Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 298: Featuring Kevin Stevens

Episode Date: September 28, 2020

On Monday’s episode of Spittin’ Chiclets, the guys are joined by Kevin Stevens. Artie joined (58:31) to talk about playing with two of the best, Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky. He also discuss winning back to back Cups, his sobriety, and some hilarious stories. The guys also break down the Stanley Cup Final between Dallas and Tampa and then discuss all the NHL news that is happening. With free agency on the horizon, rumors are starting to swirl so the guys give their take on a few floating around.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 298 of Spittin' Chicklets, presented by Pink Whitney for my friends at New Amsterdam Vodka here on the Barstool Sports Podcast family. The bubble has not burst yet. We got two thrillers over the weekend. We're going to get some more hockey. Thank God we'll get to them shortly. Let's check in with the boys. Say hello first. Producer Mikey Grinelli, how goes it? It goes well.

Big weekend for me, guys. I went shopping in Soho for the first time. Got tons of nice, fancy clothes. Every store I'd go in, I'd say, what would Biz wear? Because I'm a copycat. That's how I do it. So I had a great weekend. Got tons of clothes.

And fall's going to be a big season for me, boys. Not what would our RA wear? No. No, that's fine. Yeah, good luck with that credit card bill when it comes in. Speaking of biz, next up, Paul Biznasty Bissonette. What's going on, Bane? Yeah, speaking of shopping, I got Finnegan, our dog.

He got a new bow tie collar. So we're pumped. I'm like that crazy dog owner now. That's like Paris Hilton in her old show used to oh you're the biggest loser dog owner you're the dog owner that doesn't have kids and has a dog and you're just like what's wrong with you it's not a human being oh yeah yeah what's going on with dog not much guys granelli you gotta understand business like he's six three two twenty i mean like you can't like you can't try to just copy somebody you don't have the same body as no no dude i gave me a lot of fashion advice though he gave me a ton

of fashion advice he told me that you find something and you stick with it you find a nice like black shirt that looks good on you you buy 15 of them yeah oh yeah i'm a big fan of that i'm a big fan i think i have like huge fashion guy black t-shirts that's why i have 700 t-shirts in my drawer. Grinnelli's going to be strolling. Yours are like old bubble heads of the 91 Whalers, R.A., not like an actual nice shirt. Grinnelli's going to be strolling in with like a man kilt on.

He's going to have that. Guys, sorry. Oh. It was this close because I have had the lightning since three years ago when this season started. It was this close because I have had the lightning since three years ago when the season started, it was this close. I, I have been so dead on with my playoff picks and it was this close to ending,

but we got game six. I'm pretty happy about that. We sure do. But for us, we got to get to game four. Can't get to game five without game four. Tampa Bay wins a wild one, five,

four and OT to take a three to one series lead. Lots of controversy in this one, unfortunately, relating to the referees. We hate to talk about it, but when these guys are, we have to bring it up. There was a trip and call on Jamie Benn from the ref trailing the play. It's believed he thinks he – everyone thinks he saw a slew foot. There was no slew foot. A lot of people saw two guys battling for a puck in the neutral zone. Shouldn't have been a call.

Either way, whistle-blown. Power play for the deadly power play from Tampa Bay Shattenkirk beats Dobby 634 and OT biz I know you are champing at the bit to get to this one I the refs are human and you know it's such a difficult job and these guys have been in that bubble and going through what the players have gone through too you're on the biggest stage, first of all, that was one of the most insane games I've ever watched. It had a little bit of absolutely everything. Crazy bounces, the momentum swings,

especially without having a crowd in there. But I felt that the refs were chasing their non-calls and calls bad ones all night. And I guess it started with Rupe Hintz going down, and I felt that Johnson should have got a trip on that. Got to control your stick, even though as he swung it around, you know, he's got to control it. He dropped it.

So Rupe Hintz ends up getting injured. I think he left the game after that one. I wasn't crazy about how soft the call on Cernak in the defensive zone was. Johnson also received a high stick in the offensive zone that didn't go called. Then, to me, the biggest swing is when Perry ends up sticking point in the nuts.

And, Witt, I got to ask you, you were pretty – you obviously weren't down with the fact that they called the embellishment as well. I just tweeted out embellishment? No, so it was me called the embellishment as well. I just tweeted out embellishment. It no. So it was me. Embellishments. That's what I did watching TV.

So then I tried to relay that on a tweet. I've never seen a call like that. The whole game was such a joke. I think the worst, but it's a worse non-call on Johnson. I think that anything, I mean, granted Ben's is an overtime says some statement,

but that, how do you not give Johnson a tripping penalty there? His stick's in the guy's feet. He trips and injures himself. So that, and granted, right away you don't know he's injured, but holy shit, was it inconsistency? I like what you said, that they were chasing it. So you're trying to imply or you're thinking that they got a couple incorrect,

whether they missed one or gave one they shouldn't have early, and they're like, all right, we got to make up for this now. Because the whole make-up effect and the whole idea of, all right, well, we owe them one now, that only makes it more of a circus. Well, I'm saying that because for fans listening, they're getting barked at by the players when they're missing these calls and coaches. Things are being said out there right so now I think that it's I think they're probably feeling

the effects in the fact that they missed the trip and it's injured a guy so then Johnson ends up getting high sticked in the offensive zone and then that wasn't called so I'm thinking okay maybe that's their one back and then the Cernak one ends up getting called and all right we were texting back and forth about this one and it was the the loose hand on second i thought it was fucking soft and i thought not only did johnson not getting the high stick call in front of the net but the cernak was was kind of a makeup then then moving forward um as far as the cory perry one i thought that was ridiculous that he got an embellishment there he He gets hoofed right in the nuts. Then that kind of set the stage.

Then all of a sudden OT starts. It shouldn't have been four on four. Then Sergeyev gets beat by Sagan and he uses that loose hand and he sits. Then they call the timeout. They end up killing off that power play. Tampa does. Because Dallas' power play stinks. Yeah. Right now at least. It Dallas's power play stinks. Yeah.

Right now, at least. It's been struggling. Jamie Ben call. I don't like it. But as far as the loose hand and looking at it from behind, there was a play earlier in the season when I think Jamie Ben went by one of the Tampa players and kind of like kicked at him while they were by the benches.

I'm not saying that that's playing into the fact of this call, but maybe it didn't give them benefit of the doubt in the fact that maybe from trailing the play it did look like a slew foot. I thought it was soft. It did look as if though Jamie Benn's hand came over. And this is the key here, the loose hand situation. Pat Maroon got one on the offensive zone. They'd already called the Cernak one on the loose hand situation pat maroon got one of the offensive zone they'd already called the cernak

one on the loose hand and i believe uh as i mentioned the surga chev one on second to start so they'd already set the standard and to me in playoff and i'm a dinosaur and i don't like a ton of power plays and i like it battled out a little bit more so that's my opinion on i thought that that considering they'd set the standard with a loose hand, with a Cernak call, then it was a snowball effect in the fact that it was just a power play fest. It's overtime of the Stanley Cup final. You want to call that penalty?

You know what? If Dallas is playing Tampa during the second game of a back-to-back, same refs, they're all going out after, and it's end of February, and maybe the ref who's in the game got a notice, you got to call more penalties, call it, I don't care, regular season. But right there, the only reason you cannot make

that call, the biggest reason I should say, it doesn't affect the play. They have eliminated each other, okay? If you want to say that Ben, I think he kind of out-muscled them, certainly there was the free hand, but if you want to say that Ben, I think he kind of outmuscled them. Certainly there was the free hand, but if you want to say Ben, like totally took down point, Ben was also stuck out of the play. The play was moving up ice.

It did not have any effect on what was happening. That shift. I'm telling you it was Johnson, but, but I, excuse me, excuse me. Point is just on my mind. Cause whole. I agree with you, man. I don't think it's, you know what I mean? So I'm saying like, you can't – it didn't affect anything. You want to make a call when a guy is reaching out to get a puck on a two-on-one. I mean, certainly then you talk about, all right, he literally cost him a chance at scoring and ending the game.

That didn't cost anyone anything, and it sucked to watch the game end like that. But would you agree with all my assessment, R.A., that considering early on that Johnson trip led to the, that led to the injury on Rupert Hintz. And then all of a sudden Dallas goes down a guy that it's like a little bit of a psychological element to it. What, as far as the refs? Yeah. Cause I felt that they were bad all night.

Yeah. Yeah. Like that's a great, great point you make. Like they were chasing their calls now to go to the, what used to be called obstruction holding. Remember the lockout back in 05 when they canceled the season and they started calling everything tighter to open up the game? Oh, camp had 50 power plays a game. It was amazing being a quarterback on the power play during that first training. It was great for me.

Remember when they changed the rules? There was 10 power plays in every period at the beginning. So, I mean, as much as I think that might be a chintzy call sometimes, because I will say they've been consistently calling that for about 15 years. It's typically called below the circles when there's a battle around or near the net, and a guy takes his free hand and physically grabs the other guy. Now, in the Ben Johnson situation, Ben's given –

he has, what, a six-inch height advantage, probably 30, 40-pound weight advantage. It's a puck battle. Now, yeah, he has his free hand. I don't think he grabbed him. I think he just pushed him, and because he's so much bigger than him, he knocked him down. I thought, yeah, it was a neutral zone puck battle,

not something that should be called, not that blatant, where you're going to affect the outcome of the game, and that's exactly what happened. And I like to ask Corey Perry about the cup check. Hey, Corey, can you take us through what you saw at the end of the game. And that's exactly what happened. And I like to ask Corey Perry about the cup check. Hey, Corey, can you take us through what you saw at the end of the third period with you and point? He's like, no. And then they ended the fucking zoom. Well, there's, there's one of the guys we've got to talk about. Yeah. And, and I, and I was mistaking, I was cause Tyler Johnson and him.

It's funny when you guys are in Boston, we chatted like Tyler Johnson was unreal. What year did they beat the Bruins already in the in the in the playoffs uh was the year they lost they lost Chicago so it was yeah I think 15 right okay so that year Tyler Tyler Johnson came on the scene and he was you were thinking like oh my god this guy is a game breaker and Braden Point came up and did the same thing and then totally kind of surpassed him. Tyler Johnson's a great player, but Braden Point is a legitimate star in the NHL. And let me tell you about game four. You can talk about everything that went down throughout that game,

but he scored a goal. His 12th, he ended up getting another one, but his 12th with 30 seconds left in the first period. Dallas has that first period to perfection. They're up 2-0. They actually got outplayed. And you give up a goal to point with under a minute left. That was the big moment in that game.

And the craziest part about that play is, like, as a set breakout, you want to see how good Tampa is, just go watch it. Because Shattenkirk's behind the net. He looks up. Palat goes to the far blue line. Button hooks back. Perfect pass off the boards right to Palat, who just turns up. And that Dickinson thought he could

skate with point this guy's he's he's blazing he's so fast and he got one step on dickinson perfect pass and then boom two one totally different vibe and then you know they did the same thing in the second period i think there was a minute left when they made it three three or was it four four three three at that time i've been stroking this Palat off like crazy. That pass he made. That slight delay and then he absolute zips it. And I want to talk about that goal. Well, you mentioned the back-to-back passes

and the fact that it's just like boom, boom. That's how they execute the Tampa Bay Lightning. They're right back on offense. Point beats his guy. My only issue on the defensive side of it is Sakara's in the middle of the ice. For all you young kids listening, he doesn't have a guy, and it's not his fault that Point gets by Dickinson, but he has his stick off the ice holding it with both hands.

Put your stick on the ice in the lane because that that pass had so much kids stick on the ice kids that pass had so much leverage all you need to do is get a piece of that and it's going to go into orbert and some lady normally would be eating it fucking in the crowd losing her chiclets but that's do you not agree did you see the replay on it he's skating right through the middle of the ice stick up if you could just get your stick in that lane, tip it. There's nothing comes of that. You go out of the period up to nothing. But we got to talk about the two quick goals that Dallas did score after what I thought, like you said, being outplayed in the first period.

Klingberg, very similar to Kivaranta's in the first game, where first shots initially blocked. Seems as if though Vasilevsky couldn't track it. Klingberg finds it again and boom, they're up 1-0. And then that Jamie Benn pass over to Pavelski, who we're going to have to talk about him because at that point he tied the record for most goals scored by an American in playoff history.

Yeah, did you see how it went when they asked him after? Yeah, well, they'd lost the game, and he's such a team guy. Yeah, but I guess you have to ask the question. As the reporter asked him how he felt, but you got to know, he's like, I don't give a shit. Great. Yeah, the reply was great. He said, keep it.

Next question. Yeah, it's like, come on. You're in the cup finals. You're living in a bubble. You just cannot wait to go home, and you want to win, or it's all worthless, and you're getting asked about an individual record that for sure someday he'll think about and appreciate but it was just there's no chance any guy that's playing right now or in the league really would care or at least make it verbally uh noticeable to everyone that he does want to

talk about it yeah and then i mean after that uh you know tampa ends up tying it up and just a very exciting game through and through. Ends up going to overtime. And then you mentioned Shaddy, the overtime hero. Deuces. This guy, what a signing. And that's a perfect shot. I actually saw somebody or a couple people, like, saying that that's got to be blocked.

But, I mean, I don't know. It's a perfect shot through the D-man's legs. I guess if you go down with the one knee down, you're more likely to block it there. But I believe it was Oleksiak, I mean, I don't know. It's a perfect shot through the D-man's legs. I guess if you go down with the one knee down, you're more likely to block it there. But I believe it was Oleksiak, I think. Yeah, it was. And he's pretty good at blocking shots. So you just got to give Shattenkirk credit.

And then Maroon's one of the reasons, too. He's standing right in front, perfect screen. So that's when you kind of knew the series is over. Granted, it was an awesome game five. You can go into that. But 3-1 coming back against them? I don't think so. Oh, really? You don't like the juju after the worm? The worm and Pavelski,

you had an interesting stat there, so we're going to jump into game five now. Yeah, all right. First, by the way, no Stamkos in game four, and it did come out shortly before we started recording. He is done for the series, so we are not going to see Steven Stamkos again. And another note, too, Corey Perry after game four or during game four,

he became the first ever NHL Mr. September, the first player to score a regular season goal and a playoff goal in the month of September. That's a pretty quirky stat because, you know, the season typically starts in October, but this is one of those overseas trips. So he scored in September a real regular season goal and now a playoff goal.

Is that why he was allowed to have his wife come into the bubble? Because I think, is he the only player that has his wife inside the bubble right now? I don't think so. I know there was a lot of... They showed her, but I don't know if... She can't be the only one, right? But I believe if you're living in the U.S., she couldn't go.

That's what I was saying. It was a joke before. Yeah, there was a lot of, I guess of controversy of hullabaloo about that i don't know if she's canadian if she was already up there or whatever but uh either way game five dallas wins a double overtime thriller three two to force a game six on monday night can't wait for that anton hudobin stopped 39 to 41 shots, none bigger than the point tip and double overtime. It's one of those saves you didn't – probably maybe might not have caught as it happened, but they really slowed it down great on NBC.

And it was perfect tip from point, and Hedobin was just in a perfect spot right off the edge of the pad. Tremendous save. Of course, a couple minutes later, the worm ends it to give us more hockey. Let's go to you first on this one. The worm ends it to give us more hockey. Let's go to you first on this one. I mean, you're watching a team that has just bonded so well together and been through so many different issues this year in Dallas.

I mean, one of the worst starts in team history. Their coach got fired. Everything kind of was really, really tough for them to start the year, and you've seen where they've come. So you knew for a fact they weren't going down without a fight. I think winning three games in a row is going to be impossible for them, but you knew that they were going to at least give whatever they had left in game five, and they did.

And Hudobin was just so good. I know he said before the game he wanted to start. I didn't really understand. I saw it on NHL Network. They're saying Hudobin requested he start. Now, I know it was a back-to-back but and he'd struggled but i i would have been very surprised if he hadn't started do you agree with that i don't know he really you were thinking you were thinking throwing the youngster i don't know i i would assume the reason they said it is because

there was a question whether he was going to or not in a back-to-back and he hasn't necessarily been playing that good and he got yanked in the game before. Yeah, so now that goes without saying that this team, you knew they were going to come out and give it everything. Perry, I mean, what was the goal of the streak? I think it was at 19 before he got one, and he opens the scoring early, and you just got to think that it was was good it was exactly how they wanted to start and you could you could see also in the first period you dove in was something was different

something really came back and clicked because there was times you're like wondering what the hell happened to this guy but tampa's just so good i mean the game ends up being this thrilling game that they got to go to double ot it's a miracle they didn't tampa didn't end it the first the first overtime was the one of the bigger shit kicking periods we've ever seen i think i i think i said that about a tampa period like three days ago so i give them all the credit it was a great game but i do think that there is just no doubt that they are wearing them down and that they are so good and this point kucherov pull outline when they're going, it's impossible. It's impossible to beat this team.

They have too many weapons. And then those three on the ice are just at another level than anyone else. Him cutting to the net there, that goal, when he went to the outside, put his leg out to protect the puck was masterful. But I've never seen domination like I did in that first OT. And then I just had that sense, you know, once Dallas kept pushing the game, pushing the game, that they were going to find a way to squeak one in. So Corey Perry ends up with the OT winner.

And there was a little fun fact there. I think he's the fifth player ever to have five OT goals in the Stanley Cup playoffs. And he's on a very interesting list here, and I'm going to read it off. Joe Sackick, Maurice Richard, Patrick Kane, and Glenn Anderson. And mind you, Joe Sackick has eight of them. So that's a pretty nice list of five or more career playoff OT winners. Polka face Anderson.

And the main reason, I guess if it's ever going to happen, if they, if they ever to win this series, it would be just don't get penalties because they only got one. Right. And then when, because this, this, this power play is you can, you can really only hope to contain the way they move it around, the way they've figured it out. And Dallas has really been, it's been too difficult for them on the PK. And they not only has it been hard, they're taking so many penalties.

So they finally stayed out of the box. So that's the recipe. It's just going to be so hard because they're so quick. They're so fast. That's when the hookings come. That's when all the different defensive zone penalties come when you're just chasing around this team. Let me ask you this, R.A.

Only one penalty for Dallas in Game 5. Do you think that's a result of the game before and how they got bent over? No spit, no lube, sandpaper finish. Yeah. It did seem kind of suspicious.

I guess the next game, there was only three total penalties all night. Yeah. The one by Sagan too, that was such a lazy, unnecessary penalty to catching the guy up high with the stick off the face off. You weren't even taken.

And it's like the, this is red. It was the last thing you want to do, but he redeem himself he was put down on perry's line he ends up with three assists uh just the second player in franchise history to collect at least three assists in a cup final game i know people have been on sagan he's a you know an offensive dynamo he hasn't been scoring uh but i thought he had a measure of redemption in that game last night i know they haven't won anything yet um It was interesting, too. The first Stanley Cup with games on consecutive days since 2009,

and it's only happened twice since 1955, which is just kind of a weird thing. Obviously, the NHL didn't want to go against the NFL on Sunday. I think that's a big part of it. Now, Whit, I wanted to ask you. What do you got? When you were with the 08 Penguins, you guys were in the same spot on the brink of elimination, game five, game five. You won a three overtime game, the fourth game six. What was the confidence of the Penguins going into that game six? As high as could be. We were going home. It's so

much different than now with no crowds. That's the disappointing thing. But we were going back to Pittsburgh where, I mean, we were just, we felt like we couldn't lose. That place was crazy. Mellon Arena, the igloo, was the loudest place I've ever been. My friends, they came to the cup final game, not the game we lost. They came to the game we won, actually. It was game three.

And they've been to the Garden when the Bruins on their run. They're like, there's nothing like that. I'm telling you, it gives me the chills to talk about it. And we came flying out, and that team was so good. But you know what? Game six was a hard game for them to win. It doesn't matter how good I'm saying Tampa is. It's going to be a battle.

So Dallas, knowing from experience, you're like, we're in it, dude. And all you think is win this game, and game seven is a crapshoot. That's your whole thing and that's what everyone believes too because one game anything in the world can happen and just get us through this game six now the toughest part is is this one tampa is going to be confident that's the like they they feel you know the same way that detroit probably felt as confident as they did going into game six like wow we just should have had him in OT. We blew that. Let's just close him out now. Yeah.

It's a pair of confident teams, I guess. And going back to Sagan, when he got dropped down to that line two games ago, he's been great, like really good. Notice before checking a lot harder, you know, you saw that one play he made where he ended up forechecking, creating the separation. The puck was loose, dove for it, and ended up setting somebody up in ot when he ended up poking it towards him but uh i think he had two assists also in the game before so i really like that uh that shuffling of the lines

it uh you know creates a little bit more uh more depth throughout the dallas lineup i don't know man i'm i'd like to see this one go go seven and you got to wonder how tired tampa is after they they push the pace all fucking game long. They're not as tired as the team chasing them around. Yeah, well, we'll find out, won't we? Yeah, we will. Boys, I'll tell you, there were a couple,

there's nothing more like a blind save. And each goalie made one. Vasilevsky made one. There was a shot from Lindell. It hit Roots' knee, and Vasily was looking the other way, and it just happens to hit him off the shoulder. And then the same thing with Darby. There was a save on Goodrow. I mean, and thank God he didn't score.

It was kind of probably a high stick. He tipped it. Hudobin's looking the other way, hits his pad, goes away, and thank Christ. I think Edzo said it during the telecast, like, that it didn't go in because they 100% would have had to review it for a high stick because it was so close. I mean, it's like, Oh, thank Christ. We don't have to go to a goddamn review for a potential cup final winning goal. Yeah. I thought, and I had tweeted out to like,

please let the players decide the game. Please let the players. And I had a bunch of like, Oh, Tom, don't commit penalties. It's like, well, maybe I wasn't talking about that. Of course I was. How about the official who calls a fucking ice and when the puck hits Vasilevsky's pad, takes a bounce with a trajectory that wouldn't happen if it hit the post. That's the type of shit I was also alluding to. It's like, I mean, if they score off that faceoff off that ice and call,

that would be just as bad as a fucking shitty penalty call. Keep in mind, too, right before that, Maroon got away with a trip behind the net, like a big time behind the goal line. Another quick, let's not forget to Maroon shot the pocket to the bench this series. Yeah. Yeah. Straight up fired the pocket,

the bench. You talked about Kucherov. What? Here's another one for you. A third player with 26 plus assists in a single post season. Only two other players have done it. Wayne Gretzky four times and Mario Lemieux did it once.

Thank you to Grinnelli for sending that over. That's a nice little stat. If I could just point out real quick, Andy Strickland tweeted this week that Pat Maroon, I mean, he had to wait all offseason to get a call from Tampa and this offseason they said he's going to have tons of suitors, tons of teams are already lining up for him. So good for Pat.

Yeah, wouldn't be disappointed if he ended up winning back-to-back cups. Talk about it. I mean, we've mentioned it before on the podcast, just kind of a guy who's never really had his payday given with what he's been through and the numbers he's put up in the past. So hopefully the big rig ends up scoring big on a Connie. I wasn't writing stuff down, but type him in. I was getting couple tunnels, just keeping tracks of all the Dallas blocks. I mean, how many shots were they blocking, diving in front of them? I mean, Pavel down, but type him in. I was getting Coppola Tunnel just keeping track of all the Dallas blocks.

I mean, how many shots were they blocking, diving in front of him? I mean, Pavelski and Lindell. These guys were just – I mean, obviously the season's on the line, but they were selling out. It was incredible stuff to watch. And, of course, Pavelski ties it with six and change, left second game in a row that he ties it in the third period. And like you said a few minutes ago,

now is the most playoff goals by an American with 61, passing the great Joey Mullen from hell's kitchen, Manhattan, his four goals and five Stanley cup final games ties Gordie Howe and Maurice Rashad for most goals by a guy older than 35. And he actually did it in fewer games. So, I mean, they're like rewriting record books left and right. And again, we hats off to Jim Nill for bringing in Corey Perry and Joe Pavelski.

These guys have scored the last six goals for the Dallas Stars, and they were the free agent signings in the offseason. And then we shifted over to Tampa. We talked about the deals they made at the deadline, and they gave up quite a bit for them in Coleman and Goudreau. So these additions are huge, and they can make a breaker team. So like you said, Jim Nill did an incredible job, especially with probably the negativity that he would have faced

bringing Perry in even beforehand with him being an older guy, slowing down a little bit, dealing with injuries in Anaheim towards the end. So he's been detrimental to them. Haven't both of them scored their last six goals? He's been what to them? Is that what you said? You said it. Did you already?

Instrumental. Instrumental. We've already been over this. Yeah. And then you, you were detrimental to the fact I just dropped 30 seconds before you. Yeah. Yeah.

Hey, no, I'm about to say Pavelski is a top three. We need for a sandbagger, but he has to bring on a 50, 15 handicap like you. Cause he's nasty, but that's the guy,

man. He's, he deserves to win a Stanley cup. So many players out there do so many guys, let alone on Dallas. I look at and deserve a Stanley cup, but what a career and that, that number to look at how many goals he has in the playoffs and the names

that he's passed on that list. At least I'm American USA hockey legends, the guys that looked up to my idols and he's passed on that list. At least I'm American, USA Hockey legends, the guys I looked up to, my idols, and he's passed them all. So congrats to him, dude. What a player. And I've long talked, when we started this podcast, I think I mentioned how good he is at tipping pucks. And you've seen him create a bunch of,

he creates issues for the opposing team, whether he tips it in or he tips it off the goalie, and it's a rebound and a scrum in front. So I just love watching that guy play. Perry's came in and he's been great these past few games. Like I said, the drought, but now, I mean, you know how much of a rat he is. You see all the things he pulls and then he's able to score a couple goals. Notice they're scored all in the crease.

That's just where he goes, where he lives, the worm. And who was the other guy I wanted to mention? Oh, a little downer of a note, Lindell. I don't know, man. This series, I've seen that guy. He's been struggling. Yeah, I don't know if he's playing too many minutes, but there's a bunch of instances I can think of of him getting beat wide,

him being out there for goals against. And he's a really solid player. He's had a severely underrated career, especially with the Stars. But this has been a tough series for him. Also a tough series for the graphic guy at NBC who said that. He's been detrimental to the Stars lineup. I think he's only been on the Stars, too. Why am I thinking he was somewhere else?

I think I might have played against him in the minors. I mean, he's good. Oh, and I just want to also pump. I want to pump Klingberg. No one is better at walking the line, I think, in the NHL than this guy. He reminds me how kind of Eric Carlson used to do it. I know that may sound like a chirp, but you haven't seen him at full health, but that Klingberg just gets the middle, opens up, pass, shot, makes it look so simple.

I love him. The hips don't lie. Shakira, Shakira. And Dallas, I mean, they went into game five all banged up, and they've also haven't had Blake Como for the last couple games. And that's, you know, I know he's not an offensive force, but he's one of those depth guys, one of those veterans that does all the little things that you want to get done.

He helps kill penalties, which they haven't been able to do. Yeah, or score on the power play as well. I have one other question, boys. I should have probably taken a screenshot. I can do it later. But does Gurianov blow dry his hair between periods like Billy Charlesbauer and Slapshot? They cut to him at one point.

His hair was dry as a bone. It was like second overtime. Some guys don't sweat. Maybe he didn't even play at all that period. I don't know, man. It was kind of unusual to see so much dry hair. But any closing notes before we move along, boys? No, we pretty much covered it all.

Yeah. I'm guessing both teams skated over that Roman out on the ice a bunch of times, and that's why we got back-to-back overtimes, Biz, because most guys have tried different ways to last longer. But thinking about the crazy amount of hockey stats we get bombarded with doesn't always work. Well, the folks at Roman, an online men's health company, are changing the game with Roman Swipes, the secret to longer lasting sex. Roman Swipes are

a clinically proven way to last longer in bed. They're effective, easy to use, and fast acting. And the best part, they don't require a prescription. Roman can ship swipes to you in discreet unmarked packaging, and each swipes packet is small enough to hide in your wallet for whenever you need it. They're super easy to to use you just take the swipes out of the packet swipe it on let it dry and you're good to good to good to go that's it so go to get roman.com slash chicklets you get your first month of swipes for just five dollars when you choose a monthly plan that's get roman.com slash chicklets and one last note on the series wit and i would not count dallas out from a tweet from chris johnson with steve steven stamko is done for the season

the tampa bay lightning are trying to become the first team in more than 80 years to clinch the stanley cup without their captain that's a crazy note. That is a crazy, crazy note. That's actually, nobody's, the captain's never got hurt in the finals. That's crazy. 80 years the last time that the cup was presented. He comes out, though, and he gets it. Correct, but not to dress. And going back to when Pittsburgh won it without you in the lineup in 09,

remember when Sid got hurt halfway through that game? I think he hurt his MCL. Yeah, you're right. He didn't play in the third. Yeah, he didn't play in the third. So they should just dress Stammer just to be on the bench, just to go against the stat. Yeah, someone did ask online whether they put him in the game

just in case they won the cup to get his name on it, but he had already played more than the minimum enough games and you would never at this level just do that yeah yeah like you need all hands on deck right now right plus i mean plus even if he sniped suppose he only played 20 games this year due to injury you can also petition the nhl i mean and i was getting getting the cot in front of the horse a little bit i'm sure like a guy who's been captain for a long time, they probably would have allowed his name because you can't get exemptions. But the last time the cup was handed out in Edmonton was way back on May 26th.

It was 1988. Referee for the game, Andy Van Helleman, the linesman, Ron Finn and Ray Scampanello. The Oilers swept the Bruins that series. So Edmonton's going to get a cup raising sometime this week. And NHL teams to rally from three to one and being down three to one in the final to force a game seven.

The 06 Oilers, 94 Canucks, 87 Flyers, 54 Canadians, 45 Red Wings and 42 Maple Leafs. Only the Maple Leafs ended up going on to win that game seven. So, you know, Dallas has a big, big chore in front of them, but like you said, don't count them out. What's up with you? you say the ref was Andy Van Hellemond yeah isn't that the ref that like Terry O'Reilly hit yeah yeah I'm pretty sure it was yeah yeah I gotta google that yeah Terry what would you get now if you if you buried a ref oh season I mean right you'd probably get a season right I mean if you yeah I think so ah I mean a full'd probably get a season, right? I mean, if you smack the ref. Yeah, I think so.

I mean, a full season? You think 20 games into the year, if you just buried a ref, you'd get the rest of the year? Well, Wideman did it. Now, in this day and age, yeah. I mean, he bitch slapped the fucking referee. No, but, Biz, Wideman did it in a way where you could really, like, you weren't exactly sure if he meant to do it. I mean, this is like.

Terry O'Reilly meant to do that. Because I remember my mother was like, oh, he's going to get in trouble for that. As it happened. I think Van Halen, I'm watching, he's skating, I was like, holy shit, get the fuck out of here.

Get the... They didn't call him the Tasmanian devil for nothing. He's got his head on his hip. See ya. Have you guys heard Vin Diesel's new song? No. Song of the Summer. Song of No. Song of the Summer. Song of the Fall.

It's unbelievable. Unbelievable. Pump the brakes, G. I think it was produced by Kygo, so I should be hating this thing. But expectations, when you just heard me say that, you're probably thinking one out of ten. Vin Diesel put out a song. It's got to be terrible. It's actually

not bad. What's the name of it? Maybe we could open up the pod with it today. We're going to have to get corporate approval for that. What's the name of it? What's the name of it, Biz? Feel Like I Do by Vin Diesel. He's got not a bad voice. A little Kermit the Froggy, but

Rubber Ducky, you're the one. Yeah, very similar. So check that one out. Nice banger for everybody. It's funny because it sent Twitter down the rabbit hole of celebrities who became musicians. I should say the actors who became musicians. And it sounds like Generation fucking Z or Zoomers or whatever they're calling them

discovered Eddie Murphy's My Girl Wants To Party All The Time Party All The Time. People were shocked that Eddie Murphy not only had a song, that thing hit fucking number two on the Billboard Hot 100. That's a jam. And this song, I'm just listening to part of it.

Yeah, he's singing, but there's so much shit on his voice. It's not his voice. True, but there's so much shit on his voice it's not his voice true but like i said based on expectations give me kego and and i could sound legit and i have the worst voice in the world hey oh so me and which to do a duet okay so you talked about the rabbit hole i've totally forgot that alex ovechkin was in a rap song and he has a verse in it yeah russian raps legit i still listen to it on my phone when i work out it fires me up we're gonna be bumping the russian gas remix of it pretty soon let's see if you can jump back on the uh what other one

some other uh people had some decent tracks somebody put childish gambino in there because i believe he was an actor before he started doing that but he's got a grammy he's yeah he's not on this list he's a legitimate this is my favorite russian song he's always been a multi-hype multi-hyphenate we're pulling up this fear no no no no i legit love this song hold on for some reason it starts still here. I don't listen. Right, Vince? Everyone at home, listen.

This is a beautiful beginning to a song. You should see this guy's unibrow, too, singing. Listen. Listen. You got to put it up to the receiver more. Seriously. I will trade my flock of sheep to put my son in Siberian hockey league. Do you want the Russian gas down your five hole?

Jablonski came on the pod. He sucker punched my brother. I was not driving drunk. What a song. We can't hear it very well. Ah, shit. Sorry, boys. Grigory Leps.

And I can't say the name of it because it's in English. But maybe we could just get a better version on there. But it just reminded me that bringing up great music from Russia. Russian rap is coming at you like fire biz what what were some other artists you would put on that list of the top uh top actors slash actresses who have came out with tunes even athletes oh i mean shack had a couple rap songs man adam sandler adam sandler's got a bunch he was yeah his book cut like they were comedic songs though they you know like yeah butler's got a bunch he was yeah his work cut like they were comedic songs though they you know like yeah but he's got a good voice and singing they're great songs all right

of the shampoo bottle up my ass what song was that don johnson had a song back in the day like he was a big style at miami vice he came out with a song heartbeat i'm not saying that was particularly great but it was like a legit hit on MTV, man, back in the day. Well, worldwide, you're looking at, who's Baywall? Hasselhoff. Hasselhoff, huge in Germany. I mean, you're looking at a superstar musician there. There's somebody I'm not thinking of, though, that has a great,

I remember saying, wow, that guy has an unreal voice. He's an actor. I'll think of it. Was Patrick Swayze's She's Like the Wind, was that his track? Yeah, Paul, I can't believe I missed that, wow, that guy is an unreal voice. He's an actor. I'll think of it. Was Patrick Swayze's She's Like the Wind, was that his track? Yeah. Oh, I can't believe I missed that, man. He sang that? Yes, that's his song.

Oh, that might be what I'm thinking of. Jamie Foxx, too. Jamie Foxx is great. So there's another guy put in the Childish Gambino section where this guy is just, he could do it all. He's one of the, as far as like an interview, as far as his acting skills, as far as a musician, I think he's a stand-up comedian.

He gets asked. Jamie Foxx is five tool. Five tool. He's a five-star athlete. Particularly with the college on a musician scholarship. He's the guy who gets asked by all these high-end celebrities and elitists to host their parties so he goes on the mic there and like just really oh yeah he's jamie foxx is the man he he

had a howard stern interview uh about i think it was like a couple years ago but he was 10 out of 10 that was when i heard that ed sheeran was living on his couch yeah yeah he has one of the greatest performances in cinematic history as well as bradley cooper turned it on for that movie another one that's a great answer he turned it on for that movie what was that movie called the star was born yeah that movie was fucking talk about a sad fucking movie yeah that's all right down here oh a little detour though bradley yeah we got some actually quite a bit of news boys boys, since the last episode. We still got to get to the Penguins.

They have acquired defenseman Mike Matheson in forward Colton Sivio from the Florida Panthers in exchange for Patrick Hornquist. Hornquist was a pretty relevant forward on the back-to-back cup champions that Penguins had a few years ago. He's got three years left at 5.3 per year. He's going to be 34 at 5.3 per year. He's going to be 34 when the next season starts, whenever that is. Had 17 goals and 15 assists last year.

The 26-year-old defensive, Matheson, he's got six more years left on his deal at just under $5 million a year, cap hit and AAV. And the 31-year-old, Seavio, is in the last year of his deal. That pays him $1.2 million. Florida sheds just under a million in salary. They still have $21.7 million in cap space, but they only get six forwards on the current roster. That's current roster. That doesn't include minor leaguers who were signed.

Pittsburgh has $6.1 million in cap space, and they still need to re-sign either Jerry or Murray, whoever they decide to go with there. Biz, what do you got? Well, two things. So we covered the Matheson thing last podcast with the speculation and the fact that the trade didn't end up going through. You know, we use the term all the tools, no toolbox.

I haven't watched him play enough. That's just what I'm reading online. I hope he goes there and he lights the lamp, kind of like when Schultz came over from Edmonton. Everyone thought that Schultz was trash trash and he went in there and helped him win a couple Stanley Cups. So I hope he does the same. And as far as the Hornquist rumor about him throwing his Pittsburgh Penguins

gear in the driveway because he was upset about the trade, folks, that's where hockey players air out their gear. So enough with the nonsense. Unless you actually hear from him that he chucked his gear in the driveway you think he's skating right now okay let me okay all of it was like all in the same area you think if he was chucking it it wouldn't be all over the place i don't know unless i hear from somebody that out of his mouth that he was disgusted by the trade and felt betrayed and he did it himself i think i've seen that he he was shocked. I haven't seen disgusted. Blindsided.

Blindsided. Blindsided is kind of. It was obviously a tough situation for me and my family when you get blindsided a little bit, Cornquist said on Friday. When you know you have a no trade, you don't think this kind of question is going to come up. But when I find out Pittsburgh didn't want me and Florida really wants me, it was an easy choice for me and my family.

And I'm super excited to go down there and help them win some more yeah okay so that quote that quote that quote to me says that like fuck you and i've always said if a player ever gets asked to waive his no trade how do you ever like it'd be really hard to go back there like you don't want me anymore and i think that was kind of what his point was like all right i got a team that wants me you're quitting on me i won two stanley cups here he's played a long time uh and he's been a guy that's just like played a hard style too so you can't think his body's gonna be in good shape someday when he retires so you're saying the guy who won't wave his no trade clause is like the crazy ex-girlfriend who like it's like hey you know i just i'm not feeling this relationship anymore no i'm staying i'm not leaving yes yes i. No, I'm staying. I'm not leaving.

Yes, yes, I'll give you that. Like, no, no, no, I like my house here. And my wife does a great Pilates class. Yeah, trying to get broken up with. You're like, no, I'm good. No, we're going to make this work. So Matheson, I think, could be really good over there. He does, he can, it's just, I think the trade works for both sides because you definitely think Florida needs a little bit more jam up front.

They need a lot of things. We've got a lot more news to cover, but we are talking about the Penguins, so it's probably a good time to mention our guest when we bring him on in a few minutes. Kevin Stevens, speaking of winning two cups with Pittsburgh, as he did many moons ago, obviously had some rough seas since then, but we've got all sides of Kevin Stevens. Great interview. We'll be bringing that to you in a little bit, but i just want to mention it because we were talking about

penguins uh the ranges traded somebody they traded longtime defenseman mark stall and a second rounder in 2021 to detroit for the old future considerations which could very well be a bottle of pink whitney after all is said and done uh go ahead and gets a 5.7 million cap hit and a 34-year-old defenseman off of his books for the cost of the second round. He'll be 34 when the next season starts. He now has about $20 million in cap space and money to sign restricted free agent defenseman Tony D'Angelo. On the other side, Stevie Y, he can always flip style at the next deadline,

whenever that is, for something else and turn him into another asset. Detroit's actual dollars, they only have to pay $3.2 million. He has a salary of $4.2 that already had a million-dollar bonus paid. Detroit has over $27 million in cap space. They have four picks in the first two rounds of the next two drafts and six picks in the first three rounds of those same drafts. So Stevie Y doing Stevie Y things. Hey, you know, I was a little hard on Chica.

He did a couple of things like that where he ended up eating salaries that teams didn't want, especially with the Rangers, the fact that they're heading in the right direction in order to gain assets. So a great move by Stevie Y, also a seasoned veteran who's going to come in there. And, you know, I think he handles his business fairly professionally. A little fun fact as far as Mark Stahl is concerned, including playoffs, played 999 games with the New York Rangers. He more than likely will be hitting his 1,000th game with the Detroit Red Wings.

So my heart goes out to all those guys who are going to pay for that gift given how much time he did play in New York. But, yeah. This shows the business side, eh, Biz? Yeah. Like this shows, never forget, like 12th overall pick years ago, uh, Mark Stahl and you had a great career as a New York Ranger. And in the end, dude, nobody gives a shit about you.

So, Hey, we just traded you for literally nothing. We can't afford to pay you what you're making. Thank you for everything. But that, that's just, it's a reminder when this stuff happens at the end of guys careers it is such a business would you agree and and he's he's obviously declined a little bit he got hit in the eye with a puck right when he was playing in new york yeah and i want to say after that he was really never the same and and it's a shame but nonetheless still a great career um and as i said i think he's going to go over to Detroit.

He's going to be out of that limelight in a new organization who's on the up and up. And I would imagine Stevie Y is going to keep grinding away and turning that team in. Kimo Teeman in 2013, a month before the March, 2013 hit him in the face. That's crazy, dude. Yeah. My blogging colleague, 610 at Boston, he in the face. That's crazy, dude. Yeah, my blogging colleague, 6'10", at Bastl, he covers the Rangers.

He had a great piece on the stall trade and gave him his props. Like you said, he's a guy, you know, the game might have just probably got a lot faster for him the last few years, but very well-respected Ranger. You know, the true fans really appreciate what he brought to that squad. Ranger fans are so hard, especially on their D-men. I felt the same about Girardi towards the end of his career and how much good time that he'd

put in there. Yeah, he maybe lost a step, but New York's a tough place to play, man. They're ruthless. Another moving along here. As I tweeted on Sunday, expect the Bruins to trade the rights to Torrey Krug. Probably should happen on Monday.

Teams interested, Colorado, Florida, Vegas, Detroit, among the suitors. Of course, for free agency, doesn't actually open until October 9th. People say, well, why would they trade for him? It's for exclusive negotiating. Philly did it with Kevin Hayes, ended up signing him. Montreal just did it with Edmondson, ended up signing him. So teams are willing to give up probably, I would say, probably a fifth round with a one-up ban just for the exclusive negotiating rights.

Okay. I understand why it's going down, but I think the Bruins are really going to miss Torrey Krug. And I think he's going to go somewhere, and he's going to be the usual guy. He can get 50 points, can play a ton of minutes. It's very surprising. I wonder if they even talked. I don't know

if some numbers were thrown out, but someone's getting a hell of a player, and Grinnelli will still crank it to his quads. Yeah, I love them here in Boston. I actually talked to him or met him the first day or two we got here. Right after he left college, the Bruins were doing one of those shave your head

things for charity. He had long phone here at the time he jumped right in got his head shaved which you know a lot of young guys might not necessarily do but i'll remember the first interview i did with him just how much he oozed confidence not cockiness like not like you know abrasive like he was just very confident very confident in his skills very confident team uh just an easy guy to root for and i think he he wants the win. So I'd be very shocked if he ends up signing with Detroit, regardless of what kind of wiggle his way. I personally feel that Boston's going to, going to regret this one. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we'll, we'll have to see. I mean, he's, he's a,

he's a key pot, but obviously they probably don't have a, have him in their budget. And I'm very curious to see what he does end up going up with. All right. That was a power statement, Biz. No, I do. Unless he's asking for some ridiculous number, but we'll see. I hope it works out for him. Bobby Ryan had the last two years of his deal bought out by the Ottawa Senators.

He had $7.25 million per year left. He's instead going to get $7.33 million over four seasons. It frees up $3.6 million for the Sens, and they apparently want to get younger in their lineup. Bobby Ryan, of course, six goals, nine assists back in the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals run. And, shit, I forgot to write the Twitter handle down, but they sent out a picture of that team.

There's not one player left on that team from three years ago. They go within a whisker of going to the Stanley handle down, but they've sent out a picture of that team. There's not one player left on that team from three years ago. They go within a whisker of going to the Stanley Cup final, and there's not one player left on that squad. It's incredible. No wit. It's an amazing downfall. Just probably the worst organization in the NHL right now. I mean, the last place you'd want to play right now is on the Ottawa Senators.

That's my opinion. So you've seen what happened, and you see that they struggled for fans and where the arena is. We've talked about it a million times in the ownership situation. It's nuts to think how good that team was and who beat them in Game 7-0 team. My boy, Chris Kunitz.

Four-time cup winner. Three cups? Did he get four or three? Four. Can't avoid this guy. Got one in Anaheim, my God. Three cups? Did he get four or three? Four. Can't avoid this guy. Got one in Anaheim, three in Pittsburgh, right? So, anyway, yeah, it just looks shitty given with what he went through and, you know, how he ends up winning. Is it the Masterton? Yeah, Masterton.

Yeah, he won. That's not how you pronounce it. My apologies. And then all of a sudden this, and when you're bottom feeders, I would imagine he mentioned in his statement how close he'd become with the fans and how they'd embrace them. And he was upset, but a very classy statement on the way out from Bobby Ryan. Yep, no doubt. And just one other note in the sense they're about 17 million below the cap floor, which is 60.2 million. But they do have seven picks in the first two rounds nine picks in the first

three rounds so you know this is a team you know if they get the right people in charge ownership aside you know they you know kind of following the detroit's model a little bit biz stock throw some money my way i'll come back there you go uh speaking of signing the hab sign jeff peachy to a four-year 25 million dollar extension at Six and a quarter million a year. Average annual value. Cap hit. It's actually a $750,000 raise from what he was making before. I mean, he's going to be 33 when the next season starts.

Had 11 goals, 29 assists, and 71 games played. Witt, I know you were a big fan of him during the playoffs. Yeah, I've been pumping his tires for a long time now. So, you see that he probably took a little bit less. Oh, really? I've been pumping his tires for a long time now. So you see that he probably took a little bit less. I know that this – Well, oh, you think he wouldn't have got that much? I think he took less in term potentially. But he – I mean, I think that's a slight overpayment.

Montreal fans might scold me. Oh, I disagree. I disagree. Did D-Man 25 minutes, 40 points, like six and a half? Yeah. All right. Well, I guess that's what the market says. It's just I find it hard at that age in order to –

Yeah. He's older, but I'll say even though – but as an older guy, it's like skating isn't at all the issue. So, you know, you look at a guy like Perry's 35 years old, and he's kind of getting slower. Petrie's 30 turning 34 but he still flies yeah so i just think that he mentioned that he wants to stay there he likes what's going on there i think that the guys certain guys love playing in montreal if you're not if you were good montreal oh what a place but i know it's probably difficult at times for them these past couple years but petrie's there there to stay all right you know what i'm gonna regret what i said you're right

consistency with the 40 points over the last three or four seasons and and the fact that the market is going to be high for free agent defensemen's that that i guess that's where they're building their team they got a big back end now they got ed Edmondson, him, Weber. So, yeah, that's kind of their back end and their goaltending is the foundation of their team. So I'm going to retract my statement of saying it's a slight overpayment. Detrimental to the pod. I'm detrimental to the pod, and I think that the term makes it a nice amount.

Four years, not a long risk. All right. Okay. Another sign-in by an old Witt teammate. Detroit extended Sam Gagne with a one-year deal for $850K. 31-year-old forward had six goals, seven assists in 42 games last year, split between Edmonton and Detroit. Looks like a nice little veteran pickup for a squad biz, a cheap money.

Hey, Gag, he celebrated last night and re-signing a nice couple Pink Whitney's, Pink Whitney and sodas. So Gags is the best. He's coming on at some point. We chatted briefly and congrats to him. He's played a long time, dude. He's played 844 games

he has. We're getting some nice support on the Pink Whitney front from all the players. Gags sent me a picture as well as him crushing some Pink Whitney. Taylor Hall sent me a picture with the Pink Whitney and his new dog, the Vizsla. So, yeah. The Vizsla. Gags is chilling in Muskoka right now.

He says I'm welcome anytime. So, you know, I'm going to take him up on that. Yeah, all of a sudden you come with a huge duffel bag. He's like, uh. I'm going to interview you for like four days straight, bro. And then I got to make sure you stock the fridge. I'm going to rent,

rent this place out. Airbnb style, make a couple of bucks off it too. You have a roommate. Uh, thanks guys. Now that you know, you can get for fucking Airbnb.

Those things ain't fucking cheap boy. Uh, one other note before we send it over to Kevin Stevens, uh, the jets, Patrick Lanny is definitely in play when it comes to getting traded. NHL rumors daily. He actually had this a while back.

He said Lainey's name would be popping up in trade circles and it's popping up quite a bit that I'd be surprised if he doesn't get dealt at this stage. 6.7 million cap hit. He is RFA after the next season, but dude, this kid's still only 22 years old he had 80 goals in his first two seasons there's got to be something off whether it's with his teammates this chemistry or something because how do you give up on a talent this good so young no i think

it's a case of where they're going to have to divvy up the money i think they got enough guys in their top nine who could produce offensively where maybe what he's going to demand as far as money his overall game is just not there at least right now and to me that that makes that makes the most sense for that winnipeg team uh that's not saying that he won't end up figuring out becoming a better two-way forward he did take strides this past season and getting better defensively and having more consistency in his game. But you know, I've never been overly high on him other than of course him finding the back of the net. But he yeah,

it's interesting how this guy's career is going to play out. If you need a score, if you're a team out there looking for a score, I mean, 22 years old, this guy is sick i mean he's second overall pick like he has everything it takes and he's proven that he could score he's got over 41 year sure i know i know there's question marks but i wouldn't i would want a shitload in return i'd want a monster return if i'm winnipeg and because this guy he he can really he could truly be every year a 35-40 goal player, dude.

Okay, so keep in mind, though, he was playing with one of the most underrated center at the time, Shifley, at least a decent amount of it in the NHL, and he's surrounded by other guns, especially on the power play there in Winnipeg. So be careful what you wish for. That's all I'm saying. I need to see more consistency in a better 200-foot game before I start giving it the credit.

Yeah, he could find the back of the net, but he's also getting fucking pucks put on a tee for him. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, all due respect to those Senators, though, Biz, that's a release unlike most guys in the NHL either way. Sure. Either way, we'll keep tabs on it.

But tell me a guy who disappears for periods of time as a 40-goal scorer more than that guy. He'll go 15 games where you're like, oh, I didn't even know this guy was still on the team. Yeah. Well, we'll keep an eye on it. Hey, guys. Well, listen, back-to-back Stanley Cup final games

will certainly drain you, especially when they go to overtime. And hopefully some of the players were using their WHOOP to track what their bodies need. WHOOP is a fitness tracker that provides personalized insights on your sleep, your body's recovery, and the exertion put on your body throughout the day from both your workouts and just the normal stresses of life. WHOOP is won by some of your favorite athletes in the NHL, but it's not meant for just the professional athletes out there. Obviously, I have one.

WHOOP can help anyone improve their performance by providing personalized, actionable data to help you make smarter decisions. Biz, what have you been using your Whoop for lately? Just sleep, tracking sleep. Everybody's wearing these things. Now that I got one, I noticed them on everybody's wrist, especially professional athletes, golfers. A ton of golfers are wearing them. So, yeah, no, it's been good. It tracks a lot of things. You can also plug, like, what your diet is and, like, what type of supplements you're taking, and it takes that into effect.

So this – you download the app to your phone, and that's how you track everything, so it's pretty easy. I mean, phones have essentially become a part of everyone's body at this point. Seriously. The recovery rate, Biz. The recovery rate. You like the recovery rate. Imagine your old recovery rates.

Old school, Biz. Oh, no. Negative. Just negative. Just all of a sudden, like, the ambulance shows up. Like, Whoop has this detector. They just send somebody over. They figure he must be dead.

Yeah. That was. Well, whether you're looking to sleep a little bit better, Biz, or training for an event, or just looking to lose a couple pounds, Whoop can help you reach your goals of a healthier life. And Whoop is offering 15% off when you use the code CHICKLETS at checkout. So go to whoop.com, that's W-H-O-O-P.com, and enter the code CHICKLETS, C-H-I-C-L-E-T-S, to save 15%.

Unlock your potential today with WHOOP. There it is, Biz. WHOOP. All right, gang, I think we should send it over to Kevin Stevens right about now. Oh, Kevin Stevens, what a player, what a guy. He came in and visited, came up to Charlestown, so we want to thank him so much. I think you'll all enjoy this.

And we apologize for not asking about his hole-in-one during the interview, which he told us about right before we started recording. So congratulations to him on that. That was just jelly. Here he is, Kevin Stevens. Artie. Well, it's a pleasure to welcome my next guest to the show. He was one of the most dominant power forwards of the early 90s,

twice scoring more than 50 goals in a season, while also accumulating more than 100 points in those seasons. In 15 NHL seasons, he tallied 329 goals, 397 assists, and 874 total games for five teams. And, of course, he won back-to-back with the pittsburgh penguins in 91 and 92 wagons yeah thanks so much for making the trip kevin stevens how are you pal great yeah i'm great you know thanks for having me guys it's uh it's a pleasure it's nice to be up here in charlestown you know business is home but this is this where it all happens right here and and for people who

don't know growing up i mean like uh you you were the guy i looked up to a guy from massachusetts i'm you know nine years old when you're starring in the nhl and i i did want to first find out how did you get the nickname arty because everyone calls you already like when did this start that happened at bc when i was here i was um that's my dad's name you know it's like okay so it's kind of like an easy name arty like you know arty arty like neil shay someone gave it to me at bc and then it just stuck you know and my mother

my mother didn't like you know my mother Kevin she thinks Kevin's a nice name but everybody worried me out with Artie everybody calls me Artie

girls guys dogs everybody it's Artie you know I don't even know people that call me Artie

well I remember hearing they're like oh Artie's gonna be at camp today when I was at Pittsburgh I'm like who's Artie they're like fucking Artie

I'm like oh I still don't know who you're talking about kind of like Walt yeah the same thing Artie like in Pitt it's like you know that I still don't know who you're talking about. Kind of like Walt. Yeah, the same thing. Artie and Pitt, it's like, you know, that's what they call it. It's crazy.

It's like a Boston thing. It's just like they refuse to call you by your first name. Yeah, there was. I actually had that written down because Bob Heat House, who was a commentator for the Muskegon Lumberjacks, I was calling him for some dirt on you. And I was looking some stuff up, too. I didn't know growing up you were quite the ball player

and got invited to play or at least go try out with the Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Phillies. He's an athlete. You could have been winning World Series with Joe Carter instead of – Joe Carter. Stanley Cups with – I was trying with David Ortiz in Boston. Why Joe Carter in Toronto?

That's a Toronto guy. Yeah, but, yeah, it's – yeah, baseball. So I love in Toronto? That's a Toronto guy. Baseball was fun. I loved playing baseball. Back then, we could play three sports in high school. Now, no one does it. Back then, I played baseball. I loved baseball. I was a catcher. That's what my dad was. My dad played in the

Cincinnati Reds organization for the minors. He was a catcher. Dad never skated, so he actually wanted to push the baseball. Baseball was fun. I loved playing baseball. With your dad never playing, what even was the beginning of hockey? I think it started, you know, from being here like Bobby Orr in that area. You know, it was like 7 o'clock. You get up and you get in and watch the Bruins.

You know, it's like, you know, and I played a lot of street hockey. And somehow I get on the ice, and it was just kind of like, you know, I just kind of went from there. I played everything, like I said. So I just tried it and kind of liked it, but never knew, you know. Yeah, it and kind of liked it but never knew you know yeah exactly there was no plan at all no plan for me no plan for me to jump on the ice at five and say i'm gonna go play pro let's do it no it didn't happen that way for me well was it the the aggression and the physicality that drew you in more than anything yeah i think so i think that part of it was fun you know that part like you

know you can always play that way it's different from baseball which kind of laid back but but the hockey part of it was um it just kind of caught it was just something that was natural yeah yeah it kind of caught on and i liked it a lot you know so you grew up in pembroke grew up in pembroke yep and played what was the team that was at the seahawks no chance then right the pembroke um what the hell was that because they don't even have their own there was no like south no, like, South Shore Kings. I played strictly town hockey. You know, there's no, like, all-star teams. Like, there was no, you know, and the best thing about back then, I grew up in Pembroke.

I went to Silver Lake, which was my high school, regional high school in my town. Still there. I played for Silver Lake. So now, you know, we know if you're playing hockey, you got to go to prep school. You go to junior. You don't play in your high school. And I think the best thing about, you know, playing for your high school, you know, everybody's into it, right?

I know. I played, I was a quarterback in football, you know, I was catching baseball, I played hockey all through, you know, high school. So high school was good, you know, it was fun and, you know, it was kind of like, you know, I was just an athlete and it was fun. I didn't know anything else really, you know? Yeah, there's no, at that time, there's no like summer teams, there's no anything, junior leagues.

Yeah, if we skated, if we skated for a a camp, if we went to a camp for seven days, that was it in the summer. Let's go Leo's camp and go down there in Pembroke and kill time for seven days and play baseball. I played baseball. It wasn't hockey. He did play at the Peewee tournament, though. You played in the Quebec tournament?

Yeah, the Quebec tournament. I played the one year there. We didn't do too well. I don't even really remember it because we were shellacked and we got out of there pretty quick i actually didn't even ask you because of your time there i always just bring it up so wick can gloat that he won it's the only thing i've ever won what team were kings wow yeah my dad paid the coach to let me on that's great no but it's you bring up uh silver Lake And then like I always say When we talk to guys

Who played public high school hockey Minnesota's the best Because they still have that program And to play from your town Is just sweet But like Who were the other great high school players When you were in high school around here?

Is that Raleigh Fitzhorek? Or is he before you? Yeah, he was before But you know what? It was Bobby Carpenter Oh, okay So you were playing there Yeah, Carpenter was great

I remember watching his St. John's prep and he was, like, the man. Like, he was a phenomenal player. And, you know, like, guys like the acting box pro team, they had, like, Barrasso and that, Sweeney. They had all these, you know, those teams. And it was Matignon, like, Stevie Leach and all these. Yeah. The Matignon teams.

They don't even have hockey now, Matignon. But when I was growing up, Matignon was, like, they wanted it all the time. It was them and St. John's Prep with Carpenter playing. He was so good in high school. He was phenomenal, Matignon. And when I was growing up, Matignon was like, they wanted it all the time. It was him and St. John's Prep with Carpenter to play. He was so good in high school. He was phenomenal, you know. Well, I was going to ask, so 83, you were drafted by the Kings in the sixth round. Had you committed to Boston College yet? Yeah, I was already at BC.

You know what's funny? I didn't even know I got drafted. That was like, my sister called me the next day and said, you know what? I think you got drafted. I said, drafted where? In the Army? The Worcester one? I said, I got drafted?

He says, yeah, the Kings draft. Then I got a call. Like after she called me, someone called me. You know, back then it was like, you know, if you weren't in the top, you know, no one went to the draft like they do now and sit there. Like I didn't even think I was going to get drafted. I had no idea I was even in a draft look. You know, I was just kind of going along. I was at BC and, you know, I didn't like think I was going to get drafted. I had no idea I was even in a draft look. I was just kind of going along.

I was at BC. That was after your freshman year, sorry? Yeah, that was after my freshman year I think I got drafted. Or right before I was going in, I forget. But like I said, I needed a lot of work. I could score, but I couldn't skate a lick. But yeah, that's how I found out. I didn't know.

I didn't know I even got drafted. So that was kind of a knock. You were the super skilled player, but your skating was the weakness. That was a weak. That was a problem. I scored a lot of goals in college. I think the last year in college I scored, like, 37 goals. But I played with Janney.

I played with Brian Leach. We had some, like, you know, some great – most of the time I played with Kenny Hodge Jr. and Dougie Brown, who was with Jerry for a long time. But our teams were phenomenal. We never really won. We were the top-rated team in the country, I think, three out of four years.

We never won anything. We went to the Final Four once. But BC helped me. Paul Vincent used to come in. He put me in a rubber suit. He thought, I get in this rubber suit. I couldn't skate a lick. I'm like a rubber suit guy coming down the ice.

I'm the only guy in it. Hey, you got it. Sorry. I'm the only guy in the suit. I'm like, why am I in this rubber suit? Everybody's hungover. I'm sitting in a rubber suit guy coming down the ice. I'm the only guy in there. Yeah, you got it. Sorry, yeah. I'm the only guy in a suit. I'm like, why am I in this rubber suit? Everybody's hungover. I'm sitting in a rubber suit sweating to death. I'm like, why am I in this rubber suit?

But it helped me skate a little bit. And then the way I learned how to skate was at the Olympics. It worked out. I was four years at BC and the Olympic team. I needed all these years. These guys that come out 18, 19, it's phenomenal to me. I was four years at BC and the Olympic team. I needed all these years. These guys that come out at 18, 19, it's phenomenal to me. I know. Because I needed the four years at BC, the Olympic year,

which we skated for eight months together. We had Jack Blatterwick, our skating coach, and he was phenomenal. Legend. Yeah, he was awesome. We had a great bunch of guys. That team, we had so much fun on that team. Where were the Olympics in 88? It was in Calgary.

Okay. But we traveled for eight months. We traveled around. Like all my best friends, like Scottie Young, Al Barbeau, like Clarkie Donatone. We had like Tony Grant. We had Team Richter and Terraria. That team was so much fun.

There's so many great guys. And we traveled together. We all got along. It was phenomenal. Well, so you're going in your last year at BC. You guys ended up signing Leach. And did you guys have any idea what this guy was going to bring to your team? Because he came from Corpus Christi, Texas.

I mean, you didn't even know you were fucking drafted. No, he was at prep school, though. He was playing at prep school. But he's from that way, yeah. He was down in Cheshire, Connecticut. But we didn't really know. But he came in and he won the Hobie like freshman year. He was that good.

He was like his freshman year. And then obviously he went to the Olympics, and he was phenomenal. Janny was the same way. They came in together. They were friends. They played at the same prep schools, and they were great. Like, Janny was the same way.

Not much of a skater, even in the NHL, but hands and make plays. You see the ice. It's crazy. And Leachie was just the opposite. Skate, skate, skate forever. Never get tired. Stay on the ice for months at a time. Never come off.

So you think your time with the U.S. national program really helped you prepare yourself for the national hockey league? Yeah. Because I developed kind of late. I didn't play on any of those U.S. junior teams. I didn't make any of those teams. I kind of got going with the world championship team I played on before the Olympics, that year before the Olympics. And that's kind of where they kind of found out a little bit about me. And then one thing led to another, and I made that team.

And, yeah, that eight months was the most important part of my eight months just because, like I said, I could score. Like I had decent hands. And when you have decent hands, you play with good centermen. That's the whole battle. We all know if you have good centermen or you have centermen dumping in, you're not going to score. So I had centermen that liked to handle handle the puck and i got the area to score but the skating when you find when you could when i kind of developed the skate and

then figured out how i could get better that was a big part of it so that year it was it was when you would travel around leading up to the games would you play college teams it's similar to like how the 80 team did it yeah we play mostly college teams which which we'd bomb. So we didn't have a great time. They always had these parties. We had a phenomenal time. Those guys are such great guys. And then we played some of the NHL teams, and that's when it kind of got difficult. But we knew.

Back then, the pros were playing for the other teams. Well, amateurs for us. But we knew we had Richter and Tererri, two great goalies. But we knew those guys had to get hot, just like the 80s. We can't beat those teams if our goalie don't steal the games. They played well enough. I think we lost 8-6 to the Czechs or something. Obviously, there's a lot of goals to give up,

but it wasn't their fault, believe me. But, yeah, those teams, they just scored. Who was the coach of that team? That was Dave Peterson. Ben Smith was the assistant. Okay. Yeah, a lot of fun. We had a lot of laughs.

When did you, at what point did L.A. trade your rights to Pittsburgh? Yeah, L.A. traded my rights kind of right in, I think I was a sophomore or freshman, right at the beginning of college. So early. Yeah, so like I said, I didn't do nothing. When they traded me, I was like, big deal. I didn't know, who cares, Pittsburgh. I didn't even know, I was a Bruins fan. I didn't know. Who cares? Pittsburgh. I didn't even know. I was a Bruins fan.

I didn't know really what else was going on. So I'm kind of like, okay, I got traded. What's that mean? So what am I going to do? So then I finally, my junior year, they had a scout come out a couple times to talk to me. I said, yeah, this is pretty good. A scout's coming out.

They're into me. Do they get a free dinner out of this or what? Look at me. It's pretty good. So I was kind of like, you know, I was – but then it kind of just went from there. I said, maybe I can. I don't know.

I'll get a shot. And the Olympic team gave me that opportunity. And then you go from the Olympics to playing one of the two best players in the world, Mario Lemieux, who's finishing off a 168-point campaign in 77 games. That's a pretty young locker room. Were you immediately put with Mario on the line right from the get-go? No, I wasn't. I didn't play with Mario.

They put me with him when I first... I came to the Pittsburgh right after the Olympics in February. I came and played with him right after that, and I couldn't play with him. I was shoving the puck in his skates. You're shaking yourself at this point? When he yells for it, and you've had four guys on him, I give it to him. It's kind of like,

you yell for it, you want it, you've got eight guys on you, I'll give it to you. He always wanted the puck. And I was panicking. I didn't know him. Mario, I got to give him the puck. If he wants it, give him the puck. So that didn't work out for a while. But then the next year I came in, Johnny Cullen.

The next year, actually, they changed the manager around. I got sent down. So when I came in in February, I got like seven goals in 17 games or something. And I thought, you know. I'm on the team. I'm going to make the team, right? I come in, and the next thing you know, I'm like, I'll get sent down. I didn't have a great camp.

I took things for granted probably. It was probably helping me a little bit. But I went down to Muskegon, which, you know, Muskegon is a tough place. Where is that? Michigan. Okay. And like way out in Michigan. You don't even know where you go to get there, you know?

It's kind of one of those places that you just don't want to be at, you know? It's paper mills, snowing all the time on the lake. There wasn't any people out there. I think I was making, like, I was making, like, $55,000 down there. I was, like, making $55 million. I was the richest guy in town, you know? I couldn't cash my check anywhere. I go to a bank and say, can you come back tomorrow for $1,800?

Yeah. So I was like, so like that was an interesting place. But it was, you know, I learned a lot down there. We had a great bunch of guys down there too. And, you know, I remember the first day I come in there to practice, Mitch Wilson and Patty Mayer, two guys that, you know, their fighters are tough guys, great guys. I love them both.

But they come in, and they both got their face painted with guns on their shoulders. You know, I'm like, yeah. This is the first time I walk into the locker room, the little locker room. I'm like, these guys playing on the team? What are they doing, you know? They go out hunting. They get up at 3 in the morning.

They go sit in the perch, and they hunt to practice. You know, their face is painted. Like, yeah. When they go on the ice, the face is painted, the helmet on. That was the first couple of days there. I'm like, oh, my goodness. Where am I? What's going on down there? I got to get back to the NHL.

Yeah, quick. That's what happened. I went up and down five times. I had great times. Oh, really? They were kind of screwing with you that whole year. No, five times. A couple times I go up, I wouldn't play.

Go up, wouldn't play. Come down. You know, um i just kind of stuck with it but um a lot of the time sound like big physical guy like were you getting challenged then were you fighting then i remember when the first time i went down there david maylie who who i i'm friends with now but back then like we played in a world we played in that my most festivals they had down there i played in one of those we got like a world – we played in the most festivals they had down there. I played in one of those. We got like a fight off the – I never got in a fight with anybody off the – like he just didn't like me for some reason.

First game I was down, we played his team. Fought him three times. I didn't know how to fight a lick. Three? Three times. Like he just keeps coming after me. I'm like – and he's like kind of like a fighter. You know, I'm not like – you know, I can hold on.

I hit a couple guys. I wanted to go down. You were there to score. Get this thing over with quick, you know. So I'm like – and the third time I'm like, really going to come again? It just kept coming. That was kind of like the first experience. And it was, you know, you had to stick up for yourself.

That's just the way it was at that time. You had to. And if you did it, then you kind of get left alone a little bit. Then you've scored a few goals. But that's just the way it was. That was a lot. It was a good time. I learned a lot down there. They had great guys. You played with Mark Reckie there. Yeah, Rex was there. In Mus. It was good times. I learned a lot down there. They had great guys.

You played with Mark Reckie there. Yeah, Rex was there. In Muskegon? Yeah. Me and Rex played together down there, yeah. Wow. I can remember one time we'd come off the road. This is crazy.

We'd come off the road. We were in Denver or something, you know, and we're staying at the hotel because we're up and down all the time. So we come back to the hotel like at 3 in the morning. Hotel shut down. There's an arrow going over here. It says Muskegon players closed. We had to close the hotel.

The arrow right to 7-Eleven. We had to go pick up our clothes at the 7-Eleven. The hotel had closed down. So it literally, like, forever. It literally closed down. Our stuff's in the back room at the 7-Eleven. The guy has it down there. We had to check in at another hotel that night.

Those are the things I remember about those times. You're like, I gotta get out of here. Now you're thinking about that. Imagine. I think at one point, maybe they're just fucking with you in order to motivate you to get out of there. When the hotel's closed, I'm like, what do you mean it's closed? All our clothes are in here. We just went on a

road trip. We've gone five days and headed out to the 7-Eleven. That was a classic. I know probably a lot of our younger listeners have never even seen Mario play, probably just on clips. Once you become a regular, you know you're not going to get sent down anymore. Do you still pinch yourself every day that you get to play with this guy but go to work with him every day?

Yeah, he was phenomenal. He was amazing, just the stuff he did. And then he started getting all the injuries. But I remember coming up one night and I come into the locker room and I hear scoring his 89th goal of the year. I'm like, man, 89. You know, you get in the locker room, you kind of peek it out, and you hear the announcer say, 89th of the year.

I'm like, oh, my God. That's just a different – when you hear that, it's kind of like – but he's such a great guy. When you get to know him and get to meet him, our team was starting to get better. he felt that the team was getting better he was uh yeah he was the guy's guy a lot of fun to hang out with so then Jager comes in right and you're just like whoa like yeah and I'm guessing because even now his English isn't like great then it must have been non-existent no English I remember like like he would like you know

think about 18 years old any of us going over the check like not speaking that language man i'd be i'd be devastated i wouldn't want to be there at all ever you know so he came over his mom came with him but he had some no the language is brutal and he um he hung in there but there's days he was crying there's days he was really upset there's days that he couldn't handle like that you know and everybody tried to help and then craig Craig Patrick, who made some great decisions, he brought a couple of checks in. Yuri Hedin, a straka.

He brought like four or five guys that he could relate to. And that really helped Yags because Yags was struggling a little bit. He was like, our first year he won the Stanley Cup, he was a third-line guy. He had 20 goals, but you know he was going to be a stud. But he was playing with Trotsky, who was a third-line guy. I think about that on that team. That team we had there was ridiculous.

It was a joke. Yeah, ridiculous. It's just like we had so many players, and Mario was great. He was a good leader and got some huge goals. Well, yeah, you went from the year before you guys didn't make playoffs. Coming into that season, were you well aware you guys not only had that young core group but started adding these pieces around? Were there expectations that year you guys won it the first year

going into training camp? Yeah, I think there was. You know, I think we had good enough players. Like we had, you know, Johnny Collin was getting 100 points in. He was a phenomenal player. Rex was coming up, you know. They had me. They had Mario was playing.

You know, Bobby. We had a guy. Then Koff came. Then Barrasso came. You know, then all these pieces started to fall into place. And Koff brought this attitude with him. You know, we're going to win no matter what. And he brought a great attitude. And he taught us, like, you know, what to do off the ice and how we should, you know, work.

Back then it wasn't like now where, you know, you have a set schedule. Everybody goes and works out together. You know, you can leave if you want to. You know, we're out to practice. You just go home, grab a sandwich, and the day's over. But Koff kind of pulled that together. And he was a big part of getting the young guys to really work and work. And we worked hard off the ice.

It was one of the first times I really, you know, we worked out, but it was nice to have that, like, drive with everybody kind of pulling in the same direction. I got to experience, you know, a trip to the finals, but overall the Penguins and, like, the fans and how diehard they are. So the year before you won the cup and you missed the playoffs, was it already crazy then because Mario was there, or was it not really? What were the fans like then?

I think the fans were good then. They were kind of – they were always great hockey. Mario was going to bring fans anywhere. So they were starting to gather into it. But, you know, that year we won, man, that first year. I remember, you know, you we won man you know that first year i remember you know you're going to like in the playoffs you go you're pulling to the parking lot and there's 5 000 people in there 3 30 afternoon it's awesome you know then you get in it's beautiful weather you get into the people

they never want to come up there if people are going crazy then then you get into the locker room and 40 minutes before the game it's packed outside like you go to take the stick and the chant and you go back in you you can hear them, you know. That place, that igloo was, you know, one of the best places. Oh, what a building. Yeah, it was so good, and the fans were so phenomenal. We just had, like, you know, it was – that run we had was, you know, a big part of it.

They were great. Yeah, that first year, I'm just looking at the playoff numbers. I mean, you had 33 points. You had 44 playoff points in 23 games. 44. 44, yeah. 20 – what's it, 16 goals, 28 assists. Would he ever get frustrated with you or you just like go to the net?

Yeah, you know, we had a good relationship. He would get frustrated. He wanted me to score. He wants that puck in the net. If you miss it, he's good enough to pass it to someone else. So it's kind of like that's how good those guys are. And he always wanted to like score and score and be better. And I think he helped me with that a lot.

And we became good friends. When I became good friends with him off the ice, we could kind of like, you know, then the on the ice stuff happened because I wasn't scared to, like, say, I can't give it to you now, you know, because, you know, you're not open. But even, like, he wants to puck all the time, and he was one of those guys. And, you know, he's just got to give it to him. He wants – you know, these guys, they want it in the neutral zone, you know. Get it in the neutral zone.

I'll get the blue line. You drive the net. Open up to Mike. Just go to the net. If they don't take it, I'll slide it to you. You're banging an open net. If they take it, then I'll walk around and I'll make a play. But he just wanted me to go to the net and take guys,

give them some space, you know. So long as I could give them some space. You know, you guys know it's crazy. Now, they had already started giving guys their own day with the cup by then right no it's kind of like it was more of like a couple guys you know together okay so we didn't i didn't have it i don't think i had at that time but it was uh it was just starting to get that but it was more like yeah there wasn't a guy falling all around you know it was more of yeah if you get it yeah yeah even when even like that couple you know we there wasn't a guy following all around. You know, it was more of, you know, if you get it, you get it. Even like that cop, you know, we didn't follow after nights out.

Probably didn't want it anymore. That cop was no one was following. I remember Craig Patrick calling one time, 6, 2 in the morning, said, where's the cop? I left like at 5.30 at a couple of teams, you know. He said, we can't find the cop. There's no room in the car for the cup

boys fuck it hey that's how they thought of the theme of the movie hangover they're like

let's go back to the penguins days where they had to trace back the night trying to find this cup and like

it was like early in the morning I just got in too we were all out the cup

was nowhere to be found but we found it somewhere I think one of the guys had it in the limo

the limo guy had it I think the guy was driving us around someone just left in the limo went to the night when the house the limo guy is like meeting girls he's like hey yeah you gotta see what i got in my truck yeah backup goalie now obviously this is before like the social media craze but when you'd be on the road would it still be nuts for mario in terms of like people waiting to see him and crazy like crazy i remember being remember being in Vancouver, and that place is crazy. You guys know. The best.

I remember walking in the third day after the game went out. We came in at two in the morning or whatever after, and there was a kid who came out and said, Mario, I've been sleeping here for three days. Three days in his car. I had two things he signed it from. But that's how crazy, like three days. You know, even like when I play with Gretz in New York,

he's like, that was Mario was really big. Gretz is like really big. Yeah, it's a different level. Did you see the Jordan documentary? Yeah, it was basically like that. Yeah, Gretz, Gretz, but Gretz is Mario's wasn't as kind of

he wanted to say in the background with the language too at the beginning, right? Yeah, he was. He didn't – but then he learned it. But he still wanted to be like him a little bit in the background. He'd do what – he'd obviously do what he could to promote the league and all that stuff, but he didn't want to go – Gretz was more of the guy at the front page. He didn't mind it.

He was great with it. He was a great guy. He was great with people. And he really – he didn't mind that part of it. We could. He was a great guy. He was great with people. And he really didn't mind that part of it. We could probably spend a whole episode on guys you've played with. But now going into that second year, you guys still have that very strong nucleus. But you guys didn't get off to a great start that year. I don't think we did.

I wonder why. You're still looking for the cup. I'm trying to find a cup. I think that year I didn't go to camp. I was holding out for a contract. but it wasn't, you know, we didn't hold out. I just didn't. But then we went on like a 12-day trip at the beginning,

like a training camp, and we were flying around. One year we were flying around L.A. We played them six times, you guys, Gretchen and Mario. We played them at these neutral sites all over the place. We were hanging out with the L.A. guys. They were like our best friends, you know. We're hanging out with them, playing golf, playing volleyball against them. You know, we didn't even want to play the games, you know.

It was kind of like all that stuff. But then, you know, that year I was holding out. We didn't – we won the college. The team was very self-motivated, but I don't think, you know, even when they came back off that trip the 12th of the day, I remember saying, guys, you didn't even bring your equipment. I was sitting out, and I was in better shape when those guys came back. I said, you guys skate at all out there?

Just kind of like hang out, play volleyball and golf. But back then it was a little different. And, you know, we just kind of, like I said, we knew how much talent we had. That team was loaded with talent. Well, it's tough to turn it on in the first half when you get out. You can sneak in. But the crazy thing is since then, Detroit 97-98 and the Penguins again, no one's been able to go back-to-back.

It's so difficult. When the playoffs started, it was the same thing. You guys were just so good. Yeah, we were good. We were getting ready. We were building up. We had a great bunch of players. We honestly thought every game we could win.

I've never been on a team that we know every single night that we put our skates on, no matter what, where we're playing, we can win. And that was a good feeling. That's something we built up, and we had so much chemistry on that team. Like, guys, we had guys that were in second power plays, like Iago, in second power play. Joey Mullen getting 500 goals. Maybe getting the power play time.

Maybe not. Like Trottier wasn't probably. Yeah, Trottier was not a power play. One of the best sentiments I've ever heard. Hall of Famer. You know, the best and greatest guy in the world. Trottier was, you know, he brought so much to our team when we won the Cup. And he knew he was just that third line penalty killer.

He was great with Yaga. You know, that's how, you know, that team point. we had so many barry peas and randy hilliard we had so many guys that were older that kind of pulled in they didn't care when they weren't playing they'd help you know um you guys ended up picking up uh talk at that second year at the deadline so that must have been a big uplifting moment just given probably how the regular season was going in the dog days and all of a sudden you get this another injection of a guy who's built for that style. Yeah, we had – Toc was great. Like, we traded Rex, who was one of my best friends.

But Toc's, like, one of my best friends now. So it's kind of like Toc was, like – he came in – we got Shel Samuelson, too, who was, like, Shel's – Monster. He was huge for our team, you know. He, like, just went with big lugs that just, you know, leaned on guys. Holy, like, dirty, you know, doing anything to win, you know. Wow, he's just a big slob. I remember playing against him. He's so heavy, you know, lean on guys, hold it, dirty, you know, do anything to win, you know.

It's a big slob. I remember playing against him. He's so heavy, you know. But getting him, and then we got Kenny Regan. So, you know, that was a good trade. Toc was great. Toc's a great guy. He was one of those guys that came in and fit in right away.

The first game Toc came, we played San Jose, and San Jose, Mario had like, you know, San Jose, that's when they were an expansion. They were bad. Reckie told me it used to be point night. You had to get at least three points when you, San Jose, that's when they were an expansion. They were bad. Recchi told me it used to be point night. You had to get at least three points when you played San Jose. Oh, yeah, point night. This is a great story, yeah. So I'm playing with me, Mario, and Toc. And Mario that night had seven points.

Toc got a hat trick in the first period. Like, first game. He's like, you know, he's leaving his Philly, like, chugging along. First game, he comes in, he gets a hat trick. He gets six points. I'm on the line. I get none. None.

How is that even possible? I was going this way, they were going that. That's when I had like 100. I was second leading scorer in the league. And when you get no points against San Jose, you want to commit suicide. I don't care if you win like 30 or nothing, right? I had no points. And my line hit 13.

That's still the joke we talk about. Remember that first game? Remember that night? Oh, and I got none. Did you finish second league scoring that year? Yeah, I did, yeah. And that was the year where Mario, I think, played, what, 14 less games? Yeah, he got hurt.

I remember that was funny because I'm in the lead. And the Palo Alto Tain is behind me, I think. I'm like, oh, my God, I might win this thing. I'm like, you know, I'm saying, Mario, take some time. Just come back to the playoffs. Yeah, yeah. You don't look too Tain is behind me, I think. I'm like, oh my God, I might win this thing. I'm saying, take some time. Just come back to the playoffs. Take a little time. Relax. We'll take care of this. He came back. He beat me

by 20 points. He came back. In 16 games, he got like 38 points and beat me. He went by me. He's the third guy in NHL history to outscore Gretzky in the regular season. That's right. And I think it was his 13th year.

Yeah, it was Gretzky's 100th year I outscored. I snuck by him when he was 53. That's all I got. I want to mention Scotty Bowman. He played for a couple years. Was he the master at head games? I can imagine all those players, all those egos. He must have to be a master psychologist, right?

Yeah, Scottie was good. Scottie always had Barry Smith and Pierre Maguire. Those were his guys that he brought in when he coached. Scottie was a great coach, great bench coach. Really saw the game, really knew how to control the bench. But practice-wise, oh, man. I heard they wouldn't even let him on the ice someday. No, we vetoed him.

We had a meeting. We had a meeting between us and the general manager, and we took votes, and he got vetoed out of practice. I had coached. I had coached. So we had no – so Scottie, we talked. Scottie, you can just stay in Buffalo with the family, flying for the game.

Come in 10-30, you know, you got a game at 7, grab a pregame and jump on the bench, you can just stay in Buffalo with the family, flying for the game. I'm like, you know, come in 1030, you know, you got a game at 7, you know, grab pregame and jump on the bench, you know. That's how crazy this thing was. And then, you know, he got vetoed out, and then he came back. Did he even have a say? Like, I couldn't, was there?

I was like, I maybe agreed to it. I don't know, but he just didn't show up for practice. I'm like. He's probably like, I want to be there. They're like, sorry, Mario said no. He was always like, He loved to blow the whistle Scotty He's a teacher

You know He wanted to talk Yeah You know Nothing wrong with it But back those days It was more of You know

40 minutes 45 minutes Good pace Get off You know Go grab lunch Call it a day I'm like

You know That's You know But Scotty Hour and 20 minutes Guy's like Calling him to sleep He's like

Yeah You know He'd blow the whistle Work on change ups You know We're gonna work on changing I've seen so many clips too of the the oilers in their heyday they're practicing no buckets no shoulder pads was the same for you guys yeah that's yours out there first oh we had no no helmets on and probably never wore a helmet practice no one like there

might be one guy out there look at his hair still biz i wouldn't wear a helmet you know so it's kind of like yeah you know, that was the greatest thing. Shoulder pads if you want them. You know, it's kind of like, you know, it was it was just different, you know, but we knew the only good thing about that team was so good. We knew how to win. You know, we

knew at the game time we're going to show up no matter what. And then, you know, that's that's something we all believed in, you know. Kevin, I know obviously one of the major things in your career was the injury. I obviously hate to bring it up, but we did agree we'd bring it up beforehand. Playoffs in

93, you go to hit Richie Pilon with a check and get yourself knocked out when you hit the ice, you're already unconscious. I mean, it's awful to watch. I watched it again today and it kind of set you on a tough path. Yeah, that was kind of – that year, just talking about that, we were going for our third cup.

By far our best. It was your best team. By far our best team. We won 18 games in a row that year without, like, a tie. I mean, that's when they had the five-minute ties, you know. We won 18 games. That team was loaded, loaded with players. And we just thought we were going to win.

And, yeah, that was game seven. You know, I remember game six against the Islands, islands rough four to two in long island you know and um you know we should have finished them off that night you know anytime you get to game seven like we didn't we didn't they come back and beat us six four like it was like you know and that that team kind of drove us a little bit crazy the casperitis drove mario nuts you know so it was kind of like they had a few guys that could really drive us nuts and And that time I got hurt, I got a penalty 15 seconds in the game with the guy. So I was in the box, and then Pilon was coming. I battled Pilon for like 15 years.

Really, you know, big, strong hacker, you know, like Indian, like really tough kid, you know. And I saw him coming, and I went, I'm like, got him. If you see the check, I got him good. Oh, I thought you were going to smoke him when I walked in. You did bury him. I got him good. If you look, he went like flying.

But I kind of jumped in the air. And he had hurt his eye. He had hurt his eye, you know. So it was more. He never wore a shield. But he had it on this time because he had hurt his eye. You know, that's when I got hit in the temple when I hit him. He had knocked out in the air.

And I couldn't put my hands down. That was kind of when. And that's when I got hurt. And kind of, you know, all the other stuff happens. I get in the hospital, pain medication. It kind of took me down a path that ran me for a long time. That next year, though, you still had over 40. I had goals.

It was a struggle. What was the recovery like from all that surgery? The recovery was fine. I didn't get to work out at all. I kind of just sit in September, come back, and take it easy. I did that. But it was a tough season. It was in and out.

I was okay sometimes. Not great. But I scored, but we didn't win that year. So that's when I kind of said, we've got to break this team up a little bit. And then you signed with Boston. It was a bit of a homecoming. But it wasn't an ideal situation for anybody to come home,

regardless of where they're from. No, it wasn't good. That was kind of in the midst of a little bit of addiction. It's kind of like, you know, it's hard. We all know to be a great player and to score goals and to be the best player you can be, it has to be 100% focused. And I was trying. I had a great wife.

She took care of everything. I didn't have anything. She took care of all the kids. She took care of all of mine. She was awesome. You know, it was kind of, you know, it was now. But now this thing that I didn't know. I didn't really what i had i never had it you know i didn't even know what addiction really was like you know no one in my family wasn't something that but it kind

of slowly kind of crept into my life and that you know if anybody if you know about addiction it's it's tough if you don't put a halt on it and that was actually the last year that cam neely played as well yeah yeah oh really yeah he ended up retiring at the end of that season he had the hip and knee stuff and he was yeah he was great player man he was you talk to some guys when they end up do coming home and they find it's a lot more of a distraction given that you're you're not far from your hometown and people are you constantly asking for tickets and and you also mentioned the personal struggles was it like was it probably the worst case scenario for you coming home yeah i struggles. Was it probably the worst-case scenario for you coming home?

I think it was the worst-case because of the addiction part of it. I don't think coming home, I think it's harder, but if you play well, it's great, right? I think it's a little bit harder, but I think the whole thing, I got off to a bad start. I wasn't scoring. The team was supposed to win. We weren't winning. I thought I came here

to play with Ocho Nile. I was playing with Todd Alex. So it was just kind of a lot of different things. Cass was a new coach. There was a lot of pressure on him. So there wasn't a lot of things going on in the team too. But I didn't play well. Do you think that everyone on the team was aware with what you were

going through at the time? I don't think they were. I don't think they were. I think they might have knew a few things, but it wasn't like I was doing stuff all the time. It wasn't like I was like, but it was on my mind. The addiction is more of a mental thing. Like if the physical part is the physical part, that's bad. But when you're an addict and you're not doing it, it has a lot. Your brain is thinking about it.

It possesses some space that, you know, to be a good athlete, a good doctor, good anything, right? You've got to have that focus. And it wasn't making me be able to do that all the time. And then I became like, you know, I wasn't. And then I get down on myself. I wasn't scoring. We all know how that goes.

And everything just kind of snowballs. Yeah, you know. So it was tough. I was only here 40 games, you know. So you got traded out to L.A.? Yeah, I got traded to L.A. I mean, I guess it's good in a sense. It's as far away as you can go, but still you're bad on the same things.

How was the Kings team then? You know, the Kings team, we were young. Larry Rodgers was the coach. He was awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome guy. One of the best guys I met through hockey, and he was really a big part of helping me and trying to point. But the team was young. We were trying to build, and they were trying to build a good team out there.

So I was there like a year and a half. I loved L.A. L.A. was like, you know, like I said, we're each coast. You know, you guys, you know, bitch, you're out that way. But it's so nice. The weather was so nice. I didn't realize, like, how nice it was all the time. And, like, if you could ever win – like, they won cups out there,

but I could imagine if you could ever win out there, man. What a great place to live. You go from playing – you play with the two best players of all time. I mean, arguably, right? Yeah. With Waino there. And at that point, like, going from playing with Mario, I always ask people who play with both,

what was the biggest difference that you noticed based on our nice play? I think, like, obviously Gretz was kind of toward the end of it but i think they both kind of you know they see the game a little step ahead you know they're like both great but the physical statue of mario the six five like you know so big reach you can't get inside and then you look at gretz who's a smaller guy but does the same thing it's phenomenal to look at gretz and how he got all those points like in a in a tough league it wasn't the league wasn't like it is now. You could bury guys. He obviously had guys that could help him, whatever.

But you had to be aware and you had to be ready at all times. And Gretz was just a great guy. I was in L.A. I went to New York with him for four years. I was there with him for a while. That's where I got to know him really good. He's just two of the best. You talk about superstars.

I don't know all the sports, but I know we have the two best guys, too. You mentioned the tough league and, of course, Mario and then Wayne taking the abuse still at that point in time. You're probably brought in to also protect and given your numbers as far as not only offense, but penalty minutes-wise. Did you reach a point where you just didn't have that natural that that that want to go out there and keep

scrapping yeah that that that was never when i was in pit that was never i didn't really like i fought guys like defensemen that could play like uh you know like a book of whom someone like that danico a little bit you know uh you weren't fighting i didn't have to fight the guys that were animalistic, you know, where they just went out there and fought, you know. So it was really good. When I first came in that first year in Pitt, I was like with Jay Caulfield and Richard Zemlack were the two guys

that were fighting. I was on the fourth line with them. And that's how I kind of learned. They were great. They're great, great guys. Jay's a good friend of mine. He's a great guy. And they would say, you know what, Kev, you just grab the fence.

We'll take in the other two tough guys. You don't worry. And that's how you kind of learn games with these guys. And they would say, you know what, Kev, you just grab the defense. We'll take in the other two tough guys. You don't worry. And that's how you kind of learn games with these guys, and that's how you do it. And that's basically what I did. I didn't have to really fight. You know, I'd jump in by all. When talk came, well, damn, then nothing.

Not much happened when that guy was there. It's pound for pound. I don't know if there's anybody tougher. I remember one of the first next exhibition game, Denny Vielle, who was a tough kid, really tough, right? We're playing auto and I hear him come up to talk,

like open a face off. And Denny's a defenseman and he comes up and says, talk, you're my idol. I got to fight you three times. You believe him? You believe him? What's going to happen here next?

I'm 13 years in. I got to fight him three times. He fought him three times. No shit. He did it. He fought. And then he came after him. He'd fight.

And he'd play a little bit. Second period, fight. Then I remember the third period, talk, beat him. And he beat him. And he threw him in his own bench and kind of shut the bench off. I said, see you later, Denny. There you go. I'll sign a stick for you and have the trainer send it over.

I was like, hey, that's a... You're my ally. I got to go with you three times. I was like, come on, Denny. It's an exhibition game. Yeah, it went... When I was playing in the NHL, it was, you know, have a trainer sign the stick or have him sign a stick and have the trainer send it over.

Then it was like, I want you to cave my fucking face in. That's the love I love. I want your knuckle indentation on my eyeball. When he talks, you're going to say, look, did you believe this? Oh, that was great. I want to go back to an incident in Boston while you were here. You mentioned Steve Casper. It was in Toronto, I believe.

He dresses both you and Neely just to staple you guys to the bench, which is a terrible coaching decision. You shorten yourself by two forwards. My father was losing it. I remember this. and Neely just to staple you guys to the bench, which is a terrible coaching decision because you're shortening yourself by two forwards. My father was losing it. I remember this. In addition to embarrassing two well-respected veterans, was that the most you've ever seen a coach lose a room

in any time in your hockey career? I think that was – you could see he was so upbeat about it. I'm like, this guy's crazy. He's like, why is he so upbeat about it? For me, I was there 30 games, right? You can be on a bench and be benched, right? Neely, who fought for Steve Cahill. I remember Neely came up and said,

I fought for this jackass. I fought guys for this guy. And he sent me in Toronto like probably one of the top five ever Bruins to play. Plus when he had battled through his knees, too. The guy gave everything for that team. For me, I just got top five ever Bruins to play, you know. Plus when you had battled through his knees, too. Everything.

The guy gave everything for that team. You know, for me, I just got there, wasn't playing great. You want to embarrass me? That's like if I went to Pittsburgh and they did that to me. And the guys should have stood up and said, you can't do that. You know, it would never happen in Pittsburgh because guys wouldn't let that happen, you know. Yeah, the coach doesn't even go to practice.

Yeah, no one, yeah. If you're going to bench him, sit him in the stands, you know? You don't put his skates on and sit him in the bench so after every face-off they show him sitting there. So did you know going in you weren't going to play a shift? So the game started, he never called you? Never called. Oh, that's so dirty.

Then he called us, like, you know. I think he called us the last minute. Minute left in the third. You nuts. You think I'm going out there? You think I'm going out now? You've got to be crazy. So he really tried to put himself out there late in the game?

Yeah, I looked at him and said, yeah. Fuck off. My skates are untied. We'll be right out there. So was there a lot of yelling and screaming after the game? Yeah, it was quiet. I think we lost it. You could tell Casper.

Casper was trying to do the best job he could, but he was kind of over it. I think he coached a year in the minors, and he came into the situation where we made trades, we're supposed to win, there's a lot of pressure on us to win, not. So he's trying to figure out how to motivate his team, and that was the total wrong way to do it with Cam. Yeah, took a wrong turn. Yeah.

Off-season habits, had you, when you first started playing pro, were you training in the off-season? Yeah. had you when you first started playing pro were you training in the off season and yeah yeah we were you know i i went out to um first couple years i trained back here but then i went out to la with tr goodman the tr like oh that was the beginning of him doing that yeah yeah and talk and chelios were talking yeah so we had talk had a house out there so we go out there for two months and um you know we train there and like we had eight or nine guys there that were there, like, training. And it was a great place to train.

L.A. is, you know, you guys know, L.A. is, like, the T.R. was very strict. If you wanted to train, you come and train. You don't go out at night. So it was clear from the minute you started playing pro at some point there was a culture shift in the fact that you had to start keeping up to these young guys, and the off-season became less about hitting the sauce, and the only ice you touch is at the bottom of the cooler. We had a lot of fun, but I never took time off, really.

Maybe a week here and there, but I always tried to stay with the program. I love to ride the bike. I love to do that stuff, and that was kind of a big part, but we had a great group of guys that we pushed kind of, even days we didn't want to train. We're there to train, which was was unusual because normally in the summer you know you train you go out you train back then it's a little different than what they're doing now but it was a very great place to train went out there for a couple months and then trained and that kind of was a routine i had for a while besides the injury to your face and that unfortunate hit

was there did you battle other injuries or or were you pretty lucky in terms of? Yeah, most injuries, I had a couple of knee scopes, nothing big, I broke my ankle a little crack, but nothing major. Nothing major to the head injury, and then I was kind of, after that, there was really nothing big after that. But it was a struggle for a little bit after that.

I want to ask, you were 14 when the Miracle on Ice happened. Were you already all in on hockey then, or did that convert you a little bit more? Yeah, I loved hockey. I loved the Big Bad Bruins. I used to go play Philly in the afternoon. I remember going to Philly and Boston Bruins. They had like 70 guys.

You've seen 70 guys that could fight. So it was kind of like the old people. I was like, my goodness, this is great. One o'clock game, you get home at 6.30. It was like a five-hour game. Two guys left on each bench. But I loved hockey i like i said i wanted to play baseball but i didn't really know but that 80 thing was awesome you know that was for any of us you know that was so good to

that you know anything like well that stuff that stuff was just phenomenal stuff you know these days you've been doing a lot of public speaking in regards to your sobriety. How's that been going? Was that a tough adjustment for you to talk about that? You know what, guys? The biggest thing about my story, I just tell the truth. You know, I tell them what happened. I was like, you know, I was on the top of the world.

I was the first team all-star scoring 55 goals, and I tried something. At first, cocaine was the first thing that, you know, I don't know, it was like I was 28, never did a drug. I never did anything in my life. I never even knew about it. You know, I tried it. And that was kind of like the thing that kind of set me off in the UFC.

Where were you playing then? I was in Pittsburgh. Okay. We were going for our third cup. We're in New York City, like, you know, in the middle of the year, kind of like, you know. Just before I got hurt. Maybe a couple of weeks before I got hurt. So it was before you actually tried?

Right before, yeah. Right before I got hurt, I tried. And it was like a 20 second. I didn't even know what it really was. It was like a 20 second decision. I said, you know. But no, I didn't know I was going to be an addict. You know, I didn't know this was.

I thought I would do this right. And I'd jump on the bus the next day and life would be like the same. I didn't have no idea that it was going to affect. Because I really didn't know what it was. By doing that, it didn't change my life right away but it gradually grabbed me that was that was the thing that grabbed me at first that was like a 10 second

decision so when I speak I talk to these kids I say guys I was a first team officer I was winning the Stanley Cup I loved my life I had a great wife a great family whatever and I tried something not knowing that anything could happen like you don't know sitting out there like if you try something that you couldn't go down the path i was at the top of the world and trying i and addiction is more but it's not willpower you know it's more than

that you need a recovery you know i think there's a misperception too that everything goes back to the injury and you're saying no it actually yeah the wheels in motion with your addiction issues predated the injury yeah and that's the thing it was right before that but then then you get hurt, and then, you know, obviously you need pain medication. So I had already opened up a can of worms. I didn't really know. But I knew nothing about anything. I just thought it was, you know, this is what it was going to be. And I didn't know, you know.

Yeah, and they weren't exactly open back then either. Like, oh, we're going to give you these medication. I didn't even know what anything was. Yeah. You know, I didn't even like the cocaine. I didn't really know what that was going to do, right? For some reason, I made that thing, you know, I was drinking with the guys about, like, the 20th time, you know, I didn't like the cocaine. I didn't really know what that was going to do, right? For some reason, I made that thing, you know, I was drinking with the guys about like the 20th time, you know, whatever.

Just like any other night. And then, you know, for the next 20 years, it kind of changed the path to where I was going. I got to watch the short film, Shattered. Yeah, that was great. And when did that kind of come about and everything? That came about like a couple of years ago. I was working with the Penn Scout in the cabin.

They came out to Buffalo and I talked to a couple of guys and they said, do you want to do this? And I was like, you know, I wasn't really sure, but they made it. You're happy you did? Yeah, I'm happy because I think, you know, I get a lot of emails and texts from the Mike Powell Ford Foundation saying that it's helped some people by watching. That's awesome.

That's the biggest thing for me. As long as I can help. If it helps one, I'm not going to help everybody. But if someone can look at some or listen to me speak and it helps one person, then it's worth it for me. Because I know how hard it is to get sober. I know how hard addiction is. And people say, why don't you stop?

They don't get it. They don't get that part. It's very hard. And I wish I could say, I wish, just stop. I wish I could tell people I know now, just stop. But I know how I felt. People said that to me. You don't get it.

Yeah, it's just too hard if you don't have a recovery. Were you nervous at first about going up in front of people and telling your story? Would it take a push from somebody in order for you to get going on that? Yeah, I was a little nervous did you know some big groups at first and it was kind of like you know i just um but but the best thing about it is is that i don't have to really think about it you know like when you go to motivational speak right you gotta think about stuff you know my story is this i went to bc i had four great years of playing limit to every i had a great life i had a great wife you. I had a great life. I had a great wife.

Everything in my life was, I'd say basically, if you wanted a life, you wanted my life. My life. I'm playing alongside Lemieux. I'm a hockey player. I'm scoring 50 goals. We're winning the Stanley Cups. Great family. I go to LA to work out.

Come in the summer. I'm great. And then I did this. I made that decision. And that's a decision that i have to live but now i can move forward but it took me a long time like it doesn't like you know you don't get it like now addiction is more prevalent everybody knows about it which is good yeah it's awesome but back then it was more um what is it what the fuck what the

fuck's wrong with this guy why is he like yeah why isn't he you know i was the biggest team guy in the world i love my teammates i love being with the guys like that's like to me that was like winning hockey games being with the guys afterwards that's my that was my life you know and then you know if you had the families you go like we had a very close-knit team in pittsburgh and then there was one and it was you know we we were always together if it was the wives after in pittsburgh or with us you know out on the road we didn't we didn't was, you know, we were always together. If it was the wives after in Pittsburgh or with us, you know, out on the road, we didn't charter. So, you know, we went out after the games.

We all met at the bar. Yeah. We had to talk about the game. That was the best thing about it. Now the charters are great. People can get home, but no one talks about the games. You know, we could talk for three or four hours, having a few beers with 10 guys talking.

We should always just have, you know. That's why the stars are winning, because they get the beers after the game and go talk about it. I know. It's the truth. And it helps. Back then, you know, back then our team was very close.

And it helped. That was so much fun. Well, I can't thank you enough for coming in here already. And I think I got to play with Mark Reckie. And you say, you know, you loved your teammates. And all he said was everyone loved you. So I think that says a lot about you as a guy. And your career was incredible.

So we appreciate it. I appreciate you guys having me. Long time over there. My boys love you guys. Yeah, you got some good players, right? Yeah, my only guy signed in Pitt, and then my younger guy, he's going to freshman at Yale, and my daughter just graduated union,

and she's got a job in New York City. Oh, wow. Good for them. So everybody's good. So the boys for them. So everybody's good. So the boys are good and everybody's good. Younger guy get drafted too? Yeah, I know. He didn't get drafted. He broke. He would have been drafted. He broke both his legs. He came What? Yeah, he was playing at Nobles.

He broke his leg. Had like three surgeries. Came back the next he played like seven games. He had like 12 goals. He was leading the prep school. I always heard about him. Yeah, he had a great games. He had like 12 goals. He was leading the prep school. I always heard about him, yeah. He had a great year. Broke his other leg. Same thing. So he had three surgeries

and that, so he snapped both ankles. Like the tough ones. Healthy now though? Yeah, he's good now. Okay, good. He's just on the skate. He skated this summer, but yeah, he's a good player. He's big, he's strong, so hopefully he can you know, he's young, so hopefully he can... He's young, so hopefully he can get... Like his old man.

Nice to have a BC guy here that won't try to mouth off. Fuck BC and you fucking chestnut hill pigeons. How many bean pots did he win with? How many bean pots did you win? That was a goose egg. He was a wagon then. If we had him, we couldn't win a bean pot. They had like seven Hall of Famers.

They couldn't win a bean pot. Yeah, we went to that bean pot. Three of the years in the M1 team in the country. Yeah, we went to that beanpot. Three of the years, they never won a team in the country. I think this other year, we were third. I played one final. A heavy consolation game in America. Which is the four o'clock business. You go in there and play.

There's one person in there selling hot dogs. And you're playing a hockey game. Unreal. Good times. Artie, thank you so much for joining us, man. This is great. Great message. And I'm sure our fans will appreciate it. No, thanks for having me, guys. That was awesome. Thank you so much for joining us, man. This is great. Great message. And I'm sure our fans will appreciate it.

No, thanks for having me, guys. That was awesome. Thank you. Absolutely. Just want to send a huge thanks to Kevin Stevens for not only joining us, but driving up to the city and joining us as well. I had a great chat with him. He was a hell of a player, man.

He came of age during the prototypical power forward era, went back with guys like, you know like Kachuk and Shanahan. And these guys were not necessarily redefining the game, but just showing, yeah, you can score 50 goals and punch some of these lights out too. And Kevin Stevens was certainly at the forefront of that movement, no doubt. Amazing guy.

Thank you so much. Yeah, big thanks to Adi. A lot of fun. Well, gang, now's the time to get your student loan payments under control and you could be saving by refinancing your student loans with earnest. If you've been making the same monthly payment on your student loans for the last couple years, odds are you could reduce your payment and save by refinancing with earnest.

Even if you've refinanced before, with today's low-rate environment, most people could save by refinancing again. Checking your new rate is fast and easy. To start, complete a few questions online. It only takes two minutes. Then you'll get a personalized rate estimate without affecting your credit score. You want to change your monthly payment, combine many loans into one easy payment, or get a better rate? Earnest makes it easy. There's no origination fee or any other fees. Plus, the internet loves Earnest's customer service. They're rated 9.4

out of 10 on Trustpilot. And now, you can get a $100 cash bonus when you refinance a student loan with earnest.com slash chicklets. That's E-A-R-N-E-S-T.com slash chicklets, C-H-I-C-L-E-T-S. Once again, you get a $100 cash bonus when you refi your student loan at earnest.com slash chicklets, not available in all States, visit earnest.com slash chicklets for more details, terms and conditions apply. Earnest student loan refinance loans are made by earnest operations, LLC and MLS number one, two, zero four, nine, one, seven California NMLS number 1204917. California financing law license number 6054788. 303 2nd Street, Suite 401N, San Francisco, California, 94107. Visit earnest.com slash licenses for a full list of licensed states.

You have to put the address on there? Yeah, it's a legal statement. Yeah, legal stuff. Wow. Ern legal wow shout out to earnest that's why i never went to college i didn't have to pay student loans i wonder what schools you could have got into what were your grades when you were playing in the oh did you even go to school it wasn't for my mom i would have never graduated high school you were getting like c's and everything so the way it it went was I was playing in junior in North Bay. And in Canada, there was a credit system where I believe you had to get 32 credits to graduate high school. So when our team was sold to Saginaw, I was a senior in high school.

But in the States, you only needed 28. So it was perfect. I got transferred over. So my last year of high high school I took a male fitness grade 9 geography grade 11 English uh current events which was me having to bring in a newspaper article and writing about what I interpreted from the article which at one point I was failing and the coach threatened to sit me out of game so I had to start passing I think I ended up with like a c-minus in that and what was oh and the last and the last class i took was religion that was my uh that was the five credits

i got my last year of high school that helped me get my high school diploma my parents drove all the way to down from canada to to watch me walk up and get it thinking of ohl tough guy biz in a sitting in a class with freshmen hey and, and I geography ninth grade geography. Hey, and I was almost late for my graduation because I was getting my back tattooed that day. Shock. Oh, my God. Yeah. Not the scarecrow.

That one, though. Not the biz nasty on the inside of my arm like some douche. Halloween time's coming but yeah that's uh that was my high school story boys one of the player related note to uh mark andre flurry uh he said he's fine with any laner deal that comes a potential laner deal uh he and this is for from jesse granger in the athletic he emphasized that he is not seeking a trade and if it were up to him he would finish his career in Vegas. The quote from Marc-Andre, I understand the business side of hockey and that I might have to be moved, but that's why the front office

are the ones making the decision. So I know there was some scuttlebutt about him being traded, but he absolutely emphasized he's not looking for a trade. He loves it where he is, so I just want to pass that along. There's a pretty funny video we saw. Somebody challenged Eliash Pedersen, Peterson Pedersen. He got challenged online to do some Harlem Globetrotter-style dribbling. So he goes out, he buys a basketball.

He does a version of what this kid did, but he set, like, his own music to it and stuff. This kid's, like, a character, huh? He's got his own team behind him, helping him out with all this stuff, interacting with fans, and really building his brand. And he's a guy that we behind him helping him out with all this stuff interacting with fans and really building his brand and he's a guy that we're going to get on pretty soon for an interview and and uh and dive into this awesome unique personality that's taken over the league or one of the players that's taken over the league yeah we gotta start getting some more

europeans on like elvis merzlikens is one of my favorite interviews we've done this season he was great a rascally fella. Another note, the cops were called in, where else? Florida, because fans were yelling, shoot. And no, it wasn't people in the balcony of the Boston Garden either. Per the spokeswoman, whatever department it was in Florida, four deputies responded and discovered there were no domestic problems at the apartment in question. It was a roommate screaming at the TV in regards to a lightning game.

With that, the cops went on their way. Just a fucking funny image. Hearing someone shoot in the foyer. Obviously, some people still haven't got that lightning fever yet. But Florida, a lot of people down there right now. A lot of people golfing. Imagine with a game. Imagine how loud they'd be screaming at the game if they're screaming at the TV to shoot.

That's just crazy to think. But I did think you just mentioned Florida, right? Oh, yeah. Golf weather? Absolutely. Because it is. Florida's coming up. I mean, January, February, March in Florida is the best place.

It's a little warmer. Right now in the fall for fall golf, I want to talk to you guys about the Peter Millar quarter zips because these things, I wear them every day. They're the perfect, you can wear them around the house. You can wear them on the course. You can throw them in the bag. I've talked about it a bunch. You got to go to the barstool.com slash, sorry, petermillar.com slash checkouts.

Excuse me on that. Petermillar.com slash checkouts. You can check out. They have so many colors. You can get the ones with the pink Whitney logo. We just released some fresh white ones, some navy blue with the gray zipper.

It looks perfect. It's very easy to swing a golf club in these things. I'm telling you, they're loose, but they're also fitted. I know that doesn't make sense, but if you ever try one on, you'll understand what I mean. I want everyone, please, please use code BARSTOOL at checkout for a complimentary performance hat.

That's petermillard.com slash check. Let's go check it out now. Absolutely. You want to look good out there when you're swimming the clubs. I got some golf. You guys know Jim Renner? He's the original people's golfer. Yeah, people's champ.

He's played original people, people's golfer. People's champ. Let's play on tour. He is myself and, and Jim are playing in a tournament, October 5th and six. We got a big tournament, old sandwich, the pro scratch two day, four ball,

get your name on the wood in the, in the grill room. That's the goal. So we played the other day, a little practice round. I think our best ball was three under. I think that if we can go about and have a day, in a couple days, we could take this thing

down. It's a loaded field. A bunch of former... So every team has an amateur and a pro. And we got some guys that... Two-time defending champions, Biz. This is my first year playing in the tournament. So that's coming up. Really looking forward to that. I'll be rocking and peeing them with our quarters the whole time.

You're going to be playing with the Chicklets balls, too, that I was kissing in our last content piece? Oh, God, yeah. They just put in spin on those things. You were kissing them. You were touching them. You were rubbing those tight pants that you were wearing all over. You were rubbing the balls all over them.

Well, we did get one rivalry in the last few days, I'm not sure we expected. Friend of the program, a recurring guest, Sean Avery, found himself in a little tiff with uh i guess one of our co-workers miss alexandra cooper who of course hosts the call her daddy podcast uh apparently they live in the same apartment building sean's getting some work done and he has legal permits it's everything legal and apparently uh alex complains to the landlord about the noise because i guess she records a podcast every day i mean you know i know, I know we do ours different. Whatever, I'm not judging or anything.

Just I guess she does a little bit each day. But it ended up resulting in Avery going on Instagram and his podcast and delivering some very colorful quotes. I'm not sure if you caught any of them, Biz. No, not the quotes, but I knew about the drama because I saw a couple of the headlines. But how the fuck do these two end up living in the same building in NYC? Seriously, what are they on?

This couldn't have worked out any better. God must have put this one together. Or the devil. Yeah, seriously. Well, how many shows does she do a week? One, correct? Yeah. I mean,

the funniest part was the was it the landlord who called or who who called avery yeah it was someone someone on behalf of the management i don't know if it was the super himself or whatever so that woman had no clue what she was herself into or or she's a listener she's gonna call some guy yeah she's gonna call some guy and he's gonna call some guy and he's gonna either be like yes or no and next thing you know it's it's turning into a content machine story because it's these two famous people in new york battling and when he found when he found out it was her he must have been like yes oh i'm sure that is just perfect now because what a what an idiot i mean you can't expect anyone to stop.

They don't care that they live next to you. They're trying to work on their place. And if you have the paperwork and what you need to get done to do it, it sucks. People can kick rocks. It's not like it's 2 in the morning. It's fucking middle of the day. Well, one thing too, Avery owns. He owns in the building.

He owns the Chiefs. Owns. Owns, owns. And I think she, I think she self-produces with, if I'm not mistaken. So that's probably why she works every day. Either way, that wasn't the only story coming out of Manhattan biz.

I guess they found a worker's man cave underneath grand central station. Now as a former municipal worker, who's had a few jobs, every fucking guy out there shits his pants a little when they read a story like this, because everybody who works, whether're custodian a train worker any you know blue collar type job everybody got a fucking hideaway i had them every school i worked at a little you might have a tv there or radio a setup for your internet to report your podcast in the closet i had it all so you see a story like that and it's like oh shit they're gonna

find out about us but i think because of the fabled history of Grand Central Station, that's why it became a story because, dude, guys, you know, everyone gets their job done, and you still got fucking four hours to kill. You got to go do something. I've been there. How do you personally feel about this one, R.A.? You love it. You bust love that shit.

You were recording our podcast underneath the principal's desk when you were the janitor at that school. Dude, I would legit be in a closet with my finger on the mall and like we would have like a legit like hall of famer on and i'm like all right i gotta hope the bell don't ring oh like ding johnny smith to the office johnny smith to the office has something for kids asked is like hall of famer that's unbelievable yeah those are the fucking days man all right we're almost done how did they get busted is that in the article who it was like it was underground and it's like it was this little shelter they had a flat screen tv they i think they had netflix set up yeah somebody probably

fucking they probably lose their pension now though that ain't good not if they got good union representative i'm not really sure i'm not sure what what i don't municipality or whoever fucking pays them but but fake. Good luck to them, man. It's actually okay because they're going to rent it out because it's 300 square feet, and they're going to rent it out for $10,000 a month. No, we're going to Airbnb it when we go down to New York and do our interviews down there.

Honestly, I know we're almost done here, but, hey, I want to give props. LeBron James, he's going to his 10th finals in 17 seasons. That's just an incredible stat no matter how you look at it. Three-time champion. He's won the finals MVP all three times. I'm not showing the final stat because the Celts in Miami still have to figure out things out in the East. But, I mean, this guy, love him or hate him, man.

You've got to acknowledge his accomplishments. I think he's the first player to ever lead his team or to go to the finals with three separate franchises, correct? I don't think that. I'm not sure if that's true or not. I mean, if he wins it, that might be a different story. But, I mean, there might have been some scrub fucking off the bench who's played, you know, for a few different teams.

But either way, what he's done is nothing short of incredible. I just completely made that start up. What else is new? One last note. I know hockey winding down, you're going to be looking for shit to watch, especially – well, this will already have aired. But Fargo is back on the air. Not only a tremendous movie from the Coens back in the 90s,

but this is the fourth season of the TV show. It's an anthology series, so you don't have to have seen the first three seasons. It's just a whole new story they're telling. But Chris Rock is starring in this season, along with Jason Schwartzman. It looks tremendous. The reviews are good.

So if you're looking for something to watch, Fargo, again, starting last night, Sunday night, but nowadays in the stream and everything. I don't need to see the other seasons? You really don't, no. I mean, if you're a devotee of the show, then there might be some little in-jokes you might kind of get. But, no, you don't have to see the first three in order to enjoy the sport.

All right, I'll check that out. I'll check that out. All right, boys, I think that just about wraps it up. Next time we chat, we're going to have a Stanley Cup winner. Fucking right, brother. That's crazy because this has been a long one. So I appreciate you guys. And as always, everyone listening, thank you so much.

It's been an absolute blast to cover this final. It's crazy what's happening. I'll give you one last chance, Witt. One last chance. You still got Tampa Bay? I got Tampa in six. I think I might have said, what did I say before the series? Tampa in six?

Tampa in six. Yeah, so this is about to happen. And I got a lot of money I think I might have said, what did I say before the series? Tampa in six? Tampa in six. Yeah, so this is about to happen, and I got a lot of money riding on it too. Barstool Sportsbook, if you're in Pennsylvania, shout out everyone that made that thing get off the ground, and we'll chat with you guys Thursday. Peace out. Go Stars. As always, we'd like to thank our fantastic sponsors here on Spit and Chicklets.

Big thanks, as always, to our friends at New Amsterdam Vodka and Pink Whitney. Big thanks to our longstanding friends over at Roman. We love what you do, us fellas. Big thanks to our new friends at Whoop. Get me my rest and my exertion levels up and down. It's perfect. Big thanks to everybody at Earnest. If you're looking to refire their student loans, absolutely check them out.

And big thanks to everybody at Peter Malaf for making us look fresh on the golf course. Have a great week, all. I don't know. But it feels like I'm. Bye.