Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 285: Featuring Trevor Gillies

Episode Date: August 13, 2020

On Thursday’s episode of Spittin’ Chiclets, the guys are joined by Trevor Gillies. Trevor joined (52:35) to talk about his career, his mustache, fighting Biz and more. The guys also break down the official first round of the NHL playoffs, with a few of the games happening earlier this week. The boys wrap up with some talk about writing novels and how RA once locked himself in a cabin and tried to write one.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 285 of spit and check let's present it by pink whitney for my friends at new amsterdam vodka here in the barstool sports podcast family well the first round is officially underway and it took all of one game for absolute nhl playoff insanity to start we'll get to that shortly let's say hi to the boys first producer mikey granelli with snoop uh what's going on guys you guys are all glowing tonight, especially Biz. Very handsome. Thanks, buddy.

They can't see me, by the way. I'm wearing my suit from the Coyotes game. I figure I'd get some fucking use out of it because they shit the bed, RA. They did. You're going to have to rub their nose in it, Biz. You could undo a button, maybe. No, I'm all business this podcast. Fair enough.

All business. What's up? I sense that. Paul Biz, N, Bizcinette. How are we feeling, brother? In all seriousness, not great from the Yotes standpoint, but some unbelievable hockey being played. It's like the Wizard of Oz is controlling the bubble right now.

We've been given every scenario, like crazy overtime, suspect calls, crazy press conferences. So it's been great, guys, on the hockey side. And last but not least, Ryan Whitney, the Whit Dog. How you doing, pal? Hanging in there? Mixing a little golf with the playoffs? Yeah, I'm still golfing my ball out there.

I'm watching these games, and let me tell you, the funniest thing so far has been how quickly they buried Brindamore with 25K. It was like seven minutes after his comments that was the league that you could tell they're just looking around doing nothing waiting to bury anyone so that was pretty interesting but the games have been awesome last night was crazy it was it was a it was a it was a it was like taking a trip back in time when you're playing in one of those like i don't know't know, midget tourneys, peewee tourneys, Quebec,

and you just sit there and wait, and some game goes on, and you wait there in half your gear. You've got to warm up again. So I didn't realize when they figured out they were finally going to cancel it. Maybe you guys know the time they decided on that. But I am just all in, boys. Hockey all day. It's all day long.

You wake up, and you're just in an hour. It's like, hey, yeah, game start. Yeah. I mean, literally had two coffees today for the Bruin start just to wake my ass up a little bit. But, of course, what you're alluding to, Columbus-Tampa Bay, game one went to a historic five overtime. The fourth longest game in league history. Tampa won it after 150-plus minutes of play when Braden Point beat Jonas Corposalo with a little quick flick, little pinball and puck, beat him real quick.

Corposalo set the save record. He had 85 saves on 88 shots. It was unreal. Seth Jones' time on ice record, he had 65 minutes and 6 seconds of ice time. Absolute incredible. Just one of those games you hate to see somebody lose. Were you in the same location for the whole thing, Whit, or did you bounce around a little?

No, I was bouncing around, and I kept just – I was watching, and then I had to go – I missed about an hour. All of a sudden, I'm checking the game's still going on. It was just – I couldn't really wait for the game to end. I got to be completely – at some point, I'm like, all right, enough. But the most upsetting thing for me was in this memorable legendary game is say what you want.

That was a penalty on Hedman. Really? At that moment in the game, with them on the power play, I think that the way you've been calling that game, you're making the call you i don't know man it was a it was a 50 50 on akison correct and he's the he's the one who got taken down i was surprised initially after seeing all the replays i could see why they didn't he did reach around with his arm but there was never any real holding um as far as akison was

concerned like he didn't really grab him. He did get his arm in front of him, and then Atkinson went down. From the angle that you saw on TV in the live feed, I was definitely assuming it was going to be a call. Then when it wasn't, I was like, oh, God, Torts is probably blowing a vessel out of the side of his head right now. But rightfully so, considering that Tampa did get a power play in OT, I thought, yeah, I thought they probably deserve one but overall I would say Tampa deserved to win that hockey game

you want to see a quick fine they'll find me in one minute after this game so you could tell that it was frustration but just the the the efforts from like the goaltending Corpozalo I mean the worst part is he owns this crazy record now, and it was in a loss. It's such a kick in the dick because he deserved to win that game. But Seth Jones, 65 minutes. If you guys were up with maybe your co-host and what he accomplished in his career, you'd know I think I played 54 minutes in a Stanley Cup final game.

It might have been 56. So I'm here to speak about what Seth Jones is feeling last night. I'm one of the few who can actually attest to how he feels. And let me tell you, Biz, he felt incredible the whole night. I remember I felt I was just like, I'm out here every other shift, just feeling great. I could skate all night. I was never tired.

And in intermissions, we had pizzas. I remember there was pizzas after the third overtime or after the second. So I've done it, and I know that you feel pretty goddamn good the whole game. And the way he skates, which is ten times better than I ever skated, I think that guy was cruising around and could have gone five more overtimes. He's out there. The game looks so easy to him. Columbus' power play is awesome.

He's up top, and then it's like Texera, Pierre-Luc Dubois. I don't know if I'm saying Texera right. What a fine that kid is. Second-round pick from France. Shout out to scouting staff in Columbus, right? I figured that series was going to be good, and I also thought, oh, my God, if Columbus wins this game, Tampa's got to be thinking, oh, Jesus, what did we get ourselves into again?

So maybe you think they just roll on from here, but I still think that that was a long-ass game, and I was so pumped when it ended. I think what makes Seth Jones so special is how he's able to be so good in every area of the game, but he does so, like, quietly. Yeah, you never know. I know. It's weird.

It's not like you don't notice him, but he's just like, it's not flamboyant. How about this? He just gets it done in every area. What's up? Subtly great. Okay. I'm down with that term. He's subtly great.

Do you agree with that? Yeah. And the other thing I was going to mention was Vasilevsky played tremendous as as well and he got overshadowed by corpus alo's performance and we're going back to your comment about playing so much ice time now i was actually shocked at that point in the game that nobody had gone down to cramps now are you are you pounding electrolytes between periods i know they used to have those uh salt packs in the room that you could mix into your water. What type of supplements were you taking during that time other than pizza? Was Hal Gill crushing his six-pack already or what? He's like, ah, the ice is melting.

This isn't going to be – these beers are going to be warm. But he was somebody who was – like all those guys that night, they had the salt. I remember you poured that in the Gatorade. You're crushing water all the time. I mean, I don't remember anything in terms of cramps, though. Gonchar in that game, the only reason I played that much, for people who don't remember, he went flying into the boards. Looked like he snapped his back in half.

Thought he was done. Goes into the locker room, tries to give it a go he can't do it he's done the guy's like crippled around walk around he can't even move well the game goes so long it's just three hours later now he's like hey kind of loosening up here guys and we come in after the first ot it might have maybe happened in the first period that that that you guys that has to be fact checked whened when he went down. Come on. He gets back in his gear.

Come on. And obviously in the National League, you got second set of laundry. Don't worry, guys, if you're wondering he put on the wet laundry. Nope. So he throws on the gear again. We come in. He's ready to go. Gonchar comes out.

He's like, I can play power play. And he's out there wheeling and dealing. And the Peter Socorro winner was assisted by Sergey Gonchar. Come on. In triple overtime or whatever. Which is crazy because Peter Sikora scored for the Anaheim Ducks in what I think is one of, if not the longest game in NHL history. That was also in five overtime. So Sikora has got a couple of them.

And I swear this did not happen on purpose i didn't bring this to sakura talk and my long talk on purpose but randomly i got a text from peter sakura today what's up bud how you doing and he's he sent me a picture of that night and it's a picture that i signed to him he must have been like will you sign this mess around this dude's hilarious and i wrote i wrote on this picture i'm pulling it up sorry oh you're randomly sent me i said too sicky what a shot you define clutch your friend ryan whitney and it's me hugging him with my big old beard after i played 54 37 or whatever it was and it was 50 46 and it was junend of 2008. So I added a – okay, so that was 12 years ago. Over 12 years ago.

Math guy. And I remember that the night I didn't feel bad, I added about seven minutes on there. So Sikora's coming on the pod. So that's what this all got around to. Long story long, as we like to say on Spitting Chicklets. Yeah, no shocker here that it turned into Penguins talk either uh but going back to tampa i thought they looked great uh i was shocked to see headman in the lineup given john cooper's press conference we look stupid well we look like idiots but

anybody who watched that press conference all right did you get the chance to look at it i didn't know i i left between periods and that's when they showed it and i just took you for you that i'm bad but i was still betting columbus anyway so don't feel bad oh okay well i thought they played well too they added some opportunities i thought puck puck possession wise it was all tampa colorn looked great kucherov looked a little bit disinterested at times to me i don't't know. That's just maybe people have an opposite opinion of that. But what was the other thing we were going to talk about related to Columbus and Tampa Bay? There was one other topic.

I want to go back to that non-call, as Tortorella referred to it. That's, I think, a penalty shot in some places during the regular season, that play right there. We've seen similar plays called the penalty shot recently. They've definitely lessened whatever the borderline is for that. But I thought, man, I looked at it. I slowed it down because I thought it had been tripped, and my thought had been carving the leg.

That caused him to go down to not get a shot off. It should have at least been a two-minute penalty. And being on the power play as it happened, that makes a difference, like it or not. Yes, it does. That makes a difference. And you wonder, you really do wonder if some of the refs aren't

making calls because you don't have fans going nuts right after a considered missed call. I mean, that's certainly a factor here, but I don't know, Biz, you had something else in that series. I'm trying to think of something else, too. I know one. It's on my mind. This kid, Lampfudy, man. This kid has been all over the ice since Columbus has that series. I'm trying to think of something else, too. I know. It was on my mind. What is it? This kid, Liam Foody, man.

This kid has been all over the ice since Columbus has been playing. I think he's 18 and 19. He's jumped right into the fire. The kid, he's been a dynamo for that squad. So every playoff, there's like this cult hero that arises, and I'm getting the sense that this Fouty or Foody, how do you say his last name? They've been calling him Foody, so I'll copy TV.

Okay. Well, yeah, he's been all over it. He just looks like one of those guys is like born to play hockey you know like makes the little plays all the time uh just you know he has a fairly good skill set but definitely a lot of positive things happening for that columbus team and he's one of them um yeah overall just the the feeling of going that long and losing that game has to – that's a big blow to the gut. Yeah. I mean, in that game, first game of the playoffs, it's not game seven.

It's not the finals. It's like, can this game please fucking end? Like, we're adding a game to the series, especially Columbus. They just battled out five and won like seven, eight nights. So I just think that it's such a kick in the dick, and I think Tampa's that much more skilled than them that that could just take them over the top, and they win this series in five.

But we'll see. Columbus certainly ain't going away. They'll probably win the next one and make me look like a fool per usual. I don't care, though. I'm over it. I would agree. Just on the overall sense, I think that this could end earlier because of that type of loss I'm guessing the afterwards both

both teams revived with dummy and the Bud Lights because after four long months hockey is back we all know you want to kick back watch the games on a nice cold seltzer or beer so nice to just kick back if you want a cold one watch some puck whether it's 11 a.m or 11 pm. And our friends at Bud Light know you can't miss any precious action for our last second fridge stocking run. So head to BudLight.com slash delivery and get ice cold Bud Light or Bud Light Salsa delivered straight to your door so you don't have to miss any action. Again, that's BudLight.com slash delivery. And this stuff is clutch biz when you get five games back to back to back. It's hot as balls out in Boston right now. You don't want to go anywhere.

Just ring it up, man. BudLight.com slash delivery. Those seltzers are good, boy. I'll tell you, they creep up on you. People have been mixing that Bud Light seltzer with the Pink Whitney, calling it the Fizz Nasty. I think of Fizz Nastyizz nasty i think of way worse stuff oh hey god we uh we didn't mention braden point who ended up having uh two goals for tampa bay

he's uh he's a star in his own right i feel like he could drive his own line and he's a guy that doesn't get talked enough about just because he's surrounded by so many superstars like kucherov uh stamp coast who of course is not back in the lineup, and probably a big reason why Point's able to, you know, maybe control and possess the puck a little bit more, right? There's less guys who want it out there. So, overall, Tampa looked great, and that's pretty much my takeaway from it.

Braden Point, third-round pick. I mean, he has 90 points last year, over 40 tucks. This year he's point per game. So just thinking, there was probably a scout out there. We may be starting on an interview on some of those guys who've made great picks, but someone who's like, oh, my God, we just got an absolute steal in the third round. Because you have to imagine, you look at his numbers in juniors,

he's over 90 points. It's like, oh, my God, this kid gets a chance. It's so surprising to see somebody like that drop that far down. And that's in 2014. So, granted, things have really changed maybe in the last three, four years. But still, what a player. Jones said afterwards that he was,'s quote not tired and he also said quote the officiating was to me kind of suspect uh no it is every game no fine as of as of press

time but I think not only the non-call in OT but also there was a friendly fire call too uh where Columbus went to the box when it went to Tampa guy hit his own teammate I thought they were supposed to review that stuff but it never reviewed. So I could see why they might have been pissed. Also, that was the longest game since 2000 when it was Pittsburgh versus Philly and Keith Primo ended it. Where were you during that game? Do you remember? Are you busy?

No. He cut back to his four-eight, came down the right side, cut back and shelved one. I think I was just in my – I don't even know if I was awake, but I know where I was living. I mean, I was – what year was that? It was 2000, the year 2000. I was 15. I was probably doing a reverse 69 somewhere in a hotel room.

At least getting a hand job. No, I was actually down at Aruba, man. Were you in a Playboy? No, me and my brother and one of my college buddies went down my uncle had a what do you call one of those timeshades you just pay the fees and fly down and one of our other buddies happened to be down to his wife and he worked the bowl gang he's like hey it's 18 minutes between um overtime when they clean the ice so we go over to the bar like the wet whale a blackjack table play for 18 straight minutes and then run back to the tvs to like catch up with the overtimes

i think it was like four o'clock in the morning Eastern time when it finally ended. It was good shit. That was the only multiple overtime game to stop the festivities. Carolina-Boston, game one. Boston, I think, about a 160 favorite in this one. They ended up winning 4-3 in two overtimes, very early in overtime. Bergeron ended it on a perfect play by the perfection line.

Whitdog, what's your take on this game, buddy? It's pretty much exactly how I thought it'd go. I think that the Bruins showed that their fans need to take it, take it down a notch, take a deep breath, and realize they were playing exhibition games. That's what they were. Figure it out. So they showed up today, and there was moments when they were maybe a little

questionable, but that line, talk about just turning it on. The overtime winner we could chat about is so sick, that entire play. Carlos started the thing. But the Pasternak's goal off the faceoff, it had to be a set play. Marchand picks it up. You know, he just snaps it back a little bit. Marchand picks it up and fires it between two defenders' legs. And Pasternak just like, I don't even know how he saw the puck,

still roofs it, goes shelf. And you could just say, all right, like, I don't know. I don't know if there's an answer for these guys. They're the best line in the league when they're all going. I mean, at least up there for argument sake. And they were the same way in game one. Bergeron, just a legend. That guy, he's not going to have a statue,

but it's for sure going to be a crazy number retiring someday for him. He gets fourth overtime career game winner in the playoffs. So I thought it was a great game. Carolina's got some things to be pissed about. And, Ari, can you explain what Brindamore was actually so mad about to the listeners? Before we go there, let's go back to the winner. It looked like Mrazek was just on a horrible angle.

Bergeron had half a net to shoot at. I don't know if Mrazek, as far as the mental state, was thrown off by what had happened earlier in the game and when i watched the replay and ari i'll let you kind of more explain it i thought the the complaint was that it was a hand pass but from watching the video i couldn't i couldn't tell if boston had actually touched that with their glove it looked like to more like me that it hit slavin last with his glove and as far as Mrazic's mental state, maybe after what had happened on the controversial goal,

well, I'll try to bring you through it as best as possible. It was kind of like a jump ball between Coyle and Slavin. Brinder more than would have thought it was a hand pass, given they'd both went up. But from watching the video, that's where I didn't see the problem. It looked to me as if when they both went up, it had hit Slavin's arm last, if it even did hit coils hand and it ended up rolling over.

There was a bit of a scramble. And to me, the issue was, is when it was frozen by Morazic, which it was. And to me personally, for a long enough period of time where it should have been blown dead. And if it ended up going in as it did,

it should have been waved and if it ended up going in as it did it should have been waived off for goalie interference so the issue was though is when they brought it to brindamore when he was challenging it they gave him the option right as opposed to to exactly and and and brindamore was like what you're supposed to tell me what the call on the ice is was it a hand pass? Yes or no? Okay, no. All right. Well, it was clearly goalie interference, and I'm going to challenge that,

given the fact that my goalie got a pitchfork in the hand, and that puck ended up crossing the goal line. So definitely a kick in the nuts for the Carolina Hurricanes. Rob Brindamore was quite heated in the postgame pressure, ended up getting ching-ching 25K. I don't think he gives a fuck because he has that in his cup colder because he made over 50 sheets playing. How are you? But game ends up going to overtime.

At that point, that's got to be a distant memory. And I thought overall Boston deserved to win that game. They outchanced them. They hit a bunch of iron. Plenty of opportunities. Carolina didn't play well the first two periods, clawed back into it. And yes, they got hooped over on a call, but I don't think that that's something that they should hang their hat on

for game one. I have where Brindamore earned his 25 grand right here, Biz. He said to Sarah Sivian from The Athletic, he comes to me and says, pick one, he being the ref. I'm like, well, it's one of the two. He's like, there's absolutely no way that can be a goal. He's putting it on me to pick it. Well, you tell me what you're calling. You're calling he had it? Then it's a

fucking goal interference. If you're saying he didn't have it, you're not telling me what call you're making. And I have to pick one. Then they go upstairs and say, oh, he had possession. It's horseshit. This is where the league is a joke. End quote. So, I mean, he gave it to him good. He got into it. And I think this thing said, too, like they could add more to it

if he kept saying shit basically on the statement. So, I mean, hey, you can't blame him for being pissed off. I was surprised as a Bees fan that it did count because usually a goalie covers up. Even if they don't blow the whistle, they'll go with that intent to blow thing, which, you know, the refs can kind of lean on that, and they didn't even try to do that, too. So it sounds like they put Brindamore on a pretty shitty spot, too.

And I know the ref, there's been more power plays than there have been in years past. The power plays have been through the roof, too. Well, and let me tell you about that goal. I played golf, and so I was getting off. I missed the first period, maybe part of the second. And Mike, yeah, got my buddy caddying for me, Bone. Mike Carbone, this guy's the man.

He's not the biggest hockey fan in the world. I would say he likes it, but maybe he doesn't know as much as some diehards. He saw, he goes, hey, the Bruins just scored, but it's getting called back for sure. There's no way it's a goal. So that's too, like, you know, what is this called? The normal eye, the naked eye? I don't know what I'm saying, but you know what I mean?

Yeah. And this is after what, 24, 48 hours after Brenda Moore was just out strutting his stuff, shirts off. Where are they practicing and hanging out at BMO field as far as the off ice is concerned? So, um, he, he was heated. I would imagine that now, because Brenda Moore has set the stage for the pressers that we're definitely going to see torts at one point this round come back with some heat because torts does not get outdone when it comes to the pressers and playoffs don't alpha me when it comes to new sheriff and his name is about the bud uh but overall for for you guys as bees fans were you guys happy with game one performance i can only imagine that the crazy Bee fans were trying to go after Rask

to blame them for a loss that never even happened. I've been telling everybody in my orbit, forget about the first three games even before they happen. Like what you said, they're scrimmage games. That's how they're going to be played. This is a veteran group. They need to conserve their emotional energy. They knew they didn't have to expend it.

If they did win the number one seed, they'd be playing Montreal right now. And who's to say that's better than Carolina right now? Pick your poison. But either way, they got a one-nothing series lead. And we do got Bergeron, his King t-shirts on sale, right, Grinelli? All right, that is correct. Tons of new playoff shirts have dropped in the Barstool Sports store.

That's BarstoolSports.com slash chiclets, including the King Bergeron shirts. Unbelievable. Did you shave your muzzy? Cause I asked if you shaved the middle part and you were like, no, it just doesn't grow there. No,

because we posted something on Instagram and there was like 50 comments telling me to take a shower. So I just, I don't know. I just had to get rid of it. Uh, Shvetsnikov. He tried the cyber bullied.

Did Shvetsnikov try the Michigan goal in overtime? He did. Yeah, Carlos said no dice. Yeah. It was more like an Indiana goal attempt. How does that kid do that so easy, Biz? How does he – It's called practice.

Yeah, I know, but still, to get it on edge like that, moving that quick, very impressive. I had some myths. I couldn't even think to do that. Yeah. It's in the Putin protocol when you come over from over there. What do you got, R.A.? Well, the next one, man, is the Coyotes.

They looked like they were going to rope-a-dope the Avs for a little bit there. They were getting outshot 28-7 after two, but, you know, stranger things have happened. Then all of a sudden, Derek Stepan gets called for an interference. It's probably a pick he's done a million times where it hasn't been called, but the refs are calling it pretty tight for the playoffs right now. They did whistle him. Don't give the option to blow it, I always say.

Well, they did. Scored a quick one on the power play. Two quick ones right after that within like a minute and 23 seconds, and that was Kapui. Boom, gone in an instant. Biz, you were there. Take us there. I thought it was a cheeky call on step on,

but Coyotes had no business winning that hockey game. And I'll go as far as saying, even being an employee of the team, that was the most pathetic performance I've ever seen in playoffs for an NHL game since I've watched hockey. I mean, I didn't watch the game, and I threw you the nugget already. You can list off right now, because 50 minutes through this hockey game, it was still 0-0 and even though the Coyotes had shown no signs of life offensively I think at that point they might have had 10 shots on that they get a two-minute power play

midway through the third Darcy Kemper has stood on his fucking head for the fifth time in these playoffs and they just no urgency on the power play. They win the faceoff in the offensive zone. They fuck around with it down 200 feet. I think they might have gotten on the two power plays in game one, one shot on net. What did they finish with? What did they end up crediting them with? 13 shots total?

I got it right here. 40 to 14 was the totals. So 14 shots on net. And through two periods, they had seven. So that just isn't going to cut it. And after talking about press conferences, Rick Talkett came off the top ropes on his team. I'll tell you what, boys.

If my team would have played like that in playoffs and I was the head coach, I would have came in the locker room like Rolfie. I would have flipped over every fucking Gatorade cup. The cooler would have went flying. Every stick on the shelf. Who would have got the hot coffee in the face? Fuck, probably myself. That's how fired up I would have been because it just,

they didn't have an answer for anything. They couldn't muster up five-foot passes. They came out flat, which the way the Coyotes have came out all playoffs, they haven't been good in the first period. So let's give them a little time here. Second, same thing, done. But let's give credit where it's due. The Avalanche look like a cup contending team.

They did not skip a beat. Even when the Coyotes got physical with them, they got physical right back. They won all the puck battles. Their tape-to-tape passes, it was a fine, well-oiled machine ready to go. And, I mean, I was going to say led by the big boys as far as, like, analytically and puck possession.

They were all over it. They didn't really chip in much. I know the three-headed monster of Lanniscaug, Rantanen, and McKinnon ended up contributing the one goal there. I guess if you count maybe a helper on the first power play goal. But to me, the best player on the ice was Nazian Khadri. And I know you Leaf fans are not going to like to hear that, but he ended up getting the eventual game winner.

He is a piece of shit to play against. He brings it. He's all in. And that's a wagon. So the Yotes have their hands full. I'm not going to say it's over. I know I picked Yotes in four. Now I got Yotes in five.

That team is stacked. And the fact that they have those – all right, so they have Makar and that Gerrard out there. He's nasty. Dude, that guy, he is just – he's spinoramas at the offensive blue line. Like one guy on him, breakaway if he turns it over. He's got so much confidence, and he has this ability to just fly around the ice. So those two guys playing D and also being able to jump into the rush,

Eric Johnson looked real good. He's probably getting a little, I mean, how old is he now? Just, they made every single play. Anytime the puck got dumped in, they went back. They got it. They went D to D up the wall. They were in the offensive zone before you knew it. And as far as Gerrard, water bug out there.

And he's not a liability defensively either. He can play with the puck. He's a solid player. And they got tons of depth on the back. Zdorov looked amazing. He's a big fucker. He got tons of depth on the back. Zdorov looked amazing. He's a big fucker. He's like their mutant on the back end. He was carrying it up one shift, though.

I was like, whoa. He's just out there. He hammers guys. He's a prick, but I don't think he's necessarily the puck-moving guy. That's why they have all those other dudes. It's a nice complement of each other on that decor. It's a nice compliment of each other on that decor. And McKinnon was flying around.

The beautiful three-on-two goal, I think Chikorin ran way out of position to try to run over Landis Coggin. He might have hit him good. I thought it was Chikorin. And then it ended up being a beautiful tic-tac-toe pass, McKinnon to Rantanen. That just shows that line and then the Bergeron line. That's kind of who I think of when McDavid's at right side or McDavid's with anyone. Well, we talked about it before playoffs,

and I know I mentioned it on Sportsnet. It's a national station in Canada, for those of you asking. And I said it. I had mushrooms in me. I had weed in me, but I knew that Nemeshnikov, I knew that deal was going to be a big one. Okay. It was Burakovsky, I believe, correct? Nope. It was nemestnikov i knew that deal was was going to be a big one okay it was burakovsky i believe correct nope it was nemestnikov and he came over from ottawa for a fourth rounder

what that helped colorado do is spread out that offense because now lanisca has came off that top line and he's playing with cadre and then nemestnikov has gone up to that first line with ranton and mckinnon and burakovsky's on the right side on that second line. So they have two very, very legitimate lines. And then their bottom six are extremely competent as well. That Comfer came back from injury this year, and he's a goal-scoring machine. He had one in Game 1 against the Arizona Coyotes.

So, Ari, I'm not sure what you saw that game, but it was a shit-kicking. Well, typically always still being with Thunder. I had Nazem Kadri written down. It was probably obvious, but him and Johnson, they combined for 15 of the shots on net. They were all over the place. Interestingly, McKinnon, Landerskog, and Mikko Ratanen, just three combined shots on goal.

They did have a goal and two assists on that final goal to really put it away. But yeah, I mean, obviously they kind of got held in check by their standards a little bit. I mean, McKinnon didn't even have one shot on that. But even so, he made his presence felt. I think, like I said, this is going to be a tough series for Arizona to win. Dossie Kempo was lights out for, I don't know, 80% of the game. And then that one power play goal was sort of the backbreaker for him.

Opened the dam a little bit, and then it was lights out. But, yeah, I would think on the target, though, we're going to see a much better effort from Arizona next game. So if you're going to bet them to the next game is the game to definitely bet them on, bet on them for sure. But all right, what do you say? I'm moving right along. I said, if you want to bet them, bet them next game.

Oh, I know what you said, but you could barely say it. So I was saying, say what? That's if they lost the talk at bag skate tomorrow. Talk is going to be completely fine and not lose it yet. If they do it again, he's going to snap. Well, think about this, man. I think talk at one, two Stanley Cups as a player. He's got two as a coach, right?

Two as a coach. I think both as an assistant with Pittsburgh. And as a player, I mean, he was all over the place. He did it all. He scored. He fought. He hit. He got in there.

He won battles on the wall. And he knows what it takes in order to fight for a Stanley Cup. So when you're a head coach standing behind the bench and you're trying to get your guys going, it's more like get your fucking selves going. You're playing for a Stanley Cup. What the fuck is this? I know they got a good team.

I know this is David versus Goliath. But at least show you fucking care and you know you're in the mix. Play this clip for him, Grinnell. Send this clip to the video guy. He might throw it on their pregame video. They're scouting me in game two. Yeah, they'll fire me. There's that other stat you mentioned.

The NHL record for fewer shots in a playoff win was 10. Chicago Blackhawks beat the LA Kings back in 1974, 1-0 being outshot, 32-10. So, yeah, it was shaping up like that for a little bit. They're going to start calling them the Ropiotes. Ropiotes, hey. Ropiotes, man. Work for Ali.

Meanwhile, over in the old Patrick division, the Isles went down 2-0 early to Washington. Then rode back, scored four unanswered goals to take game 1-4-2. Goaltending, huge difference here. Simeon Valamoff was great. Outplayed Braden Holtley, who had an off game. He let a waffle in he should have had. Misplayed a puck that led to another goal.

Had some good scrapping. A couple of teams that don't like each other, kind of renewed festivities. But, Biz, let's go to you first on this one. Did you get to see much of this? I know you had to prep for your work. I saw a little bit of it, and I didn't see Washington getting much five-on-five. They only scored their two power play goals with T.J. Oshie, got off to a 2-0 start.

There were some fireworks. And, you know, kind of going back to the coyotes game where like i don't know if they were necessarily getting dominated early but you obviously saw the fight that the islanders had they're like fuck this like let's get into it let's get involved and they did so physically and tom wilson and anders lee were probably at the start of that right they were the ones who ended up getting tied up they had a very spirited bout. Tom Wilson clearly got the edge, but that's not Anders Lee's job. Anders Lee ends up getting a big fucking goal later in the game. But it's going to be a dogfight a lot harder for Washington

than people expected. And all credit to Trotz and the way he prepared the guys to play, especially five on five. If they're able to stay out of the box, I think this series is going the distance. And I know I said I picked Islanders in six, and I'm still very confident with that pick. This Bolivier is filthy.

Barzell hasn't skipped a beat. And just overall, that team dynamic just looks really good right now. And as far as Holtby's concerned, I watched the Eberle goal goal over and over and i just couldn't understand it because it seems like he was fading away to anticipate that he was going to shoot cross body like back the other way and it was a whiff he just missed it and then as you said he misplayed the puck on the power play to ovechkin and then that one ended up costing him and uh it wasn't a pretty performance for washington i'd expect a much better game out of them in game two but uh look out for those fucking islanders i tell you and

one of the top guys that doesn't get enough recognition the guy who you know to put it to put it in perfect perspective i thought he had played like 450 nhl games he's actually played close to 900 that's josh Bailey. This guy, so consistent, model of consistency. The guy who every single night the coach is like, he's going to do this, this, and this to help us win. He's just a hell of a player. I think he really makes that team go. He's one of many. I mean, Barzell is obviously the guy who really, really gets it firing, but that team just is hard to play against. They stink.

I hate them. Hope they lose. But, God, are they hard to play against. And Washington thought it was going to be easy. They go up 2-0. It's kind of a fluke goal, the first one. There's a block shot. Ends up behind the net, bouncing right to Oshie.

Now, you talk about the hit on Backstrom. I don't know. Maybe it's a little late. But I understand that Tom Wilson's obviously going to fight him. But in terms of people being so pissed off about that hit, is that suspension worthy? I don't think so.

And I love Backstrom. I'm buddies with him. But I think he just kind of caught him watching his pass, head down. I want to watch it again to see if I really consider it late. But I don't know if you had an opinion, any of you clowns. All right. Nah, I don't think we're going to see any supplemental discipline for it. I don't anticipate any.

What got everything going? What got the sparks flying? That hit, I think. Leon Backstrom. Yeah, when Lee hit Backstrom and then, you know, Capitals took exception to it and that got the fireworks rolling. Well, John Carlson went into like kind of – Yeah. yeah i'm not gonna say jump him because he like didn't take his gloves off but people like what's he doing well he he's just coming back from injury

you don't know what's going on you know what i mean so it's it's it's it's kind of hard for him to just get in there start chucking him if he's battling an injury somewhere in his shoulder or hand such a it's such a difficult position for a skilled player, especially John Carlson, not having a lot of experience fighting because you're not sure if your coach is going to be frustrated by the fact that you've now spent five minutes in the box. It's still the first period, so maybe your legs are going to suffer the rest of the night because you're not used to all of a sudden

taking five minutes to sit in the box usually. Also, you don't want him fighting because you don't want him to hurt his hand and or face or land the wrong way, as I know firsthand. But then as a player too for Carlson, you're also thinking, well, I don't want to look like a pussy and not fucking go stick up. Well, he's my brother. That's my bro. I got to stick up for my brother

so i don't care about i know i i probably don't even want to be getting in a fight or sitting in the box but he'd do it for me that's how the game works bro yeah i mean it was a smart play he was able to defend his teammate without having to drop the gloves because yeah he knows i gotta sit down for five minutes it doesn't help anybody in that situation uh one other LaZella, he's going to be expected back for game two. He left the bubble for the birth of his child. Congratulations to him and his family on the birth of their child. He has to test. I think it's four days in a row you have to test negative.

You're allowed back in, but it's expected he'll be back for game two. So, all right, boys, last show we told you all about Red Penguins, and it was great to see how many people checked it on Twitter, and they loved it. Again, it's a wild documentary about the time after the Soviet Union fell and the Pittsburgh Penguins invested in the Red Army team in hopes of building a pipeline to Russian talent. Well, that didn't happen at all, but lots of crazy shit did.

On-site strippers, beers, serving beer to beer, guzzling beers, people getting whacked. This club has everything. This stuff is an all-time precursor to the wild KHL stories that we tell here on Chicklets, but there's somehow even more banana lands. Just an absolute wild story. Again, thanks to everybody who reached out

and said they did buy it or rent it and they enjoyed it as well. You can check out Red Penguins. Watch it now at home on iTunes. You can download it on iTunes or you can see the full documentary, Red Penguins, anywhere on iTunes. Buy it, rent it, whatever you want to do, but absolutely check it out.

It's a hell of a story, and when you're not watching hockey somewhere early in the day or whatever, late at night, by all means, go check out Red Penguins. It's good stuff. R.A., I watched it last night. I thought it was excellent. I don't want to ruin any of it, but I guess I'll just sum it up as I don't think those Russians are ever going to trust the Americans.

They're never going to trust the Americans. And they even said it. So it was a crazy ending, kind of sad, obviously, in some cases. So we'll let you guys watch it for yourselves. But a great documentary. If you're a big hockey fan and interested in some history of the game, I definitely recommend checking out as well. Yeah, definitely good stuff.

Red Penguins, give it a whirl. All right, there were a couple other series that opened up way back on Tuesday, it feels like. Calgary knocked off Dallas 3-2 in Game 1. We got the all-time nickname fight, the Worm versus the Rat King. Matthew Kachuk and Corey Perry, two birds of a feather, fought together, if you will. It was pretty good stuff.

Gave that game some good energy. Anton Hudobin got the start. He had the best save percentage in the league this year, but he didn't fare so well. This kid Dylan Dubé had an absolute day for Calgary. A couple of beauty goals. And our pal Milan Lucic, the first Flames player to begin a postseason on a five-game point streak since Jerome McGinley back in 2006.

So nice to see the big veteran chipping in. Whit, Doug, let's go to you first on this one. This is a good one. Calgary, I think, has this mojo going. I said it. That's why I picked him in this series. But this Dubé. There's actually so many exciting things if you're a Flames fan.

And I shouldn't even go to Dubé first because Looch has been on our show a bunch and he's taken a shitload of heat for a little while now where he's got people and I love to hear his attitude always you know he plays as hard as he can he's a Stanley Cup champion he's been enforced in this league for a long time but people have been all over him and he's got points in five straight is that what it is now yep so Looch is, he's teaming up with this Dubé. This kid flies and another second round pick. And you think that you don't know much about certain players until you see him play a couple of games. Like this kid can skate. He lit up the minors. He's an NHL player now. And just the fact that they have this as a threat and this as an offensive weapon to take away from Kachuk and the pressure off Goudreau. And I mean, I love Backlund too.

That's kind of a guy like Josh Bailey. Like I kind of consider them, you know, similar in terms of how they play the game. So smart both ends. And I just think the Flames, even though it got close and, you know, they had to get that winner, they got tied up and they had to get the winner late, but still they have, they have such a momentum boost behind them getting production from not just the

top stars and so that's what i think makes them good if they're actually going to continue to play this way yes uh you mentioned stars um they have not looked good they look like they did at the beginning of the year this year um in the regular season they just can't find their game and uh i can't see them lasting long if they're unable to turn things around because they can't score, and they find these periods of the game where they'll play well for like five, maybe ten minutes, but overall, it's just – it's not good enough this time of year to get the job done. So unless something turns on a dime here, I suspect that this will be a quick one.

And I'm interested to see just given the festivities and the fight and the passion in game one, will that ignite them in order to start playing better? You saw the Kachuk and Perry fight. Now all of a sudden there's a different dynamic to the series. The hatred is building very quickly. If that's something that can light a fire under Dallas' ass, well, there you go. Then we might have but uh not not impressed for what i see i mean they wouldn't even been in

it if they wouldn't have scored that softy from jamie ben from the blue line that talbot led and that was the the worst goal that talbot's led in sets the playoff again um and that that's the only chance at this point in time i think dallas has is if talbot has a bad series so kachuk his favorite player was cory perry how much do they remind you of each other just like so good but such fucking pains in the asses out there and just every night making it miserable for the other team and then they end up going at it so pretty fitting where both these guys probably have a lot of similarities in their games.

I mean this the nicest way possible. They're both pieces of shit out there. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's a compliment on Spittin' Chicklets. Yeah. I'm curious to see if they come back with Bishop or Hudobin next game. I mean, he wasn't terrible, but one of those goals I think he probably should have had back.

And there's a fine line, man. It's like, you know, these series, you can go down 2-0 real quick, so we'll keep an eye on what's going on there. The other series on Tuesday, Vegas handled the Hawks pretty easily in the nightcap, winning 4-1 to take game one. Robin Lehner got the start. Of course, he started the season with Chicago. He ended up in Vegas via a three-way trade.

Boy, Revo had a nice dish to make a 2-0. Chicago challenged the offside, lost, got a penalty, and they ended up scoring shorthanded. But then Riley Smith put the game away with a pair of goals and a third. Crawford had, I thought, a blah night. He's capable of standing on his head. I don't think we saw that at all last night. But I don't know, Vegas, if this game is any indication,

this could be a quick series too, no? Yeah, I'm regretting my pick a little bit, especially when they started leonard i thought they were going to go with flurry just you know out of respect uh i think stats wise analytically however you want to say and i think the smart move was to start leonard and he proved it he was a beast um let's start with riley smith oh my god this guy might be one of the more underrated players in the league. We got a lot of those tonight.

A lot of most underrateds. He had a career-high 27 tucks in a shortened season this year, clearly feeling the chemistry with this Vegas Golden Knights team, and he's just good in every area of the game, just an absolute gamer. He ended up having two tucks. He had a pretty good, pretty decent round robin, too. Even in that exhibition game that they played against the Coyotes, I'm like, fuck, this guy is a gamer. But just going around to the whole lineup,

their depth and how they're able to maintain pace throughout the full 60 minutes, they are going to be a difficult team to beat. And the way I look at the way they play and how they just – it's like a piston just nonstop. I put them in the same caliber as Colorado. I was going to say, imagine that series. That would be a very – and it's very plausible.

And you mentioned that fourth line. I talked about the fourth line for Colorado and how effective they are, really the bottom six. Fucking Revo, he takes a lot. Talk about taking shit online. Revo, he is a fucking player. He's so intimidating and nice pass on that one.

So overall, I'd say a seven-minute collapse for Chicago, but you can't have any of those against Vegas or they're going to make you pay. So it's going to take everything that Chicago has in order to pull this one off, and I'm not very confident in that pick. Biz, you're like beyond professional. You're dropping the word plausible on us in a suit. He's still in suit.

You are like in TV fucking bit. You're a machine right now, dude. I might smoke a little weed. I was just going to say, go get a big old joint. Let's do the next half fucking with you. Bizzy gets ripped. By the way, Riley Smith biz, get this stat. Oh, shit.

Since he's been – was traded by the Florida Panthers, good trade, guys. He has eight goals in the playoffs. The Florida Panthers have seven. Holy fuck. So that guy is – he's in the playoffs. The Florida Panthers have seven. Holy fuck. So that guy, he's in the Bruins too. They had him. I remember not knowing. I remember having the same thoughts about Riley Smith

that I kind of have about Anders Bjork right now. Maybe that's way off, but, like, is this guy going to be, like, really good? Or I wasn't sure, and Riley Smith has completely proven me to be an idiot to even question how good he'd be. Well, he was really good early with the Bruins. He earned that contract. And then I think he lost his confidence and they didn't give him time to get it back

before they dumped him. It wasn't that they brought Jimmy back, right? In that deal, Jimmy Hayes back, right? Yeah. Yeah. Well, actually going to be bringing our guest on a few minutes. We haven't even mentioned it yet.

Trevor Gillies, longtime pro player, buddy of business. We chatted with him for a bit about his adventures in his NHL and AHL, IHL career. It was good stuff chatting with him. A couple other series updates. Montreal and Philly are playing as we speak. Flyers are up. It looks like 2-1 on the third here.

Vancouver, St. Louis will be played after we record. So we'll update that series next time out. And the other big story before we do get to the interview, boys, the Rangers, they won the number one overall pick in phase two of the draft lottery. So they'll get the first crack at Alexi Lafreniere. Boys, do you think there's any possibility? Wait, I'll ask you first. Any possibility the Rangers will try to shop this pick and maybe try to get a

certified stud with a long-term deal instead of a young kid? I would say no, because what you hear about this kid and the skill that he possesses and how he has the ability to do it all.

I mean, that's what you see people saying. He's going to be a sick, sick player. He already is, but you're young. I mean, I know Panarin's people saying. He's going to be a sick, sick player. He already is. But you're young. I mean, I know Panarin's deal just started, but you don't really need to shop this pick. I mean, how could you risk shopping the first overall pick? Well, especially when it's a guy like this.

And to follow up on that question, R.A., you have Capococco, who I think, based on a second overall pick, would you say he underachieved a little bit? I would say he was a little underwhelming, but I think there's a lot there still. I think it's way too soon to tell. So you have two more years of him on his entry-level contract. To me, at least, the biggest factor is having guys contributing on entry-level contracts in order to win a championship now you need it because of the salary cap so if anything

of course you don't shop Lafernier because you don't know what you have there and by the sounds of it you have a type of guy who could step in and eventually become like a McKinnon type where he's he can run his own line so now you got zabeta jet you got panarin you would have him and if cap okako can can accelerate now you have two very very very top heavy lines you have a couple guys on the back end you have the net minders you still have cap space and assets in the future that you could trade to go fill in those pieces. So all of a sudden, just getting that first overall pick to me, you've now created a three-year window for yourself to go win a Stanley Cup if this guy's the real deal.

Even if Capocacco only accelerates to like a little bit better, you still, if Lafreniere's everything is advertised, I think that the Rangers are going to have a cup contender two to three years. I think with Kako, I think expectations went up when he had that monster, World Juniors. I mean, a lot of people who hadn't heard much about him became aware of him, so I think that probably made expectations tougher for him. But, yeah, he definitely didn't stand out and probably a good example of why you've got to give a lot of these young kids patience, man,

because people probably were expecting him to have some call the type here and he didn't and r.a i'm i know we got kind of wrapped up in the capo caco talk but i feel like there's there's not as much patience as there used to be just be given the the amount of pressure now because the the dollar amounts and and and i guess just people overall are just impatient so um it should be interesting to see how this kid could pan out and how that organization in general are going to be impacted by a conspiracy theory and the fact that it was rigged. If history has taught us anything, anybody could be traded at any time. Oh, and going back to Riley Smith, I believe I said Nashville

when I meant to say Florida Panthers. That's where he started really accelerating. Who? Christ. When I was talking about Riley Smith. He was never in Nashville. I know. I think I might have said. Did I say Nashville? It was Dallas. By the way, I just looked at the numbers.

Me comparing him to Anders Bjork. That's kind of foolish. I still didn't think Smith would be like. I didn't know he's this good. 27 tucks this year in a shortened season. He's a 30-goal scorer. All right. Hey, boys, this interview is brought to you by Sports Research,

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We shall. It's been a lot of hockey talk this episode. Sorry, not a lot of fun, folks, but I'm in a grumpy mood, as you know, so it's on wit to bring the noise. There we go. All right. Why are you grumpy, Biz? Because of the yokes getting warped? Yeah, because I put my suit on.

I get fucking fist-fucked in the arse during the broadcast. I was trying to polish a turd for two hours. And you had to drive all the way to fucking Glendale and back, too. Correct. All right. Without further ado, here's Trevor Gillies. I'm dealing back to correct. All right. Without further ado is Trevor Gillies. Well, our next guest was an undrafted forward coming out of the OHL, but went on to play professionally for 19 seasons. He played in all the parts of 14 seasons in the AHL,

nine in the East coast and four in the NHL and 57 games between the ducks and Islanders. He racked up a robust 261 penalty minutes. He also had four 200 plus penalty minute seasons and one season that cracked 300. I'd like to welcome to the spit and chicklets podcast, Trevor Gillies. Oh, what a fucking intro. All right.

That's beautiful. I actually put up, put up a lot more pins than that, but I was a bit of a suitcase. The guy, if you added them up a little, do a little more homework. I was pretty heavy

in the pin department not so much on the uh the talent with the the goals and the old apples yeah i appreciate it thank you i need oh you're welcome i did an abacus to add up all those penalty minutes from 19 different seasons so how's the summer going man where you live in these days i live in uh home of the home of the, home of the Augusta National. I live here in the nice part of Augusta in Evans. Do you have a caddy there or anything? No, I wish. I'm not a fan of anybody like you. No, I haven't played it yet, but I have a buddy who's an ex-pro fighter,

kickboxer in town, and a lot of the guys, NHL guys, like some of the big name guys obviously i was a low on the totem pole type player but um no they come up here and play like carlson and some of those boys um they get on and um they get to whack it around so hopefully one of these days i will i got to go last year i went uh use it for business development in my new job i work for immersion pro express to do credit card processing with the Devin brothers and Joe Dole's my boss. I got the Thursday ticket. Now, the deal was this rich guy that builds houses, good dude, and then my buddy-in-law's nephew.

They were using the Friday and the Saturday tickets, and then I got Thursday and Sunday. So I used it for business development and had a big time, watched Tiger, Tiger pull it out. So, you know, smashing the cheap sandwiches and the beers and a beautiful place. Phenomenal. It was, I don't know if you guys have ever been, but it's definitely worth coming up. And if you do, I'll have you at the Gillies Casa for a couple of parties. Hey, would you be the first guy to ever tee it up at Augusta with a, with a handlebar mustache? If you did get on?

No, probably not not I mean probably a bunch of guys actually yeah for sure but um no it's pretty old school down here man there's a there's a lot of good old country redneck boys that I don't have that that actually was a bet um with Joel Recklish and Scott Monroe uh in the minors you know you guys know the deal. When you shave your head for St. Baldrick's and grow the mustache for the whatever that thing's called. Excuse me, punches aren't vitamins. I've been hit a little bit. But no, I wasn't, I sure as shit wasn't going to shave it.

I was pot committed. So when I got called up to the aisles, I had it. And, you know, my last name Gillies, obviously didn't play like Clark as a Hall of Famer, but they kind of took a liking to my old school style and old school mustache. I always told the wife, mustache rides are free, but she was not a fan of it. I tried to shave it at one point while I was there. I told Garth. My agent told Garth, and Garth said, he can't shave that. They were selling rock the stash shirts by Reebok and selling mustaches. So the wife wasn't too happy, but once I got sent down,

I got rid of it. You know, happy wife, happy life. You guys know the deal. Trev, I was actually disappointed. R.A. didn't bring up the fact that you played for my former team, the North Bay Centennials. Oh, yeah, absolutely. I love the Bay, man.

I had a lot of fun there. I had phenomenal billets. The Jacks and, young kids. Shattered my hand in training camp against a kid named Tony Pappas. His brother won a men's cup back in the day with Sault Ste. Marie, and he was a much later draft pick, but tough kid, could throw both hands. I was pretty much just straight left back then. Obviously, I could throw both later on but we had

a hell of a fight i still got a scar on my eyebrow um from him and shattered my hand on his uh on his head i went 19th overall to north bay and second pick second round and uh tyler and that was our first rounder and our um second pick third round was uh a guy that's no longer with us but was one hell of a dude uh he lived a block away from me, Steve Monador. So we were big buddies and had a lot of fun together. Let's just put it that way. Yeah, the bay is awesome, man. Great fishing.

You know, I'm a city kid from what a destination spot, Cambridge. But love everyone there, all the family and friends. So hello to everyone. But North Bay was cool. I got to do stuff i never had done before like dc uh ice fishing and riding a snowmobile and all that good stuff so no i love the north bay love that old rink and um hopefully you had some good times there too big guy oh yeah i love how you're like giving the what's up to the people back in cambridge when you're probably

going to talk to them yeah but i respect the hell yeah hey and listen so you said you're naturally lefty yeah oh yeah i mean everything like wiping my ass you know writing i mean everything you can think of i do left-handed throw left-handed play golf left-hand whack it around pretty good but uh you know definitely not uh setting any records out on the course but i'm gonna go play uh probably tomorrow and also friday So, pretty nice weather. I love that. I love that. I love that golf chatter.

But if you're telling me you're a lefty punching, too, and you were just beating the wheels off kids in, like, middle school, did you just find it so easy? Like, nobody knows what to do against me because I'm a lefty. Well, I mean, I'm kind of under – well, I kind of – to be honest, I mean, since we're going to be totally transparent here, like, I was kind of a kid that, I kind of – to be honest, since we're going to be totally transparent here, like I was kind of a kid that, you know, my dad's old school, you know, he's supervisor of plumbing at the Toronto Airport,

all three terminals. He's retired now. And, you know, fortunately he's still with us. He had a bad stroke, but he's doing well. And he's just a savage. I mean, he was like 285 and mustache. And, you know, he didn't like his son coming home crying, getting kind of fucking smashed around by some older boys. The kids our own age, me and my brother were fine. But their older brothers didn't really like me pounding on them and, you know, come home.

And he had no time for it. So he put me in martial arts in Milton. I grew up in Milton, Ontario, before he moved to Cambridge and put me in martial arts. And his sensei was Gord Krantz and started entering tournaments and started like, oh, shit, I can do this. Sweep the legs. Yeah, I was winning. I was winning tournaments, you know.

And after that, I was like, well, you know, playing hockey, you know the deal growing up. I'm not like I was the best on the team or nothing, but I was a big boy like and i was a captain i played d so i played d into like biz like i played d in the coast and when i got called up they moved me to forward so you know um playing my own age you know triple a major bantam and and then got recruited for under 17 and uh fortunately i got to skip junior b in my hometown because they they really

only had like sue saint marie and they bought their imports they brought those kids in sue saint marie and like sudbury and stuff so i actually skipped that and got lucky to play on like the best tier two team in canada the caledon canadians and dana zubris big big z bubble was there and um guys look like ivan drago shit he didn't have a hair on his body he's just like jacked. Doing spin-aramas and shit I'd never seen before. He's 6'4", fucking 235 or whatever he was.

30 NHL scouts every night at our games. We won the league. It was an outlaw league. It was the Metro Junior A league. A bunch of us, Matt Zoltec got drafted really high to the O. Myself and a couple other guys and about nine guys went full ride from that team and um now i got lucky as a 15 year old to play on

that team and still got friends in good old bolton ontario where the calvin canadians play and kind of uh got treated like nhl there's a owner there that invented trivial pursuit named scott abbott, no way! Yeah, he owned the Brampton Battalion too, Biz. You probably remember him, but we got treated like phenomenal, man. It was like a tiny little rank. It was like a shoebox, perfect for me. You know, when you run around just crushing guys, because that's how

I played. I was a big hitter, and all of a sudden, the 20-year-old on the other team grabs you, and you don't really know what you're doing. Hence, that's when the left started uh started going you're almost fighting out of fear kind of right fear yeah fear and adrenaline's a powerful drug you wish you could sell it but um you know just chucking left bombs and started doing well and um coach called me in his name's greg ireland you know i didn't know shit if i knew you know kitchener rangers obviously being from cambridge and some of the you know guelph storm know shit. I knew, you know, Kitchener Rangers, obviously being from

Cambridge and some of the, you know, Guelph Storm and some of the, some of the teams and all that. I'm just trying to play the highest level I can. And he calls me in and he, and he says, he's like, Hey Gilly, how you doing? And I got jumped by the toughest guy in the league besides Roger Maxwell, who was on my team. We called him Buddha. I don't know if you guys know him, but he was tough as nails. He went, he went to call the, and he kind of took me under his wing and told my dad, you know, you've got to bolt your son's helmet. He, like, hits too hard. He's going to have to fight these guys.

And so we bolted my helmet, and then if they wanted to go me, they'd have to ask, and you'd have to, like, pry that thing off to the side and go to center ice and, you know, drop the lids, and away we go. But, you know, the first list came out and it wasn't like by rounds. It's like double A and A player and I was right near the top and the coach calls me in and says, hey, Gilly, how you doing? I'm like, yeah, good, coach. You don't know what's going on.

Thinking you're going to get sent back home or something. You always think the worst is a tough guy, Biz. Yeah, well, I mean, I was actually surprised when you said it. I was surprised to hear you were a second-round draft pick to the OHL. Did I hear correctly? Yeah, I went 19th overall. So that would be the first round now. That scout got fired.

That scout got fired. Well, shatter in my hand, you know, first training camp never helps the puck skills. But, you know, back then it was kind of looked at. You know the deal. You're way after me. But, you know, they're looking for size and toughness and physicality. Yeah, actually, Kip Brennan, I think, he was the first tough guy that was taken in the draft, and I might have been second.

He went, I think, third or fourth overall underage, and I was of age. He played, I believe, St. Mike's. He played for Windsor, and then I was on the other side. But no, man, love the OHL. Ended up getting traded to Sarnia played for Hunter should have listened to him he wanted to make me a forward and I told him I was a D

and he begged to fuck him he's like you can't even skate backwards I think we should maybe consider moving you up front here on the wing he's like are your skates tied tight enough yeah and by the way that one goes on the other foot just just so you know.

Hey, R.A.'s got a good question. This is bullshit, Gilly. This is bullshit attacking. You're getting attacked by Biz. What? Oh, that's hilarious. Hey, I've seen you skate big, fella. I know.

That's why they had to move me to forward two. Hey, R.A.'s got a question for you. No, the game kind of changed, right? Like after the first lockout and, you know, when I'd go up, I'd be put on left wing and I'd run around. I didn't even know what the fuck I was doing. Get it out, get it in. You know the deal.

Go hunt on the forecheck. Made a career out of it. But that was a hell of a hell of a – that's what I miss about the game. I don't miss the bag skates. You know the deal. You miss all the time of the boys on the bus and planes and playing schnapps and all the great dinners with the rouge lots of wine flowing and you miss that's the shit you miss i mean i miss the fighting i miss the physicality and the fighting i mean it's

the purest form of competition on the planet like truly loved loved every minute of it i'm one of the rare guys you'll talk to that loved every minute of it i love my my job. Trev, did you have options coming out of juniors, or was it a case of take the first opportunity you had where you weren't drafted? After I went to Oshawa and played on some good teams there. Dan Hynette was on the team. He won a cup. Brian Allen.

Trying to think of some other names you might know. Kevin Colley, good player. He was our top scorer. We had a really tough team. Good teamrone garner tripod great goalie um awesome guy we have had a phenomenal phenomenal time you call him the tripod oh yeah he's a tripod just that guy his buddies are hearing this they're like oh man you know he's a full-on. Yeah, he's a full-on tripod. Oh, yeah, he's a full-on tripod. I could get into some stories about him.

At a party, let's just say there was some wild moans coming from a young lady because of the tripod. Just teeing off on one of the billet moms. Is that what was going on? Miss McGill? All right. But, man, I played just with some characters, like Brandon Coulter, good buddy of mine.

Jim Baxter was a stud defenseman. I was his partner. Our top – but we were second pairing. Our top pairing was Brian Allen and Jeff McMillan. We called them lucky. Had a good career. Just was – you know, it's so much fun. You know, didn't go to college, so obviously that's like our college it was a blast um you know and we made it to the

semis one year we didn't win it or nothing like that but great memories great memories but um you know when i go up on the on the in the ahl they put me on a wing so i'd be fighting these behemoths and you know you pretty much realize like shit fuck i gotta get stronger like you know playing in the coast um you know as a lefty did well not like i'm winning every fight i mean you take your lumps when you're young and that's how you learn right so um but no it was uh it was great getting to actually play a little more and then when i go up you know and do the deal and tom rowowe called me up from Peoria, Illinois, Peoria Riverman. I was playing with Jeremy Oblonsky and Brendan Brooks and Tyler Renette. We had a hell of a team there playing for Smurf.

Brad Voth was on our team, Anthony Bells. I mean, we had a very talented team. We maxed out on name drops this episode. You've hit your max. Hey, let's you you came out a junior right and then you ended up hopping around quite a bit all over the minors your first like what four or five years until you actually finally got a game like what what's that like playing in the minors and just like really not knowing where you're going to be the

next week well it was a blast biz i mean um you know i was a young guy and um you know the deal you think you think you're making a bunch of money but you're really really not but you know you young dumb and um just just ready to give her you know shine you know ready every night type deal and the way i looked at it was if i would never got called up for a certain amount of games every year i was looking on to the next opportunity i wasn I wasn't afraid to move around. First year pro, I got to play for a guy by the name of Mark Potvin. He's not with us anymore. May he rest in peace.

Great guy. Was a fighter in the NHL. Second year, I decided I wanted a change of scenery. I had a girl at the time there. They tried to give me a lower amount. I was making $40,000 up top and then $500,000 a week. This is a $99,000, and I was not going to take less. So I went and played for Jeff Brubaker, who's an absolute nail gun,

and I loved playing for him. We had a very tough team in Greensboro. Just kind of went around to different opportunities until I got my shot with Tom in Lowell, and he worked with me every day, I got my shot with Tom and Lowell, and he worked with me every day, an hour after practice. And then I became, you know, an AHL guy. And you know the deal after that.

You got to fight every night and be ready to go and earn it the hard way. And that's what I did. We got a note here. You had eight groomsmen at your wedding, and you fought six of them. Now, I know guys usually leave that shit in the ice, but any of those guys you still maybe want another dosy-do it, maybe one or two of them? No, I'm kind of glad I don't have to fight my friends anymore. Who were they?

Dude, talk about a goon squad. What did you guys do for your bachelor party, Daytona Beach with R.A.? No, we were here in Augusta. But, I mean, like some of these guys, like they do like MMA crap. Like Scroisey is one of my best buds. I know you guys have had him on the pod. He's a beauty. The real. I play with the real deal, Scroisey.

And our second year, well, I think it might have been his first year. It was my second year pro in Greensboro. And he came for a while and actually scored quite a bit. But we just hit it off right away. The guy's a beauty. And just had a blast. But he was in my wedding. Jeremy Oblonsky was in my wedding.

Brandon Brooks, I never fought. Skilled guy, great guy. And obviously my brother. My best friend who's not with us anymore. Prop in rugby. just to battle him. Who else was in it? Brandon Cullen, pretty good player out of the OHL. He was a rookie when I was in my last year.

Let's just go through the whole list. Let's go through the whole guest list of the wedding. Pretty tough cast of characters, big guy. That's a bunch of animals. So where did you guys go on your bachelor party, just out of curiosity? We kind of did. We didn't even make it to the golf day. We were bowling at the military base here.

There's a big military base here called Fort Gordon. Cheers to all our military. They do a lot for us. We have a phenomenal life here in America. Yeah, absolutely. You got to give them a shout out. I got mad. I'm buddies with a lot of ex. We have a phenomenal life here in America. Yep. Yeah, absolutely. You got to give them a shout out. I got mad. I'm buddies with a lot of ex-Army Rangers.

Got a custom bike because of one of them. Yeah, it's a good time down here. I'm all about the military, baby. I wish I could do it. If my wife would let me, I would. Trav, you mentioned Jablonski. He's nailed. He's absolutely nailed.

Did you play against him in Russia or were you guys on the same squad? No, after I was done in the NHL, uh, you know, went down back to Bridgeport and honored my contract and, um, talking to Jer, you know, we were very close. Our wives are very close. Our, his daughter's a, you know, stud athlete, um, soccer player and, you know, friends with my daughter. So, you know, he called me and he's like telling me all about Russia. And, you know, obviously I was like, hell yeah, I'll come. So, you know, I got to live with my best friend. I got to work out with my best friend every day.

We were supposed to play on a damn line with obviously a very skilled defensive centerman, but we never, ever got to play a game together. But it was an absolute blast. So I went over and signed for this Russian family and played for Chekhov Vitez, which means Knights, and he's the real owner. There's a new owner, but he was phenomenal. I got treated amazing there. So you had a good experience in Russia?

Phenomenal experience. You know, you hear about all these guys that have horror stories and don't get their money and you know for guys like us biz i mean he knew what i he knew he knew what i did and um he wanted you know gillies with the mustache he'd do this the symbol he's like i want you to skit skit skit hit hit hit fight fight fight you know like our role doesn't fucking change so you know it was great uh i got paid all the time uh i got bonuses uh it was phenomenal got to travel the world my best friend you're always on an airplane um not you're not in the iron lung anymore um which i like that too but um you know we're going to like prague czech republic

bradislava slovakia regal latvia i mean mid you're going by japan i mean it's crazy this is amazing got to travel the world with my best buddy and play in the fastest fucking league in the world. You played with Hennessy that year? That was the year that he was – did you hear his stories about all that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Henny's my boy. And, you know, Henny was loved by this family we're talking about.

And I'm still very close with the son. His name's Sasha. You know, just a phenomenal family. We got to treat him amazing. But he loved Henny. I mean, Henny obviously had a hell of a year when he went over there. very close with the son his name's sasha um you know just a phenomenal family we got treat amazing but he loved henny i mean henny henny obviously had a hell of a year when he went over there he got a ton of points got it you know made a bunch of bonus money and henny was our boy like so henny also played with yabble right so that was the connection there and yabble kind of would tell him about tell him about guys and instead you know most of the other teams use their imports

like it might have like the top fin or the top suite or you know the top canadian i mean boss he just wanted you know he wanted north all his imports to be north american and so and he wanted two tough guys so the year before i went there was a shit ton of tough guys it was like uh brennan yablons Morasty, and Tarnaski. And then there was a bunch of problems, right? Obviously, they get sent out and had to do the job. You know the deal. Do what you're told if you want to get paid. It's good money.

So they made a rule called the Jablonski rule where you're only supposed to have one fighter per team. Well, Boss had his meetings with the league or whatever and convinced them to make it where he could have two. So hence how we ended up on the same team the next year. And Boss loves Hennessy. And so there's this certain type of Hennessy that looks like it's in a Bible, looks like it's in a book. I don't know, it's probably like $1,000 a pop.

And obviously spelled the exact same way. You guys heard, this story's already been brought up through Henny, but just phenomenal. Like, I just treated him amazing, but he loved Henny. He didn't like the other imports, so we would get to go to the village, which is what it's called, and do the Russian banya, which is phenomenal.

If you've never heard about it, I can tell you about it. That's where I shared a tub with my driver, Vadim. Did you like it over there? Because I loved it. Yeah, I didn't exactly love it. But I was, listen, I loved the Banya. I'll go into the Banya. You go into this place and it's 5,000

degrees in the room and they hit you with these hot leaves and then you jump out into the pool that's cold. Then you get in the hot tub that's a wooden barrel that I shared with my driver, Vadim. So the Banya I'm down with. The sauna over there, the Banya, is a thousand times better than anywhere else. I mean, it's so hot, like you said. So I'm sitting in the Banya with Yabo, right?

Yabo's got a bat on him, too. And so when you walk in, it's all legit like wood carved building right and there's it's beautiful place they got peacocks he's got like pet wolves and there's tons of racehorses and sumesheshi sabaka which is like crazy dogs and it's just a beautiful place there's like a river and so you go into the banya and you got to gear down and so you either grab like a robe or you grab like a towel he's like fancy fancy robes and towels and then we go in and it's like the biggest spread you've ever seen in your life like it could feed like probably four nhl teams um you know and obviously the spread's pretty good in the no hungry league we we all know that um so it's phenomenal

and there'd be like war heroes hanging out with boss, you know, like guys got like stab wounds and knife wounds and just great people. And, you know, be here a bunch of like, when I, so for instance, when I knocked out Morasty, we got some of the Banya and, you know, Whit knows the deal. You hear down, you know, you enjoy some nice pastry, some nice food, you know, you're drinking the Sam and Goldham, which is like kind of like moonshine. Right. So, but it's got like berries in the bottom, but it's vodka and it's so strong. It's phenomenal. It's like super clean. And then all of a sudden it's your turn to go into Banya. You go into Banya and there's like a Banya attendant, a sauna attendant

in there. And he's like super skinny. That's pretty much what he does. He just sits in there and make sure everyone's okay. And he's the the banya attendant he makes it hotter or whatever he's got to do and um all of a sudden i'm sitting there and i can barely damn breathe i'm like sucking wind hard like a hard bag skate and yabba looks at me and he's like gil what the hell's going on with you and i'm like i don't know man i can't i'm freaking out i can't breathe and uh he goes what are you doing and i'm like i'm taking big big breaths you know and he goes no no no you got to take shallow breaths, man. He's like, don't be a pussy. He's like, if you don't do this, he's like, boss ain't going to respect you.

Like, this is a custom, as Witt knows. So, you know, I calm down a little bit, and I get through it. And then all of a sudden, I get told to lay down, you know, just lay down. And then you got to put this, like, wreath on your head. And then they beat you with, like, these certain type of branches type of branches and they like beat you and rub your legs and everything down with them and it gets crazy way way more intense it's like super hot and um you know and then you get through it a certain amount of time i think it's nine minutes like i don't quote me on it and then you have to go out and um the old dude just like pull this like i don't know like

almost like a chain uh chrome chain bucket that's filled with ice on their head. And then they go back in and they drink and watch either hockey number one, boxing number two, because boss managed boxers. So Sasha Povetkin and Levadev, they'd be partying with us, but they're not allowed to drink. And so, but the young guys, we got to go outside. You either jump in the snow, but this time I'm like, no fucking way. And yeah, I was like, oh yeah. And there's like, almost like an old wood, it's an old wood deck, looks like a pool.

And it's got these massive ladders and you got to go down. There's two of them. And I'm like, no fucking way. And it's a full on river. This is in the middle of winter, so much snow. There's like a feeder on the other side for like these deer and it's all lit up and there's a full-on river this is in the middle of winter so much snow there's like a feeder on the other side for like these deer and it's all lit up and there's circulation there so the water doesn't freeze in that area but the rest is like you couldn't even there's no chance you could skate on it would take like a week to get the snow off of the shit and you got to go down all the way up to your chin and you got a standard there and they time you for two minutes and then you get out you got nothing left and then you run up into the barrels that wit's talking about which are

cool they kind of look like almost like a whiskey barrel so gas listeners i'm sorry to interrupt you gillies you're so gassed you can't even walk you feel like that buckled oh it's insane yeah it's insane and then you get in that for a minute and then you go back and forth from the you know the river to the the hot tubs uh pretty much three times and then you've completed the banya experience but after you're done with like how incredible i felt like i was 21 years old again i was 34 i felt amazing so we would go there for recovery like once a week once every two weeks it was phenomenal it was a fucking blast that's the russian experience the north american ones uh like danny heatley with the cold tub and the rock star so that's

just the russian version now we're continuing with continuing with yablonski do you have the backstory between that youtube clip where him and him and morassi ended up like scrapping a bunch of mob bosses or something yeah i don't i don't know if they weren't definitely of mob bosses or something? Yeah, I don't know if they were definitely not mob bosses, but, I mean, there's different ties over there or whatever. But, yeah, so they were in preseason. I got the back story. They were in preseason, and Panarin, who's probably the biggest tripod of all time, what a stud player,

but he was super young playing for us. And, you know, the guy's a stud. And he, like, I wasn't there. It was the year before. But he asked the boys if they want to go And, um, you know, the guy's a stud and he, like, I wasn't there, it was the year before, but they, he asked the boys if they want to go out, right. The North Americans. And so, yeah, you know, and yeah, I was like, okay, well, where are you? You know, the boys are like, where are you? He's like, Oh, it's a little place, you know, they're going to have some disco,

some music, food, whatever they call it. Shushley. It's like, um, it's almost, you know, Whit probably knows about it. It's like shish kebab type meat. They put it the grill it's really good different kinds of different you know little birds and whatever beef chicken whatever and um they were gonna go there and so all of a sudden this wedding um you know closes up or whatever and all these people come out and i guess they recognize them and they may you know they're drunk and they want to start problems and the wrong fucking guys to fuck with really because a couple of them got laid the fuck out recognize them and they may you know they're drunk and they want to start problems and the wrong fucking guys to fuck with really because a couple of them got laid the fuck out so um

you know that was that was the deal pretty much we'd be remiss if we didn't ask you the wrong guy the guy won the guy won two belts at heavyweight after he was you know while he was playing in like the minors for like mma he was playing in the minors for MMA. He was playing Idaho Steelhead, and he came out and fought MMA mid-season. He's one of the toughest guys to have ever played. He's a fucking killer. I've had some of my hardest fights against him. I fought him a lot.

But he's just one of the best human beings and teammates I've ever had. He's phenomenal. Were you able to sample the Russian gas while you were over there at all? I know you weren't there too, too long. As the booze? No, the little plug in the wall that they gas you up when you're out of

oxygen late in the game. That's one version of the story. No, I don't know about AI. I'd like to hear about this. No, I got a I would get a shot right before the game well that's one version of this no i don't i don't know about ai i'd like to hear about this i never got oh i gotta um i would get a shot right before the game i saw these guys going to the little doctor's room well you guys do the shot energy and i was like okay and i went in there and i got one time we were playing dynamo moscow and i was flying around dominating this khl game dynamo had a great squad. And I remember thinking after this game, I'm like,

I think I could play in the NHL again. I am flying. My ankle feels amazing. And then, sure enough, the next morning I woke up. I could barely skate. My ankles were wobbling around like a baby deer, and I was feeling horrific again. So I was like, I think that was the Russian gas.

That's my version. That's wild. So, you know, over here they used to hand out painkillers like Tic Tacs back in the day. And unfortunately, we lost some of the some of the fraternity, some of the boys to it, right? It's a huge deal. And, you know, in all of North America, but I can't say I didn't partake. I mean, I would take them more for fun than for pain. But, you know, over there, it's not like they're not handing out pills so you know at the banya one time when i came up obviously like you said you're super hammered so i kind of lost my balance and it's wet right you mean it's a fucking river right there and so i

fall like i mean it was like i was a sasquatch going down like swamp thing so i fell off this huge deck that has ladders and I smashed my damn hamstring on the side of the wood and I cut my hamstring almost totally off. It was barely attached. So I could send y'all guys, you guys a picture. It's insane how bad it looked. They had to cut me open, push all the blood out, like blood's like leaking out everywhere. So in order to play for anti-inflammatoriesatories they got this thing over there it's a shot and don't feel very good for sure uh definite charlie horse after but man i felt like i was a fucking savage but they call it volterran you know you ever hear that

with nfl guys shot yeah yeah they give you this volter shot, and it's like a thousand times better than any pill you could take because you don't feel fucked up. And, man, like you'll get through any game with that shit. You fought Morasty when you were over there, correct? Yeah, I fought Johnny a lot in my career, and I could never put him down. This was a very interesting story. So, you know, we had a pretty nice house for

russian standards and um a lot of the guys they go to that baza wit probably knows like night before a game especially if you're on a losing team like we were they make all these guys come in like i mean we got legends on our team we got like markoff who still had a smoking section at every rink you know either in the shower or whatever i think henny talked about that so i don't want to blow that up but i mean cora luke's on the team you know he either in the shower or whatever. I think Henny talked about that, so I don't want to blow that up. But, I mean, Cora Luke's on the team. You know, he played for the Sharks. I mean, there's some good players on this team. Young Panarin.

I mean, we had a pretty solid talent, you know, a lot of talent. But I get a call. So we have a really nice house, me and Yabo. But crazy light fixtures. I mean, it looked like octopus coming out of the fucking ceiling and shit. Heated floors. I mean, it was really weird. We had a nice house and shit. He did floors. And he was really weird. We had a nice house.

So we had permission from boss. Cause we were his guys, you know, we were his hired guys and we didn't have to go to this stupid boss at a sleep on the shit cot with spring sticking in your back and trying to play the next day against the fastest guys on the planet. So I get a call and, uh,

it's Sasha boss's son, who I love. He's like my little brother. We're super tight. He just had a, just had a baby. So I son who i love he's like my little brother we're super tight he just had a just had a baby so i got a call and he's like hey you know what are you doing buddy and i'm like uh you know sasha just fucking watch this on netflix i'm not netflix uh over there i had the um apple apple shit i had i spent a ton of money like a ton of money on seasons and shows and all that bullshit movies and so i'm just sitting there it's dark as fuck outside and that sun never comes out

and so yabbo's in his room he was smart he played there the year before so he had like sling box and apple tv and all this shit so i'm constantly on my ipad watching my shit and i get a call from sash and he's like you know gil this is very big week this week. And I'm like, yeah, I know, I know, Sash. And he's like, no, I don't think you understand. This is a very big week this week. He goes, you know, Johnny, Johnny comes to town this week. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know, Sash. And he's like, yeah, I don't think you understand. You know, you must fight Johnny this week.

And I'm like, well, I'm pretty sure you didn't bring me over here for my goal scorer. And I didn't fucking have a goal last year, and I don't have one currently. I'm pretty sure you didn't bring me over here for my goal scorer and I didn't fucking have a goal last year and I don't have one currently I'm pretty sure I know my job and uh he's like yeah I know I know you know you're the best Gilles we love you man but you know you must fight Johnny and uh you know you you must you must win this fight like uh well fuck I've never been able to drop Johnny before I mean the guy's got a fucking headache looks like granite I mean I the guy's got a fucking headache. It's like granite. I mean, I broke my hand in four places on his head.

The fourth metacarpal, fifth hamate, and the capitate, and the AHL. And, you know, the guy's just a fucking nail gun. So I'm like, I'm going to be giving her. You know, I've been training for this. I mean, I hadn't drank in months. Like, I was in the best shape of my life. Yabo was, like, training me on the pads and hitting the gym all the time you know i'm getting ready for this fight and so me and yabba were like sparring and practice getting ready for it i'm like how do you think you think i'm ready and he's like oh fuck i've you've never felt this strong you know like fucking you're ready so you know i fight

johnny and i knock him out i knock him out fucking cold which is phenomenal i hit him i hit him in the temple and uh after that i knew i kind of stunned him and he kind of was like looking at me like he was kind of square you know busy wasn't sideways the way he should be and he was kind of like real cocky and so he's like calling me on and i'm like now you come to me johnny come to me you know so i just stroke him right in the temple and i hit him perfect so i just stay on the fucking gas on and i end up knocking them out. Well, we get summoned to the village later and that's where we're doing the banya and, you know, all that in the Russian sauna. And boss stands up and it's all we hear is the Yabo, the Gillies, the Vitas.

And, you know, you know, I don't you don't understand much of the rest. And shit, I could barely stand up. I'm like hanging on to Yabo. I'm fucked up. and then all of a sudden uh you know they all go they all put their their you know wit knows about it they all put their shot glass up and you gotta look every guy in the eye and then they go hurrah hurrah hurrah and then we're like fuck yeah we take the drink and um then sash goes you know gills is no big deal buddy he's like my little brother this is uh the owner's son and um he goes no big deal you know father just wanted to honor you and

yabu and the vitas and uh you know you did an excellent job and he wanted to let you know that he won a lot of money on you on your fight against a lot of the guys standing at the table that were betting on johnny because they knew johnny from the year before they didn't know gills from nhl and he goes uh you know, just want to give you a few hundred bucks. Gills, no big deal. Bonus. Come with me. And I went into this other room where they got like a marble bed that's heated.

And so we go in the other room and Sash kind of gives me like the bro, you know, the bro shake and little hug and he hands me a fucking envelope. And it's like perfect white sealed, you know, and it's not like a couple hundred bucks. I mean, it's like super fucking thick. And so obviously you don't want to disrespect anybody is, you know, nice gesture. So I put in my Hugo boss jacket. No big deal. Not a big deal. And then I just go back out and party for the night. You know, we get,

we get the drivers take us back out and party for the night. You know, we get, we get, uh, the drivers take us back home and I'm crushed. I go up to the very top floors where I'm at, where my bedroom was. It's all wood, wood ceilings, wood, everything. And I start counting and the money's so crisp and it's like, it's never had a fold in it. It's American money. And I had to count it like five times just to make sure of what it was because they were all sticking the bills are all sticking together well he gave was already making great fucking money like 30 34 36 000 a month it was because the ruble was strong back then um and i got a three thousand dollar bonus for that fight so i got treated phenomenal man like fucking phenomenal like i got treated like i was a king and I love those people, man. Great

fans. Could you not go back? Hey, Gilly, could you not go back? Had they moved on? How did that not happen? No, that's a great question. We signed a two-year deal. The first year was $250,000 tax-free with a house

and a car. I live with my best friend. They pay the bills. They pay the high taxes and all that good stuff so you know it's american money and then the next year is supposed to be for 275 so nothing like what you would get because you're a fucking skill guy that lit it up in the show but for fucking two minor league mutants it was a it was a hell of a good deal so we went over there um way before training camp and worked out our own deal with boston his guys and And it was a lot of drinking, a lot of great meals and just got treated phenomenally. And you know, he got offered more money. I mean, this is a great, you know,

example of his character because he played there the year before and he said, no, no, Gil is my brother. Like we're going to, we're not going to take that. Like we both to make the same so we ended he ended up doing that move and we ended up getting more and we took the same deal we took a two-year deal together and we would have stayed but the head coach um was not boss's coach so boss had control of like me henny and the imports and he owned the rank and he owned the team but because of the salaries and all the craziness over there, a lot of the teams are funded by a company called Gazprom, which at the time was the second biggest natural gas company on the planet.

And Gazprom paid a lot of the salaries. So they also hired the coach. And the coach is, as Boss would say, is a Bolshoi Piedras. That means a big pussy. And so he never played. Yeah. Well, yeah. Well, only played eight games.

Like we were supposed to play on the fourth line together and, uh, which would have been fucking fun as hell. It would have been like a multi ball and pinball, just crushing everything that moved. Cause we, you know, he's fast as shit. I mean, I don't know if y'all know that, but he, he won like the fastest skater at Ottawa Center's camp. Like, if I get the puck in his corner,

he's going to murder someone in a straight line. I mean, he's a fucking freight train. So, yeah, man, it didn't work out where we played together, but we had a blast together. And Yabo tried to fight the coach. The coach was being disrespectful and was kind of yapping at Yabo on the ice. And Markoff and some of the boys had to stop Yabo from –

he looked like he was going to knock him out. So I ended up sticking with my brother. And, you know, we're still best buddies to this day. And boss said he'd bring us back and take back over and control the team, and that never happened. So that's why we did not go back. Trev, after Russia, you had a brief stint in Finland as well. What was the story there?

You won three games. Pretty good. You know, you got 54 penalty minutes in three games. Pretty impressive. But what happened there? So I loved Finland. Great people. They love metal.

Great restaurants. A lot more Americanized. Cobblestone streets. Like a bunch know beautiful buildings the helsinki's phenomenal so we shared the helsinki with this team called the the yogurt which is like the jokers and i played for hifk so the coach used to play for the edmonton oilers back in the day. Loves tough guys. Like, he loved, like, Marty McSorley and Semenko when he played with them. And he wanted to have – they have this guy on the team. His name is Billy Peltonen. And he's like – besides, like, Team Yoselani and some guys like that,

I mean, he's like a fucking national hero. Scored a bunch of goals and helped Finland back in the day. You can look him up. And he was an old guy. And they brought me over and pay me pretty well. I mean, not the same as Russia, but you know, it was like the equivalent of 140 grand American tax free. And I had a bad-ass little paddle shift Mercedes and a bad-ass flat.

Like, you know, took the tram a couple minutes to downtown. It was phenomenal. So I ended up getting like, the showers weren't very clean um like north america let's just say so i ended up i have this weird little toe looks like a potato toe my baby toe on my left foot yeah so again i get an athlete foot in it and um and it was all cracked and so i guess like an infection got in there and i ended up turning into like a bad blood infection so i was in the fin the Finnish hospital for like three and a half weeks on all kinds of crap. And, um, you know,

they weren't going to let me out because I was pretty much on like this pill heroin crap. Um, and I'm like, fuck that. I'm getting out of here. And they're like, no, you can't, it's dangerous. You know, you got to wean off or whatever. And I'm like, fuck that. I'm out of here. So I like took my crutches and crutched to the rink and um a couple days later they drafted me I hadn't skated in forever and it was all

planned to Yaku Ritsu was like gave a couple guys concussions and everyone knows he's a rat pest and I don't know if y'all played with him but I don't know him personally he might be a great guy but if he was in front of me on the fire, I wouldn't piss on him.

I actually hated playing against him. I liked him a lot. He was literally non-stop prank guy. He would prank people all day, every day. It drove me crazy, and he got me about 19 times. Maybe that's why. We grabbed his shirt and shaked the craft

and took out a bunch of young guys. And they wanted, they did this whole plan where they wanted me to fight him. And I'm like, I can't fight this guy. He's not a fighter. He's bigger than me, but I can't fight him. I'll get kicked out of fucking league. And so this is a meeting with the general manager and the coach and the

assistant coach. And I'm like, I'm like, I can't do that. And they're like, well, we want you to do this. And I'm like, all right, this't do that and they're like well we want you to do this and I'm like all right this is what's going to happen he's going to constantly talk shit I go out we have an option to be here he's going to come he talks shit to me all game right and which is fine I have no problem with the church I love it so he said we had planned this was all planned I'm like he's going to come to my face and when he does I'm going to I'll glove punch him I'll one punch him with my glove on and that's exactly what happened and then it

became like a huge media circus over there and um you know we're sponsored by this beer called cough beer and cough beer we thought it was too much media attention so pretty much i only played that small amount of time plus pre-season which was amazing. We got to go to Germany and play the European trophy in Mannheim and Ingolstadt and go see the Dachau, which is a huge concentration camp, pretty wild as a team. A bunch of North Americans on team. Rico Fad, a bunch of guys. It was phenomenal.

And pretty much I got bought out at 100%. So it was like winning the lottery. And so I did what I was told. It became like every night they're chanting my name and um you know mercedes was cool with it i was you know kissing hugging babies and taking pictures and all that good stuff but cough had a problem so i got better than 100 came home and you know all the all the veteran jobs are pretty much gone so i'm thinking well fuck this can be it so i'm training like a lunatic and doing my fight training

that I always do with my fight coaches here in town, you know, skating in men's league and going to have wings and beers like twice a week, nothing crazy, I'm not skating every day. And I was still sitting by our fire pit in the backyard. It's like the shape of the earth. It's like the globe. And I'm sitting there with my wife, and we're smashing a bottle of fire, ball, listening to some music.

Daughter's sitting there when I was at a bottle of fireball listening to some music daughter's sitting where I was at around that chairs and sleep and um I told her I still I still got that fire in my belly I still want to I still want to play I still want to fight she's like well I didn't tell you you had to stop she's like go play and uh I was like I don't think you're gonna like what I want what I'm gonna tell you I'm like uh I don't really want to go to the AHL and just play a few shifts a period I'm like I want to actually play the game she's like what are you telling me you want to go back to the coast and I'll just play a few shifts a period. I'm like, I want to actually play the game. She's like, what are you telling me? You want to go back to the coast? And I said, that's exactly what the fuck I'm telling you.

So I told her I'd play on these five teams. They're all Southern teams. They're not hard to look at. They're right by our house, pretty close. And got contracts back from Florida. And ended up deciding to go to Orlando because my boy Scrooge lives there. Went there for a month. And our buddy, good old Brian Bolk called my agent and said,

what the fuck is Gilly doing on the coast? And he said, well, that's where he wanted to go. I had a HO1 and that's where he wanted to go. He goes, well, do you think he'd come to Abbotsford? We don't have any meat and I need my guys protected. He goes, I love Gills. I played for him for two years in Portland Pirates with, you know,

Kanopka and Shane O'Brien and all those boys, Penner and all those guys. So he said, he's like, I'll give him a hundred grand for the rest of the year if he comes to Abbotsford. So immediately I look at, you know, go on HockeyDB, check out the team. And I'm like, fuck. Yeah. So I got on the front ofde's and he's like, get here, he's just getting sent down, making 2.2. And then I went to Abbotsford.

So that's kind of how I got back. Gills, I'm going to hop in here. So let's go back to when you were playing with the Portland Pirates. And I'd imagine given the start to your professional career, the NHL probably seemed pretty far away. But you ended up getting called up and playing a game with the Anaheim Ducks. And they had a pretty filthy roster at the time. Just bring us through that whole experience

and finally getting to play that first NHL game. Biz, Biz, you're leaving out something important. In the one game, you had 21 penalty minutes. Okay. Well, let's hear the whole story. Two, five, a 10, and then maybe a double minor earlier in the game for high sticking. That's 21 if I'm the math guy, right? How did that all go down?

Yeah, yeah, it was something like that. But, no, so pretty much, like, Bugaard's a duck killer, right? So, you know, he had his way with Fridge and also Brennan, who are both very tough, great dudes. I got a lot of respect for both of them. And, you know, I was the guy in the A. So, you know, I've been the guy in the A forever, kind of the high-paid babysitter protecting the kids.

And we had a hell of a team there. I played for Kevin Dineen, and it was a blast. Like, Portland was a pretty undercover town, pretty fun place. And so I get the call, and i already had a ton of fights i thought josh gratton a couple wars i don't know i think i had like six fights in like four games or some shit like that i had a lot of fights and um kind of already dinged up a bit back then i uh you know thought i could go toe-to-toe with everyone and um you know we went up with the mentality like you're gonna make me or break me big boy, and got pulled into the head coach's office.

We're watching tape with the video guy in Anaheim, who probably knows. I can't remember his name. I already kind of knew Bluebird. I fought him the year before and did very well, but he hadn't come into his own yet when he was with Houston. The lockout year in 0405, I was in Hartford. Did very well, so i was thinking oh shit i'm just gonna go toe-to-toe with this guy even though i'm kind of dinged up so i told the trainer

i said he's like you got like a slight concussion i'm like the concussion protocol was so lax back then i mean count back you know do the alphabet do some stupid tests on one leg i mean it's a fucking joke how easy it was to pass so went up and i was you know trying to make a name so go blue guard things are going well and uh couldn't even tell you if the last bench was hard i mean to be honest uh it was perfectly placed it was like a beautiful uh hot steak knife going through butter in a fillet so you know he definitely broke me and um obviously had a concussion and and healed up from that and then went back to the AHL doing my job on his first game, fought again, and, you know, just stayed on it, protecting the kids and thinking,

well, I got my shot. Hopefully I'll get another one. It took a very long time before I got the call from my owners. But, you know, to the Bouguard family, all the respect, because he is an absolute monster. And, you know, I heard he was a phenomenal teammate and guy, and may he rest in peace. It's a sad story.

Well, the one other thing I wanted to talk to you about was the feud with Pittsburgh. And that hit that you laid on, I think it was Tangredi, correct? You sprinted from across the ice and leaped into him. It was a gutless hit. So Pittsburgh Penguins fans probably didn't even click to listen to this episode. Like that was just an all-out brawl. Yeah, well, Viz, you know the deal, man. You do what you're told.

And, you know, to be honest, I mean, it's all about the brotherhood. And, you know, we know in that room what happened and what took place. And, you know, pretty much my boy, Ricky DiPietro. So that's how I got my shot. hip and he's rehabbing a bad hip or a knee or whatever in Bridgeport and actually how it happened was I had a fight against you so a fight against you the year before I was in Albany we're having a we're having a good go you love to do those jersey jabs you're longer than me and you're also taller than me so I'm landing a couple good ones on you and I lose my balance and obviously in the NHL for people who don't realize back in the old days, when it was the jungle, you take your lids off every fight, like knights, like warriors.

And that's what we did. And so, yeah, in a fight against you, I lose my balance and I smash my bare head on the ice. And so that was a bitch. So they kept trying to get me to come back too fast. And obviously, you know, concussion protocol was a lot different.

So you hop on the bike you know after a few days of no symptoms you start bagging and it wasn't the progression and the care that it has today then uh you know no big deal but um they ended carolina ended up shutting me down and i was fucking pissed because obviously who's gonna who's gonna i've been on nhl 2a for forever was the last cut with Carolina that year. Played the preseason, had a couple good fights. And, you know, just playing for Tom Rowan, great, great group of guys. Wade Brookbanks on the team, Keith DeCoyne.

I mean, tons of guys. It was a great time. And so going into the summer, I don't have, you know, I'm still injured. So I kind of pop out of it around June 4th and just start training like a fucking lunatic. So I go to see this neurologist that's with Carolina. She's actually really good looking. And she's sitting across from me and she literally tells me, I'll never clear you. I don't think you should ever play or fight again. And I said, well, no offense, ma'am, because we live down here and that's how we do it.

We do yes, sir. And yes, ma'am, because we live down here and that's how we do it. We do yes, sir, and yes, ma'am. And I said, no offense, ma'am, unless you have $115,000, which is what I was making at the time, to $600,000 a year. I promise you I'm going to heal. I'm going to train harder than ever. I'm going to play harder than ever. I'm going to fight more than ever. And I'm going to make the NHL.

She looked at me. She said, I think you're absolutely crazy. I said, well, you're probably right, but it's going to happen. So sure enough, six months later, I get the call and I got called up on my 31st birthday by the Islanders and played against Philly. But how it happened was our boy, Rick DiPietro. I love him, Uncle Ricky. He came down, was on conditioning. I was in the gym every day because I almost lost my career, missed 50-something games after a fight against you. And I was working out like I was 20 years old again.

Like, you know, didn't know if this was going to be the last year, how long I was going to get to play. And Ricky comes out to me one day, it was a game day, and he goes, hey, Gilly. And I was like, yeah, hey, Ricky, what's up? And I'm older than him. And he goes, what the fuck are you doing? You working out on a game day?

And I was like, yeah, man. I was like, I almost lost my career last year, so I worked out every game day. I'm like, I'm not going to play probably a ton, you know, four or five shifts a period, and this is what I do. And I was like a shadow box. I mean, I'm studying tape. I mean, I'm trying to get to the league. I knew what I had to do.

And he goes, well, you want to start working out with me? I said, fuck yeah. So we just became boys and worked out every day. And then he went up and told Garth about me, and then I got the call. Then when you're asking about Tan Grady, how that started was Ricky DiPietro gets knocked out by their goalie. Not a big deal. It's a fair fight. The guy's a bigger boy.

Johnson knocks Ricky out. Ricky was a big deal on our team. People give him a bad rap, but that guy wants to win more than anyone. He looked like the muscle chart when you go to the fucking doctor. You got the bone guy, the bone skeleton there, and then you got the guy with no skin. He has every muscle popping out like that bone. He's a fucking specimen. Works his damn balls off. And so people give him a bad rap because he got a fucking awesome contract. You tell me someone who gets off of that kind of money is not going to take it. But he's a phenomenal teammate, great guy. And he gets knocked out.

Well, that's not, you know, that wasn't a huge deal. But, you know, Pittsburgh is nonstop all over fucking SportsCenter, flurrying, all the boys laughing, we're the down guy. And so, like, we kind of were like the doormat you know what i mean like just push obviously i wasn't getting pushed around or kanopka or martin you know we all kind of fight in our weight class you know i fight goddard every fucking game he's tough as nails and you know that we do the deal we do the job but um you know that was a very sore spot for the team and um we decided uh you know we weren't going to be pushed around and tango you

know hate it happened to him i heard he's a great guy he's friends with guys that i'm buddies with and um but he got called up and he was acting like he was derrick luther out there i mean he was acting like he was the fucking champ running around talking shit to me all game saying i was never going to get out there you know blah blah blah gillies and I looked at my coach who I love dearly played for him in the minors and uh Jack Capuano Jack loves the toughness and I said don't worry big boy so if you're going to get your shot soon get ready so you came off the top across the ice so I start warming up on the bench and uh I get the call and uh instead of looking at the puck, I look right at him with my stick on my legs, kind of like, you know, from the Goon, Doug the Thug Smith movie.

And I said, I go, you're not so fucking tough now, are you, Tango? And he, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, you know. And I said, I promise you, if you hit one of my teammates this shift or the puck, you're fucking dead. And that's exactly what happened. So instead of stopping in the tooth of the puck you're fucking dead and that's exactly what happened so instead of stopping in the tooth of the d-zone coverage i don't give a shit if people think it's dirty or not i was the big brother of the team and and after that we were on fire we all came together everyone's fighting guys like como i mean you got everyone fighting i mean we were

it was a little too late because we had a hellacious November and lost every game. But, man, we were a close team. It was a blast. You know, I took the heat on that. It is what it is. I mean, but I wouldn't take it back. I mean, I hate he got hurt on the play. I hate he got hurt on the play. How many games did you get?

I got nine games for that one. So, yeah, I mean, I'll have some money. But what people don't know and what people don't know is, you know, people know about the board, right? So you guys obviously know you played for forever like me. So, you know, you want to, you just say it's your ex team or it's a big game and then all the boys start throwing up some money on the board and some of the big dogs are just putting

up big money up there, you know, a and um you know they put money on the board for me and i still have the same car i drove then which is a 66 bellaire now it's all done up but at the time i mean i took that money and i got a badass custom interior um in my in my bellaire so i mean you know if if if the boys didn't love it, they wouldn't have all been putting a ton of money on the board because I wasn't getting paid for games. I was still getting paid for practice. A reverse bounty.

Matt Molson told me about it, so quickly to everyone listening. Yeah, Matty Molson's my boy. He was my roommate on the road. I love that guy. We're still very close to this day. I went out for a badass meal at Hall's. When he came down to play Keough Island with his awesome wife, Alicia, they're great people.

I love Matt Molson. We're brothers. He's phenomenal. All those guys were great. The back story was when you got the nine-game suss, obviously you were going to lose some money. The next game, they put up how much on the board. If they won that game, it all went to you to basically pay your fine. I didn't cover the whole thing, but if they won that game, it all went to you to basically pay your fine?

I mean, it didn't cover the whole thing, but I mean, I got over 10 grand. That's pretty solid. That means the boys loved you in the locker room. They probably loved you for that pregame warm-up you had on the ice, which was worth the rest of admission, and I actually tweeted about it the other day. You were a sideshow during warmup.

I appreciate that. I was a, you bought, you fought me a lot. You knew I was fucking ready to go. I think as your quote says, this guy's a warmup was worth the price of admission. What a mutant. I mean, you know, I knew what I was getting, I knew what I was getting paid for, man. I grew my box as big as I could to get to the league. And I wish it would have stayed longer, but whatever, man. I mean, I got blessed.

As I said, blessed and unstoppable. I look at every day like it's my last and constantly trying to get better, whether it's a husband, father, working out, business, whatever the fuck it is. So, you know, I can hold my head high and know I did it for the boys and for the crest on the front, not the name on the back. And if people have a problem with it, the keyboard warriors, well, you know, come find me and good luck with that

because I'm still in fucking phenomenal shape and I'll probably cave your skull in. And you even scored a plug goal, your first NHL goal in fourth-line fashion, going to the net, Kanopka. Oh, beautiful. Kanopka with the flutter backs off yeah maybe crashing the cage you know the deal um you can't take those away from me right i mean everyone there's lots of guys that made it to the league you mean for a game or two or whatever and i

respect that so much but um you know it's hard to make it to this league you guys know that and you sacrifice a lot as a young boy and a young man. And, you know, it was my dream and it was fucking amazing. And, you know, every step along the way happens for a reason. Everything happened for a reason. Yeah, Ken Obst is a warrior, man. Fucking played with him for many years in different places. And what a fucking guy.

I have a, right here in my office, I have a picture of me going down the line pretty intense with the mustache, and Knops' fucking face is absolutely priceless how happy he is that I finally got one. So, no, it was amazing, man. Trev, we want to thank you for coming on, man. And appreciate all your stories, and we know that you mucked it up in order to get some NHL games in in and you got to live the dream and and uh we couldn't we can't thank you enough for joining us hey my pleasure a fourth line plug forever busy you know the deal

big thanks to trev for joining us for a nice chat biz uh that was interesting i always love talking to these guys who might not have got the limelight but they always got good stories being in the in the trenches, so to speak. I'm praying somebody sends us a video of his whole warm-up routine. This guy was the biggest mutant in warm-ups I've ever seen. So it won't be appreciated unless we have physical evidence of it. Trevor Gillies, you are a specimen. It was an honor and a privilege getting my face caved in by you at the Coliseum on the island. And that's all I got to say.

Great career, buddy. Congratulations for getting to the show. All right. Nice. Want to let the folks know, Biz, there's one place you can go where hiring is simple, fast, and smart, where businesses can connect with qualified candidates. Zip Recruiter, of course. Codable co-founder Gretchen Hibner experienced how

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slash chicklets. Once again, ZipRecruiter.com slash chicklets. ZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. And speaking of hiring, Penguins general manager Jim Montgomery is going to be looking to hire three new assistant coaches after he decided not to renew the contracts of Sergey Goncha, Jacques Martin, and Mark Recchi. We knew some sort of heads were going to roll after the statements he made the previous day that the Pens aren't the same team and there's something wrong.

People usually expect players. We probably knew Sully wasn't going anywhere after the year he made the previous day that the Pens aren't the same team and there's something wrong. People usually expect players. We probably knew Sully wasn't going anywhere after the year he had, but instead the three coaches, assistant coaches, are all gone. Is this a normal move, Biz, to have all three gone and not the head coach? Is this SOP, as they say? Yeah, it's an odd situation. And it's hard to read body language and tone through transcript, but from what I was reading, Rutherford was a little harsh, wasn't he?

He was, yeah. I didn't read anywhere he fell on the sword a little bit. I mean, I don't know. The Johnson signing's not looking very good. That's not looking great. And as far as Sullivan's concerned, given with what he did and going back-to-back, for sure his rope's got to be longer. Now, I don't know how much Shea Rutherford's going to want

on the personnel that's hired from Sullivan, but Sullivan clearly had to have had something to say about who was in place, right? I would imagine Recchi's got something to offer with all of his experience gonchar his resume speaks for itself not saying that those skill sets in playing can always translate to coaching but I feel I feel like sometimes things have to be done in order to create a distraction for what a potential real problem might be and this might be one of those

situations I don't know I don't know how much it gets done in order to and and and going back to that series and i know they've only won one of their last 10 playoff games so that's not great when you have that type of core group um but i mean they they played well enough to win that Canadian series. It's not like they got bent over like against the Islanders. So it's not a went-over move because, like, those guys have a massive resume and are well-respected, and I'm interested to hear eventually how it all plays out and maybe what some of the – you know, maybe what the other side story was. But I think Sullivan deserves the fact that he's still head coach given what

he's done for the organization i thought rutherford of course still does uh deserves to be there based on what he's done and be able to rejuvenate the team and go back to back um i think that the ultimately the assistant coach became became the goat the assistant coaches i should say yeah it's got to be you wonder what their feelings are personally now because it's just so, I don't, I'm sure this has happened before, but I can't remember the time. So it was, you know, was Mike Sullivan told

he had to do this or was he like, this is what we need? You know, you just have no clue how it all went down, but it is certainly a different option where you're thinking um how much really changes with a new assistant coaching staff now i don't mean uh your power play can't change and your pk and things like that but in terms of how the head coach deals with things that is not changing so to look and think that that wasn't an issue but the relationship and the styles of play that the assistant coaches brought was the issue it is it is just odd well I want to ask you

a question wit you might know more about it than me given that you're you probably keep more in touch with you guys these guys that are still playing is Sullivan known as a like a hard coach to play for in a sense of how demanding he is. I can't say fair. I haven't played for him. I know. I mean, he's been coaching for so long. I think he's way different now than when he was coaching the Bruins. You know, R.A.? What year was he coaching the Bruins?

I think then he had a relationship for being a hard ass. I'm assuming it's changed. So that's where I'm going with. Yeah, sorry, ahead no it was like it was probably yeah like 12 14 years ago because he was coach he was the coach when i wore the bag over my head and got my picture in the paper that time the point i'm getting to is that i've i've heard he's been hard to play for he's very demanding he's the torts type where he's very hard and stern which is fine i like those type of coaches but they can also wear on the top players and I don't know if there's any confrontation there because I haven't done

any type of digging but typically coaches that have that type of attitude don't have very very long short uh shelf lives like to me the reason why Trotz was in Nashville as long as he was is because he's just like the most likable guy. And even though he is, you know, demanding as a coach, he's still not a complete asshole. And I'm not saying that that's the case in Pittsburgh. It's just I'm saying that from what I'm hearing, what Sullivan is as far as how stern and how demanding he is, and that's what it does take to win, sometimes the shelf life gets shortened a little bit. Actually, the last time he coached the Bruins, it was actually 2006,

and that was the season they traded Joe Thornton, kind of ruined the team a little bit. And he went 10 years in between head coaching gigs. It was, yeah, 06. Has he ever been questioned about that trade? Nine years, actually. Then he got back. Was he questioned about it?

I'm sure probably since then. But I don't know who. He doesn't say a lot. He's not a very quotable guy as far as the media is concerned. I'd be surprised if he talked shit about it? I'm sure probably since then. I don't, but I don't know who. He doesn't say a lot. He's not a very like quotable guy as far as the media is concerned. I'd be surprised if he talked shit about it. He also, I mean, what is the head coach with a trade

like that? I don't know. Would he have something to do with it? No, I doubt Sully. He was only a second year coach in the league back then. He didn't have that kind of clout, I doubt. That was all O'Connell's doing. Hey, listen boys, last year in the complete total then. He didn't have that kind of clout, I doubt. That was all O'Connell's doing. Hey, listen, boys. Last year, in the complete total playoffs,

we got three fights the whole playoffs. We had eight of them the first week this year, and I think we've had probably three in just the last day and a half since. Fighting's been way up. Biz, you think it's been extra intensity because guys have been pent up for so long that they're just trying to get some shit out of the system almost. Yeah. I mean, as far as pent up, I think even just being in the bubble. I mean, if I was a single guy, it's like, it's like you're a caged animal.

You're going to punch. Are they finding condoms everywhere around the bubble? What's his name? Go ahead. Miller tweeted a photo of a box of Trojans. You got guys probably fucking their mattress with condoms on just so they can get some of the real fit. Millennials don't wear fucking condoms. Just tie their foreskin up. Keep it real, baby.

What else you got? Mark Shifley. He basically forgave Matt Kachuk for the incident. He said he had no hard feelings. I'm a guy that forgives pretty easily. I can definitely hold the grudge if something bad happens. But the way my parents raised me was to forgive everyone. He's like, I have no hard feelings. Obviously, a guy that forgives pretty easily. I can definitely hold the grudge if something bad happens, but the way my parents raised me was to forgive everyone. He's like, I have no

hard feelings. Obviously, I wish that didn't happen, but you know, spoke to him. That's a great player. A ton of work. They got that blah, blah, blah. So, you know, whatever. I mean, who knows what will happen next season, but it was a pretty classy move to come out and make that statement. That's something not a lot of guys would do, namely his coach, Paul Maurice.

I've met him a few times off the ice. He's like one of the nicest guys around. He's the salt of the earth, just a good human being. So that's just hockey, folks. Yeah. Well, actually, one more note. The Bobfather, he's not done yet, but he did send out a tweet statement the other day that he's kind of downshifting toward the next phase, basically semi-retirement.

He's not going to be breaking every single story like he's been doing for the last 30 years, but it's going to be just kind of focused on the draft. He'll show his face here and there, but, you know, we just obviously wanted to give him full props for what he's done. I've been reading him for 30 years. Then when TV came along the internet, he got fully exposed to him. And he's just, you know, I guess somewhat of a role model to a guy like me, but also a tremendous journalist, a tremendous reporter. When you hear something from Bob McKenzie, you know, I guess somewhat of a role model to a guy like me, but also a tremendous journalist, a tremendous reporter.

When you hear something from Bob McKenzie, you know his word is bond. And I don't know, enjoy those margaritas on the lake, Bob. Well-deserved. And I was going to tweet something out, but I wanted to wait to talk about it on the podcast. And I guess I could sum it up as this. He was like, as a Canadian young young hockey player he was my mr rogers you you relied on for every bit of hockey information you were gonna get you sat by the

television and you watched him deliver it he did so in such a classy manner he was articulate he knew so much about the game all over the place you mentioned he's still going to be sticking around with the the prospect and the draft, correct? Correct, yes. Did you say World Juniors as well? I think, honestly, I'm not sure if he's doing – probably, but I'm not sure off the top of my head. Well, I mean, the fact that we're still getting him for at least that stuff

is awesome. Enjoy a well-deserved semi-retirement. You're the GOAT for a reason. Thank you for everything you've ever done for the game, retirement you're the goat for a reason thank you for everything you've ever done for the game and you're a G buddy you're a G thank you for everything what a run for Bob

McKenzie who my dad became buddies I think they were drinking buddies at one of the world juniors that's why he's never leaving world juniors he loves probably goes there and crushes drinks yeah that's probably how you got that's probably how you got ranked fifth That's why he's never leaving World Juniors. He loves probably goes there and crushes drinks. Yeah, that's probably how you got ranked fifth. Your old man was fucking talking you up when they were all sandbagged.

He bought McKenzie a bunch of beers. All of a sudden, this pre-draft list is like this random, tall, goofy-ass fucking kid. Your dad busted out the PowerPoint presentation at the lobby bar. Biz, I actually broke a story to him and darren drago one time i didn't it wasn't my scoop it was on twitter it was game four of the stanley cup in 2013 a huge news story come across twitter one of those like i have to tell the next person they see and it was literally bar mckenzie and darren drago my guys you hear you hear who died and i'm like tony soprano died it was james gandolfini the actor and they're like holy shit no kidding they hadn't heard yet so i was like holy fuck these guys break every story in the world it felt kind of funny to tell

tell those guys something but it was like you i mean they're breaking like guys signing for 60 million are people dying yeah i yeah i didn't i wasn't comparing I was just saying that, you know, shoes on the other foot, that's all. Hey, so wait. So as a journalist, you couldn't break that story, right? Because you don't want to be wrong about that. That's a career ender, isn't it? Yeah, I mean, it was already in the New York Post. Like I said, it wasn't my scoop.

It was news I stumbled on. They probably would have five minutes later, but it was such huge news. It was like you fucking tell the first person you see. All right. I was going to ask you guys a question before we broke off into the interview. If you had to do something other than what you're doing now, like, for

instance, you are, you can't be a journalist of any type. What would be your other career path? Well, I'm not a journalist journalist but i don't know maybe something something writing something to do with writing maybe something i don't know doing a creative level i was like work with my hands and hammers and shit like that more of my mind and fingers with typing you know okay so if you were writing novels would you be like a fictional like a dungeons and dragons type i would probably be like reality-based fiction, I guess.

Probably like a Quentin Tarantino movie where you set it in a certain historical context, but then the story within that true history is a fake story. You know what I'm saying? Like he did with like Inglourious Bastards, you know? We should rent you a cabin in, where were you? Let's have you write a script or something. I tried it once years ago and it was like, yeah, I'm a far as you may

last less than a week. I was like, fuck it. But it wasn't like I rented something blind. It was like a double wide cat piss trail. And I was like, yeah, fucking I thought I was going to do like a James Khan from misery. Basically, it was my may as well have been metaphor. Oh, you actually rented a trailer. Yeah. I was like, yeah, I want to do that fucking something. I was

in college. I go rent lock myself in a cabin. I got that. It was just like I was like going to turn into do that fucking something i was in college i go rent lock myself in a cabin i got that it was just like i was like gonna turn into jack nicholson from the shining that's what was gonna happen if i fucking i mean the fact that we're just learning that r.a went to a fucking cabin to write a novel and lasted a week would you run out of reese's puffs no dude i just uh it was just something like you think, you know, it's one of those things you do in life. You're like, I think this is what I've got to do. And you realize, like, well, this ain't the process for this at all. Like, you know, like,

you just thought it was like a button you're going to turn on or something. R.A. was using the paper to roll joints instead of actually writing on it. It was good. It was, you know, one of those, like, learning moments, yeah. How far did you get in the novel? I basically cracked the egg before that the title page yeah no no kind of like a lot of like loose notes that like you just got to kind

of put the puzzle together together i guess um and then yeah it's just you kind of realize like you get to fucking a precipice something like all right man oh you know i'm not this ain't i'm not ready for this right now you know i thought I thought I thought putting myself in a certain position would for sure. You know, you think and it's because you just have this like vision. No distractions. I never wrote a fucking thing before. I wrote one paper before at the college. I never I'm going to be a writer.

I was never one of those people. So I fell into it. And I was like, well, fuck, man, maybe you hear these stories of like maids banging out a fucking book in a month. And, you know, people go into cabins like more professional writers do that shit. And they're good at it. But I thought like if I did it, that would be the result. It wasn't close. There's like a professional writer, an author out there who's like, this guy has a hockey podcast.

He's saying it would be like if you just played hockey a couple times, you tried going to an NHL training camp. Like, yeah, it's just I think I think it's funny, though, if you just played hockey a couple of times, you tried going to an NHL training camp. Like, yeah, it's, it's just, I think, I think it's funny though, that you, what was the story about?

What was it? Well, well, uh, we had to hop in there though. I think it's all how you like articulate your art. Like some people would be better. You articulate your art.

Well, yeah. Cause I think, well, think about it in this form, like, like a professional hockey player. Like that's like, god now you got me on my heels i buried you because you just said

he it's about articulating your art i don't even know if that makes sense but like the thoughts that are coming to his brain maybe he'd be better at like explaining them and like them maybe acting it out in movie form or something and or a podcast like for me if i sat down with a piece of paper within five minutes i'm distracted by something i just can't write i can't i can't articulate my thoughts on paper that's why my i tweet like a five-year-old i have sentences that are like four words long that's it that's all i got that's the that's the brain power so where else can you maximize what you want to express i think some people do so by doing art like paint pictures and yeah you have a creative side to you you don't want to fucking push a broma you don't want to

do this or that you kind of want to find your own way and that's basically what happened with me it was like i pushed the right you know when i try to get a writing job for a fucking decade at it turns out my big mouth got me my payday you know and so it's like well all right and then writing wasn't so much of a priority more anymore because well your job is to talk but um yeah I mean I still have like you know I didn't have a sense but I still have a something I'd like to do someday yeah but I'd say like since then a lot of like the Boston-based stuff has become known it's not secretive anymore there's a lot of stuff that's been in other movies. So if I were to do my original thing, it would look like I was copying elements from other stuff.

I mean, it's my own fault. I sat on my hands. I didn't do it when I wanted to. But there's always a story to tell. Yeah. No, I think that's awesome. I'll find another one. Do you think part of you also wants to see if you're able to be successful at something else other than what you're doing now?

Yeah, I think that's always been there i mean not since i was a little kid i'd say it kind of happened in college and honestly like when matt and ben come out with goodwill hunting that was like holy fuck you know like these two dudes of course you know they were smart fucking dudes but you know when they come out it's kind of like oh wow this is like this is something you can do like that's not something you grow up knowing that. You could write about movies or TV or all that type of shit. So, yeah, I mean, that kind of gave me the idea to maybe do that someday. And, yeah, I'd like to do something with that someday.

But obviously right now, I have friends who will write one page a day, but I can't work like that. I can't work creatively like that. So, first of all all right thank you for being so open about all this but with that's why i was saying that the way i was saying it like well for instance he's talking about using the goodwill hunting as like well if those guys from there did it i think that i could be able to do it that's the way i think i look around and say why the fuck can i do that and that's what drives me to try to be successful in other areas and if i

don't and i land flat on my face then well and so be it but how would you know unless you tried to yeah i mean i didn't articulate your art i don't think i ever said that that's like what you're saying is like a bad idea i'm i'm just saying like sometimes it's like you know you get you're like your kids like i want to be in the nba yeah you could like, I want to be in the NBA. Yeah, you could do it. I want to be in the NBA. Yeah, I can do it. And then he's five foot six, like, Hey, probably not going to play in the NBA. Like, I don't know. I'm also, I'm also, I think I've said this before on, on, uh, chicklets being a successful author might be the best job in the world because you can do it from anywhere nobody recognizes you how many authors would be recognized in the street not a ton so you could so so if there's top end authors

millionaires i mean they can go anywhere in the world to do their job and also never have to deal with like the annoyance of like fame that celebrities have it's it's a hell of a gig if you can get it so yeah you young kids, lock yourself in a cabin with a bunch of shrooms from Biz and weed from RA and listen to some chicklets and write a fucking book and send it to me. The best quote

about writing, Nora Ephron, she wrote at Sleepless in Seattle, you've got mail, a couple other great movies. The hottest thing about writing is writing. It's so simple, but it makes so much fucking sense like you know why don't you it's like you just it's not a spigot you can just turn on and off it's like it's a fucking wild thing and biz i want to go back to one other thing so i up so i go with i i think i got a journal once and

that lasted maybe not even one night because if you gave me a piece of paper, as Biz said, and a pen, I would just write my autograph a thousand times. Shaka. Okay. I love it. I like turtles. My notebooks in school were just my autograph. And less surprising news. And less surprising news.

I thought you were going to say you were drawing dicks like in – what's that movie? Super Bad. Super Bad. Drawing the nice veiny cocks. No, I was always doing that S. You know the S where you do the three lines, the three lines, and you connect the middle and then the top's a triangle? I don't know why I did that.

Hey, Biz, you were talking about knowing things a little while ago. I was talking about Bob McKenzie. Well, I got to give you props. Me and you were trivia partners when I was buckled up Vermont last week. Oh, my goodness. I can't say I was putting a ton of money on us but you were the mbp of our squad we buried absolutely buried uh brandon and pft carmata yeah that was a good time you were crippled drunkest and highest i've ever seen you in my life uh but i thought we worked well as a team wherever i was i was strong

in some categories i know wit you tuned in to watch, folks, you can go check it out on, what, PMT's YouTube channel? It's Lights, Camera, Barstool. Yeah, Lights, Camera, Barstool tweeted out, yeah, the trivia thing. It's easy to find on Twitter. So it was fun playing with you, buddy. I want to do it again. Yeah, absolutely. Witt, you chimed in there.

And some more important news through Barstool, they just signed Deion Sanders. Oof. Deion, Deion. When I had his sports illustrated about 35 years ago, 30 years ago, I never would have thought I'd be working for the same company as him someday.

Life's funny like that. Yeah. Go get me a coffee, Deion. What's he going to do with Barstool? He's going to do a podcast from his ranch in Texas, you know? Oh, my God. The one clip i saw he said like i finally get to say what i want to say i have plenty of stuff to say and i could just

and i can pretty much say whatever i want now like i think this guy's gonna bring the heat so i'm pumped maybe maybe he he used to sign his autograph on pages at paper at school and i could talk to him about it this was like our after work meet up at the bar just shooting the shit this was fun i don't know how many people are still listening but uh we love you guys hockey's back we are so excited yotes and five yeah sometimes you can't just talk hockey guys even you hockey fans know it can't be just all hockey all day long you got to bring up different parts of life and i learned something new about ra and guess what you could pre-order his book now with a biz 20 promo code

no but seriously ra the pressure's on though the fans want a novel and i can't wait to read it i'll write it with you we'll do with crayons. Yeah. I don't know if it'll happen during chicklets. I'll be getting yelled at. Call it by number. Where's the show? I'm writing the novel you bullied me into. Leave me the fuck alone. Yeah. Alright, guys. Yeah, I'm playing golf early. I gotta go. Actually, guys, there's one more thing

that I want to bring up and that's just a family who was affected in Hingham, Massachusetts massachusetts you know right around where i live a kid nine-year-old kid rowan mcdevitt what a what what an absolute warrior he got hit by a car he was out he was out and he was with a friend and you know i think he he broke his orbital bone his forehead he broke both of his legs big hockey player he's gonna be back so just wanted to send him our best wishes and know that we're all thinking

of you. So drive safe out there. But that's great to hear that Rowan's back and got home and had a great greeting. So stay strong and you'll be back on the ice, buddy. So everyone have a great day and a great week. Peace. As always, we want to thank our great sponsors here on Spittin' Chicklets.

Big thanks to our friends over at New Amps of Dan Vodka and Pink Whitney. Big thanks to our friends over at New Amps, the Dan Vodka, and Pink Whitney. Big thanks to our friends over at Bud Light. We're loving that Bud Light seltzer here, and of course, the Bud Light. Big thanks to our friends at Red Penguins. We're getting some great feedback. Hopefully you guys are too. It's a great movie. Great documentary. Check it out.

Thanks to everybody at Sweet Sweat. Want to stay in some good health, man? Check them out at Sports Research, and big thanks to our friends over at ZipRecruiter. Have a great week, everybody. I'm gonna find my baby, gonna hold her tight Gonna grab some afternoon delight My motto's always been, when it's right, it's right Why wait until the middle of a cold, dark night

When everything's a little clearer in the light of day and we know the night is always gonna be here anyway