Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 323: Featuring Mark Stone + Jeff Marek

Episode Date: March 9, 2021

On episode 323 of Spittin’ Chiclets the guys are joined by Jeff Marek and Mark Stone. Marek joined (09:32) to discuss the impact Walter Gretzky had on the hockey community, the Calgary Flames coaching change, Jack Eichel and tons more. The boys also open up the show recapping their Florida trip and discussing the infamous live stream where RA went missing. The boys then give their opinions on the Tom Wilson suspension, Keith Yandle’s 1000th game and they even discuss the topic of slew foots. Mark Stone joined the show (01:26:52) to break down his hot start to the season, the Golden Knights locker room, and to talk some 2017 Senators. The guys wrap up the show talking about the North Division, Zach Parise and give their take on the Calgary Flames.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 323 of Spittin' Chicklets presented by Pink Whitney from our friends at New Amsterdam Vodka here in the Barstool Sports Podcast family. We are recording first time ever, I believe, from Grinnelly's Place. Biz is here, G's here? What's on the screen? Dude, unbelievable. What are we paying this guy? Jesus.

Rolexes and that unit of a room? No, I'm a step ahead of everyone, and I said this before. It's COVID times. Times are tough for everyone right now, but what I did is I went apartment hunting. I knew the prices were down in New York City, so I went apartment hunting, and me and Rudy found a great spot. It's down $1,500 from last year. Let me ask you something.

You said you think above the rest. Is that what you said? I'm a step ahead. You don't think anyone else did that? No, I actually don't. I think everyone else moved out of New York City. All the apartments are empty. I think no one else did that, actually.

And that's why I got a great deal, and I'm happy to have you guys here. It is a nice pad. I got some Pink Whitney decor, too. You got to check out the roof deck my man. I know you don't like community roof decks. Does he share one like Portnoy did in Boston? He does, but it's an incredible view. I almost shit my pants when I'm up there. Not dissing. Gee, it's just an unreal view

of Manhattan. Good shit. I saw the swipe up you did and I could tell right away that's money. When you say you shit you almost shit your pants because are you afraid of heights? Actually, yeah, I am. It's funny. We talked about that last night. I have a fear you did, and I could tell right away that's money. When you say you shit, you almost shit your pants, because are you afraid of heights? Actually, yeah, I am. It's funny. We talked about that last night. I have a fear of heights, but I try to conquer it, and I still have it.

I've gone bungee jumping a bunch of times. I rode the roller coaster at the top of the stratosphere in Vegas. Skydiving. All-time fear. But it's funny. It hasn't chased the fear. He's like, I was a window washer at one point, too. I won't even walk to the ledge.

Like, I wouldn't even get too close to it. But, yeah, I do have a fear of heights. But at the same time, I do try to conquer it. But, yeah, I try to tell G and his girl to watch King Kong, the original, last night with the Empire State Building right there. But he's like, oh, I did. I'm like, no, not the one in 1976, the one in 1933. He's like, I didn't know there was one. Grinnelli goes in the kitchen, Biz, comes back.

Ari's talking to his girl. She just looks scared, worried. And he's like, what happened? She's like, he keeps telling me to watch Ted Lasso and he's getting angrier and angrier. Well, he was talking about his bets to her. And then when he left, he was like, I love that guy, but I don't know a word that he just said.

Me neither. Hey, join the club. We a word that he just said. Me neither. Hey, join the club. We've worked with him for five years. Exactly. We just got back from Jupiter, Florida. Well, the Whit Dog's still down there. Me and Biz and G flew back yesterday. Very productive week.

We had one sandbagger. We did a mini golf thing, a couple of live streams, shitload of interviews. Actually, I'll mention it now. We got Vegas Golden Knight, Mark Stone. I would say he got a chicklet's bump since we recorded, but he's been doing this all year long. And we also have Jeff Marrick on, Canadian TV host up in the NHL stuff.

The Wizard. Awesome dude. We'll get to that later. Whit, what was your take on our week in Jupiter? Successful or what? I thought it was very successful. I thought we grinded, and I know it sounds like successful. I thought we grinded and I know it sounds like grinding. I know you were not digging ditches

here, but we got a bunch of stuff to bank and they're all not really time sensitive. You know, some of those interviews we can kind of drop them whenever and I had a blast. The sandbag was very entertaining, very intense golf match. I'll say that. Jose,

sorry, Jose, he's going to kill me. Theodore, former MVP of the National Hockey League, and Ed Jovanovsky. Could have won a Norris, gold medalist, amazing career. And I think that people are going to enjoy that one. The other thing I wanted to say about Jupiter, it was a pleasure having you guys here. What a classy place this is. And we had a couple of nice dinners, a little cookout action. I love that we got a bunch of work done. I will finish off with this. We used to go and do those trips three, four, five nights and bank interviews

and then party all night. Now I've been asleep for 36 hours pretty much since you guys left. I'm an old man who can't handle the heat anymore. So even no partying, I'm gassed. I couldn't agree more. I've slept the last two days since I've been here in NYC, but ultimately a very successful trip. We've got some great interviews that we'll be rolling out over

the next month, as well as we've got to still release one of the AZ sandbaggers, and then this one will probably come out in a few months. So I'm excited for you guys to hear these interviews, and we've got a couple of them coming up here, as you mentioned, Merrick and Stone that we got. And let's get to what else is going on.

Unfortunate news, of course. Yeah, I just wanted to piggyback on what I should go to the PFT comment that Donnie does, because I look like absolute trash right now. I'm exhausted, too, but I'll take it for the team. I look like trash. One other thing, too, is do you want to talk about the live stream before we move on to the news? Okay, what about it? Oh, yeah. All right. Disappeared for an hour. It'll look like trash. One other thing, too, is do you want to talk about the live stream before we move on to the news? Okay, what about it?

Oh, yeah. R.A. disappeared for an hour. Yeah, where did you go? Well, I went to roll a stick for the crew, so I was taking it for the team. And while I was there, I needed to use the facilities. It was the other building, so it was a 10-minute walk to get there. It was nice to be missed, though. What are you walking backwards?

I had to go all the way to the other hotel and oh yeah i actually i left this part out i was i was feeling pretty pretty good that night so i get back to the room i wrap a stick and um i thought i put it behind my ear and then i get to the elevator i might reach up i'm like oh fuck where is it and i'm like i had all my glasses on so i'm literally squinting at the floor with my flashlight on my phone looking i go back to the room i can't find i'm ripping the room apart i go to wrap another one then i i go back to everything again also i looked on i realized i had a fucking t-shirt pocket right here i put it there before i left the room i was fucking a little feeling a little too funky so we get the surveillance from from the hotel and jupiter on this this fiasco but hey i'm glad you know like is that kind of

acid they're like no it's just ra. He lost a joint. Yeah, basically. So either way, that's what I was. I was helping out the squad, I like to think. Obviously, we're sponsored by Pink Whitney. We do want to let you know, hockey is back, and you're going to have to find your shot, and what better way to do that than with Pink Whitney? From January 1st through March 26th,

we are giving Chicklets fans a chance to win a custom Pink Whitney shot machine. All you have to do is post a picture of you and your Pink Whitney and use the hashtags Pink Whitney, Take Your Shot, and Sweepstakes. We'll be picking winners from the U.S. and Canada every other week, so make sure to get creative with your submission. Like Biz said, it's tough news to start off. We obviously like to have fun on the show, but some things are bigger than this show.

Canada's hockey dad, Walter Gretzky, died at the age of 82. He had been having some health issues the last few years, had Parkinson's, some other issues. Wayne said at his eulogy Saturday he had taken a fall and basically kind of regressed from there. We obviously want to give our deepest,

most heartfelt condolences to the whole Gretzky clan. It's obviously a huge loss, but it was some beautiful scenes at the funeral as the procession was going by. There's the whole community out there giving stick taps. I mean, I'm not sure I've ever seen that before. Wayne gave a beautiful eulogy Saturday, which could only have family there, which is, you know, under the current times, it's tough for a lot of friends who couldn't get there.

And that's not an easy thing to do to get there and, you know, talk about your dad. He said he was a remarkable man who loved life, loved family. We'd be a way better world if there were so many more people like my dad. I mean, that's a great testament right there. I want to ask, Biz, did you ever meet Wally? I met him. I talk about it in the Merrick interview that week because, you know, Merrick spoke on it as well.

He had some great words. First time I ever met him, I was in Brantford at a roller hockey tournament. And every single tweet that I saw about people describing when they'd met him and their first experience with him, that was mine. He was surrounded by people. He was smiling. He was giving out autographs, made everybody feel special that was there. And, yeah, it sucks, guys.

You know, this is, you know, it sucks. It's a tough way to start the episode. I know a lot of you people out there are hurting as well because this is a guy who did a lot for the game of hockey. And as Wayne has said too, it was probably hard for Wayne to give everybody his time and energy while going through his career and doing what he did. But I feel like he took a lot of that pressure off Wayne as well just for how big of an ambassador to the game he was, especially in Canada. I mean, he's Canadian royalty.

And just at the fact that he was so humble the entire time dealing with his kid being a world-renowned superstar and treating everybody the way that he did, it's a horrible, horrible loss for the hockey world, for all of Canada, and really the entire planet. More people need to be like Walter Gretzky. And, yeah, it's sad. Well said.

I think I might repeat myself in the America interview. If I do, I apologize a few days ago. But I was touched to see, I don't know if it was Wayne or somebody else in the family who mentioned, like, it's comforting to know he's back with our mom, you know, and he's, and he's in like a better place because he was really fighting it.

Parkinson's among other things. So, you know, that's a guy who was like fighting as hard as possible. And I think for, for Wayne and all of his brothers and his sister to, or sisters and his brother to just basically be able to talk about him with smiles on their faces because that's what he did. He just made everyone else around him happier.

Well said, Whit. But like I mentioned, we do have Jeff Marrick on, so I think we should bring on Jeff now. He knows Wally better than probably, well, obviously any of us. He had some good things to say as well as some other topics that are going on. So we're going to go to an early interview this week, and without further ado, we're going to bring on our friend Jeff Marrick. Well, I'm very happy to welcome our next guest back to the show as it's been a minute since his last appearance he's the NHL host on Sportsnet up in Canada in one half of the excellent 31

Thoughts podcast and it's a pleasure to have him back here on the Spitting Chicklets podcast thanks so much for joining us Jeff Marrick how you been my friend all right Witt, Paul, Grinelli, how are you guys all doing today? We're doing great. We got the hockey encyclopedia on, Biz. That's right. Just put a quarter in them. Just put a quarter in them. Wind them up. Wind them up. Just like the beds on the road. Here's the thing, and I've worked plenty with Witt, and he'll tell you.

My secret to all of this, and don't be fooled, is if you're not sure about something, say it loud. That's the only way you get by. I'm not sure about this fact here. I better say it loud. So people think that I really know what I'm saying. We do it for three hours once a week. It's called the spit and chicklets podcast. Loudest guy wins as we're screaming over one another.

I remember, I remember very specifically when I started working with Witt, some key advice that I gave him. Do you remember what I gave you, Witt, when we filmed our first days working together when you were back with us at Sportsnet? I don't, but these guys will tell you my memory is trash. I said the key to all of this is sincerity, Witt. Yes, yes, you did.

And once you learn how to fake that, then you've got it made, man. I hate that that the truth uh hey i i have a quick uh question off the top and i should have probably asked elliot and even you before this why 31 thoughts where'd the name come from 31 this comes from elliot's blog so elliot's blog's name is 31 thoughts it used to be 30 thoughts and then there came team 31 in vegas and Team 32 is on the horizon. So I expect there'll be another branding change. But that's an old blog that Elliot started writing when he was working at CBC Sports.

It was a weekly, much like it is now. The whole idea was one thought per NHL team. And that tiny little blog that he started at cbcsports.ca turned into this whatever this thing is now with his blog and the podcast and multimedia and it's um yeah so but all it is is just a reflection of his blog that's it you guys do an excellent job i just listened to the one of course that was

let off with the walter gretzky uh passing um hockey lost its father you know what you know i uh i thought thought a lot about Walter last night after we did that podcast. It was late and we had to cover off the Daryl Sutter news in Calgary as well, but I remember going to bed and thinking about Walter and thinking about every exchange that I ever had with him. It's a true sign of a gentleman where after every conversation you have with someone, you feel better about yourself and you just feel good. And I've always said, you know, one of the greatest compliments you can pay anybody is when you say their name, do you smile? I think I mentioned this on the podcast this morning.

You know, I don't think anybody, I think it's impossible, Biz, to say the name Walter Gretzky without smiling. And I thought about a couple of things last night. I thought about how the hockey world would be different, like completely changed. Like we all have breaks, moments in our lives where we make a decision. It takes us down a certain path. It either works out or it doesn't. But I always wondered, you know, what would what would the hockey world be like if Walter Gretzky didn't make that backyard ring? if Walter Gretzky didn't make that backyard ring. Like, you think about everything from Wayne's presence in the game to, you know, the trade to L.A. and southern expansion in the United States. You can take so much of the NHL that exists right now and even the future of the NHL, because we're still, you know, surfing on this Gretzky wave in the United States. So much of that

comes from one single decision and that's walter gretzky's decision to build a backyard rink for his kids i thought so much about that last night that you know it's it's the the effects are still being felt today just by him making that one so if you're a if you're a hockey parent right now and you're on the fence do i make a rink or not? Do it. Just do it. You never know. You never know, right? I don't know that Walter ever thought like, okay,

I'm pouring some water here in the backyard. My kid's going to turn into this juggernaut that smashes records in the NHL. And we talk about him up here like he invented oxygen. But if you're thinking about a rink, folks, just do it. I think it's, without ever having met Walter, but being around the Oilers organization and hearing so many different stories about Wayne and his dad, what to me always seems amazing is that his dad really had no sort of ego.

You see all these crazy hockey parents, and they talk about how good their kid was or is, and I get the sense he never did that. It was all about, like, my son enjoys the game at a young age, and then he became the great one. It was just he was there along for the ride. He didn't try to say this was all me. He didn't try to toot his own kid's horn.

And I think it goes a long way in showing the greatest to ever do its father was still humble and really true to himself. And I just tried to raise good kids. And that's why he signed that first contract, the 20-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers right like there was some you know Wayne was sort of on the do I do this do I do I not do this and was Walter who was like look you know we come from pretty meager meager beginnings here in this family this is this is money that we've never seen before this is this is a good a good thing you do it um Walter himself by the way was a pretty good hockey player uh junior

b you know woodstock is a biz so he played junior b in woodstock um was a good track athlete as well ultimately was was too small uh in his era to go anywhere but the the one thing the gretzkies are are from from eastern european descent and a lot of the training that walter did with all of his kids was all soviet style so you look with all of his kids was all Soviet style. So you look at all those Soviet drills all through the 70s when, you know, in North America, it was everybody was a table hockey player. Right. Like you had your lane and that was it. No, I'm a winger. And if my stick can't touch the boards, I'm out of position. What's a regroup? What's a regroup? A regroup? What are you talking about? You're going backwards for Christ's sake.

But all those all those drills like were all-style drills that he taught all those kids. And that, I still maintain, is why Wayne Gretzky played differently than everybody else and looked differently than everybody else. Everyone's going north-south, and he's kind of going all over the ice. And the area behind the net that became his office, he found a way to keep himself safe on the ice. He found a way to protect himself on the ice, be creative on the ice, use everybody around him on the ice.

And you know, Ron McLean was on TV last night and he told a really interesting story. Walter was always interested in Wayne's peripheral vision and not just seeing what's right in front of you, but seeing everything around you. And I thought of a story that Marty McSorley told me years ago. He said one of the rarest pictures you will ever see of Wayne Gretzky is him skating along the bench. I said, why is that? He said Wayne never liked skating along the bench because he wanted to see everyone who was on the ice. And if he was close to the bench, he couldn't see guys coming on and going off. So he'd always like to be away from the bench when he was moving and that's got to be a walter thing

and mclean told the story last night about how one day i'm not sure how old wayne was all of a sudden he shows up and he's playing with white gloves okay he's got the white mitts and you know what that listen you know what that means in men's league. That's targets. Like, oh, the guy with the white mitts, like we're on that guy. And someone asked me, Walter, why do you have Wayne Gretzky out there? Why do you have your son playing in white gloves? Everyone else has got a black or blue, green, whatever the team colors is. And he's got the target gloves on, these white gloves. He said, you know, Walterter your kid's going to be targeted

every time he's on the ice everybody's going to be trying to get him and walter said yeah i know that he's got to learn how to play like that like that's how walter wanted to train his kids he wasn't just oh i'm going to protect him or wit to your point oh i'm going to big him up and we're jumping from team to team to team best offer and all that he was he was concerned about making an entire athlete an entire hockey player and he did you know listen you can make the argument he was probably the best hockey trainer ever yeah because look at who he trained yeah i didn't i didn't i wasn't uh i didn't realize that he was filming him as well in the backyard they would film the drills and then they would go over the tape and way before video way before yeah doing stuff like that he was ahead of his time but i met him in uh in brantford one time he was coaching a roller hockey team i'll

never forget it i was playing for a niagara regional team and we went there and and we were in the lobby and just surrounded by so many people big smile on his face and exactly every single tweet i saw about him, that was my experience right there. You know what the great thing about that is, Biz? Everybody's got a story. Everyone. The wonderful thing, spend some time today.

Anyone listening to this right now, spend some time today on Twitter and just type in Walter Gretzky's trending. So just click on the trend and you will read wonderful stories because everybody has one with Walter Gretzky to your point, but it's like everyone had those conversations. He never walked away from conversations.

He waited until everyone had their talk with Walter and the autograph and the picture. And that's the big thing. Like everybody has a picture of them with Walter Gretzky. I never saw him turn down anything. I never, it's like there've been so many events like I was at with with Walter, mainly charity events. And, you know, after 20 or 30 minutes, like, OK, Walter, it's time to get get moving here. We got to go. And he would just stay, you know, like hours extra. So everybody got what they wanted.

Like he would not leave until everybody got their autograph or their picture. And you know what? Something else that just sort of dawns on me about Walter. It was really big in Canada when Wayne Gretzky got traded. It's still like every single time that day rolls around, it is a new story. It's the blank anniversary of the Gretzky trade. So Gretzky goes to Los Angeles, southern expansion in the United States, and it becomes huge. And it was the right move for hockey, but it really wounded the ego of

Canada. And I think that one of the reasons why Walter was so beloved is, you know, obviously Walter stayed and he filled that void in some way, that Gretzky void that was Wayne, then became Walter. And everybody's got the W.

Gretzky autograph now. Walter stayed here. Walter was at games. How many times did you see Walter around when you played with the Oilers? Like Walter became. He'd be in Toronto. He'd be at games. He'd be at Leafs games.

You did see him a lot. He made sure to keep himself out there. And you're right. He stayed in Canada and there was no missing Walter gretzky even when and when wayne left yeah it's almost like he filled this sort of void that uh that a lot of people uh a lot of people felt when when gretzky left and i always felt that um you know he had a stroke in 1991 and we always in business mentioned how happy he always is and the smiles that Walter had. I remember getting some really interesting wisdom from someone years and years ago.

When I think about it, when I think about Walter and how happy he always was and how giving and how kind and considerate he always was. I remember once someone told me, and this quote has always stuck with me, we're born with two lives. We're all born with two lives we're all born with two lives and our second life our second life begins when we realize we only have one and after walter had his stroke i think he realized hold on a second we really only do have one life here yeah i'm gonna spend it the best way that i possibly can yeah that's That's very well said. Very well said.

And we wanted to shout out the Gretzky family. And there's so much else going on around the NHL. And with you covering it, and the North Division must be exciting this year because you guys are covering all of Canada forever, right? Every year it's all the Canadian teams you guys cover. But this year it's like, wow, they're only playing each other. And the big news out West is Calgary and the change of coach.

Jeff Ward's fired. Daryl Sutter's brought in, not for interim. He signs a three-year, two, three-year contract extension. Where do you sit on this? Did you see it coming? R.A. called it. We were talking about coaches that were on the hot seat, and there was odds on one of the Vegas sites about possible coaches

who'd be fired. R.A. goes, I think the guy who isn't even on there is going to go next, Jeff Ward. So he saw it, but where are you sitting on Calgary? Can they kind of fix things there? Daryl's a short-term fix guy, so if they can, Daryl's probably the guy to do it. I'm good for you, R.A., because you know what I've gone into this season assuming? I've gone into this season assuming that nobody wants to spend money and nobody wants to pay people to not do their job.

That's why I didn't think – that's why I was surprised with the Claude Julien dismissal. That's why I kind of go into this season saying, well, there's only a couple of teams that really spend in the offseason. Montreal is one. Vegas is another. Two teams that really went for it and spent money. But I thought in season, trades are going to be hard because no one wants to pick up money. Money's always going to have to wash in every deal.

And also I didn't think there'd be a lot of coaches fired because nobody wants to bring in big tickets when there's no one in the stands. But I think that especially in the Canadian division right now, there's a lot of teams that might be looking at this season and saying, we got a shot here. season and saying we got a shot here yeah like we got a real shot and if we can get out of this division um like ottawa's taking themselves out vancouver's you know taking themselves out of this thing we have a shot at if we just get in we have a shot of doing something here and if we get out of our division

then we only have to face you know two teams that aren't in our division like if you're going to win the Stanley Cup you only face off against two teams you didn't play against all season long this is as you guys well know and have talked about this is unique in the history of the game and that's why I think you know for a team like the Calgary Flames where this might be the last hurrah of this group like this could be like okay if it doesn't work this time we're making some decisions on Monaghan and goudreau and etc all the way down the lineup i think you know you're you're brad for living you're saying i want to give these guys the best possible shot at it and given the trades are so hard to make right now this may have been brad for living's only move some people might have

been surprised too but i think when los angeles hired him he hadn't been coaching for six years correct and the last time after after san jose yeah and of course the dean lombardi connection and that's why he brought him um you mentioned the the the trade aspect because you know by the time i think you guys were talking more on 31 thoughts of the fact that dubois ended up going to winnipeg and then he ends up getting injured in one of his first games yes back just because i mean two and a half weeks out of this season if you're going to be trading a major piece because obviously you think a major piece is going to be you know what what coming back is going to what what gets it done that's

ultimately probably why they decided to go go with daryl sutter correct uh yeah like if you if you're trying to make a trade right now if you're a canadian team and you're trying to make a trade you're looking at a two-week quarantine, then getting someone into your system. And then at that point, you know, are they up to speed? Injury is always a factor. The Pierre-Luc Dubois point, as you point out, Biz, is very real and very scary. Plus, if you're neck and neck with a team like the Montreal Canadiens, as Calgary is for a playoff spot, you're devaluing your lineup right away with any deal you make so you're losing someone or maybe two people off your roster and then you're waiting a couple of weeks to get

someone in and that's a chance for the other teams to make up ground on you it's a bizarre season i do understand why the why it was made i do understand that it was daryl listen coaches are always this is this is always pendulum swings right you guys play you know how it works oh here comes the hard oh oh hold on he was too tough on the guy we need the easy guy let's have okay let's have the nice guy these guys these guys this this this this collar is too tight let's bring in someone that can let the guys breathe that's what it is right like this is coach it's it's you guys have seen it a million times what's that kind of like babcock to keith babcock to sheldon keith is another great example.

It happens with just about every team in the NHL. And this is, okay, you know what? We're not letting the players run it themselves anymore. No more country club here. Daryl Sutter's come off the farm, literally, to come to try to

squeeze some wins out of you guys. We did a live stream the other night of Edmonton, Toronto, and obviously Toronto just boots them for three in a row. And I said on the stream, I said, these two teams, and if you want to call them the top two in Canada, I'm sure Winnipeg will argue that they're right there. But if you want to call Toronto and Edmonton the top two, Edmonton can't sniff the Toronto Maple Leafs.

They are not even on the same level as a team and i look at toronto this year and the depth and mccay and i don't even know if i'm saying that right and like angvall when he's in in the lineup and the way neilanders played their heads and shoulders above the rest of canada aren't they uh they are i got a lot of grief at the beginning of the season when i when i said on the podcast, it's Toronto and everybody else. It's true. And then Montreal had their big start, and you hear about it on Twitter, and you get the hammers put to you, and that's okay.

That's our business. That's all part of the business. I said Washington wasn't going to make the playoffs, Merrick. That's okay. That's all right, man. I'm still holding out hope. Dude, I got a worse one for you. On our Sportsnet predictions, which is published,

I said Nashville was going to be the surprise team. Oh, yeah. Wow. They're buzzing for all the wrong reasons. We all eat them, man. Don't worry about it. Yeah, exactly. One thing we should point out with the Toronto Maple Leafs, one player that you should circle as being front and center in those three games against the Oilers,

who really demonstrated that he can play on any line, be effective, play any role, and produce, and get under the skin of a goaltender like Mike Smith, and that's Zach Hyman. Oh, my goodness. Where he's taken his game this season. I know it's all Matthews and Marner, and they get the headlines, Morgan, Riley, Neal,

and Tavares, all that. I'll tell you, man, Zach Hyman has been fantastic for this team. He's a worker bee. He just works, works, works. I mean, that's what everybody's praising right now is the fact that they haven't had a third-line checking line like this in a long time, and it just complements well at the fact that not only can they get under other teams' skin,

but they can also produce. So now you've got those two waves of offense on the first line, the third line's coming at you, and then, of course, they've improved the back end as well. And, I mean, I joked around on Twitter the other night about it, but Leafs fans have been raving about him as Hall. Yeah. And it wasn't that long ago that he was sitting in the press box.

We talked about that, too. Couldn't even get in the lineup. 71 health bombs one year with Leonard Babcock. It's like, what are you doing tonight, bud? I don't know. Sorting out my sock drawer. I'm not going to be playing hockey tonight. That's for sure.

And yeah, he's distinguished himself. Him and Muzzin are like, that's the main shutdown duo. And they did a wonderful job against Connor McDavid in those last three games. I thought TJ Brody did a real good job. It seems as if, I mean, you guys have heard this before. You played and don't defend right like stop the rush before i don't let it set like all of that and it seems as if that's what they were trying to do and did effectively with conor mcdavid like all those stick plays were all before they got into

the toronto maple leaf zone and part of this too is and what you know that's my junior hockey love and i'll take this back to your uh your ohl here biz Sheldon Keefe's had to deal with Connor McDavid before in those Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds-Erie Otters games. Now, interestingly enough, one of the defensemen that he would use against them who was a real good skater and go stride for stride with McDavid was Darnell Nurse, who of course is with the Edmonton Oilers now. But if there's any coach in the NHL that's sort of grown up watching McDavid's game and thought about it and game planned

for what to do with Connor McDavid, it's Sheldon Keefe, and that goes back to Junior. Jeff, there was another fire in the division as well, not as big as news, but Stephon Waite, goaltending coach in Montreal, was let go. They brought in Sean Burke. I mean, Carey Price is 33 years old. He's having an off-year 8, 9, 3 save percentage.

How much is this really going to help him? It'll be a big factor here How do you think or what? Yeah, it's a great question. And for whatever reason, the hands-off conversation in Canada for years has been Carey Price. Carey Price is a good goaltender who used to be a great goaltender who used to be an elite goaltender. We haven't seen that guy since 2016-2017.

But for whatever reason, NHL players won't say it. Generally, media in Canada won't talk about it. There was those four years where he was the best goaltender in the world. Gold medal for Team Canada. Almost became like that moment he became hands-off.

But if you ask Carey Price, his game's been in decline for a few years now and there's no way i can know save percentages down across the league um but you just you just can't win unless your goaltender is like what now like what 9 15 it's impossible 9 20 you can't like there's just there's just no way to do it i mean we always talk about you know if the coach that wins the jack adams award first thing you need to do is go look at his goalie save percentage because i assure you it will not be in the 800s it's a it's a high 900 mike smith the one the year that dave tippett won his yeah what was his at biz you remember over a thousand he was fucking nuts man but but but it's

a great point it's like yeah ultimately it's what's in net that's going to be a big deciding factor. Elaine Vigneault has the great line when describing hockey. If your goaltender is better than my goaltender, you win. If my goaltender is better than your goaltender, I win. I can't remember who actually said this. It might have been Ned Harkness in the 70s. We should rename hockey goalie because ultimately that's what it all comes down to.

If you have the goalie, it's it's it's 70% of your team. And if you don't, it's a hundred and it's really that simple. Yeah. Wednesday night, there was another game. A lot of people were talking about,

not just Toronto Edmonton, but Trent Frederick and Alexander Ovechkin in Boston, Washington. What was your take on that? Do you think he knew who he was lining up with there for a second before he dropped the gloves? Of course. I think maybe for a second there he thought, wow, I can get Ovechkin off the ice for five minutes.

What kind of cookie is Bruce Cassidy going to give me when I get back to the bench here? First of all, I really like Trent Frederick. I don't know Trent Frederick. I've spoken to Trent Frederick, I think, for about 90 seconds at the draft when I interviewed him after Boston drafted him. But I really like him. And he's a skilled player who's tough.

I don't know many guys that knock on tom wilson's door i don't know any guys outside of ryan reeves that knock on tom wilson's door i think he'll knock on anyone's door i get the sense like this kid he doesn't care and you know what's cool about the offense you bring up is he he's like all right i'm putting that to the side i don't necessarily have that yet let me get this physicality let me get some room for myself and i think the offense will show itself i'm with you 100 like he is i remember talking to someone in boston after they made that pick let me get this physicality. Let me get some room for myself. And I think the offense will show itself. I'm with you a hundred percent. Like he is.

I remember talking to someone in Boston after they made that pick. It was the Buffalo draft. And I was talking to someone beside the Boston table. And I'm like, why did you most, most people had sort of Trent Frederick going in the second round. Like, why did you jump up and grab Frederick?

And the first, he said, one, we had Intel that Anaheim was going to grab him right after us. They took Sam steel at our Regina because we went the Trent Frederick route. But two, when it comes to skill down the middle, he was just flat out next on our list. And we couldn't turn that down. And eventually, David Krejci is not going to be a member of the Boston Bruins anymore.

And all of a sudden, you know, Coyle is going to slot higher. And so is Trent Frederick. He's going to slide into that. He is a natural centerman. He will be in that spot for the Boston Bruins. You're right about the toughness. You're right. He will knock on anyone's door. One of my favorite Trent Frederick stories

is this one. The American Hockey League. It's Springfield playing against Providence. Tommy Cross is playing for Springfield and he lays out Bobby Hughes with a like vicious elbow to the head. It's like instant, instant KO. Sussy coming.

Yeah. I'm sure you guys have seen the clip is on YouTube. It's a, it's a tough one. And so right away, Frederick goes at him. And in the American hockey league, they have the 10 fight rule. They have this in junior hockey as well. So you get 10 fights. And then after that, every fight you have, it's a suspension.

And the suspensions get bigger and bigger depending on how many fights you have. They keep the 30-fight guys out of the American Hockey League. And so at this point, Trent Frederick had three fights. I think it was three fights so far that season and he goes up to tommy cross and he says tommy i've got seven fights left this year and i'm using them all on you that is trent frederick yeah i'm listen i'm punching seven more i'm not playing anybody i got seven more fights and i'm using them all on seven more i'm not playing anybody i got seven more fights and i'm using them all on you oh my goodness that's unbelievable and you mentioned um

you mentioned creche and what a playoff player he is and i don't think by any means he's done but you're right he's i mean he's close to 36 if not already and you hear the rumor the rumor mill and you hear every team saying how do we get jack eichel and bruins fans are the same but if i look at jack eichel and the joke that the buffalo savers are is there any team that could go out and grab him and has any more of a package than new york rangers uh is that wishful thinking la could get it done okay la could probably rangers is the obvious one right like let me okay let me throw that we'll do like fantasy trade scenarios here if um if you're the new york rangers and the buffalo sabers came to you and said uh jack eichel in exchange for alexia lafreniere capo caco and a first i just i literally said this in two days ago i'm doing that in a heartbeat if i'm new york did you say that one

too biz yeah because i mean at this point like you got to expect okay let's say lafreniere ends up popping off he'll probably get to a level of what jack eichel has proven to do maybe even a little bit surpass that i hate giving up on these young guys because i feel like a lot of people do nowadays they come in at 18 19 they play two years and then it's like okay they haven't done anything ship them off somewhere. And it's kind of a, I think like this whole new move of putting these guys in the NHL at such a young age and not having them develop in the American League at all

has kind of made people move on from guys a lot earlier. But if I'm them, I would do it just because you have, who do you got? You got Zibanejad there, who's, I mean, he's not getting any younger, but he's pretty much in the prime of his career. You got, you got Kreider, who's been playing really well. I think he's had two hat-trick in the last eight days.

Artemi Panarin. Artemi Panarin. And they seem to have a decently good enough back end with a couple of young goaltenders. So why wouldn't you do it now? I guess it ends up being you give up on Lafreniere. You said something really interesting there, and I think I want to pick up on this one, Biz.

Because I think this is a really good point. And we saw this with, I think, the most recent example. Of giving up on a guy too young? No, of like saying that we seem to think that if someone doesn't make the NHL right out of the draft within the first year of them being drafted, they're like, oh, dud. Oh, he's not playing. Wasn't Jackes getting ripped on

last year i mean so the guy that i think of right now is ty smith right so ty smith goes and plays was it four years at spokane or yeah he played the four years of spokane and he's the first round draft pick and it just took him a little bit longer to get there but how much easier does he slide into that new jersey back end because he had that extra season and and i do think it's true and i do think defensemen get a little more leeway i think these young d-men whereas like the forwards because of what matthews and mcdavid and all these guys have done they get the pressure it's like you well you don't you didn't get 65 points when you're 19 it's like you know d-men are able to at least – the crazy expectations aren't there. And you've seen Darlene in Buffalo, and he hasn't caught as much heat as you feel like a young center would.

That's a really good point, and I will throw something back at you. I think by the time a defenseman is 21, we know what he's going to become. I'll throw something back at you. I think by the time a defenseman is 21, we know what he's going to become. We used to always say, Oh, 25,

26. And I always felt that that was general managers who have always had a hard time with that position, just buying themselves some time. Yeah. I mean, what you, you play D like, is that like,

I know what, by the time someone's 21, do you get a sense of like, okay, I can see where like, they might, might not be that actual defenseman that they're going to become at that age, but you have a sense by the time they're 20. It's not like this mystery envelope that you don't get to open until they're 25 years old. You kind of get a sense of what they're like when they're 21, don't you?

I agree, and I think a guy that hops to mind there is Jeff Petrie. And at 21, he wasn't who he is now, but you could see it. You could see it. And I remember, and maybe he might have been 22 that year, but it was like, all right, this guy's got something special, and once he gets the ice time, and by the time he gets to 25, I think he will be this player. But at 21, if he wasn't able to skate the way he did,

and he didn't have that offensive vision that would occasionally pop its head, you could be like, I don't know if we ever have an offensive defenseman here it's true um can i hop back to sean burke getting hired quickly i think that if there's one guy who could help carrie price get back to where he was it's it's him he's proven it over over the years um with i mean i watched him do it with ilia brisgalov i saw him do it with mike smith i wasn't there for the Devin Dubnik situation in Arizona, but he obviously found his game again there. I also heard that it happened between the second period

where they got rid of, is it Stefan Waite? Is that how you pronounce it? Stefan Waite, yeah. Yeah, and apparently there were some disagreements on maybe how he was playing technically and maybe with the way he was approaching the game mentally? I don't know what the discussion was, but that whole situation did kind of have

like a Mike Camilleri trade vibe to it, didn't it? Like, it was weird when, I mean, after the game, we get the announcement and then Marc Bergevin says, yeah, it was in the second period that we made the decision and went the other direction. I don't know what happened behind the scenes between Mark Bergevin and Stefan Waite. Like, I don't know.

It's like, okay, do you want Kerry playing more aggressive? Do you want him less aggressive, deeper? Honestly, I don't know what that conversation is. I do know I'm a big fan of Sean Burke. I'm with you, Paul. Like, I think that this guy's a real smart hockey person, probably going to be a general manager. Those intentions, he's made public a number of different times. That's a trajectory that he's on.

The interesting thing is it's a director title, so I'm not sure exactly how hands-on he's going to be right away with Carey Price. It seems as if this is sort of one level above that. But I'm with you. Any type of environment where you can get more attention and teaching for your goaltenders, the better. Because let's not forget, it wasn't until the mid-70s we saw anyone even whisper goaltending coach right yeah when did when did they come around i'll tell you exactly

when they came around it was a detroit red wings a guy by the name of dennis de jordi who was there helping jim rutherford with the detroit red when when detroit was a really struggling team like the first assistant coach ever was Mike Nikolak with the Philadelphia Flyers. Fred Shiro brought him in. And Dennis DiGiordi at the end of his career, who did play with the Red Wings as well, they brought him in as the goalie coach.

I remember I still have the Hockey News magazine somewhere downstairs here at the house about how much of a goalie coach, whoever heard of that? What the fuck? What are you going to teach him? Save the puck. You know, the weird thing about it is, too, when you guys watch old games,

isn't the one thing that jumps out at you how bad the goaltending is? Oh my god, yeah. It's awful. No form whatsoever. They're just standing there and taking swings at it. I don't know one position in all of sports that has improved more in the

last 30 years than hockey goalie i think i can't name it was all because it was probably being neglected yeah because coaches kind of said like oh yeah that's the crazy guy drinks too much yeah i don't know like i'm not gonna deal with that well that might be true too you mean director of goaltending so the one one story I can remember with Mike Smith was I think the first game he ended up getting lit up in San Jose. It was the first game of the season. Tippett brought him in because of the connection that they had, I believe, when they were in Dallas together.

And Smitty was like, oh, I stink. I don't deserve to play. Backup should play next game. And Berkey sat him down. He goes, no. He goes, you have to have the mentality that you want that net. Regardless of how you played the last, you have to go back in there. You have to be able to eventually find your own confidence. And sure enough, I want to say we lost in a shootout or overtime the next game.

But then slowly, surely, we won the third game. And then you could see it. And it started. And it started. And you could see they would always spend time on the ice together before practice and even after practice and have these long conversations. And Berkey was just, he just found a way to connect with him mentally.

And like I talked, Brizgala before him and Dubnik after. And for Carey Price's sake, I hope Carey Price now. You know what, you mentioned Mike Smith there with Sean Burke. And the first thing that jumps to my mind is is there a tougher goaltending coach slash player tandem in the history of the game than mike smith and sean burke sean burke may have been the toughest goalie a ray well ray emery no ray emery for like josh gratis okay so outside of ray ray was in a class of his own like he was one of those goalies that the wires could cross, for sure. And when he went, look out.

Like when Sean Burke went, yeah, forget about it. That guy, and raw bone tough. He wouldn't be shy to call guys out of the locker room either. He'd come in and be like, you know, just one by one. Pew, pew, pew, pew, pew, pew. Kind of like Chris Pronger, we talk about him. I love it. Hey, so we pew, pew, pew, pew. Kind of like Chris Pronger. We talk about him. I love it. Hey, so we've chatted with everyone about this.

And Biz actually made a pretty good call the other night that Chicago and Pittsburgh, they seem to be in very similar positions. Where it's like we have this core and we saw a guy from Chicago technically announce his retirement today. Not officially because he'll continue to get paid. But Brent Seabrook. And what's unfortunate is I think a lot of fans, in the end, they won't remember him this way, but right now it's like, oh, the contract and the albatross of the deal.

And it's almost good for us at this moment that it's not going against our cap, but Olympic gold medal, three-time Stanley Cup champion, and a guy who really, without his presence, the Blackhawks probably never get to where they would have been, huh? Yeah, 100%. You know how I'm going to remember Brent Seabrook

and remember Brent Seabrook's career, all those things you talked about, but that moment where it was Brent Seabrook that had to calm down Jonathan Taves in the penalty box. Yeah, that was before their first one. That was before 10, right? Remember when Taves was going banana sandwich and it was like, all right, here comes Brent Seabrook.

Say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's remember why we're here. Just relax. We get past this. Like outside of when he played and he was healthy, man, I had all day for Seabrook. That combo with Keith was just devastation, right? It was fantastic. But i'll remember that guy like i won't remember that as much as he was fantastic on the

ice and all the success i'll remember that guy that had to go to the player that many think was the greatest leader of this generation with all due respect to sydney crosby jonathan taves and say hey let's take a breath here. Yeah, he was a calming influence. I was fortunate enough to play with him at under 18. He was our team captain. And same calm demeanor. He was a beast back then. That was the 03 draft, right? So one of the best drafts, if not the best draft of all time.

I talk about it about, I think, every podcast now, right? Because you were in it. What played in the 99 peewee journey? 97. Come on. Holy fuck. What are you, the co-host? But yeah, no, an unreal career.

It's unfortunate. It's got to end the way it has, but definitely you should be remembered for all those glory years. To that point, though, I want to point something out here, too. We spend a lot of time talking about not giving up. We spend a lot of time about, you know, no matter what obstacles put in front of you, you know, you applaud the person that won't quit, never say die, try to come back. That's why I love the way

Peter Forsberg went out. I think a lot of people say, Oh, Peter Forsberg, tarnish ripped it. No way, man, that guy, as long as he was going to get a contract, he wanted to play hockey. He tried on every single boot in North America to try to find one that fit and was comfortable and would allow him to play and they had to drag him off the ice and i'll say the same thing about brent seabrook like he could have packed it in how many years ago i know kept trying to come back that's a guy we don't look at you go oh the albatross contract oh good get rid of him no i would look at seabrook and say man you know what that's the guy that never quit and they had to drag off the ice warrior and any team will any team will take that guy and shout out to him i read a quote that he said um going into the bubble

he said he'd never felt better he felt quick he felt strong again he felt healthy he was so excited when that ended uh right before christmas he woke, said he couldn't walk. And it really hasn't changed. So like thinking of him in terms of hockey's over, let's just get healthy, live your life with your family. But, but like you said, I mean,

this guy was giving it his all and wouldn't quit until he finally realized, listen, I got nothing left in the tank. Yeah. I'm with you. I'll take a guy like that all day. And quickly to shift it back to Forsberg. Didn't he have like a STEM unit?

He was trying everything. He was trying STEM. He was trying he was trying yeah during games he'd have a stim unit i think trying to activate certain muscles that weren't able to fire like that's to the extent this guy tried to come back i love that yeah honestly like i i've never been someone that's like oh well this you know they you have to leave the stage while they're still clapping go out on top no way man yeah you know what if you really love it and you're and you're and you play like the way that Forsberg played like all these guys could have packed it in years ago and here's a guy that made bank he didn't care he just what if they're gonna take me off the ice it's gonna be kicking and screaming I'll take that

guy and I want that guy and your boy your our buddy, Brian Burke, he takes over in Pittsburgh. It's so funny to get different people's ideas and thoughts on what they do and what happens with Crosby. And I'm just curious where you lie and where you think this ends up going. With Crosby? With Crosby and just kind of the future of the Pens. It's a great question. And you never want to quit on a guy like Sidney Crosby. We can all see the landscape.

We can all see what's around him. We all know what's happened historically with this team. For the longest time, the motto was, as long as you have, you know, the Tang and Crosby and Malkin, you go for it. Yeah. And that's what Jim Rutherford, you know, did. But, you know, eventually, you know,

the lights go up and the bill comes and you got to pay and then get out. Yeah. And it does very much have that feeling like we're there now. And I think the only question is how long it's going to take to rebuild this thing up and where's Crosby going to be at when that does indeed happen that

to me is probably the and I know they're talking about extending Evgeny Malkin uh in the in the offseason I think that's the wish of uh of ownership um I don't know if it is the wish of management but um I think we all know where this thing is this thing is headed you can only be on top for so long the question is you know how long are you going to be at the bottom? And the one thing that we've seen before, man, first of all, rebuilds are not linear. And second of all, following that motto of bottom out, get rid of everybody, go right to the bottom and build it up from scratch,

that doesn't always work. And if it doesn't work, it's painful. That's the best example. And if it doesn't work, it is really painful. So if you're going to commit to doing it, do it while you still have some players around. We still have some guys that can play. And you have someone that's going to go on the Mount Rushmore of hockey one day there.

So do it now. So it moves your rebuild along that much quicker. Jeff, what did you make about the abrupt resigning from Jim Rutherford that kind of come out of nowhere? It seems as if that was building for a while and there was something philosophical between Rutherford and David Morehouse. I don't know whether it was over a player and I want to trade this guy or we can't resign this guy.

I don't know. But it seemed as if, I mean, it was sort of positioned as a regular conversation and one person took it one way and another took it the other way. I think I was surprised by it. But, you know, now that we have hindsight here, it does kind of make sense if there was a philosophical disconnect. And the one thing we know about Rutherford is like, he's a principled guy and he's not like when he, when he,

when he's the general manager, he has two hands on the wheel and it's his team. And he did it with Carolina, did it with the Pittsburgh Penguins, success in both. And that's a guy that's used to having two hands on the wheel. And if it's not going to be him steering it, you know what? A lot of guys would just say, I'm getting getting paid i'm hanging in there every two weeks the paycheck's going to show up and someone's going to yell stop thief but not your mother for it he called it a day

i got one last one for you is uh jack eichel going to be on the buffalo sabers next season wow sorry to put you on the spot no No, no, no, that's okay. That's totally, that's a fair question. Have you heard of that trade proposal, like, anywhere else other than, like, you thinking of it, the one from New York? Yes, yes. So that is not just something that came to your mind on your own. There's, I mean, there's so much talk around Jack Eichel right now. To answer your question, R.A., because I don't want to dodge it

and do the standard guy on TV who doesn't want to get lit up on Twitter routine. I don't. I don't expect him to be on the Buffalo Sabres next season. Do you think something could get done this year, given that? No. No? I can't see it this year. Doesn't this have a feeling to you, like, this is an off-season deal?

That's what I said yesterday. It's too big to happen mid-year. Yeah, too big. And listen, who's the biggest person that has to be settled with it? Terry Pergola. Yeah. There is an emotional attachment to the Buffalo Sabres that Terry Pergola has going right back to that opening press conference

when he had tears in his eyes when he saw Gilbert Perrault. I grew up watching the French Connection. I think the first thing, if you're going to make that move, you have to settle Terry Pagula with it, and then you make the move. Now, to my knowledge, and Elliot's talked about this before as well, I don't think that Jack Eichel has asked for a trade, but he looks like a different player i don't want to say checked out because that's way too checked it man way too strong but he

looks beaten down and how can you and how can you not yeah exactly it's been a long is this his seventh year it's like yeah you talk about the the rebuild where all right break, break it down and let's go, and that's what worked for Pittsburgh and Chicago, and then there's Buffalo and Edmonton. You're like, whoa, wait a minute here. But, Jeff, this has been great. I mean, there's so much going around the league, and you're kind of so dialed in. You and Elliot do a great job.

Biz mentioned 31 Thoughts and on Sportsnet, too. So keep it up, and thanks for joining us. When it comes to hockey podcasts, there is a bullet called Spittin' Chicklets, and we just sort of at 31 just exist in that sort of vacuum right behind it. Well, you guys give real info. We talk about R.A.'s toe cheese. Start talking about Elliot's toe cheese, maybe. A little bit of a yin and yang going on there.

Exactly. Elliot gives us enough ammunition with his styles on television these days. Exactly, exactly. What did you guys think about the neck warmer he wore a couple weeks ago? He had the Bond villain look going. I loved it. He was good, eh? Him and Auston Matthews are going with the turtlenecks.

I just was dying for him to say, no, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die going to break or something like that. One billion thoughts. One billion. It looked like he was heading to the Regal Beagle at Larry Dallas and Jack Trippo. That is a very, very hip Three's company. You and I are the same vintage, so we can appreciate the Regal Beagle. I got one last question, Jeff. How many hours a day are you consuming anything hockey related?

Is it just the minute you wake up? It's all day long. I try to have more balance in my life now than ever before because I think it makes me a better host. And I think it also makes me a better person, not just to be the 24-7 hockey guy. And I didn't realize that until only a few years ago. I used to think that man I'm slipping if I'm not reading or watching or like all of that and then I just realized well I'm just becoming a one-dimensional person so I'm trying to be better about it there's certain things you

have to like at the end of it you got to watch the games and you got to make your phone calls and your texts and you have your responsibilities but I'm trying to be a more well-rounded person these days. So that's a long-winded way of saying not as much as I used to, but I still spend a big part of my day around the sport. Well, everyone can tell because you're the encyclopedia, like I said. So keep it up and we'll talk to you soon. Remember, if you're not sure of something, say it loud. Loud and proud, buddy. Loud and proud. See you later. Thank you very much, Jeff Merrick. Like I said, the wizard. Call him the hockey encyclopedia.

The man knows everything. But all you people who see him on TV every night in Canada or listen to him and know what he looks like, he's all buttoned up. He's got the glasses on occasionally. This guy's ripping arm sleeve tattoos badass at home. So I think you don't really know the real Jeff Merrick. But either way, thank you very much. Absolute fantastic host. arm sleeve tattoos badass at home so i think you don't really know the real jeff merrick but either

way thank you very much absolute fantastic host i was up toronto for the goom 2 premiere and he gave me the cbc studio tour show me all around just an awesome dude one of the best in the biz but anyways biz the super bowl and valentine's day just happened and chances are that if you aren't on the dhm detox train yet you are feeling awful the next day after boozing because DHM detox is the vitamin for when you drink and it's here to help with liver support, help break down the toxins and get you feeling fresh the next morning. Bill, I was guessing you went through a few of these down in Florida. I was crushing the hydration replenisher and the DHM detox pills. If I didn't have them there, there's no way we wouldn't be able to bank eight or nine

interviews, whatever we got. So you've taken two, four? I always double up. I talk about this stuff all the time. I give it to all my buddies, the pills. I hand them out at the weddings. They just came out with the hydration replenisher, which is just all, like, good vitamins. And what's the salt?

What's the pink salt in there? Himalayan? Himalayan? I think Tom Brady made that popular. Oh, yeah? Well, now DHM Detox slash Hydration Replenisher made it popular. Nice. A little wrestling promo there.

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The first 10 orders using Biz20 will receive a No Days Wasted hat. This is the hat Biz is always wearing on his stories. No Days Wasted will reach out directly to you via email if you've won. Probably could have used a few more of those down in Florida myself. But, all right, moving right along. The other big story. You, nah. Come on, nah.

Actually, I was pretty good for the most part last week. Yeah, you had a hell of a performance the first live stream besides rubbing toe cheese on my frigging shirt. But other than that, you were electric. Yeah, I appreciate that, pal. This actually happened after we talked to jeff marrick tom wilson uh he buried uh boston bro and brandon carl on the boards i showed it to biz right away we kind of agreed he was going to get suspended lots of chatter about it he ended up getting seven games it got announced saturday saturday night

there was no penalty called in the play carl did have to leave the game go to the hospital via ambulance uh he missed the 17 postseason due to a concussion. Wilson fought Jared Tenorti, who was in his second game with the Bruins. Then he fought Trent Frederick later in the game. I'm sorry. What was your take on the hit, the suspension, and anything else?

Not surprised at all by the suspension. Now, there's a bunch of different layers here that we can go into, and I've seen so many different opinions, including Alexander Ovechkin, who had a pretty, I don't know, passionate, is that the right word? Probably not, quote about the whole incident. He said, I think it's kind of a joke because we were talking to the refs

after the first period, and he said, I don't think it was even two minutes. It was a hard hit. Yeah, the player got hurt. It sucks, but when you play hockey, you have to be ready for that. So if you look – Under the bus. Oh, right under the bus. At least you didn't give the refs names.

Oh, yeah. That would be hard to figure out. Probably the guy who didn't make the call. Okay, the crazy thing is people are like – I'll agree. It wasn't a head shot. That was not the principal point of contact. But what it was was a dirty fucking hit. So it's like the guy is totally vulnerable.

And you can say hockey, yeah, you got to have your head up. You got to understand what's going on. If anyone else in the league throws that hit, I'm saying it's a dirty hit. With Wilson being the guy, boom, he's getting extra games. He got, what, an eighth of a season, I think? Seven games is an eighth of this season. It would be close to 10 games if it was a regular season. I'm not surprised at all.

When you've had the history that this guy has, any sort of leniency is gone. Any 50-50 where you could look at suspension, not suspension, one game or four games, he's going the upper way. He's getting more than you'd think anyone else would get. I'll say this. The Komarov hit. Who did Komarov hit the other night?

This is going to drive me nuts. I'll think of it. And when Biz talks, I'll bring up the hit. It was just as bad. I don't think he got any games. That was open ice though, wasn't it? No, it was against the boards. It was against the boards.

Hold on, I'll go fuck myself. Larzeller. Larzeller. Go was against the boards. Hold on, I'll go fuck myself. Lars Eller. Lars Eller. Go look at that hit. And you can't tell me that that hit, that Wilson's isn't that much worse than that one, but it's Tom Wilson. So the ref not making the call on the ice is nuts.

Dude, I don't care. That's a straight-up boarding penalty, if anything. They didn't even call anything on the ice, and he gets seven games? Talk about being a touch-off. Now, Laviolette and Ovechkin, they're saying it was a clean hit. I could not disagree more. Yeah, I mean, it's kind of like what they're trying to eliminate. I mean, I thought – I didn't think he was going to get that many.

I thought he was going to get like three games, but like you said – I thought he was getting four. The reputation kind of follows you around a little bit oh my goodness i saw the good thing for him i think it's been 18 months since his last incident or over 18 months so he didn't get dinged as a technical repeat offender where if he was he would have lost like 650 grand where he still ended up losing just over 300 grand i mean that's a bit of a kick in the nuts to the wallet but uh i yeah i just i think i think the the ultimate result in the fact that they get to assess the fact that he goes to the hospital he's got to get checked out and and it's

tom wilson throw that all in a ball and and yeah you get the result that you did i uh i think yeah it's it's just what they're trying to get out of the game i think that what was weird is he kind of came out of nowhere and he was already engaged with somebody else so the minute he got away it's like he kind of like spun off the check or got away from the other check and all of a sudden he just came in and and and the result ended up being shitty so i don't know that's really all i gotta say about it you covered most of it with i would say in the late 90s early 2000s maybe when you and I even started playing biz, that's not a suspension. Yeah, no. But the game has changed where the rules have been made

where they're just read and looked at differently now. And the headshot things become a huge issue, but he didn't get them in the head first. That was pretty clear to me watching the video. And it's interesting that you say everyone thought, oh, he's not a repeat offender because it's been that you say everyone everyone thought oh he's not a repeat offender because it's been 18 months well yeah that matters like you said for the money but you're always a repeat offender suspension wise that ain't going away yeah yeah i think it's about

to turn headshots you know it's like no matter who does it how they do it these we see guys later in life the fucking damage they have man and that's what we're trying to prevent i hear people are hockey's going soft and it's pussies. It's like, no, man. So these guys can have a normal life later. You know what I mean? And if you could have deterrents like this, I mean, things are going to happen. But it's about keeping these guys safe later in life more, I think, anyways.

Also, did you see Bergeron went over to Wilson before the start of the second period? No one knows what he said and no one's ever probably going to hear. But that's pretty unusual for Bergeron to go over. It's not really his style. Yeah, but I also look at it like this like Bergeron is is a sick player and he doesn't have to play like that in order to be successful and Tom Wilson does and we were stroking him off on the live stream the other night people are still going to be checking their shoulder when Tom Wilson's Tom Wilson's breathing down their neck come playoff time and it's just like listen like that's, that's who he is as a player.

He's going to play on that line. And I'm sorry to say it, guys. I still want him on my fucking team because he's a proven winner and he still puts the puck in the back of the net. It's just like that's what you kind of got to live and die by. Every GM in the league would take him. Legit. Yeah. Every team would take that guy.

And I know some people listening, they hate to know some people listening it's just like it hates they hate to hear that but it's just like oh sorry that's yeah and bergeron good for him for sticking up for his teammate and going over and say something yeah who did he fight first you mentioned frederick got him second oh yeah tenorti he's looked pretty solid he's actually played like a lot um coming in to the Bs. They picked him up. But, yeah, I mean, what's hard now for Wilson, and it had been so long in quotations since the last suspension, but you come back and you're not exactly the same exact intensity. Or I will say this, it's very hard to be when you're thinking about

the next one's 10 games and another 600 grand. And the next thing you know, you're Rafi Torres. Yeah. You're talking. You know, you're thinking about the next one's 10 games and another 600 grand and the next thing you know you're raffy torres yeah you're talking you know you're done and and when you play that style it's like i i shouldn't say it is really hard because i did not play that style i don't know but i'm guessing it's very hard to turn that switch off um as far as the refs man when you're watching a real speed i can see probably how they missed it i don't think people should beat up on the refs here they didn't you're watching a real speed, I can see probably how they missed it. I don't think people should beat up on the refs here. They didn't really do anything wrong here. Yeah, they missed the initial call.

But when you're watching real speed from one angle, I can see it maybe look like a regular check from their perspective. Oh, I held nothing. About his comment to Ovi, it's just like, yeah, it's real time. I mean, when you see the replay, it looks a lot worse. But Marshawn on TV dropped bullshit and fucking cheap shots. So anytime we get swears on live TV, always a bonus. I know we talked about a little bit with Merrick,

but Frederick dropping the gloves at Ovi. Ovi got him with a little cup check later. Ovi got a $5,000 fine for that. Someone brought that up. Is that a decent amount to get a guy in the nuts? Dude, Ovi's probably like, I would have paid fucking $25,000 for that, given how he would have just swiped fucking putin's card on that one like come on that's five grand that's i hear he's got more in his cup holder in his in his lamborghini whatever he's driving

in 2007 i speared the one and only alexander ovechkin exactly like that and got 2,500. So inflation's crushing people now. You got dinged. Do we talk about this on a previous podcast? Yeah, I think so. And in the talk with the man who was in charge of suspensions and fines, he's like, ah, you got the right guy. Where'd you get him? It was the exact same play as Ovechkin did to Fred Rick. You got the right guy. Where'd you get him?

It was the exact same play as Ovechkin did to Frederick. Oh, you got him in the balls? Ovechkin did it on purpose. I did not try to do it. I was trying to pitch fork him and just got his gonads. So was this after that Frederick had dropped the gloves and tried to get him to fight, or was this previous? What, the nut shot? I think that was after.

Yeah, it was after, yeah. Okay, so that was a follow-up. Whereas, I mean, I'm pretty sure we've mentioned that, or did we talk about that on the live stream, the fact that Frederick tried to get him going, tried to fight Ovi? Yeah, we did that too, but we don't know. We don't assume all our listeners are watching the live stream. Yeah, he was cross-checking him pretty good, Frederick was,

and Ovi was just fucking sick of it. He's probably like, you know, I got fucking 720 goals. Hey, keep in mind, like, Frederick's tough and he's willing. Like, we saw what happened when you poked the bear, Ovechkin. Remember Shvetchenikov tried to go him and he dropped him like a sack of bricks? Did he one-punch him? He one-punched him. I don't even think I would have fought Ovi when I was playing.

Not like I would have been on the ice with him or even in the fucking lineup. Wait, what? I don't know if we're going him or even in the fucking lineup. Wait, what? I don't know if we're going to fight him in warm-ups. I don't know if we're going to have any... Oh, sorry. Go ahead, Biz. No, Ovi's like 240. He's a machine. Yeah, he is a monster. I don't know if we're going to have any Blues-Bruins media hockey games coming up soon, but if we do, Jack

Edwards might want to look over his shoulder for Kelly Chase. Kelly Chase had tweeted, I'm a huge fan of Trent Frederick and a lot of the Bruins staff. I grew up a Bruins fan. Wanted to play for them, had a Barbio lunch kit, but I would love to play one game against Jack. I might not be able to catch him, but his smile would look a lot different. I've said since this podcast began, he is the biggest donkey announcer, maybe of all time. An absolute clown show. he talks about the revolutionary war he talks about other players he's just an absolute clown and i'll tell you like some

bruins fans love him i i mean forget like the chirping of the other team and he is the biggest homer in the world i want a little bit of uh i don't know like bias opinion neutral neutrality is that a word i don't know google it yes can you google it i could do jack edwards job my sleep that guy's a muppet i can't stand listening to him the fact that i have to watch the bruins all the time with that voice and those terms it makes me sick probably wouldn't be uh hard to knock those teeth out either because they're like a highlighter, yellow highlighter. You ever seen those things?

Oh, brushed them with a butterfinger. Yeah. One thing that didn't get you sick this weekend, Matt Bazal's goal. That has to be the goal of the year right now. I know Carl has had a couple of them, but I can't even describe what he did there. Between the legs, after he dusted, I think, wrist to line. And is that the best of the year so far, or what? I mean, just the fact that he was able to stay up on the play,

because, you know, he was met with contact. But then after that, to quickly know that he's got to go between the legs, because as the goalie's sliding over, that's really his only angle. And he did it to perfection. I mean, he is such a special player. And that's a team right now that's rolling his only angle and he and he did it to perfection I mean he is such a special player and that's a team right now that's rolling as well but yes I would say easily candidate for top probably top three goals of the year I have to take back I could not do Jack Edwards job I was thinking of doing color but I love Andy Brickley so go brick go I could not be play by play I would

fall asleep back back to what you were just talking about. The Barzell goal is so phenomenal. Goal of the year, no doubt, but I gotta maybe lean towards and defend the defenseman who gets out-muscled and looks horrible. I was that guy many times because Ristolan looks so bad. He fell over and got completely out-muscled.

And a lot of people say he's so much bigger than Barzell. I'll tell you this. These little guys with their big-ass fire hydrant when they get low if you're taller you have no chance they almost it almost looked like he went underneath him he got so low to the ice he's so powerful it's like there wasn't a chance in hell that ristolina was knocking him off the puck so amazing goal but i know he looked bad but not many defensemen in the world wouldn't have looked bad in that case yeah and everyone on the sabers looks bad oh my goodness would they lose three straight games five two to the islanders i just i honestly feel bad from that them at this point but

the good news is short in season this like the hell will be over soon and every time every time we have i think they're purg, I think their last win was an overtime against the New Jersey Devils, who stink right now. But what have they lost, six, seven straight now? Buffalo lost all four games they played since our last show, six straight in a row. GM Kevin Adams had a Friday presser, said it's unacceptable where we're at. Everything's being evaluated, including Ralph Krueger.

Adams noted he has the full authority to fire whoever he wants. He said the passion hasn't been good enough, the compete hasn't been good enough, and we have to fix it. This quote from MSG analyst Steve Halleket, I think the Buffalo players should be wearing ski masks on the 15th and 30th of every month because there's no way you can have that star power and then not have any pushback. I mean, they look like they've quit on this season. I think they're very easy to play against. I mean, they look like they've quit on this season.

I think they're very easy to play against. I think that's a dreadful hockey team. They should be embarrassed. Daryl Sutter's going to have to coach the Flames and the Buffalo Sabres. He's going to have to PJ back and forth. Did I read the Flames had like three fights in the entire year and had five in two periods the other night? I might be off on the first number. Yeah, Buffalo.

I mean, I don't know what else to say. This is every week we're doing this. It's nonstop. It's just a nightmare. Skinner scored. At least he got a goal. Fuck, if you're looking for silver linings as a Sabres fan, maybe he could somehow get going.

Yeah, but Biz, you say when the short season ends, you know, the hell's over for them. I don't know what's going on there next year. So you understand the GM saying all doors are open. I'm sure they're going to have plenty of callers. What teams wouldn't want to act like Sam Reinhart right now, try to squeeze him out of there? That guy's nice.

Yeah, he's a good player. He could fit in anywhere. He's probably been the biggest silver lining so far. And the funny part about that is before the year, they didn't even want to sign him to a long-term deal. they just wanted to give him one year to see if he could prove himself again so i don't know it's a bit of a shit show so we can move on from the sabers we did our weekly uh rub their fucking nose and shit segment yeah we i mean i will say this i am so mad all right i don't know how about how you feel about this we should be up a million dollars betting against

the sabers this year yeah i've been on them i've been on them one time they won i hate laying that fucking 260 though that's tough when they because they lose one that wipes out three three two and a half wins before that you know yeah but goal line yeah yeah and we hate like listen buffalo fans we love you guys we can't wait to get there we hate beating up your team every weekend like i said i don't know the answer man it's like all right they're saying a lot worse right now. I think we're okay. If they fire Kruger, they're fucking punching holes in their drywall right now.

I mean, firing Kruger, that's not going to change the season. I mean, the season's probably lost at this point. I mean, they don't want to pay another coach. But at the same time, these guys aren't playing like they should be. So, I don't know. I think they should get Pagula. Scott Norwood's never felt better. I think they should get the Pagulas on the bench.

Let's just go full. Let's go full Sabre. Full Monty. Central Division, big news out of that. Brent Seabrook announced that his career is over after 15 NHL seasons. He won three cups with the Blackhawks. He's had tons of injuries lately. They've all added up.

He's got three years left at 6.875 mil. Obviously, he's not going to officially retire and forfeit that, so he'll go on to ltir veteran long-term injury reserve uh kirby doc um we had him on the show before he sent out a nice tweet it said fucking siebes i fucking love you guy you're the fucking best let's get fucking stoned i was like i was looking over to read no just kidding doc i said siebes in the short time i have been in Chicago, you have taught me a lifetime of lessons.

You are one of the best to ever put on the Blackhawk logo and an even better person off the ice. I cannot thank you and your family enough. Congrats on the great career. I know we mentioned it earlier, but I want to say it. Well, he was living with them. Yeah, and he did a great job, Doc, of picking out a picture that he looked just phenomenal in.

You know, it's like the girls. Like, I'm posting the picture that I look amazing in. Yeah, I want a few DM slides if I'm giving congratulations. I don't care the birthday girl. I don't care that she was chewing gum and her mouth was open in the pic. Seabrook, I know we mentioned it in the Merrick interview, but he actually had a full-blown, you couldn't dream up his career when you were a kid,

like to think of what he did at 10 years old. You're just like, no, even, even, I mean, I was dreaming of playing in the NHL and winning a Stanley cup three and the gold medal is like,

what an amazing career. I want to say congratulations to him because the fact that you got to interview him alone, I think biz out in Vancouver one summer, I'd love to get him on again and just kind of ask him about his favorite memories because there's probably 50 of them. Yeah, I think he was a little toned down in that one. I think we can get him to let it fly a little on the next interview.

But more importantly, above all else, under-18 gold medal for Team Canada that I was able to play with him on. And that probably above all the other accolades. I want to talk about what's on tweet about the chicago blackhawks it's okay they don't know they weren't there no i know you want it i mean i don't bring up stuff that i want as a youth and you're constantly bringing up the under 18s did you hear me what no about you tweet about blackhawks fans blackhhawks fans? Yeah, so I was... How about this?

I didn't like where this was heading. I didn't like where this was heading because before the year I said, I don't think the Hawks have any chance of making the playoffs. I think when I said that, I was like, I hope they do. I'm a Chicago guy through and through.

I love the city. And then as the season went on, I kept sticking to the guns of like, I don't think they will. But then they beat Tampa the other night. And I said, listen, I hate the to the guns of like, I don't think they will, but then they beat Tampa the other night, and I said, listen, I hate the scumbag Islanders fans and all those losers that root for the team, but

I don't hate the Hawks fans. I don't want to be at war with you. I actually love your team. I love the uniforms, the three cups. I was rooting for them, even though I was playing in the league, so I don't want to battle, and I was wrong about the team. They're good. Now, mind you, I sent this tweet. I think they were up 3-0 against Tampa.

I want to say in 10 minutes it was 4-3 Tampa. It's 6-3 right now. I had Tampa minus one and a half. Oh, no, it's over. It's over. It's over. Hey, that's a double winner over in the puck line. But, no, Hawks fans, I'm all aboard.

It takes a big man to admit when he was wrong, and I'm on the train now because let's go. Let's get into the playoffs. Let's shock some people. Their games have been great, man. Tampa, Chicago. They have been very entertaining to watch. It was a Friday night.

That overtime, incredible. So I was a little bit confused, though, on that first game because they played three in a row now. The first game at.01 seconds, the puck was still on the goal line when they showed the overhead view of it. Now, maybe the clock was not aligned and I was seeing the wrong pictures online, but they called it a goal initially and then it stayed a goal. Maybe it was because they called it a goal while they couldn't reverse it.

But when I see the overhead and I see that the puck's still on the goal line at.01 seconds, I don't understand how they counted it now Chicago you mentioned how entertaining entertaining these games have been they ended up following up the next game with a 4-3 shootout win and then of course this game today which Chicago got off to the the 3-0 lead but uh end up blowing it and losing 6-3 but I'll tell you what man just very entertaining high-flying offense they have a lot of guys contributing Alex Debrinket with an unbelievable comeback season so far I know he struggled a lot last year I want to say he's got at least 13 tucks on the year and has really elevated his game and you know it's unfortunate they they lost Taves and Doc but sometimes when

you lose those guys you know there there is a another player that ends up getting those types of touches and it seems he's thriving with it and and we've already stroked patrick kane off enough this year which uh he he is definitely in the mvp talks right now 14 talks actually 14 now 14 assists and kubelik i mean like late late pick of the kings nine years ago or eight years ago and plays in check plays in switzerland comes over last year a quiet 46 points in 68 games i mean i know he was up for rookie of the year i believe but man he's come back and he's been right there he's been that offensive player so sweet find there from a guy who was playing over in switzerland and europe overall for five years stan the man six years he was in

europe fuck we're gonna have barstool chief writing an apology letter to Stan pretty soon after this performance. Yeah, I wouldn't put the farm on that. Carolina Hurricanes, they're four straight. They had three wins this week. But the news out there, Brett Pesci, a little slew fit on Fabry, $5,000 fine. That's a dangerous play, man. Not picking on, but you saw the highlight. That was like your carbon copy slew foot.

Probably one of the nicest slew foots I've ever seen. A little tough, though, as you mentioned, and why it was so ugly already was because it was so close to the bench. And as they're headed there, you got the opening door. Yeah, it was dirty. But I'll say, yeah, 5K definitely ran on the button. I think a slew foot is maybe one of the dirtiest plays in hockey. You're completely defenseless,

and you're probably landing on your shoulder, neck, or head. So I remember growing up, I was told by my dad, if anyone slew foot you, cross-check them in the face. Literally, I remember some kid slew footed me, and he ran down the locker room. He's like, get that kid. I was like, oh, my God. I was like, I am not exactly the killer.

But he made it clear, you cannot allow anyone to ever slew foot you. It's a dirty play that can cause serious injury. I feel like we don't get a chance to talk about Carolina enough though. But just listen, this team is proven. They are very dangerous. I could see them making a run.

I question their goaltending at the start of the year, but they just keep finding ways to win, and Rod the Bod's got a nice – he's done a very, very good job of getting those guys dialed in. Now, if I could ask the Carolina Hurricanes a favor, do not, and I repeat, do not waste Keith Yandel's 1,000th game tonight. They got to let one slip. They got to let one slip here.

They got to let him score a goal and assist, and maybe even a Gordie Howe hat trick. Who knows? First thousand. Guys, I remember being a part of, you know, different thousand game milestones for guys. And you start thinking about it as you play, especially retire where I'm looking at my career

and didn't even get 500. Thousand games is so incredible to like see somebody get because what it takes even get 500, 1,000 games is so incredible to see somebody get because what it takes to get there, only the people who have done it understand. And there's been people who have come so close, and it's an amazing career, but you still kind of always deep down know, like, oh, 1,000 games is just – like when you tell somebody you've got 1,000 games. So for a really close friend of mine, somebody I consider like family, Keith to get this done i'm so happy for him and and his family too because his wife and and his parents like everyone goes in your entire like life and who you're with all played a huge

role in that and i think that like getting to see him do that i wish there was fans there and hopefully he gets a different uh maybe a a ceremony with the silver stick next year when fans are back. I know there's a few in his building, but from where he was at 15, 16 years old, I did not see this coming. He was a madman. And then once he turned pro and he talks about meeting Shane Doan, every day was basically built around becoming the best possible player he

could become. He started training in the summer, like no one I've ever seen, right? I mean, like this guy, he can go and go on the ice. He never gets tired. He used to win the fittest player every year at Arizona training camp. That's how much he turned it all around. Now, I believe 352 players all time now have played 1,000 games, which tells you how difficult it is in the NHL. And Grinnelli

also has an announcement. We are releasing some very, very cool shirts. Why don't you stand up and show the screen? We got some limited edition silver outline with a silver metallic for Keith. SONC 1,000 games t-shirt. These will be limited edition so you can support

Keith by buying these guys in the Barstool Sports store. That's barstoolsports.com. Keith needs a lot of money support. Yeah, we're getting a little fun going for him so he can reach 100 sheets. Keith has a GoFundMe. I like the silver for the silver stick. That's a classy touch.

So congrats to Keeno, the song man himself. Don't you guys call him Keno because he loves scratch tickets? And he loves Keno too. He loves bar Keno. That's a game in Massachusetts. You play sitting in a bar drinking. It's called Keno. Once he got that skateboard confiscated, he was

off and running on his NHL career. Another note, the Svechnikovs played against each other for the first time. Obviously, Andre is on Carolina. His brother, Evgeny, was drafted by Detroit back in 15. I don't know if Jordan Martinuk gave his brother the... Svechnikov! Please never do that.

I can't do it right now. Please never do that again. I'm all busy. Did he spit on you? Yeah, pretty much. Pretty much right in my face. I need a replay. I don't know what's worse, that or the fucking toe jam.

I want a replay. I think there was a second spitter. I don't know if I got it. I'll try one and then you can try one. The first one you choked on something. I'm hoarse, man. I can't hit those levels right now. I'm a little hoarse.

Okay, we're going to give you one more shot here. Really? You're better than this, Ari. You can't end on that. I can't. I can't. It's, Ari. You can't end on that. I can't. It's not there. I think we have to end the podcast. I can tell it's not going to come and I'm just going to fucking...

There you go. Well, either way, the two brothers got to play against each other for the first time. No, they went back and they didn't play the game because they heard what the fuck you just did. No, dude. They sent him back to Russia. They sent him back to Russia because of that. I'm going to be at a fucking Russian gas meet in the fucking state.

Anyways, it's cool. Cool. Anytime brothers get to go head to head. Interestingly enough, the Stalls also played head to head in the same game, but they've been doing that for a while. The Predators, some injuries. They're having a rough year, obviously. Duchesne out three to five weeks. UC Saros is on the IR.

Columbus Blue Jackets. It's kind of funny. We talked about fired coaches last week, and there's some news there. Well, wasn't Jarmo talking about Tortorella? Yeah, he basically came out with a vote of confidence. They're not going anywhere. The staff is fine. And Tortorella said, I hate him having to do that, but I appreciate it.

I'm not sure what was said, but we're all big boys here. When you're losing games that are playing as poorly as we're playing, those questions need to be asked. It was probably just, you know, that tweet goes out, we talk about it, and then people start asking questions. And I don't know, I'm assuming that's how it happened, plus the poor play. I think with his contract ending at the end of this season, like you're really going to fire him and bring somebody in?

The season's short. It doesn't make any sense. I am very surprised at where they're at. Now, they're sitting fifth, but the gap's getting bigger and bigger. So they can't let the top four teams in that division run away with them because, yeah, Chicago's surprising, but Carolina, Tampa, they're not going anywhere. And I don't think Florida is either.

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Boys, one of the hottest guys in the league. He might not be at the top of the points. Mark Stone, he's been, I love watching him. I've been talking about him a bunch lately. We talked one of the hottest guys in the league. He might not be the top of the points. Mark Stone, he's been, I love watching him. I've been talking about him a bunch lately. We talked to him the other day. What do you say, Biz? Send it over to him, get a little re-energized or what? The modern day Marian Hossa. He is just a treat to watch. Great 200

foot game. Very, very humble folks. So hopefully you enjoy the interview and we'll see you after. Well, we're happy to bring on our next guest, who is one of the NHL's premier two-way forwards. He's currently in his ninth NHL season and third with the Vegas Golden Knights,

where he's been tearing it up lately. He's got 24 points in 19 games, and he just had a five-assist game the other night, five primary assists. One of the most exuberant guys in the NHL as well. Thanks for joining us on the Spittin' Chicklets podcast. Mark Stone, how's it going, brother? It's going great, boys. How are you doing?

We're good, man. Actually, we're kind of worried we might get burned on the Zoom call because you've been on such a tail lately. Oh! It's been alright. Teams have been playing good. A little flour in there. Oh, Mr. Modest. Jesus, I thought you were going to come on and say, yes, I'm actually nasty

right now. I had a pretty tough stretch there in Tahoe, so I had to get going. So we were actually chatting about Tahoe with Kadri. And, you know, it's interesting because to go through like a delay and have to deal with that, it sounds like it would be such a pain in the ass. But by all accounts, everyone got through it pretty smoothly and the boys just figured it out. Yeah, I mean, it wasn't too bad.

Kind of just felt like a little pregame skate, I guess. But, I mean, it was pretty comical out there that first period. The guys couldn't even stand on it. It was almost like watching golfers grind so hard, and people just loved seeing them fail. That was kind of what it felt like. They're like, yes, another triple bogey. Paul, you brought it up.

I heard you're a stick. That's what we keep hearing. You're probably the best player on the team. I think White Cloud overtook me this summer. It was devastating, but I'm a grinder. I'll get back there. You guys got action going out there or what? We got a pretty good group, man.

We got lots of good courses. Guys love competing. Over quarantine, it was getting bad. It was an addiction. Oh, yeah. It was like six to seven days a week. Have you ever seen the Sandbagger Invitational? I have seen the Sandbagger Invitational.

That smile, that grin, I think we have a future opponent. He wants action. I think we have a future opponent. I think you've seen my short game. Take that. Oh, man. Mark, one thing about you when we watch you play, and by the way, I'm a huge fan of yours, is a lot of nice exuberance. I think you might have more than any guy in the league.

Has that always been a trademark of yours, or is it something that's developed over time, or what? Yeah, I mean, I think it's a bit both obviously um it's unreal playing nhl uh every day is good every day is a good day uh it's fun scoring fun winning so uh may as well show it well i mean i just uh listened at dean millard interview you had where he said you know you see yourself as an entertainer just like anyone else should and how you, you know, treat every game and every day in the NHL like it's something special. So was moving over to Vegas, has that like brought more out of it out of you?

Yeah, I think so. I mean, I love playing in Ottawa. I love playing for the fans there. Enjoyed my time there. But I'm sure you guys have been in the building in T-Mobile. It's nuts. Yeah, it's crazy. I mean, it's basically pro sports.

Fans are absolutely insane. I mean, we got like 2,600 people in there. It feels like a cello right now. I love it. I love playing here. Everything's bigger. When Ottawa did trade, you were due for unrestricted

free agency in line for a raise. It wasn't really a surprise that you got traded, but did you have any idea you were going to end up in Vegas? I hoped I was getting traded to Vegas. That was the only place I really wanted to go. I found out around 2 o'clock that Vegas had

agreed on a trade, but it wasn't going through if I didn't sign a contract. So I remember getting on the line with Craig Austin and Donnie Mead and said, you do whatever you can, do whatever it takes to get this done because that's where I want to go. So it was a crazy day, but ultimately it turned out to be a great day. Yeah, crazy is right. I remember seeing you get off the plane with that salad of yours.

Oh, my. That's probably the only thing I remember from the trade. I don't even know who else was involved in it. Yeah, it was pretty embarrassing. If I would have known, I might have spruced up the hair a little bit. But getting off there, seeing what they did for me, that's pretty special. And ever since then, I've realized that they do things big here. They don't take anything for granted.

They're like, are we getting a Carrot Top reboot here? What the fuck's going on? The fans are like, we gave Sideshow Bob $9 million a year. Unbelievable. So you must have came right in and gelled with this group, man. Like, I mean, an unbelievable locker room. You know, definitely some characters in there. Yeah, there's a lot of personalities.

A lot of goofballs. It kind of just brings it all together, I guess. One of the first times coming in here, didn't really know anybody other than Eakin, and he's kind of the first time coming in here, didn't really know anybody other than Eakin. And he's kind of the biggest character. Obviously he's not with us now, but whether it's Marsh or so, you guys know Reaver well.

That guy's, you know, he's always clowning around, pranking guys. And then obviously we got Flower. Loosens up. Never seen a goalie so loose, so freewheeling. It's kind of refreshing. What percentage of time, I'm going to guess maybe

four, does Revo not have a shirt on? I think him tucking. Theodore just did a commercial there and he's the only one without his shirt on. That's the biggest Vegas lock speaking of that city but no it's

a blast it seems like everyone just loves that guy I mean it was the same in St. Louis we were just around him a little bit we've had him on a couple times he's just a great guy to deal with and play with I'm assuming I mean I love having him he'll defend us no matter what.

He's the toughest guy for a reason. He adds such a different element that, for me, with Chris Neal, it was nice to have those guys. I mean, we love having those guys. People say what they want to say. You need to have that kind of toughness, especially going into the playoffs. I'll do anything for that guy.

We were talking before we hopped on, and we compared you to the modern-day Hossa, to where your two-way game is unbelievable. You're able to put up a crazy amount of points. Who did you mimic your game off of coming up? Was there one guy that you saw and looked up to? On my NHL Central scouting, I put Alexey Ponikarovsky because I wanted to play in a line with Matt Sundin.

Pony. I think I overachieved a little on that, but no disrespect to him. But I love watching Hosa play, obviously. I get scored on, too, so that kind of is the reason why I play the way I play. And growing up, I don't know, did your father get you into the game? Was it something, you know, I know your brother has played, and was it just something you loved from the very beginning, you don't remember anything else?

Yeah, I mean, I love watching hockey on Saturday nights, hockey in Canada. It was kind of my thing. It was our family's thing. Our dad got us into hockey, and I think being the younger brother, playing against my brother, the guy whooped me for 15 straight years until I finally was able to beat him, and that was kind of like the best thing he ever had. But without my brother, there's no way I would be here.

Yeah, speaking of brotherly rivalry, you guys played against each other in the Memorial Cup. I don't know if it was the finals, but at least in the tournament, you were playing with the Wheat Kings at the time. He was playing with the Calgary Hitmen. That must have been a pretty special moment for the family. That was awesome. I mean, the first two years of junior go against this guy in the conference

finals both years they whooped us the first year whooped us the second year and then he was able to get win the WHL championship which was awesome

for him and I guess that was the only way that both of us were going to be playing in the Memorial Cup so it was bittersweet for

me and finally got the better of them in the semifinals and uh unfortunately uh lost 9-1 in the finals oh my goodness to who windsor oh geez was that the hall and ellis team yeah i mean yeah Paul and Ellis team? Yeah, I mean. Yeah, they were a wagon. NHL team. He's a joke. We were looking back to like, you know, you go through your stats and your career. And for a guy of your caliber, it is shocking for some people to look and see. It's like, he's a guy's a six-round pick. And then you do like deeper digging into it. You apparently battled injuries that draft year.

That must have been so difficult at that time because you have these aspirations to go high in that summer's draft. Is that the case? I mean, I was always – that was the goal. I was thinking, okay, my brother got drafted higher than me in the W.H.L. draft. I'm going to get him in the NHL draft. And I was pretty set on it. Didn't have a good year.

We hosted the MIM Cup. Had a good team. I didn't play a ton. Then just kept getting hurt. Broke my thumb. Got in a fight. Got a concussion. It was just one thing after another.

Fought horrible in the playoffs. Didn't get any points. Didn't get any points in the M-Cup, didn't get invited to the Combine, just thought the world was ending. And then finally, Ottawa took me in the sixth round. I mean, at the time, I was kind of pissed. I was a big Leafs fan.

But then went there and spent six, seven great years there. Was there a knock on your game, Mark, before the draft? I know you mentioned the injuries, but was there something that was scaring teams away from you for something? Everybody told me I couldn't skate. I didn't believe it, though. I knew I could skate, but I was 6'3", I was 180 pounds. I was just a scrawny little guy.

Once I got stronger, I was able to make it. I always ask guys this. Were you grateful for the chip that it maybe put on your shoulder? Getting passed over and having to play overage and not having the clean slate coming up kind of thing? The easy path. Yeah, I mean, I think so.

I remember going to my first development camp in Ottawa. As I left, I won't say who but somebody told me they couldn't believe that they even drafted me they thought that I was no good so I don't know if that was intentional I think that kind of put a fire in me

and I went back and was ready to go for my 18 year old junior and the rest is history Were they in an Uber when they said it? You fucking idiot. I was not in that Uber, so we're not going to tell you. Oh, I thought you were driving. That was commie.

Got a good laugh out of him there. That's right. That's right. Mark, what were the expectations of the Senators when they drafted? did they tell you what kind of plans they had for you what was the what was that setup like well i think if you ask different guys it was different things um i mean bobby lowe's drafted me uh thinking that i could be a player um i think managing that first summer didn't think i was anything um and then, you know, I had people going to bat for me all over the place. And then once I got to pro, I think Brian Murray had a plan for me.

I think he saw me as a player that could be more than just third or fourth liner and kept me in the minors for two years. I obviously hated that, but owe a lot to him. I owe my career to him, basically. I want to ask, too, like your dog at puck pursuit, I think that's become your trademark. Is that another thing that you always had, or did that kind of come along from coaching,

or maybe you had a mentor early on in the league? I was all outdoor rink. Spent countless hours out there with my brother, buddies, and just stick with each other, playing posts, learning the hand eye on the old ODRs in Winnipeg. That was basically what we did for fun for six months a year when it was freezing cold in Winnipeg. When you first got the chance to see Eric Carlson on the ice,

those years, I mean, your rookie year, that was when he was at his most dominant. It was just like a clinic every night. It must have been such a thrill to just be like, oh my God, I got this guy finding me on the power play. I'm working with the best player in the league, maybe at the time on the back end. I try to explain to people just how good he

was i don't think people really understand uh during that time when we were he was literally the only reason i shouldn't say only reason but the in 2017 if we i mean he's playing on one foot um if we didn't have him we weren't even going to make the playoffs. The guy was that good. He was that dominant. Obviously, he's had some bad injuries here now, but he was the best player in the world. You talk about Crosby, you talk about McDavid, all

these guys. I think he was in 2017, there was no better player in the NHL than he was. I could not agree more with that because it was like as a defenseman too you're seeing like when he gets the puck he's creating separation he's gone it was it was really similar to Scott Niedermeyer and to say that is like is crazy but the other guy I wanted to ask about and I got the chance to play with him and then with what he went through last year I'm sure you could put some

insight into how good of a person he is but that's Bobby Bobby Ryan. And I know that you spent time with him. So what were the experiences in terms of playing with him? And did you have any idea what he was ever going through off the ice? I unfortunately didn't know exactly what was going on with him off the ice. I knew that he had had a few tough times. But it was so nice to see him back. I think right before I got traded, I started to realize more. Unfortunately, for me, it was too late.

But I've been texting with him a bunch this year. I'm glad that he's, you know, kind of found a home in Detroit. You know, I know his family is really excited for him. His kids are really growing and seeing him as a great player and a great person. I'm really glad for him that he's able to get through all the tough hiccups and perform the way he can perform. He was one of the best players in the league for a long time and I'm glad he's been able to get back.

With Gallant getting fired and Pete DeBoer coming in, have you talked to any of the guys who really had, I guess, more of a pulse of what was going on with the team longer before you got in there? And how much of a shock was it when that went down and the culture changed in the locker room? Yeah, I mean, that was one of the worst days I've ever been a part of. I think Turk was one of the worst days I've ever been a part of.

I think Turk was one of the greatest guys you'll ever meet in hockey. He was a great motivator. You know, he had really good relationships with so many guys in this room, and I'm sure he still does. I was unfortunate to only play for him for maybe not even a year. But that was, I'll cherish that time. I love playing with him. I remember sitting in the meal room in Ottawa before practice that day.

Once we got the news, I don't think anyone said a word for 15, 20 minutes. Once we got the news, I don't think anyone said a word for 15, 20 minutes. But – and then the other side, Peter and Spotter coming in, they've done a great job at continuing that culture that we've created here. Was the silence just because you guys had felt maybe like guilty based on play? But even to that degree, I don't think it was like that bad. That's why it was so shocking to a lot of people, and especially with the success that the team had had the year before.

Yeah, I mean, I think we were maybe two points out of first place in the division. So it was definitely a blow to the system for sure. The team had gone to the cup finals in the first year. The year I got traded here, we were, I mean, I'm not going to say anything about game seven, but I think you guys know that. I think we were as good a team as anybody that year. We could have easily, you know, gone to the cup final that year as well and had a chance to win.

Mark, when you were in Ottawa, I know you had a few different coaches there, but there's one guy I want to ask about, Guy Boucher. We don't typically think of coaches as characters, but this guy just seemed to come across as a character when you saw him on TV and his press conferences. What was it like playing for him in Ottawa? It was different.

It's a real X's and O's structured the guy and i think that really we were lacking um so it really benefited us uh the first year we were able to get back to the structure um you know as he's really animated you know he's uh very emotional um i think you can see that in his interviews. And then I think we kind of got over-structured in year two, and that was kind of our downfall. And then in year three, we were just rebuilding. I actually

thought we played really well for the majority of that year. We were undermanned. And you were lighting it up in Ottawa for six years or whatever. People didn't know about you, and then when you got to Vegas, all of a sudden everybody was talking about Mark Stone. You were a finalist for the Rookie of the Year,

but it seems like people really got to know you and your game recently. Yeah, it was kind of nice, kind of flying under the radar a bit. We had good teams there. It was some great years. A Hamburglar run was one of the fun things. The Hamburglar. Did he get free burgers the rest of his life? Is that true? I don't think he had free burgers the rest of his life,

but he got that gold McDonald's cart. You can cut the line. Yeah. Cut the line, reload the cart. You can get Ronald McDonald at your kid's birthday any year you want. He has to come. I think they took care of him. So he's a mini right now.

I was talking to him these last couple days. I mean, greatest guy ever. One of the greatest guys I've ever met. So I met a lot of good people in Ottawa. They brought in some great people. The staff there is great. I enjoyed my time there. They get the old playgrounds with the ball pits.

They bring those to your house when they're done using them at a Mac. At a Mac tent. Yeah, 100 feet. When we talk about Ottawa, obviously, we've got to talk about that 2016-17 run you guys got with, I mean, Christ, a goal of the Stanley Cup final. I mean, talk about that. Take us through that run. Everything went right, I feel like.

You know, we lost the first game to Boston in round one, final. Talk about that. Take us through that run. Everything went right, I feel like. We lost the first game to Boston in round one, and then we were down 3-1 going into the third, I think, in game two. Things weren't looking great. Then Carlson makes the ridiculous play, and then Big Dion finishes it off for us.

Then we were kind of off and running. Then we beat Boston, beat New York. Off got to a great start against Pittsburgh. Lightened it up. And then Game 7, Chris Kunitz. Who's that? Completely crippled us.

We were one bounce away. I think Nashville had so many injuries that year. I think we were one goal away from winning the Stanley Cup. I got to ask because there's been so many different stories in Ottawa. I've always said, and I'll be honest on this podcast, where the rink is, it's similar to Arizona. It just kind of makes no sense. The fans, there was playoff tickets available at one point.

Was that shocking to you? Because for a while, and I played against the Senators in in the first round it was in the two years in a row it was crazy but just to see what's going on there it must have been tough playing there and dealing with that off ice stuff that really shouldn't shouldn't be an issue for players yeah it was i mean by the end it was again just getting repetitive um but i, we still had great fans at 2017 run. They're passionate there. Like you said, I mean, they tried to get that downtown arena set up. I think if they can get that done, it would be incredible for that city.

It's a thing that people don't understand about Ottawa is there's so many, like, surrounding areas. You know, Gatineau is on the other side of the bridge. Kanata, Orleans. There's so many little different areas that attract fans. And if they can get the rink downtown, they're bringing a whole new fan base. Did you get to meet Trudeau when you were there?

No. Did you want to meet Trudeau when you were there? Of course. That would have been pretty cool. He was one goal away from meeting Trudeau. Yeah, exactly. He's a Habs fan, though. I mean, he likes it.

Oh, yeah, you actually said I wanted to bring that up. You were a Leafs fan. I mean, the Jets weren't in town when you were growing up in Winnipeg, right? I'm guessing you just ended up going with T.O.? My dad's from Sault Ste. Marie, too, so he grew up a big Leafs fan. Matt Sundin, that was my guy. I love that guy, so that's the only reason I was a Leafs fan. When you got to Vegas, Mark,

what was the biggest misconception you had about the city or the area? I'm sure everybody says the same thing, but it's just a normal town. Obviously, there's the Strip, which you guys see. I don't think, Biz, when you come here, I don't think you probably leave the Strip, I'm assuming. I just go to the Britney shows. Biz went to Vegas, I think, like 16 times one summer. He was out of the league 400 days later.

I mean, the Strip's great, right? Like, tons of great stuff to do on there. But I go to the Strip to go for a nice dinner. I go to the Strip to T-Mobile and everything else. I'm never down there. The city of Las Vegas is incredible. Surrounding the areas, Henderson, Summerlin. I mean, we've got great golf courses, we've got great food,

great weather, we've got it all. What about the first time you saw that pregame thing they do? Were you like, what the hell is this? I mean, they're bringing out jousters. He wanted to be a part of it. He wanted to join as one of the characters. He was dressed as one on the plane. It just gets my, you know, gets me boiling.

Every game here is a playoff game. Every atmosphere during the intermissions at Cirque du Soleil, you name it, they've got it going. You never see an empty seat. Warm-up, everybody's buzzing. Got the tunes cranked. People are drinking. They're getting it fired up is is it

yeah i guess how do you not get fired up because the thing i'm always wondering as players though is you got to be battling for home tickets like there's no more hey you're using your tickets like everyone is is scrounging trying to get trying to get free bottle service oh yeah tucks trying to get free boxes to give away. I ain't getting those. We've got a high commodity here. Yeah, I mean, tickets are – I think we – Marsh or so has got – that's the thing here.

We've got so many kids on the team. There's like – everybody's got four kids. So if you want to bring your family to a game, you've got guys begging for tickets. I only use one, so everyone's always begging me for that last one. kids so if you want to bring your family to a game uh you got guys begging for tickets yeah i only use one so everyone's always begging me for that last one glass and hag are popular popular guys right now there's lots of guys who got those extra tickets but i mean i don't know if you guys have been to games here it's it's crazy so uh i gotta i gotta ask is is Flower still just nonstop fucking with people?

He's playing a lot of hockey right now, so he's not screwing around as much. Okay. And there's so many things that have happened that it's definitely him. I'm just telling you that right now. It's him. If there's any out there that nobody knows who did it, it's Flower. He'll do it to himself to make sure nobody guesses it's him. He denies a lot of stuff, uh he's always up this he's shoe checking he's shoe checked my

dad on the dad's trip i mean he's little he can get out of those tables pretty easy yeah that's why he works on his flexibility uh when you see these gold buckets when you walk in the room are you like you love that shit you like all the crazy uniforms uh we were hesitant on the gold helmet uh to start but uh we got a big win in the last game so we're there i think guys like them now yeah i mean it's vegas man you gotta do cool cool shit um you know i think everybody loves our red jerseys. Everything we do here we love. So that's why we do it. I'm still waiting for the Spearmint Rhino collab

when they got the strippers out there pregame, then get the crowd really going. The game starts at 12.30, right after midnight. Well, in the ECHL, they used to do a 12 o'clock game once a year where the game would start at midnight. And, yeah, when the – what was it? The Los Vanglis Wranglers. And I want to say that Ego was on the team when that was going on.

I'm sure he was. He's got some good stories. I mean, he's got the Wrangler stories. He's got the Knight stories. He's seen the best of both worlds. We played with him in the American League. Were you not there when he was in Wilkes-Barre? No, I never played with him.

I might have played a game with him, but I don't think so. Is he still kicking around theBarre? No, I never played with him. I might have played a game with him, but I don't think so. Is he still kicking around the rink? Oh, yeah. He's always around. I mean, when we had the whole thing with our whole coaching staff getting COVID, he hopped on the bench in Henderson because we had the Henderson staff, so he was just coaching them by himself.

How many fans – He's out there too, the captain. That was the coaching staff. It was unreal. How many fans are out there to the captain? How is the coaching? So it was unreal. How many fans are showing up? I mean, before COVID, obviously, to practices, because I see pictures, you know, tweets occasionally. It's like it looks like there's 4000 there watching you guys pregame skate. Yeah, there's no you can't get a seat in the bleachers. So I don't know how much it's seats, probably 500 every day. Yeah, there's no – you can't get a seat in the bleachers.

So I don't know how much a seat. It's probably 500 every day. That is just sick. They're going for the free AC. It's hot as balls there. No, there's blackjack tables right behind them. They've got a great restaurant out there too, so they can serve booze in there.

People, they love it, man. I think they were just begging for a sports team, and Bill bringing the Knights here, expansion, open it up for them. They love it. We love it, too. We joke around with them. We bang the glass.

We get them fired up for practice. It's awesome. I was going to ask you next, do you go gamble? And what's your game if you do? Penny slots? A lot of gambler. Penny slots? We'll gamble on the golf course. Put the diaper on? Yeah. We've got some guys who will go, but we stay away.

What's the best course in Vegas? I mean, I've played a couple of them. I think it's Shadow, but I'm sure there's some hidden gems. Shadow Freak's the best. It's one of my favorite courses in the world. I remember at Southern Highlands. Oh, I played there. That place is tit. Yeah, it's my

biased opinion as the best private course in the city, but there's lots of great courses. I know a couple of Petro and Patriot Summit Club, which is immaculate all the time. Cascada's a great course. Yeah, I'm biased to Southern Highlands. Petro and Patrick Summit Club, which is immaculate. Cascada is great, of course. Yeah, I'm biased to Southern Ireland.

Yeah, it's a joke it took so long to get pro teams in Vegas. I mean, obviously you've got the Raiders there now. Have you been able to take in a game for the Raiders yet? No, I haven't been able to. Guys are begging to get in there. I know Revo has been a huge Raider fan his whole life, so he wants to get in there. I met Derek Hart, Highlands Golf Course.

Seems like a great guy. It's nice to have another team here to root for. But hopefully next year we can get in there. I want to see their practice facility. It looks ridiculous. Yeah, I'm curious to see if they do any stuff like you guys do because Because in Vegas, like you say, other cities wouldn't maybe fall for it. But in Vegas, you kind of have to do it. I mean, because it's Vegas, it's the Strip.

I want to ask about the Gila monster, Chance the mascot. Oh, my goodness. R.A. thinks he thought of your mascot. He wants you to ask Gila if that's where they got the idea. Chance. He's convinced. Yeah, no, I had teased about it for a long time. So when they actually introduced the mascot as a Gila monster,

I kind of took pride in it, even if I had nothing to do with it. But all kidding aside, you mentioned Cirque du Soleil a few minutes ago. Have you been able to check out any of their shows at all? Those phenomenal athleticism. I've been to a few. I've been to the Beatles, which was awesome. Oh, love. Yeah. Yeah, it was great.

They put on a great show, great tunes. Absinthe, I think that's a – I don't know if you guys have been to that one. I've been to Absinthe. That's sick. So funny. Great talent. How about the girl in the ball? You know what Absinthe – you know what I'm talking about?

When she comes down at the start of the show? Yeah. No, no, no. Isn't that the show when the girl like spins herself in and out of a ball that might be another one i've been to some fucked up vegas shows they have uh they do there's like i think there's like 16 acts and they do like eight of them a night so there's different ones okay every time you go so you probably see like five the same ones and then you get like three new ones i've been to it like six times. Yeah, it's incredible.

It is the athleticism on display. Like, oh, I mean, do you see all of them? I saw all. What's the one that has to do with sex? Is that exotic? Oh, that was Spearmont Rhino. We already covered that. I know what you're talking about.

Yeah, no, there actually is one, so thank you. Yeah, there's two. I forget what it is. There's a big sign when you get in the airport in Vegas. I forget what it is. I forget what it's called. Yeah, the Beatles one's good, Biz. You don't really have to be a fan. They got a lot of actually rollerblading going on in that one, too.

Oh, yeah? Yeah. Rollerblading? Yeah, it's incredible like no just the whole uh what's choreography and everything they do because there's probably a thousand times in a show that they can screw up and they and they don't or if they do you don't even notice it because they're so good at it what what about any other shows you're taking are you a big concert guy um well i know it hasn't been nothing late i haven't been able to do anything lately, unfortunately. But I'm trying to think of other ones I've seen. I just keep going back to Absinthe.

I don't know why. You're going to have to check it out. Do you live in Winnipeg in the summer still? Back and forth. Obviously, last summer was a bubble. I didn't go back at all, really. But, yeah, I spent about two months the year I got traded here. But I spent most of it in Kenora with Eakin.

Okay. I played with your brother. He was so quiet in the locker room. Hey, I tell you what, he's got a bit of a cocky sense of humor on him, though. Oh, yeah. Doesn't he? Oh, my. He would body bag me about once a day.

No way. Oh, that's my type of guy. He's so witty, just under his breath, and I'm like, Stoney, my. He would body bag me about once a day. No way. Oh, that's my type of guy. He's so witty, just under his breath. And I'm like, Stoney, enough. Enough. Was he like that growing up? Was he always shitting on you? He's like the nicest guy I'll ever meet in your life.

So that's kind of the problem. But like you said, he gets that little dry sense of humor. He did it in a nice way. Oh, yeah. With a smile on his face. He's like, what? What? I'm going to do it.

You know? And then I'd just lose it on him. But then I'd get in trouble, and he would never get in trouble with, like, because he was never doing anything bad. He's, like, the nice kid. I didn't even look. Is he playing this year? Yeah, he's in Calgary.

Okay, awesome. Oh, geez. He's on their kid. I didn't even look. Is he playing this year? Yeah, he's in Calgary. Okay, awesome. Yeah, he's on their taxi squad right now. I mean, ever since the blood clot. Well, put him in the game. Jesus, Calgary. Yeah, they could use a little defense. Otto is dusting them. Give him a shot.

No, let that one-timer win. He wouldn't even wind up. He had like a 110 flex. He must pound the golf ball. He's got an absolute missile. Yeah, he hits the ball far. I think I got him on the course. Mark, we plan to reduce schedule this year, only 56 games.

I've seen a shitload of games so far that have been like playoff caliber games. Do you think the overall level has been better, better hockey, with the shorter schedule? I think so. I mean, we were watching the game yesterday before the game, the Washington-Boston game, and there was nine shots in the first period and 30 hits. So it's the rivalries are starting to come.

I think it's, I mean, obviously it's so important to get off to a great start. You're playing your division every game. It's been interesting. It's been a fun year to watch hockey. I think the play with the less travel and you're not having to – the back-to-backs are all, you know, played in the same city. So, everybody – I think that schedule makes it a lot better. I think we'll see it a little bit more with the series that's coming up in the future.

I usually ask guys this. Not to say you hate them, but who's the one guy you're like, fuck, I'm in for one tonight lining up against them and probably your biggest rival going head-to-head every night as an opponent? Right now, the guy I hate playing the most is McKinnon. It's impossible to match up against the guy I hate playing the most is McKinnon. It's impossible to match up against a guy, but you just try and do your best and hope for the best, I guess, when you play a guy like him.

Who called you or how did you find out you were going to be captain? First Vegas captain. Coach. Peter called me into his office. What a feeling. Basically, I don't know. he's pretty emotional for me like he kind of gave me the um you know you're up for it and you want to be captain it was obviously a decision uh this is uh you know i get emotional talking about it i don't yeah no i'm i'm i cry all

the time i cry to the justin bieber documentary just let it loose buddy hey i had a i had an article i think i saved it like it was an article in sports illustrated had a picture of every nhl captain next to and it was about like what's what it takes to be a captain i didn't sniff being one but i i can totally like see how you'd be emotional because it's like a dream growing up to be a captain of an NHL team. So congrats to you. That's pretty cool. The first one the organization's ever had.

Yeah, I mean, that's another thing, too. Being the first one of an organization as good as this one is. I think we're in the top one or two organizations in the league. So being the first captain here is crazy. It's something I'll always be, I guess, always be remembered for and I'll never forget that day. That's awesome. Mark, the team obviously has a couple of bust mentality this year.

How does the team keep an even keel, like not get too high or too low when that's the ultimate goal? Yeah, I mean, we talk about – I mean, I talk with Patch with patch all the time i think the hardest thing in pro sports is his expectations um you know playing with no expectations you go out there you know play loose and then when you have those expectations uh it makes it hard that's what the good teams do though um I think we're getting close. But like you said, it's win the cup or bust. I think that's what trickles down from, from ownership to management,

to coaching staff, to players. We're here to win and that's all we want to do. Do you keep tabs on any of the young kids that you played in auto with? All of them. Those are my boys. You know, know it's whitey and shabbat and obviously brady who lived with me for you know five months and that's my those are my boys i watch all their games and root hard for them was that the first time you had a young guy live with you? Yeah, it was.

Got a good one. You know, he's obviously a product of Big Walt, so I knew he was going to be a good guy. Yeah, he's like little. I wouldn't call him little, but he is just like Big Walt out there watching him. It's uncanny. Yeah, it's like if you're asking a kid, Chuck,

you're only allowed to play one way. Did they call him the thumb in the locker room? What was his nickname in the locker room for Brady? Brady? We didn't have much for him, just Chucky. His first month, I think he – I forget what he did with his ankle. He either had a high ankle sprain. He ballooned.

He was eating everything he could get his mitts on. I wasn't able to do any workouts, so he got a little hefty. We got him settled. Now he's all muscle. He's just hammering guys and fighting guys and being a beast yeah it seems been fun to watch dj smith's got him playing good i mean and he was forcing stutzel to cook for him wasn't he saying that jimmy stew yeah jimmy stew he's like i sit on the coach he takes care of dinner yeah he's pretty uh he doesn't really know much about cooking but uh he's fun to he's fun to live

with that's for sure i loved loved it. I loved having him. Those guys are living in my place in Ottawa. Oh, really? Hopefully it's still standing. How much of a security deposit did you collect? The way his mom and dad raised him, they'd beat his ass if he did it. Or you could just go after Walt for it because he's got it. No escrow, too. it because he's got it.

No escrow, too. I think he did all right. What do you think is going to be considered the stretch round? Like talking about the schedule a few minutes ago. I mean, a coach is breaking up into quarters, halves. What's the approach there? We're just trying to win, just bank as many points as we can right now. We haven't even really talked about it.

I mean, I couldn't even tell you when the trade deadline is. Usually it's always, you know, end of February. You know when it's going to be. I honestly don't even know when it is. So usually that's kind of the stone. You know, you've got to play well for the last 20 games after the deadline. So, you know, we're in a good spot now. So we're just trying to win everything.

You mentioned at the beginning that I think you said 2,600 fans are allowed in the building right now. Yeah. So it must make you appreciate like to get fans back. It sounds crazy. Like 2,600 that seats 25,000 would suck. But it actually with nothing before is noticeably way better. It's incredible. You have no idea. Yeah, see, that's hard to believe as playing because playing in an empty building is just

I feel like it's the same, 2,600 and nothing. Yeah, I mean, I guess it's an excuse, but last year in the playoffs, we have our barn. We're such a better team, you know. We feed off that emotion.

So getting the fans back, huge for us. Unless you run into the fucking wagon coyotes when you guys are done pumping that fake crowd noise into the building. Suck it, Stoney. Why would you know the trade deadline? You got a no-move clause for eight years. Why would you even care? Yeah, you're the guy who's like, oh, what day is today, guys?

And then I'm in the corner just scratching myself, sweating it out. I mean, it's nice to have you. No doubt about that. Yeah, you earned it. Well, man, this has been great. We appreciate you coming on with us. And it's been a joy to watch that team. I think that we want the fans back and we want to go to...

We're going to be out there in mid-May. We'd love to catch a game. Hopefully there's even more fans allowed then as the playoffs begin. Congrats on all the success and we appreciate you joining the show. Thanks, boys. That was awesome. Sandbagger. You get a partner. He has to be above a 10.

We'll be hitting you up for tickets and don't leave him COD either. I was worried about your poor ball, but I'm disappointed for you not being able to get in. Oh, I know. Thank you. That means a lot to somebody that really people don't understand what we went through to get in the USGA event and then it has to get canceled.

But onward and upward, we'll get in another one hopefully. And who would your partner be? Chance. They healed you. Yeah. Onward and upward. We'll get in another one, hopefully. And who would your partner be? Chance. For the same. They heal you. Yeah. On the team? Yeah.

Stevenson or White Cloud. Wow. What's White Cloud's cap? He's playing out of plus right now. Get the fuck. We don't like those guys in the side. This guy's a stick. We can't. Get more strokes.

Yeah, but trust me, Biz has done nothing with those strokes. We're not going to give anything away. You can play with Gary Lawless and that's about it. That's all we give you. All right, Stoney. Thank you. Have a good one, buddy. Big thanks to Mark Stone for joining us.

Had a great chat with him. He's a huge fan of Absinthe, by the way, huh? Six times? What did, huh? Six times? What did he say, six times? Six times, yeah. I was really pressing on that Cirque stuff, but have to check that out next time I'm out there. Well, you've heard us talk about Whoop.

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It's not meant for just the professional guys, though. Me and Grinnelli get helped out by sleep patterns, working out when we do here and there. It can help anybody improve their performance by giving them that personalized, actionable data to help you make smarter decisions. And the Chicklets boys have been wearing them for a while now. We got a little competition. Basically, mine's a sleep competition. Biz is a little more on the workout end. Whoop has helped me get smarter about the way I train and my sleep. It's made me aware of my body's recovery because it's stuff I really didn't pay attention to. But now that I have Whoop,

it's good stuff. And they're offering 15% off when you use the code CHICKLETS at checkout. So go to Whoop.com. That's W-H-O-O-P.com to join now. Sleep better, recover faster, and train smarter this year and beyond with Whoop. Yeah, I see everybody wearing these things now. A lot of PGA guys. Did you mention that in the ad read? I did. Okay, yeah these things now. A lot of PGA guys. Did you mention that in the ad read?

I did. Okay, yeah. I did. A lot of the pros are wearing it, and it's good. You can link up with your buddies and push each other as far as workouts or who's getting better sleep,

which I'd imagine the workouts is probably a little bit more popular as far as competing, but all right, I'll start competing you with sleep. Oh, you'll dust me, man. I wish I could sleep like I used to. I used to get 10, 12 hours a night. Now it's like if I get sick, I'm fucking happy. Dust me, man. I wish I could sleep like I used to. I used to get 10, 12 hours a

night. Now it's like if I get six, I'm fucking happy. It sucks. I was saying before the show, Mark Stone got a chiclets bump, but I would be lying because he's had a fucking bump all year. This guy has been on an absolute tear. Vegas, absolute tear. Like I said in the interview, Stanley Cup

or bust for them. Mark Andre Fleury got his 65th career shout-out. He just passed Hasik for 16th place. But the other news out of this division, Zach Parise, scratched for the first time ever as a member of the Minnesota Wild. His first since his rookie year. He was, I guess, Mike Russo said on The Athletic, he had overextended his shift. He was trying to set up Marcus Foligno for the empty net goal,

which would have given him a hat trick. But the puck ended up in his own net. Minnesota eventually lost the game. Needless to say, Parise wasn't happy about being scratched. I don't agree with the decision, he said. In my heart, I felt like I was doing the right thing. I asked Marcus after the second if he ever had a hat trick. He had two goals up to that point. He said no. He said let's go for it. Basically, he was trying to get his buddy hooked up stayed out there too long and ended up losing the game you know it's it'd be tough for coach though a guy's you know been playing consistently for you know whatever 10 12 years i think i think in the long run for this team it's probably a positive thing because it shows everybody that no one's safe and accountability will be held to a very high standard

um the the reason as to how it all happened i happened, I didn't know it was an extended shift. The fact that he was trying to pass it over and then it ends up back in his own net and points are so valuable for Minnesota where I said that they were a bubble team. You got St. Louis, you got Vegas, and who else in that division who's a top team? Help me out. Colorado. And Colorado, although they've been playing not so great lately. But, you know, you can't be giving up points like that,

especially against teams in your own division. So, shitty situation. I would imagine it lights a spark under them. So, that's probably a positive as well moving forward. But, you know, they ended up moving forward. Didn't they whoop the Coyotes the next game when he was a scratch uh yeah they beat the coyotes then they lost to the next game but yeah a little rough end of the trip for minnesota but they're right in the thick of it man they're a lot better i think than other how do you feel about it where like do you

think it's a hard old move to to healthy scratch him after that situation about him trying to help out a teammate like do you think that that the coach went and gathered that information to understand why he tried to slide it over at that point he's just fuck we could have sealed the deal take taking the two points not given any to an uh you know a division opponent and and uh and then and the rest is history yeah i don't i find it very hard to believe that that is the main reason why he's getting scratched. Because for a player who's like his entire career, but known as somebody who's very responsible in his own end, where he's never really sacrificed defense for more offense, his point totals aren't the same. He's getting a little bit older, but in all the years he was really lighting it up.

He always was so good defensively so if he makes a mistake like this which the coach is looking at it like like a dumb mistake and now it'd be one thing if he if he tried scoring for himself and iced it right biz even though like they've changed with everyone always tries to score now but he was trying to find a teammate and they end up losing. So I think the coach is saying like, this is why you're scratched. But don't you think that he's probably like not seen enough in his overall game lately. And then this is the icing on top, because on just that one mistake, you're going to scratch this guy. I refuse to believe that.

I think he probably doesn't like how he's playing. And there's so many young, talented players there now where like greenway's been phenomenal all year he's a bu guy big strong knows how to use his body skates well and and kaprasov kaprizov sorry this guy is awesome joy to watch makes minnesota actually you want to watch him because of him yeah for the first time in a long time yeah so parisi struggled a little bit offensively and and he's the older guy making a ton of money so you know fans end up getting on him he's also a local guy and he and he's scratched but in the whole the whole grand scheme of things I don't think just because of that one play he had to miss the next game I could see as a coach though like

your frustration is like that if that's where your head's at when we're trying to get points to make playoffs, yeah, although it was, what's the word I'm looking for? As a... Hello? Someone hit pause? I just froze. That was like when Zach Morris would hit pause or timeout. I thought one of you come help me with the word. I was waiting for you to elaborate. I was champing at the bit here. I thought one of you helped me with the word.

I was waiting for you to elaborate. I was champing at the bit here. I don't even know if you said what the word could possibly be. I don't know. I'm freezing up right now. I can't really think of it. All right. When you want to give as opposed to receive.

Altruism? There's no way business is looking for altruistic. That's not in my vocabulary, buddy. Generosity? Let's just move on. All right all right we'll move on let's just move on yeah three uh three goals seven assists 10 points in i think 21 games so far with so that's a good point it probably wasn't just that shift but at the same time he was trying to get a guy a third goal instead of concentrating on winning winning the game so that's gonna piss a coach off you would think and he's in his 16th season, by the way. I can't fucking count anymore.

Moving along, San Jose rookie, is it Yoakum, I think? Yoakum Blitchfield gets suspended two games for a hit on Nathan McKinnon. He got a match penalty. It was his first game of the season, just the fourth of his career. I didn't think it was intentional. I think he just kind of had him lined up, and he just caught him wrong because he cut him in the jaw. Mack missed the last couple games. He should be back soon.

Whit, did you get a look at this hit? I'm sorry. I did not see that hit. Biz, did you? No, I'm still trying to think of that word. He's still thinking of the word. Either way, yeah. I mean, it's one of those things you hate to see. Like I said, I don't think it was intentional.

It wasn't like maybe Wilson's maliciousness. I think he was going for a hit and caught Mack on the jaw there that we've seen happen before. So tough situation, but hopefully Mack will get back soon. Ryan Miller tied Dominic Kasich for the 14th most wins. Congrats to Ryan Miller. Still getting it done all these years later. Let's see.

Any other notes from the West Division biz? Your coyotes, anything you want to chime in with? Are you still going to worry about this word for the rest of the show? They were down 2-0 to Minnie. And Minnie had worked them the night before and got out to a quick lead. All of a sudden they came storming back. Garland just continues biz at a forward pace.

Selfless. What is it? It was selfless. But I will say when I said other words for unselfish when I typed it in, that altruistic came up. That pretzeled your mind. Altruistic. I don't think in that I'll true altruistic altruistic that pretzeled your mind altruistic I don't think I'll ever be using altruistic but uh selfless well you can use it so I as as a head coach I would never have sat a guy for as being selfless I would have been upset I would have sat him down I would maybe had a conversation with the team that you know if

there's an empty cage there put in the fucking fucking net. Take the two points and run. I'll tell you who does not have problems scoring, not on empty nets, but when they empty their net, the St. Louis Blues, five times this year they have tied a game with the goalie pulled. I think they won four of them. They lost it when they did it the other night, but that's crazy. They had three goals, six on five, when they pulled their goalie, I think, against the Coyotes one game.

Yeah. At least two. That does not last, though. As far as the Coyotes are concerned, a big bounce-back win against Minnesota, and they're kind of hovering. They're fighting for that fourth spot, in my eyes, in that Western division. And I've said it time and time again, I'm very proud about the way the group's played, especially with the pressure that was coming into this season

on the guys who have been paid these contracts, like the Dvorak, the Schmaltz, the Kekeller. Chikrin's been awesome. And Darcy Kemper has held up his side of the bargain. So Yotzer are very pesky this year, and they're going to be a thorn in some teams' sides. Did you see that clip of Chikrin behind the net the other night? He looked like you struggling for that word a minute ago. He stood there for

a good eight seconds waiting for the play to start and he looked like he was baffled about something. I don't know if you caught it or not. It was actually a pretty funny reason. He's a stallion. Handsome man rocket. What else we got here? Oh yeah. We talked about coaches getting fired last

week and like I said, Vancouver, Jim Bennett come out and said, I'm not looking to make a coaching change regarding Travis Green. Well, Calgary, that wasn't the same case. They fired Jeff Ward. He's getting replaced by Darryl Sutter, who signed a three-year deal this year and two more. Sutter, of course, coached the Flames back from 0-2 through 0-6. They lost the 0-4 cup to Tampa. Then he won two cups in L.A.

This will be his 20th season as an NHL coach. from 0-2 through 0-6. They lost the 0-4 Cup to Tampa. Then he won two Cups in L.A. This will be his 20th season as an NHL coach. Jeff Ward took over for Bill Peters last year, kind of abruptly. I don't know what expected that to happen. He coached 42 games last year, just 24 this year. I think you predicted it, didn't you? You said if one team would change their coach, it would be Calgary, right? Yeah, well, we read the odds to be fireless last week, and he wasn't on it, which made no sense to me because yeah i thought he was probably so we talked about

it with merrick i'll summarize it as this there's a lot of pressure within that organization to win right now the same core group has been together i think that tree livings has made some great moves in order to make them a very good lineup they have not gotten the results that they need in order to have success time for some tough love. It's, you know, I would think as a GM, you never want to have to put your players, I'll go back to the torts thing. It's tough having a coach like torts because every day you come to the rink

and you feel like you're walking on eggshells and you feel like it's never given up. And I played in the LA organization when Daryl was head coach there, especially after they'd already won the two cups. Even when they'd won one and they were going for their second, their stories of like the team having player, like a team only meeting and like not wanting him involved to the point where

they'd go on an eight game win streak with, with Daryl and he'd be coming in the room grumpier than if they'd been on an eight game losing streak. And that's just kind of how some of these guys are a little bit tapped. Yes, do they have short shelf lives? Yes, of course. When he took over for the Kings, I mentioned it again in the Merrick interview, he hadn't coached for six fucking seasons.

So the whole like, oh, I don't know, can he come back and turn this thing around? Well, I don't know. He did it in one-two cups, so I'm pretty sure he could be able to do it again. Does it suck for the guys in that locker room to now I would imagine there's going to be a lot a lot more accountability and a lot harder practicing and a lot more coach in your ear telling you to wake the fuck up constantly but tree living gave them the opportunity to have an easier coach and and essentially do it themselves and they weren't able to do it. So they left them with no choice. And I think that that type of lineup will do well under a Daryl Sutter.

I mean, their first game against Edmonton, at least for the first two periods, they looked awesome. They limited their scoring chances. There was a shit ton of fights. Obviously, guys trying to establish their game and get back to that hard-nosed hockey. Well, the McDavid show showed up, and they ended up losing 3-2. But it had to be done, and it's kind of do or die with this core group.

And if they can't figure it out in this short period of time, I would assume, much like Buffalo, and I'm not comparing the two as how bad it is, but there probably are going to have to be some off-season moves if they can't figure things out quick. They've got to shake things up. No wit at some point. My favorite thing, Millionaire's Row. Millionaire's Row when he scratches all the men making all the millions.

Go have a seat down there at the end of the bench. Millionaire's Row. Yeah, Sutter, actually, he didn't coach Saturday night. He's going to be there for the next game. Oh, okay. Well, fuck me. What was interesting, he got fired after a 7-3 win. Usually, guys get shit-canned after a loss, so obviously, they didn't

care what he did. Well, that wasn't the case with who else just went through that? Claude. Yeah, Claude Julian was also fired. They should have won, but they technically they technically thought well they did lose it so easy to fire a guy uh of course we already mentioned Montreal firing uh goaltender coach Stefan Waite replaced him with Burke Carey Price looked pretty good Saturday night obviously keep an eye on that Toronto had a two and two week they're still leading the NHL in points back-to-back

shout outs from their backup goalies before Freddie got back in the crease. Biz, I know you like the Zach Hyman-Mike Smith bat one in the crease. I mean, he was a thorn in Smitty's side in that game, and I tweeted out Hyman didn't look like he left the ice in the third period, and such a underrated player, along with the rest of his line mates on that checking line

for Toronto, and Toronto looks dangerous. Look out. Look out Leafs Nation. Well, Biz, whether you're looking for a head coach, an assistant coach, a trainer, finding great candidates to hire can be tough. It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Sure, you can post your job to some job board, but then all you can do is hope the right person comes along, which is why you should try ZipRecruiter for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash chicklets. ZipRecruiter does the work for you. When you post a job on ZipRecruiter,

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ZipRecruiter.com slash chicklets. That's ZipRecruiter.com slash chicklets. That's C-H-I-C-L-E-T-S. One more time for the folks in the back to go to ZipRecruiter.com slash chicklets. ZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. Speaking of hiring hiring biz there's a good article in the athletic i think it come out last week the trade deadline list they have a big board of who they think the most likely guys to go are uh let's see there's a 28 name list and then they actually came out with another list today or yesterday with 12 other names of guys who could go i mean there's some fucking talent on these lists i'll rattle them off here with uh matthias at home jack eichel chris drreeger, Philip Forsberg,

Richard Raquel, Clayton Keller, Dylan Strong. Clayton Keller is on a trade list? Well, they got him. I mean, again, this is their take. It doesn't necessarily mean GMs are shopping these guys. This is just what reporters consider their trade board. Yeah, he's got six years left at 7.15

mil. Bottom line is there's a lot of good players on here. You've got to think some of these guys are going to get flipped, especially a lot of teams feel they can win it this year probably. Who do you guys think are the biggest names? I would say Taylor Hall's got to be a pretty big name on that list. What's funny, yeah, he's only number 24. I would think he's probably going to be one of the guys GM's are going to be calling for.

He'd be a nice little fit going into the playoffs. I mean, especially with – I hate to bring up the Coyotes because people are going to think I'm a homer. But, I mean, if they're probably not in a playoff position, they have a couple old veteran defensemen that would probably be great additions to the team. I mean, Alex Goligosky, you play with him a little bit, Witt. Very reliable on the back end. He can help out with like a second PP unit. I mean, I don't know if he's going to want to move, but Nicholas Jarmelson, three-time Stanley Cup champion,

great shutdown defenseman, great penalty killer, block shot. The Coyotes definitely have some assets that they could move in order to gain some drafting position, something that they don't really have much of. But yeah, it should be interesting, especially with what the conversation was with Merrick in the two-week quarantine. So Canadian teams will probably be less likely to make moves

than the rest of the divisions. Yeah, no doubt. I think that if I could possibly look to add a depth guy, if I'm a team that's like, all right, I just want to add a depth guy, right? If I'm a team that's like, all right, I just want to get a little tougher, a little meaner, a little harder to play against. What about Sam Bennett? Dude, he's going to be RFA, right?

So you're going to ask for a little bit more in return. But I don't know, man. That guy seems like such a playoff type player to me. Well, I think that Daryl is probably going to want to see what he can do under him. Very true. Because that's a very Daryl S probably going to want to see what he can do under him very true that's a very Daryl Sutter type player now I was kind of wondering this and I don't think he fits the mold just because he hasn't been able to produce maybe the same amount of offense but who's the who's the Blake Coleman

out there that somebody can add right now who who's that type of player that's that that's up for trade to add like that that depth guy who could provide offense who's like a reliable third line player um and and i mean that to me that's you it's tough to go get like the first line center or the you know a highly highly skilled guy but you could probably i mean mind you they gave up quite a bit for coleman i think they gave up two first rounders didn't they yeah it wasn't a cheap price no not not two i don't think i don't know we'll have to we'll have to google it yeah that's a good call and then and i think a call when i think like he can skate right so it's very hard to get that kind of combination it's why he's so effective in terms of like

wearing other teams down because that line was just such nobody could really handle them because their speed was so nice and then they played physical and i mean echoing being number one on that list makes a lot of sense i mean his cap hits 3.75 oh wow that's beautiful the way he can move and he's big he's strong oh any team that needs a d man you're calling about him you get him for another year too at 375 so that would certainly be a return nashville is going to be looking for i don't want to say a ton, but they're not going to give him away. No doubt. Yeah. There's that trade. The Devils got Nolan Foote, a young prospect, and

they ended up getting Vancouver's 2020 first round pick because Tampa already had it. The conditions were if Vancouver's pick is a lottery pick, the 2020 first round pick will transfer to a 2021 first round. I believe If his pick is a lottery pick, the 2020 first round pick will transfer to a 2021 first rounder. All right.

One first rounder. Yeah. One, I believe, Foot. I was half right. Well, Foot was taken the first round. So I guess you can technically, you were. Very selfless of New Jersey to only take one first round pick. Yeah.

Good stuff. Class X. Yeah. I mean, obviously, there's a ton of UFAs here. And if these teams are out of the playoffs, I mean, why wouldn't you fucking trade them? It would make no sense not to, I guess. Well, obviously, we'll keep tabs on all the trades going on. Teams want to line up.

They want to definitely have a little insurance going, going into the playoffs. And speaking of insurance, gee, insurance can be complicated. That's why the Zebra was created. When you use thezebra.com, insurance finally feels like it's in black and white. No more confusion, just honest rates from real companies. The Zebra is the nation's leading insurance comparison site for car and home insurance. They can help you save money today. It's so easy.

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Brian O'Reilly's mom, Bonnie, she donated a kidney to a family friend, Graham Nesbitt. He used to let Brian and his brother, Cal, get extra time at the rink as young kids. And he needed a kidney, and the O'Reilly's mom donated her kidney, man. And I know we had a couple of coworkers at Boston, Grinnelli, Jordan Berry and Jake Lasoski have done the same thing. I had a buddy who did it for his aunt up in South Boston. I mean, you talk about selfless and altruistic, Biz.

It's all coming full circle. I knew there was a reason why I needed to find that word. That is incredible. Now, so a kidney is basically just, it kind of filters out all the junk in your body, correct? Yeah, more or less. You get two of them. So some people can live with one. Some people are only born with one. And some people,

if they don't get a new one, if they have two, won't live much longer. If they're a match, they'll donate. I didn't know much about it other than the fact that it's, you know, that's a pretty hardcore thing. And, you know, it obviously takes, what, surgery and recovery time? Oh, yeah. I mean, this ain't like getting grown your hair long and donating for a transplant.

It's painful. You've got to go through a huge operation taking on a major organ. So it's not something people do very lightly, that's for sure. Well, kudos to her. And you mentioned there's two other people at Barstool that have done it recently, G? Yeah, which is pretty crazy that in a company of like 250 people, that two people have done it. But it's Jake Lassofsky who helped us out with the ECHL Player Relief Fund Series. He edited all those this summer.

And then Jordan Berry, a good friend of mine. So it's a pretty cool thing. That's awesome. Yeah, man. That's unreal. Yeah, it's crazy stuff. Sick taps. Sick taps.

No doubt about it. All right, gang, this is a tough story we've got to bring up. Mark Pavlich, he assisted on Mike Aruzioni's game-winning goal at the 1980 Miracle Team USA squad. He died at age 63. I guess he was living in a mental health treatment facility in Minnesota. I guess he had gotten arrested for assaulting a neighbor a couple years ago, and the judge ruled he wasn't fit to stand trial.

He just, you know, he's not mentally fit. So he was living in a facility, and I guess they found him, found him dead in his room the other morning. His sister said back in 2019 she suspected he probably would have CTE, given his history of concussions. It's just a sad, terrible ending for a guy who was on such a grand stage, part of American history, and then just to have it end like this. It's heartbreaking.

It's awful. And, you know, we're terribly sorry to the family and friends of Mark Witt. I know you obviously are a fan of Team USA and all that history. I didn't know if you wanted to weigh in here. Yeah, it's just heartbreaking for sure. didn't know if he wanted to weigh in here yeah it's just just heartbreaking for sure it just shows it's like as as incredible a career he had or moment he had being a gold medal winner on that team it's like the the game's just a game right i mean doesn't matter if you win stanley cups doesn't matter what you do it's like your life after and that's what we always talk about and how hard it can be for players and you see somebody who certainly had like mental illness right it's so sad because

it doesn't doesn't matter at all to him what happened before in his life he should be so proud and it just shows that that in the end for so many people that that doesn't matter and that's a guy who did something that is so memorable, will live on forever. And all of his buddies that he did it with, all these guys who made the impossible come true, like they lost one of their brothers. And it sucks because for so long, I think he's been battling illness and demons. And his teammates weren't able to help and not saying anyone could. So it's just such a sad way to see a memorable person in USA Hockey

and somebody who did something that was so incredible with a group of others to tragically die at a young age. And say what you want, 63 is young now. And so I feel so bad for his family and you feel for people who cared a lot about him and loved him. And just to see it all go down the way it did after a moment that he should have been flying high on the rest of his life, it is heartbreaking.

Well said, Whit. Again, our deepest sympathies to family, friends, and teammates of Mark. I was terribly sad to see the news. Last week, we talked about Bob Probert, Jody Shelley. A lot of people enjoyed that story. Well, a friend of Bob's reached out to me, and they wanted to have us mention that his wife, Danny, and a family friend, Mal Lang, are raising money for the Probert Memorial, which they're going to build a hospital wing for cardiac care in his name.

So if you want to make a donation or a merch purchase that will benefit the fund, you can go to Detroit's Real real bad boys.com just like it sounds no apostrophes detroit's real bad boys.com again if you want to just make a donation or get some of the merch uh to help out that would be a great thing if they can get a cardiac wing built and probert's on us so uh we like i said it was someone reached out want us to pass along we were happy to do that uh probert is a legend so no problem there in our final story don't worry we're gonna leave you well it's not a happy note but we can at least have a laugh i guess our boy memes was bad from instagram that's saucy uh spitting chiclets means you might get a

lifetime ban folks this is serious shit yeah i mean you can't lose me it's this guy the video of him man i mean i've hung out with him and talked to him. It almost feels like he's joking with you, like he's trying to be like a stereotypical Canadian, but with that video dropped, I think people thought he was doing a character. No, that's memes. Exactly. What kind of a Canadian accent is that? What region? It's memes.

He's from memes land. He's an internet outlaw. He abides by his own rules. There's no rules that apply to me so we'll give you the rundown here so apparently he broke some instagram rules as far as like uh copyright infringement because he was putting our faces on some silly videos um he got nipped in the butt they took down his account we're hoping why did you laugh nipped in the butt nipped in the butt right now we're hoping for a 30-day suspension and gaz from barstool is trying to

work on getting his account back that had 170 000 followers we may not get it back and memes may have to go on on sussy but we would probably create another one i'd imagine and and try to get that back going because it's it's something that we get to share with our fan base that's like all the underground jokes and all the silly stuff for our hardcore listeners and which tells us that we have about 170 000 of 170 000 of them so we're gonna do what we can for you guys folks because uh you know obviously we enjoy getting some laughs out of it as well after he posterizes us with some of these things that he creates and spitting chiclets memes will never die if he's gone i'm gone yeah like i need i need memes i wait after every show and try to think what he's going to meme.

And then once they pop up a couple day or two after the show, I just love them and laugh. So memes, we're thinking of you. And that is not an act. That is memes to the core. Dip in, playing video games, thinking of memes, gone with the win poster behind him. Shout out memes.

R.I.P. He'll get back. I'm sure. If he has to start another account, everybody will just follow him again. I don't think it'll be a problem building up. Everybody will be aware. I will remember you. I can't hit those high notes today.

We know that. All right, gang. That'll wrap up episode 323. It's been a long week. We had a good time. A lot of fun. Enjoy the episode, and we'll catch you later. Peace.

I will remember you. Will you remember me? Don't let your life pass you by. As always, we'd like to thank our sponsors here on Spit and Chicklets. Big thanks to our longtime friends at New Amsterdam Vodka and Pink Whitney. Huge thanks to everybody at No Days Wasted for taking care of us. Thanks to everybody at SimpliSafe for taking care of our homes. Huge thanks to everybody at Whoop for helping our sleep and training.

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