I'm not trying to be funny. Like there's so much hockey stuff that's tied in with the corona stuff. All right, well, let's hear it. I kind of lump it all together. But, yeah, actually, boys, you just talked about teams going up and down, Biz.

What about players going up and down? Maybe a little bump or slump action or what? Oh, yeah, we got the EA. I mean, Christ, everybody's going to be on that, whatever, the EA Sports now because everybody's locked in their places. So everybody's probably playing this video game right now. Now, I got to give a little bit of a bump action here. I don't think we're going to be slumping anyone.

Nice, nice, nice. That'd be cruel. That'd be mean. Geez, I know. I said I would never. I would never. So I'm going to be bumping a few guys here. So EA Sports, NHL 20, Bobrovsky.

We talked about the charity earlier in the episode. This guy donated $100,000 of his money to the arena staff there in Florida. So we're going to have to bump him to a 99. That's a very generous gesture. I believe then other players started following suit. So that's just great leadership on his part, 99. Also, our buddies, Kevin Hayes and Keith Yandel. Wow, they're bored sitting at home too. Well, you don't think they're going to come on and entertain you? Well, before we do that, we're going to have to bump up them to 99s as well.

Jesus Christ spit it out, Biz. So there's three guys this time. They're getting 99 bumps. Every time I end up doing this, though, I get, like, these kids who don't follow me who don't understand what the podcast is. Like, what the fuck is this? Why are you bumping this guy? And I'm like, bro, it's not that big of a deal, okay?

Like, to the point, if he had my address, he'd probably, like, come murder me. That's how intense these kids take these games. big of a deal okay like to the point if he had my address he'd probably like come murder me that's how intense these kids take these games so thank you to ea 2020 and you get three three little bumps there and i shout out to whoever made those spitting chiclets jerseys those are pretty sharp it's pretty wild to see i feel like a proud pup when i see those on a video game man it's it's unbelievable to see that like they're the nicest jerseys in the game too i don't mean to pump my own tires here but or our own tires. Yeah, they are.

They're real sharp looking. That should be what the e-bug goalie wears. We'll pay for the sponsorship. Remember we talked about that? Oh, and by the way, we should talk about the guests we're going to get. I said yesterday on social media that we were going to put Brian Yandel and David Ayers. So we got the e-bug going.

This is awesome. But because I'll let Grinnell explain this. There's an issue with Zoom, and that's how we record our podcasts. Yeah, essentially the whole world is using Zoom right now. Zoom.us, colleges, businesses, basically everyone. So we recorded those interviews yesterday. So in the meantime, we're going to drop Josh Hennessey. But we banked four interviews yesterday, and they should be good to go by next week.

But anyone out there who's using Zoom, do a local recording. Don't do a cloud recording. It will take over 48 hours to export. Wow, that's such a heads-up play by Yuji. I have no idea what the fuck that Yuji said right there. But it's crazy that the world has adapted in order for us to be able to survive in today's world with what's going on. So stay at home.

This is perfect, okay? This is how the technology has advanced for this exact reason. So embrace it. I'll throw it back over to you, R.A. Thank you. Thank you. I've got some tough news we want to share as well. Cedar Rapids defenseman of the USHL, Will Francis, he was diagnosed with leukemia recently. He's undergoing

chemotherapy right now. He's a Minnesota Duluth commit, and he was drafted by Anaheim six round in 2019. Whit, I know a couple of people reached out to you, and I know you wanted to share something with us. Oh, yeah. I mean, I had a bunch of his teammates from the Cedar Rapids Rough Riders and the USHL reach out to me, and they said this kid is the best. They said he's a big fan of the show. So, first off, Will, thank you so much for listening. It's unreal. But I'm being told just beauty.

You know when beauty is thrown out, Biz? I guess this kid's an animal just trying to fight every game last year. Legit. I mean, Aiden McDonough is a freshman at Northeastern Thayer Academy. Thank you. That's where the wit dog went. He's lightening up for Northeastern this year. He played with this case.

Dude, this guy tried to fight every game. Then they had a big sweep in the playoffs, and he comes buzzing into the locker room, riding a broom. He's running around riding this broom. At the end. He slams it over his knee, smashes it into pieces, and then fires it up into the ceiling like Clayton Kershaw throwing the pencils in that ESPN commercial, if you know what I'm talking about.

Just an absolute animal. Everyone loved him. And he got some really, really tough news. And what happened was he tore his meniscus. So his season was over. So he went home and got surgery and then went into Duluth. His second semester this year was going to be his first semester. So that way his senior spring playing hockey,

he wouldn't even have to go to class. He'd get to graduate a little early. And he's rehabbing his knee, and he's going to start playing hockey next fall. And Duluth has a wagon, right, Grinnelli? Yeah, so. Oh, yeah, they've won a couple national championships in the past few years. So he wasn't feeling good.

Like, his throat hurt and stuff, Biz. And he went in and saw the doctor twice. Ended up getting, they said he had, like, tonsillitis, I think it was. Something like that where, all right, well, his throat starts feeling better. But still, he was just tired and just not feeling great and then actually friday that march 13th just a couple weeks back he a couple days back he went in there and his father and him went to the hospital again and they they did some tests and realized it uh it was leukemia so it's it's it's just it's just such hard it's

such tough news i can't imagine will right right now what you were going through when you got that news. But talking to everyone, like this kid says, like, I'm going to crush this. And you are going to crush it, dude. You are going to kill this. I have no doubt in my mind with what everyone's told me about you that you will beat this. You will come back stronger. You will come back as a better person. And thank you so much for listening to us and know that we all got your back.

And all these teammates reaching out to me just shows what you mean to them. And I think the type of guy you are and what you're going through right now is just going to, it's only going to help you be an even stronger person in the future when you're playing hockey again, and you're realizing that you can do anything once you beat this. So thank you so much. We're all here for you.

Well said, Whit. Nothing I can add to that thank you so much. We're all here for you. Well said, Whit. Nothing I can add to that. Very well said. We're going to move on. I'm fucking crying now. Move on to the news here. All right, Biz? All right, buddy?

That was emotional. It's emotional stuff. Wow, it's been weird times. A young person. This kid, dude, would come in and just go nuts in the room, I guess. Everyone loves that. He's just – dude, they clinch playoffs. He builds mafia at a table in the visiting locker room.

Like, that's what you're going to do biting this thing too, bud. So, we love you. And like we said, kick its ass. We know you will. And we will get you through it also. And I think I should now talk about the fact that Biz mentioned staying at home and I apologized before and then I had the conspiracy

theory I now as time has gone on and I'm realizing what's going on with this awful virus like I seriously I am sorry before how I said like I can't even imagine that the clip of me saying earlier a few weeks ago that we'll be in pussies about this that is a misinformed moron who didn't know what he was talking about because now you see what's

actually happening and you see like oh my god these kids aren't listening but fucking a's is this becoming scary and so i'm not we're not going to hawaii obviously i i started realizing you know they didn't we decided yesterday and and then the Hawaiian governor said, please don't come anyways. It wouldn't even have mattered if we still did want to go. But you realize right now staying at home, it, I think what happened was biz, my mom came over and said, biz has been being so good about telling people to stay home. And he, you guys, you guys talk to so many people. And, and so I thought it's true. Like if you guys are to so many people. And, and so I thought it's true. Like if you guys are crazy enough,

I'm just a bit, I'm a bit like, like I get more fearful than, than most probably in my situation, just like trying to be like a tough guy or whatever. But like, I I'm all about the karma where I'm like, I don't know, man,

like Italy's getting pretty serious about this. Like this is, you know, this is, this is not good. And like what scared me the most was when when you read the stat on how much faster it was spreading so it was more about like holy shit man like the health care system's gonna get slammed it's gonna happen too fast i

didn't know any of that i didn't yeah yeah and so i feel bad i'm at home all day on my phone right so like i'm seeing this. So, I'm following. I'm like, this is picking up steam here. What is this over here? I mean, you're busy. You got the kid and shit. So, when you came on and said it. But, dude, by the next time the episode came on and that's when people were getting, like, told, hey, stay in your house.

You were on the stay in the house train. Like, you were like, oh, shit. Yeah, this, whoa, fuck. Yeah, I know. But the conspiracy theory thing, like, dude, I've read every conspiracy theory. I think if you guys, I've, like, made my apartment a bomb shelter at this point, man. You actually can't see Biz, but he's got tinfoil he's wearing on the top of his head right now. Like, I am fucking scared shitless, man. Like, I'm, like, checking the stock market. Like, shitless, man. Like I'm like checking the stock market.

Like I'm like, so anyway, this is fucking like, let's hope we can all laugh about this in like two months, but let's, yeah, let's stay inside. Yeah.

I think not enough people listening as we've been seeing, you know, I know I've been, I was young, dumb and full of cum when I was 22 too. And if someone told me, you don't go on spring break, I would,

I'll probably laugh too. But that clip going around to those kids at the beach and it's just like, come on, you know, it's like, yeah, you just can only shake your head and like for what we know about it now, it's like, you gotta be crazy to fucking go, go to other places. The only thing that, that, that has annoyed me a little bit is that when you heard all this stuff last week,

I wish they'd just done what they did in terms of shutting things down a week earlier. We'd be a week ahead of it. Now that you kind of saw what's happened and the fact that so many people said it was going to happen, it was like, could we not just have gotten ahead of it a little bit? So that was a little frustrating. And then the other thing is you do think about the bartenders we've talked about and the construction workers. There's no construction in Boston now and all these people that are really hurt.

And so you just got to hope it's as quick as it can be. And it's as quick as possible we get back to life in a normal way. And actually, it was funny. Did I say what my mom said to me? Yeah, you said business saying shit on Twitter. No, no, no. About a couple. It was like a week ago.

A week ago she said that she read or heard on the radio somebody that said um we're gonna this is gonna change our lives the way we live our lives health wise the same way that 9-11 did security wise and and and you know and border wise you know what i mean yeah i think it's true i don't think we'll ever live the same way that we did before after this i certainly won't be like i'll be washing my hands way more often as far as what do you mean the amount of people coming in no i don't mean that i mean just health-wise like how people take care of themselves and how like there's so many dirty grimy people out there that don't wash their hands and don't cover their mouth when they sneeze. Oh, yeah. Just basically living a more, what is the word, sterile life? Yes.

Dude, I shower twice a day. I am really high up on my hygiene. I wash my hands constantly. I would say 20 times a day. If I touch anything that had any type of substance on it, right to the bathroom. Like I am a fucking, well, I might take it to the extreme. I would consider myself a little OCD.

I heard this other, I was talking to a woman, and she made a comment, and she goes, I think this was Mother's Nature's way. Mother's Nature. Sorry. Oh, God. I'm trying to be all like serious and i talk there's just one mother nature dude it's not a it's not a couple this is the side piece of mother nature

uh but uh well fuck i lost my train of thought she said this is mother nature's way of like slowing things down because china had to shut down. All the factories did. All of a sudden, the smog went away. The fucking earth got to breathe a little bit, man. Listen, some people, even a scientist might be like, dude, that's the dumbest shit. Some lady said that online. It doesn't even make sense. It's still staying in here.

I don't know. I thought it made a little bit of sense where it's like, hey, let's take a little bit more care of this earth we're living on you know this is gonna sleep in his closet by the end of this curl up in a ball no come on this is gonna have an alarm company come over and alarm his closet door listen i'm not being a hard-o i'm saying listen maybe we should kind of let i might get a refillable bottle after this fucker. Okay, you do your part. Right, I'm saying. I'm not going to go full Joaquin Phoenix on you.

I'm not going to talk about the milk and shit. I'm going to say, yeah, I might use a reusable fucking bottle. Might walk a little bit more than drive around. Yeah, scientists, I mean, doctors in this field, they've been saying for years it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when something like this happens it was they've been talking about it for years and yeah what we this country should have been way more prepared and had things

you know we should be leading the fucking charge in this stuff and we weren't and that's been kind of depressing to see but like you guys said fucking stay and listen to people stop you know stop going out and this is this is a whole new world right now it's like desperate times call for desperate measures type of thing, so stop fucking around and pay attention

and do what the fucking people are asking you to do. And someone else made a comment about it saying, like, people aren't used to change, right? They don't want to be taken out of their rhythm. It fucks with them a little bit. I mean, look at what's happening. Everybody's freaking out. I mean, of course, even the financial side of it is one thing alone.

So, like you said, stay inside. Let's figure this thing out. It'll be gone in no time, and yay, we're happy. Shifting back to the hockey, but it's Corona-style news still. Per a team release, an unnamed Ottawa senator did contract the virus. It was the first positive test in the NHL. They said he had mild symptoms. He's in isolation.

So, I mean, it probably was a matter of time before that happened. Per Chris Johnston, he tweeted that the NHL has issued new directives to players that are permitted to go home to any country and must stay in self-quarantine until the end of March once they get there. And today, my stunt double, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, he was on P.L. LeBrun and Scott Burnside's podcast, Two-Man Advantage, and he said that the league absolutely does not want to mess with the 82-game season next year.

That's a priority for the league. So you're hearing people talk about extending the league into possibly July, August, September, but the league is like, no, we want to make sure we get an 82 game season next year. His quote was, the only definite for us is we certainly don't want to do anything around a resumption of play this season that will impact our ability to have a full season next year. So we'll obviously keep an eye on things.

That's what we do here. This is going to be such a difficult situation to figure out. So people, basically since the last podcast podcast when I said the best of five, there's just going to be no way. There's going to be no way. So the hardest part now is how they're figuring out the asset situation. So it's like this is going to be so difficult, and I hope not one organization gets a really raw deal out of all this

where it's just like, oh, my God, it sets them back because that sucks as a fan base to get affected by this now. But good luck to the league on figuring that one out. That one's out of my pay grade. We interviewed Kami last night, Tuesday night, so that'll be coming out soon. So you'll kind of hear me say this then, I apologize. But I'm going to be shocked at this point if we see hockey again this year.

And it's the worst news. And that's the last thing any of us want, anyone listening wants. But, man, these guys, there's no gyms open anywhere. You can't go outside. If they're staying in shape, it's in their garage or in the gym in their house. They're going to get their last paycheck. Guys traveled all over the world to get home. And then you can already say that maybe mid-May you can start something.

Can you guys – everything that's in mid-May and June is already getting canceled. So the earliest I could even think of is May 15th, and I don't think that's going to be the case with the NBA saying their earliest is June 10th. And then you get into what the playoffs would be, and if they won 82 games next year, I just don't see it working out. I hope to God I'm wrong. I shouldn't say God.

There's more important things he's got going on right now, but I hope that it doesn't happen. I just can't see games. I can't see any more hockey this season, guys. That was a good save there. We'll fucking keep an eye busy. You just mentioned assets. Interestingly, the Swedish League, they put a signing moratorium

in effect. Basically, the teams won't be doing any transactions with the exception of rookie contracts. Obviously, they're new to the league. They're not moving team to team, but effect, basically the teams won't be doing any transactions with the exception of rookie contracts. Obviously, they're new to the league. They're not moving team to team. But basically, no moves are going to be made in the Swedish league. So it'll be interesting to see if that has some – not effect over here, but if something similar happens over here at some point.

All right. And I kind of didn't really explain why I was saying the thing about David Ayers and Brian Yandel, but we had a nice interview in the bank and it's Josh Hennessy. This is a guy that Whit knew who we interviewed live in person in Boston. He will be our guest on today's podcast. And he had, he had probably one of the longer, more in-depth Russian story that we've heard. And this is involving the crazy owner. Now we've heard and this is involving the crazy owner now we've talked about the crazy owner on this podcast before he owned the team where he always wanted he wanted the crazy guys on the team so at one point in time i think you blonsky morasty they had like four heavies on their team

and if games would get out of hand it would just be a brawl okay i've heard stories of this guy this owner walking into the locker room i think i've said on the podcast with like an ak-47 and and then coming down at it during a game and threatening a referee that he's going to kill his family if he calls one more penalty on his team and that mutant team just ran around the rest of the game killing guys and they didn't have one penalty against them so this you're going to get a good story so i hope you guys enjoy this uh what a great guy handsome bugger too i mean he's uh he's a stallion wit he's a man rocket well said biz and on that note we're going to send it over to josh hennessey right now very very pleased and honored to be sitting in

boston today we got all of us together, getting some interviews down. We got a good friend of mine right now in here. Josh Hennessey, born and raised in the Boston area. Born in Plymouth, raised there, then moved to Rockland before starring at Milton Academy, going on to play in the Quebec Major Junior League. And I'll have everyone know, picked two spots ahead of Patrice Bergeron in the 2003 draft. The whoops!

And also, before we get to Josh, we have to mention that because of Tim Stapleton, or because of Josh, I know Tim Stapleton. So Josh basically brought him into the world. For all of our fans. So, Josh Hennessy, thanks a lot for coming in, bud. It's about time, to be honest with you.

Well, we were at a bachelor party a couple summers ago and I said, I'm just going to wait. I'm going to wait. I'm going to keep growing and building, and then we'll get you in here. So it worked out good. You had to wait until you guys were so big that people listened to anything. That's basically what it was.

It was like, I can't have my friends on until we have listeners that will just listen no matter what. You can't have your friends on. You had people in the foals. Like, BY is now coming in in case I suck, so you guys have something to put on. I could see why you'd be offended by that. I know.

I'm low on the list. But if you introduce Tim Stapleton, you already have the spit and chiclets mob slob in your knob. So, yeah, they know. Was that a little bit of a word play there? Oh, I didn't know it. No, that sounded phenomenal. It's more that the fans are thinking,

oh, my God, without this guy that we're about to hear, we would never have Stapes. So already you're at a seven and you haven't even told a joke yet, so you better get cracking. Which is nice. No pressure. You got the assist on the MVP. Well, first, so kids that I was telling you guys,

it's a huge compliment to you guys, kids that don't even have never played hockey listen to you guys and are at keep hearing wit bring up my name apparently. And they're like, when are you going on? When are you going on? And I'm like, I don't know, like in between McDavid and when they bring Gordie Howe back from the dead. God bless.

People are asking, like, I don't know, I'm holding out for summer of 2025. I just said I was negotiating my terms. Exactly. But no, thank you for not finding out. Well, we appreciate it. Now, I want to let everyone know, Josh Hennessey,

while being one of the worst hockey players you'd ever see when he was nine years old, just a horrific defenseman on the Plymouth might see team. Basically, the worst player in the town. You are, if you're the sixth D man on might sees,

your second year of mights, you are the worst player that pays to play hockey in your town. Because they can't, because everyone has to be on a team. So you're on the worst team, worst spot. They can't cut you. Yeah.

It was the worst play. I specifically remember moments where the puck was coming, like trickling at me at the blue line, like keep it in. And I just couldn't. And then I don't know. Well, something changed because as much as I chirp him, this guy at 13, 14, 15, just an incredible player. And I want to know basically what happened in going to the Quebec League.

We've talked about this before, but I think it's interesting for everyone when back then there weren't a lot of kids from Massachusetts who went to play major or junior. And you had every college in the country offering you scholarships. Yeah, it was stupid. So why the hell did you do it? You got paid money. We've gotten in trouble recently for talking about that and joking about that.

So what? London got in trouble. We didn't. About guys getting paid? Yeah. To play junior? Yeah. Very prevalent.

We were joking about it. This made it a running gag and people took it Way too fucking serious Yeah Alright without Getting too sidetracked here You lose your NCAA Eligibility when you go there Right

Right Because they consider it Professional hockey So why should you not Be able to make more money I've always argued They say that some teams can't And that other teams

Can like take advantage Of the situation A Quebec Ramparts Were a team who could though Oh well time out Time out I do believe in the Quebec League of all the major junior

leagues was allowed at the time and they still may even be allowed to is pay more to the players, correct? I have no idea. On paper, I was making $35 a week, whatever the 16-year-old makes. Made a little bit more than that.

But there was a wire transfer. They were paying my dad as a scout. Oh, wow. That's genius. My dad was scouting like prep school, like the New England area. They paid your dad to be a scout. He didn't watch one game.

My dad, my first year was at 32 of our 40 home games in Quebec. No way. Yeah. He would go up there, huh? Was it hard for you when you went away?

The first, like until Christmas, my first year was like sad. You speak French though, don't you? I do. That's always a nice thing. You learn that when you go to Quebec, right? Yeah. That's crazy. So he went to Quebec and he took in the full experience to learn the language.

He's real smart. Don't let him fool you. I would imagine. You didn't want to go to college? No, not at all. I liked school. I mean, liked school. I didn't hate it. You liked certain aspects. I liked school. I wasn't a bookworm,

but I did alright in school. That had nothing to do with it. Our boy Keith didn't really have a choice but going to Moncton. I would have passed Clearinghouse if that's what you're asking. I would have gotten accepted to college if that's what you're asking. No, I was honestly,

at the time I was a man child. I was full grown. Same beard you have now. Same beard. I shaved less then was i would say my last year at millen academy i was probably 5 11 like 180 as a it was like i was a freshman you were adam levine before adam levine yeah it does look like adam way before i'll give you that that's a hell of a call probably a better musician musician. It's better than Rappaport. So we just had the six women that listen to our podcast vaginas explode with moisture.

That's a bad hustler letter right there. They're like in their cars, but it's like a fish tank. And they're like at the window. Oh, my God. Anyway. Oh, you played with Radulov up there. Okay, yes. Radu's my boy.

Oh, God. Okay, let's get cooking hereov up there. Okay, yes. Radu's my boy. Oh, God. Okay, let's get cooking here. Put a log on the fire. All right, answer your question real quick. I always thought I was going to go to college. They started offering, like teams started offering, I don't know what you want to call it, incentive under the table,

like not the $35 a week that we're supposed to be making. Stuff that's not in the brochure. Right. I thought I was going to Halifax And then they kind of Like the moose head guys Kind of like balked at it At the last second And then Quebec came in

And was like we'll do this Quick story I hid in the car At the Quebec League draft Because they didn't Like they didn't think I was coming So I said

I told everybody else I wasn't going to the Quebec League So I had to hide in the car Until the second round started What do you mean hide in the car? I was in a minivan In the parking lot With my parents So no other team would see me And to hide in the car until the second round started. What do you mean hide in the car? I was in a minivan in the parking lot with my parents so no other team would see me

and pick me in the first round because they wanted to use their first round picks and then only have to use a second on me. So you just hid in the back of the old minivan? I was in the parking lot, yeah. He got kidnapped. He looks like Adam Williams. Where was the draft? In Montreal. Oh my god, I never knew that. So you were already going then?

I had signed the deal. He was actually getting a blowjob from a stripper. He just says he was hiding in the crowd. That's a joke. No, I wasn't. I swear, I was at my best. I mean, shit better eat, man. I mean, what do you...

Wait, so... All right, so there's a chance that still somebody could have taken a risk, though. Hey, I think this kid will come up. Yeah, so I think Quebec basically was betting that nobody was going to waste a first round or not knowing. Who'd they take in the first round that year? Some scrub. Jean-Michel Bolduc and Jeff McCauley. Good kids.

Good guys. Average players. Good guys, not the best of players for first round. Steve Bernier went first overall. They had nice personalities. They were good. No, they were good. I mean, it's tough.

I wasn't good either. It's a hard business. Well, I'll say this. You played four years in the Quebec League. So after you were drafted, you played two more full seasons or one? Two after I was drafted. So one of those. Typical, unless you're a stud yeah

exactly i didn't play overage i played our draft year we went to the top prospects game together that was the first time i'd ever played in that heard or seen of josh hennessy yeah and you can so obviously he was joking around about you be playing defense as a kid you were a forward correct yes business yeah yeah i was like he's a game breaker i don't remember this guy being a defenseman so i was right and my memory was that you were a very skilled little forward played yeah both ends of the ice very well yep one better than the well both average i don't know but um two things i only remember two things about that game you fighting for enough prospects game i was a late addition so i was i was like like somebody got hurt and they called

me at like midnight the night before the game. That's how I got in the Olympics. Exact same thing. No one knows. One was the top prospect and the other was the Olympics. Exactly. I was the 61st prospect and you were in the Olympics. He was just trying to pump his own tires there.

Yeah, I know. We know you played in the fucking Olympics. You gave me one of your jackets um the uh no we traded your old rem parts leather jacket yeah exactly the varsity jacket i just swap no two things you fought for enough for the prospects game is it one of the only things i can remember and then i also remember that i showed up like late at night because I was like, and Nathan Horton was my roommate and they had like gift packages on the beds that they left for the guys.

And it was like the varsity jackets with like the fucking cream leather. Yeah. Oh yeah. They were nice. Like Siegel Tower Prospects. And then they gave us all, they gave everybody headphones, like a nice set of headphones they left, but like mine weren't there. And Horton's like listening to his, and I can tell they're like brand new.

And I'm like, Hey, look at my jacket. Where are the headphones? And so he's like, oh, I didn't think anybody was coming. I thought I was alone, so I gave them to my buddy. He's like, I'll get them back. He's like, I'll get them back for you. I'm like, all right, nice. At the time, you don't have any.

So then I don't get them back. Horton beats him up in the game. Horton ends up being good at hockey and having a long career. Then I get called up 10 years later in Boston. I see him in the locker room and I'm like, motherfucker owes me a headband.

Did you bring it up? He's the nicest guy too. I'm just looking at him. I'm like, can I get my fucking headphones back? Let me have some Beats by Drew. He's like, go get me some tape. Yeah, he's like pigeon. I was like, can I get my fucking headphones back? Let me have some Beats by Trader Joe's. He's like, go get me some tape, Pigeon. Yeah, he's like, Pigeon.

I was like, I'm only going to be here for like eight hours. Can I get my headphones back? He gives you his AirPods, but there's just wax all over them. He takes these ones. They're like, let's make sure we get Rookie Party in while this kid's here. We're jacking up from 5K to 10K for this motherfucker who wants to come at me about those headphones. I didn't. I didn't say anything.

I was a pigeon. Pussy. I didn't say anything. I was a pigeon. Pussy. I didn't say anything. But if you're listening... I love you, Nathan. Yeah, I love you. He's a good dude. Just, I need some headphones.

So where'd you first meet up with this peckerhead, Whitney? Same group of friends. I mean, I'm from this area, so the hockey world, as you move up, is a small world. So you start skating together

in the summers and before training camp. And and then i play we played together on uh you remember the hub city team and yes i remember it was me you and rob shrimp were like the big prospects down there for the younger kids and we ran through this tournament easy win i remember we had a stack team i think it was or pick who knows. Yeah, we were good. And that's when I kind of started hearing about him and then a couple of my really, really close friends, Brendan Byrne,

we've talked about a bunch, played with him at Milton Academy. Like, this kid's a stud. He's so stupid, though. He's going to the Quebec League instead of the BC or BU winning the Hobie Baker. So now he's a real estate mogul,

though, so I guess I can't chirp. So I don't have any Beef jerky to sell If anybody needs a Two bed one bath In Providence Alright so You pick by San Jose And your career

In the Quebec League Ends How do you end up Like that first year With the Cleveland Barons That's San Jose's AHL team That was your first year pro

Yup I gotta pull this Roster up You had a good year 63 points. No, no, keep scrolling right. Look at my plus minus. How was hockey in Cleveland?

Oh, dash 25. How was hockey in Cleveland like? I mean, they had minimal success there in the 70s, and then they always had a minor league team. What was your experience? All right, this is how hockey in Cleveland was at the time. In my apartment, Steve Bernier was my roommate. So he's like, I was calling to get all the bills set up

because he's a French kid, thick accent. And I call to get like the NHL package added to the cable or whatever. And the guy on the phone's like, I think we used to have a hockey team in Cleveland. I'm like, I'm fucking pretty sure you still do. I hope you still do. I'm in Cleveland. I'm like, I'm fucking pretty sure you still do. I hope you still do. I hope you're still doing right. Yeah, exactly.

We played at the Quicken Loans where the Cavs play. And as a joke, I wore 23 because LeBron was there. Just because it was so ridiculous. We would get 200 people a game. Our games, when the Cavs played the night before, the ladies cleaning or the people cleaning,

like sweeping up the popcorn from the Cavs games, would be having conversations across the building, across the rink during our game. Like, yo, you get aisle ZZ. I get ABC. Yeah, like you go left, I'll go right. I'll meet you at 240. And it's like second, we're on the power play.

You can hear them. But I think the difference now, I hear they're doing better, is that ownership is the same as the Cavs. So you could be in that building during a Cavs game and not know that there was a hockey team in town. So it wasn't very well marketed. So it was quiet, to say the least. They sold out that building when they were on the run and when

the caller cop like that was it's a sports town cleveland's cool by the way they like undercover fun jumped on board i mean of course at that level and that type of you know sports city because you got the you know the browns you got you got a lot of things ahead of it yeah yeah they turned they turned right as soon as the tide did and they jumped on board so i mean you can't knock that as not being a sports town ever no definitely not it wasn't it was that it was honestly that people didn't know there was i mean obviously the minor league team anyway so you're not expecting the same as the big leagues but um that wasn't that had i really think it was more that uh people just didn't even know we were there right right well that first year though like you led the team in scoring the ahl you didn't even know we were there right right that first year though like you led the team

in scoring the ahl you didn't even sniff getting called up not once no like if you usually i think if a 19 or 20 year old leads the ahl in scoring like maybe end of the year right they might give them a game right i'll just okay so you have some built-up anger about that tons yeah no um it's crazy all those you didn't get an get an NHL game until you went away? Oh, no. Well, I got dealt right after that season. Okay, so what happened with that deal? You could just tell they don't like me?

No, I don't know. Timmy Burks, the head scout Boston guy, I don't know if you know him at all. He's like a serious hard-ass. I thought he hated me. He used to... We played in the rookie tournament or whatever. to we played in the like the rookie tournament or whatever and like after the first game of the rookie tournament my first training camp he like comes up to me i'm like going to get in the shower and he like cuts me off and he's got like a whole

group of scouts behind him like minions and he's like what are you gonna do if you don't play hockey first game of the rookie tournament like the very first thing that happens of the season and i was like i don't know why like what do you mean like what do you mean i haven't thought this far does that mean i had a bad game like what are you saying you didn't and uh no i mean i wasn't i wasn't very polished um but and then at the end of the year i'm like a black ace which i was always a black ace because you were a an NHL. I actually might be up there with most black ace games, if that's a stat. Most black ace skates, I think. Yes, most black ace practices without ever making an appearance.

But I overheard Berkey talking to another kid who had 12 points but was – let me answer this text real quick. Who had 12 points, but was like a scrappy, like kind of overachieving, like good player. And he's sitting at the breakfast, I'm eating my Cheerios,

like black acing, like before practice. And the kid's like, he's talking to him, he's like, we think you had a good year, we like how hard you work. And he's like, yeah,

but I would have liked to trip in more offensively. And he goes, what, points? And he goes, he had points. Like, look over here. Look at him. Yeah, like, and I'm have liked to have let him, you know, chip in more offensively. He goes, what, points? And he goes, he had points. I'm like, look over here. Look at him.

Yeah, and I'm just sitting there by myself eating. I'm like, with my Cheerios. I'm like, what's happening? And then he looks over at me and he goes, minus 25? It's not good. This is the headscarf of your first year. You've got to be like, I'm getting traded. I'm like, I need a new job.

Like a new career. Anyway, yeah, I didn't get called. What was the trade? To Ottawa. Marty Havlat and Brian Smolenski went to... That's a name. A name drop. Yes.

Went to Chicago. Three-way trade. Tom Pricing went to Ottawa. He did? Colorado College? Yeah, he was coming off. He was a good player in San Jose. He was doing well. I was a throw-in

with... Who the hell was with me? Another black case. Michael Barenka. Yeah, Michael Barenka. Another Hall of Famer. And Chicago's second rounder in 2008, which turned out to be Patrick Wearchurch. Oh, I didn't even know that. I want to know about your relationship with Radulov.

When you were in Quebec, we never even talked about that. We glanced over. Yeah, we can't glance over Radulov. No, you can't. He's the man. I wish you could ISO cam him. Like if there was an ISO. On the bench.

Bench, locker room, like breakfast at all times. He's a complete cartoon character. But he's an unbelievable player, awesome guy. The thing I remember in Quebec is we lost a game. We were having a meeting. And so it's like uneasy atmosphere. You know how it is when the coaches come in. And you know like the saran wrap that you'd like wrap the ice bags up with?

What do you call it? He wraps his whole face in it. And his nose is like over there. So he's got the thing like going around his head like this. And he like cuts a hole in his mouth so he can breathe. And stays like that for like a negative meeting. Like we lost last night. You guys suck meeting.

And he's just like the coach walks in. And he's like sitting there with his fucking nose plastic. He's got full plastic wrap around his head and nobody knows why and he's not to be funny english right at this point or not great it was broken um he was he was just i don't know he just shot a light did the coach say a word to him i like i think we kind of made him probably unwrap himself before we ran around before we like had to watch clips of like losing nine to two that was his way of saying i don't want to be here no i don't think no he wasn't no he's not he was like a really positive like hard working like he plays

his balls off so but his first was like out of touch like a russian kid doesn't know he comes in the quebec league i don't know how it is in the o or Russian kid doesn't know he comes in the Quebec league. I don't know how it is in the O or the other leagues, but preseason in the Quebec league, I remember being like, like they want to put on a show for the fans. So the home team, it's just set up to like,

just dummy the other team. Like, Oh really? This was my experience. Like we would play like our division was like Chukuna me or Musky. Like they would send like maybe six kids that are going to end up making the team on the road so the home team plays that whole squad like thumps them the next night you go to their barn like you send your c squad they

thump it was just kind of like a yeah unwritten song and dance they did it was like the scene from uh gladiator when there's like you know 20 of them going out and they're going to be fighting like lions and shit. They're basically like, we know we're about to get killed out there. Aren't they supposed to lose the battle of Carthage? That's when you know shit's really not going to be going that well that season when your fucking home team loses to the fucking Shakur. No, so who even loses? The point is Radu doesn't know this. And this is my third year, the year I'm playing with him.

No, it was my last year. It was my fourth. And so we're playing these guys. I know we're going to smoke them. And he and I are playing together. If we don't have four points each, it was bad. And he gets a hat trick. And it's his first game in front of the fans.

And he's every goal doing the canoe through center ice. Like swimming me. Like I'm trying to give him like the let's get out of here. Exhibition. Exhibition fist bump. Like we're not sweating. Like let's get out of here. And he like swims everybody and is doing the canoe.

Like through fucking center ice. And we're like, I'm like, where did they find this fucking guy? We're playing 14-year-olds. Like we're playing. You're right. Like it's a peewee guy? We're playing 14-year-olds. Like, we're playing. You're right. Like, it's a peewee team. You know what? No one could ever take away from the fact that he just lives to score goals.

Nobody loves hockey more than that kid. He plays so hard. I'm so glad he's back in the NHL because he's a must-watch TV. But actually, so the year you played with him, you were gone the next year in which he had 152 points in 62 regular season games. So what does that tell you? And 55 in 23 playoff games. But the year you played with him, he just had 75 points.

Could you tell, though? Holy shit. He was skilled, but he actually grew. Oh. So he wasn't... I don't remember him being a monster, which he's a pretty big dude. I think he's bigger than people realize.

Yeah, he's thick, too. Yeah, thick. And he wasn't that big. And that was the year when Keith went up there, they changed the rules. So that was the year that all hockey changed, where you couldn't just tug on somebody in the back check. We still had a red line.

Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah, fuck, I didn't even think of that. I had that in the AHL when you're the red line. Yeah. Or maybe in the NHL, too. Yeah, people forget that the red line was a real thing. Tag up, tag up.

You're like, what? And now kids have no clue. And back checking. If you're within a stick length of someone, you just start. And I think it was like stick infractions. They started calling everything. So he just had the puck and the power play for 82 games. Yes.

Makes sense. And he didn't have to play with me anymore. And he got rid of the weight that was holding him. The luggage. Yeah. You've got to have a couple more in there. I mean, just like the everyday. everyday i mean he's really known for his work ethic i don't think that's any surprise to anyone like i would say sometimes russians get

the tagline that it's just their just high-end skill and they don't want to play the other end of the puck yeah i mean so his and like his motor is unheard of like Like, he's... But he does, like... So, I played against him in Russia also. Like, I ended up seeing him. We'll get there. Yeah, we'll get to that. And, no, but he would have moments where, like... Like, he's not really coachable.

Like, in Russia. I think he is over here. But, like, he was the man. Like, he was the lead. Over there, he was doing whatever he wanted. He was doing whatever he wanted. He was the best player. So KHL TV is a TV station, and because there's 15 time zones that you play in,

there's a live game on at all times on KHL TV, on national television. And they play every one of his games, and they basically ISO cam him because he's so animated like just abuses refs but they can't do anything he's like above everybody like abuses his coach you seen the video where he hits his coach

with a stick yeah that's the best one we've talked about that that is the and the guy doesn't do anything the guy looks the guy like

doesn't do anything would it be safe to say he has a very similar personality to Ibrahimovic and that popularity in Russia as if he would have in sweden yeah so i don't know if like is he is he a little cocky in the media as well there yes so he

i mean my impression was that he completely ran the show like there was no coat like the coat like if the coach had to cater to him because if he told the ownership of red army that he wants a different coach like there will wants a different coach like there will be a different coach there yeah and but he was he was also in that league he was drastically better he was lebron james almost better than everyone else he was lebron he was lebron but cooler guy yeah lebron's oh you hang out with lebron lebron's painful i mean he hasn't called me in a while i mean he's pissed i took his number in cleveland for the barons hey i knew there was a reason why you mentioned that and there it is it came full circle my friend um no he's i like i don't know i have fond memories of playing with him do you think that

that may be the reason that he went back because he knew that he could i mean i i don't know if at the time it was a big money thing, but he was obviously able to not only make more in Russia, probably have way more control and be around his friends and family. That's probably why he wanted that dominance. I don't know. Do you remember he had a weird thing in Nashville in the playoffs?

Oh, yeah. He broke curfew, right? Yeah. I was at the W. Scottsdaledale and they were the table over the only difference was I had no bearing on that series who else was with him too? I don't remember

I'll think of it, it was the guy who had the brother who played in Montreal I played with Kostitsyn I love that guy I think I've told this story on the podcast before they were out and I remember one of the girls from the W who was a cocktail server come up to me I love that guy. I think I've told this story on the podcast before. They were out, and I remember one of the girls from the W, who was a cocktail server, come up to me. She goes, those guys play for the other team.

They're kind of mean, too. Apparently, the one guy asked for no ice in his drink, and it was a different blonde waitress, and she thought it was the same one. And then when he got his drink, he pulled the ice out and smashed his glass. He's like, no ice! So she, he, like, pulled the ice out and, like, smashed his glass. He's like, no ice. So she was, like, scared to go over to the Russian table.

This is Kostitsyn or what? I don't know which one it was. I mean, they're both fucking farm animals. You know, they're big boys who can fucking play hockey. Well, then you go to Ottawa. So you tell us what the deal is. You got five years up and down, mainly down, just living it up in bingo.

Mostly down. Binghamton, New York. What was the story there? I mean, you never really got a big chance. You played 10 games your first year there. I don't understand what you kind of were told. Was it pretty cut and dry you were going to be in the minors? No. I mean, I got traded there, and i had had what i thought plus minus aside was a decent first year pro so you still think you're like in the hl it's like all right i can still play in this league yeah so i'm in training i'm in training camp and i made it to the end so it's not denny hamel had just had 56 talks the year before in bingo but he was like older at the time he wasn't like a prospect i was in i was in

the league when he did that yeah like just ridiculous he was scoring from the red line at binghamton because it's not even a full-size rink it's the size of this coffee table yeah so um so he and i were roommates towards the end of training camp and it's kind of between the two of us who's gonna have the last spot at my first training camp there and uh we're playing philly last preseason game and he gets like a like a shorty and then next shift five on five puts one like under the bar like last preseason game i just i'm not making this i'm just like peace tip of the cap yeah great job sir you call a place in bingo that's like your favorite uh to go restaurant just order some food put it in my yeah no i never at this point i'd never been to binghamton before and um and then he so whatever i get i get sent down and i was just i don't know i wasn't that good

i was down for a while i was down a lot i played 10 games my first year black aced for like what felt like six months they went to the finals yeah so we go they they they went to the did go to the finals against anaheim and that was just so rude he's literally on the roster no no that was accurate they went to the finals and i'm we're doing like just the complete separate black ace practice i think at one point they were like hey like we like we were there for 52 i remember killing at the time because it was like this is getting ridiculous. We were there for 52 days as black aces. I played 45 rounds of golf and we went out 37 times.

So it was actually a hell of a couple months. It was a blast. It was spring break. I think it's been a while since we've talked about a whole full on black ace experience when you're going all the way to the finals. Yeah. Because you're basically on an extended spring break. Yeah.

Only shitty thing is you have to wake up in the morning and go to like the gym and work out. Yeah. But then it gets to the point where it's like, you always have, you have that air, like this happened a couple of times where like first round you're like,

It's serious. If I'm not going to play, I want to, you know, if you know you're six guys from playing, you're like, do I want to win? You know what I mean? Or do I want to go know if you know your six guys from playing you're like do I want to win you know what I mean or do I want to go home yeah like I don't want to be here

that long and that's just an honest an honest answer like some people might be like oh you ungrateful piece of shit like we never got to play hockey at that level but like yeah like you're like hey I'm not really connected to this and I would like to get on with my life I mean like honestly like the honest answer is,

I would say at the beginning it's awesome because you're affiliated with the NHL. You're in the room, you're practicing, and then it's second round, and then guys are getting healthier, and you're further away from actually playing, and you're not really... Well, the thing is, you're not getting paid. I don't know if that's changed. So when I was in Ottawa and we went to the finals,

we were getting half day per diem. We were living in a hotel. It was costing us so much money to be there. We were getting $45 a day. I think the NHL per diem was... How many people per diem? Because this was the rule at the time. So $45 a day.

And in Canada, like you're eating... Like breakfast costs $45 Canadian dollars at the hotel. And then every night out There's a couple hundred Yeah And You're like Can I get an advance

On my bonus No so I started Well So I started We were using So I started scalping my tickets Because we still got Two tickets to the game

That makes two of us In the room Right Now R.A. You guys have both done that No I meant like I'm including myself In the group But R.A. You guys have both done that? No, I meant like, I'm including myself in the group, but R.A.'s clearly done it.

Scalping tickets. So, I mean, 45 bucks a day, and then as the playoffs go on, I'm looking at face value, two tickets I'm getting that are 320 each. Wait a minute. I don't need these tickets.

I'm already going to be in the press box. Like, my parents aren't coming to see me not play. You're like selling tours. I wasn't like hawking them. I'm like going to be in the press box. My parents aren't coming to see me not play. You're like selling tours. I wasn't like hawking them like tickets. Hey, he's sneaking people into the rink. His dad's actually, like he said, a scout.

And he's like, this Denny Hamill is pretty good. I'm going to watch this. No, so we would sell. I would go down in a hoodie to pull down. I'd have the equipment manager drive me down, like, like tailgate time in the afternoon because the city was buzzing and I'd,

like, hood over my eyes, like, give him, like, pull up to the actual scalpers and just be like, I just want face value,

like, hide my, and they'd be like, he's real? And I was like, I'd be like, like, show my face.

And they'd be like, oh, it's Adam Levine. Okay, these are cool. They're like, oh, it's Danny Hamel.

It's the best black ace in the league. Who is that? Oh, sorry, go ahead. No, go ahead. No, oh, it's Adam Levine. Okay, these are cool. They're like, oh, it's Danny Hamel. It's the best black ace in the league. Who was that? Oh, sorry, go ahead. No, go ahead. No, that was it. So whatever. We were kind of scrounging for money. No, no, no.

We're not just going to glance over the fact that you were outside of an NHL arena hawking tickets before a playoff. Yeah, and then I go back, put my suit on, and go back to the game. Sit in the fucking press box. Not even a middleman. It'll fucking pray for somebody to not get up when they blocked a shot. Were you letting other black aces know about your hawking?

I think I was probably the ringleader, but I'm pretty sure we all did it. By the second game, when I showed up with 700 bucks back at the hotel,

they were like, wait, what? Yeah, they were like, we got tickets too. Let's go back. The scalping market's just like, this is incredible. We're getting an inbox. But the problem is-

20 tickets. I felt like saying to the scalpers, like, can you just sell these to like nice looking people? Because then they're in like the family section. Oh, yeah. You know what I mean? Like, I don't- It's like white trash.

Clearly not- Time out. You know what I mean? Yeah, you say that, but they don't give a shit. No, I know. They're like, yeah, don't worry, man. I got it. So let's go a little bit more into this.

I believe a Calgary Flames prospect was doing the same thing in Calgary, and that's how we got busted, was that these hooligans were in a family section, and they're like, how did you get these? And they're like, oh, we bought them off a scalper. And then the trail led back to this prospect who was disrupting the family section because you got Rick from fucking Red Deer

drinking out of his buddy's prosthetic leg like I was witnessing in Utica. And if you're a season ticket holder somewhere and you give your tickets to somebody and they get in trouble, your season tickets are gone. Dunzo. So, I mean, granted, the arena's like,

whose season tickets are these? They're like, oh, Hennessy's. He's a big prospect of ours. He's done. He's done. I mean, you did what you had to do. I mean, the solution would have been to just give us a full day per diem.

I'm surprised he didn't bump into Melnick out there. That guy's a bit of a cheapo, eh? He's probably, oh, shit. Well, I don't know. Yeah. I mean, nobody cared. So that happened in San Jose, and to his credit, I'm probably getting him in trouble.

Doug Wilson gave us the team credit card to go to lunches and stuff because he saw it as unfair, but he wasn't allowed to do anything about it. No way. Like our HL coach, Roy's the man. That's a class act. Would take us out to lunch after practice. And he had the card saying, like, buy the boys lunch. So that was like a... Oh, that's not wrong There's nothing wrong with that.

No, that was a nice way to probably. I mean, I hope the GM is allowed to buy, like, Schmeltz lunch. Yes. Without circumventing the system. Yeah, NFL, dude. The coaches got caught selling their Super Bowl tickets. Remember Mike Tyson was like the Vikings coach or whatever. They were out getting a little extra fucking cabbage.

You know, whatever. In your first 10 games with Ottawa, you had one goal. Who was the goal against? Philly, who was pretty much an AHL team also. So I'm not even sure I actually have an NHL goal. The answer was an NHL goal, but the team was. The circumstances, who was against? Antero Ninomaki.

My parents have the plaque, big picture on their wall. I'm just kidding. It was a thrill. It was Ninomaki? Yeah. That's pretty funny. We had a clip the other day of Crosby scoring against Ninomaki, and there were so many responses like,

doesn't count because it was against Ninomaki. Really? I guess you're not. So mine doesn't count. Yeah, so you were right. It doesn't count. All elite prospects and have him delete that and make it another HL. All-time great goalie mask, too, because there was a gangster from Philly

called Frank Nitti, and that was his nickname. a legit like mob mobster on his mask with a machine gun and shit one of the all-time great goalie masks yeah it's fun when you only have one you like i like a mat reimagine them saying like announcing like first and last nhl goal as it's happening that's your that's the dream you have over and over some guys can't get their skates tied yours is just the announcement to begin and end your yeah exactly yeah i showed i could do it now i'm out no i did it i didn't know i don't know we pumped them six some six to one or something uh should we move on to some russia talk well actually he because he first left north america he went to switzerland yeah i did and then a quick little stop back and then back to like how did, when was, when did the European route kind of take or you become, realize I got to go over there?

Money again. I mean, same reason. The. Lugano was sick. Lugano was unbelievable. So my agent was kind of like, it was almost like if it wasn't Lugano. And I didn't know that much about it, but I started just Googling Lugano and palm trees show up. It's the most beautiful place in the whole world.

It's the nicest place I've ever been, never mind on vacation. It's the nicest place I've ever even visited. It's got palm trees? Yeah, we had palm trees in my backyard. I lived up in this mountain. The lake is this aqua blue. It looks like the Caribbean, and then there's the Alps in the background.

So it's on the... It's the extreme south of Switzerland in the Italian part. Okay. It's on the border of Italy the background. So it's on the... It's a southern extreme south of Switzerland in the Italian part. Okay. It's on the border of Italy. I was going to say it sounds Italian. It's like 30 minutes from Lake Como and everyone thinks like George Clooney

and all those people live in Lake Como. Lugano's way nicer than Lake Como because we would go to Lake Como for like... Ironically, we'd go there for sushi. To go slumming? No, there was like a sushi place we liked so we'd go to dinner in Lake Como and have sushi. That's so bougie.

It's a little better than Binghamton. Isn't that... It's sushi in Binghamton. Binghamton, your sushi's... I'm not going to trash Bingo. I'm not going to trash Bingo. Mainly because I'm going back there soon. Going back to Bingo?

What are you doing there? Binghamton Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, baby. No way. Congratulations. Thanks. I think it's just a way. Congratulations. That a boy. Congrats. Thanks. I think it's just a wall. It's still better than an old skate park. It's going to get vandalized now after Witt's comments.

I'm not bad. I had a blast in Bingo, actually. Another undercover fun town. Good place. Minor League Hockey Town was cool. It gets a really bad rap. The rink, I remember being tiny, but the fans were crazy. Well, you actually have fans that are on top of you.

So there's a cool atmosphere, and they actually care about it. So, I mean, if you're going to be in the minors as opposed to Cleveland, which is a better, bigger town, you know. Going back to the gladiator talk, you mentioned how on top of you the fans are that was a clip we posted recently when i got bambi by jeremy oblonsky did you play with him there that's a like yeah we're getting to yabo yeah that was that when i was walking out to those games and i knew i was just i was going to be slaughtered it's a slaughter yeah it was a complete slaughterhouse like you were being walked out like a gladiator. Everybody. It was the carnage one.

That one year in bingo, Yabo just like multiple guys on the forecheck. Something people don't realize about Jablonski and anybody who's listening that has not watched his fight tapes hit YouTube now. He was fast. Like in a straight line, goal line to blue line, he was the fastest player on the team. Oh, my God. So he's killing people. He was a bowling ball. straight line, goal line to blue line, he was the fastest player on the team. Oh, my God. So he was killing people. He was a bowling ball. F1 in bingo.

You can't get away from him. There's nowhere to go. He was just leaving bodies in the streets, guys getting carried off the ice. And then you had to fight. And then if somebody came at him, he would then beat them up. So there were two bodies on the ice.

But I played with Diablo in Russia, too, which we'll get there. Okay, so we can go to Russia because not only did you came at him, he would then beat them up. So there would be two bodies on the ice. But I played with Diablo in Russia too, which we'll get there. Okay, so we can go to Russia because not only did you play with him, your first year you played with Panarin. I remember you telling me, so me and this kid had dinner in Neftahimak. And you were telling me the year before, maybe it was two years prior, I played with this kid that is the nastiest. What did you say? It's like Lugano.

It's closer to Rockland than Lugano. I play with this kid that is the nastiest. What did you say? It's like Lugano. It's closer to Rockland than Lugano. You told me you said this Panarin kid is the filthiest player I've ever played with. Yeah, I told a bunch of anybody that would listen. I was like, this is kid. And he was hurt when I first got there. And he looked like he was nine years old. He was like this skinny kid. I don't know if we can say this.

He's 170 pounds, maybe, 165 pounds. Maybe. I don't even know if he's that. Oh, no. I wasn't offended by what you said. I just think it's funny how these little kids, like whose bodies don't even look athletic now. They're these machines.

No. Yeah. So Panera and I, he would just stay on the ice after practice and just dangle, like dump pucks out. I told you, I would tell my buddies at home, I'm like, I am playing with a kid. I don't know if he's any good. I don't even know his name, but I can't pronounce it.

But he has the best hands I've ever seen. And then he came back, and we were like, I was brutal at the beginning, and I ended up getting to play with him most of the year, and he was the man. But he had, like, this was a year. He was maybe 19 at the time. And he's now my favorite player in the NHL.

Oh, yeah. He's so sick. Now he's added that high kick to his celebrations. Was that a thing back then? Oh, yeah. He would be pumped when he scored. Was he doing this high kick thing? Oh, yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Okay. So maybe we just weren't watching him closely enough. No, you're just getting exposed to him. He's the man. Like, he's an unbelievable player. If him and Kassian ever play against each other, it's going to be a fucking sword fight out there.

Yeah. Swing, swing. It's like, finish him. What was your... Like, when you went over there, like, how did it all come down? Well, excuse me. So, yeah, I played in Switzerland.

And again, it was just because I had kind of needed the money. I had two kids. I hadn't actually made any money yet. Then came back for a year because I got to sign with Boston. So that was a no-brainer. I had no choice. And then that year, I had like a not great year. I had blown my knee out in Switzerland.

I had nothing that summer like before i went to russia like i didn't there was not a kind of a panic then there was not i had two kids there was not a team on earth that wanted me to wanted to pay me to play ice hockey wow and um i late like mid-july like all that you know late july i've got nothing and my skills coach the guy i would skate with in the summer, was Victor Telligan, a Russian guy. He's like my buddy, Alexei Zhamnov, like unbelievable player for the Hawks, was the GM in Vityaz.

And like, you know, they didn't want to have you. And he starts throwing like ballpark numbers at me for salary. And I go from like don't have any job to like what's the equivalent of like half a million bucks and i'm like okay like hey i'll yeah tomorrow yeah i mean it's the tough part is is like i don't know how much you guys know about vts like i know that they were the team that just beat the wheels yeah like they were trying to like there were teams forfeiting the games the year before I went. Like, mailing it in. Like, good teams with

skilled guys, like, no, we're not going. Keep the two points. Or three, I guess. Like, keep them. We're not going. Yeah. And we can afford to not win that one. Yeah, like, we don't need those. Yeah, like, I don't need these guys getting hurt. So what would you guys do as opposed to... No, no, no. So this was when

I was not there. Okay. But I knew that. Like, I'd'd heard those stories and i knew that they're like a joke like they're in the cage at the time or like they weren't competitive as a team like they weren't trying to make the playoffs um and they like love like chris simon played like all these guys like long was the tough guys that went and like cashed out there like made made a couple bucks and played there so i'm like i don't know if i really fit in there but at the same time it's like i don't have a job two kids 500 grand but my understanding was it's not the type of place you bring bring a family or at least it would be difficult for me to bring my family there because of the language barrier and all that stuff i'm gonna go back a little bit you know you're a local guy

boston guy you pulled on the spoke b, got to play three games for the bees. Was that a highlight of your career? I mean, you know, you're a big bees fan growing up. The highlight. Yeah. Yeah.

I guess that goes without saying that was like, I thought it was, um, but almost like didn't even believe it. I had blown my knee out the last game of the season in Switzerland, like ACL, MCL, Gonzo.

I'm on crutches in july one i'm not even thinking i'm thinking like maybe pto when i get healthy in october like let's start over like i was like not expecting anything just trying to focus on getting better on you know getting healthy and my agent called me on july 2nd and said uh if you have any interest in coming back to north america you know i'm talking to a couple of teams. And Boston was one of them. And I'll never forget, I had just been fishing with my dad, like, a couple of days before that.

And we were kind of talking about, like, future, like, very uncertain. My dad was, like, a union pipefitter in Boston, like, very Boston, grew up in Charlestown. And he, I didn't know what was going on. And he, like, helped my whole, you know, my, both my parents kind of like, as you, you know, you guys know your parents put so much, yeah, they, they make it happen. So it's like an emotional thing when you don't know what's going to happen. I was still fairly young and the bees gave me like a solid, solid two way, like really,

you know. When they didn't have to, you're saying? Not at all i was on crutches coming off an acl like who's the gm then um shirelli but don sweeney was the assistant gm who probably handled most of the minor league deals um but it was a two-way and um i was we were renting a place like all my cousins i have a big like a bunch of cousins we rented a place in situate and it like came on nesson like signings and i was just trying not to say anything like and then i i was i was out in the middle of the street it

probably was probably you know lit yeah and i come running out like running around the like the porch like with my arms up like full celebration i got off the phone with with sweenes and uh yeah anyway i got so i got to play uh mostly in prov obviously, but I called up for two weeks, and that was definitely the highlight. That's awesome. You played for Cassidy quite a bit in Providence. Are you surprised by the success they have underneath him right now? No. I mean, did you think he was a great coach when you played for him?

Yeah, he was awesome to me. He liked skill. He was really good to me um he liked he always he liked skill he was he was really good to me um you know we had pretty good rapport we didn't have a great team we had a very young team i think we had 10 rookies playing like pretty significant minutes um so it wasn't like you know not a highlight of his coaching not a season that was a highlight of his or mine but we had a good relationship he's just really smart guy obviously like very candid with everybody not just the media and that's what we love about him in boston right yeah you know what he's

thinking um and he was the same way with me we had a couple uh couple fuck you matches in the and then but i respected him a lot i'd go in and apologize after um so i'm happy for him i'm not surprised I'm happy it's happening here obviously I'm still a Bees fan so Go Bees! Go Bruins! You were going to touch on Jablonski in Russia

was Morasty on the team as well? No, he had been before so Yabo was the first person I called when like you know this Vts i had an offer from them and i just i didn't know if it was legit it was coming through like back channels like i don't even know if my skills coach is real like yeah he might be full of shit so i call my agent i'm like can you just look into this is this real so he gets back to me he's like yeah um you know stuff

whatever if you're willing to do it and um so i called yabba because i played with him for years in bingo and we were boys and uh he loved it like he was in his glory like he had carte blanche to just do what like just just terrorize well i mean in that town yeah. And the owner of the team just valued, like, just being a killing. Just meatheads above all else. And they were kind of, like, I think the league kind of told them, like, clean it up or, like, you're not in the league. Like, you're out.

So they ended up, like, they signed Max at Finnegan. I started looking at, like, Alex Korlyuk was there, like, little skilled Russian guy that played in San Jose. Panarin, obviously. I didn't know who he was, but Danny Markov's legend. Oh, yeah, ripped cigarettes. Legend. The D-man, right?

Yeah. Yeah, he was going wrong way on a bridge in Philadelphia, a shit can one night. That's how he got a DUI. I think he got on like the off-ramp, just an animal. So you know that he keeps a smoke room in between periods? He has it in every rink we play in. He has a cigarette-like stall.

It's usually in the shower on the road. So the coach will come in, like, talking in between periods, and he's sitting in the shower with a fold-out chair in full gear, smoking a butt in between periods. Incredible. And he would just lay people out, and he was older at this time. So anyway, there were a bunch of guys that i knew like i looked it up i'm like okay this is not like yeah you know um there were like if max ifin again office like this is a legit team i can trust that it's a legit organization yeah um and but yeah but they there was this weird dynamic where like the league kind of like

there was like split ownership and the old owner like still had like interest in the team like needed they worked out some deal where he's like okay you guys are on the team but i still get two tough guys like that have to be on the team so him and gill trevor gillies were on the team like i'm you know gills like also two killers just absolute murderers yeah and the problem is the coach hates these guys like no use for him he's like an old civi like doesn't no use for like anybody who's not skilled like doesn't like it's a complete nuisance to him that he has to have these guys on the team but the owner like one of the owners wants them in the lineup in the at least one of them in the lineup. That was like part of the deal.

They're like, all right, we'll clean it up. We'll put like a decent team out there. But I get one of these fucking guys to still be like our identity. I'm going to have one at the bomb on my roster every game. Then it got to the point where they weren't playing. Like I think Yabo dressed in eight games that year. Gills might have played 20. So they were just miserable.

Like they were my buddies off the ice. It was tough for me because I was playing and like having a great time and they were just miserable like he wanted to kill like kill him well yeah like voodoo doll i wanted to kill him uh stapes told me that i need to ask actually it relates this year about your first 24 hours in russia right after you saw sign the contract it wasn't right after i signed my visa got delayed like um like a month and a half it took forever to get my visa yeah so by the time i actually got there i missed all of training camp thank god khl training camps it's like what torture and then the team was on the road for like a four game road trip and once you get there you still need more

like paperwork and i had to go somewhere and so i wasn't ready i wasn't eligible to play yet um so i i fly in first thing that happened fly out of jfk they told me like bring all your own equipment like whatever you want because it's tough to get stuff like people like yabba told me that like whatever you want to use like just bring it and turn in the receipts so i buy my sticks for the whole year, like 41 pieces or whatever it is. And I show up and they just vanished. Oh, yeah. Someone's grabbing those at the airport. Somebody laughed when they saw them come through.

So I show up and you guys can probably leave and come. This story takes a minute. That's okay. The sticks are gone. Nobody speaks English. Like when you get to the Moscow airport, if you've never been to like Eastern Europe or Russia, like you might as well be on Mars. Like you've entered a different world.

And I don't know who's picking me up. Like every team has like a logistics type guy that's like, I don't know who's, I'm assuming someone's going to recognize me. Like I'm sticking out like a sore like all my shit my hockey stuff I got all kinds

and so I'm leaving without my I spent a half hour trying to like explain that I lost my sticks and they're just like nobody's helping me so I leave

so I walk out finally from the baggage claim I'm like sweating I haven't talked to my wife like she doesn't even know if I'm alive this was right before like iMessage

and like my phone didn't automatically work when I got there I needed like a plan plan and a SIM card. You have your tall prospect's jacket on. I'm wearing the varsity jacket and not the headphones that Horton... As soon as I get out of the door from the baggage claim, these guys come, burly Russian dudes in leather jackets come like running up to me like

start grabbing all my shit and i don't know if i'm getting kidnapped or rescued like i can't i can't tell and this kid's wearing this young looking dude sasha great kid he's the owner's son like the the owner who like the tough guys and he like kind of comes up to me speaks a little bit of english he's wearing it like you wouldn't mistake this kid for brad pitt like he's got like a mullet run dmc like adidas jumpsuit and like it's like a little pudgy like maybe five six and he's got like this whole crew bodyguards leather jackets like guns like these kids these guys have like guns holstered. And I'm like, Oh, we're really doing this. So they all grabbed my shit. We go, we go outside. I want, I'm not carrying anything. Like everyone's getting

getting carried for me. We get in a full motorcade, like three black SUVs driving away from the airport. And I'm like, I'm with the right crew. I think, I think, I think so. Yeah. Like whatever they found me. So we get in the car. He starts talking to me. He's like, my father just, you know, he's like, it's like an hour and a half drive, whatever, back to the town of Chekhov. It's in the outskirts of Moscow. He's like, my father would like to meet you.

The junior team's playing. He's like, we'll stop. He's like, we'll drop your equipment off. He's like, my father wants to meet you. Stop and say hi real quick at the arena. You get rid of your stuff. I'm like, okay, whatever. So we walk in through the locker room. I, like, my father wanted to meet you. Stop and say hi real quick at the arena. You get rid of your stuff. I'm like, okay, whatever.

So we walk in through the locker room. I like throw my shit down and I've heard like the owner of this team rumors that he was like, mafia. Yeah.

I don't want to, yeah, call it what you want to call it. I mean, just he was, there was always rumors that the owner of VTS was very connected.

The chances of this guy not having told someone else to kill someone is very low. Let's just put it that way. I don't know. That's a good way to put it. I mean, hey, listen, he might be the 1%. He's probably put a hit out on somebody somewhere. I have no idea.

But put it this way. People fear this guy. Whatever. Like, that was a real thing. I have no idea what was true and what's not. I get to the rink and the junior team's playing there's there's 65 people in the stands and then i see this like smoked out box like black glass like fully tinted that you can't see inside so the sun sasha brings me up he's like so we like

walk through the balls of the rink up the up the back steps i have to go through like two checkpoints to get like padded down to get to this guy. And I still, I'm in my pajamas like you guys were on fucking NHL Network. And I don't, I haven't talked to my wife like hours now. We're still in there. I get padded down. I get there and I'm expecting like scary dude. Yeah.

Scary looking dude. Like I don't know. Like I'm expecting a movie character like fur jacket, like some guy to just grunt at me and like so i walk in and his dad's in this room he's like face up against the glass like couldn't be more interested in what's happening in the junior team's game and junior it's like the junior vtaz you know like the it's all like the same program from all the way to pro no it was like that's like the age okay it was even lower like 20 and he's like pinned up against the glass and i'm thinking like who's this guy's he turned like turns around wearing up he's probably no big on his son maybe five seven like skinny if he's 150

pounds that'd be a lot toronto maple Leafs baseball hat on, pulled down over his eyes, and a XXXL hoodie that says Thug Life on it. I'm not kidding. I was like, no fucking way. This is him? Yeah. Thug Life. Yeah, but it was actually scarier, because I'm like, this guy's got to be a mean dude.

Sounds like a partner. Because he doesn't look mean. You know what I mean? Thug Life, such or not. And they do like the kisses like you know i mean and he's like and he doesn't speak any english so his son has to translate every word he said he's like you know small talk how's your trip all this stuff and he's like come you know watch the game so it's the first period of the game when i get there the junior game and i'm so tired and like like gross yeah you just want to

shower you don't want to call my wife i'm like do you guys have a phone yeah and and i'm so tired and like like gross yeah you don't want to call my wife i'm like do you guys have a phone yeah and and i don't want to offend him though so i'm just walking i'm like yep yep yep so he's like let's watch the game for a minute and he's like wait you know snaps his fingers girls come and start like lining up shot like the poor drinks like let's have a drink i'm like all right so the heat she's like he's she brings out a ball and a bottle of hennessy the cognac. Is this your last name? Yeah.

So I'm thinking like, I don't know if this is some kind of gesture. You know what I mean? Like he got this. By the way, it's the last thing you want to be drinking at that point. No. Give me a beer. I don't know what day it is. I don't know what time it is. Yeah.

And he's so... This is fucking crazy. So we're watching the junior team play. And obviously, I don't give a fuck about the junior team game. I just want to go to sleep. And he's like, so we do it. But I'm afraid to offend this guy. So I'm like, and they're very ritualistic about drinking.

So what I came to learn was with him, everything is done in threes. I don't know, call it superstition or whatever. So if you do one shot, you got to do three. If you do four, you got to do six. And then there's all these rules. After you do a shot, you got to look everybody in the eye four you got to do six and it's like and then there's all these rules like you after you do a shot you got to look everybody in the eye and like touch everything like it's like stressful drinking with these guys like you got to there's rules yeah so we like so you shot a hennessey i'm like haha my name's hennessey you know can i go to the hotel please

and uh he's like so he like won't let me leave. So then, so like we do three shots. The second time, so now the junior team, it's like a good game. All of a sudden, the second period, we do another shot and they have this spread,

the biggest spread you've ever seen, like all kinds of food and they would chase the shot with like dark chocolate or like vegetables. Like they're always chasing it with something. Like crazy spread

to watch the juniors. Nobody's watching this game except him and he's got like a luxury spread. Like he could have fed 50 people. He could have fed the whole rink with what was in front of him and he's dropping down scraps yeah so we do a shot at one point and he's like you know he finishes it and he just turns around and fires the shot glass off the wall behind me and shatters and i was like like i look at his son like am i about to die like did i do something did i not fucking look the you know that i didn't do the handshake right or something

so and i'm and i think i'm like he's pissed so now i'm just like staring out at the game like looking at the clock like i'm afraid to move so then we do another one and he does the same thing fires the shot glass off the off the fucking wall yelling russian or no he's not even he's not mad he's just like he's just like dink and every time he does it a girl comes out of the back with a broom and sweeps it up every single time and he keeps doing this over and over so we it gets better and better i love this place so now the game's in a shootout it's three hours later right and i And I'm banging on the glass. I'm loaded now because I have to do a show. I'm banging on the glass, throwing shot glasses all over the place.

So now this guy loves me. And I realize that he only drinks Hennessy. It's the only thing he drinks. Like, it's his favorite thing in the world. That's why you were shot, dude. He had bottles and bottles. I guarantee this guy got a phone call and the name Hennessy came up. He's like, sure.

Yeah, he's like, there's a hockey player somewhere in the world with the name Hennessy. Let's get him so we can sell a couple jerseys. Yeah, and it's Cognac, right? Yeah, it's Cognac, which it's not even, I mean, whatever. It was vicious. So now I'm completely loaded. My wife still doesn't know if I'm alive. My kids are still having. So finally the game ends and I'm like, all right, thank God. I'm going loaded. My wife still doesn't know if I'm alive. My kids are still having...

So finally the game ends. I'm like, all right, thank God. I'm going to go to the hotel. We show up. The kid Sasha with his motorcade again, bodyguards. The whole crew leaves, takes me to the hotel. They're like, shut down. The lights are all off.

There's nobody in the lobby. He's like, maybe tonight it's more comfortable for you. You stay in my place. I'm like, all right. If you go to bed, I'll I'm like, all right. Sure. Like, if you go to bed, man, like, I'll sleep in your car right now. Yeah. And it takes,

so first he's like, we're going to get you a phone. It takes me, it makes the mall stay open. The kiosk in the mall, like, the person had to, like, go back and open the mall back up and go to the kiosk

so they can get me a cell phone so I can call my wife. So, like, we do that. Now it's got to be four in the morning at this point so we go back to his place so we pull up to this like like soviet union area era like like kind of like dilapidated like this is like concrete looking apartment building like like six foot potholes in the parking lot like just it doesn't look like a real nice place like elevator the top floor entire top floor has been blown out for his apartment.

Like the sun. It's all redone. Yeah. They evicted the people on the floor below them for his girlfriend's closet. I'm not kidding. So he goes in. So Sasha, we walk in. You hungry? I'm like, a little. To be honest with you, I'm shit-faced at this point. Now Sasha, we walk in. To get hungry?

I'm like, a little. To be honest with you, I'm shit-faced at this point. Now it's kind of fun. I'm kind of annoyed, but it's kind of funny. And he starts yelling. And his girlfriend wakes up at 4 o'clock in the morning. And she's in her bra and underwear and comes out and starts cooking for us. And he's like, you play PlayStation?

I'm like, fucking, yeah, sure. Let's so do it so we go in the living room and he he pulls down he hits a button we sit on these like big it's like red leather fucking couches and like beanbag like garfish style yeah it's yeah like tony like exactly hits a button full wall projection screen comes down like we're in these red leather he's like pulls out the playstation controls like gives me one all he wants to do so we start playing nhl is now his poor girlfriend who was sleeping isn't she's like in the kitchen like he's she's got like a full bath that he happened to have in the fridge just like cut it like a loaf of bread like with the skin on it and he's like giving it to us like it's sushi and i'm like you're gonna eat doritos and uh i go so we're

playing playstation he doesn't want to play a game he just wants to play he just wants to do a shootout heads up like one-on-one he's like all right pick whoever you want i'm like all right datsuk so i take datsuk so we play over and over and he finds me in the game from like the year before like he called me up from fucking wherever i was and he's like so he's going as me and he clearly plays all the time i don't play playstation that much but i have datsuk Like he called me up from fucking wherever I was. And he's like, so he's going as me and he clearly plays all the time and I don't play PlayStation that much, but I have Datsuk and he has me,

so I'm beating him. Yeah. And he's like, so he's like getting kind of pissed and now I'm loaded and I'm like, whatever. And he's like,

he's like, you're not very good in this game. I'm like, no shit. You brought me over here. I'm like, how do you think I ended up fucking in your living room? You had to call me up online. I'm like no shit You brought me over here I'm like how do you think I ended up Fucking

In your living room You had to call me up online Right Like what are you And then So I sleep at his house And I wake up the next day Like three in the afternoon

And I finally got a hold of my wife At some point But That was my That was pretty much my My first day Chicklets memes Is gonna have a tough Tough one Describing that one On Instagram But that was pretty much my first day.

Chicklets memes is going to have a tough one describing that one on Instagram. That is funny. I was going to ask you what was your first what the fuck moment in the KHL. That was like a series of them, back to back. Yeah, I haven't even had. And by the way, he was really taking care of me. It wasn't like a bad thing. I just landed on a different planet. And by the end, I didn't expect to be shit-faced

like playing playstation at four in the morning before i like got to my hotel you know i thought i might get to get a shower yeah exactly um but then that was that was the uh what about uh was that the year that you needed the ankle surgery? No. No. Are we not talking ankle surgery story? No. The surgery story. So, when Russians get hurt in the KHL, they don't get surgery in Russia. Really? I mean, maybe some of them do, but I know a bunch of them would go to Germany.

Whatever. So, I had a bad experience i guess the backstory is that i got when i blew my knee out in switzerland i ended up having surgery in the u.s and like miscommunication with the team insurance whatever it my own surgery ended up costing me like a ton of money out of poverty yeah so my agent got me in like hss in manhattan like best possible place to get it done. Did a great job, made me healthy, like fixed me. So it was worth it, but it cost me a bunch of money, of my own money out of pocket.

So I just had that in my head. I can't pay for another surgery. Like, just like, I don't make that, you know, I don't, like I shouldn't have to pay. You know what I mean? So I, but to go back a little, I got hit with a shot and it like like on the outside of my ankle and it was like like a fucking stinger but like not you're not panicking like snap it was just like it felt

worse than like a right you know what i mean like something might happen and um after the game i go like i can't i try to go for the third can't do it i'm in chekhov like the fetus home and go to uh or um go to like the local hospital. And there's this like old x-ray machine, which at the time I don't, and then it's like, I had like stand up on my other leg, like up this high to get the x-ray. It was odd. Yes. So they're like, Nope, negative, like no fracture, like no break.

So now I'm like, all right, but I'm hobbling around. I can't even stand on it. A week goes by. Then now the coach is like pissed because I think i'm not he comes up this is my second year he comes up to me and he's like um we were playing in kazan it was one of the better teams typically in russia the next day and he's like uh tomorrow you play he's like no doctor say i say you play and i was like uh and he like he wasn't asking and the whole reason you're there is to make yeah you have to you know what i mean like i could like i understood what he's trying he could

hold a paycheck right like you know like this is not he wasn't really asking and um so i'm kind of used to like that mentality by this point because it's my second year and i'm like all right and i'm just kind of made peace with the fact that i'm gonna do whatever i have to do to like get out there the money that i signed up for and so like fly to kazan we're playing it's borky he's on kazan and i'm in like morning skate i can barely skate he's like you don't look good i'm like yeah i don't i don't want to talk about it so um i'm trying to warm up the goalies and like like not actually do warm-ups because i can't even skate so i'm just standing there like just warm up the goalies and, like, not actually do warm-ups because I can't even skate. So I'm just standing there, like, just warm up the goalies the whole time. And I'm, like, about to pull the plug.

I'm like, you guys do what you got to do, but I can't play. But I come in. I'm like, they shoot me up with, like, something, needle in my ass. Before the game, like, I think it was Voltaren, like, strong anti-inflammatory. Still in too much pain. But they're telling me it's not broken. So I'm like, am I being a pussy? I don't know. Like, maybe. They got they got you questioning yourself yeah but my ankle's this big

like i can't even get it in my skate and uh i come in after one was i'm like i either need something stronger or this is not happening like i can't so they shoot me up in the other ass cheek with morphine like morphine morphine injected morphine Into my ass To play a hockey game So I'm like I had such like A whatever mentality At this point Clearly

Like Just my body Yeah Like And so I go out I got like two shifts I'm like this is not I can't do it

I'm about to pull the plug They take a penalty We got a PP I'm like I can get a point Yeah Maybe I'll pick I can get a quick point

and then leave this game. One more shift. One more shift. And so a pee pee, like, puck gets, like, kept in rims.

I try to, like, I go behind the net and there's a video of it and I, like, try to change direction and it just snaps.

Really? Yeah. Like, like, I, like, hit him with, like,

a shimmy and tried to go the other way and I felt it pop. And, uh, there's a video online you see me, like, Oh't want to watch it that's white light pain like worse pain like just like punching me like freaking out like you're trying like and um so i'm pissed it's like varsity blues yeah i'm i'm bullshit though so i finally get helped off the ice and

i'm like fucking yelling at the coach like yelling like you're getting carried off the ice like and uh they take me to another and the team doctor this fucking idiot is still like i think it's not broken like we're waiting i'm in an ambulance the bones i'm like yeah i was like i've had bruises before i would never ended up in an ambulance and uh we get the uh so we get the x-ray and kazan it's like clearly snapped in half. And so I fly, I call my agent. I'm like, get me out.

Like, he's like, all right, fly, get on a plane back to Moscow. I fly back to Moscow. My agent picks me up. He's like,

I'm going to take you to see a specialist. He's like, it's a, it's not a fancy place, but it's one of the best doctors in the country. He's like, it's a, he's explained to me that he's a Russian military doctor.

And he kind of almost does it like, like pro bono or like, he's not, he does it for people he knows. Maybe I think he's like it's a he's explaining to me that he's a russian military doctor and he kind of almost does it like like pro bono or like he's not does it for people he knows maybe i think he's just like he's like a very like he's like a patriot for russia like he could make more money i don't know so we go to this like rough looking hospital like we pull up my agent picks me up at six in the morning i fly back from kazan and my agent was the man, like really helped me out a lot. Russian guy from Moscow takes me there. He's like, all right, when we go through security,

he's like, don't speak. Don't show anybody your passport. I'm like, all right. Like, okay. Yeah,

man, I just want to be relaxed again. I'm like, fuck, you know, and I've had, I only had like, you know,

I still have some morphine in me from the game, but like, they don't like just give you opiates or anything like there's no pain pills over there like it's supposed to be administered by like a medical professional so they can't give you like Percocet to travel or anything oh shit so certain we're off to your yes I'm in pain yeah and we're sitting in Moscow traffic which is the worst in the world and we pull up so I like walk through behind him through the gate like pretending that I'm a mutant or something, like staring at my feet and like limping in on crutches. And then we get to the lobby and he's like, go, he's just walk past the desk and go wait in the corner by the elevator.

So these ladies are like yelling at me and I'm just staring at my feet, like hobbling. I go wait at the elevator. He starts in Russia. If you, whoever yells the loudest wins. Yeah, that's. So my agent comes like, just like, just like puts these ladies in there, like yelling at them, like, and, and like kind of like alpha on them and like came over the top, comes over the elevator, like doesn't even make no explanation.

He's like, let's go. He's like, the doctor's waiting for us. So we go up and it's this little, it's an office, like half the size of this room, like no windows. And I'm in this, this like unassuming looking guy and he doesn't speak any English, the doctor. And again, and he's like looking at my x-rays. So he's like doesn't speak one word of English.

My agent's translating. Wants to take his own x-rays. Take our own x-rays. He's like through my agent, he was like, I understand if you're uncomfortable. You don't want to have it done here. But you need to have this done fairly quickly because if it starts to set, you're fucked. Like the bones were, you know, like not lined up oh my god in rush yeah like she's a panic like you need a plate and screws connor mcdavid just got a doc you should

have got a doc it was your fucking 24 hours right so i'm like and now it's the middle of the night at home i can't really like consult with anybody like my wife knows i'm hurt but doesn't know like that i've flown back to like she doesn't what you're on your own on this one, man. Yeah. And my, I don't trust the team at this point. Cause they were like,

push me to play the whole time. So I feel like I got my agent and this guy. So he's like kind of being cocky about it. And he pulls out the kit and I like get hooked up to the wifi. I'm on my iPad, like Googling, like what is the cert? What is the surgery for this injury?

Like I'm looking it up, trying to find some, what am I going to have done? Right.'m looking it up, trying to find something online. What am I going to have done? Right, and I'm going to compare it to whatever this guy is about to say to me that he's going to do to me. Like, you know what I mean? Oh, my God. I hope it's not broken English.

Yeah. Like it's not getting broken in the telephone. In the translation, right. And the guy is being kind of cocky. And I see like there's like some Olympian like pictures with like thanks, you know, in Russian, whatever. Like I assume it's like thanks, doc doc like Olympian gold medalist sign like these this guy has obviously worked on some important people Like athletes in Russia made me feel a little bit better

And then I said I was like to my agent I'm like, is there any chance that the team would pay for this if I had done the United States or somewhere else? And he's like, well, how much would that cost? I was like judging by my knee surgery 40 grand I don't know, you know a lot. He lot he's like i was like how much would it cost laughing so the guy goes through his book and he's adding things up in rubles and i'm like all right he's at like he's still going it's going to be significant and he's like about 17 000 rubles and i'm like how much is that was the time was like 600 bucks so the answer is no the team's not gonna fucking pay for it to have it done somewhere else so and i'm like in

the in my agent's like do you have 600 bucks on you no way man i'm like what wait i'm paying for this right now yeah cash well i'm like and he's like well you know he's like you should get it done quickly kind of and i said well when could you fit me in thinking like you got a schedule later this week i'll come back well you know. I got time to bail and come to my senses. And he's like, well, did you eat breakfast? I was like, when's the last time you ate? I'm like, I had a bagel on the plane. He's like, all right.

So wait till noon, like today. So they take me to this waiting room. And I'm thinking like, all right, I got a couple hours here to like my wife lands. Get out of this. Yeah, like my wife lands and my parents will be like, what do you know? And I never really like, all right, I got a couple hours here to like my wife. Get out of this. Yeah. Like my wife lands and my parents will be like, what do you know? And I never really talked to anybody. And I'm just like, and I'm in this room with like, there's like a little TV in the corner.

I'm not like hooked up to any. It's just not like what you picture being in a hospital, like a pre-op room. And these girls come in all of a sudden, like 10 minutes later, like I've been in there. Like I thought I had two hours. So we're going to do a sudden like 10 minutes later like i've been in there like i thought i had two hours so we're gonna do a new like 10 minutes later and they don't speak one word of english these like they look like 20 year old russian girls like the nurses and they start like yelling at me in russian until they're like giggling i'm a zoo animal to them like they've clearly never seen an american person i mean like a russian military hospital that i'm not even supposed to be in apparently and they're like like give me this like stand up and by this time i understood a little to be in apparently and they're like like giving me this

like stand up and by this time i understood a little bit of russian so they're and they're like so i'm like you're gonna give me like a what they call it like a roll like a john yeah and now i'm thinking that and the girls they had they wheel a stretcher in like i'm clearly supposed to hop on this thing and it's got like a wool blanket on it it's not like and i'm and they're like going like this like get undressed like gesturing for me to get undressed and i'm like and they're both standing this far away like closer than business to me i'm like all right naked yeah gear down and i'm like still my boxes and i'm and they start laughing and start pointing my boxers like like the full show i'm like all right whatever so i'm fully naked under my own power now with a bro.

Like shimmy onto the stretcher. Take me, like shimmy on the stretcher. And they're still giggling and talking to each other. And I'm like lying down like this. And they're wheeling me down the hallway. There's like flickering lights and like peeling paint off the ceiling. And I'm thinking like, if I don't get, like if I don't, if I get into this. If I wake up.

Well, you've had surgery with like in the US, you get like, you don't remember getting to the operating room. No, no. Like you're in a wheelchair at one point. They're like, what's your favorite drink? Ha ha ha. They like give you something.

Like calm you down. Yeah. Like I have still only had like Tylenol being wheeled into the operating room. It's like they wheel me up to the operating table. And now the doctor's back in there with his mask on, like ready to go. And this is 15 minutes after I was in his office. And they're all speaking Russian.

Nobody's speaking one word of English. And they're like under my own power again, telling me to shimmy from the stretcher onto the operating table. So I'm like naked in front of 10 people. So I like shimmy, completely completely naked lie down on the metal operating table and i'm like and then they like strap you in because you like twitch and stuff and i was like you can't ask what might be in a predicament here this is recommended to you yeah and i was just kind of like in a goof i don't know and then i could hear him talk and i the russian i understood

he was talking to the doctor was the surgeon was talking to the anesthesiologist like how much should i give him? I understood that. And the guy said, like, 45 minutes or whatever. That's what I understood. So the guy's like, you know, they don't say count backwards from zero. I'm just like. Waiting to fall asleep.

Yeah, like, am I going to wake up here? Oh, my God. And so I wake up to the guy. I'm getting slapped in the face. I'm like, next thing I know. And I look around. I'm still on the operating table in like you wake up in recovery in the u.s like crackers as a nurse you're like warm blankets

still on the operating table and i'm like now i'm high from the anesthesia like i'm like now i'm fluent in russian like asking the guy like how long was i out like i was like giving him a thumbs up like it's like this is like good job i i'm trying to like oh i'm trying to like dab him up like thanks doc and i shimmy back she's like so that he like hits the fucking stretcher is still there so i shimmy back on the stretcher and then they wheel me back down the hall like back into the recovery room and i have and they they don't again they don't give you there's no morphine drip there's no like so i had to stay there for 24 hours oh that must have hurt when that all wore off man man. Well, so every time I was in pain, I had to yell down the hallway. Like I knew the Russian word for pain.

I was like, balit. So like I'd be like, I was just wasted on whatever they gave me now. So I'm like, I'd be like, balit. And the same girl was like babysat me for 24 hours. She would come down the hall and she just kept switching ass cheeks on which she put the needle in. I'm totally naked. I never put any clothes on and it's like i'm sweating so i'm just completely on top of the covers naked and she just and she just so i just got like five needle marks in each ass cheek and um 24 hours later they let me leave and the doctor

is like you know you can probably fly in like a week and my agent comes back and checks on me and i can't put any weight on it for so i'm like i'm going home to my agent i'm like i'm fucking going home so so i look at he's like you can fly in a week i was like doc if i was going to the airport right now what would you tell me like is there any advice for me because that's what's happening yeah i'm not i'm not i'm flying like i'm going directly from here to the airport to the airport and flying to boston and he's and he's like i was like can you give me some harder drugs like something to help yeah and this again through

the translator he's like no not really he's like gives me like you know ivy pro like strong tylenol basically and he's like finally he speaks english at the end he's like i was like on the plane what should i do he's like do you drink i was like yeah i? He's like, do you drink? I was like, yeah, I drink. He's like, you should drink. Fucking Vluto Butaski. He's like, swing by the VTS rink. They have bottles of Hennessy lined up in the basement. Grab a couple of those. Exactly.

Oh, my God. That is unreal. Did surgery end up working, though, in the long run? Yeah. So I came home and did a follow-up with the Bruins guys at Mass General next door. And they were completely what they would have done. So my agent was right and it only cost me $600. Even though you're on Russian brasses right now

and still don't know it. This guy right here paid $600 cash to have ankle surgery in Russia. Plate and screws are still in there. Thank you so much for coming on. I mean, there's plenty more. We can have a round two the way we did with Stapleton because we have a million stories to ask you about him.

But this has been long enough, so we appreciate it very much. Thank you guys for having me. Thanks for coming on, brother. Much appreciated. As always, huge thanks to our guest this time, Josh Hennessey. Great guy. Like you said, Biz Manrock. Got some funny Russia stories.

Dude, that's a wild, wild place. But we appreciate him coming on, so big thanks to him. We've got to get that owner on. We've got to get him. If he can't speak English, we get the translator, and it'll make it an even wackier ride. Yeah, we'll have to do neutral sites and get flown in on fucking planes

or something. We've been kind of bashing the KHL for a little while. I'm not sure we want to do that. We've got to get on their side. We've got to mend the their side. We've got to mend the peace here. It's like a world tragedy. We've got to get this thing going.

Fucking nuts. You mentioned Seattle Biz a few minutes ago. The name delay, the naming was supposed to be in April, but they postponed it, obviously, with everything going on. It's sort of a festive occasion, so they probably don't feel the atmosphere is right right now for that. They didn't give a time frame when they're going to name it, so I'll just keep fucking rattling off the names in my head for you. Some other big news out of Canada.

All three of the leagues that make up the juniors, the Q, the OHL, WHL, all announced the conclusion of their regular seasons, not their playoffs. They announced the conclusion of their regular seasons. The goal remains to conduct the playoffs at a later date. That's the WHL statement. The OHL said when it is safe and we may resume play, we'll advise the status of the 2020 playoffs. The Q didn't say anything about the playoffs in their statement, but this is a huge deal shutting down juniors in Canada.

Wittard, do you have anything you want to chime in on here? No, not really. All right, yeah. I mean, Biz, I mean. You know what? The only thing that sparked my mind when you said juniors is we got, we interviewed Akeel Thomas, and what an unbelievable kid. I am so excited to drop this interview.

He talked very strongly about his old man and some hardships he's had, even transitioning from playing into real life. And just so well-spoken, so beyond his years. So that's the only thing that sparked that. I don't know when we're going to drop that. We're going to have to rejuggle the schedule here because we've got a lot of good ones for you guys coming up. We've still got Cam Neely.

I know some of you people have been barking at us for that one. We've got some good stuff coming your way, folks, so be patient. But that's the only thing I wanted to mention as far as juniors is concerned. Yeah, he was a real good interview for a young kid, which sometimes you don't always get. Meanwhile, in the States, the Junior League out in more of the Midwest, the USHL, they canceled the remainder of their season. They're done, no playoffs.

They're going to announce their awards in a couple weeks, but basically they're done so for the year. And this is not hockey related, but this is interesting. The U.S. and Canada agreed to close the world. It's the world's longest undefended border, 5,500 miles. It's closed to all non-essential travel. I don't know what they consider essential and non-essential, but it won't affect trade. No timeframe yet on how long it will be, but

200,000 people cross the border every day, man. It's a pretty, pretty fucking big deal to just say, all right, we're going to close the border again, just indicative of what we're dealing with here. And I think this is the biggest one to me was probably the Vegas strip shutting down. Now Vegas is a soulless place. They'll fucking let you sign a marker and a blackout. They'll take all your fucking money. And the fact that they're shutting down and not closing casinos, that's probably the biggest deal. When Vegas shuts down, that's indicative, again, of how big of a deal it is.

Their governor, he issued a statewide mandate putting a freeze on gambling except for mobile gambling, closure of bars movie theaters gyms it's it's you know baggage shutting down they haven't shut down since jfk's funeral back in november of 63 so fucking these are wild times but we got a little levity here for you the videos from italy biz they've been kind of talk about people making the most of a shit situation unbelievable people the whole country shut down people look like confined to their homes and there's a shitload of balconies a lot of these videos are coming from rome there was uh one video where they they were doing gloria you know one guy was singing the gloria then uh it was another

one that's famous tenor he was like you know he's a millionaire he's out on his porch blowing out these opera oh i was gonna say that i was like i thought that was just some random dude i'm like oh shit like every dude in in Italy just sings like that. That's pretty cool, right? But I didn't know he was a famous tenor. Yeah. And then another guy started playing a song on his piano, and another dude come out on his porch with a saxophone.

He had the dude who looked like Marshawn DJing on his stove. That video went viral. That was incredible. I was so jealous that when I looked, somebody had already tweeted that comment. Because I was like, dude, that looks like Marshawn. He was a mutant. No offense, Marshawn.

But the funniest video, Biz, though, there's a camera panning across the street palazzo, whatever that one's called, and everyone's just kind of hanging on the porch. And you look down, and this guy's getting a hummer right on his balcony. And I texted back to Biz. I'm like, that's fucking not six feet right there. She was in full fucking stride too. Okay, so that was a case. So I sent that video to RA.

I know some of you were like, oh, you're so immature. Listen, I'm looking for any type of entertainment. So I'm all worked up like, oh, my God, what's going now? Like why is this this why are the streets empty and then it's as it's panning it gets to the end it goes down and she was a beautiful woman and she was giving this guy a nice fucking blow job and i send that to the group chat and and when and ra hits me with it like as in the what do they call it social spacing now yeah yeah and he goes that's not yeah that's yeah social distancing he goes that's not six feet

and i i got a nice little chuckle i can that might have been one of ra's best comment backs in the group chat wit would you not agree uh that was hilarious did you what did you just call it social what i forget i think he said spacing social spacing so the only person that does social hold on the only person who does social spacing. Hey, well, time out. Hold on. The only person who does social spacing instead of social distancing is Bill Bullichek. Okay.

All right. Well, I was going to say that's actually my cue to unveil the new name for the Seattle team, the Seattle Social Spacing. That's fucked. The Seattle Social Spacings. And the logo will be that fucking guy getting a hummer on the fucking room beams yeah six feet of separation what is it seattle special spacings seattle special spacings, man, that's funny.

Well, anyways. Social Spacings. That wraps up the Corona part of the show. We're going to send it over to Witt because he's got a golf tail for us. We know everyone loves Witt's golf tails, but this one's a little different. Right, Witt? This is bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, guys. And I got about 20 minutes, I think think I'm going to speak right now. And if you don't care about golf or like golf, hang up,

shut your car radio off. Just shut it down. Oh, Rick. Rick is fucking. Yeah. Turn into the Hulk. No, I don't care. I need to share with you people what happened.

So if you know the show, you know, I love golf. And if you remember an episode that where uh i talked about a golf round and i i got so uh what's the word just i was i was i was on cloud nine i was telling a story and i was talking about what had just happened to me and my partner that day and it was the day of a lifetime we qualified for you a usga event the four ball now i'm going to tell you you go back to episode 200 what is what are we now episode 280 so go back to 254 now okay so a little come on just a tad off go back 54 episodes to episode 200 and one minute and 50 seconds in i talk about what. And if you can go listen to that, even maybe before you listen to what I'm about to say,

you'll realize how just crushed I am right now. So we qualified for the USGA 4-ball, which is two-man teams. You go out and you got to play 18 holes. And there's about 52 qualifying sites. I'm going to guess there's 40 to 50 teams at each one, and you end up getting 256 golfers. So half of that is 128 teams. Math guy, thank you.

128 teams qualify in a chance to win a national title. Now, people who don't get golf don't really understand. I don't blame you. It's all so confusing. The USGA is like the governing body over golf in the United States. They host the US Open. They have been notorious over the years for completely just making fools of themselves with different stupid decisions and worrying about the most

minute, dumbest detail and giving guys penalties for something that you're just like, what? And just always sort of like getting in the way in a sense while also making the rules and running golf. So there's many things they do great. I'm not going to say that that's not true, but they, and I'll give you a little example of what these people have done

before. Dustin Johnson, if you don't remember, this guy was in the United States Open in the lead and he's playing and his ball is putter touched the ball by accident. This was at Oakmont. And all of a sudden, the USGA realized on the TV that his putter might have hit the ball and slightly made the ball move, and they went out and they told him,

Hey, Dustin, he's competing for his first major title. He's got, I don't know, six, seven holes up. Hey, Dustin. So it looks to us like you might hit the ball. Now, what we're going to do is we're not going to tell you what the deal is right now. You might have a penalty at the end of the round. You might you might get a one or two stroke penalty, but it's not for sure. And we'll talk to you when you finish your round. So they went up to this fucking poor guy and imagine playing golf the rest of the round. I'm going to give a little analogy for you, all you hockey fans out there. It would be like

if your team was up three to one and the ref went over to the bench and the whole team huddles around the ref and he's like, come in here guys, I got to tell you something. And everyone's like, what's going on? You get around and the ref says, okay guys, I know you're up three to one right now, but at the end of the game, we might take away one of your goals. So you might only be up 2-1 right now. So I wouldn't give up another goal because we're going to tell you after if we're actually going to end up taking a goal away. Do you see what I'm saying?

It makes no sense. That's what they did to this guy. So they have done this time and again, dumb decisions. So what happened? Did he have a mental breakdown? No, he ended up winning by three shots, and I think he might have still got a penalty shot i'm not sure there it was more about the fact that they went out and told him hey you might have a penalty now good luck playing the next six holes

if you're considering he doesn't even know what his actual score is depending on if he gets the penalty or not so it was a horrible decision and it was an example i'm giving right now basically to try to show like some of the things that this organization has done has been just so like ass backwards before that i'm about to tell you what they did to me and my partner and 254 other golfers and i think you're gonna be disgusted and really really think it's an unfair move so what happened was as as, as this awful Corona virus started coming about and everything started getting canceled, I thought, wow, there's a chance this thing's getting canceled. You know, the last week, everything's getting shut down. I thought,

oh man, they're probably going to cancel this thing, but you know what? They'll, they'll move it to the fall or next year we'll play. And it's, it's, it sucks. I was getting ready. I was getting fired up for May. It was May 23rd. But, you know, whatever. It is what it is. Everyone's losing stuff as we talked about all the senior athletes and everyone. So the news breaks yesterday that the USGA releases a tweet.

And I actually got an email before. And everyone got the email just, hey, I just want to let you know what's going on. You'll see a message from the USGA, but so-and-so is the guy who's running the tournament. I don't remember his name. I want to let you know what's going on. We canceled the four ball, men's and women's. We just canceled them.

And local qualifying for the US Open, which is another story, that's also canceled. So I said, what? I'm reading this, what canceled with no plan to play again. It's just done. We're onto 2020 21. Okay. I'm like, there's no way that we're not going to be in this tournament whenever they're playing it again. There's no way like I'm reading right now, canceled. We're on to the next year. I'm thinking, no way. No way.

They can't be taking this away from us. We went out there. All those teams that got in, the 128 teams, they did it. They fought the 18 holes. My partner, Captain Action, the one-armed bandit, he putts one-handed, birdied the 18th hole. We shot 600,

600 to get into a five team playoff for two spots. And we got one of the spots. Um, and we did it. So we, we know they're going to let us in that tournament, man, whenever they play it again, that's right. That's how you have to do it. Nope. Nope. We're done. We're out. And, and a decision like that, and here's the kicker, guys. Here's the kicker. I knew it before I read it and talked to other people. I said, oh my God, I know why they're not letting us in. These guys aren't letting us in because they have qualifying set up for this tournament in 2022. The qualifying will be this fall.

So I know that may sound a little confusing, but I got in in the fall of 2019 for a tournament in spring of 2020, right? So come up in fall of 2020 in September, October, November, they're going to have the qualifying for the tournament the next year. Right. And they're going to make money. Money. Because every single guy paid $160 or whatever it was, $300 a team. And how many teams try to get in this thing?

3,000? I don't know. 2,000? I'm making a guess. I'm going to guess that they probably are going to make about $600,000 on the qualifiers. And let me tell you, that is nothing to this group. The United States Golf Association, 600 grand to them is like a decimal rounding out at the end.

Like, they don't even know what's missing. And they are going to take away a dream come true for me and a lot of other guys out there. And you may laugh and think what a loser i think some big boys need to step up no so i got i got i'm not done i'm not done i'm sorry i'm sorry biz let's talk when i because i got a couple things oh i want to talk about this i'm i'm heated right thank you thank you okay so so the money they they do not need the money but that's what it's about because i've talked to a lot of people in in the golfing world and the amateur

golf oh that was the other thing people say the golfing world and the amateur golf world. Oh, that was the other thing. People say, amateur golf, relax. Guys, amateur golf is different. You're talking – if you try to compare your men's league hockey team to amateur golf, these guys – I'm a two handicap. Some of these guys are plus two, plus three, plus four golfers. They're shooting 66, 65.

It's not like you. You guys are slow in men's league. You still got the skill. Nobody goes to watch men's league. People go to watch high-end amateur golf. Once again, that is not me. But I got into one of the tournaments because my partner's a complete stick, and I made a couple big birdies, and they screwed us,

and they took it away from us unfairly because they're looking to make an extra buck, and it's not right. And all you have to do is allow the teams that qualified for the 2020 U S four ball at Philadelphia cricket club, a legendary course in the United States, two different 18 hole courses. You let all those guys, unfortunately they have to miss it at Philly,

but wherever the tournament is in 2021, you let the field that qualified for this one into that. And then you start refresh for 2022. It's only right. Every single person I've talked to has not given me a reason that would make any sense that they would do this to the people who deserve to be. And this is men and women. The only reason is the money and the money means nothing to them. And I I'll say this, like, this is like a well-oiled machine. They have more money than God. They make $150 million every year on the US Open. I've actually heard they make 90% of their

money. These numbers could be off, but I know they're close. They make 90% of their money on the men's US Open. I mean, it is their biggest moneymaker. It's a major. Everyone knows what the deal is. But I tell you right now, the money they make from the qualifier for the U.S. four balls is a penny. And when I say that, I've talked before about golf and how much of a golf nerd I am. And I'll blatantly admit it. But I've also said that it's really helped me with retirement when everyone has times when they struggle. And we talk a lot about this all the time biz and i with guests that we interview too i took into i got into golf man i

i i was one way with hockey i was obsessed with hockey growing up it's all i know it's all i cared about it's it was my entire life there was no backup plan there was nothing it was hockey and when i retired and luckily i made the money where I could, when I was able, I, I, I got into golf and I was a 15 handicap. I was terrible. And I got into it. And the worst part is my partner, D'Aremio, he he's been, he's been, he's played in three us mid-ams the winter of that term. It goes to the masters. He's a really good player. This guy's a stick. And I've played with him since I was a 15 handicap. He used to give me 16 shots. We'd play for like 10. We'd play for decent money. We'd play for a lot of cash. And I lost a lot of money, but I learned how to play the game by like playing with a really good player. And I got really into it. And I remember he told me when this tournament was created five,

six years ago, whenever it was, he's like, dude, the USGA just created this tournament. It's unreal. It's partners. Imagine playing an event with partner for the United States golf association. And I didn't even understand what that was at the time. He's like that, that that's as cool as it, as it gets. That's honestly like where I want to, I'd love to play in one of those. And what happens years later, I actually improve enough to play in those types of things and me and him get in and now they're taking it from us and they're taking it from us and i don't blame them for canceling the tournament but every guy who and i got some messages i got a bunch of messages i just want to let you guys know one kid told me um my buddy and i played at sand ridge in chardon ohio we met in pittsburgh and

grew up playing junior golf together we've been really good friends for our whole lives. 29 years old. We birdied four of the last five holes to get in through a seven hole playoff to make it in. I drove back to Indianapolis. I got in at 2 a.m. after we got in. Best day of my life. I was back in the dental office seeing patients the next morning by 7.30. It was going to be my first USGA event. And then they fucking cancel it with an email and a fuck you exclamation point on top that's the other thing they sent us this email just hey guys canceled sorry what no explanation you couldn't even postpone it you couldn't postpone it until the fall or the winter and then do another one and it's just so rude how they did it. And then the other – I had one other guy. That's not class.

That's not classy. The USGA holds a certain precedent of class. I mean, when you say it to me, it sounds classy. I think of like wearing like a sweater vest and shit. I feel like putting my polo on and being a pompous asshole. like put my polo on and feel it being a being a pompous asshole uh but so i mean you think they would put a little bit of a fucking presidential stamp on that one or something like hey it's the commissure like we thought long and hard and we understand and like like at least like think of like five excuses to throw in there to like make me not think it's about money. Not the old, like, yeah, see ya.

Hey, the Tom Barrasso, like, looking out the Ferrari, putting down his glasses, being like, yeah. And poking him back up. Exactly, Biz. And you know what? I will say this. They said, we'll send you your money back from the qualifier. Dude, keep the money. i don't want your money because it's pretty obvious that you you gave all these guys who

deserve the chance you gave them the boot for the money you're going to make at the next qualifier and i think it's unfair and i'll continue to try to get into these events and who knows if i ever get into another usg event there's a very like mean, there's an easy chance that never happens. So I'm going to work, continue to work and, and try to get in one. But it was, it's,

it's just shitty news. So if you do want to help out, nothing rude, I don't need anyone being rude, but you could send them, you could send them an email. You could send them a tweet. I mean,

you could send these guys an email. Um, I think it's at comments at usga.org you could tweet at them and don't be dickheads please that doesn't help me that won't help any of the the participants but if you could realistically say hey guys all the u.s four ball participants men and women they deserve to play in the next one yeah i'm sorry for taking up your time but it was not getting uh hey we're not getting vindog out on time. Hey, we're not getting Vindog out on this. Hey, we're not getting them.

Oh, no. They'll give Vindog a spot in the U.S. Open before they try to deal with him in the meme war. Hey, I was going to say, Witt, you could take the high road here like big time and take that money back from the qualifier and put it to the ECHL player. Okay, I'm in for $150. There you go. There you go.

Boom. You're the fucking man, Witt. And I loved what you said, and it came from the heart. Does it not to somebody who doesn't follow it? Does it not seem wrong to you what they did, man? Hey, they're probably going to have like a spy on you now, like a USGS spy. Yeah, but if you listen to what I just said, I think it's all pretty realistic in terms of what my disappointment is about

and why I'm feeling the way I am along with everyone else. Now you've got the Russians and the USGA after you. Somebody's taking me down. You're fucked. Well, we should call you Paul Buzzenet tonight because you'd be buzzing tonight, Biz. I smoked a lot of weed before this one. I'm sorry if I've been rambling.

Dude, I'm laughing my balls off, and I'm sure everyone listening is doing the same thing. It's been hilarious. I mean, ask when. I've been out of my mind. Like, I've been a little bit much in the group chats. Like, these guys must be like, maybe go for a walk, Biz. You know? I've been a little bit much in the group chats like these guys must be like maybe go for a walk biz you know i've been a little bit uh well you're like i'm i'm stuck

in my apartment i can't go anywhere i'm like dude chuck a kid in the mix and try to see how you feel yeah rider fell over riders running today running with his hands in his pocket i was like oh no no no no i could just see it boom Boom, face planted into the driveway. Huge fat lip caught in his eye. I'm like, oh, you look like a hockey player, buddy. How long did he cry for? Not too long. He probably cried for like two, three minutes, and then we sat on the couch,

chucked on a movie, and threw some ice on there, and he just sat there and took it. He's been going nuts since. Maybe a conky, but I think he's good. Are you planning when you're a kid during this age bracket He just sat there and took it. He's been going nuts since. Maybe a conky, but I think he's good. Are you planning when you're a kid during this age bracket where they're still kind of stumbling on their feet a little bit that once a day that they're going to cry because they hit themselves by accident in some way?

Is it once a day? He's over two now. He runs and walks. He's not like klutzy like running into things or but or falling over i'll say like when you're learning to walk but yeah he buries himself he buries himself and you see it you see it coming from a mile away come on turn the brain on head on a swivel by he's doing head rolls and then there's like with this big ottomans and then he's getting near the end. I'm like, no, boom, boom.

I'm like, oh, bud, how do you not see that you're falling off the end of it? You're like, come on, man. Head on a swivel there. Oh, man. Come on. Have a little situational awareness right there. Yeah, come on. Seattle situational awareness.

See the ice. See the ottoman floor. Hey, live and learn. What did I the ice. See the ottoman floor. Hey, live and learn. What did I say? Ottoman floor? It's two different things. Hey, Biz, I know you're on Twitter quite a bit. Did you happen to catch the big dust-up today on there

with Uncle Bob and the owner of the Hockey News? I mean, yeah. Oh, they were going back at each other? Well, yeah, I'll fill you in. Basically, Bob tweeted, sadly, it's my understanding that staff at the Hockey News has been laid off. I have a lot of friends there, so think of them hoping for the best for them. And then this guy, Graham Rustan, I guess he's kind of a dickhead. I kind of asked around a little bit.

He bought the Hockey News two years ago. I mean, it's fucking gone downhill since. He tweets at Bob. He's like, you should clean up or delete your tweet. Your choice of words is causing mass confusion. Bob's like, no, my tweet's accurate because I read it twice. I'm like, well, yeah, he said that stuff. He didn't say all the stuff. I mean, if you had to read it twice, fine, but he didn't like fuck it up. And this guy like was just wicked, like rude to Bob. Bob's like taking the high road. He like retweeted what he asked, but then he like fucking added, he kind of like put one final tweet,

bought the, like worded it the way he wanted, but it was kind of like smart ass rope, you know, smart ass about it. The guys, and then he's that guy was tweeting stories at him all day. Here's another story we did today.

And I like, I texted someone, I know like, who is this guy? They're like, he's a peck ahead, man. I know he's loaded.

So you're, I, I didn't see that. Um, and you're the more journalistic one too. And you like, you know, you stick up for the journalists. That's so unfortunate. How many of them there were there?

There's a few of them. And because Bob said, well, Graham, two things to that. My tweet is not inaccurate. I made sure to retweet your tweet. So I figured I tweeted what I tweeted. I retweeted what you tweeted. So I'm not sorry if I'm not seeing the mass confusion you're seeing. And then like,

he come back up, Bob, and it's like, you need to clean this up. Like he was just being a dickhead to Bob McKenzie, who, by the way, was the editor of the hockey.

He's probably one of the most like guys in Canada. Bob, there's a reason they call him the Bob father. Yeah. And it's not like the mob where he's the one killing everyone off. He's actually well respected. Yeah. People are getting

offended on his behalf because the way this guy talked to him and like i said the guy bought the hockey news two years ago and it's fucking damn so sorry to all those people who who have been laid off now is this is are they just going to rehire them when it gets back going again well that this guy said that it's oh it's temporary like it's going on everywhere else but you know we'll see what happens there but i guess eight eight of 20 people got laid off and some of them are working online, but you know, it will see if they get hired back in two, three, four months. His tweet wasn't inaccurate.

Bob's wasn't. No, not at all. Tell that guy to take a hike. Stay off of our, stay off of our wizard of Oz. Wizard of Bob. Exactly. So yeah, I just want to fucking give him. It's not that Bob needs us to stick up for him,

but it was one of those things that caught my eye. Yeah, don't come at the Bob for him. I mean, come on. I heard this guy was kind of a peck I had, too, so then I was like, all right, we'll definitely bring it up then. Did you happen to see the Canes tweet thread today, Biz? The one they tweeted, it's something about, it was very creative. They creatively tweeted to all 30 teams in the league,

the other 30 teams, rather, and every one was, like, pretty funny, man. It was good work by They creatively tweeted to all 30 teams in the league, the other 30 teams rather, and every one was pretty funny, man. It was good work by their social media team. They've been doing pretty good. They're one of the better ones out there. Check that out if you haven't seen it. It's just a nice thing. I mean, some people are trying to be nicer to each other these days, I think, and it was kind of done in that vein, so it was pretty cool.

P.L. LeBron, he checked in with Joe Thornton about whatever, the situation stuff, and he asked him about playing next year, and Joe said, I have years to go. He replied via text, so hopefully we'll get Joe for another couple years. Joe's good for work, but I'm not sure everybody else is because hiring used to be hard, multiple job sites, stacks of resumes, a confusing review process. But today, hiring can be easy, and you only have to go to one place to get it done, ziprecruiter.com slash chicklets.

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That's C-H-I-C-L-E-T-S. ZipRecruiter.com slash chicklets. ZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. You had a pretty good tweet the other day that got people talking you asked which celebrity would you want to be locked in the apartment with for two months with no technology yeah someone replied ryan reynolds and he wrote he wrote he chimed back wrote back welcome to hell which is a fucking funny reply and then i try to butter him up a little it said oh i was in a movie with your wife and i own deadpool on fucking digital but

we didn't have back from him. But if you listen to Ryan Reynolds, man, we'd love to get you a handsome. I asked him to come on the podcast. He's a, he's my fellow Canadian. So I,

I sent, I said, Hey, come on the spit and checkouts podcast. I'll even, uh, I'll even project pro promote your gin. If I get the okay from new Amsterdam vodka,

I think Whitney shout out to us. With, I mean, um, our biz, the best part of that was when he didn't reply and then you replied with the carlton bank shooting and just missing the shot yeah like i waited a full day and i'm like come on bro i know you see it like everybody's acting on it like absolutely nonetheless i can't even chuck a like on it. Yeah. Like, come on, bro. Like, give me a little love. Like,

I love that way. He did a black fish, the documentary black fish. Unbelievable. I'm a big Ryan Reynolds fan. Yeah. Dead. Fucking hilarious.

He was great. And you know what they say? Never tweet your idols. Um, no, that's, they don't say that. They don't.

That was a good one. Oh, fuck. That was a very good one. Oh my God. This is a good strain of weed over here. Taylor Kitsch is another handsome Canadian we're trying to get on, too. So any listeners who are pals with him, let them know we want to get him on as well.

Yeah, any famous Canadians that want to come on. Alanis Morissette. Let's get her on. Let's find out that song she wrote and sang was about that hockey player. I thought it was about Dave Coulier, the guy on Full House. I know, but I also heard a rumor it was about a hockey player. So I'm like, I want to know. Alanis Morissette, let's go.

I want to know. What other famous kid? Oh, you know who we should get on, who I could probably get a hold of, is Tom Green. Very interesting guy, and he's a big Ottawa Senators fan. He's from Ottawa. I used to love the Tom Green show. I think it was on MTV.

Yeah, it was. Huge on MTV. So he got into stand-up. That was so funny. Oh, we met him. I was playing with the Coyotes, and we were in Nashville, and we always had a couple days off there. Shane Doan would go out.

The whole team would go out. That was the spot. He loved country music, Shane Doan, of course. We go out one night, and Tom Green's in the bar. So him and Adrian Akoin are like shooting the shit, and he's like, hey, we're going to get him tickets. So we went out and smoked some weed with him. So we had a fun night with Tom Green.

So I went and ended up seeing his stand-up the next, like, three years he came back to Arizona because he would always do the loop. Excellent. He transitioned perfectly into stand-up. Like, every time I went to the show, I was dying. He is a fucking fascinating human being. We need to get him on this fucking show. I will say that these audience –

Oh, you know what we didn't talk about was Big Cat with maybe the best tweet I've ever read in that. I'm paraphrasing. We weren't ready for this shelter in place because what we should have done is have every single team play a game. They have to all have to sign NDAs and the games never showed. So that if something like this ever happens again, you have games from every year. Like I think he said, imagine if there was an NBA game from 2006 that nobody knew the result to that we could just play right now and watch.

That is an unbelievable idea. So the team has to play a game or two every season, and you'll never find out the results, and nobody's at the game. Maybe they put some type of financial compensation on it where it's played in preseason before the regular season starts so they're still like they're actually like it's pandemic games yeah because like that's like the best shape they'll be in and then you know they're not gonna do like middle summer these guys are gonna be like out of shape and shit it's gonna be like boring to watch and they gotta have incentive to do it so now. These guys are gonna be like out of shape and shit. It's going to be like boring to watch and they got to have incentive to do

it. So now that's, I think it's mid season. Just boom. They disappear into a, they come on, they sign. Hey,

nobody, maybe they are doing that. And that's what they're doing at the Denver airport. And that's why they need all that crazy space underneath. That's what they're doing right now. That's they're good did we ever talk about that and how that airport has like oh we did yeah 9 000 conspiracy theories and it takes up half of colorado yeah i was gonna say i know everybody needs clicks these days but can we stop fucking asking what the best hockey movie ever is because it's fucking slap shot i mean i

love miracle too but there's not a better hockey movie than slap shot i don't even think it's fucking Slapshot. I mean, I love Miracle too, but there's not a better hockey movie than Slapshot. I don't even think it's up for debate. I know it's opinion, but I mean, is Slapshot not the best hockey movie or what? Yeah, because it's so raw. It's like that's exactly what those leagues were like, and that's exactly what those guys look like. The type of different situations going on with like the local fucking drunk.

of different situations going on with the local fucking drunk. To me, that epitomizes over any sporting movie. That couldn't be more accurate of what it was, a professional hockey in that fucking league. So it's fascinating. I can watch it every day. I love it. I did when I was a fucking teenager. And I think it gets the edge because it's so goddamn funny.

Like I said, I know Miracle's a great movie, but the laughs and slapshots. So many different little storylines in it. Like the fucking organ player puck off the head shit. Oh, yeah. Like the announcer, the TV where the hooking and how they start. It's fucking crazy. It is. it was genius you

got any any other stuff boys you want to address oh um i didn't uh i didn't talk about the saskatchewan rush they had this like because i was with uh the vancouver warriors lacrosse team and i was rooting for them this year and they were going to play on the road into saskatchewan and they get like they have a crazy fan base and they have like this old grandma who's like a super fan and she was like swearing at me calling me out online so it's like awesome because these leagues like they need a lot of promotion so they don't give a shit they'll fucking do whatever so they got a grandma being like hey business you fucking pussy like a grandma so shut up the chicago rush and i listen i i get everybody trying to gamble with me online like hey i bet you this i bet you that there was this guy saskatchewan's one of the best teams in the league vancouver's had a couple injuries and

they're having a tough season dude they were going to go in there and get murdered so this guy's trying to bet me $1,000. So I was like, ah, fuck, I'm not doing this. I might as well just fucking donate the money to charity myself. Or the East Coast Hockey League Emergency Players Assistant Fund. Boom, there you go, $1,000. Because I don't even know what the cause he said was. And I'm like, ah, I'm not going to look into this. I don't even know if this is like, you know.

So $1,000, boom, out of my money, ECHL player relief fund. There you go. That's $1,150 between me and you. Wait, I'll match you $1.50. I don't make as much as you guys. No, you're good. I'll match you $1.50, Whit, just for starters. I'll match you too.

I'll match you too. That's $1,300. There you go. That's $1,450. Math genius over here. All right. I got a couple more things here. God, I forgot to say the word of the podcast, and it was ostentatious.

It's characterized by vulgar or pretentious display. Okay? Vulgar, really? So my brain is fading a little bit. I'm having a hard time right now in the moment trying to think of how to use it in a sentence. Now, help me out here, boys. Could someone use it in a sentence for me? Tell me the definition again. I'll use it in a sentence. Ostentatious, characterized by vulgar or pretentious display. Oh, you know what?

I find that the USGA is far too ostentatious, and they need to fucking tuck in their sweater vests, go back to the clubhouse or whatever the fuck you guys call it. They need to rally up and vote back on this decision after hearing your little fucking ranty rant. Thank you. Or maybe I'm the one who comes off the top ropes on Twitter and starts getting a little ostentatious.

No, we don't need that. We need gentlemen and ladylike emails and tweets. This is unfair. Let those players play in 2021. All right. Hashtag let Witty play. That was very magnanimous of you though, biz to,

to offer that. But boys, we're approaching God, Godfather part two time right now. So I think we should probably wrap it up. Cause G's going to be up till about seven. Yeah. I'm exhausted too.

Last comment for those of you who are really, really bored. Marble racing. I'm hanging up. See you guys. Love you. Love you guys. Asble Racing. Love you, Whit. Love you guys. As always, a huge thank you to our awesome sponsors.

Of course, our friends over at New Amsterdam Vodka and Pink Whitney. They've been doing it great for us. It's awesome. Check it out. Especially you folks in Ontario, now that it's there. Big thanks to EA Sports for taking care of us as well. And a big thanks to Zip Recruiter for sticking with us. We appreciate you guys very much.

Check those sites out if you haven't. Thanks folks. Hey, baby, there ain't no easy way out. Hey, I will stand my ground. And I won't back down. No, I won't back down.