Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 331: Featuring Gabriel Landeskog + Kaleb Dahlgren

Episode Date: May 4, 2021

On episode 331 of Spittin’ Chiclets, the guys are joined by Gabriel Landeskog and Kaleb Dahlgren. Landy joined (44:16) to talk about the Avs season, growing up in Sweden, playing for Patrick Roy and tons more. The boys then broke down each division, had their usual McDavid tire pump, then moved on to discuss some more NHL news. The guys were then joined by Humboldt Broncos bus crash survivor Kaleb Dahlgren. Kaleb joined (2:10:25) to give an update on what he has been up to, to talk about the day that rocked the hockey world, and to discuss his Dahlgren’s Diabeauties Foundation. The guys wrap up the show talking about the Seattle Kraken, golf, and some movie talk.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 331 of Spittin' Chicklets, presented by Pink Whitney. From our friends at New Amsterdam Vodka here in the Postal Sports Podcast family. What is up, gang? We got lots to get to on a packed up. Some clinches, a big retirement. I'm coming to you from to get to on a packed up some clinches a big retirement i'm coming to you from midtown manhattan on a business trip biz because we are here to win

the dozen trivia that's that's tuesday i know we dropped the episode but it's a big deal in the world fucking that last the last match we got hose it was minahan who apparently there's a little bit of beef going on with minahan and jared Karabas where he's now dropped out. And then they got the gambler on his team, but yeah, I'm looking forward. So, so we're going to hop in via zoom. Yeah. 11 20 Tuesday and it's going to get dropped the week following week. So we can't talk about who won and we could, if we win, we keep going on. We'll play again Wednesday. And if we win that we're in the final.

So I'm here all business going dead sober, playing Jeopardy style. We're going to win this fucking thing. What time Wednesday? We got a coyote scheme. Am I going to have to ditch the coyotes game to play the dozens? It'll be in the afternoon sometime. It'll be done by before suppertime. All right.

East Coast. So what do you think about our chances in that? I feel like sports wise, we're solid. But other than R.A. with the movies, Biz, you and I don't know much trivia. I don't know much at all. I know a lot of obscure shit. I've gone to trivia at a bar, and I've just... I've had some decent nights, maybe three out of ten,

but the other seven, I'm useless. R.A., I hope you don't take this as an insult. You know so much about useless shit. It's fucking crazy. The drink category, you're always pretty good in. We's fucking crazy the drink category you're always you're always pretty good in we didn't get the drink category question right i should have had it i said that the cactus club special with the bellini i messed that up that's not on ra anyway uh i don't even know if you asked me what's going on but i'm gonna tell you i watched that uh gawker the gawker

hulk hogan documentary last night. That was interesting. Oh, I need a doc. I need a documentary. I don't even know how that all went down, but I was kind of invested in that whole Hulk Hogan reality show era. Like I was watching that show. I remember he was heavily involved with that Tampa Bay Cup run. To the point I heard some of the Tampa guys saying they had to lock him

out of the room. They thought he should be in there for the team. You know, when the coach was going to address the team and keep it like the tight-knit group. I think Hulk thought he should have had his name engraved in the cup. He should have. Dude, like Jim Belushi when Chicago won it. Everyone's like, all right, Jim, why don't you go have a seat outside? We're going to celebrate with the boys here.

He's one of the boys do it do it a and e i don't know how much did he get paid for that biz crazy amount so the wild part about it that i never knew was that this guy this um uh like tech billionaire guy from the west coast was funding the lawsuit because he didn't like the the the gawker.com he had a personal vendetta against them so they were saying is like i i don't know if it ended up creating a law and as far as like the government or or the way that these things can proceed now but it was bizarre that somebody who wasn't really involved in the case was funding the fact that that this situation could end up taking them down. I think that they ended up having to pay up 140 million was the, was the total on that. And what was bizarre about it,

I didn't even realize I thought that, that there was like an affair going on, but no, this was Hulk Hogan's. It was his good buddy. I think he was the best man at his wedding, but his buddy just liked watching other dudes plow his wife. It's just like that was one of their things. Oh, Bubba the Love Sponge. Yeah, Bubba the Love. Yeah.

That was the guy's name? Yeah, he's a DJ in Tampa. Yeah. Yeah, so he liked watching. Is that his real name? No. Yeah, that was. No.

That's his stage name. You think? I fell for that one. You both did. We both did. Hook, line, and sinker. Yeah, so it was an interesting doc it kind of got on to the to the like the the legal proceedings of it and how how it shouldn't

have been allowed that this this guy was funding the lawsuit it didn't make any sense and he basically just kept pouring more and more money into it until he he dragged it down um well interesting interesting story there i'm going to check out that doc. If you're wondering how I'm doing, fantastic. Actually, fantastic slash a touch of like disappointed, but fantastic nonetheless. We won. Team Trash down in Sea Island.

This place, Sea Island Resort in Georgia, is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. We stayed in this cabin. You pull the golf carts right up to the front of the cabin. You walk in. There's four bedrooms, two king-size beds in each, a big common room kitchen, an outdoor patio, and then right there, the range.

You have a hitting bay inside all lit up so you can just bang balls whenever you want to. Guys are waking up, grabbing a coffee, step literally three feet outside, warm up, hit some balls. You go get in the cart, go to the first tee. Guys are waking up, grabbing a coffee, step literally three feet outside, warm up, hit some balls. You go get in the cart, go to the first tee. So we just had a – we got there Thursday afternoon, and we left Sunday.

You can tell by my voice, wounded. But we won. It was fantastic. If you followed along on Fairway Fools, he had some good updates going on on basically how we just shit-kicked him. There's five matches. There's nine points every every session available 45 total points the thing was over after the fourth set of matches we didn't even need to play

just an utter shit kicking um so then you just poured it on as far as two two things that really like made me laugh looking back from the weekend and we got a jet on the way home oh my god that move is that just eight guys you know you pool it together and does that change the way to end a trip or what oh you just walk on you fly home you walk off none of the panic an hour ride to the airport going through security is an utter anxiety attack when you're hung over coming off a guy's weekend i would rather fucking jump off a building than walk through security and get in line in airports when i'm hung over so the jet was the way to go but two things when i'm looking back on the weekend cracked me up the first was uh

one of the guys in the trip was telling us a story i had never heard this actually most of the guys hadn't in college he right when like facebook was early on he used to just write that he had a girlfriend and he was at college he's like i have a girlfriend but she doesn't go here make up a name on facebook because he knew girls would love me oh he's got a girlfriend i want to you know who's it because they you know you're always interested the girls always like the guys with the girlfriends and then sure shit it would help moat and he'd fake break up with her on facebook and he'd get the sympathy so he had just this fake relationship where he oh it was just so that's diabolical so funny college memories and the other one that was hilarious is if you can imagine this common kitchen you're up late every night it smells like a sweaty sock in there. There's empty beer cans and food everywhere in the morning.

And guys are laying there with no shirt on, TVs on, just chilling. And some guy knocks on the door, well-dressed guy. He's got his golf shirt on, his clubs. And one dude goes and answers the door. He comes in. He's like, hey, I'm here for my lesson. We were next to the performance center where the head pros taught my buddy is sitting there no shirt on looking horrendous he goes oh yeah you must be my

8 a.m this guy this guy was just so confused someone was like no the performance center's next door oh my goodness. So that was just... Who dropped the one-liner? What was his name? Gary. We call him Gary. His name's Connor Kelly, but everyone calls him Gary. Oh, shocker.

I know. That's such an East Coast, Boston thing. Makes no sense. It's like the fucking nickname makes absolutely no sense. Well, the reason it makes even more less sense is they... Everyone was trying to call him Gary. They thought the guy in the breakup. Do you remember the brother?

Come come with the kick drum, Gary. You know that movie? You ever seen that movie? All right. I don't remember that. What's come with the kick drum? What's the name of the movie? The breakup with Vince Vaughn.

And I saw it with my old. Oh, that's right. Well, there's a character. Jennifer is so funny. He's this very flamboyant brother of Jennifer Aniston, or I think it's his brother. I don't know. He ends up being tough as shit.

His brothers all thought that Connor was like that guy and they thought that guy's name was Gary so they started calling him Gary, but that isn't even his name. Gary was Vince Vaughn. So it really makes no sense. That's basically how to explain the nickname in Boston. But yeah, a great trip.

And then it's crazy to come home and see. I think this morning, people are listening Tuesday, there's going to be 62 games left in the NHL season. We're pretty much wrapped up, 90% of the regular season. Most of the races look like, you know what top four teams are getting in?

And it's game on for us. You know, playoffs, we'd be crazy busy. It's getting busy. We can't actually leave out our buddy Grinnelli, though. We got to say hello to him. I'm going to be having a few drinks and dinner with him. That's all right. Got to give.

What's up, R.A.? Happy to have you here in New York City. I am also very happy to say that we can start teasing this street hockey tournament that we've been working on for so long. We're going to be doing a street hockey tournament this summer around August in Detroit. And we'll release some more details in the in the coming weeks. Do they need an e-bug for any teams? We will. We actually will need e-bugs.

You might be the e-bug goalie this year, R.A., for the Barstool team. Hey, shout out to R.A. too, because you don't get the credit. R.A. right now, you'll see on the YouTube when you watch, if you do. He has no glasses on, and he just admitted before the show he can't find his glasses, and he's very OCD with his glasses especially. So this is kind of his flu game right now. It's so far so good. Yeah, you are humming, R.A.

Yeah, because he's usually always playing with his glasses and shit and moving around. So I think now it's going to be fresh hands down. I respect it. I might be concussed as well. I hit my head real fucking good getting in my seat in that Amtrak train. and shit and moving around so i think now it's going to be fresh hands down i respect it i might be concussed as well i i hit my head real fucking good getting in my seat in that amtrak train i was like enough that i said oh like so the whole train came here and i was like oh i just fucking missed it and i had to sit down you know what i got a stinger on my neck i had to sit there for like a minute and for the stinger to go where your head gets wicked hot you did this to yourself on the

train on the train yeah so was there a bump or did you just do it you just no it was i just smashed my head but it like went right into my neck i was like oh please please but it went it kind of came and went real quick so i could be concussed i'll have to check so we're gonna sell uh ra's burp nft and now we gotta sell his uh his flu game nft uh hey buddy you're humming that's hilarious what about your guy making up girl it's like to do it on the animal house uh he's like hi i'm here to pick up my date, Fawn Lebowitz, because they looked in the paper first and they knew she died. So all the girls are like, oh, hold on a minute. So they didn't take an hour.

They took him to the fucking Dexter Lake Club. One of the greatest scenes in movie history. One of the greatest movies. I have not seen it. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. This movie is ridiculous. I'm a loser.

Offmoor dies in kiln explosion. I mean, it's the comedy that changed comedies forever. I mean, there was funny movies before Animal House. Animal House came along, and it was like the big bang of American comedy movies. Save your tweets. I know. It's embarrassing. I will watch Animal House.

It's on my list. I've been catching up with my octopussy teacher and fucking all these other ones that Ari's been throwing at me. You mentioned docs and wrestling. I don't know if A&E the last three weeks has been killing it. They have one on Roddy Piper, Macho Man, and Steve Austin. They have in-depth the whole story about them. If you're a wrestling fan from way back when, it's good shit so far. I've been on YouTube quite a bit lately, and in the algorithm,

I love watching all this drama behind the scenes with wrestling, not even the, like all these old feuds they have with Vince McMahon and the arguments. Like I didn't realize CM Punk left WWE very ugly. Like the work that rock was putting in behind the scenes, like which guys hated each other. You would be great in the WWE biz. You are meant for the WWE.

It makes you, oh man, I would love to be a wrestler. I'm too banged up though. I got no knees, dude. Those guys, man, they just, they kill themselves. But you, and the Hulk's the biz. I'll tweet it. I will get to the hockey in a sec. But one of my greatest sports memories ever,

when Hulk Hogan entered the arena in the midst of Hulkamania, he would do the fucking fingers up. The whole place was going. Well, me and my brother would always sneak down. Like, we were little shits, and no one would bother you if you were behind this certain barrier. And I was legit hugging him the whole time he was doing this. I was, like, 10 years old, like, doing the Hulkamania thing.

I got pictures, like, two feet away. I'll tweet them out later just as evidence. But it's still shit. I remember 35 years later. You know, the whole building's on him. He'd yell legit, hug him. I am a real american dude huckamania was fucking huge first wrestler ever on the cover

remember his number and then the mullet hair he had was he bald on top with the hair in the back yeah i can't oh it was oh it was so greasy but it was awesome hey the gift why is he not a cop the the the gif of uh sean michaels coming out and doing the like what he's oh hey it was ridiculous people people throwing beer on him as they're coming out it's fucking nuts man hey i remember some of those monday night raws maybe 95 ish ra is that when it was like they would do and say anything in the anything man is there a documentary on him he's probably like a sociopath no he doesn't let anything get produced unless like WWF puts this spin on he's very very like a sicko right but I mean he's obviously like a genius he's a mega low mean mega what was it when it began did he did because he at

one point wrestled, right? He got involved in some things. He was never a wrestler per se, but he did get, you know, like he didn't come up as a wrestler. He would have implemented himself in the script. I don't know how genius is that, though. Yeah. I mean, look at it. He built an empire because his father ran it.

I remember the garden. He would have like a pink suit on. People were yelling like, like gross things at him, like because he wasn't in power yet. He was a skinny, scrawny guy in a suit, and now he's a fucking monster worth billions of dollars, man. It is quite an American story, I'll tell you that. God, I was just about to bring something up, but I guess we can move on. Yeah, we got a pair of guests for you once again today.

We have Colorado superstar Gabriel Landeskog. I caught up with him about a week ago, so it's pretty fresh stuff. Great guy. And Biz did a solo interview with caleb dahlgren uh caleb survived the um humbled crash a couple years ago and he come out with a book and biz sat down with him and obviously it's a very heavy interview but uh it's also important that you hear it so we're gonna get to that a little bit later but to have a little bit of fun first what is up gang we got lots to get to on a packed episode

some clinches like i said but it's officially party season, so head over to your local liquor store today and find the Pink Whitney and the new 375-milliliter Mickey-sized bottle. From the pregame to the afterparty, make Pink Whitney your choice. Smooth stuff. We've got to kick off with your team. Once again, the North is just a team to talk about. Toronto, five straight wins.

It's shaping up. They might play Montreal in the first round. I'm praying that happens, but Winnipeg keeps slipping. We had a little, I wouldn't call it controversy. We had some whining online. Simmons fought Edler after he hit, what's his name? Was it Heiman? Knocked him out with a knee.

You know, he answered the bell. People are like, oh, he's never had a career fight before. It's like, well, he never gets suspended for kneeing a guy either before. So I wanted your take, Biz. Did you see what BXa said about it, guys? Yeah. It was perfectly said. Yeah, it's like, you know, especially like he's got to be the voice of reason,

especially from a player's perspective up there. And, like, I'd be like, ah, that code, you know, and he just, like, eloquently rolls it out perfectly. And once again, I don't think Edler really had an issue addressing it either. I mean, the fight didn't really last long anyway. He took a couple noogies on the head and, and, and we can all move on. Well, I was thinking if I was on Pittsburgh, right. And I'm thinking of like the team that Philly had when I was there and I took

out one of their top players, say I somehow took out Mike Richards dirty knee or something. I'm not fighting Yoni Pickinan the next time maybe Riley Cote is coming after you know it's like that it's so odd for people to even bring up that you should have to fight somebody like the same toughness as you if you what are you talking about this is like old school warrior mentality or gladiators it's where it's you're just doing whatever you can to get a leg up so if the toughest guy has a chance to beat up a weakling it's gonna happen and i'm not saying edler's a weakling but he'd never had one fight and i think that that was simmons's 78th but he

did good whatever he hung in there he answered the bell hey you're like, I'll pick the seven bongo drums. No, you're getting the Cote left to the jaw, you donkey. Yeah, no, I thought he did well at the start. I mean, obviously Simmons took over. But, yeah, everybody moved on, and it's great. And, like, roles reversed. Could you imagine if Vancouver was having the season that Toronto's having and, let's say Hyman need Hughes.

Oh, what are you talking about? They, there'll be a UFC. They make them want to be all over him. That's true. That's true. There is other Hughes getting drafted this year.

Granola. Hey, here's another thing. Sorry. Yeah. He's filthy. He's filthy. And he could go to the devils,

which could be cool. Both Hughes brothers in New Jersey. Isn't he a D man? He's a D man,. Yeah, he's filthy. He's filthy, and he could go to the Devils, which could be cool. Both Hughes brothers in New Jersey. Isn't he a D-man? He's a D-man, but he's not like Quinn. He's more of like the stay-at-home type. He's a killer? No, he's not really a killer either. He's pumping guys' eyes shut?

No. Not that much. We had another scrap in that division, too. Josh Norris and Romanoff. Romanoff looked a little late getting the gloves off there. Grinnellikov? Yeah. Well, he didn't know what was going on, man.

You got to – he has no idea that that's really happening because time moves very quick when somebody's, like, jumping you. Now, I'm sure most people are getting their gloves off sooner, but I don't even think he knew what to do. And it was Norris, too, so it's kind of an unlikely matchup. I don't think anyone really expects that to happen either we have to mention Matthews with 38 goals this guy's a freak of nature what's his goals per game right now is it what 0.81 eight while we were both off three different numbers let me check my notes here

one two three it didn't fuck but watch it it's gonna be eight four and and i feel lost in the shuffle right now is is marner has played like an absolute water bug he is addition magician right now putting it right in matthew's wheelhouse non-stop so these two together right now this is this is crazy madness matthew's kind of like the celebrations are pretty low-key at least the one saturday night or was it Sunday night? Because it's so easy. It's like anything he shoots right now, it's going in. And then also, also half of them are nasty goals.

It's not like he's like scoring weak goals, like these quick wrist shots. I mean, McDavid still probably gets goal of the week. What, what is happening there is, is, is like how many times can you say the same thing? He's 13 points away with seven games to go right now to 100. I want him to get it so bad. I really – because 56 games, 100 points. 13 points in his last seven games.

He's gotten 13 in six games, 18 different times this season. I don't know how they measure that, but that's what the tweet said. I think he's going to do it. I don't know how they measure that, but that's what the tweet said. I think he's going to do it. I don't know, man. My only concern here is, like, what do you – they don't have a lot other than him and Dreisaitl going into playoffs. Like, if they're not kicking on all cylinders, they ain't getting out of the north.

That's their only chance. So, how much time – how much energy of his do you put and stock into that to him getting that goal i think that well first off i gotta say you don't want to be rolling i'm out there 24 i know i know but quickly before i get to that because this is actually well tuesday now but so if if last night he got three points he will join lemieux yager wayne Wayne Gretzky, and Adam Oates as the only players in the last 30 years to record 90 points in 50 games or fewer.

Dude, those names, that's why it's just ever heard of him. Exactly, Biz. And then in terms of getting the 100, I think if I don't know, if with one game to go, he's like five short, does he sit that game? Maybe you sit him when it becomes

unrealistic but it really never is to him because he can go out and get six points one night and so first and that goal like did you see the side-by-side uh video images of that mcdavid goal and crosby's goal against montreal back in the day yes pretty pretty like eerie almost how similar they are i mean he's doing the same type of shit. He's changing the game. It's incredible to watch. Watching him, he's this generation's Gretzky. I know that's lofty praise, but when you're seeing these stats

and he's among all these names every single time, what this kid is doing is absolutely special. The Gretzky comparison for sure because he's doing it the way that no one's ever done it before. It's a level above the rest and and and like i i like to put mckinnon in that level too because like sometimes there's holy shit but he's kind of just like nothing against me it's just there's shit that he's doing out there you're like what the heck man i think he's kind of crazy i think you could make an argument that he's i I wonder how this will be taken.

He's better. He's better at the NHL. He's better at the NHL than any other athlete is in their respective sport right now. Correct. Maybe not a soccer. Like, I don't know that much about messy,

but everyone says, but I don't see any other players changing their game and dominating the sport at a level like this guy's actually I'm into F1. Now, Lewis hamilton there you go oh yeah he's got what 97 wins now he's just he fucking wins he gets the poll he's a handsome fella too he must salient he who's he dating he's married to um the girl who sang loosen up your buttons babe i think one of the pussycat dolls oh she's stunning the lead singer one she she went off and did a solo thing too i don't know she's digging it up what's her name to it i know it too well we talked about jennifer aniston earlier we didn't really dive into that she like all right was she the it girl when you were coming up i mean pop culture loved i i don't

i don't know that she was my hit girl. I probably like Jennifer Conley, Scarlett Johansson. Those are, they were probably a little more of my whale house at the time, but yeah, Aniston, I mean,

on friends, she was fucking hot as hell. And Jennifer Conley, is that the girl that's in the movie with Leo about the diamonds? What diamond? Blood diamond. Yes, I believe so.

Yeah. She was in recluse for a dream that the drug movie from like the nineties. Yeah. She was the rocker. She's been a bunch of stuff, yeah. She was in Requiem for a Dream, the drug movie from the 90s. She was the rocker. She's been in a bunch of stuff. Yeah, she always butted my muffin pretty good. Blood butted your muffin? There it is. What a sick prick.

It says he's dating Victoria Odin-Kava, a Russian supermodel. Maybe I'm completely wrong. I was going to say, man, this guy's at the peak. He's an F1 driver. If Lewis Hamilton has never been married or dated that girl from Possegat Thals, I'm losing my mind. Yeah. Cologne, Germany. Nicole Scherzinger?

Is that who we're trying to come up with? She was like, okay, perfect. That was driving me fucking crazy. I couldn't come up with it. Back to hockey. Sorry, boys. Mitch Manna has 231 points in his last 200 regular season games because I want to give him some props on that as well. But Connor, dude, he's got in his first 400 games played, 556 points. That's the sixth most all-time.

Gretzky, Lemieux, Stastny, Bossy, Curry, Glendross. And that's, again, what the company's keeping. So, all right, I think we've stroked them off. Well, it's just – and you compared the side-by-sides of the goal comparisons with Crosby. Like, I think him and Ovi were probably that last wave of guy that these new wave of guys have to keep up with as far as, like, the point standards.

And they're always being compared constantly. You know, what did they do through this many games? Guys, he's absolutely everything is advertised, and the way that the numbers show, it might get even sillier and sillier, so let's not be surprised by it and just continue to stroke him off. Throw in the Shawn Michaels gift. You got to show the Shawn Michaels gift. I'll get the nut sack for him.

Don't put my face on that one. That's biz. Yeah. No, don't put it. Yeah, that's going too far, memes. Oh, shit. Put our ace face. Hey, and we got to shout out his German winger, superstar himself,

who I think just became the leading score in the history of the NHL for Germans. Correct. And what is he, 22? Yeah. I tell you, what the fuck's this guy gonna do he's like doing he's he'd be talked about so much more it's like what he's actually done is is is in a way like not shocking but certainly changes the game for german hockey because they never had a true superstar and now it's like i look at the development and the players in that country differently now and that cider coming up with detroit and stutzel

it's like he's kind of been the leader in changing german hockey and where that nation's gone that's a great call what they have been up and coming for the last few years in international play and they got some fire uniforms too uh the fucking black they almost look like the old connects ones yeah leon already the highest score in german 488 points in 468 games he passed marco stern uh obviously he's going to keep adding to that uh the canadians we got a great moment out of them should we should we quickly mention the mike smith comment got to got to dunk on the old squad yeah grinelli if you if you want to put the question and the answer. Is there extra satisfaction for you putting probably the final nail in Calgary's playoff hopes here, considering the rival they are?

Yep. Oof, man. That was a long thought he had before he said that. He kind of had a gritted smirk on his face. So, yeah, I mean, they gave up on him basically in his mind. And he's been out of his mind this year because I'm glad you brought him up. 18-6-2. A 2-3-0 his mind this year because I'm glad you brought him up. 18-6-2, a 2-3-0 goals against, 9-2-4 save percentage, three shutouts.

I mean, this guy's, what, 38 years old? People are writing him off everywhere. And he's recaptured that magic he had, what, nine years ago in the desert. He's oldest goalie in the league, right? Yep. He might be, yeah. The Smitty redemption tour. That's why I'm interested to see how these playoffs play out.

So, Connor, pump the brakes a little bit, get your rest. I would love to see a Toronto Edmonton matchup. And I was bullish on Winnipeg, especially at the fact that Murley was all over him. But literally since he came on our podcast, it's awful. I think Shifley might've got healthy scratch. Like the team's falling apart. I think somebody mentioned that they might be moving.

So thanks a lot, Merle. They're getting pitch and toss from Winnipeg again. Second time. Actually, shout out to me, Ryan Miller, who recently announced his retirement. We'll talk about him later. He is the oldest goalie in the league, I think. I think he's older than Smitty. So that would have been bad.

But we'll get into Miller and his career. And what were we just mentioning? Oh, Winnipeg, man, Winnipeg. They didn't do much at the, at the deadline for D right. I think what was it? Geordie Ben came over. They, they lost Lowry a little while back. And before that, that Lowry, um, cop and Appleton were one of the best third lines in the league. So he's been gone. And then Ehlers is now out.

So a lot of injury problems along with Hellebuck. He's been not himself, I'll say, in the last little while. So, I don't know, Edmonton dominates them too. That would be, I think you're looking at a huge favorite if they are, if they are indeed matched up. And of course what they made the big trade for Pierre-Luc Dubois, he got eight goals, 12 assists in 20 games. I'm sorry, 20 points in 35 games. I'm sure they were expecting a lot more action out of him in that regard,

but yeah. We had the two week quarantine and then maybe, maybe he hasn't played well. I haven't seen enough to know, but the numbers aren't what you expected. Yeah. They've lost six in a row and they're only two points ahead of Montreal and like I wrote the blog the other day I'm praying for a Toronto Montreal uh playoff in the first round they haven't played each other in the place since

1979 they've only played each other twice since the expansion in 67 so I mean Toronto Montreal first round would be epic what's up biz well I was just gonna ask uh, how much stock do you put on how well you're playing leading right up into playoffs? I wonder what the correlation is to teams that, let's say in the last six games before entering, what their record was and how even the first round turns out. Because right now, I clearly would give the advantage to Edmonton. And I don't think Montreal is anywhere near Toronto. But is this a situation where you think Montreal can just flip the switch? They did have a big, gutsy overtime win in which Cole Caulfield scored his first NHL goal. But before that, they're like struggling to win games right now. They don't look very good.

Yeah, they don't score a ton. And when you talk about going into the playoffs I think if a if a team that's wrapped up you know first in the conference second in the conference and they've struggled a little bit at the end you're disappointed but you're gonna have the four days before the first round and you're also ready to go you know the season you had you know the team you are so I don't think playing bad can like kill you going in but playing great certainly can't hurt. And you've seen all the instances of teams just fly in the last month to get

the eighth spot back in the normal playoff division, you know, format. And then them having a crazy upset. I was on an Anaheim team. We were unreal. The last one I got dealt raccoon. It's 30 games or whatever. After the deadline, I was there. Team went on a run. We got into the playoffs. We beat the San Jose sharks president's's trophy so it can help um toronto the thing is they're playing great so it's like while while also having to deal with a team that's waves more skilled than you in toronto over montreal if that is the matchup you're also dealing with team right now that that is firing on all

cylinders like like if you were on the vegas golden knights they were on a 10 game winning streak and then it was all crazy and coyotes ended up ending it whatever i'm not putting too but like would you be nervous would you would you be nervous going in to playoffs on like a 12 game winning streak would you would you be like oh no no okay no i think you'd be pretty fired up okay yeah edmonton took seven out of nine games versus winnipeg this season so they're probably licking No. No? Okay. No. I think you'd be pretty fired up. Okay. Yeah. Edmonton took seven out of nine games versus Winnipeg this season, so they're probably licking their chops at playing them. Caulfield, he's the youngest Canadian to score a regular season overtime game when I'm going.

It was awesome. So, I mean, I even bet Ottawa that night, and I didn't mind watching that because it was just fucking such an awesome goal. Petrie made the play. What a play by Jeff Petrie. Holy shit. Makes it into a two-on-one and just feeds it right on his tape.

He did a great job of leaning down and burying it, right? But it was a straight-up tap-in for the most part. Great celebration, too, though. Well, that's what I mean. Yeah, it was just a fun moment to see. Everyone was so fired up for him. Suzuki, you noticed, I think, tackled him the hardest right off the bat. And I don't know their exact ages,

but I think they're probably within a year or two of each other those two guys right i don't know when they were drafted but um you're looking at two guys kind of the future of a team and you're fired up for one of them to get his first what a setting one of the know what the habs jonathan drew in took a personal leave so obviously it's personal we're not gonna get into it just passing along for roster reasons we obviously wish him the best and uh hopefully we see him for the playoffs uh thomas shabbat gotta give him a shout out on auto he's already fourth in defenseman points in auto history going back to 92 carlson redden and phillips are the three ahead of him he's still a young pup so uh this kid's a stud on d we've been talking about him for a long time uh vancouver kind of some shitty news but we can't ignore it because it's pretty pretty pertinent

jake vertanen left the team team after some accusations about what was called sexual misconduct, an alleged incident back in September 2017. Per Glacier Media, the woman had contacted the police. There are no charges, and none of these allegations have been proven in court. The team did release a statement. We've become aware of concerning allegations made about Jake Vertanen. Our organization does not accept sexual misconduct of any kind, and the claims, as reported reported are being treated very seriously we have engaged external

expertise to assist in an independent investigation and we have placed the player on leave as we wait more information so i mean that's pretty much all there there's not really not much to add uh thing came up team's gonna look into it they in the meantime took him off the roster so again we're just passing that along because it's pertinent news. We're going to jump over to the West, friend of the program, Marc-Andre Fleury. Got his 489th win. He's now third all-time. I mean, he's what?

How old is he? He's what, 34, 35? He's born in 84. He's probably 36, 37. Is he late 84 or early? Yeah, yeah, he's a late 84. He was drafted first overall my year, but he was a late birthday. Yeah.

And 36 years old. Yup. So he actually, I mean, he's turning 37, right? How's that for math? Pretty good.

He hasn't already turned 37. No, he's turning 37 in November. Goalies have such a shelf life, man. I know. Well, what do you mean?

He's done it a long fucking time. Are you saying how shocking it is that he's still around doing that no i'm saying to go like goalies man like they they play into well into their mid to late 30s these guys would take care of themselves they don't major yeah he's he's pretty dialed into his training i don't think he was ever a big partier either like just like yeah just like a family guy he was in incredible shape so incredible flexible and he's like not he's not he's skinny, right? He can move so well. I think that, you know, he's 100 percent a Hall of Famer.

I Vegas right now. They are so good. But the Minnesota Wild actually are 10, two and two of them against them in their career. Like if they got the wild, if they had the season they've had and get the wild in the first round, that's a kick in the dick. And I actually think Minnesota, well, the numbers that that stat kind of shows that they just,

they match up so much better against them than, than Colorado. I feel like Colorado could kind of smoke many. Well, you will. They're both very physical teams too. Like Vegas, they play big boy hockey stone stones's getting in the mix every game even against the coyotes like he's invested every single game he was going at guys jibber jabbering

and then the whole team joins them but same with same with minnesota they got that line i think it's felino and greenway it could be fucking nathan gerby on that line that's still an absolute meat fest you know what i'm saying? No offense, Gerbs. But yeah, they have a very big team. Right now, it looks as though Vegas is going to take the first spot, right? Yeah,

but what is it? They both have seven games left. Yeah, Vegas has a four-point lead. Doesn't Colorado have a game in hand? Yeah, Colorado. Yeah, and I think Colorado's schedule is way easier. Okay, but for Colorado's sake, them drawing Minnesota would be a bit of a pain in the ass, and the fact that I don't know how many of the guys

they have in the lineup right now are coming back. Same issue as last year. They got some guys banged up, right, R.A.? Yeah, they've had injuries all year. Yeah, Grubauer, he's actually back in the lineup. Just got back. Yeah, he just got back. He's been banged up right all right uh yeah they've had injuries all you know all year grubauer he's actually back in the lineup i'm sorry back he yeah he just got back he's been banged up ranton has been backed up don scoy side calvert i mean byron o'connor all these guys have had injuries i mean hopefully they're resting some of these guys i know like for example brandon carlo in boston he's probably getting back in the lineup this week but it's more a case of resting

a guy for the playoffs and you got to think colorado is probably doing that with some of these guys. Why expend all this energy now when you pretty much locked in on the second spot? Yeah. You know, it's just hard with, cause all of a sudden you got these, those are pretty big names and guys who are, you know, a pretty big, pretty big piece of that lineup. So all of a sudden they got to get healthy and also get back their game legs in meantime for a potential, very difficult first round against Minnesota.

If that's the way it all goes down so this the west the west is extremely strong and it looks as if though fucking St. Louis is going to take out that fourth spot I thought I thought the Yotes had a chance I'll go back to that good run yeah good run the what the game they blew against LA when it was 3-1 going into the third and they lost in regulation. That put them on a downward spiral. I think they went like 2-9 in their next 11 or something like that. It was just not good. But St. Louis, man, they're playing some good hockey too.

Yeah, they are. And they have the experience too, right? Like Minnesota's young and they're upcoming and the team's changed, but they aren't that experienced in the playoffs and then you get the blues and you know what all these guys have been through and how they know what it takes it's like them them finally turning it on isn't a surprise and it's also scary for every other team that could possibly face them I'll say that no doubt about that Whit um you already mentioned Ryan Miller we're going to talk about him now he's

going to retire after the season. He announced in a press conference the other day he has the most wins by a U.S. goalie with 391. He got his 391st Saturday night in his last game. He stopped 23 of 25 in a 6-2 win over the Kings. Great moment. The Kings all lined up after the game to handshake him. We've seen this with a few other guys this year with Milo,

and it's just a testament to the respect these guys have for each other. The moment he had with Johnny Quick, a fellow American. These guys battled together internationally. Just a tremendous moment. Of course, Miller won the Vesna back in 2010, 41-18-8, 9-2-9, 2-2-2, five shutouts. He played 11 years in Buffalo, brief stint in St. Louis, Vancouver, Anaheim for the last seven years.

And, of course, Team USA, like I mentioned, Whit. Let's go to you on this one. Yeah, R.A., what a run for this guy. I had the chance to get to be a teammate of his for two weeks in Vancouver. And that two-week stretch of play might have been the greatest performance in 14 days a goalie's ever had.

He was MVP of those winter games. Just kept us in every single game, made these ridiculous save over and over. It was like you just didn't even want to go near the guy. He was on another level. So the Vesna Trophy, I think he could be in the Hall of Fame. Biz, did you ever have any experiences with Millsy? I'll tell you what.

I would say he probably gets in, but if there's one reason why he shouldn't, it's because one of my seven goals that I scored in the National Hockey League was on him. So, Ryan, my apologies. If that's the anchor that brings you down, I'll make it up to you by inviting you on the podcast so you can tell your entire career story. And that's all I can offer up at this time. But, Whit, going back to what you said, ridiculous career.

The longevity is what you talked about earlier. R.A., yes, this is one of those guys that, like, holy – what did he play, 20 years? 20 seasons? He played, excuse me, 18 total NHL seasons. Oh, my goodness. That is crazy. And, like, especially how you're moving as a goalie.

Like, I know, like, my hips are shit. And you see some of these guys who start getting in their 30s where they just can't do it anymore. Like, and they're and you know, they start the mechanics start all busting up and all of a sudden they're on the fucking the shelf for too long. It's it's the longevity and that. That career is insane. And also Michigan State, Hobie Baker, the best in college. In the AHL, he dominated. He spent like three years in the AHL and he was a fifth round pick and then became the best goalie there. All right, then let's go to the next level. Gets the NHL and at one point was the best goalie there.

So it was like this rise had happened for such a long time leading up to it that the career he had is just amazing. Unfortunately, he didn't win a Stanley Cup, but he certainly never was at fault in terms of why teams didn't get it done. I'll say those Buffalo teams had legit chances, and I think that he'll be remembered forever by Sabres fans. Wow, he got a Hobie Baker too.

Yeah, he did it all, dude. Dude, I mean, the first couple seasons in Buffalo that he was a hobie baker too yeah he did it all dude dude i mean the first couple seasons in buffalo that he was a regular uh seven started 74 games in 08 67 65 i mean those are just insane numbers for a goalie i mean personally i think he's going to be known as a great goalie i don't think he's probably going to get in the hall of fame i mean he's most for u.s wins he's 14th all time and as far as the olympic stuff the u.s stuff i don't think the voters give two shits about that in the hall of fame we've talked about that before i think they skew canadian so i think at the end of the end of the line will probably be in the u.s hockey hall of fame but um you know they always look at the resume and championships and i know it's probably going to

work against them but it doesn't take anything away from them i mean that one goal of fame that one goal yeah you had to say that didn't you piss jesus christ uh well dude we've been talking goalies i mean but they've been giving us a lot to talk about how about our buddy jordan bennett and mixing up with cam talbot like he looks like he's trying to fire himself up to get in fucking savage mode for the playoffs biz he's trying to drag the boys into it i don't think he needs to do it anymore though it seems like they've woken up now now he's just doing it for personal reasons that's psycho uh yeah they should just book him for the offseason do some uh some ufc style fighting get in the ring maybe him and yablonski we can line that one up yeah we get some uh we

get some yeah well ufc and boxing talk a little bit later we got some fun shit to get to one last note from this division anze kopata is on the brink of a huge milestone he's three points shy of 1 000 uh hopefully he'll get it between uh next couple shows he'll be the fourth player in king's history to reach that number after dion robitaille and taylor the first slovenian to reach a thousand points 18th european born to reach a thousand 91st in nhl history with god tens of thousands of players one of just eight active guys that will have a thousand and the only active player to reach a thousand while not being selected in the top two of his draft, just a unbelievable career. I think being in LA, he even with the cups, he's still somewhat unheralded maybe,

because he's kind of a quiet personality, but you've, you know, you've seen him a shitload biz. Oh my goodness. He's just so good. He's I see the bark of the you know he's the bark of the west but obviously a lot more accomplished uh one of the best two-way centers in the league guys and he's still getting it done at a very elite level and uh he's big bastard biz oh he's a big bastard like on the ice too it feels like he weighs 300 pounds yeah you can't move him off of pucks no well it's actually it's actually freakish how how big he is and how he can move like that there's a there's a few guys in the league that

you're just yeah you just can't you i i find like matthews is like that too he's just a fucking truck out there the first time we met austin matthews i was so shocked at how big he is and how quick he can move laterally it's insane it. It's fucked. Yeah, he is a tree, a redwood. All right, boys. Well, goalies are all about protection, and so isn't SimpliSafe. SimpliSafe is an award-winning home security system, so you know it's engineered with the latest technology. You want to keep your family safe, but what really sets SimpliSafe apart

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Whoa. There was the anxiety. It came out because he doesn't have his glasses. He was pitching a perfect game. That's okay. It was the stupidest fucking thing ever. I've been doing stuff on the fly. I put the cursor on his name so it didn't look like a letter,

and it fucked me all up. But anyways, without further ado, Colorado stud Gabriel Landeskog. Well, it's a pleasure to welcome my next guest to the show. This Colorado forward is already in his 10th NHL season and ninth as captain of the Avalanche, taking second overall in the 2011 draft.

He won the call of the trophy and was named to the all-rookie team after his first season. And he currently plays on one of the most dominant lines in the NHL and is getting ready to return to the playoffs to take care of some unfinished business. Thanks so much for joining us on the Spittin' Chicklets podcast, Gabriel Landisgaard. How we doing, brother? Long time no see. Yeah, doing well. Thanks for having me on, guys. Excited to be here. Absolutely. You just said you just hit Vegas, but a little different than the

usual trips to Vegas, eh? Very different. It's a different world we live in nowadays. And these trips used to be a blast, obviously, in Vegas. But any road trip would be a blast in general. And it's just so different. I feel bad for the new guys that came in this year, like Devon Taves and Brandon Saad and some of these guys. That's the bonding time. I mean, they go on the road, go for dinners, go out for drinks. I mean, that's a really good bonding time. But nowadays, go on the road, go for dinners, go out for drinks. I mean, that's, that's a really good bonding time,

but nowadays we're just stuck in our hotel rooms. How many trips to Vegas a year are you guys like light in the lamp? Well, the first year we were, first year we were, I think we were two for two and I think we got shut out in both games or something like that. It was the Vegas flu was in full effect. That's for sure. I remember I had a credit I was taking a beating too. Yeah. Yeah.

You know, Ty's was picking up some of those tabs and he, he was in his credit card was taking a beating that year. Biz, we didn't get to play in the league when Vegas was a team, but I just remember here in Chicago, Quenville would take them for a little, like a little three day rodeo just because he wanted to be there.

That's when I was like, Oh my God, these guys haven't made now everyone gets to rip it up that's it it's it's a good time and and i mean vegas we all know what vegas is and and uh we've always had a tradition of after the season to go either here to vegas for for two nights or we go to scottsdale for two nights as an end of the year trip and and uh and now we get a little bit of that during the season as well not quite as hard as an end of the year trip. And, and, uh, and now we get a little bit of that during the season as well. Not quite as hard as an end of the year trip, but, uh, it's a good tradition we got going. Stay out of my city, Landy. Vegas, Vegas, every year. Stay over there. Gabe, as you know, in the show,

we always like to go back at the beginning of guys' careers and take it from there. But I want to ask what made you want to play in the Canadian juniors as opposed to the Swedish elite league? Yeah. yeah you know it's a good question i've gotten that quite a bit and people seem to be a little bit confused by it but at the time i was even i was pretty close to signing with gergard my my team back home in stockholm and and at that point you're you know i was 16 17 years old and and all of a sudden you got a contract where you're making, you know, 500 bucks a game or you're making, you know, at least some, some money. And that's pretty attractive when you're 16, 17 years old. But for me,

the change was when I went over to play the under eighteens in North Dakota and Fargo and say what you want about that city. I know they have an USHL team, I believe. Could be wrong on that. But we were there during the tournament, and I think the gold medal game was US-Canada, and we were sitting in the stands, and it was like 5,000 people going nuts for these 16-, 17-year-olds playing.

And I remember sitting there with my agent, and he was saying, well, you know what? You don't have to play in the Swiss Elite League next year. This could be an option, whether it's here or in Canada or whatever. And I started thinking about it, visited Kitchener, visited Mississauga as well, and fell in love with Kitchener. I mean, Steve Spott and that organization, they showed me around,

showed me a good time and got me to meet my Billet family and all that. And it was very, for me, I was very excited about the, the idea of going and playing in front of 6,000 people and playing, you know, 68 games, which is a lot more than you play in Sweden. And, and for me, my goal was obviously to play in the NHL and I wanted to, to get acclimated to the North American style of hockey. And I felt like I had so many more levels to, to get doing so many things to develop my game.

In the Swedish Elite League, it's easy coming up as a 16, 17-year-old. And you get stuck in that fourth line role and you get to play five, maybe 10 minutes a night if you're lucky. And you're kind of molded into that system. And for me, I just wanted to play a lot more. I wanted to develop and learn. And that was really the ultimate decision and um looking back at i guess it was the right one i um i was gonna ask as a follow-up as a swede did you feel any type of pressure like from the country and like where they're like why don't

you want to play here why don't you want to stay over here and develop a little bit but not not a whole lot i think maybe because i i don't think there was a whole lot of swedish guys that went over at that point so then they didn't really think there was you know they they didn't really know what they were what we were doing they probably expected me to go for a year or two and then come back and play in the swedish elite league and then hopefully get drafted or whatever but for me my goal was to to develop and and to go play and i saw it as a great adventure and um you know i went to high school for two years which was which was an experience in its own uh bit of a culture shock going into those hallways and and it was just like the movies

sucked off in the bathroom in the hallway fucking stallion no no no none of that but it was uh it was a great experience and And looking back at it, I learned so much and moving away at 16 was, it was tough for the first, but I also always say that it was tougher, probably my mom and dad, that it was tough around me. And because I was busy playing and busy hanging out with my new teammates and all kinds of stuff. So, but ultimately, I see it go back back to your question i see it as if you go away and you develop and you become a better hockey player it's a it's a good thing for the swedish hockey federation as well and and uh you know it's you know all different there's kinds of there's all different routes to go about it right some some guys adam larson and some of these guys playing the swiss elite league came up as young guys and played really well. So it's different ways for everybody. Still the shocker of the century biz is that London didn't buy this guy. I mean, what the fuck were they doing?

I was going to ask, were you drafted by Kitchener in the European draft? Or I thought I read that you were drafted by Plymouth originally. Yeah, yeah, I was drafted by Plymouth originally. I remember that draft, the import draft, sitting at home, yeah I was drafted by Plymouth originally I remember that draft the import draft uh sitting at home and I was super excited I thought Kitchener was going to pick me and then somehow I guess Plymouth got a sniff that I was interested in going so they took a chance on me and and for me at that point it kind of crushed my dreams and I was like okay well I'm not going to go now I didn't know Kitchener ain't fucking Plymouth. Yeah. No, the opposite, Biz.

Yeah, so I actually got, I remember sitting at home waiting for the import draft to happen, and I was excited about being a part of the Kitchener Rangers and all juiced up to go, especially because I'd visited, I knew, I'd met my Bill of family, I'd seen the rink, I'd met everybody, and then all of a sudden, Plymouth got a sniff that I was interested in going and took a chance on me, and all of a sudden Plymouth got a sniff that I was gonna that I was interested in going and took a chance on me and and all of a sudden it's kind of uh crushed my dreams a little bit and I thought well I'm not gonna go now I don't know anything about Plymouth I don't know

where it is I don't know who the coach is I don't know anything so um it was a few tough weeks there just kind of sitting around and and and uh hoping that something was going to get done and Steve Spot was pretty adamant about it the whole time. He's like, we'll get something done here. And he was smart enough during the import draft to draft Thomas Tatar, who had just been drafted by the Red Wings. And, you know, obviously Plymouth being in Michigan as well, thinking there was going to be a connection there

and that was going to be attractive for the Whalers. So Thomas Tatar never ended up playing a game in the ohl but they swapped me for thomas tatar and i believe there might have been some other players of picks involved as well yeah so it's uh i was very happy when i traced them through and yeah it uh especially now after going to you know nothing bad you know towards the plymouth whalers but after going and playing in that rink and playing in the kitchener Auditorium Memorial in that barn, it's very different. And I'm happy I, you know, spotted that done. So is it true that your father, he played in the SEL, right?

Yeah, he played a couple of years in Swiss Elite League and then the second division. And that I'm guessing is kind of like how you fell in love with the game is through him and he got you into it yeah at a pretty early age he was done playing by the time i uh you know i came around but he uh introduced me to the game of hockey obviously and then put put us out on an outdoor rink back home and uh spent one winter uh doing a backyard r And that was, I think he had enough after that because it's a lot of work. But yeah, fell in love with the game pretty easily. And played all kinds of stuff growing up. Played soccer, played floorball, which I'm sure you guys don't know much about.

But the European sport that we play up in the Scandinavian countries, that's kind of like wiffle ball inside type of thing. And yeah, played all kinds of stuff stuff but hockey was my number one love and and uh got fairly serious when you get up in the teenage years but before that it was just about having fun land you were the first european captain of kitchen how much of a challenge was that for you as a young kid not just in a foreign land but in canada as a captain of a hockey team? Yeah, different. But I think at that point, my second year came around and my language skills had gotten a lot better.

I was more comfortable in the room and things like that. My rookie year, I'd like to think I was more quiet and reserved and just kind of observing. But yeah, huge honor, obviously. It's such a rich history in that organization um and learned a lot and especially that being my draft year and and uh for me my main thing was it it didn't matter if it was that first year in Kitchener or eventually when I became the captain of the Avalanche it was just be myself and um don't try to be any anything else and don't try to

be something you're not it was just pretty natural to me to just be myself and and uh't try to be any anything else and don't try to be something you're not it was just pretty natural to me to just be myself and and uh we had a good team there a good group of guys that made it easy for me and i don't know if i stepped on anybody's toes that some of the overagers might have expected to see but um i think we were all pretty happy with the way it turned out we had a really good group in that locker room. You mentioned the language barrier, but the first time I saw you talk, I was like, no, that kid's from Medina, Minnesota. He's not from Sweden. I know a lot of guys from Sweden.

They speak perfect English, but you really don't have much of an accent. Is that because you're from Stockholm, such an international city? It's just crazy that you really can't tell where you're from. Yeah, I mean, I think my my dream like i said growing up was always to play in the hl and i i'd watch matt sundin of forsberg and and lidstrom and did they just seem to handle themselves very well and in the english language and i was just like well i gotta start paying attention in english class and it's pretty simple and then i came to kitchener still had a pretty heavy accident there's accident still had a pretty heavy accident take it back

some of the guys were some of the guys, some of the guys are ripping me pretty good in the room and I'd miss up. I remember my, my first year in Kitchener, we're in the room and, and I said something, somebody made a joke and I said, Oh, that was really fun. And everybody kind of looked at me. They're like, it wasn't fun. It was, you mean funny. And I didn't know the difference between fun and funny. And guys are ripping me pretty good my first couple years,

but I learned pretty quickly. And, yeah, it's just the way you got to have fun with it. And I know it's hard with a new language to get comfortable. And it's just one of those things you got to try. And for the most part, when you try, guys have a pretty good understanding of it. In Kitchener, it was your second year you got the C. You mentioned you weren't sure how maybe some of the older agers would have thought about it.

It was your second year. It's a pretty cherished history there. Some guys had put in more time. Was there a conversation before they gave it to you, whether they thought maybe even you were ready to take it, or have you always been like a natural-born leader where you thought you were probably going to get it? I really didn't think I was going to get it my second year there in Kitchener.

And then, you know, coach just kind of called me in and said, do you want it? And do you feel ready for it? And in my opinion, I was just, you know what, be a great challenge. It'd be a great adventure and a huge honor. So one of those things, you know, you're not going to be the perfect captain as long as you accept that and just try to be the best you can and try to listen to everybody and hear everybody's opinion, see everybody in the locker room, I think you're going to do well. And going into that second year, well, the 2011 draft was at the end of that season

and ended up being Nugent Hopkins, you, and the third overall pick was huberdo a hell of a top three for for that year going in were you rated that high pre-season by central scouting and stuff or was it kind of a late season push like how did your whole draft year go uh i don't think i was rated that high i was i think i was rated in the first round at some point before the season started and then then I had a good start to the season and was scoring a bunch of goals. And it was just one of those things that as the season went along, I guess scouts started watching. And that was another thing about playing in the OHL was a good window of, you know, showing off what you can do.

And a lot of scouts at the games and things like that. But even to this day, we joke, to native all the time if you look at who i'm sandwiched in that draft i think nuge had 110 points huberdo at 100 and something points and i was sitting there with 66 and and nate and i always joke about the intangibles nate always says yeah but those guys don't have intangibles. Because the whole time during the draft, the whole time during the draft, that's all they Bob McKenzie would talk about was my intangibles.

Yeah. At that point, I didn't even know what it was, but yeah, happy with the way it worked out. I was going to ask before the draft, were you hoping to end up anywhere in particular or perhaps maybe trying to avoid anywhere in particular? Not really. I was excited about the opportunity to obviously see in Colorado up there in the top three. And I think towards the end of the season, it was basically Huberto Hopkins and me and, and, and different orders.

So I was a big Colorado Avalanche fan growing up, obviously with Peter Forsberg, he was kind of my guy growing up um as well as matt sundin and then eventually henry zetterberg as well but seeing the avalanche up there was was uh pretty exciting and and i didn't know much about the city of denver uh i knew the only thing i knew about edmonton was that it was cold uh and in canada and i knew florida was hot and sunny and and denver was ultimately kind of somewhere in between. So I'm really happy. It kind of fits my lifestyle and I'm super happy with the way it turned out. And it's such a, you know, people at the start would talk about compare me against Forsberg

and that's just super unfair in my opinion. He's one of the best to ever play. So absolutely, it's an honor to pull on that jersey every time and and just trying to do my best that's all it is not trying to be Peter Forsberg or Joe Sack or anybody else just trying to be myself I knew you grew up a massive Forsberg fan had you uh had a chance to contact him before you were drafted to the abs or was that maybe what like what started the connection yeah it actually kind of started the connection um you know i got some text messages after the draft from peter and then then after my rookie season he does a a chair he used to do a charity tour uh in sweden every summer where he gets all kinds of

nhl players together and we go and play local teams and raise money and remember my rookie year i was i was i was i got the ass to go to that. And obviously, I was super starstruck. Peter Forsberg, Matt's – Marcus Naslin was there. Sadim brothers were there, all kinds of players. And all of a sudden, I look at the lineup. And it's all charity games and it's all funny games and whatever. But 92 in between 21 and 19.

I'm like, wait, that's me playing center which i've never done in my life playing with fordsburg and marcus naslin and those guys were huge idols of mine and i talked to fordsburg and i asked if it was a spell mistake and he said no it's perfect you guys you're first in the four check and you're first on the back check and then give a fuck so we uh a pretty cool experience and then peter and I have gotten to know each other fairly well over the years. And he comes to Denver, he comes and stops in and says hi every time. So it's, he's a great guy. And obviously he knew how to play the game.

Well, you had no problem. You step right into the league, you win the Calder trophy, just this amazing year where you lead the team in goals. And have you ever like imagined something going that smoothly right I mean you dreamt of playing in the league you learned English because you planned on being in the NHL but never could you have imagined a season like that huh no really couldn't have and I mean I was it was just one of those things you that that whole rookie season you look back at it it was just a whirlwind of,

of you just trying to find your footing and trying to find your game and, and everything is such a, at a, such a high pace. And, and not only that, I mean, in junior, you could kind of win stick battles by kind of going by them and you, you, you know, you grab the puck and go, but here everybody was so much stronger and, and in the right position the whole time. And it took a while to find my footing and kind of get my game going. But it's one of those things, once you start, you know,

gaining some confidence, you can go out and play. You know, I played with Ryan O'Reilly that entire season. And we had – obviously now we've seen what he is. And in my opinion, he should be a Selke finalist every single year. And he's just so good. And I remember at that point, we were on the third line, me, him, and Dan Winnick. And then eventually we ended up working up,

playing with Milan Heyduk on the other side. But I remember looking at Factor and thinking, this guy's a third liner. And I look at his stats and he had like 26 points in his first two seasons. And I'm like, how is this? This doesn't add up. And he exploded at 50 something points that year. And then obviously the rest is everybody knows who he is now.

And you're like, if he's third liner, I don't know if I can play in this league. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So yeah. Factor in factor, honestly, I credit a lot to him. You know, just seeing how he goes about his business every single day, how he prepared himself for games, how he stays out there an hour after practice is over, just working on little details. And, you know, he kind of showed me the ropes of putting in that work.

And you can see how it's translated to his game now. Witt, could you imagine a night out with this guy in the factor? Imagine in your rookie year. Yeah, I'd be holding the door for him. No, they'd be sending me to get to the guy in the bathroom to get them breath mints and stuff. That's the guy. Hey, Landy, that's the guy too.

I'd still do it. At a team meal when I got to play with Lemieux, I came back and I said to like Merle or somebody, I was like, hey, I was like, do you like have to tip those guys? Like, I don't know. I feel like every time I go in, I got to tip them. And Mario looked over and he just goes, what are you trying to save a buck?

And I was just like, oh. So you would have pigeon tossed me the same, I'm sure. Gabe, I want to ask, you were named captain of the Aalanche after your first season, you're not even 20 years old yet. The team was, you know, somewhat in a transitional phase, had a lot of high picks. Did you have any sort of like mentor for helping you with the captain ship either in the room or outside?

Yeah, we, we, we had a bunch of guys that were great and had some experience and, you know, Paul Stass and he was one of them. Milan Hayduke was there my first couple of years. O'Reilly was another guy that I lean on and, you know, Paul Stass, and he was one of them. Milan A. Duke was there my first couple of years. O'Reilly was another guy that I could lean on and was just, you know, great guys in the room. We had J.S. Jagir as well and whatever. We had some guys that had been around that could help in the room.

But honestly, looking back at it now, it was a few years early, I think. It was early for me. And I know, like you said, it was kind of a part of where the organization was at where the team was at that point. But man, I was young and I was so green and I was just, I didn't know myself what I was doing. I didn't know. I hadn't really established myself in the league,

even though I had a good first season, but one season doesn't make a career. So I was still trying to find my way and, and you know, some bumps in the road and some really uncomfortable players only meetings and some uncomfortable decisions, but I kind of found my footing after a few years and that was pretty honest with it from the get-go, just like the Kitchener thing. I was like, listen, I'm not going to try to be Joe Sackick. I'm not trying to be Nicholas Lidstrom or Matt Sundin I'm just trying to be

myself and we'll see where this takes us and I'm just trying to learn along the way really because you mentioned in Kitchener like the listening and as a captain you kind of got to feel it out all the time and you know talk to these different personalities and try to make it all work and you also mentioned coming in the NHL and how big of an adjustment it is you're trying to like bring your game to the next level so it's hard to exert brain power in in both dynamics and try to balance it all right is that's kind of yeah and i exactly and i try i think when one kind of thing started clicking for me was when i just started really it sounds maybe backwards but you have to focus on yourself and you got to figure out your own game first.

You got to, you know, you got to worry about yourself and where your game's at, go out and play the right way. Because if you don't do that, if you're not ready to play, you're not going to tell anybody else how to play or you're not going to tell anybody else how to back check or whatever. So your efforts got to come first and lead by example. And then, you know, after that with experience, obviously comes, comes some knowledge and, and, and then you know after that with experience obviously comes

come some knowledge and and uh and some other things so it's um one of those things where you just got to learn and and keep grinding away um was there ever a doubt uh we talked to mckinnon and there were some doubts in his mind at a certain point whether he could bring his game to that next level did you ever get did you ever go through a period of that time where whether you thought you could make the leap to being like an elite point getter in the league and really a household name? Yeah, there's some ups and downs for sure. But especially in that second season, the lockout year.

So they had just named me the captain right before they announced the lockout was happening. So by the time they announced I was going to be the captain was when we were still thinking there might be a season that year in 11 12 or in 12 13 excuse me and uh and then the lockout happens and I was skating in Denver and and the Avs didn't want me to go down and play in the in the AHL so at that point I was kind of like well I got to go play somewhere so I went back to Europe and played and didn't really have a great fall uh playing over there uh came back I think I might have been a little bit out of shape going into that training camp there in January and ended up getting it absolutely crushed by

Brad Stewart in San Jose got a conkey and then you know I missed 10 games he absolutely crushed me in the neutral zone I came around jumbo i thought i had i was feeling good that game came around jumbo in the neutral zone just a perfect angling job by jumbo and then brad stewart came up and broke my nose gave me a conkey and you know it was charlie horse and all kinds of stuff he just absolutely ran broke your toe. Yeah, looks like my bill at the Jeep dealership. Carburetor. What the fuck's a carburetor? Yeah, so that season, I mean, you know, not using a concussion as an excuse, but it was choppy that year, and I didn't play well coming back after that.

And, you know, at that point, I was struggling to find the momentum again. And we came back the year after that. We got Patty as a coach and then started to find my groove, played with Stastny and McKinnon his rookie year and started finding my groove again. And there's always, you guys know, it's during the season, there's always periods of time where you're doubting yourself or you're not playing well and things like that.

Confidence is low, but then it's funny. All you need to go you know you just need to puck off the shin pad to go in and sometimes the confidence can turn so um but yeah it's it's one of those it's a constant battle even year 10 now i've gone through some tough stretches this year where you're kind of like man what am i doing wrong but um stick with it you talk about sticking with it. And then 2016, 17 came was just a tough year for you guys. And Bednar was there, I think 22 wins. And I just wonder what changed that next season.

Obviously McKinnon takes off. He gets 95 points. You double your point, your point output from the year prior. It was just like, it finally was just a different vibe in that room. Yeah. That number one, number two,

the team was different going into that 17, 18 season. The year before that was, you know, Varlamov was hurt. We had a bunch of guys, key guys going down with injuries, but at the same time, I guess our depth maybe wasn't as strong. And on top of that, we all had career worst seasons. So it just wasn't as strong uh and on top of that we all had career worst seasons so it just wasn't a good mix and then when you're i remember that season we we had fought our way back to being 500 we were nine and nine coming home to denver uh and we've kind of been up and down funny part is actually that season we went six and oh and preseason and we

were feeling ourselves and then we won the first two games of the season. We're 8-0 under Betsy. And we're like, yeah, this could be a good year. Playing the parade. Yeah. We fight our way back to 9-9. We had a five-game homestand, and we got one point out of it. And that was just kind of. And then I came back from an injury.

We go into Montreal. Jerome McGinley has 1,500 NHL game. He put up like 15 grand on the board, something like that. After six minutes, it was like seven, nothing. We're losing. We ended up losing by 10 one and it was just a tough night. And after that, it was just, it snowballed downhill and was a tough season.

It just really made you doubt if we're talking about doubts that made you doubt all kinds of stuff about yourself. And we were really wondering like are we really this bad or or what's going on and then season after that some changes were made i'm glad they stuck with bedsy and gave him obviously another shot at it because it really wasn't fair to him he was thrown into it i think patty patty left august 10th or something like that the year prior and bedsy came in with two weeks to prepare for training camp it wasn't fair so after that we got some young players in Tyson

Jost came in and got a full full training camp uh JT Comfort had already been there Alexander Kerf was in there Sam Gerrard came a bunch of these guys came and just really excited our locker room. And we just said enough is enough. I think everyone probably asked you what McKinnon and what it's like to play with this guy regularly. But when I talk about you having a big jump in points that year, Ranton had almost tripled his points from the year prior. And I swear to God, he reminds me of Malkin sometimes, the way he plays. Like, did you know right away, even that first year, that this kid was special? Well, think of it like this.

He was the only guy on that 16-17 season that scored 20 goals. So he was basically the only guy that had a year that year. And you could definitely see that he was something special. And like you said, I mean, Malkin, I think, is a very fair comparison, even though it's early. The way he trots, though, like when he Amalkin, I think, is a very fair comparison, even though it's early. The way he trots, though, like when he's going to the neutral zone, just this big lefty, you're like, Jesus. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, so it's – Mikko's a very special player. Obviously, at that size, you don't expect him to be, you know, so mobile and kind of bounce around the corners and coming out of battles with pucks and whatever, but he's got a lot of, he can basically do it all except for body check. And he doesn't like hitting anybody. He, he, he's physical and he can play, he can protect the puck, but he doesn't go, he doesn't go out of his way to hit somebody, which is pretty funny, but it's a little reminding sometimes. Yeah.

If I was six, four Jack to 25, I'd, I'd run, you you know I'd run around a little bit if I was Mikko but he's also addition and and uh he's a player so he's he's fun to play with no doubt and you mentioned Patrick Wye a couple times you played for him for three seasons is he the most intense coach you've ever played for yeah I think so Patty was was yeah Paddy was definitely intense and you could tell he still had that fire in his eyes from playing and certain days it was hard to know what side of the bed

he was going to wake up on he was a little bit unpredictable that way he was very good at motivating his players I'll say that he knew how to push buttons and sometimes he had crazy things going on i remember the one time we i believe it was the second year we had a little bit of a rough stretch you know sometimes you're going through a rough stretch players can

start to complain and and kind of bitch and moan about certain things patty pulls us all in the video room and he shows us a motivational video from youtube about quacking and complaining as a duck or soaring like an eagle those are basically your that was basically your choice you had to make and basically sending us a message that hey we're going to be soaring eagles we're going to you know puff our chests out and spread energy wherever we go and whatever so the game game starts and we all know Nate at this point. Nate's, you know, vocal and Nate can kind of bark at his teammates sometimes when they're not doing their best. And he came back to the bench and I guess he was barking at somebody. And all of a sudden we're hearing the from behind us.

And we're looking back and it's our hall of fame coach patty raw standing back there just quacking at nate basically saying like giving him a reminder he should be soaring like an eagle instead so patty was uh patty was uh he had some different tactics and we laugh about it to this day and uh he could run some bag skates i'll tell you that uh i felt bad we had danny breer and jerome mcginla and some of these guys like older guys um and they were kind of on the the last few years of their their their careers and and patty's second year things weren't going as as he would have liked or we would have liked and he started really bag skating us and then we would go an hour and a half and barely any pucks and i'm telling you some of these games we'd go in with 10,

11 guys would be coming out of the trainer's room with their groins taped up. And it just felt bad. But Patty, you know, it's one of those things when you start winning a couple of games and you've been bag skating, they think that's the recipe for success. So they kept, he kept with it. Patty was a good coach. Biz, there's no guarantee like old veterans despising their coach at the end of their career it's always the guys at the end that just they're

not playing as much as they've become accustomed to the team's struggling i saw it in pittsburgh guys like fuck terry and i don't know patty waugh enough but it actually surprised me that he wasn't a little bit more forward thinking and and the fact he was, you know, he had such a long career. So do you think it's just because he inherited from the older days that like you got to show up and work your absolute bag off and that's how you win? Yeah, I think so. But like I said, like Paddy would have different tactics

depending on what week it was really. Like some days he'd be a player's coach and come into the trainer's room and just shoot the shit and want to talk about, you know, he was telling stories about whatever other days it was just kind of, you know, the complete opposite of being a hard ass and, and that kind of stuff. So he was almost, it almost felt like he was trying to be a mix of the old and the new kind of

thing. And, and, but I think as a player, you appreciate when you know what you're getting from your coach and you appreciate that kind of consistency so um yeah it was it was a really good experience still playing for Paddy we you know it was it was cool and obviously you could tell what made him so successful as a as a player you know just that that mental that mindset of just you know he was gonna you I'm you guys have seen the video of his first game as a coach behind the bench at Pepsi Center. He almost blew down the glass in between. Against Anaheim.

Yeah, against Anaheim. Who was the coach, Carlisle, for Anaheim? I think it was Bruce Boudreaux, I think. Oh, my. He would have popped his fucking head off. Brucey's just looking for like the meal post game he's like jeez and I think weren't you guys trucking them too I heard that's what

the fight was about they didn't give him a free voucher for the meal in the meals room that's what fucking Boudreaux was hot about yeah it was uh he wasn't afraid to pull the goalie with five minutes left either that was that was something that looked like it was going to catch on in the NHL, but it didn't last too long afterwards. Yeah. Yeah. I remember we, well,

speaking of that, we, we were down four enough and in Vancouver. And Patty pulls a goalie with 10 minutes to go and basically just gives the Sedins another cookie. And then we got dashed up again. And we were just like, thanks Patty. Thanks for that dash. that Sadeen's another cookie. And then we got dashed up again. And we were just like, thanks, Paddy. Thanks for that dash.

Quack, quack. Yeah, quack, quack. I want to bring up Joe Sackick's name. Obviously, he's the general manager, and it's not in his job description. But does he ever give guys maybe pointers or tips, pull them aside and say, hey, you know, maybe try this? Or does he completely steer clear of that stuff? Joe's go-to advice is just shoot the puck,

just shoot the puck, hit the net. Those are the two things, shoot the puck and hit the net. Those are the two things. And I feel like just saying back to him, Hey, Joe, you scored 600 goals. You could take a, you could flick the wrister and go bar down like nobody else. So it's not the same thing. We got to actually try to aim and try to get to scoring chance before we can just pull the pull the trigger but yeah joe is joe is a good guy i don't i don't think he you know he doesn't want to get too involved in in players or give too much advice you know he's

around if we need it and we can talk to him but other than that he's he's just kind of that you know he's a gm right and he likes to be involved and likes to be around and show his face off. But he's around and I think he's, you know, he's comfortable in his role as a GM right now. And he's been a good mentor for me, honestly, as a captain as well, early on, especially before he really became the GM to bounce some ideas off of. So it's really great having that guy around. Hey, Sackick's the shoot it guy on the power play at home at the pepsi center just yelling in the ozone there's a fan yelling

it and his buddy's like what are you doing dude come on let him pass around he's like well look who's yelling it behind us it's sacking with a fucking loudspeaker those people are idiots i say it all the time it's like you you can't just come in the zone and rip it when you're up a man but that's bruins fans for you you'd be like wit shooting into patrick marlow shin pads by the way i forgot to include i went sliding into the net oh my goodness you are one of myself all right well speaking of offensive defenseman kale mccarr he gets discussed enough i need to hear about this samuel gerrard little water bug out there flying around i mean what a trade to grab him i think it was from nashville too right yeah it was that three-way deal with

dushane tourists and him yeah what what yeah right away are you like this guy's different level yeah i mean right away we were you know he's got's different level. Yeah, I mean, right away, we were, you know, he's got that spin move that's patented now almost that just he does it five times a game, five times a period. But right off the bat, we were kind of, my stick is about this long, and we were just like, is this guy really, how is he going to play like this? But he just, he's continued to grow,

and he's continued to evolve into this. Now he's a 200-foot he's continued to evolve into this. Now he's a 200 foot machine. He's the breakout machine. He goes back there and breaks it out by him, by himself. And, and offensively, you know, we know how mobile he is. You can't check the guy. It just, he's a guy that's really impressed me this year, especially when Cale went down early in the season and, and Gerard and Devon Taves, both guys have stepped up big and and G in my opinion you know he's been one of our more consistent players all year I've been one of our best players of the year and he doesn't get a whole lot of love around the league obviously with

being on our team and and things like that so G and he's a guy he kind of likes it that way I think he kind of likes being in the shadow and just kind of going about his business hey as far as G's concerned you guys give him a hard time about how many of the loop-de-loops he's doing? Do you guys get on him? All the time. All the time. We're calling him on the bench right now.

It goes low to high to him. We're like, here it comes. And he goes for the spin. Does Bednar get him on the, what do you call it, the team video? Do you guys even bring it that far? Oh, yeah. I mean, Bedsy's got to be it. He shows him all the time.

And we're giving the old little holler in the team meeting when he does it, start whistling and stuff. But, gee, that's his move. And he's super effective at it. And he's a fun player to watch. I'm telling you, if you haven't seen Sam Gerrard enough, you've got to start watching him. It's entertaining. He skates it everywhere. He doesn't even player to watch. I'm telling you, if you haven't seen Sam Gerrard enough, you got to start watching him. It's entertaining.

He skates it everywhere. He doesn't even need to pass it. He just moves it himself. Yeah, I got one more question about this. Okay, so Ronaldo was on the Coyotes, and I think he just entered the league. And there was this – I think he ended up hitting McKinnon mid-ice. And I think Gerrard went over to kind of be like, I'm going to go challenge this guy realized it was ronaldo and he kind of had shimmy shook him to a certain degree

and ronaldo's got a wick a wick about this fucking big so he he had already hit the eject button i think his fucking gloves hit the score clock and he just pounded gerard did gerard go at him to try to protect uh mckinnon to a certain degree i think he did i also don't think g knew who ronaldo was at that point and just you know he was he found out pretty quickly check the fucking game notes buds check the fucking game notes oh my god people were losing it and they wanted Ronaldo out of the league. And I'm like, I don't know, man,

this guy was skating over, give him a little shimmy shake. He, I don't blame him. Hey, well, we're all those. Like I get to run him over and fight Gerard.

This is amazing. He's just licking his chops for the stake of the penitentiary. I just needed a clarification on that. So thank you. Yeah. We'll make sure G reads that. I think he started actually reading the stat sheet a little bit more after that. He's a guy that he can be a little out to lunch sometimes from being from a small town, Roberval in Quebec. He, yeah, he's anyways, we could talk in a half an hour about different superstitions that that guy's

got going on. Really? What's his worst one? I mean, this guy's next level. That gets tough, dude. I don't know how he does it. I'm obsessed with this guy. Let's keep going. If there's any way you guys can catch one of our live games and get out there for warm-ups, I so can this guy.

He's got a schedule to the T during on-ice warm-ups iso cam this guy he's got he's got a schedule to the t during on ice warm-up he'll go you know he'll go stretch for you know 90 seconds on this spot and then he'll go stand on the blue line and he just kind of leans on a stick and just kind of mean mugs i don't know who he's mean mugging but he's mean mugging somebody and then he goes skates for a couple laps then he does one of the horseshoe drills then he goes to the other side of the blue line, straddles the blue line, mean mugs somebody. Again, I don't know what he's doing. And when he first started doing this stuff, me and Eric Johnson,

we were just firing pucks at him. We're like, why the fuck is he standing over there? Like we got drills going on over here. But, you know, and then he's got this whole – and then he starts doing hot laps during when we're doing the half moon shooting and he's skating through the half moon and he's got all whole – and then he starts doing hot laps during when we're doing the half moon shooting. And he's skating through the half moon. And he's got all kinds of shit going on. And we used to give it to him pretty good.

And now we've just started accepting that's who he is. Just stay away from G and stay away from his spots. But, yeah, to me that looks exhausting doing that. You're going to even it out with the fact that he's a one-man breakout. It's like as long as you keep doing that, we'll let you command all the ice and warm up. All right, pal? Exactly, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Hey, Landy, how sick are you of the same seven teams over and over and over again? And do you like the two- and three-game sets that teams have been playing this year? Yes and no. It's a nice little – you know if it was a during a regular season and you could you know

you're staying over in a city for four or five nights and and whatever you're playing a game then you get back to your hotel room it'd be fun because you go out for dinner you go for drinks whatever it'd be uh it'd be great but now it's kind of you're locked in your cell and and that's it um it's it's different. It's definitely different. And now it feels weird. We're actually in Vegas now to doing a makeup game. So we're here just for one game and it feels a little bit different this time around.

But definitely sick and tired of the seven teams that we've been playing. And I'm excited to get back out east next year and get back away and start playing the Canadian teams again and things like that. What has been the biggest challenge for you individually this season? As far as, I guess, a mental approach. Yeah, I mean, I think it's just a daily grind, right?

We're playing every other night. I think that's probably it and get used to how much we're actually playing in such a short period of time. You know, obviously in an 82-game season, you're playing a lot of hockey, but you still get into two or three day break here and there, whatever. There's none of that this year. And honestly, at some points in the season, it's been nice because your team's been rolling and you've been playing well.

You just kind of want to keep playing, but the mental grind's probably been the toughest part of it and not being able to, it's kind of hard to switch off between games sometimes and and you just kind of always feels like your life is just consumed by hockey which is at times it's good but at times you just kind of want to get away from it as well and go have a night out or go for a nice dinner or whatever it's um so that's been different but honestly it's the way the world we live in nowadays and just got to make the most of it and accept it for what it is i guess i read about this late 90s uh all-star game tape that you watched over and over that had gretzky and forsberg in it

is there a backstory to that uh did you did my dad did you talk to my dad about this or who no no no i know i had an article buddy i had a buddy who read it and sent it over. Yeah, honestly, that was just – so growing up, we didn't get – my family didn't get the channels where they would show the NHL games. So my grandmother would record them, and she would record a handful of games, and one of them happened to be – might been the 98 99 all-star game uh where they were still were at that point they were doing the format of North America versus the rest of the world and uh and I believe I watched it I don't know 300 times growing up I would just always I mean at that point there was no phones I wasn't

much of a video game guy I was just kind of that was kind of when I was starting to fall in love with the game of hockey and I would just always watch it and I think Gretzky had four goals and Joe had a couple of goals Forsberg as well and the skills competition and everything so I just watched it all my VHS and I'd fast forward to the skills competition watch that and just really just something that got me really fell in love with the game and just always wanted to play in the NHL after that. And because in Sweden growing up at that point, it wasn't a whole lot of NHL video on TV. It wasn't any games being shown really that I could watch.

So just one of those things I nerded out. And, yeah. Was Fedorov in there with the flow? I'm pretty sure he was, oh my goodness that's what you fell in love with coming out of that tunnel with the laser light show hey that video that always plays with with him coming out with the fucking most most gorgeous flow yeah and the nikes you mentioned mentioned Eric Johnson, former first overall pick. Is he still constantly fucking with people? Because when I was in Vancouver for the Olympics with him,

he texted me one night. I have to talk to him and get the whole story. He's like, are you wearing a thong? And I'm like, what? And then the rest of the tournament, he would just ask me the question over and over. I still don't even understand how he was fucking with me, but he was.

Yeah. Yeah, he hasn't been around a whole lot this year. question over and over. I still don't even understand how he was fucking with me, but he was. He hasn't been around a whole lot this year. We miss him because he's been dealt with some injuries and some things. It kind of sucks because he's such a fun guy to have around the room. He's been a guy, honestly, I should have probably mentioned earlier, he's going to be pissed when he hears this.

One of those guys, I've been able to lean on him honestly throughout my entire career he's my roommate coming into the league uh he was such a he's such a like annoying older brother coming in the league it was almost like i was the older brother i was almost more mature than he was he was 23 at the time and he would we'd be roommates on the road and i swear 35 out of 41 road games that year he'd leave his fake teeth around he'd leave him sitting on his nightstand he'd take the early bus i'd take the second one he'd just shoot me a text hey do you mind grabbing my teeth i'd be like fuck not again

um just annoying shit like that and and uh but he's he's a fun guy to have around he keeps the loose he's uh uh he loves to give it but he doesn't love taking it uh i don't know if you guys heard the story the the one time me me and jamie mcginn we were in practice and ej blocked it he honestly blocked a backhand shot from the blue line so you could just imagine what a muffin that is i mean we're in the nhl we're supposed to be able to shoot backhands but from the blue line it's pretty hard to do uh so he blocks a backhander from the blue line and he goes down like he's his foot was in four different pieces and he basically crawls to the bench and we're just like everybody's kind of looking around all confused because it turns out to be a bone bruise the next game he was fine and he was able to play so we

started having fun with it so me and jamie mcginn go out there and i and he grabs the spray uh the the spray paint and i go and lay on the ice kind of like it like i'm a crime scene victim and he draws a line outline of my body and we put pylons all around it sprayed number six and in the middle of it he was so he was so mad that we made fun of him and he was like yeah he wasn't happy. I believe he cut out the pockets of Jamie McGinnis' jeans after that. He wasn't thrilled. And then Ginner was pissed because they were nice true religion jeans. And everybody else was like, well, those jeans, you shouldn't be wearing those anyways.

But, yeah. Unbelievable. Hey, so the funny story is Boyd gordon who blocked a ton of shots yans blocked one one time and it was a bit of a muffin too and yans sometimes wasn't able to take it too same thing he fucking gordo chirped him about it wires crossed they weren't talking for like five days it was ugly in the locker room but obviously the the relationship came back together and it was like a funny funny re-entry yeah yeah there's been some big news about the new tv deals obviously uh the nhl is going to be back on espn and then it just came

out tnt is going to be their other partner is that some guys have been chatting about it all they even care you know given the prominence of ESPN? Yeah, a little bit. We were just talking about this morning. Who's going to be on that TNT panel? Is that going to be you guys or who's going to be on there? We'll try. I think Biz is going to just take over TNT. Well, one of the prerequisites is you have to know how to read. So already I'm fucking out of the mix.

So the buck stops there, buddy. We don't know, man. It's kind of an interesting question. And the hockey's in a very, very cool place. And I think they're going to do a great job of figuring out who's going to be in it. And I think that, I mean, the game is thriving. What are the guys saying in the locker room?

Yeah, I mean, obviously the game is, like you said, it's really growing. And obviously it sucks that we're not being able to capitalize on mean obviously the game is like you said it it's really growing and obviously it sucks that we're not being able to capitalize on how good the league is right now and and have some fans in the building but um but yeah i think it's great news back in on espn and then t and t i think is going to be good as well uh there's something about nbc sports so i've always liked that um you know this would be the first time in a long time, I believe, that we're not going to be on NBC, but I think ESPN will be cool.

Hopefully grow the game in the U.S. markets a little bit more and get on TV a little bit more there. I'm excited. I think it'd be good for the cap and for all kinds of stuff. A lot of money involved in those deals.

If you were calling the shots, what one move would you make TV wise? What move would I make in terms of who do I put on the panel or what channel? Maybe making like a national game of the week or something along those lines. I feel like Saturday night is like a, it was a huge wasted opportunity by NBC not kind of making that a hockey night, sort of like they're doing, not sort of like what they do in Canada. Yeah, no, I definitely agree with you there. Hockey night in Canada is definitely special,

and especially when you talk to the Canadian guys that, you know, Saturday nights, that was the night. And you look at football, obviously, now I'm so Americanized that, you know, I love football, and I'm in three different fantasy leagues and this and that, and, you know, Monday, Thursdays, and Sundays, you know, I love football and I'm in three different fantasy leagues and this and that. And, you know, Monday, Thursdays and Sundays, you know, that's, that's where you're watching. And I think at this point, my wife knows that as well. And she doesn't battle me for the remote. So that would be pretty cool to get to that point in hockey where, where there's designated nights for it. And it's just hockey days of, of the week, I guess. And I think Saturday would

be a pretty good spot for it. I think, no doubt, the best team you've been on since you got into the league and all in a year where your contracts are coming up. And has it been hard to kind of not think about that? Have you talked with the team? How's that gone? We talked a little bit after the bubble and then in the offseason,

but we haven't talked much lately and I think once the season started we I think we both sides kind of agreed that we'll just focus on playing and focus on trying to win the cup and then we'll we'll deal with it after and I feel pretty comfortable with where we're at in the position that we're at and and uh you know it's been uh Denver's my home and it has been my home for 10 years. And I love the city. I love the fans. I love the team and the organization. I've been pretty, pretty upfront with that ever, you know, ever since I came to the team.

And even that 16, 17 season when, you know, the trade rumors going around and whatever, I was pretty adamant about, I want to stay. I want to be a part of the solution and a part of this team. So, you know, we'll see how things go but um i'm excited for for the possibility of staying in denver and and what that would um how that would go about so um we'll see and and right now you know you guys know what it's like it's during the season i don't think anybody really likes to get into that stuff you just kind of want to play and and uh and do that the only way you're like

come talk to me is if you're just going to give me a max deal at like nine million a season then maybe we can yeah at that point we can discuss it yeah joe and i can sit down have a coffee um landy we had brian burke on and he was saying that he thinks that you're going to be an nhl gm one day is that something that he got from in conversation with you? Or was that just an off the cuff thing? Or, or I don't know. Do I give off the GM vibe?

Is that something, is that a vibe that I get? I guess he, he thinks so. I don't know if you want to be given off that vibe. I don't know either. Joe's going to trade you. He sees you as a threat.

Yeah. No, I don't, I don't know. I mean, I heard those comments and I was kind of laughing and some guys are asking me about it. And I honestly, I really don't feel like I'm the right person to be a GM. Like I'm not, I'm not into the numbers. I'm not into, you know, I've never really been a dream of mine to build a team. In my opinion, it seems like it's a stressful job. And I don't know. We'll see. I guess I don't want to of mine to build a team. In my opinion, it seems like it's a stressful job. And I don't know. We'll see, I guess. I don't want to close any doors at this point, but I don't know.

I got to work on my vibe. I don't want to be giving off the GM vibes already. Yeah. After that next deal, I don't think you'll need to worry about getting a job after you retire. Exactly. Well, hey, we can't thank you enough for coming on because, you know, a long time coming that we get to finally chat with you.

Your team's a blast to watch. It's going to be a sick run for you guys, I hope. And we're looking forward to watching you guys, hopefully playing deep into the postseason. So thank you. Absolutely. Thanks for having me on, guys. Keep doing your thing.

You guys are a blast to listen to. Landy, two quick things. The offside in San Jose. Let's talk about this. Yeah. I wanted to talk about that before I let you go. And the next thing I'll save until after your answer. That offside was, I guess we can say it now because it's so far removed.

But we've studied that in depth hundreds of times, and it was an offside. It was an offside. What's being missed? What's being missed? Because by the time I get off the ice, I'm off the ice by the time, I think it's Colin Wilson, whoever's got the puck. I think it's Willie. By the time he regains control of the puck, I'm off the ice.

Now, I don't want to stir anything here. I might have to look at it again, but yeah. There's been certain offsides where I'm like, I don't know, it looks like, and then it switches because the player hasn't made contact with the puck on the other side of the blue yet. Is that what you're saying? That's what I'm saying. So I think if you're, you know, if the puck is in the zone, that's usually what they're looking at, right? But if, if a player is kind of pushing it over the zone that's offside if i was to have my skate in the zone but if the puck was kind of chipped in so there's nobody has possession of it and at that point to think of it like he i don't know it's hard to explain when they're not watching it but

there was no possession until i was off and that's what our team was we were rattled once we found that out a couple couple of days later, we actually sat down and really looked at it because I couldn't go into the offseason without looking at it. I'm doing a true crime podcast on it. Yeah, I don't know. You might have to get some officials involved and see what they actually think.

It would be fun if you guys could get some linesmen or some actual referees on the pod. Have you guys had any active guys on? We're going to, I think, eventually. Have you guys could get some linesmen or some some some actual referees on the pot have you guys had any any active guys on we're gonna i think eventually have you guys before i got on we had carrie frazier oh carrie frazier i did a one-on-one of them jesus christ yeah no i'm not active oh yeah okay so yeah and the last thing i was going to say as far as what you might want to see from the nhl i kind of had a bit of proposal because my mind went somewhere what about gary betman dunk tank he visits every arena what on saturdays throughout the year so when the home team scores he gets dunked and he has to stay there the whole game and get dunked would that not sell tickets and get and get more viewership absolutely Absolutely. Yeah. Do you think he'd agree to it?

Well, I was going to say, talk to the NHLPA. Maybe ask them what they think of it, and let's get the ball rolling. I think Gary Bettman, dunk tank, let's fucking go, baby. There you go, TNT. Free idea. Hey, your best argument in the offsides thing is, if you're not considered too many men, how are you considered offsides? Yeah.

Yeah. I just kind of rewatched it it because i forgot about it that was a joke yeah it's i mean it's one of those things that like you can flip it any which way you want as well like my original feeling was well why the fuck didn't i pull the i get try to get in the gate and whoever the goalie was sitting there was sleeping and somebody else was tying their skates right there so couldn't open the gate so it takes me 15 seconds to get on the bench but yeah that kind of that was kind of tough to swallow but um that is what it is i've been saying it from the beginning i I think I tweeted it out when it happened. I said, you always need a fucking gate guy. So talk to Joe. Maybe we can work something out. League minimum. We'll do a long-term deal. I want the security gate guy. Let's fucking go.

Yeah. Hashtag gate guy. All right. Thanks for coming on, buddy. You're awesome. Absolutely. Huge thanks to Gabe for joining on, buddy. You're awesome. Absolutely. Appreciate it. Thanks, Andy. Huge thanks to Gabe for joining us, man. He's from Sweden. He speaks better English than the four of us do somehow. I mean, you would never know he was from a non-North American country talking to him, but it was great talking to him.

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mixed berry and again tropical chaos i'm gonna have some of that in a little bit good stuff check it out all right we're gonna go back to the hockey we're gonna take a look at the central i don't know if you guys caught this so this is a pretty interesting nugget from elliot friedman saturday night rod brindamore he's actually somehow in a fucking contract year i don't know how they haven't locked him up yet. You talk about a team player. Well, he basically told the organization, I'll resign if you resign my assistants, the trainers, the fucking sick boys, all the staff.

He just wants everything in place. He likes what they got. And basically, I mean, I don't know if they're going to call his bluff. I don't know if he's bluffing. I shouldn't probably say that word. But basically, he wants an extension for not just himself, everybody. So it's something to keep an eye on. I mean think carolina would be fucking foolish not loyal wow what a guy i think it's crazy because it wasn't i thought it was just his coaching staff and then i

from from elliot i heard it was actually everyone involved like i think it could be the like the omelette guy in the locker room he's probably included. So, yeah. And he does have some serious leverage, right? Because if he wasn't re-signed by them, he'd have a job in six seconds. Teams would fire coaches to fucking hire him. Yeah. So he's like, I'd hire him to be my life coach. By the way. I'd give him five sheets to be my life coach.

Yeah, we'd be stuck in the gym the rest of our lives, eating granola that doesn't have any sugar in it somehow. He just wants to be paid in protein. That's what I heard. That's what I caught wind of, which would actually surpass any NHL coach right now per year. It's a conflicted. Very nice of him.

He also, in doing this, I think he knows, or it's well known, that his contract's not going to be like a big $6 million a year one, right? Where you see these new coaches, these guys getting big deals. I don't think his would be monstrous. So he probably knows, if you want me here, take care of everyone else. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out. I mean, why wouldn't they? First in the Central right now with 75 points.

They're not running away with it. Tampa and Florida are nipping at the heels, but I don't know. It seems like a no-brainer if I'm the owner of that fucking team. Another thing, too. How much did he make when he played? Like 50? He was probably getting 400 or 500 grand a year most of his career. I remember the first time.

Not Brendamore? Brendamore? No. I think when they won the cup by the end, I think in Philly he was making pretty big dough. About $50 million. I don't know if he made $50.

Let me see what Gossie... Go to the Google machine. The recent search is the elephant. $50 million. I fucking knew it. R.A. thought he played in the 50s. No, but he started in what, like the fucking... R.A. thought he played in the 50s. No, but he started in what?

R.A. thought he played fucking 600 games in the A and then finished his career in the A. He started in fucking 89-90. Then went to the KHL. I guarantee you he wasn't making more than fucking six fucking probably high six figures for the first early part of his career, dude. He broke into 1990. Guys weren't making fucking anything back then the tv well he probably fucking brought the owner in the

back room and fucking flexed at him and said i'm gonna pop your fucking head off if you don't give me a nice fat fucking extension he'd fucking hang clean 350 and then stared him in the eye and said look me look me in the face and tell me you're not giving me any deal i remember the first do it the first time i seen a picture of him without a shirt on and the hockey news and it was like, it was like a revelation because, you know, you don't see guys how fucking chiseled and jacked they are. I was like, holy shit, this guy's a fucking monster, man. All right.

Florida, we had a funny story down there. Chris Dries, you got a new master goalie down there. And who would though, I guess he bought a baby blue Lambo and there's a picture of him. So he had that painted on the side of his helmet. That's Keith right next to him too, right? And shotgun wit. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, Keith maybe before training camp.

But he had a few other players on the other side too, just like a classic helmet with a little tribute to the boys. And we got to give a shout out to Sam Bennett, man. I don't know what Calgary was doing with him up there in Alberta, but he's been on fire since he got to Florida. He got his 12th point in his ninth game. It took him 38 games to get to that number in Calgary. So that's a change of scenery that's worked very well.

He's been having a lot more Burt Reynolds. I met that guy at the Stampede. You know those shots, Burt Reynolds? Wait, what? There's a shot called the Burt Reynolds? Yeah, yeah. I don't even know what's in it. He just kept talking about it and ordering them,

and we kept doing them. Can you Google what's in a Burt Reynolds Grinnelli so we can tell everybody? I think whiskey's in it. I used to have those. They were in Edmonton, I remember. Yeah, I think that was the only night I blacked out. So thanks, Sam Bennett.

He's probably having a couple on the beach right now enjoying all these points he's putting up. He was never really I mean I'm sure there was times he played on top two line and Calgary fans might say different but with this draft where he's third overall or fourth overall he's got crazy amounts

of skill that you know would come out at some point or you thought it would and now it's just small sample size where he lit it up the burt reynolds shot equal part spiced rum and butter ripple schnapps so i was wrong schnapps he called schnapps schnapps well it ain't pink not flicking shots dude burt reynolds though he's a top three american sex symbol in the men category all fucking time dude there was no bigger sex symbol sex symbol style than Burt Reynolds in the 70s, man. One of the other things I've been watching on YouTube is all these old actors on these talk shows. Oh, my goodness.

Did they used to let it fly back then? It was it was unbelievable. So old Oprah interviews or what do you mean? No, farther back, like Burt Reynolds was on a couple of them. Who is the it was Johnny Carson, Johnny Carson one of the big ones? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I'll go to his YouTube channel and watch all these old interviews

that they used to do. It's so intriguing. It was just – it was so much – I think it was just better because it was – they opened up, and they seemed a lot more normal. Yeah, well, half of them are probably fucking drunk. If anybody wants to laugh, go look at all the Rodney Dangerfield clips from Johnny Carson. You'll sit at your fucking chair for hours and laugh.

I mean, one of the funniest comedians ever. Just nonstop, one of the fucking quickest guys you've ever seen. The other big story in the Central, of course, Dallas and Nashville battling. Now I know why tigers eat their young. What movie are they? Shooty old two. Tigers eat their young what movie all right shitty old two tigers eat their young caddyshack yeah give me a box of that's another one i haven't seen not front of i've seen listen i'm trying to find a night where i i can get into it maybe i gotta

smoke a certain type of joint to be able to get the i've watched some of it i get i get a little bit bored the humor some of the humor doesn't sit well with me when you respect the fact that when you respect the fact i love it uh who's the who's the guy ted knight writing dangerfield ronald dangersfield so when you when you know when you realize that he was doing these scenes all banged up on coke, it's comical. It adds a different element to it, so I'll circle back on that in Animal House. Dude, I read the book on the making of Caddyshack. Highly recommend it.

Chris Nishawati, I think you say his name. It's unbelievable. And Rodney never acted before. He was a comedian. And they would go, okay, three, two, one, roll, or whatever, like action. And Rodney would just stand there, and Harold Ramis, the director, would be like, Rodney, what? He said, well, he didn't know what to do.

And he's like, oh, what do you mean? Like, do my bit? He's like, yeah, yeah, Rodney, do your bit. And then they did it over, and he just comes in and just does all that off the fucking cuff, all tooted up. And there's actually a scene when they're at that fancy dinner where Spaulding fucking drinks all the drinks and pukes in the car. In the background, Doug Kenny, who wrote both Animal House and Cadddyshack or co-wrote you see him in the background holding a fucking

plate of wolf in the broad leaning down in caddyshack you can hold it fucking in the movie dude it's like a caddyshack easter egg doug kenny's giving a snap into the broad next to way in the background oh the days where you could fucking set up doing that, you wouldn't feel like absolute dog shit for three weeks straight. Fuck, tell me about it. Different time then. UC Saros, man, absolute tear. I mean, me and Farmer really have been pounding him lately. He's been almost an automatic win.

Huge game he had against Dallas the other night. Dallas lost in overtime to Nashville. Last two months, I'm not sure I'll update these stats. 21 games, 35 total goals against, 9-4-7 overall save percentage, 9-5-8 during five-on-five. He won 15 of those games. I mean, he's single-handedly kind of pulling Nashville

into the playoffs right now. But Dallas, they're not going down without a fight. There's the call to race not over yet. We were giving it to Kirill Kaprizov a few weeks ago, and Jason Robinson comes out of nowhere. Seemingly, he had had a rough start he's actually got more points per game right now than Kaprizov he's got 15 goals 25 assists in 46 games Kaprizov 23 goals 20 assists in 50 games is this a coin flip or what no I think I think that if if Kaprizov throws it neutral I still think he's going to come ahead finishing in first.

That's just, you know, I think that part of the fact that there was that early hype and he lived up to it and he sustained it the entire time. This kid's put on an unbelievable, what would you say, three quarters of the season? Early on, I didn't, I don't know how, I wasn't hearing about him,

but all of a sudden, you know, he's catching up, but there are still a few games left left who knows they've had crazy things happen there for league awards before remember when Jamie Benn ended up like uh I think in the last game in the third period he had like two or three points scoring title in order to win the scoring title so that was that was wild uh because you saw it in real time and the building was completely aware that he needed to get it in order to win it. And the bench and the teammates, that was that's one of the coolest highlights in recent memory of seeing a guy win a league award. Yeah, that's true. And I think that as much as we've talked about Minnesota's vibe kind of changing and like their whole team and how you watch them is just, it's all approached different now.

I don't know, at least from a, from a far the way I am. And it's kind of cause of Capri soft. So I think that goes into it and them being in the playoffs, maybe if Dallas gets in the playoffs, he's got a little more bit of a chance to, to overtake them. But I think that the goals that career scored are, are have been that much more impactful too, right? Like these are some of the best goals of the year.

And so that kind of changes also the view like around the entire league of him compared to Robertson. That's very fair statement. But Dallas getting Sagan back. So he released a pretty cool video actually. It's like two minutes of following him from the morning. He got surgery and I didn't even know he had hip and then knee surgery. And he was like,

you know, I think he had the second surgery 60 days after the hip surgery. So what he's been through to finally come back and play last night is, is pretty awesome to see. ESPN.com. Emily Kaplan has a great piece about Robinson that dropped Monday. It's about his whole story, his whole family history,

you know, his brother's place for Toronto, his season, how it started off kind of shitty and now he's in the call to call the race. So that's a great read. And another great read dropped on Monday, Aaron Portsline, he covers Columbus on for the athletic, does a fantastic job and it's a really good read about some, we've talked about in the show a bunch of times. Why can't Columbus retain their great players?

Why does no one want to go there? And he talked to three guys anonymously and they didn't really sue or anybody they gave honest answers i don't know if you guys had a chance to read it but basically you know they were saying yamo's such a hot ass on restricted free agents sometimes it makes them not even want to play there when they are when they're unrestricted and they think he kind of maybe looks toward the future too much they don't have anything bad to say about him uh but it was a very interesting read oh for sure from a player's perspective it's like hey like guys are getting offered more to go play in places that like tend

to win more and it's also i don't know maybe a more fun place to live and like the people the people who were interviewed in the article were pretty positive about the experience of living there they loved it they were they said a lot of the time when they said, no, I love it there. People were maybe surprised at their answer, but I agree. So, so, so would you say that before never known it was ever prepared to maybe hold it against Yarmulke as to why maybe they're unable to retain that? How do you feel about what you took from the article? All right.

I think it's a combination of all right i think it's a combination of factors uh i think it's you know columbus and there's no disrespect to the city but like the article says it's not miami it's not la it's you know it's kind of a quiet midwestern town i think it's probably not on the level of st louis when we talk midwest uh i love the quote one of the guys said he actually said wheeling girls like in the quote he's like guy young players want to wheel girls and he mentioned like mont and Miami and hey he was being honest it's like you know there's probably less whatever potential for that but yeah they're having a hard time keeping guys and I'm not blaming it on Yama I didn't really mean to intimate that well because one guy said I love

torts but I'd fire torts like he just he looks like he's all done the team's tuned him out so there was a variety of answers and I think there's a variety of reasons well it's also i was kind of is is yarrow maybe self-aware that he's he's kind of chiseling and that's why the words gotten out as to why guys are like hey i'm not taking a fucking hometown discount to play in columbus buddy like i i i like the place but no offense and and i mean the one the one that was uh the one that got swept under the rug the most as far as not getting as much attention was the anderson move right because he was only prepared to sign a one-year deal because he's like no like i don't like the way that the dealings go here and and sure enough he ended up getting exactly what he wanted and he gets to play in montreal

so it's like why i feel like players have more leverage now than ever. They're going to be trying to use it. You need to draft like you need to get a superstar because I mean, I love the city of Pittsburgh, but people probably won't be happy with this. But is it that much different than Columbus? I mean, I don't know. Like Ohio State's a huge university. Like if people want to go play in Pittsburgh, Crosby and Malkin have been there. Columbus has never had a true like legit superstar and if you did like guys will go play in edmonton because of fucking mcdavid right i mean it's not going to always happen but i've spent time in

columbus playing merefield village sick golf course i think it's in dublin ohio outside columbus it's a nice place right i mean you could enjoy yourself, but in terms of like dealing with hard asses all the time, can definitely get old, man. It's like some of these guys, like all the arguments you just put forth, and then also like getting your balls busted by torts, and then Yarmulke probably being a hard ass to do contract negotiations with.

It's just people are ready to move on. So the Rick Nash era. Great fans. The Rick Nash era. I mean, Yarmulke is obviously not going to get you know thrown under the bus for that because they weren't really they weren't able to surround him with enough pieces because you you made the comparison to to crosby being able to try i don't think that's a i rick nash is a incredible player but i'm talking like a true superstar.

Like somebody that – Crosby, McDavid, Ovechkin, where no matter what city you're in, guys are going to play with you. I thought he was kind of there at one point. Did he win a league award? He won – I think he shared the Rocket Richard one year, I believe. Nash was awesome, but I'm just – I don't think he was that true. Like all time. Great. It's still probably be as Rick Nash, hall of famer.

Not exactly sure, but no, he's not. Sorry. No disrespect, but that's kind of one of those questions. You can just yes or no on a lot of guys. And one thing I want to say about the article players had nothing really, but great things to say about the fans there and the, and the passion and they were even taken aback at how, how much passion they had there. So it's clear there's an issue and i

don't know if the organization is going to take this with a grain of salt or read it and whatever and i don't think it's going to change what they do but either way man they got they got to do something if they want to retain all this talent great talent they keep bringing in it keeps leaving so all right we're going to shift over to the east your boys the pittsburgh penguins they had a two in one week they clinched a play Your boys, the Pittsburgh Penguins, they had a 2-1 week. They clinched a playoff spot for the 15th straight season. They've been 7-2-1 since the deadline. Jeff Carter, four goals, two assists in 10 games.

They're getting Geno back Monday night, tonight. I mean, Penguins, man, a month ago, I don't think anybody was worried about them. Now it's a different can of worms. They're getting a goaltending Geno coming back. Whit? It's ridiculous. I think if they actually win their last four games in regulation, they clinch that division.

And who would have ever guessed that they were going to win it at one point when Berkey and Hextall came in. What's wild is what they've done without Malkin. And 16-5-2, right? And, like, I think they've ranked second in the NHL in goals per game since he's been gone so crosby's always stepped up and malcolm's always stepped up when crosby was in so it continued to happen now malcolm comes back in he's going to play with a caponin and zucker

right and then they got the crosby playing with rust and gansel rust another two goals sunday just been so good and then that third line jeff car Carter's there. It's like, this is a team right now that if you, if you see them getting hot and they continue to get that goaltending, it's like they could win the Stanley cup. It's wild. But they, this course done it before what's to say with the season they're having, it couldn't happen again. Gino's rested too. Let's see what he brings because before he, before he went down, he certainly wasn't having like a Malkin type season and biz.

You've been the one to say that. Was it you? Maybe someone we interviewed that he's going to have one more season that is like legendary, and maybe it's this postseason. I think in the second cup they won, too, I think LeTang was out, and they didn't even really have much of a back end. No offense to the guys who were in the six, but if they get solid goaltending and the tangs humming like he has in the past,

look out. I think Matheson's actually out for a little bit, and he's been good, right? He's traded over from Florida and catches some heat sometimes from bonehead players. So much flack. But he skates so well, right? He can play like tons of minutes, doesn't get tired. So losing him could be bad.

I don't know how long he's out for. Simeon Volomov, man, talking about goalies, man. They're just dominating the show. He owned the Rangers. He shot them all four times this season, including back-to-back to close the season. He's got seven that leads the league. He struggled about a month or so ago,

but he's obviously recaptured his game. The Islanders, they're right in the thick of it. I know we've talked about them plenty on this show. I wouldn't want to play them in the first round, I'll tell you. They're just like that sort of well-oiled machine that Trotz has going. Biz, how about the fight between Chara and Matt Martin? How about that great picture? We've got to give credit who took the picture we put on the Instagram

of Chara with reach back. That looked like it was out of a movie, man. That was some scary shit. That's like staring down the barrel of a gun. Oh, yeah. That's just the boo. That's like staring down the barrel of a gun. Oh, yeah. That's just the boogeyman came to life right underneath your bed and staring at you with a disgusting mask on or something. I mean, it almost looks like he takes

it, maybe not on Matt Martin that night, but some guys it almost looks like he lets up on because he knows he could just fucking rest on everyone. And he's just, I mean, if he's the genuinely nice person, I know he's a giant, but he's just like a really kind human being. So it goes against his nature. I got to stroke my boys off once again.

Still on fire since the deadline, 9-2. Taylor Hall, how you doing? Let's get some drinks. Let's get a burgo at Lazard. These guys are fucking flying. Brandon Carlos coming back. He missed 17 games. His head is fine.

He had something else bugging him. But that's a huge addition for this team going to the playoffs. I'm telling you, I throw a little extra dough on the bees this year late because they were 16-1 a week ago. I tried to get it in in time. I didn't. They dropped down to 11, then they went up to 13. I'm telling you, man, I'm very confident about this squad right now,

Biz. This East is unbelievable. Yeah, to get out of that is going to be a battle. I actually think the only team that won't get out is the Islanders. And people are just going to say I'm being a bully, but no, I'm not. The Islanders, I know they don't give up goals. And, yes, their D is ridiculous, and it's just been –

but you got to remember the Islanders, they're 20 and 2 against the non-playoff teams they played against this year. They don't score goals they can't score so while being a very difficult out I do not think they can win but Washington Pitt Boston it's like I don't know who to pick and Boston Halsey has shown who David Krejci like really is you can forget at times that this guy the career he's had has been so good so instrumental in the Bruins having this run where they've been such a good team for so long.

And then he gets a true star winger on his side and like, oh my God, that assist he had on Saturday, the double toe drag at the blue line and then on the two-on-one is like, just to give him a tap and Halsley looked right over right away just to say, what a dish. So Marchand too, Marchand's like one of the best players in the league. And Halsley looked right over right away just to say, what a dish. So Marshawn too. Marshawn's like one of the best players in the league. Bergeron, they are nasty. And to keep getting guys back healthy, heads up for the Bs.

You're right, R.A. Oh, there was a stat about the hat trick that Smith had that in the last how many of her years, there was like four guys that have only had a hat trick. Do you have that one? I don't have that one. No, but I don't have that one. No, but I don't know if it was on the tech stream.

Sorry, buddy. Sorry. No worries. No worries. Carter hot Philadelphia. He's all done for the year. He's got an MCL sprain in his knee.

Philadelphia, man, you talk about a fall on a pot and this one's courtesy of Bill Meltzer on Twitter through the end of February. The flyers had a 3.39 goals per game average and buoy by back-to-back shutouts against Buffalo had brought their season goals against average down to two, eight,

nine from March till May 1st. The team is 11, 18 and four with a 2.42 goals per game average and a 3.94 goals against. That's just ugly. I mean, 3.94 from March to May. They just fell apart, man.

And you wonder what's, if there's something else I missed with that team. I mean, 3.94 from March to May. They just fell apart, man. And you wonder if there's something else amiss with that team. I know, you know, Carter had his problems this year, and they probably maybe threw him out to the fire a little too soon. And, you know, Elliott's a good probably backup, good 1A guy. But, I mean, this team just fucking melted down. They weren't getting their offense from anywhere. What did you see? I just saw a team collapse, and I think I picked them to win the division.

Stay en fuego. I couldn't believe how pathetic they were the second half. And I, I plan on seeing some significant changes, right? I think there's going to be names maybe in and out of there that, that surprise some people, but it can't keep continuing on like this. I mean, 1975 was their last Stanley cup. It's been quite a while, and you think that this year there were some high expectations, and I don't know what happened. I mean, the goaltending, yeah, for sure, but overall, it was just a mess. Bernie Perrant.

Grinnelli just sent that tweet over. Craig Smith is the first Bruins player other than Bergeron, Marchand, Pasto, or Crecce to record a hat trick since Broadway Jimmy Hayes back in December of 2015. So that's a wild stat. Yeah, shout out to Casey's trick. We got one more story from the East, and it's actually

a pretty good one. Pretty nice story. It's going to happen after this show already drops. The undrafted nine-year pro Michael Hauser is going to get his first career NHL start in net for Buffalo. His last game was, let's see, March 7th of 2020 for the East Coast Hockey League Cincy Cyclones. He's got one AHL game under his belt since 16-17.

Buffalo's goaltending has been decimated. Elmock's out. UPL's waiting on a diagnosis. Tokarski needs rest. This is the sixth goaltender Buffalo has used this year. What a story. You guys both know him. Biz, let's go to you first on Hauser.

Well, you played with him, I think, maybe before me, Witt, right, in San Antonio. It was his last AHL game for the Ontario Reign because that's where I played with him. This guy was the biggest degenerate gambler, and I think the boys went off to a Vegas trip during one of our All-Star breaks, and somehow he got talked into

getting a bud light tattoo on his ass i think i think it's on his ass and two weeks later bud light changed its logo oh yeah he this guy was an absolute cartoon character great from i think he just got the tattoo to like boost the morale on this trip. That's the kind of guy he is. This guy was awesome. Oh, my goodness. By the way, it's a miracle he's playing goalie, dude. He was born with club feet.

14 surgeries by two years old, man. Yes. Yes. Imagine being his parents and going through that, and then for him to make it is such a feel-good story. I played with him his second year pro. He was up and down on the coast he was hilarious he was a degenerate and then if you look at uh his next year when i was in russia that's when he had like a really good season i think yeah he's 19 and 9 for san antonio the next year so i i'm really

happy for him because i think that second year um when did play with him, it was his first AHL start. So getting to see him go through that and then years later, he's getting NHL go. It's it's awesome. And he'll make a little bit more money to spend this summer. He's the backup when he's getting the start. He's the backup. We're like, oh, those boys are like, how is he getting the start tonight? Let's go.

Because, you know, he's going gonna be an absolute degenerate the next day for football sunday and he's gonna get absolutely hammered you know it's no he was he was the man and he had a really good career um with the london knights as well i think they they wanted a pretty long playoff run they might even went to the memorial cup that year so he had a great career man so really happy for him to be getting this uh and a nice little bright spot at the end of the season for the buffalo sabers i hope he fucking gets a shutout oh that would be fall i'd be crying like the beaver doc and you know guys are going to be selling out the totally farm tonight because the guy's situation it's like you know when they when they put uh what's his name david a is in that game and you know And Carolina just rallied around him and played, man. Are you comparing him to the guy that plays men's league?

Well, I mean, so far as the team's going to fucking – like, all right, this guy, look at his record. He's never played before. Yeah, I know. They're going to fucking go wild for him. All right, guys. We're going to get serious here for a second. Last year, obviously, you've been hotter on everybody,

hotter on some people than others. That's why we're going to do something new, and we're partnering with our new sponsor, BetterHelp Online Therapy. At Barstool Sports, we truly love and appreciate our listeners. Without them, none of us would be able to do what we do. I pinch myself every day that I'm able to do this for a living. Believe me, I do. So once in a while, we try to bring you something good.

Maybe this is for you. Maybe it's not. But a lot of us take care of our bodies. But with this tough year it's been, a lot of us maybe not think about taking care of our minds because, you know, we just get wrapped up in stuff. And there's a misunderstanding about what therapy is. It can be whatever you want it to be. It doesn't have to be sitting around just talking about your feelings. One thing that always moves me when we meet fans is they tell us how chicklets help them get through something or a bad time.

And it makes this all worth it. So, you know, a lot of people are battling whether their temper, stress, too much to manage, you know, and you have so much about depression, anxiety, PTSD, the list goes on. You know, if this is you, you can use therapy to get some tools to make life easier. Everybody is struggling with something. There's no more shame. I think people talk about this. We talk about on the show, you hear a lot more about it. You don't have to tell everybody your personal business, but you can talk to a therapist, do it privately, and get some help that you might need. And BetterHelp is customized online therapy that offers video, phone, and even live chat sessions with your therapist. So you don't have to see anyone on camera if you don't want to. It's much

more affordable than in-person therapy, and you can start communicating with your therapist in under 48 hours. So join the millions of people who are seeing what therapy is really all about. It's always a good time to invest in yourself because you are your greatest asset. And this podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp, and our listeners get 10% off the first month at betterhelp.com slash chicklets. That's B-E-T-T-E-R-H-E-L-P.com slash chicklets. C-H-I-C-L-E-T-S. And, you know, I know there are like boomerados out there

who don't like this stuff, but, you know, it's tough to reach out. But once you take that first step, it's pretty easy after that. And worst thing that can happen is somebody tells you something and gives their opinion and maybe says something that they think could help and you disagree with them. I mean, it's seriously there. And on the flip side, somebody could say something that makes you really realize things or look at things in a different way. And because of that, there's no,

like absolute no harm in, in maybe talking to someone if you're feeling down about anything. So glad we've partnered up with them. It's a, say it again, our better help, better help.com slash chicklets. Good job. Thank you, sir. Yeah, really well said too, R.A. Thank you.

Thanks, boys. Well, next up, I mentioned Biz did this interview solo with Caleb Dahlgren. He wrote the book Crossroads, My Story of Tragedy and Resilience as a Humble Bronco. Of course, April 6, 2018, we lost 16 souls on that day, one of hockey's darkest days. And I sat down with Caleb to talk about his story and the book. So we're going to go to that right now. This is a pretty, pretty heavy stuff, but pretty important stuff.

So without further ado, here's Caleb Dahlgren. Checklist fans, a very special guest today, Caleb Dahlgren, former assistant captain of the Humboldt Broncos. We're all aware of the situation happened just over three years ago on April 6, 2018. Caleb, welcome to the Spit and Chicklets podcast. Thank you so much for having me on here. It's an absolute honor to be on this. Thank you very much.

This is probably the most nervous I've ever been for an interview, my friend. And like I said, it's an honor to have you on. A lot of things in the pipeline for you. You started a charity for type 1 diabetes. You're currently attending York University. You just released a book that is number one in all of Canada, a bestseller. How have you been? Life's been pretty crazy, not gonna lie. It's been pretty crazy, but just enjoying it and trying to enjoy the whole process and yeah right now this book is I don't even know what to expect going into it and coming out of here it's been pretty crazy and uh just support around that has been incredible and even support after the crash and into today just make me the person I am it's something I'm really

grateful for so I would imagine a lot of the book tour right now is taking place on zoom just because you're in Canada with the lockdowns and everything. Yeah, so it's been strictly on zoom, Skype, phone calls, and I've been in Halifax in one minute, and the next minute I'm in Vancouver. So I mean, it's pretty sweet to have that kind of opportunity to be across Canada in any second. But yeah, it's nice to have that. And it's also kind of tough because I like having the personal connection with people and chatting and meeting people. But this will do for now. So looking forward to returning in person eventually.

And he's got those pearly white teeth, Mikey. Look at that. You don't look like a hockey player. You look like a male model. Looks like Claude Giroux. He does have a little bit of Claude Giroux so uh you were born uh Moose Jaw Saskatchewan then you ended up moving on to Saskatoon you betcha yeah weird names hey for all those American fans out there Moose Jaw and Saskatoon probably like what's going on where

is this guy it's in Saskatchewan which is another weird spot so yeah I know I was born in Moose Jaw moved to Saskatoon when I was six and grew up in Saskatoon and then when I was 16 I moved to North Balfour for two years moved to Wilcox for another two and then to Humboldt my last year and now I'm in Toronto with New York University so kind of all over the place we were talking about Patty Marlowe breaking Gordie Howe's games played record and how everybody from Saskatchewan, and I hope I'm saying it properly because Boyd Gordon, who's from there, always used to give me a hard time about saying Saskatchewan wrong. Am I saying it properly?

I'd say you're saying it correct. Yeah, Saskatchewan. And a lot of people say Saskatchewan. Yeah, so Saskatchewan won. You got it. You got it right. And Whit was just talking about how everybody from there is just so friendly and you're you're very similar just a happy-go-lucky guy i'm sure loved being at the rink and always has a smile on your face well thank you no i appreciate that and you're right

it was amazing to see patrick marlowe just beat the record i was just unbelievable and two sassy guys too which is crazy i mean both of them are world-renowned people, and at least our community of Saskatchewan, everybody knows them. So it's pretty cool to see that happen in real life today and be able to be a part of that. So I want to dive into your career and your life growing up in Saskatchewan. At the age of two and a half years old, you started skating. Yeah, yeah, I absolutely loved it. I was on the ice, and my parents, well, even when I was born, my parents said, love to the world, 2015 first round draft pick, Caleb Dahlgren. Obviously, it didn't turn out like that, but I absolutely loved the wind going through my hair,

the sound of my skates. Even when you breathe and you see the little cloud come up, that was what I loved about it. Not only your own love, but of course, a family that is hardcore hockey. I heard your mom's the biggest Yarmir Yager fan. You were actually, in fact, also named after a former hockey player, correct?

Yeah, Moose Shaw Warriors. So there's a CHL team Musha Warriors and Musha and I was named after Caleb Toth who ended up being an NLL player later on but he was a warrior at the time and they thought that name was pretty cool he's a tough guy and they wanted me to be tough so it's pretty funny I was I was gonna ask you were you trying to emulate your game after him i don't know about that but uh five foot eight so i'm not really the tallest in the game can't really be a tough guy like five foot eight i mean there has been guys that have been even nasty morasty i'm not sure if you know him i fought him about five or six times he's a saski guy too oh yes yeah so i'm not like him by any means but uh yeah i try to play a

shutdown role later on my career uh why how did your mom become the biggest yarmer yager fan she loved his flow and that was the thing that i thought was hilarious she actually loved his locks and uh that was her that was her appeal to him he was a great player and well-renowned like guy was unbelievable in the NHL. And she loved how good he was, but he also looked really good. So warmups when he rocked the no bucket and had those locks, that's what, that's what got her. The old Jerry curl mullet he had going on kind of,

kind of reinvented the hockey style back then. But just, just from going back when, when you were growing up, you, you grew up idolizing Joe Sackett, correct? That was your favorite player? Yeah, he was my favorite player growing up. Him and Jerome McGinley, those two were my idols. And I liked them because of what they did on ice, but how they were off ice too.

They were so community driven. They were great leaders. They led by example. They led through the team. Yeah, and obviously they're skilled on ice, and they both worked hard day in and day out to be better. And so I really admired them. So most of your time and energy growing up as a kid in Saskatchewan

was spent trying to make it to the big leagues? Yeah, I'd say so. For me, I have tons of friends. I was the only child, so I always have friends over at my house. And we'd go downstairs, check on the rollerblades, shoot some pucks, hang out, blast some tunes, and have fun with it. We made the most of it. And, yeah, I'd say NHL was a goal.

But later on in life, I'd say around 11 and 12, I kind of found a passion in going to pro overseas, playing in Europe. I went there and played with Team Canada, Polar Bears they were called, and fell in love. That was like the goal was to go there. Well, first to go to school, get a scholarship and then go overseas and play pro. And that was a little bit different route than other people per se were so NHL driven, where I was more driven to the experience of playing overseas in Europe.

What countries in particular? So I was, oh boy, went to Germanyany czech um slovakia italy sweden and hungary and yeah it was all over it was absolutely incredible the experience really changed my life and changed my mindset too on this hockey itself and just how different their culture was and atmosphere over there so i really wanted to experience that eventually one day is it a while you take a two-hour flight and it's like it's like oh my goodness this is nothing like where i was just at seriously yeah that's i couldn't get over it we were actually traveling through a bus so we'd go through like town to town to town on the bus and uh it was such a cool experience we had a tournament in Prague, and then we would go and venture out.

And in Austria, we went, and Swiss Alps. It was a pretty cool time over there. I enjoyed it completely. And just a different atmosphere. You see a castle, and you're like, holy, this is so cool. And then next year, you're in by a nice mountainous area. Yeah, it's pretty sweet. I was in Prague when we did the World Premier Games. And we had Alf Sandelselson as an assistant coach and we ended up having this big meet and greet with also Boston, the team that we were playing.

And sure enough, Cam Neely and all Samuelson are standing probably, you know, 15, 20 feet away. We're thinking that there might be a Donnybrook. So that's my only experience overseas in a castle. So it almost ended up pretty crazy now what age were you when you were traveling over to Europe experiencing all this stuff yeah so it would have been U12 uh both years I was back to back you know I was 11 and 12 when I went and so that experience really changed my life and then also went to UND and saw their arena and their facility there and that was another one I was like like, okay, I got to go to college. This is gorgeous.

And so I picked up my marks in school and had the dream of going to play professional, got a personal trainer. And that was like a really pivotal time in my life was just like I really dove into it headfirst and wanted to go play professional first college and then professional. Yeah.

So then came the decision at a certain point when you got old enough to join the saskatchewan junior league which is a junior b league called the s sjhl you betcha yes yeah you got it so saskatchewan junior hockey league and uh i went that route because if you go chl you burn your eligibility to go into the states ncaa so i wanted to curate both options and have both options open so I stayed in Saskatchewan and played in the SJHL there which is a pretty established league and you ended up starting with the Notre Dame Hounds yeah I saw you played one game your first year to get your feet wet and then you ended up coming back to play two more after that I mean what was

your what was your first ever junior experience like yeah so for me I actually got asked to make I made the team as a 17 year old um but I wanted to actually go back and play another year of AAA so I declined the offer and went and played another year of AAA to develop and then I got called up for a game and it was really cool just being out there these guys are absolutely men So you know that when you go in the corners, like I was one of the bigger guys in our league and then you go in the corner and these guys are absolutely manhandling you and you have to find a way to adjust and figure it out. And so for me, I did that. And I was fortunate enough to get called back up for their playoff run where

they went to the finals there and lost in finals. But it was a really cool experience and eyeopening one too, just to see as you're playing against these men and who are soon off to the university is how much I need to improve and needed to get better throughout that time and so it was really cool to be in Notre Dame and their storied franchise within the hockey community and just to be a part of that was something really special for sure. going back uh well i think it was my my draft year i went back and played triple a as well because i don't think i was ready to make the leap to junior now you just mentioned that you finished your triple a season and got to go up as

a what a black gaze or were you able to jump in the lineup uh after only playing one regular season game to help them out with that uh playoff run yeah i was actually able to hop right into the lineup um and it was pretty cool experience just to go right into the playoff run yeah i was actually able to hop right into the lineup um and it was pretty cool experience just to go right into the playoff gameplay we just finished our playoffs as our triple a team we lost in the finals and then i got a phone call the next day saying hey we'd love you to come up and play and so quickly got ready got them changed uh unpacked all my stuff and hopped onto my vehicle unloaded everything and went to Notre Dame so it was pretty crazy just quick turnaround I think I literally got home and uh took some stuff in put

some more stuff in my vehicle and hit the door and went to straight to Notre Dame so it was a pretty cool call and experience and yeah so I went had practice and I played it would have been two days later so hopped right back into it so I would imagine that off season your trainer got another call saying hey I gotta keep up with these guys in the corners we got to take it to the next level yeah like I was always a thick player and I always am a thick guy anyways and uh so it was just yeah we gotta keep bearing down and keep doing what we're doing because I was already strong enough but I had to keep on getting stronger and there's nothing wrong with that too I want to be faster quicker and stronger and I think that's what every player works on in offseason pretty much so I guess I'll ask you to break it down what type who would you who would

you say you emulate your game after if you could pick maybe a pro guy now were you a penalty killer I was I was yeah I was a penalty killer I shut down role, but I could also finish if I had the opportunity. So I'd say a Brendan Gallagher type or even trying to have some smaller guys who are a little more physical. I'm not going to say Marchand cause I wasn't like Marchand, but I would just get under guys skin, but I wouldn't do it dirty. It'd just be because it was hard to play against and so even like a fourth line center who's just the guy that's always on

you always in the corner blocking shots taking hits you always can trust and rely on situations but can be put out in the last minute to score as well so yeah it's kind of the all-around so i i could tell based on your stats you obviously started improving at that point in time through your first couple of years with Notre Dame. Did you start hearing from colleges about maybe getting a full ride to, to the NCAA? I wasn't any full rides. No, I wasn't that good per se, but I had really good opportunity when I was in Notre Dame my first year.

I was on a couple of schools and they really liked how I was able to just transfer into a shutdown role because you know in triple a i was a top six guy played on top six line and when i went to notre dame my coach was like hey we want you in a shutdown role what do you think of that i said sure so they put me up against the best players in the league every night and my role was to literally shut them down from scoring and so i took great pride in that role and that's when colleges took note because they're looking at those top players on the other teams and they're like holy this guy's shutting down his players like what's going on so I was talking to a few schools at that time then and then my second year didn't really have the best year was

still in that shutdown role and still shutting down the top line guys but they wanted me to start producing so then in my third year I was able to be in a top six role. And so I started to a couple of schools at the time, no firm offers for full rise. So I decided to stay in Canada. So that off season in 2017, did, how did it go down where you ended up joining Humboldt? Were you traded? Did you just sign there as a free agent? Yeah. So I actually was traded in my 19 year old season. I was in Notre

Dame and was assistant captain of the team we had about eight 20 year olds at the time so it was pretty big honor to be an assistant captain we have that many 20s in the dressing room too and so for me I never took that lightly at all that role and I wanted to be a leader for that team for many years to come or for the next year after too. And during the season, I just didn't feel fulfilled. I was a type one diabetic. I was giving back to the diabetic community, but I didn't feel like I was able to really launch this dream program I had. I had this dream program in my mind and I just really,

really wanted to launch it. I knew Wilcox wasn't the place. It's a town of 400 people and they don't have that big of a fan base for the junior A team. So for me, I really wanted a place that had of a fan base for the junior a team so for me i really wanted a place that had fans to rally around this program so after the season i went up to my coach's office and before one of my teammates came up to me he's like hey you're gonna be captain

congratulations and i was absolutely devastated to find that out because i didn't know at the time nobody knew at the time but i was gonna be asking out for to try starting this program so i went to the office talked to the coach and it was difficult it was probably the hardest decision I ever had to make in my hockey career and I said to him I was like hey like I'm not happy I'm not fulfilled here I want to start this I have something more to offer and uh yeah so I got traded to a bigger center like I wished and I ended up in Humboldt there and so my first phone call with Darcy I told him about this dream program I had and he was like yeah we're harm sending let's do this so it's it's been pretty incredible to create a program for

that for for people who have no idea what's it like living as a type 1 diabetic like obviously it you know it's extremely difficult I know Max Domi and we'll talk about him later because you've ended up becoming friends with him and and of course launching a charity around type 1 diabetes what what's the experience like yeah it's a little bit difficult i say because for people who don't understand they just see you as a normal person and we are normal people for sure but what we do have to do is constantly monitor our blood sugars or blood glucose levels 24 7 so say the best way i describe is if you have a chocolate bar, you're good to go. You're all good. There's no worries at all, no issues. But if I have a chocolate bar, I have to give myself a needle to bring down through insulin, to bring down

my blood sugar level to an adequate level. So your body automatically regulates it. So every time I eat something, I have to give myself insulin. Then also with physical activity, say we have a bag skate and we're going hard on that bag skate my blood sugar levels will end up coming down and if they go down i can have a seizure and have a full blown in the past away if i if it doesn't get treated properly so you got to really be careful what you're putting your body and watching what you're doing then also really watching your levels because it can go too high too, and it can go too low. And both are very fatal. So when you said you weren't fulfilled, was it because you just wanted more people knowing what you and other type one diabetics

have to live through day in and day out? For me, what was I wanted to create this mentorship program, and it's called Dahlgren's Diabetes. And this program was for type one diabetic children. And I was able to create it humbled. But what it really did was be a mentorship platform for those children and just someone to look up to to talk to about diabetes and relate to so when I grew up I didn't have that role model you think of like Bobby Clark who's an NHL legend and someone I grew close to afterwards but he didn't have like, he wasn't really out there. It wasn't even in my era either. It was more just, there was no YouTube when I grew up. It was, so you're kind of by yourself and you're isolated. There wasn't even much awareness.

So if you go to school and you're carrying a little bag around, do you get your auditory names called at you? Cause you're carrying around this bag, even though you need to carry it for your diet bag supplies. Or if I go to the bathroom and give myself a needle in grade four and other students come in and start freaking out because i'm giving myself a needle then you get treated differently for that aspect and so i knew what it was like growing up i wanted to give back and help those children through that struggle so i ended up creating this program and brought them out to bronco game uh first i had a pregame meal at johnny's bistro which is local restaurant humble the best one yet um and then they come to the game with their family get a ceremonial face off or

sorry get some tickets then a ceremonial face off and then afterwards i meet with them chat with them and go to their school do a speech and then they'd be inducted into our facebook group chat all together so the whole idea was truly just to make them feel special for their disease and feel beautiful about it and that it is okay to have it they can pursue their dreams and passions so this was inside of me as i'm sitting in my coach's office being like okay i want to do this i want to do this but i can't do it here and uh yeah so i was able to do that and humbled i'm i'm like marvel well first of all the name's incredible can we go back to the name? Can you say it again? I saw Grinnelly Chucklin.

It's a tongue twister. Dahlgren's Dye Beauties. Dye Beauties, that's unreal. Yeah. So I wanted them to be beautiful for their disease, but also it's a hockey sling too, beauty. And so, yeah, I thought it was pretty funny how I was able to create that. And like, I just find it amazing at such a young age that, that, that you wanted to do all this. Most kids are, you know, just worried about maybe, you know, playing video games and just showing up to the rink and even getting your workouts done. Meanwhile,

you're almost like a full grown man. And it's, it's, I mean, now we have our answers to why you were given an A on your sweater as far as the leadership is concerned. Well, thank you. Yeah. And I feel like there's more to life than the sport itself and people do get trapped in the sport and like one of the people i look up to is jason zucker and everything that he does in the hockey community too and there's lots of other players who give back and even marner assist and tons of other programs out there that guys are doing which i love and i think that goes to show that there is more than just a sport and i was able to use my platform in hockey to actually create change and awareness around it something

that means close to home for me and so many other people so you said Darcy your head coach with Humboldt he you met with him and he was completely gung-ho on helping you out with all this so clearly the bond between you and the organization it it was right from the beginning talk about getting into the organization training camp becoming friends with with all these new teammates yeah it was super cool i knew logan shots the captain uh going into it who was one of my buddies growing up and he always used to say and he had the sign in the back saying not a big deal that was literally his go-to saying so i think that's hilarious he loved this podcast so i just want to get mentioned that but uh yeah i knew him going into it and i knew a couple other guys but other than that i didn't really know many guys obviously played against them because

notre dame's arrival was humbled and so i thought it was pretty funny that their rivals but uh in training camp it was super cool just to go and connect with everybody there's so many great people and i know darcy changed it up quite a bit. He brought in a lot of guys and he wanted to bring in good people first and then good players second. I think that's something that truly breeds championship culture is those people that do bring in those good people at heart. And then they're great players too.

And so then it was awesome. And in training camp, I actually went in with pneumonia. So it was a little bit of a grind for me. But I can give you a story if you wanted that. Oh, yeah. This is exactly what this podcast is about. Let's hear it. All right.

So we have our fitness testing. And I told the only shots captain and Darcy about my pneumonia. And I got it from work. I was working at an arena all summer. And I was out on the arena five days a week for at least five hours, maybe even six to eight hours on the ice every day. And I honestly think it could have been the mold or whatever,

but I ended up getting it and it was just before training camp. And so as a 20 year old going into training camp, I didn't want to take the option and I wanted to be that leader on the team. And I knew I needed to make a statement because I'm going to a new team and they traded for me so I have to prove myself obviously so I didn't want to cop out of it so I was like you know what I'm just going to take it and just run with it I'm going to try this fitness testing I haven't been working out for two weeks I've been sick I'm just going to go and try it so we end up doing shuttle run I'm not sure for those who are familiar with shuttle runs but you have to run from one side of the cone.

I'm not sure if it's 60 or 50 meters or maybe even 30 meters and then back to the other cone. And if you go there, it's back and forth six times under a minute. And so I did in the summer about a month ago, even a month. Yeah. So like say I did in the summer, end of July, I, it was under a minute. I was fine. No worries whatsoever. So here we're in August in this camp time and training camp and okay line up online so i'm a little nervous because i've done cardio in a while i have pneumonia so like you can't breathe that well i have an inhaler there for my pneumonia so

we're getting ready we're lining up and uh you know like okay go so we all go and the buzzer rings and running back and forth And after like the third time, I was starting to get really heavy legs, trouble breathing, starting to like get really like actually trying to really gasp for air. And I was like, this is not like me. So then we're going on my fifth time and now I'm really like struggling. I'm getting like really behind the pack. Captain shots. He's like leading everybody. And'm like way way behind so the last

then you start hearing the chirps then the chirps start coming in from the guys not doing it if no one knew me so they really couldn't chirp me because no one really knew me yet and so then i go for the last one i hit the end cone i'm running back and i just absolute legs give out face plant on the floor and And I just was like, as if. I tried getting up, hands slide away, fall again. And then I ended getting up and started jogging back in. And that was when it really hit me. I was like, holy crap, this is tough.

Good way to welcome to the team, hey? Like, all the guys were like, who is this guy? Why do we have him here? Who is this guy gasping beers all summer and not training? and he shows up out of shape for the fucking deep test seriously yeah that shuttle run was yeah that was something and i felt terrible but uh afterwards they found i had pneumonia they thought it was pretty funny so it's a good story right and and maybe one to break the ice a little bit with with your new teammates where i'm sure it probably became a topic in the locker room you guys could have some chuckles about it and really that's where the bond begins

right well 100% yeah you like to have fun you like to joke around so that was a running joke for a little bit for sure it's just how bad I did on the show run another thing that I saw was that you guys had a very very good team that year too you guys had 33 wins I would imagine that you guys were heading into playoffs or were you guys already in playoffs when when the accident took place yeah we were already in playoffs we were actually we beat the team that was supposed to win it all no for mustangs they had the nipwin hawks number who was number one in our league and uh they were the team to win it all they lost people said they're gonna win it so anyways we beat them four to one in the first series and then we were in the semifinalsals and uh it was against nipplewood and we were down three

to one in that series but it could have been three to one for us we lost two games i went into overtime there and uh could have been just a flip of switch and we would have been three to one for us so we were on our way to our game and that's when the crash happened. I knew this was going to be difficult to ask. Are you okay with taking us through the day or at least what you can remember of everything that transpired? One of the worst days in hockey history. It brought the country of Canada together, the whole hockey community. You saw really everybody come together after the situation that happened and it was obviously a very difficult one yeah so for sure it was just

a normal game day and i can't stress that enough it was just a normal game day obviously we had our backs against the wall and if we lost we were out but we knew what we had to do and we believed in our dresser we really believed we could win it we knew that we were a solid team and we did blow those two leads we made some adjustments the night before on video so we came to rank hallow pregame skate lots of guys did the normal routine so we went to johnny's beast show for a pregame meal or i guess a pregame brunch and uh me myself my roommate so steven whack rice fist went back to my place uh carla's or our place at carla's and had a pre-game nap got ready and headed out the door went back to join us grabbed a pre-game meal and went to the rink grabbed stuff loaded on the bus and hopped on the bus and so it was no different than anything uh else it

was just we were prepared but knew what we had to do i go and win and that was about it and so on the bus there's guys playing cards joking around uh listening to music watching tv or watching a show on their phone um yeah it's just a normal bus trip and i think the cool part about buses is it feels like a safe place and so many memories are created there too like i know some of the best times i've been on the bus and just joking around hearing stories and just bonding with your teammates from the bus. And so for me, that was something that I always took pride in and enjoyed was just the time alone with my teammates on the bus and on our road trips having fun together.

And so right before the crash, I ended up changing. I only changed into my suit about half an hour out. So we wear our track suits on the bus, and then we change into our suit. I know lots of junior teams do that, so it's not really unfamiliar. And then sat sat down tossed my suit up and sat down and I sat in the aisle seat I was in row 12 and so that was about really it I remember I remember I guess there's some guys in front of me I started laughing and all that because we're all laughing on the bus and then I was like okay

this is way way too much I gotta tone it down put in my headphones here i gotta focus up we got a game to play and i like to visualize before the game so i uh ended up putting my headphones hit play put my head down and then that was the last thing i remember everything else went black and so um woke up in the hospital four and a half days later and I was with it in the hospital. I was in post-traumatic anemia as it's called. And it's a state of consciousness where you are talking and moving and interacting with people, but you don't remember it. As some would say, it's like you're blacked out kind of thing where you're still coherent and still doing things, but you just don't remember it. And so I was in that state for four and a half days and was in and out a bit more afterwards.

But that was really when I came to my senses of what had happened. And I learned about the tragedy. Just going back to one of the things you said about the bus being the safe space. And I remember talking to a bunch of guys afterward and you, as a player, you reflect, you're like, how many times were you in the

bus joking around with the guys playing cards and and how special of a place it was and and that you said that was the one thing that resonated and then now you mentioned that you it happens and then you don't remember anything for four and a half days when when you finally come to how long till till everything was even able to sink in at what had happened yeah so when i woke up it was difficult i actually thought i was dreaming i looked around and saw white and i was in hospital i was like i must be dreaming so i tried closing my eyes going back to bed and i couldn't and so then i actually like moved my neck a bit i had a neck brace on at the time i was like oh the heck and i saw my parents there and i was like how did our game go do we win and they looked at me just shocked like what game i was like do

we win our game like there was no game i was like well it probably was obviously i'm injured i probably got hit from behind in my mind so i'm thinking i got hit from behind in a game i obviously don't remember so i must have got concussed and must've broke my neck or something. Cause I must've got hit from behind. And so there's like, there was no games. Like, what do you mean? There was no game. They said there was a bus crash.

And at the time they've already told me this story twice. And so I don't remember them telling me the story. So they were really, really confused. And I was like, well, what do you mean? They're like, Dana passed away. And I confused and I was like what do you mean they're like Dana passed away and I was like Dana what do you like what and so I was really confused about what had just happened so then they explained to me that there was a crash and that 16 people who I consider to be family had passed away that I was one of the survivors and that I was injured but they didn't know my injuries i never asked

for that either i was more curious about who was here and who wasn't here and so they kind of gave me the brief list and they didn't really even know at the time either who was still here and who wasn't um and then i had to go to my physio appointment and then less than three minutes away so um i still didn't believe them i said okay, kill passing my phone. So they passed me my phone, which really wasn't my phone. It was some random new phone that ended up being my phone. I flung it open, hit Twitter. And first thing I saw was prayers for Humboldt and Humboldt strong.

And so that's when it really kind of hit me that this was something that did happen. This was real. And then, like I said, within a minute or two, I had to go to physio. So I quickly had to get changed, had two I had to go to physio so I quickly had to get changed had to process everything and go to physio and so I still didn't know my injuries even when I went to physio I had no idea I was injured with um and yeah so it didn't really hit me until that night it was a chaotic day and then that night I ended up going back on my phone and opened up social media and there it was again. There was like the sticks out for Humboldt trend was going chaotic.

There's so many different tributes from the hockey community in the world. So that was just unbelievable. And I was taken aback and I still am today from all the support. But in the time, it was super difficult. And I went to text my roommate, Stephen Wack, and I realized that he wouldn't receive the text that I was going to send. So then that was in when it really hit me even more was after that. And yeah, it was not easy whatsoever. And then you ask the questions like,

why am I still here? Why are others not? When you have the person sitting behind you pass away and person beside you pass away, it just doesn't make sense. And so for me, that was one of the tough parts about it was just how come they aren't here and why am I here if that happened so that was hard at time but I was able to get through it through looking through their social media profiles and healing from that um like did you did you have to talk to some professionals to maybe get over some of that guilt like I'm crying a little bit right now. Obviously that's a, that's tough, tough to hear. And you having to go through all that,

like that is just, that's some heavy shit. It is for sure. And I was fortunate enough to not have to talk to professionals. But there's nothing wrong with professionals either. For me, I've been dealt with a lot of stuff in my life beforehand, being a type one diabetic, losing my personal trainer at a young age, losing one of my teammates at a young age. It was almost losing my dad at 16.

So I've been dealt with lots of stuff beforehand. So I've had good coping mechanisms for this kind of thing. Obviously, there's nothing that you can do with 16. One is a lot, let alone 16. And for me, I was able to reframe my mindset after a couple of days and just be like, Hey, you know what? Like I gotta live big for those who aren't here. Like I gotta do this real big

and I gotta live my life to the fullest for those who aren't here because I can't control a situation. I can't control the semi driver who went through the stop sign. I can't control who's here. Who's not here. I can't control my injuries. All I can really can control is moving forward from this and find the best way to stay positive and find the pause in this situation. Trust me, there wasn't many positives at all, to be honest, but there was some with some with all the guys who were still here and us being able to live our life to the fullest for those who aren't. And, uh, as some, I really clung to and focused on was just trying to move forward and to really find the positive and to live my life to the fullest because i have a second

opportunity here that's just like such unbelievable strength of the fact that you know you could figure that out especially so quickly because i know like three months afterward i ended up meeting you at the nhl awards you and a bunch of your teammates. And I'm like, I'm like, how could, how could you be out, you know, three months later having to stand in front of everyone and deliver a speech on behalf of the entire community organization and really at the focal point of the hockey world. And, and, and you got up there and I hate to laugh, but there was a funny story about when you ended up going up to give the speech that the teleprompter was blocked wasn't it

yeah yeah so i didn't even really want to do the speech not gonna lie it was kind of forced upon me um but i was the assistant captain that year and i wanted to step up and be a leader um and still be the leader throughout everything that happened and so i ended up going up there and we in the morning we had this we like did a little run through a little practice test and I wasn't able to see it. So Braden Cameron lent me his glasses. And I was actually able to see it with his glasses. I said, okay, great. I'll wear my glasses so I can at least see the teleprompter. We had a little mock-up speech and so I was like, okay, I'll be fine.

So sure enough, we walk out on stage and in the back actually they showed the video of where like what it was leading up to. And we had no idea. So in the back actually they showed the video of where like what it was leading up to and we had no idea so in the back we were super emotional i i don't know how i held it together to be honest we had guys that were tearing up in the back because they showed it on the monitor right in front of us and it was about our crash and everything that happened and so it was super super emotional with that aspect and so i had to hold it together so I get up there and I'm standing and the whole crowd is standing for us which is unbelievable and it was an absolute honor to have

that and so I kind of put my head down and then I look back up and they're everyone's still standing so I kind of waited another second and everybody was still standing and then I was like okay well I guess I kind of do this speech and I went and looked at the teleprompter I couldn't see it I was like oh my goodness I can't see the teleprompter right now so I put my head down hoping people would actually sit down and nobody sat down so I didn't want to say okay you guys can sit down because that's kind of disrespectful right everybody's standing for us right and so standing in front of the teleprompter was pekka renny i was like why did you put the goalies in front of the teleprompter first off next time nhl please don't do that but like i actually had issues i couldn't see and so i ended up winging the speech that i gave

to entire world i guess the hockey world especially I guess, the hockey world especially. And that was the most difficult thing I've ever experienced. First time on national TV. I don't even like really doing that type of thing. I didn't want this role. And I was given this role, and now I had to wing it. So, yeah, I made one mistake, and I still feel feel terrible at mistake. I said they're recovering. I said Nick from Lansky more and go Bay and Lane Madchuck were recovering

in the hospital and Nick wasn't in the hospital. I feel sorry for Nick. So sorry, Nick. But I felt terrible. Cause he was talking to schools at the time and then he had to explain that he wasn't in the hospital and yeah. So that was a little bit difficult, but other than that, I ended up doing quite well. I said what I wanted to say I rehearsed the speech probably 10 times that day before so I knew knew what I wanted to say and I was not expecting the teleprompter to not be able to see it through

Pecorine's head but I still tried to make the most of the situation you did unbelievable I was there live watching it man that's incredible strength and I tell you what it turned out better than one of my ad reads so I I think you. And, and better than the introduction I had to do six times over before we got going here. For those of you, yeah, for everyone listening, I butchered the intro. You guys know I struggle with those, but we can move on. But going back to the, to the four and a half days you spent in the hospital when you lost your memory and don't really remember much, you did end up having some visitors in that time, right? I did. Yeah, I sure did. Who were some of the big names that were able to come visit you?

So Ron and Don were one. And then our prime minister in Canada, Justin Trudeau, was another one. And had some FaceTime calls with Johnny Goudreau, some videos from Stamco, Spurgeon, Kopitar. There's honestly quite a few. I know McDavid came a little bit later on. I think he might have even called us. The hard part is I don't really remember who it was because I don't remember it, but I do have some videos of me and I wasn't really myself. And I'm going to say that right now, just to clear the air. I wasn't myself. So I suffered in the crash, suffered a traumatic brain injury, severe traumatic brain injury. And I also had a fractured skull, puncture wound, scalpy gloving, broken neck, broken back, blood clots, muscle, nerve, ligament damage. So I had all that. And I also had this brain injury. This brain injury was very, very severe. I shouldn't be able to remember my name or even how to walk or how to talk based on the image

itself. So in that four and a half day span, I truly wasn't myself. Even in the hospital, I really wasn't myself. And the brain injury can affect your personality and for people that don't know that it really does even concussions can do that too but mine was very severe and so I was very sarcastic I was kind of rude I was quick-witted and ignorant which is completely opposite of me I am quick-witted but other than that not really sarcastic not rude not ignorant and so yeah I said some stuff that was a little bit questionable in those days span but they provide a lot of good humor for lots of the people who visited me okay so that's what I was hearing and one in particular was Crosby now you grew up not being the biggest Crosby fan which is a little bit bizarre being from Canada and the fact that what

he's done what how did that how did that all begin and not to throw sit under the bus because i'm sure you love him now after the fact that he reached out yeah so growing up i just didn't like how he no offense sydney i feel like you're gonna listen to this i'm sorry right now but i just i want to let play this out there i wasn't a fan of how he came to the league and started whining to the refs i i feel like you got to pay your dues and you got to get into the league and take a couple hits and take some of the tough stuff because I know you're like, he was the best in the league. And, but I feel like you got to take some of the rough stuff and earn your way to

get that respect. And that was one of the things I didn't really like about it and just rubbed me wrong. And so I was a big Ovechkin fan growing up. I just loved his passion and his how he would hit and score i didn't like how he wouldn't play defense that wasn't really me i like to play defense and that's why i don't say i'm all my game after him because i really don't but i just liked how he had so much passion around the game and just wore it on his sleeve and was so out there and would absolutely ruin guys but then also score three goals a night and you're just like how did he do that and um so i was when it was ovi versus i was an ovi fan and i even had a fat head on my wall ovi so uh i was a fan of him but i think in the hospital he ended up sending the pittsburgh

penguins sent a jersey to us and uh it was super nice it was fully signed jersey and when it came i was like oh cool that's nice i was like is that kessel because oh i saw it was an eight and a one but it was actually 18 and my parents like oh no no it's uh it's a broncos one the penguin sent it and i said oh did cross sign it and they're like yeah i was like oh i hate cross and then i had like lots of friends in my room so i like my friend best friend brody decker adam ermitro michael coral even me white tinder was in there too and madison shen whose brain shen's sister was in there um and laura global so they're all my really tight-knit friends and they knew i didn't really like crosby and so madison was videoing it and um

anyways we get into it and uh i looked at the jersey oh it's kind of cool and uh Madison was videoing it and um anyways we get into it and uh I looked at the jersey I was kind of cool and uh I was like oh where's Krozz signed it kind of thing they sent it they showed me oh that's cool and then um the jersey they like I looked it up and I was like oh that's pretty dirty jersey and then um they're like yeah and also uh there's another kind of personalized thing for you and my dad said this and at the time like he didn't really know what i was going to say because it was from crosby and he's like yeah this is science personalized so uh just take a read and so then uh i was like is it from cross and he's like yeah i was like oh so then in the room um

my we had a in like high school it was really we would always like talk about hockey we'd always have lunch talks about hockey all my buddies and i played hockey and i loved it and so we ended up talking about one season it was jeru and crosby who were like running for i think it was most points or something it might be in the school i'm not too sure but they're running for it. And I was like, you know what? Giroux's having a better season than Crosby. I'm going to be straight up and honest about that.

And this was like way back in the day. So then my buddy, Michael, brought it up and he was like, or I guess Brody would have been one. He was like, who's better, Giroux or Crosby? And I was like, dude, Giroux had a season that year. And I went to depth. I was like, yeah, Crosby has Malkin, Letang, Gensel, Kessel, who can all finish the puck.

Drew didn't have anybody. Like, he had Shen, Ghost, who has been a Ghost. And like, chirping these guys. And I idolize these players. Like, that's the tough part, looking back, is I idolize these guys. And I think they're incredible athletes. And so, ended up chirping them and so i guess crosby got the video anyways because maddie shen sent her brother braden shen

who sent it to crosby just laying in the crosby's game calling yeah hey i don't blame you he was fucking complaining in the sandbaggers too buddy don't worry about that keep hammering so yeah anyways we get to the photo part now so i get the photo on my hands and i read it and it was a really nice photo and he signed it and he said like wishing you the best and hope you're doing well thinking of you and then i looked i was like okay maybe i do like crosby a little bit and yeah so it really it sent it was really nice and he's been so supportive for all the bronco families too and yeah i have no hard feelings against crosby whatsoever he's been super kind to all of us and i know lots of guys on my team for the

broncos least loved him and they're his favorite player and uh so it really really meant a lot that he did that for us and he didn't have to whatsoever and uh just goes to show how good of a person he is i mean yeah he's the best. And all those other people that also showed up and sent videos. You mentioned Don Cherry and Ron McLean stopped by. I believe Haley Wickenheiser stopped by as well during that period of time. And I touched on it earlier. You grew up idolizing Joe Sackick, and it just so happens

you end up getting to meet him as well. And there's a very unique story behind all that as well i want you to tell it yeah so uh there was a i guess a broncos event for the families to go and there's tons of angelers who were there coming and showing up um and yeah like i got to meet hayley wickenheiser paul brandt they came in the hospital which was amazing and hayley's incredible person too same with paul everybody who came was absolutely incredible even ryan o'reilly mcdavid came too like those guys so great anyways so um joe sakic was at this event and so he was my idol growing up he was my guy if we played main sticks i'd pick either jerome mcginley or joe sakic like

that was my player and um so he was at this event and I wanted to go to the event really badly. So I got clearance from the doctors to go. And it was my first time ever like going out of the hospital and being out of the hospital. So I went. And as soon as I got there, I just felt a rush of being overwhelmed. All the families were there. And it was my first time seeing all the families. And I wanted to talk to every single family and offer my condolences and say how sorry I was for the loss and how much the person meant to me. And so I ended up meeting with Darcy's dad and I talked

to Darcy's dad for about 20 to 30 minutes. And after that, I went and sat down because supper was ready. And I even felt more of an overwhelming rush because I felt like the families were looking at me or they wanted me to talk to them and so it was just I just kept feeling more overwhelmed more overwhelmed so I ended up going home because I just couldn't take it anymore um I just wanted to talk to everybody but I knew if I talked to everyone and there was 30 families and it took me 30 minutes to talk to one it wouldn't be possible so I ended up going home uh back to the hospital I guess and when I went back to the hospital, I guess. And when I went back to the hospital, um, I knew I was going to miss out on seeing like the cool guys, like Carrie Price

was there. Um, even Shea Weber, Brandon Gallagher, there's lots of people I would like to talk to and meet, but, uh, ended up going back to the hospital and was a little bit bummed about that, but I felt like it was the best for my recovery at least and so later on Joe Sackett ended up approaching my parents like hey I heard that your son you know idolized me or likes me as a player and my dad's like you're Joe Sackett and he's like yeah yeah I am um but uh you just call me Joe oh he's like you're Mr. Sackett he's like you just call me Joe he's calling Joe and my dad's like okay Joe sorry about that and um sure enough so they started talking Joe's like yeah I'd like. Sack. He's like, you just call me Joe. You just call me Joe. And my dad's like, okay, Joe, sorry about that. And sure enough, so they started talking. Joe was like, yeah, I'd like to meet Caleb if that's okay. After this, can we go back and let me meet Caleb?

And so my dad was like, well, yeah, like for sure. Like we can hop in the vehicle, we'll take you and we'll meet Caleb for sure. He'd absolutely love that. Joe was like, okay, sounds good. So then afterwards, the event, Joe came up to my parents like, hey, I'm ready to go. And so I ended up having to hop in the vehicle with my parents and drove to the hospital and when he got to the hospital um to lay at the front desk it was like past the

curfew time so we weren't allowed any visitors past this curfew time and i was on the neuro floor so with the neuro is for brain injury injured people and uh so like we're supposed to have lots of sleep like ample sleep is the best recovery for brain injuries and uh she's like it's kind of late like i don't think you should be here um they're not allowing any visitors for caleb and my dad's like we're kind of his parents like we want to see him he had a rough night we want to check in see if he's okay she's like no like i don't really want you to come in um i don't think this is this is safe or smart and he needs his sleep and my dad's like well like we have a special guest and we want him to meet his special guest and he had a rough day and where his parents

like i feel like we should be able to meet her she's like no no my dad's like okay like we have joe sakic here he wants to meet my son can we please meet my son and leigh's like, okay, like we have Joe Sackick here. He wants to meet my son. Can we please meet my son? And Leigh's like, you have Joe Sackick? My dad kind of like pulls Joe Sackick in. And she's like, oh my goodness, you're Joe Sackick? Oh my goodness. It's our freaking elbow, Joe Sackick. And it was like, okay, okay.

This is against what I'm supposed to do, but I'm going to let you come in and don't tell anyone, but I need to get a picture of Joe Sackick when you guys leave. And so sure enough, sure enough, she let Joe Sackick in. And when she let him in, I guess he went upstairs and he met with me and I was able to chat with him. And he was one of the big things that I guess people don't really know

is that he was involved in the Swift Current Broncos crash where they lost four people there. And for me, that was an eye-opener. I had no idea he was actually part of that team. And so he kind of talked about his experience there and just said like, you need to be a leader. You're a leader in your 20-year-old season. You need to continue to be a leader after this too.

When you get out of the hospital, you got to continue just being a leader and finding the positive in the situation and continue to move forward and that was one of the best advice I could have got at the time too because I was in an okay headspace I wasn't in the best headspace how could you be but I was in an okay headspace and when I heard that I was like he's so right like i gotta continue being a leader throughout this and afterwards too because that's part of being a leader too is that you gotta be a leader when you don't want to be a leader and you gotta be a leader away from the rink at the rink in all situations and i think i take great pride in that and i've always had my entire life

and so when you said that i just rung a bell and stuck with me and i was like yeah like you're right i gotta be a leader throughout this process afterwards. I got to continue enjoying the process, but also live my life to the fullest. So those aren't here. And yeah, so that was a really touching conversation with him. And, uh, I suppose a wrist shot and what made his wrist shot so good is like, yeah, just shoot lots of pucks, like a quick twist of your wrist. And, uh, yeah, it's just like little good conversations as well but

yeah that was a really pivotal moment in my healing journey was me and joe sakic and having him meet me and and want to come and see me just truly just shows his character and ultimately explains the reasoning why i looked up to him as an athlete too was because he did want to take time for me he didn't have to and he literally went out of his way to meet with me it was late at night it was like 11 30 came to meet me his flight was leaving at 6 a.m the next morning so he didn't have to do that whatsoever right yeah the fact that he did get you that message too in order to you know propel you to i mean to like look at all the stuff you're doing now that probably had a little bit of an imprint i mean i'm sure you know family and and in other

guidance but wow what a fucking special moment. Pardon my French. Yeah, no, it was. It really was. And then he did end up getting a picture with that lady downstairs. It was like, my husband is going to kill me. But it was pretty cool just to hear the story back. I had no idea the backstory of it all. My dad had to tell me this whole story.

And yeah, it was pretty cool to have Joe end up coming and see me. And yeah, I actually talked to him aboute end up coming and see me and yeah i actually talked to him about the book too and sent him a message so i talked about it just before uh tribute chapter about me beating him and how much it meant and he gave me the okay so that's really special too of course and and um i mentioned it earlier with the type 1 diabetes but through this whole situation you became very close uh with max and tied only because of max situation and being a type 1 diabetic as well so talk about their influence and the doors that they've opened for you in order to expand this charity and continue to help these young kids

get through a very difficult situation yeah no it's been great and i actually met Max before the crash. It would have been in 2016. Yeah, December 2016. My girlfriend at the time planned a trip. We were in Arizona and she talked to Maddie, whose brother is Brandon and Luke Shen, and Luke was on Arizona and Max was on Arizona at the time. So when I was in Arizona, we went to a game

and then after the game, I ended up meeting with Max, which was pretty sweet. So that's when I first met him. And then after the game i ended up meeting with max which was pretty sweet um so that's when i first met him and then after the crash uh connect again and we chatted a bit and we're both with jdrf which is jordan island diabetes research foundation as national ambassadors so we have that in touch and in common and he reached out and he started chatting and yeah he's been such an influence in my life and same with bobby clark too bobby clark and i met up as well afterwards and both amazing people doing amazing things for the type 1 diabetic community and

their families their families are incredible too I honestly can't say enough good things about both of them and how they've treated me um it's been amazing just to have them in your corner too and so yeah like we talked a lot Max ended up with his Toronto versus Montreal and he invited me out to the game there too. So I was able to meet with him then and chat some more and hang out. And so, yeah, we have a pretty relationship, I'd say, and are able to support with each other. And we're both with Dexcom now.

So yeah, kind of on the same length and super cool just to have someone in your corner and rooting for them in his corner too. And all the while growing this charity, you wrote Crossroads, also attending York University, which we talked about before we hopped on. You're taking online classes and going to finish your education. And then I also heard that you're going to be going to chiropractor school.

Yeah, yeah. So it's pretty exciting times in my life, honestly. I was able to, I guess, write a book during my five courses per semester and being a student athlete on the men's hockey team and also really involved in the community at york too i took on quite a few roles i wasn't able to play in a game i wasn't cleared for contact and i'm still not cleared for contact due to my brain injury which i really go in depth in the book about. But one of the big things for me was just wanting to be a leader in any capacity possible. And so if I couldn't play the game on Friday and Saturday, how else could I be a leader?

So I took on a recruiting role. I took on a strength and conditioning role. I'm a varsity athletic student council representative for a men's hockey team. I was part of the Black and Indigenous varsity student-athlete associate alliance. I really just wanted to be heavily involved in that community and really give myself. And so I've been able to do that when I was part of Heroes Hockey, which is another organization for children who learn the game, who are underprivileged, but still want to play and learn and have fun and so it's been a really great experience being at york and even them still offering me a spot after the crash still saying like hey like you can come here and we want you here whether it's one year two year five years three years down the road like

we want you to be a lion i think that truly meant the world to me and so i really did my best to go even against the doctor's orders and to go to york in 2018 and just give it a shot so it's been quite a great experience so far i i think it's incredible how in every situation you're able to take your mindset to what can i still do to help now saying that given that you haven't been cleared for contact with the brain injuries that you've sustained is there a possibility that you're able to play again or have you had to come with the grips that more than likely you probably aren't going to be unable to be cleared to play competitive hockey again yeah so i've had to come to the grips with that i think the hardest part for me was in my first like so i'll give you a little back to ground

story here so in the hospital i was passing all these tests with flying colors like breaking records based on my prognosis and it was really weird that i was breaking these records and so then in the summer i did lots and lots of rehab lots lots of therapy and i had to obviously recover from all my injuries my broken vertebrae and ligament muscle damage and all that but also recovery from my brain injury too so i would do tons of sleep greens exercise outdoor activity um i'd even do lumosity mindfulness like practice meditation i was literally doing everything under the sun even osteo chiro massage acupuncture you name it i was doing it because i wanted a holistic approach and i truly wanted to heal and he was even seeing um I would go to psychologists and all that too and I went to one psychologist it was for my

examination to go to York um one of the big things for me was that the brain injury was supposed to leave me in a state where I shouldn't remember my name but I was already past that state completely and was functioning normal and was breaking these records and so I went to this assessment he said that if I go to York University I'll fail out and that I'll have a bad lifestyle I'll get mentally in a dark place because I'll be in Toronto and there's so many different options I could relate to to I guess um kind of put put bad things into my body type of thing and he's like yeah like this will be a really bad idea I don't want you to go into there you won't do well so I heard that I was like okay well this is one perspective and I know my perspective I know that I've wanted dreamed this for my entire

life and I want to at least try it so I gave an opportunity and I able was able to succeed and do well but in that first kind of year I was really practicing i was working with the team i was doing everything with the team i just didn't do any contact in the practices and so in those practices i'd have i'd beat teammates in races for the puck i was like scoring on goalies and drills it wasn't like i was outside of it i was able to pass it was like i was part of the team i was able to still compete and be in the lineup if I wanted to. But I actually couldn't because of the scans. And so even in the testing within the clinic, I was doing very well.

I did an impact test. I scored higher on it after the crash than I did before the crash. So it's just so weird how it all kind of came together. And so I was like, hey, my scan for my brain is wrong i have the wrong scan 100 and i was like they messed it up because they've had mixed steps before i had the wrong brain scan on me for sure like yes i had a brain injury yes it was probably a concussion i was different than the rest of my normal self for a little while but i feel like it's wrong so i went and got another scan in February of 2019, almost close to a year after the crash.

And it was the exact same scan. And that was when it really hit me just like, okay, I have no symptoms. I'm feeling amazing. I'm able to compete at the highest level possible right now. But I need to take a step back and really reevaluate my life and see where I can actually, like, do I want to do this? Like, I want to be a chiropractor. I have this passion of giving back. I want to be married one day. I want to have children. Like, is this really smart of me to pursue sport for another, maybe 10 years if I'm lucky to have the rest of my life damaged. And so I thought at that time,

that was when I was really took a step back. I was like, okay, I need to really reevaluate my life and my goals and my priorities. And so I was able to focus more on what I could do in that time and how I could give back to the team. And then also to continue on my education, like you said, with chiropractic afterwards. There was a funny story, though, the first time you stepped on the ice with the York team, right?

I was just going to ask about that. Let's hear it. This is your first practice with the york university hockey team by the way yeah so it was tough we had a team skate i drove so a paris and i passed the vehicle we drove to toronto it was my first time ever being in toronto and i wasn't able to fly after the crash and uh for at least would have been until june 3rd or 4th i got clearance and i literally hopped on the plane that day and flew to Washington so I missed that whole time frame to actually tour the school and we were planning a tour after my

season anyways so I just committed to them anyways I went on my virtual tour so we're going there and we're driving we finally kind of get to Toronto and I had an equipment fitting so I quickly got my equipment the second I got there we literally drove into toronto and i went straight to the campus got my equipment fitted and uh got my new gear and i'm excited and uh the coach was there and he's like you're going out on the ice i was like oh we got ice he's like yeah we got like team's captain's practice i was like yeah sure let's go on there like what could what could happen let's go so i was like yeah why not so I went on the ice um and at the time I didn't have my skates were very very bad I ended up stepping on cement as I went off my last coaching session and it was just by fluke there's a little like you know how

in those mats there's that little little line and you just accidentally get your skate blade in it that's exactly what happened so I didn't even really think about it i was like ah like that won't be too bad so i kind of gave my skates a little stone in it i stepped in one on the right foot and then my left foot there's like a cement kind of pad and i stepped on a cement pad too so i had both my skates that had cement on it and i was like i've never done it before my career and i was like this is fine. I'm sure people are making a big deal about it, whatever. So second, we get dressed. And all the guys are really weird around me because they don't really know how to react. It's my first time being a part of a team in a dressing room.

First time I'm skating. So I kind of said, hey, guys, no contact. There ain't no contact jerseys kind of thing. Like, yeah, we don't do contacts. Like, yeah, I prefer to wear a different jersey, though, just so I extend extend it a little bit more so they drafted these teams and uh there's just like a little scrimmage practice do a couple drills and then i only yeah a couple drills in my scrimmage and so i end up going on to the ice and i'm in my new gear so i have new shin pads new pants i have new helmet new gloves a new stick different curve um they didn't have my

right curve at the time and my skates now were really really bad so i'm like a her new helmet too so i'm like a brand new guy on that ice even new shoulder pads i'm pretty sure i had new shoulder pads on too so i had the full full treatment of new equipment and so i go and i'm excited i'm going to step on the ice first step eat it head first like face plant on the ice. And the guys behind me, I started chuckling. And one of my friends who I knew from before, Ben, he tasked me on the buddies, like, Oh, good start. Hey, I was like, as if it's not a tough way to get going.

So I get up and I can't even put my other skate down because I slide that one out too. So I was was struggling so I ended up like kind of getting up and getting my wits and kind of skating a little bit and I was I was pretty bad out there they probably thought I was an ankle bender and how the heck is he here and they probably thought is this his brain injury like what's going on with this guy so I couldn't even really skate that well but I tried to give it my all out there and I I really couldn't even really skate that well, but I tried to give it my all out there. I really couldn't even turn away. I couldn't turn. If I turned that way, I was sliding and I was eating it.

It was pretty funny, a good experience. I'm glad Coach wasn't at that practice. I'm glad I was captain of the skate. The next skate, I was a lot better. I got my skate shirt back to my old gear. I would have been in a better place. You would have been like me and Whit on our PTOs in St. Louis, Gonzo's no more per diem packs scram. And,

and you also mentioned like you, you emphasize the new equipment. For those of you who have never played hockey before, who are listening to this new gear is the worst, the worst. Hey, but I'll tell you this. I went to training camp one year and malcolm legit one one practice finally showed up i think the camp hadn't started already but it was his first day actually joining us on the ice i think he put our all new gear including skates he had those uh those ones that wrap around your foot and he was the best player on the ice i'd

never seen anything like it oh but he was fucking nuts this guy was the natural yeah yeah that is natural because i know exactly the feeling of new gear like you said and it's not fun especially when you go all new gear i can't believe he went all new gear it was that good oh he was that's crazy he was lights out uh let me see what else i got i got a couple more here i couldn't i kind of wanted to jump in and ask one. Yeah, jump in, G. You know, I'd kind of be remiss if I didn't ask about Logan Boulay. So many people tweeted us, was a huge Chicklets fan. But when Logan passed, you know, came the Logan Boulay effect, which saw 150,000 Canadians register for organ donation

after Logan decided to donate his. Can you kind of talk about that and talk about the green shirt day and, and, and some of the you know, some of the stuff that has come with all that. Yeah, no, it's been amazing to see Logan and his impact he's left on this earth. And even during the season, he was my soulmate and we'd always do everything together.

We would go to special Olympic floor hockey on Mondays together. We'd come back, watch our bachelor Mondays with the team um we'd go drawings together we'd always do lots of stuff together so i became like close with logan and we even talked about at one point it's like yeah i signed my donor card that's cool kind of thing i never really thought of it like i knew i want to do organ donation i told my family about it beforehand um and so they knew that if i was to be in the same situation he was they would donate my organs but um i never even signed a donor card and i wasn't 21 at that time yet but i think you can do it at 18 in saskatchewan at least anyways so after the crash just seeing

the effect that it had it was incredible and even today i still support it and i always will support it because i've why wouldn't you give part of yourself to somebody else to make them live their life even more it's such a selfless act and that's it doesn't even surprise me either like Logan is a selfless guy and he's probably most selfless guy on our team and it was just incredible and shows just how easy it is that you can still make an impact even when you do leave this earth and uh it's really incredible and there's so many other things that came out of this crash that are positive there's so many different charities and organizations and movements that really mean the world to me and it's great to see that our families are able to come out and get some positivity out

of this too and remember their loved ones who aren't here as well um it's quite incredible even the survivors are doing amazing stuff too like they're all idols in my eyes and i look up to them for inspiration so yeah it's such an amazing group of people and it goes to show even beforehand how tight-knit we were and how good people these families these players come from and their families and so to see it now is just incredible well Well, I mean, you dedicated the book to all of them, including the survivors, the ones who have passed away. Do you feel that that's going to be part of your life moving forward till the end of time is carrying on this legacy of the humble Broncos and, of course, the ones that lost their lives? I think for me, I realized that it will always be a part of me even though if I wanted to or not to it's still going to be a part of me forever and I do want to carry on the legacy of the 16

who aren't here because they are my motivation in life to be honest like I was motivated beforehand to live my life to the fullest but now it's just that much more reason to do it for them too and why why wouldn't I try living life to the fullest and enjoy it and make the most of it and because life is short and I really can't realize that at a young age but even more after the crash and now I just want to enjoy it and embrace it and make the most memories I can while I'm here because we never know when it's really our time to be gone so I'll be living my life to the fullest for them every day for the rest of my life for sure buddy you're, you're an unbelievable person. And I thank you so much for joining me on on the podcast. And G is if there's anything else you want to ask him before I let him go. But

this is emotional, man. And I think the people that are going to listen to this are going to love it. And I hope that they all go by the book and support whatever you're doing moving forward, man, because you are an absolute fucking G. Well, thank you so much. Yeah, I really appreciate being on here too. And I know that myself and so many others would love to be on this podcast. And especially with our team, we always would talk about you guys. So really, thank you very much for this opportunity really does mean a lot. Caleb Dahlgren, check it out Crossroads. And I'm sure I'm sure it's going to keep fucking kicking ass my friend and you're gonna do the same where can you buy it thank you um you can get this at anywhere you buy books to

be honest uh i know in the states barnes and noble have been a big one amazon has been big too in canada honestly anywhere you buy a book walmart costco um indigo chapters mcnally like clearly anywhere you can get a book and online is also like you just go even to my profile caleb dahlgren i'll have a link in there and i'll direct you right to it oh and i don't know if i'm supposed to say this but i heard that potentially that you might be joining the coyotes on an apprenticeship yeah i i am i don't know if you say it if you want i guess maybe not maybe yeah but i am i am i'll be there for a chiropractic internship and next summer um i was able to chat with them and it's going to be super super exciting i'll be at one

of their development camps well thank you so much for joining us and uh and and keep going man awesome well thank you so much you guys us and, uh, and, and keep going, man. Awesome. Well, thank you so much. You guys really do appreciate all your support and everything you've done for the Broncos too. It really does mean a lot. Thank you so much to Caleb and biz. I want to say thank you to you because that's an incredible interview. Um, just a really special person. And for you to do that alone. I remember when I heard you, I listened to when you did it with Rick talk, you're really good at that. And we appreciate you doing some work when RA and I weren't there. No, no worries. You know, it's a, that's a special human being and I

appreciate him coming on. And it was, it was great to have a positive chat with him too, man, like a guy who's, who's really doing a lot of positive things. So if you guys have an opportunity, pick up his book, read it and go online and follow him on, on a social platforms and support him in the type one diabetes charity stuff and anything you really can. So thank you to Caleb. And yeah, that was,

that was a tough one. Well, you did a good job. Okay. Whether you're customizing an engagement ring or designing diamond stud earrings at blue Nile.com, you're in control. You can build a more brilliant piece at a price you won't find at a traditional jeweler. You're looking to take Beyonce's advice and put a ring on it?

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That's code chiclets. Plus every order is insured, ships free, and arrives in discreet packaging that won't give away that special thing inside. Shop stress-free and find your forever peace. Go to BlueNile.com today all right boys moving right along the seattle kraken are officially the latest member of the national hockey league you have to pay off their expansion fee and they can start making moves at any time they're gonna have the same expansion draft rules that vegas did vegas is of course exempt that's a

normal rule for uh when teams recently come in the league they are exempt uh from it you know expansion drafts the next two, three years. We've seen it before. But Vegas has been good, and people think they should have to give up their players, but the rules have been in place for a long time. Teams can protect seven forwards, three D and one goalie, or eight skaters and one goalie. They have to have their list in by July 17th.

The Kraken must select one player from each of the other 30 teams. Going back to Vegas quickly, since entering the NHL since the 2016-17 season, Vegas has the fourth best record in the league, trailing the league Tampa, Boston, and Washington. So, you know, credit again to GM, GM, George McPhee. He fleeced everybody. They played that perfect. And the league, you got to think they're going to learn some lessons from that.

So good luck to Ronnie Francis in Seattle trying to pull the same stuff off. I would have been the GM just cruising in last minute being like, oh yeah, what's all this news about this expansion draft here? Yeah, take them. The code. Hey, you want a couple of my draft picks? The code. Anyone signed Perry yet?

Give him a seven-year. Don't take our third P.A.D. Here's two fucking first-rounders. Just leave them alone. They were getting fucking swindled. But all right, the Call of the Cup playoffs are canceled for the second straight season. Obviously, Obama for those guys. The AHL, it's been a struggle this year. They told the individual divisions they can have their own playoffs.

But, you know, if there's no Call of the Cup playoffs, I probably don't see that happening. Jeremy Yeager just finished his 33rd professional season in the Czech Republic. Says he's coming back. It was good enough to get his team. What's it when you get relegated in soccer? What's it called when you go from down to up?

Oh, fuck. I should know this. You get relegated or you go and you get. Oh, this makes me sick. Chelsea's always in that top league, so they don't really need. Oh, oh, I just had it on the tip of my tongue. Mikey, Google it. I can't do this right now.

Oh, shit. I'm a little rusty after this weekend, I'll say that. My brain's in a fog. Team Trash. Come on. Not elevated. Come on, Mikey. I should know, too, being the big fucking.

Promotion. Is it promotion? Yeah. I guess so, yeah. I thought it might have even been another one, but I guess, yeah, promoted. Yeah, that's what I'm reading here. It says promotion? Yeah. I guess so, yeah. I thought it might have even been another one, but I guess, yeah, promoted. Yeah, that's what I'm reading here. It says promotion. Yeah.

I should know, having my Ted Lasso experience. Is that a real conversation? Yeah. I was like, you are now dumber for listening to that, Billy Madison. Yeah, fuck. All right. Congrats to our buddies over at 31 Thoughts,

Jeff Merrick and Elliot Friedman. They're celebrating 200 episodes. They're kind of like a sort of a smart version of what we do here. They get a little more in-depth. They got some better source and then, you know, we kind of, we're a little yin to the yang. That last conversation we just had, that doesn't happen on that podcast.

Okay. They just threw up. All this information minus the nonsense and a very... Minus the not being able to think of the word promotion but those are hey those guys are awesome they've both been on our podcast and they're hockey encyclopedias and they have insane motors so go check them out and sources let's hope sports nets getting them i said on their podcast popping in i said that's like doing a thousand games 200 podcasts i said sportsnet engrave the

watches make sure the rolexes are ready wow shit me and wed me and wed are gonna have you think that 200 podcasts is a thousand games yeah i think granelli said that most podcasts don't make it past seven podcasts or something i mean wed a club way close in three approach approaching probably 350 all said well you guys are hall of famers that's what i just said i'm like trotting hopped on the bandwagon for for five and six with all the shame shit get up bellows tit fucker uh merle merle mushed uh siska whit did you catch that he said they were gonna sweep them well people say i mushed him actually because i finally hopped into the KHL EBR. So in the end, I was the mush.

But yeah, it was not good. It was not good at all. Ilya Kovalchuk and Bob Hartley get it done and beat the favorites, the Russian Red Army. Yeah, I haven't got an Alexi Emlin, too. He had some health issues, so it was good to see him get the Gagarin Cup. Is that how you say it? Gagarin Cup? I don't speak for it. I think it's the second one. He had some health issues, so it was good to see him get the Gagarin Cup. Is that how you say it? Gagarin Cup?

I don't speak for it. I think it's the second one. Pretty cool cup. Yeah, it is. It is. It's a very cool cup. And how about that stadium? Jam-packed.

Buzzing. Yeah. Although the Preds the other night, the Preds, when they beat Dallas, won nothing. That place was bumping. That's actually another thing I wanted to talk about is apparently Dallas. I don't know if you guys have heard this. If they make playoffs, they could be at full capacity.

Florida's going to go to 184% capacity, and they'd throw you out if you have a mask on. Fucking savage state. No, we were down there doing it. It was like the Wild West when you go to other places during COVID. That's going to be a big advantage. You go into your bar, no fans. I know. That's what I'm a big advantage. You go into your bar, no fans. I know.

That's what I'm saying. Toronto comes out of the north, and then they go down to play Vegas, and it's buzzing in there. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Then you go back home, and it's dead silent still. That could affect. Who knows?

Well, so I would imagine the north is going to move down to the states to come inside some sort of bubble. Yeah, you're right. You're right. I think they have already. Actually, is there a chance they would do it in Vegas, the Final Four? That'd be sick. If they have 100% fans.

Vegas and Dallas. Jerry's World. Doing it at the big stadium. Let's go. It's the witch and I almost didn't get my action in it. Me and Merle are both on Nashville. We don't talk when we do the gambling corner. We don't confer.

He writes his thing. I write my thing. And sometimes they're dead on. And tonight we're dead on do the gambling corner. We don't confer. He writes his thing. I write my thing. And sometimes they're dead on. And tonight, we're dead on. Pound it. Saros is in. Saros just confirmed he started. So I loaded up on Nashville. So I'll either get crucified or congratulated on Twitter tomorrow. Let's go to golf

with your sport. This kid, Michael Versace, made the PGA Tour. A clip of him calling his dad went viral. He had a very emotional moment. Kid probably had some adversity getting where he was. What do you know about him? I don't know much at all. So he didn't make it on the PGA Tour. He Monday qualified.

And what a lot of people don't know is every tour event, every single Monday, the week of the tour event, there's a qualifier where I think, I don't know, I'm guessing three, two to four spots are given to the top two to four players from that one-day event. So a lot of guys who are amazing players come out of college, and I think Patrick Reed was the guy. Who knows what the fuck he was doing with his golf ball during it, but he Monday qualified into so many tour events that then,

if you get into one tour event, I think you finish top 10, you're in the next week's event. So Monday qualifiers can really change people's life. Actually, Corey Connors, the Canadian, now he's turned into one of the top 30 players in the world i think he ball striking machine he monday qualified into the um a tournament last year in texas and won it so it's truly life-changing stuff and this kid michael visecki who's been playing pro golf for a long time just finally got got into one. And he Monday'd in and he had a great Monday round to get into the Valspar in Tampa.

And just this emotional, but like so cool, such a cool video to watch at the end where he calls his old man. And he just breaks down and telling him, like, I just made it to the PGA Tour. And from the discussions he had after, his family's done so much for him. He's lived with

them they've spent money on his you know growing up his golf and after college the money that they've given him to help pursue his dream and he is uh absolutely no slouch in in pro golf i mean he's he's not i've never been on the pj tour but like this guy runs away with events and the mini tours and he's gotten through local qualifying in the u.s open congratulations to my boy by the way the one-armed bandit andrew deramio he got through local stage of the u.s open today at eastward hoe and chata massachusetts shout out deramio the one-handed bandit uh but this visecki kid went on and he missed the cut but he he missed the cut by four shots he shot three over the first day even the second was ahead of a lot of really great

golfers so just his chance to get in the crazy thing is though not much changes for him now maybe he's going to get some sponsors because of how viral everything went but he's right back to probably monday and playing mini tour events and a grind of a life for golfers who are so good but still yet kind of so far away from the pga tour. Can you just hop around to the Monday qualifiers? You can go to any one. What, what level do you have to be to be able to just show you have. So if you have certain status and have done certain things in golf, I don't know what you can go right in and pay money to do the Monday

qualifier. But for a lot of people who don't have status and haven't done enough in their short or long pro golf career, you have to go through a qualifier for the monday qualifier so you gotta you gotta get through a pre-qualifier event just to even go try to get in the big event on a monday so the craziest there's so many good golfers out there but these guys are a different level up top the craziest thing about that connor's thing is like so you're basically saying in six days you go from i don't even know if i'm going to be playing this event, to putting a million bucks in your jeans.

Yes, yes. It's fucking crazy. And then not only that, having status on the PGA Tour, where you could have status nowhere. Maybe you're a corn fairy guy who Monday'd into a PGA Tour event. It's just, it's those sports bizarre and how quickly your life can change. Has he ever talked in length about that six days and how, like, was he just on an absolute about that six days and how like was he

just on an absolute heater when i played with him he was telling me about a little bit he's just like and then that week it was the week before the masters that so that got him into augusta and then he played sick at augusta that changed his whole life but he's like one of the top ball strikers in the world so he's gonna probably end up being a legit atm machine in golf what he's done but yeah i talked to him very bitty i i'm sure he'd come on here one time and do it if we want to do a little golf chatter. But yeah, that Visecki story was great. And the video caught fire.

It was everywhere. And just to see somebody talk to their father or mother who's done, like, you think of the people who allowed you to get where you have become and where your dreams really came true right away. And that call to his father proved it. Yeah, it was raw emotion. I hope he gets a bunch of sponsors and gets to keep pursuing it, man.

Same here. Speaking of golf tours, never mind the Korn Ferry Tour. I saw those pictures of B.B. He's going to be on the Korn Tour with that fucking haircut. Did you see the pictures on our Instagram? He's got the Gilmore jersey on, too. Oh, it's a killer. Everyone said it was a knockoff, too.

It's like, come on, bro. Spend the dough. But that hair, dude, man, he should be on the fucking – what was that tour with all the metalheads back in the day with Biz? I never went to them. I don't. It was like a big fucking huge – Dude.

Dude. Anyways, it's a fucking – Dude, I was just putting my action. Listen, TNT, ESPN, NHL. Can we please, please, please get stag at start times? The other night, like 12 fucking games started at 7. Oh, especially this fucking year. Afternoon games.

Why are there not afternoon games in the NHL? And by the way, not to be like negative Nancy over here, but they had fucking like 17 games, Derby Saturday. And then Sunday, the next day they had one. I was like, uh, I don't know how that makes any sense in terms of like more eyeballs on

your sport, but yeah. All right. For gambling wise, the staggered starts are key. Yeah. It's fucking killing us. Uh,

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They cook them longer so we don't have to. There's no flipping required. It's 100% real potatoes. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. Bake them in the oven for a healthier alternative. If you air fry, they're ready in six to eight minutes. In the oven, they're ready in 10 minutes. These are awesome, man. Throw a little ketchup on, maybe a little salsa, maybe a little cheese.

Check out their website to see where you can find McCain in a freezer aisle near you. McCain quick-cook fries are a fun snack fun snack appetizer or side dish to share with friends and family or while podcasting from Midtown. Cause I'm going to go grab some hot sauce and slather them on these things. Can't wait. All right, boys, let's get to the fun stuff. Kentucky Derby the other day, I didn't have the winner. The only person my family does my mother who picked the cousin name. She knows shit about gambling. My father, my brother,

my uncle's probably spent 1800 collective hours reading the racing form and none of them won. Whit, did you have any winners? Nope, nope, I did not. I went with Merle's Hot Rod Charlie pick because I like that he has Hot Dog Charlie's in Albany or Troy or whatever it was, and he was a loser. Tough episode from Merle. He needs a bounce back.

No, Merle's is still, hey, this is gambling, right? If you gamble, you know. You're right. Over time, you win. Over time, you lose. But he makes it entertaining, and I'll ride with him forever. I'll offer Hauser the new job, the new gambling job, if he doesn't pick it up.

Yeah, was it Saturday night? You guys must have saw a couple crowd fights that went viral. I mean, these things were fucking epic. They were going on. They looked like gang fights. No security. Absolute joke. Some of those dudes were getting tuned up.

I assumed it was the MMA crowd, but it was actually the boxing matches, and it got me to think. I've been to a shitload of boxing matches, and there are so many fucking hodos there. Everybody gets punchy. Guys like to fight. I'm not really one of them, so I don't get that way. So I can't imagine an MMA crowd because it's just such a rougher sport

and it's so much more violent i gotta think but do you think there's more meatheads at an mma fight fight card or a boxing fight card well i don't know but like you said it's like usually people go watch fights especially in the upper decks are ones who are just wound up way too tight for me to be around like i you know i'm i'm good yeah i'll watch it on tv i'll uh i'll actually i'll watch it on twitter i'll watch it 30 seconds after the knockout yeah exactly that's how quick it travels but no that was brutal i saw that stuff going around too man i that stuff makes me queasy there's there's like crazy stories about like dodgers fan dodgers have bad fans only i just in san fran man that's la san fran has been some brutal brutal things that go on and it's so fucking stupid man like oh it's a fucking game you know have we have we

ever talked about that um that crazy documentary on here that involved a guy who was at a dodgers game and it just so happened they were filming a larry david about larry david yeah i gotta watch that thing you guys were telling me about it. I was reminded of it. Speaking of the old UFC, MMA, whatever you want to call it, because last week we never got to the story. We ran long. Chris, is it Chris Weidman?

Chris Weidman? Man, he fell victim to plain old physics. He went to kick that guy and he blocked it. He caught his shin and he didn't even know he broke it. And he went to step on it and then fell. And that was the part where it was like, oh, give me the boff bag, man. I can't watch that shit anymore. I actually didn't.

I didn't watch it. I saw the Twitter. I was blown up. I never watched those. Oh, Marge, you made me miss Joe Theismann. I look at it by holding my phone as far away from me as possible. Oh, really? And then, like, scrolling and then, like, look at it slowly.

And then as soon as I see it, I'm like, ah, okay, that's enough. It's brutal. It's a slow process. It's brutal. And it's actually the same guy who Silva ended up kicking and doing the exact same thing to his leg first. So it was the guy that he fought. Oh, yeah. It's just a bizarre connection.

The fact that it now it happened to him. So just, I don't know. I don't know if that's a career ender or what, but that was gruesome. Gruesome. Yeah. I needed, I needed a WS town. What that night? I don't really follow MMA UFC, but I looked at the odds at the fights,

you know, all the different scenarios and possibilities in 60 to one jumped out at me in a couple of them. So I was like, look, I don't know who's fighting. I don't know the odds. I put a hundred each on 40 to one, 50 to one, 60 to one jumped out at me in a couple of them. So I was like, look, I don't know who's fighting. I don't know the odds. I put a hundred each on 40 to one, 50 to one, 60 to one and 61. Didn't watch any fights. Didn't even know who was fighting, knew nothing about it. Check my account later. One of the fights was a draw 60 to one odds. I popped on it.

So I went from negative to positive, ended up having a nice week just on a random fucking play like that. So I don't know what the lesson is here. I had a horse show up my ass Saturday, I guess uh the woman's worlds uh they obviously get well they were called canceled but it looks like postponed is probably the proper word they're going to look to get them done in august alberta is the preferred site given the way they handle the bubble so we'll keep you abreast of that um a couple other quick notes pop culture stuff uh busy you mentioned a couple movies docs i went to the movie theater for the first time in, what, I don't know,

16, 18 months yesterday. I saw a 25-year-old movie. I went and saw Fargo at the theater. I've never seen Fargo. I know. You haven't, right, Biz? Don't worry. No, I've seen Fargo.

Oh, you have? Oh, yeah. Is it good, Biz? Yeah, it's very good. I like slow-moving movies like that. Like, There Will Be Blood. I like that style. That's very good i like slow moving movies like that like there will be blood i like that that's a good flick wait you gotta watch fago i mean okay lost best picture to the english patient which is a fucking joke i mean the cohen's directed it's it's a legit masterpiece i haven't

seen it in the show in 25 years but there's this company called for no free ads but free ad fathom events and they put on anniversary showings or movies like when it's like a round number, 20th anniversary, 35th. And they have like two or three days randomly. It's you can go. Huh? What's he going to say? Did you say round number and then say 35th?

Yeah. Well, 30. No, that will. Fago's round number. 25th anniversary. Oh, I thought a round number would be an even number. No. I always thought.

Zero, two, four, six, eight, ten. Is that. I guess maybe i'm totally wrong fuck i don't know round number and then 35 i tell you what they're not doing on the 20 24th that was one of the funniest the fact that nobody said anything and then ra just burst out laughing made that an all-time moment no 24th anniversary's here guys yeah when i yeah round number is probably zero but you know but anniversary numbers, nobody celebrates 33rd or 28th or whatever. So later

this year, Stand By Me has its 35th. It's a great thing, man, especially if it's a movie you maybe watched on video or DVD or HBO, but you've never seen it in a theater. It's just so much better in a theater. So one show I got to mention, Whit, have you been watching Mayor of Easttown on HBO starring

Keith Winslet? No, I see people tweeting about it, though. What's it about? Phenomenal show. It's kind of a lame name for the show. Mayor of Easttown. She plays Mayor Kate Winslet from Titanic fame. Fantastic actress. A bunch of nominations to her name. She's one, one, or two. And she's a detective in a

town just outside Philadelphia where they got all those crazy Delco accents. In the first or second episode, a local girl dies, and she has all these connections to small town stuff. I don't want to spoil too much of it, but it fucking ropes you in by the second episode.

You're hooked in. Episode three at Sunday night. So far, so good. She's carrying the show. There's a ton of other great actors on it, so check it out. Marry Easttown if you haven't. I've been busy watching Buddy the Love Sponge's wife

get plowed by Hulk Hogan, but yeah, I'll try to check it out. Marriott Easttown, if you haven't. I've been busy watching Buddy the Love Sponge's wife get plowed by Hulk Hogan. But yeah, I'll try to check it out. What's his name? Buddy, Bubba the Love Sponge. Oh, Bubba. Buddy. My buddy. You're combining Buddy the Elf and the Love Sponge?

Yeah. I got one last one for you, and this is off the grid. One of the movie guys I follow, I don't even know if I'm pronouncing it right. It's a Bosnian film. It's Q-U-O-, Vadas Aida, dude. I watched it twice. Absolute fucking incredible movie. Like the Yugoslavian war was something that went on in college. And I don't think Americans were really familiar with what went on.

It ended up breaking up Yugoslavia into like five or six different countries. There were all these little civil wars in between. And it was just crazy how man can just turn against his neighbor based on stupid shit. I watched it. It's subtitled and Ida's the title character. She's a translator for the UN. This town's getting invaded by

Bosnians are getting invaded by the Serbs and they were trying to get on the UN base. It's an intense movie. It feels like three hours long. It's probably an hour and 45 minutes, but highest recommendation. It's not an easy movie to watch. It's a intense movie. It feels like three hours long. It's probably an hour and 45 minutes, but highest recommendation. It's not an easy movie to watch. It's a heavy topic, but the acting is phenomenal.

It just shows you the power of like film and cinema that you can watch a movie where you don't understand what they're saying. And it's so powerful. It's Q U O V A D I S two words, comma. I eat it's what the question mark, seek it out. I watched it.

I think whatever the fucking stream, you can just go to the movie rankings that our buddies at lights camera boss do run awesome movie uh powerful movie highest recommendation for me you've been consuming a lot lately i love it bring it out of heat wet you got some peter malamarch coming too right yes this new uh spring line we brought up last week it came out i saw the pictures that that we put on Twitter and it really is awesome. This it's the performance where it's like the, those shirts fit so well and they're comfortable and they got great quarter zips too.

It's just check it out. I think that you'll all enjoy the new colors and some of the, and the logo placement. And I just, I love wearing it. It's all I wear. I wore it before this show and I continue to wear it now. Is there are good friends at Peter Millar.

Also, we got the R.A.'s Casino t-shirt dropping. It's Daytona Beach, G? The casino's located at... It is. It's R.A. Rear Admiral's Casino located in Daytona Beach, Florida. And we also have Rick's Pro Shop in Red Deer, Alberta. Merchandise for that dropping as well.

R.A.'s Casino would be out of a double wide trailer, like him and his buddies running it. We're just like, just like a wit's house at the, in the AHL. The first year. There's a back room for how long it's going to take him to feed the

fucking squirrel, a full bowl of legal seafoods. I love how he's my pet. Now from your tweet, everyone's like, I can't believe he was your pet. I was like, people really think I had a squirrel in my fucking in a cage in my house at this point

another another myth from chicklets hilarious oh shit boys this is a long one it was a fun one i think that should probably wrap it up uh grinnell he's gonna be up till thursday editing so one more thing is subscribe to the youtube channel all the all podcasts can be found the next day on our youtube channel and again like we always say if you subscribe to the YouTube channel. All podcasts can be found the next day on our YouTube channel. And again, like we always say, if you subscribe to the YouTube channel, it allows us to do a lot more video content. Yes, it does. Awesome.

Yeah, maybe we've got a couple more videos for you tonight. And big thanks once again to Brian Trottier for last week. We got some fantastic feedback on that. Six-time cup winner. Great stories. Great guy. So thanks to him again. And yeah, boys, I think that about wraps it up.

Everybody have a fantastic week. And I will catch you later. So thanks to him again. And yeah, boys, I think that about wraps it up. Everybody have a fantastic week. And I will catch you later. Thanks for listening. Peace. As always, we like to thank our terrific sponsors here on Spit and Chicklets. Huge thanks to our longtime friends at New Amsterdam Vodka and Pink Whitney. Big thanks to our friends at Simply Safe for keeping everybody safe during these crazy times. Huge thanks to our new friends at Body Armor.

Good stuff here, the old Tropical Chaos. Also, thank you to BetterHelp. Again, check them out. If you need to talk to somebody, reach out to them. They'll be happy to help you. Thanks to our friends at Blue Nile, too. You're looking for that engagement ring or something for somebody else in the family, by all means, check them out.

And also our new friends at McCain Potatoes. Got to love these things, the old quick cooks. Try them out. If your love friend tries and who doesn't, give them a whirl. Have a great week, everybody.